Interior Style Ideas... Bachelor Pad Top Tips

General tips

Make it easy on yourself by choosing a style from the word go, and sticking to it. Whether that’s the romance of country cottage or the minimalist chic of a bachelor pad, make sure it appeals to your taste, and importantly, suits your lifestyle.
Use pictures, samples and photos to inspire you and help you to visualise the finished effect.
Consider all the rooms in your home at the same time, as you might want to change their use, which would affect your style. For example, a dining room doubling as a home office or play room needs practical wall and floor coverings as well as plenty of discreet storage.
Remember the best interior design doesn’t have to involve creating something totally new. Sometimes it is best to work with what you’ve got, or take someone else’s idea and adapt it to your own needs.

The right fireplace offers the most stylish focal point for any room, not to mention the opportunity for a lovely blazing fire in the hearth.
As a general rule, you can either match the period of your fire surround to your home, or mix it up for an individual, eclectic look.
If you don’t have a fireplace but would like one, it could be a lot simpler – and cheaper - than you think to get what you want. You’ll find a huge range of beautiful restoration period fireplaces on offer at an equally wide range of prices, and there are countless modern choices out there too.
Even if you don’t fancy a working fire, a stylish fireplace looks terrific with flowers in the grate, or candles in the hearth, or fairy lights. Just don’t put them in there if you do have a real fire blazing!
Click here to see the range at West Country Fires.

To add the illusion of height to low ceilings, paint the ceiling a lighter shade or colour than the walls.
If you’re lucky enough to have high ceilings already, make the most of them with low hanging lights and dramatic curtains.
Changing your lighting is inexpensive ways to revamp your home. Consider using uplighters, downlighters, spotlights, and of course candles.
Candles come in all kinds of exciting ranges these days: choose from amazing scents such as lime and basil, or go for the sculpted melt style, which burns down into all manner of weird and wonderful shapes.

Rugs offer an effective, easy way to update your home instantly and dramatically.
Pick them up on your travels.
Watch out if you plan to have wooden floors in a flat, as this can be tricky. Even when floorboards are in good enough condition – and they are often not – noise can be a problem in older houses converted into apartments.

Consider every element in a room as part of the colour scheme, as the furniture and flooring matter as much as your fabrics and walls.
It is often easier to choose your furniture and fabric first when creating your colour scheme, and then match the paint to the fabric, rather than vice versa.
Hot colours - vibrant reds, yellows, blues and greens - can adding great energy to a room. Balance them with cool, reflective whites to keep it sane.
Rich colours such as browns, aubergines and reds, are ideal for a masculine or exotic interior. Used well they create a cosy, sensual ambience.
Neutrals such as creams through to greys and pale browns create a tranquil home, but avoid neutrals in rooms without much natural light.
Patterned – but not geometric - wallpaper can be good camouflage for bumpy walls.
Patterns with just two colours - especially if one is white - are much easier to use.
Don't fear large scale or graphic patterns in small rooms, because used well they can actually create the illusion of more space.
Small, detailed patterns create a delicate, feminine interior.
Don't be afraid to mix and match fabrics and textures - but DO be afraid to mix colours.

Remember to add your own little touches, to reflect your individual personality and give your home a unique style.
Let common sense prevail: an interior magazine is there to inspire you, not to dictate. Remember that the enormous ballroom with the red walls might be fifty times the size of your lounge! Use details to suit your home. For example, try painting just one wall red, rather than the whole room.
But be brave! Even if it all goes wrong, it’s not the end of the world and you can always start again.

Have fun, whatever you do.