Style like a pro: Decision Fatigues

Plan your strike. Get your colour palate locked and loaded.

No, not a typo.  I am indeed using dramatic military vernacular for this particular topic.  The topic that is the never ending despotic tyranny of “consumer choice”.  

Hundreds, thousands of choices. All marvellous. All waiting for you to meticulously sift through to find THE perfect piece for you home.  Before you know it, you have 157 grey modular couches on your short list with not even a glimmer of a final decision…Sound familiar?  Those of you that have attempted to DIY their own interiors will know what I’m putting down and it’s something I hear quite often from my clients.  They thought “how hard could this be?”  They donned the fatigues, unholstered their credit cards and waded into the swampy (but oh so pretty) marsh of the homemaker centre only to met by a formidable barrage of choice, running at them like hungry Raptors in a jurassic cornfield. Panic sets in, the white flag hastily goes up and suddenly that old ratty couch isn’t so bad. 

I’m a Libra (not an astrophysicist) and decision making is oft fraught and laborious.  Don’t even picture me sitting hunched over the menu like a mad scientist trying to decide which entree to order whilst my fellow dinner guests slowly loose their will to live.  Yet burdened with this terrible affliction, I work very happily in a profession where decision making is king.  But how?!  How do I efficiently pull together a coherent concept, choose furniture, paint colours and battalions teeny weeny little decorator objects without succumbing to design paralysis?  

Put down that Ikea catalogue and read on my dear Comrades, your lounge room needs you.

Laser Like Focus.

You know that look your pet gives you when you’re scoffing pizza on the couch?  That’s focus.  Those steely determined eyes, watching and studying every minutiae of movement, intricately tracking that slice of pizza from the box to your face (and probably down your t-shirt).  Body motionless but tense, ready to strike when opportunity falls from your mouth.  Doubt that you will accidentally drop an entire slice on the floor is never entertained.  Success will be theirs. If not by your careless greasy hands then certainly by the sheer telekinetic power currently being employed by Walter the Puggle.

Be like Walther the Puggle at dinner time when entering the furniture store.  FOCUS. You know you want a modern light grey modular lounge.  “Of course!” says the sales assistant who promptly walks you over to the most perfect and comfortable grey modular you’ve ever seen. GET. IT…..But wait! The sales assistant seductively asks “But have you seen these…?” Your hairs prickle with curiosity, the sales assistant gestures their arm like a tv game show hostess and suddenly a savanna of couches is revealed, all different, all beautiful.  None being a grey modular couch. Now, you’re questioning your plan. Those hours you scoured instagram, measured the room, argued with the other half, gave Walter a bit of pepperoni and said it was the last one, re-measured, given Walter another bit of pepperoni and finally agreed to a solution have now gone.  Hastily surrendered in the face of new and completely different options.  Why? Because they’re simply there.  

Remember, pizza box, face.  Don’t be distracted! Be like Walter. You knew what you wanted and it’s here, waiting for you. Perfect…the store has metaphorically dropped THE most perfect slice of pizza on the floor.  Be. Like. Walter. Snaffle it now without hesitation knowing in your heart it’s what you wanted in the first place and it’s perfect for your house.  Let some other gormless schmuck be ravaged to death in the sofa savanna.  You have the inside scoop, you haven’t won the war yet but the first battle can be notched up as an allied win.

Spidy Senses.

“Let’s just make sure there’s not a better option”  …I hear this a lot. And as Paul Keating once said, this concept “is a shiver looking for a spine”.  Usually mine.

Choosing fabric and colour samples can be overwhelming.

Sure, getting the best option is super important. But that best solution is something you’ve probably already discovered when pulling together your overall colour scheme. Sitting in a showroom with a sales assistant helpfully hovering like an impatient Blackhawk chopper (desperate to make a sale) whilst you’re engaged with a weapons grade toddler tantrum is not the time to start exploring an entirely new design concept.  Then the sales assistant parks a troop carrier of fabric sample books and proceeds to lob grenades of designer fabrics at you in an effort to be “helpful”. Suddenly you can’t decide between the teal velvet, hot pink corduroy or cobalt blue boucle.  What happened to light grey?!  Put down all the other sample books that aren’t grey…Except maybe the one with the cobalt boucle.  Maybe we should just have a look…

I won’t lie, once you have “the colour” locked in, then there’s “which shade?”.  Even talking humble grey we have a kaleidoscope of choices.  Shark grey, charcoal, flint, pavement, graphite, smoke, pewter…I could go on. I won’t.  I do have a client at the moment who delights in the unnecessarily fruity names we creatives come up with for simple colour names.  I’ll admit, it’s become quite a fun game to come up with increasingly ludicrous names for our colour palate and highly recommended to lighten the mood…But I digress.

There’s only one piece of advice I have here.  Trust. Your. Gut.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve laboured over 50 shades of porpoise (not a typo, a legit colour) with clients just to end up selecting the first one that caught our eye…only now it’s dark outside.  Now, I’m not saying don’t look at the various shades, it’s your duty! But if you thought light grey was the colour, then look at the light grey options. Don’t even bother looking at the darker shades. Choose from the handful you do want, not the gazillion you don’t.

In closing.

