Having an interior designer or spatial planner map out a new scheme for the rooms in your home is a very convenient and hassle free way to achieve your dream home. It is also however, a rather costly practice - and that's before the builders have even turned up! Besides unbalancing your bank balance it can also lead to an, albeit stylish, but ultimately sterile finish as rooms will lack the most important feature of all- you! Well, not in a literal sense of course, but the finish will miss your personal touch and life experiences. Yes you want your décor to be sophisticated and classy but you also want it relate to your life and have an organic feel. The best way to achieve this is to be brave and do it yourself.



Planning out a scheme is not as difficult as it may first appear. Begin by drawing up a rough floor plan of the room and section off the drawing into predetermined zones. A living area for example might have a sitting area, separate study area and a storage area. A kitchen may have a sitting area, storage area, food preparation area and washing area- be sure to give more space to areas of greater importance or frequency of use. If you really want your house to interact well with its occupants and increase the quality of your home-life, then really give careful consideration to your hobbies or any activities you normally carry out in each room. Once you feel your rooms are well balanced and proportioned decide on a basic holistic colour scheme. For living rooms, bedrooms and hallways, it is best to stick to a neutral scheme which will allow you some freedom in your furniture choices. White, off-white, earthy tones such as mushroom or putty or any shade of cream will all do fine though white is more difficult to warm if you are fairly inexperienced at room design. Kitchens and bathrooms should feel clean and fresh so if not using a typical white backdrop, add some zestfulness with lemon or create calmness and serenity with a peaceful blue (-also good for bedrooms).

When choosing furniture and fittings, remember to keep them in proportion to the size of your room, you may love Doric columns but how effective will they really be propping up your bookshelves in a one bedroom flat? Your spatial sketch which you hopefully completed will give you a good guide as to what furniture you need. If for example, your sketch shows a living room split into a large seated area, small study area and storage for your huge book collection and DVDs, then you will probably need a T.V. bench with storage for movies, enough shelves to create a feature wall, two settees, a coffee table and small computer desk or even just folding, wall attached table.

Finish off your scheme by choosing a selection of wall art and soft furnishings such as bedspreads, curtains, throws, rugs and cushions all in one accent colour to add both interest and cohesion to your plan.