Interior designer Leicestershire

The beginning of New Year is always a great opportunity for a fresh start. So it is certainly the perfect time to renovate your home and bring about a new energy into your living space. This year looks beyond bare minimal interior spaces, promising much more rich, inviting and luxurious homes. So it is the best time to bring a glimpse of the rich cultural heritage of Leicestershire into your homes. Thus here are top 5 interior design in Leicester trends which bring a contemporary twist upon classic design elements, for an ultimately modern and luxurious haven.

1. A rich colourpalette:

Passion for rich and bright colours had already been witnessed last year. Yet in the year 2019, it is likely to become the most happening interior design trend. It remains a perfect opportunity to bring the rich, warm and inviting colours of the Victorian period back into your home. So when thinking of home refurbishment this year be sure to add a rich colour palate ranging from dazzling shades of red, orange and pink to the royal and enchanting tones of purple. Thus when renovating your home this time bid farewell to boring and monotonous grey and brighten up your space with these vibrant colours.

2. Brass accents:

This year it is all about warm, inviting and luxurious space, thus the cold feel of stainless steel can certainly not do justice. So it is time to cherish the ultimately rich and sophisticated finish of Brass. The material can instantly bring warmth into your space with a unique touch of luxury. So adorn your space with brass accent when renovating your home this year. It remains a great way to glam featuring endless creative possibilities. Bring the unique finish of brass through home accessories such as mirror and lamps, or simply add a touch of brass to the rod of your curtains and blind. Fine detailing in brass could also serve as a modern twist upon classic cravings and details. So this year is the perfect opportunity to awaken your space to the warmth and opulence of brass.

3. Floral pattern:

With an increasing urge to connect with nature, design trends of this year tend to focus upon bringing all the motifs and patterns inspired by nature back into your home. So when renovating your home this year, add a unique style into your home with floral patterns and motifs inspired by the classic era. Yet these floral patterns and design are not restricted to your pillows and beddings. This year it is likely to go big with exquisite wallpaper, dramatic wood panelling and contemporary tiles. The idea is to exaggerate proportions and present nature in a more artistic way.

4. Velvety Delight:

It is hard to imagine an inviting, rich and opulent space without the timeless addition of velvet. The super soft touch of velvet with a unique shine makes it an irresistible option for an ultimately warm, comfortable and stylish seating area. This year velvets are being admired in a variety of jewel tones. Thus if you are considering to refurbish your living room, a great idea remains to reupholster sofa or armchairs to bring an instant change. A classic wing chair or sofa upholstered in rich and modern jewel tones of velvet, instantly adds a modern and luxurious flair into your home.

5. Contemporary Wall Scones:

This year wall scones will certainly steel the limelight. Featuring classic stylistic features within contemporary design, these lights could serve as an exclusive detail of your home. The lights have a unique quality to highlight details and finishes of a wall. Thus wall scones are increasingly being used in bedroom to highlight the bedroom feature wall. So when renovating your bedroom, make a unique style statement with these lights. The ultimately stylish light fixtures have also gained popularity in more functional spaces such as kitchen and bathroom. Thus Wall scones can actually serve as a design feature vouching for a glamorous and sophisticated interior space.

Creating unity and harmony in a space.

When undertaking interior design, you need to look at the building as a whole. Do not consider each room to be separate but to be part of a larger room that is connected via halls, stairs and doors. When thinking this way you should aim to link all of the rooms together in a fluid and continuous style and a fantastic way to achieve this is with the use of colour.

Color can be selected in a set of 3 to four tones, and varying shades of those tones can be utilised in each room throughout the building. By doing this you introduce each room to the next and keep a common theme throughout that helps create an identity for the building as a whole. If you prefer to stick to single shades in each room, then try to build a connection by introducing separate tones to the woodwork or window frames, therefore, bringing each room together.

Contrast is important.

Contrast is found everywhere you look and is also a major player when it comes to design. To utilise contrast you can use 2 opposing colours or shapes to create the effect. Think of traditional contrast colours such as black and white, or red and green. They hold a pleasing aesthetic that is almost comforting to the eye while creating interest.

