Insights Into Interior Design Designing In Style. Part I Foundations

Global Interior Design Consultancy Company in London, UK for interior design services.
Interior design has always been impacted by fashion trends – both historically and in the modern day. In this article series, “Designing in Style,” I explore the meaning of style for interior designers. I draw on my experience working alongside many of London’s best-known interior design teams. This first article in my series outlines some of the basic concepts.

One of the first things to note is that we change our interiors much less frequently than we change our clothing. As a result, it is important for the professional interior designer to not design too “fashionable” a room for fear that it might seem completely outdated next year. Certainly it is possible to keep up with furniture fashions – many of which can be seen in London’s monthly interior design magazines – but the professional interior designer will generally prefer to focus on furniture fashions that can be easily changed. Examples include cushions, table decorations, rugs and bed linens.

London Interior Design trends can be very changeable. For example, in recent decades London saw a movement back towards the traditional. The Georgian-style Adam fireplace has seen a major revival, as have other old-fashioned features. Mouldings are very much in style today, and interior designers will commonly include them – whether in plaster or in wood.

Interestingly, the return of the dado rail (even in some of the smaller London residences) has also seen a re-envisioning of the two-tone wall colour scheme. In keeping with tradition, London interior design professionals will often choose a heavier, darker colour below the dado rail and a lighter colour above.

Fabric coordination is very much in vogue. With the increased availability of bespoke fabric centres in and around London, interior designers will often nowadays choose fabrics that are manufactured to match papers, borders, carpets, ceramics and even porcelain.

Finally, style should always be understood in the context of the available interior design space. No two rooms are identical, and every room has both strong points and weak points. The most experienced interior designers will choose styles that can showcase a room’s strengths while hiding its weaknesses. Examples of weaknesses in a room might include some structural re-engineering made by a previous owner, or perhaps an awkward architectural design fault that cannot be remedied today.

In the next article in this series on how interior designers “design in style,” I will introduce you to two of London’s most timeless design styles – Georg
Global Interior Design Consultancy Company in London, UK for interior design services.