Whether you’re nestled in the countryside or right in the middle of the city, your home is sure to see a rise in visitors over the coming season. Friends and family will soon be making the rounds to wish you good tidings and you’ll find yourself retreating indoors as the weather cools.

Ensure you have a beautiful and inviting home with some of my top tips for preparing for winter…

Inspired by Pantone Colours Silver Grey, Ivory Cream & Jet Black

1. Octavia, Parchment – Made-to-Measure Curtains – Plumbs
2. Branch Candelabra – John Lewis
3. Silver Love Wall Art – Very
4. Luxury Ravello, Rich Cream – Reupholstery by Plumbs
5. Faux Fur Sheepskin Black Rug – Quality Rugs Online

Now is the perfect time to invest in some good quality, lined curtains! With curtains drawn for longer, it’s nice to pick a design that adds interest to your room. Plus, lined curtains will help reduce energy loss and keep your room warm!

For me, winter is all about curling up in mounds of cushions and soft luxurious fabrics! Velvets and Chenilles really come into their own this time of year offering a beautiful feel. This Luxury Ravello fabric even gives a beautifully subtle sheen!

Black and Gold are a great contrast for creating a luxurious look. Adding silver metallic accessories will help to lighten the overall palette. The branch candelabra is a great touch for a wintry feel!

Inspired by Pantone colours Mosaic Blue, Purple Magic & Steel Grey

6. Silver Tree Stem Floor Lamp – Coach House
7. Chelsea Velvet, Teal – Reupholstery by Plumbs
8. Cottonwood Leaf Metallic Wallpaper – Laura Ashley
9. Mini Glass Lantern Two Tone Purple – Home Home Home
10. Plum Pudding Collection Lady Figurine – Dunelm Mill
11. Astoria Mirror Console Table – John Lewis
12. Spider Purple Rug – Rugs Centre

Rich Teals and Purples can be a contemporary alternative this season. Use alongside a neutral palette of white and silver for a balanced look.

You could opt for an eye catching occasional chair in a stunning colour like this Chelsea Velvet – Teal; or choose a large, plush plum rug to accentuate your seating area.

Again, metallic accessories can be so effective this time of year. You could even add to your wintry wonderland with twig designs for your wallpaper and furniture. This is a popular trend at the moment so there are plenty of great finds around!

Autumn is one of the best times of year for home style inspiration.  With the natural world undergoing spectacular transformations and the weather experiencing dramatic change on a daily basis, there are many different ways we can interpret the season.

The typical autumnal colours of burnt orange and fiery reds can give homes an instant glow.  Break up the amber hues with warm neutral bases of creams and browns.

1) Premier Zeus Orange Glass Floor Lamp – Inspire My Home
2) Loose Chairs covers in Katie – Autumn Fabric – Plumbs
3) Glass Mosaic Tealights – Next
4) Evening Fern Metal Wall Art – Very
5) Rattan Storage Trunk – John Lewis

For a more earthy approach, choose a black and brown scheme with accents of rust or olive. Remember to extend the theme with your finishing touches. I love this windswept tree as a focal point above a fire place, even if it is designed for the garden!

6) Matisse Leaf Wallpaper – Charcoal – Sanderson
7) Windswept Tree Wall Art – UK Garden Products
8.) Cubes Coffee Table – Argos
9) Scatter Cushions in Oracle & Octavia – Parchment Fabrics – Plumbs

Which Autumnal Colours Do You Prefer?

Over the past few weeks we’ve been looking at how to bring ideas together and make a mood board for your desired new look, whether it be re-decorating or planning an event.  There are lots of different and fun ways that you can complete your boards.  These are just a few of my favourite methods, or you could choose one that works for you!

Computer Montage

If you’ve used the internet to find your inspiration, save the paper in printing and collate your findings in a computer montage.  Just copy and paste your findings together in one document.  The beauty of this method is it’s so quick and easy.

Scrapbook

If you prefer to cut and stick, play around with your findings and bring them together on the page.  The great thing about this is that you can include different textures so you can get more of a feel for the end result.

Pinboard or Canvas

Why not make your mood board into a piece of art that can continue to inspire you throughout your project.  A great, easy way to do this would be to pin your findings to a notice board, or canvas which you can hang on the wall.  Have fun playing around with the positioning and colours.  You can be as creative as you like!

The Final Result…

So, does all of the researching, collecting, cutting, glueing and pinning pay off?  Well for me, having a mood board to work from gives me a clear idea of how the end result will look and keeps me focussed on the end result.  Take a look at how Plumbs own stylist Jenny Stirzaker uses mood boards to complete a beautiful new room….

Find out more about how to create a mood board from start to finish:

http://www.plumbs.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/08/16/mood-board-magic-the-first-in-a-3-part-series/

http://www.plumbs.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/08/23/mood-board-magic-where-to-get-you-inspiration/

When it comes to creating a mood board for your latest home decorating project we may all start at different points.  We may have a particular theme or colour scheme in mind, or we may just know how we want the room to make us feel.  Regardless of how far along the creative process we are, we can all use the same resources to find ways of bringing our ideas together.

So where are the best places to glean inspiration?  The simple answer: anywhere and everywhere!  Whether it’s a beautiful room set you’ve seen in a magazine or the colours on a crisp autumn morning, almost anything can be used to fuel your creativity….

Remember to keep your eyes out and photograph, cut and collect anything that grabs your attention.  Keep hold of your findings and check back soon to see how to collate your ideas into an inspiring mood board that will help you achieve your perfect look!