The use of contrast, especially with colour can liven up a space and give it a modern sleek feel. Be careful with how you place contrasting pieces and colours as it can also cause a room to feel busy and disorganised. A great example of how to add some contrast to a space would be cushion covers and curtains in contrasting shades to the main colour scheme.

Focal points make or break a space.

When it comes to interior design the most well-known objective is the focal point. A focal point is what makes a room have interest and removes boredom from the space. In fact, every well-designed space should have one or more focal points to add interest to it. Depending on the size of the space you are working with, a great example of some focal points would be a brick fireplace, a large flat screen TV or a feature wall.

A focal point should aim to draw the eye to it by creating interest, but should not dominate the eye line, this is why feature walls work so well. If every wall were to be heavily decorated in a striking pattern, then there would be nothing that specifically draws the eye to it. A feature wall is one wall decorated in a more extravagant and bold style that complement the 3 other plainer walls of the room. The focal point is also the most fun part of interior design and is when you get to create something a little bit more unique that gives a space its main identity.

If you are looking for home refurbishment in Leicester, the Craven & Hargreaves can assist you in creating the type of home that you dream of.

It’s inevitable at Christmas that you’re more than likely to go over your usual shopping budget and give your credit cards a good workout, so why try and fight it? After all you can’t put a price on happiness and Christmas is the happiest time of the year!

When it comes to Christmas decorations this year, spoil your tree and your home to some of the finest wares that will make for a special addition to your home each year!

Extra special decorations

Known as Mr Christmas, Johann Wanner is a Swiss Christmas specialist who has decorated the White House, 10 Downing Street and even done decorations for the late Princess Diana. He began importing antique glass decorations from Russia and to this day he has a whole, stunning shop in Basel dedicated to Christmas all year round. You can get some original, glass and antique Christmas Decorations via his online shop here.

Show Stopping Wreaths

Want to impress even the postman this Christmas. You can’t go wrong with a luxury Christmas wreath. We love these handmade wreaths by Floom in London, using the best natural materials including pine cones, dried seed pods and flowers. With their team of talented florists you can have a Christmas wreath to put your neighbours to shame.

The most important meal of the year

We all know how much energy goes into making Christmas dinner, so make sure your delicious banquet is complemented by your table decorations. From opulent and festive napkin rings, to platters, candle holders and more. Check out these Christmas dining accessories by John Lewis to make your table extra special this year.

Luxury Stocking Fillers

Of course Christmas isn’t just about buying Christmas decorations, it’s also about presents! This year, why not upgrade everyone’s Christmas stockings from bog standard to super luxurious. Harrods have some fantastic ideas for luxury stocking fillers so why not treat your family this year with something extra special!

Just because it’s Christmas, it doesn’t mean you have to plaster your halls and walls with tinsel in every colour – and nor is it an excuse to  litter the outside of your home with flashing multi-coloured lights and various inflatable Christmas paraphernalia. Christmas presents the perfect opportunity for sumptuous style, decadence and luxury – after all it is the season for indulgence.

This year, treat your home to a stylish Christmas with considered decor. Although some decorations can hold sentimental value your home can soon start looking like a charity shop in January, so stop, think and design before you break out the step ladder.

The centre piece of most homes during this festive time of year is the Christmas tree. So a great way to ensure your tree is stylish as opposed to garish is to colour coordinate your decorations. For example you can mix gold decorations with warm white lights, or mix blues and silvers with bright white lights. Of course your colour scheme can be a little more inventive, however the importance of balancing colours is looking at them as either cool or warm, so for reds, oranges opt for complementary warm lights, and when using blues, think about neighbouring shades of purple or green.

Of course, decor doesn’t just stop at the tree. You can add some festive style to your front door. When it comes to a Christmas wreath, traditional is always best, so you could head to a florist and get one custom made with some intricately hidden, battery powered fairy lights, or get creative with holly and ivy yourself – after all a plastic wreath will never look as good as a real one and is far more stylish and elegant than a fake one.

If you’re entertaining this Christmas you can also inject some festive style into your drinking and dining wear with some elegant wineglass charms so your guests don’t mix up their drinks, and some festive gold platters to serve nibbles on.

Remember, Christmas is a time to spoil yourself, family and friends so the more opulent and stylish… the better!

