All Things Bright & Beautiful

Don't let the cold days and the thought of winter dampen your spirits! Brighten your living space with a bright and cheerful colour scheme to beat the winter blue without redecorating. How? - easy add some large floral cushions to your sofa to be right on trend this winter.

Although neutrals are still 'big' this year the injection of bright autumnal oranges and reds is a great way to keep your home looking bright and beautiful right throughout winter and into spring. The trend for hand-made soft furnishings also remains on-trend; simply buy curtain fabrics online and be spoilt with the plethora of super patterns and designs to make your own cheap cushion covers, curtains and blinds.

For a retro look take a step back to the swinging sixties with large psychedelic patterns and bold floral prints in orange, lime green and purple. Choose lime green curtains to add a real pop of colour to your rooms or keep neutral with cream eyelet curtains ready made for a more subdued look.

It may also be time to steer away from the stereotypical Christmas colours and inject colour and a whole new revival of informal chic elegance to your home!

Image: Haven and Home

1 Room – 2 Window Treatments

Dreamy, pretty and 'oh so warm, summer days', I love the simplicity of gorgeous designs such as these. The combination of patterns and colours in soft pastels bring a touch of femininity to lounges, creating an easy living and informal ambience which suits all styles of interiors beautifully.

With so many fabulous ready made curtains online it's easy to replicate this style of window dressing. In fact you could have two different weight curtains, one set for winter the other for summer, to banish the winter blues and give your rooms a breath of fresh air each spring and summer using floaty floral fabrics. When the cooler days of autumn approach swap for rich colours and heavy fabrics such as crushed velvet to bring a warm cosiness to your rooms.

Think outside the box, rather than have the same pair of curtains all year round, use ready made eyelet curtains and wooden curtain poles to make the switch over effortless.

It's a great way to liven up your rooms and cost effective to boot! Add coordinating accessories, filled cushions, table lamps and rugs and the dynamics of your living space can be altered instantly and effectively.

You don't have to keep redecorating, choose white or neutral colours for walls, floors and ceiling as these will team with accent colours wonderfully.

Image: Bahraini Diva

When 3 Become 1

Using three completely different eyelet curtains ready made really appeals to me! What a great way to add different patterns, textures and styles to a window dressing and of course being ready made, the eyelet curtains can be simply slid onto curtain poles and hey presto! an instantly dressed window!

The key to achieving this delightful style is of course to make sure that the colours tone together well and compliment the style of the room and the furnishings. It's a great way to get a completely new look and if you bought pairs ready made curtains, then you will have exactly the same for putting in place whilst the others are being laundered or use them in another room – a cost effective way to have a bespoke look at your windows!

Ideas such as these are what interior design so varied and interesting as well as showing new and unusual ways to stamp your own identity on your home so that you can really say 'this is mine'! Fabulous, intuitive a lots of fun as this window dressing creates such a chic style which is very informal and perfect for modern lifestyles.

Image: Decorology