When it comes to planning an event or the revamp of a room, it can be difficult to know where to start!  Where can you go for inspiration and how can you tell what will work together?  This is where the beauty of the mood board comes in!

A mood board is simply a place where all of your inspiration comes together, so you can get an idea of the overall look and feel of your completed project.  Not only is it a great tool, it can also be lots of fun!

Over a short series of blogs we will explore the uses of mood boards, where to glean your inspiration and how to collate your ideas together to give wonderful results!  The topic of focus today:

When to use a Mood Board?

You can use a mood board for lots of different projects.  We will be looking specifically at mood boards for room design, but there are lots of other reasons you may wish to construct a mood board of ideas…

Check back next week for some top tips on how to be inspired!

With the weather forecast looking bleak for most of the UK again this week, it doesn’t look hopeful for a trip to the seaside.  But why should that stop us?!  With the beach hut look overtaking the high street this season, what better time to bring the seaside into your home!  We love the combination of rustic chic with beach hut buys to give a calming, nostalgic feel to your home.  We think these finds would look stunning in a light and airy hallway….what do you think?

1) Distressed Beach Hut Trinket Boxes -bronterose.co.uk

2) Tide & Time Clock -  coastalhome.co.uk

3) Hudson Valley Groton Nautical Light Sconce – uk.sotmau.com

4) Reclaimed Wood Heart Wall Shelf – The Orchard Home & Gifts

5) Pale Blue distressed Wood Beach Sign – Debenhams

6) Co-ordinating fabrics Knole & Fiore Mini Stripe for loose covers, curtains, blinds or re-upholstery – Plumbs

7) Wicker Storage Seat – The Orchard Home & Gifts

At the beginning of the year Pantone announced their colour of choice for 2012 as Tangerine Tango and since then we’ve seen it cropping up everywhere!  A few months into the year and you can deck your whole house out with Tangerine Tango inspired products and designs.  And what better colour to bring some fun and vibrancy to your home.

With that in mind, we thought it would be fun to see what we could find on the high street and online.  It seems the heart of the home, the kitchen, has most fully embraced this year’s hottest colour trend with a wealth of appliances, utensils and culinary bric a brac all available in Tangerine Tango…

1. Colour Scheme inspired by Pantone Colour of the Year: Tangerine Tango (17-1463 TCX)

2. Orange Poppy in Glass Vase – Matalan

3. Made-to-Measure Blinds in ‘Katie – Autumn’ fabric – Plumbs

4. Rainbow Orange Cafetiere – La Cafetiere

5. Gmundner Ceramics Selection Orange – porzellantreff.de

6. Made-to-Measure Dining Chair Covers in ‘Turin-Honey’ fabric – Plumbs

7. Colourworks Accessories Reversible Chopping Board – Kitchen Craft

8. Smeg 28yo1 Orange Refrigerator – Comet

Give a whole new meaning to ‘Spring Cleaning’ this season with a fresh Spring make-over for your home. With light, warmer days and beautiful blooms sprouting at every turn, Spring is the ideal time for bringing a fresh new look to your home!  Pastels are a must for Spring with soft greens and pinks featuring heavily in this season’s shop window displays.  For extra zest, break up the subtle palette with vibrant shades of pink.  Don’t forget, Spring is all about pretty florals, so embrace them to the full with floral fabrics and wall art!  And with Easter around the corner, it can’t hurt to throw in the odd endearing bunny rabbit for good measure!

That in mind, we’ve put together some of the best buys for Spring home decor available this season…

1. Colour Scheme inspired by Pantone colours:  Orchid Pink(13-2010 TXC), Pink U and Seafoam Green (12-0313 TXC).

2. Thomas Kent Willow Arabaic Mantle Clock – amazon.co.uk

3. Embroidered Rosa Pink Canvases – Next

4. Reupholstery in Timeless Chenille fabric - Plumbs Reupholstery

5. Crackle Ball Floor Lamp – Very

6. Rita Rabbit Door Stop – Marks & Spencer

7. Lily Flame Daisy Dip Candle in a Tin – John Lewis

8. Made-to-measure Curtains in Orchids fabric – Plumbs Curtains

If you’re feeling the love this Valentines Day (or even if you’re not), why not take inspiration from all the holiday has to offer!  Think roses are red, chocolates are brown and therein lies a beautifully rich colour scheme for a decadent living room.  You can also look to Valentines for accessories and ornamental inspiration!  Hearts are hot designs on the high street and can be used in so many different ways around the house, as we found out in last week’s post: ‘Show Your Home Some Love’.

So, spare a thought this February for how you can create a room you can really fall in love with!  We’ve scoured the high street and online stores to give you an idea of what could be achieved with St Valentine in mind…

1. Colour Scheme inspired by Pantone Colours: Mars Red (18-1655 TCX), 4685c and Seal Brown (19-1314 TCX)

2. Tatton Linen Damask Wallpaper – Laura Ashley

3. Embracing Couple Statue - Next

4. Brown Hoop Table Lamp – The Lighting Centre

5. Dakota Sideboard – Very

6. Reupholstery in Horizon Fabric - Plumbs Reupholstery

7. Red Ceramic Hearts - Next

8. Red Marie Therese 5 Light Chandelier - litecraft.co.uk

9. Victorian Floral Heart Storage Stool - Past Times

10. Made-to-Measure Curtains in Cotton Velvet Fabric – Plumbs Curtains