TEMZA LONDON SHARES THEIR TOP INTERIOR DESIGNER TIPS FOR A BIG IMPACT ON A SMALL BUDGET
The secrets to affordable luxury
Many of us admire perfectly styled high-end interiors, not many of us can afford them. And let’s be honest here for a second, even if you could put the money aside to create something outstanding that suits your style and provides an excellent home for you and your family… Wouldn’t you instead be spending some of that money on something else, like travelling or saving up for your kid’s tuition fees? That’s what we are talking about!
Here at Temza London, we like to deliver outstanding interior design to everyone, so let’s see how our interior design team can help you with some tips for creating your refined luxury!
1. Colours are a striking statement of confidence and style
What’s common in luxurious interior schemes, is that they are all unique and special, and none of them is like the next one. This can often be achieved through a stunning colour scheme, where at least 3 different colours and their various shades are combined. So spend some time exploring your colour palette, but make sure it suits your family too! Temza Design Studio have many ideas to inspire you, so you can visit our Pinterest for inspiration and ideas!
Start with pure colours and atmosphere, don’t get distracted by products and materials too early. Once you are perfectly happy with your colour scheme, you can start looking at items with confidence. Always go back to the colours you have decided on. It’s important not to start second-guessing yourself. Interior designers do it with confidence, and they are led by their creative instinct, and so should you be.
2. Coordination and planning is the key to luxury, and it's free
A luxurious interior is evident from all its details perfectly fitting together. There are many hours of work and research going into each room and often the choice of each item. There is no short cut to this – however, it doesn’t cost you any money, so you should definitely take the time to do it.
Order samples from every finish you’d like to place in a room. Many suppliers will send you this to you for free, while others might charge you a small fee. Between paying £3.50 for a sample pot of paint or having to repaint your living room because you absolutely loathe it (or even worst having to live with it also though you can’t stand it because you hate the idea of having to pay for redoing the work!) it’s a no brainer.
Unfortunately, interior designers don’t have a magic power where they order materials and furniture from online or catalogues, and the colours and the sizes all fit together by themselves. Every single one of them checks the dimensions of the item thoroughly and even measures it out in the space to see how it will look like if necessary. Don’t assume it will be fine, spend the time to make sure that it will.
3. Use innovative materials to take you to the next level
You’d be surprised to learn that custom making furniture can sometimes be cheaper than buying something off the shelf. If you find a high-end designer table that you can’t take your eyes off, but it’s above your budget, check with your local joinery workshop if they can do a similar design for you. Furthermore, this way, you can make sure the size will fit your space perfectly.
People see value in using natural materials, solid wood, 100% cotton and the likes. And that’s great, however, if you are here for tips on saving money, let’s put this to the side for a moment. There are significant innovations and plenty of stunning new materials on the market that our interior designers found that you can use. Just three examples:
- When talking about custom built joinery, try Egger boards, melamine or laminate surfaces. They might not sound like the height of luxury, but if they feel and look like natural wood veneer (or any colour or texture you feel like for that matter!) and also save you money, why wouldn’t you?
- Instead of silk wallpaper, or even paper wallpaper… try a fabric backed vinyl! Our interior design team found there is a whole selection in Tektura! You might think that we are crazy, but it’s an extremely durable material that comes in a myriad of patterns and well… Probably no one will ask what the material composition was.
- Choosing a synthetic or so-called ‘clever velvet’ means durability and easy cleanability. This fabric will maintain its appearance for longer, so you don’t have to replace or reupholster.
4. Less is beautiful
Having fewer, but quality items are way superior to having more of lesser quality. Showering knick-knacks and decorations all over the place are off-putting while having just one striking piece, that provides an anchor point in the room will seem deliberate and luxurious.
The same goes for furniture and pretty much anything else. Having free space is luxury in itself, you don’t need to buy sideboards, chest of drawers and armchairs for every empty corner, if they will have an effect on the budget you can spend on pieces you use every day, like your living room sofa. If you do really need that new sideboard for storage – just stop for a second and think if you really need those items, you are planning to keep inside. If you find that it’s cables, you don’t know what they are for and magazines from 2014, perhaps keeping those isn’t entirely worth that £800 that you could spend on that sideboard.
Another friendly advice from our interior designers: you don’t need to do everything at once! If you get the interior designed professionally, of course, everything happens all at once, but when you DIY it, there’s no reason why you can’t wait for specific pieces. It’s easy to get exciting and feeling like you need to finish the project at hand, but in reality, it can be useful to wait and take a step back. Often you will find that after waiting for an extended period, you might have changed your mind about the items, or that you found a solution that would work better for the space.
5. Shop around and buy direct
Lastly, a practical, common sense interior design tip rather than trend advice! When shopping for materials and furniture, there are two types of retailers: One is a curated collection of items from various sources, typically with a wide range of objects and a good search engine, while the other is a manufacturer who is also selling their products directly. You want to aim for the latter option to avoid any mark-ups.
It’s great to get inspiration from big websites, but before you click on the buy button, make sure also to run a search on the manufacturer. Check if it’s company would be willing to sell you directly and if this could improve on the pricing, or just to see if you could get it anywhere else for less! If you need any more guidance or would like to speak to our team, click here.
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