Month: March 2024

Posted on

5 Ways to Create a Cosy Home

Yes candles and throws are the obvious way to make your home more cosy but here’s a list of 5 other tricks to create a soft, inviting and comfy environment without breaking the bank…

woman reading book

  • Mix Up the Texture 🧶
    Allowing different textures to live cohesively in one space will instantly bring a depth to your rooms that creates a cosy, welcoming space.

  • Lighting is EVERYTHING 💡
    You’ve heard me say it before and you’ll hear me say it again:

    You👏🏼Can👏🏼Never👏🏼Have👏🏼Too👏🏼Many👏🏼Lamps👏🏼

    Play around with different bulb wattage, filaments and colours. And for the love of God avoid white light unless your idea of ‘cosy and relaxing’ is Patrick Bateman’s apartment. 

  • Fill the Space 🪴
    Consider using vases, a stack of magazines, empty wine bottles as candlesticks or pottery to make your space feel lived in and warm.

  • Introduce Colour 🎨
    If your space is feeling a little 2-dimensional it may be that your palette isn’t varied enough. You don’t need to go full-out-maximalist here, just add splashes of colour with cushions, artwork and plants to create a homely environment you’ll never want to leave. 

  • Don’t Forget Your Tribe 🐶
    Framed photos of your nearest and dearest are the quickest way to inject some fuzzy-feels into your home. Vary the sizes, styles and colours of the frames for bonus points.

Hungry for more? Get weekly design tips, industry insights an expert advice direct to your inbox every Wednesday when you sign up to our newsletter.

Sign Up Now
Posted on

The Ultimate Guide to Gallery Walls

The Ultimate Guide to Gallery Walls

Gallery walls can be a show-stopper when done right, the hard bit is figuring out exactly how to execute correctly without it feeling like you’re sat in the middle of Nando’s.

Well I’m here to help you out with some DO’s and DON’T’s when it comes to styling a gallery wall to suit your taste.

If you have a gallery wall in your home let me know in the comments what you’d add to this list!

DO CHOOSE YOUR SPACE WISELY

Choosing a space for your gallery is the first task. Gallery walls generally look brilliant in unsuspecting places like staircases, cloakrooms and snugs, but they can equally look great in open-plan spaces if you have enough art! Avoid aimlessly plonking stuff in the middle of a wall, instead focus on creating an interesting shape that includes other elements such as doors, windows and shelves. This will make the room look more expansive and draw the eye across it rather than centering the focus in the middle of an empty space.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO GO BIG

Gallery walls lend themselves well to lots of colour, texture and size variations. Think of an actual gallery and apply the same concept to your space - it’s perfectly fine to showcase contrasting art in one place. One of my favourite things about the gallery walls in my home are the vast contrast in styles. We have everything from graphite portraits to tattoo art to watercolour nudie pics to vintage magazine cigarette adverts - and everything in between! Using an assortment of frames is key here too if you are looking to achieve the full maximalism look.

DO BE DELIBERATE

Be deliberate with your placement choice. If you like symmetry then go for it, if you don’t make sure you’re deliberately asymmetrical.. either way commit to your choice to avoid weird, dead space that is offensive to the eye. Avoid big gaps with straight lines like the photo on the left here, it just looks awkward. If you're going for symmetry then measure or use a laser for precision.

DON'T FORGET THE CLASSICS

Equally spaced, identical frames, all in black and white and against a plain backdrop is a beautifully stylish way to present a gallery wall. This works really well with black and white family photos and it's s a go-to design that I use for a lot of my clients in new builds whose homes lack a bit of personalty. It's a lovely way to bring some identity and values into their space whilst still maintaining the overall contemporary look of their home.

DO SUPPORT LOCAL ARTISTS

Love the idea of a gallery wall but don’t know where to start looking for pieces? Head to your local artisan market or hit up that friend you know that does art...not only will you be supporting real talent you’ll also have an authentic conversation piece hanging proudly on your wall. This piece pictured here is by BornStokie - an artist whose trademark style has seen her wor featured in exhibitions around the world!

Crop unrecognizable female interior designer drawing sketchy plan of room of house sitting at desk

DON'T FORGET TO HIRE A PROFESSIONAL

If you’re totally lost or just haven’t got the time then why not enlist the help of an interior design consultant to put together a concept and create beautitful designs that you are guaranteed to love. For any projects you have that you'd like some help with why not take action today and book a free consultation? I would love to hear from you to chat about how we can turn your ideas into a reality and transform your home... To get in touch simply use the chatbot in the corner of the screen or email sophie@shaginterior.co.uk.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s blog post, feel free to bookmark it to return to at a later date. I’d love to know what other topics you’d like me to cover so drop me a comment & I will make notes for next week!