interior designing made easy
a handy guide

tip number one

HANGING PAINTINGS? To avoid those unwanted marks when hanging, decide on an overall shape of arrangements - square, oblong or triangle, making sure to mark out the area lightly with a pencil. Try not to hang things too close, too high, or too far apart. Do not fix anything so low over sofa that people end up knocking their heads on it when getting up or reclining; all the same, try to place everything at a reasonably flexible eye level. Vertical arrangements will make walls look taller; horizontal will make them look longer. More paintings look good against dark wall but if a wall is strongly patterned, try mounting prints against a deep matte or a background of the same color. In this way, a subject rests in an area of its own and does not get lost in the richness of the surrounding background.

tip number two

ARRANGING PLANTS? They look best when grouped in twos or threes or left standing alone (for tree-like plants) rather than mixed up with different pieces. Different heights of the same plants like Dracaenae can look sculptural. Large or spreading plants like ficus benjamina or palms make splendid room dividers or window treatments. A good way to mask curtainless windows is to hang plants in baskets in front of the glass, but remember to check the light and draught requirements of the plants first. Fix a brass or wooden pole across the top of the frame and hang the baskets from various lengths of chain to achieve an assymetrical look. If you want large plants that can be moved about easily, then buy planters with wheels.

tip number three

DECORATING HALLS? Ideally, hall, corridor and staircase walls should be decorated with pieces of the same design or color family unless they are in different parts of the home and are not seen together. Whatever your choice of wall color, make sure it leads naturally into the rooms. Warm colors like apricot, yellow, teracota, deep rose, plum, red, tawny brown and marmalade all look good in city homes with moderate climates and in country homes. Cool up houses in hot climates with white, cool blue, green pale yellow and cream.

tip number four

MORE BREATHING SPACE? If you have a small room, use as much transparent and collapsible furniture as possible. Another alternative is to place large pieces of furniture along the side of the room. Built-in furniture such as window seats and wall units will always take up less space than free "floating" pieces. You can also manage good storage space under a seat or built-in seating around a wall. All you need is a lift-up lid instead of a solid base or shelves. With this, you immediately double the usefulness of the piece.

tip number five

DULL INTERIORS? Liven up dull looking spaces with bands or outlines with color. Keep a simple, light background and paint baseboards and mouldings in a contrasting shade. You can also paint two or three bands of different colors in different widths, starting from the baseboard. If the space does not have a cornice, form one by painting a stripe or two immediately under the ceiling. This could be continued around the doors.

tip number six

INTERIOR ACCENTS? Windows, they say are beginning to be a new status symbol. There have never been better fabrics in the market, and more useful still, are ready-made curtains and window treatments. Many of these curtains come in a wide range of fabrics that have their corresponding wallpaper. This allows for less error in decorating thus, injecting decor with instant confidence.

tip number seven

FURNITURE-MAKEOVER? Dreary reproduction chairs can be given a thoroughly modern look. Smarten up with paint or cover seats with a strongly textured fabric, like tweed or corduroy. Paint plain wooden chairs a dark or vivid color and try your hand at painting a scene, birds, or flowers on the seat. Old dresses and drawers can be stripped, polished or painted. Have fun with them - paint each drawer with a different color or draw a small mural to make furniture interesting.

tip number eight

PLANNING A KITCHEN? The chief rule in any successful kitchen plan is that it should always follow a work diagram based on the sequence of operations. Food preparation generally involves a good deal of doubling back to and from the refrigerator, sink, stove and different work surfaces. The walking distance between all the main work areas should not be excessive. Make sure that each work area has all the necessary equipment and ingredients conveniently at hand.