Choosing a style
by Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen
There is no necessity to 'choose' a style for each of your rooms; you may prefer just to let your possessions and your own creative intuition establish its character. Indeed, this will often be the more practical option as there will not always be the budget to buy a complete look, from the correct architectural detailing to furniture and wallpaper. If you are looking for more direction, however, then do some research on styles or designer whose work appeals to you and either adopt the look
in entirety, or choose individual elements that you can imagine fitting with existing pieces that you have.
One effective way to focus your choice is to think about materials that you are fond of and would like to have in your home. If you are keen to include wood and other natural surfaces, then maybe you should be thinking of a country style, perhaps with the simplicity of a Shaker emphasis. Or, for a more modern twist that revels in natural textures and colours, possibly the organic, back-to-nature look is preferable.
You might want a more formal, traditional look, in which case think about an historic style such as Georgian or Victorian. If you are keen to revel in colour, pattern, plastics and synthetics what about a retro look that emulates the style of the 1960's and 1970's?
Or you may prefer a more passionate, sensuous response to colour with a mood-based style, revolving around a concept of passion, romance and theatre.
If objects from foreign travel inspire you, think about an ethnic style, based on the style of countries such as India, Africa and Mexico. Maybe it is the particular designs associated with an interior style that you respond to: a liking for Arne Jacobsen's now classic Swan or Egg chairs could lead you to a Scandinavian style interior, or a personal collection of Japanese tea bowls and a preference for simplicity could make a minimal Oriental style the obvious way forward.
What is for sure is that any historical style created for a modern home, however literally, will never entirely capture the nature of the period. Many of you living in Victorian homes may live among original Victorian features, such as fireplaces, tiling and coving and you may think that your interior is true to the period. Yet, an authentic Victorian style would have been dark and cluttered, full of deep colours, fabrics, pictures and ornaments. Few of us want this today, because it doesn't
fit in with our modern priorities and a fashionable liking for light and simplicity. So what happens is that you are actually translating the style of your Victorian home - respecting its architectural roots, but applying your own modern styling.
There are no formulae here - it is all about choice. Design cannot all be rules and solutions; sometimes you need to respond to your personal preferences, rather than always to what seems sensible. The rules then come into play, depending on the nature of your space, but it should always be possible to reinvent any space in any genre of style.
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