Interior Design Article Part 9 - The Finishing Touches

Last time we learnt about How to Pull Your Decorating Scheme Together, today we will learn about The Finishing Touches.

Your contractors have left you have a brand new interior, you have placed your furniture, but there is still something missing. Yes! The finishing touches. This is where, less is definately best, so select wisely. You want to create features in the room, not collections.

Here are some ways to finish your room:

• Artwork - paintings or prints. Select pictures or prints that relate to your theme or style, make sure they incorporate colors from your color scheme. They can be used to highlight your colors or just to create a texture to the wall in similar color tonings. If you have a lot of paintings, you are best to group them together to create "one" picture, rather than spread them one by one across the wall. To find out more about placing artwork visit this article below. Arranging Artwork
• Artwork - sculpture. Sculpture is a great way to create a focal point in a room, find a god spot to display it and make sure you have a way of highlighting it with light.
• Vases - Flowers, fresh or artificial. These are a great way to soften a look. Fresh flowers are great because you can always create a new look depending on the type of flowers and the way they are arranged. For example wild flowers grouped suggest randomness, tulips on their own suggest simplicity, red roses on centre stage suggest passion, spring flowers evoke cheerfulness to a room at the changing of a season, large white asian lillies express opulence. To save time and money artifical flowers are a very good option today. They are almost too real looking, and you do look a bit silly when you go to smell them and have a closer inspection! Choose flowers that suit the style you have created, if you need help with this, most florists have a good background in matching flowers to your taste.
• Cushions - These are the greatest accessory, especially if you have children, they just love messing up your well placed accessories! They are great as you can further enhance the colors and fabrics that you have chosen, use the same fabric in a slightly different color way or the same colo rway in a different design. Contrasting colors work well to brighten a scheme, or textured cushions in a monochromatic scheme. Fringes and tassels, buttons and beads, the world is your oyster when it comes to decorating cushions, these are a "must have" in almost every room.
• Throws - these are a simple way to make a room feel more homely. They are great when you sit in front of the fire at night to read a book and you wrap the throw around your shoulders and snuggle. So they are useful as well as adding color, texture and style to your room. Once again you can follow the prinicples for cushion selection to choose what they will look like.
• Tie backs, hold backs - curtain accessories, these really add a touch of class to your window treatments.
• Lamps - we touched on these in furniture placement, but I can't stress enough how these really add the finishing touch and create versatility in mood creation to your room. You have many options with lamp bases and shades to add color and texture to your room.
• Coffee table books - the ultimate accessory - The coffee table book. Something grand on a trendy topic like Food from Tuscany, or The History of Fashion, something that makes people want to pick it up and flick through. This is a way of making people feel welcome in your home.
• Ornaments - keep these to a minimum, as they are the fastest way to clutter, but the odd strategically placed ornament will definately make your house look and feel like a home.
• Mirrors - These are a simple way to make rooms look larger or bring in more light to a room via reflected light. There are so many beautiful frames available today that you are bound to be able to find something to suit your style or look.

I hope that this has inspired you to add the finishing touches to your scheme.

Architectaria - Architect and Planners