It’s difficult to design something for the ‘average’ teenage girl, as each one has their own style, for example goth, feminine, sophisticated, rocker or chic. Here are some of the best ways to try to work their unique style and personality into an interior décor scheme they will truly feel at home in.

Use their favourite colour

Most people have a colour that they prefer over all others, such as red, black, sunny yellow, blue, or purple. Using their favourite shade will help them to show off their personality, the instant that anyone steps foot in the room. You can also add colourful accessories if their favourite colour is something dark, which they can change as often as they like.

Work in storage

You can suggest storage options, that will tie into their interior décor ideas. It might help with keeping their possessions out of the way, if you pick things that they’re pleased by. It can be difficult for parents to make sure that their teenagers are keeping their bedrooms clean.

Colourful bedroom

Another way of making sure that the room suits your teenager’s style, is to allow them to mix and match florals, block colours, stripes and other patterns. Most girls change their personal preferences and style quite often, depending on which influences are strongest at the time of decorating.

Bare-brick wall alcove

Your teenager might have been influenced by American television programmes set in New York like Gossip Girl, Sex and the City, and Friends. If so they might want to have a bare brick wall, in a bid to create a understated replica of some of the interiors in those and similar shows.

Patterned wallpaper

For those who have daughters influenced by the sixties and seventies, why not let them choose an vibrant patterned wallpaper? They could choose furniture and home accessories in similar tones, but use block colours in order to make the room less fussy.

Ditsy floral fabrics

Some girls have classic, and girly tastes for delicate florals, and they might prefer to have a wrought iron bed frame. The metal bed frame can be off set by lots of floral cushions, and if they’re influenced by post world war two décor, then second hand trunks are a possibility for extra storage.

Organised girls

Those teenage girls that are ultra-organised may prefer to have clever storage solutions, in order to make sure that all their belongings are where they should be. Why not buy them a freestanding console with lots of drawers?

Please visit our website at: https://www.cravenandhargreaves.co.uk/services/interior-design/

It’s a very recent profession, considering how long we as humans have been decorating our homes. The earliest known use of the words ‘Interior Decorator’ was in America, during the early 1900’s. It wasn’t a prerequisite for those earning a living as designers to have academic qualifications but those at the top of the profession did have good taste, common sense and were able to see scale and proportion.

The first interior designer that received an official commission, was Elsie de Wolfe, who went onto publish the first known interior design book called ‘The House in good taste’.

It wasn’t until 1923 however that the first commercial design firm was set up by Dorothy Draper. She earned the distinction of being the first commercially successful interior designer.

However even with the accomplishments of these two women, they weren’t called ‘interior designers’ at the time. It wasn’t until the 1930’s and the creation of a magazine called, ‘Interior Design and Decoration’ that it came into common usage.

A competing magazine known as ‘Interiors’ insisted that people not call those decorating homes for a living, ‘decorator’ but ‘interior designer’.

AID, which was the biggest professional organisation in design was founded in 1931, after several people convened at a furniture show. They wanted to create something national, which all designers could belong to. AID added Interior to their name in 1936, after being the American Institute of Decorators for five years.

Another step in developing the role of interior designers was when design schools began to recognise the work of designers, architects and engineers.

‘Interiors’ published contract work more often than residential work, and soon after resuming publication the ‘Interior Design and Decoration’ magazine took the option of dropping ‘and decoration’ from it’s title.

It was in the 1970’s when two organisations were formed to maintain standards so that all interior designers were held to the same level of education and professionalism. They were the Foundation for Interior Design Educational Research (FIDER) and National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ).

Interior design is still evolving, as the world becomes more and more global. It’s become such an established profession that fictional characters such as ‘Grace’ from ‘Will and Grace’ are given the occupation, and there have been programmes such as ‘Changing Rooms’ in the UK which revolved around home renovation, and helping people decorate their homes in the most professional way possible.

Anyone in the Leicester area that has been inspired by this articlefeel free to get in touch with us at info@cravenandhargreaves.co.uk. We’re a Leicester based interior design firm with a well established reputation for passion and professionalism.

When setting forth on a project of home renovation, it’s surprising how many different things can influence you. It’s long since been a common practice to be inspired by art, even with those of us who are amateurs at home refurbishment.

People like William Morris, who is considered by some to have been the first British man to make a profession out of creating home furnishings such as curtains and wallpaper. He was influenced by his friendships with well-known artists such as Edward Burne- Jones and Rossetti, and got their help while spending two years designing the interior of his home in London.

The friends that helped Morris the most, went into business with him in 1861, calling themselves Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. They created home accessories such as tableware and furniture, stained glass and tiles, as well as the wallpaper that has become Morris’s trademark.

Wallpaper was only added to the list of items they sold because Morris had been so disappointed with those already on the market, when he had been designing his home interiors.

Art became a far more wide spread influence by the twentieth century, when Art Deco truly took hold. That art movement changed a lot of different strands of creative endeavour, not only interior design, but architecture, and others. The clean lines and geometric shapes that characterised the style, were unlike anything that people had seen before. The materials that tended to be used in creating home accessories, and furnishings were chrome, glass, lacquer and inlaid wood.

If you are looking to recreate the paint schemes typical of the Art Deco movement then silver, gold, charcoal and metallic blue were those favoured by interior design at the time. Serge Chermayeff, a Russian-born British designer made extensive use of cool metallic colors and luxurious surfaces in his room schemes, throughout this period. It was also common for people to use a lot of black and white, in their home decoration, when doing their floors in particular as they used black and white checkerboard tiles. Syrie Maugham was particularly fond of using white throughout the 1920’s, inspired by the impulse to reject the dark and repressive rooms she was brought up in, during her Victorian childhood.

When the style developed, and boomed in popularity going into the 1930’s, people started using more vibrant colours as well as the black and white.

Modern Art became the predominant influence from the art world during the 1950’s and 1960’s, but is considered to have been introduced by Frank Lloyd Wright. He gained considerable popularity after finishing a commission in the 1930’s. Interior design of the 1950’s and 1960’s was split between those that favoured the bright colours and psychedelic patterns used by David Hicks, and Dorothy Draper’s tendency to mix and match patterns and colours.

If you have the desire to follow in the footsteps of these people, and want to have your home decorated to a professional standard, then please contact us at info@cravenandhargreaves.co.uk

We are a Leicester based interior design company, and would be happy to advise you in any way that we can.

There have been examples of interior design, or people adapting their surroundings to their own personal taste since at least the eleventh century. These days it’s hard to pin down one particular trend which will come to define how we in the 2010’s decorated our houses.

It has been easier to spot features and touches that typify the houses of the past, and this is a brief guide to what you might need to purchase or master in order to design your house in the same way.

The Tudors
In order to get your home interiors to incorporate Tudor style influences, then you will need to find rich fabrics such as velvet, brocade and damask. The drapes, and curtains should really have thistle, Tudor rose and fleur de lys stencilled on them. The Tudors tended to use quite distinctive colours, such as gold, red and green in their interior decorating. There was also a lot of ornate carving to their wooden furniture, such as the four poster beds.

The Georgians
The wealthiest Georgian people, were fascinated and influenced by classical Roman architecture, and used a variety of Corinthian, Ionic and Doric columns in the exterior of their homes. The interest in Roman mythology extended into the interior decoration, as they would use the gods and goddesses’ images on various items typically vases and urns. There were a lot of swags, and ribbons used in the act of decoration, as well as a tendency to use quite neutral and light colours like pea-green, mauve and pink.

The Victorians

The Victorian period was so long that it encompasses a variety of different styles, but Gothic Revival was a particularly strong influence. There tended to be a lot of decorative ironwork, and they were heavily influenced by medieval heraldry. If you want your home to be decorated in the Victorian style, then the best thing is to use dark rich colours like forest green, damask wallpaper and obtain heavily carved, or plump, over-stuffed furniture, such as button-back armchairs, sofas and ottomans. Their fireplaces were normally ornate, and came in marble, slate or cast iron, depending on the wealth of the individuals. If you cannot afford to get such a thing, or do not want to have a fireplace, then perhaps use the patterned tiles or etched glass that was another staple of Victorian homes.

If you have been inspired by this post, then we would be glad to help you fully realise your interior decorating dreams. We are a Leicester based firm, but are happy to advise clients from other parts of the country.