I guess the nutshell sales pitch here is trust your judgement and your plan and remain focused.  You decided a light grey modular was the right choice weeks ago, then built a whole room around it.  Don’t go a changing now just because you saw a lovely but totally unsuitable day bed.  Approach everything from here on in with blinkered determination to succeed in the face of choices overload.  Trust me, I’ve been there and done the alternative many times before learning this particular war game. And once you engage these strategies, you’ll be sitting on your new couch eating pizza with Walter in peaceful bliss in no time.

Happy styling!

Dave xx

On another note, Ii’s my hope that these blogs give you practical info to help style your own master piece, intended to be delivered a light and entertaining way.  How am I doing?  If you love it, share it with those you know would love it too. If you hate it or want to me to discuss a particular topic, don’t be shy!  I love all feedback so send me a message.  I have a 3 part series outlining the entire design process which should be a good summer read…and helpful too!  Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter to get all the latest info AND 10% off your first purchase.

Style Like A Pro: The bed

Layering colours and textures

My lack of discipline boarders on the pathological.  There, I said it.  This is a fact verified by my local Crossfit gym (sorry guys, I promise I’ll see you soon) and my local wine shop (sorry guys, I promise I’ll stop bothering you…one day).  But in the broad litany of self imposed rules that get regularly broken, there is one that remains like a shining beacon of sanctimonious smugness.

I make my bed.  Everyday.  Ok fine, 363 days a year.  The other 2 days are those in which I feel too mean spirited to dislodge my peacefully slumbering cat.  Every morning I not only make the bed, I style and plump and fluff as though a photoshoot were about to happen.  For me, this sets the tone for the day and my mindset.  No matter what potential bin fires to threaten my zen, at least I’ve made the bed #adulting.  If afore mentioned bin fires escalate to full blown crises, there’s always the luxury and embracing comfort that is crawling into a beautiful bed after a crap day….with wine.  And chocolate.  And the Cat.  I digress.

So, how do you style your own insta worthy boudoir?  Here’s how:

You’ll need:

2 European pillows

4 Standard pillows (2 will be “sleeping” pillows)

1 doona (more on doona’s later)

1 plain sheet set and doona cover set 

2 Euro pillow cases 

1 or 2 scatter cushions 

1 throw or quilt/comforter

Sounds like a lot but once it’s all in place it certainly won’t look like that.  Choose high loft/high profile options as you want billowy goodness.  Buy the best quality you can afford, unfortunately the tantalisingly cheap bedding isn’t great.  And that’s not me being a bougie stylist either.  Both from a function and design perspective they perform terribly…and terrible performance in the bedroom should always be avoided.

Choosing colours:

Mixing and matching colours can be hit and miss, even for us pros.  To ensure a hit, pick out a few colours from an artwork or if you’re using a doona cover with patterns, select 1 colour from the pattern and use it for the sheets and another colour or 2 for the scatter cushions, euro pillow cases and throw.  Voila, design cohesion.

Texture:

You don’t have to use lots of colours, or any in fact.  Simple white or monochrome is still super fabulous but bring it to life with a combo of textures.  Think, smooth cotton sheets, chunky knit throws and tactile velvet.

Assembly:

First up? The sheet set which is is pretty straight forward. 

Second, the doona and throws.  I usually go one of two ways here.  If I’m using a throw, I’ll lay the doona on the bed, position the throw towards the end (but not all the way) then fold the top of the doona back to the foot of the bed (over the throw) and then back again to the top of the now folded doona…kinda like a “Z”.  If I’m using a quilt or comforter, I will lay that down on the bed first and fold to the top about 1/3 down, then fold the doona two or three times and lay that at the foot of the bed (you can fold this in a way so when you get into bed, you can just grab the top and pull up rather than going to the hassle of unfolding then laying it back on the bed….basically, another Z fold).

Finally:

The pillows.  The standard pillows you use for the basic pillow cases in your sheet set are your “sleeping” pillows (if you use some fancy ergonomic bamboo pillow as seen on TV? Put that in the wardrobe….nobody got time for that).  You want to hide the sleeping pillows a little bit as they tend to get a bit messed up.  My go-to pillow combo is euros sitting fluffed and upright up the back, the “sleeping pillows” then the decorative standard pillows (rocking the pillow cases that came with your doona set) up front and showing off.  Either stack the standard pillows on top of each other or prop them up like a filing cabinet.  I NEVER have pillows sitting on the doona, they sit on the sheets.  Dunno why but to me, it looks a bit boring and you loose some of that puff we’re trying to infuse in the final look.  Give the scatter cushion/s a puff up and place in the centre in front of your pillow stack.  if using down cushion inserts don’t forget the chop…it can be quite satisfying on a Monday morning…

And you’re done!  I know it sounds like a lot of bother but really, after the first couple of makes, the bed sorta starts making it myself.  For me, this entire process at home in the morning takes maybe 5 minutes?  No lie.

The doona:  Further on doonas as they’re important.  The high loft doonas are the best with goose and duck down considered the gold standard….and they’re lovely.  But, unless you’re sure the down is ethically sourced avoid them.  You don’t even wanna know what happens to the poor feathery guys supplying the filler and who wants to sleep under all that bad karma?  I love micro fibre down guilts.  They’re luxe, puffy, warm AND cruelty free.  If you have a “hot” partner, a good solution is using 2 doonas with different warmth ratings.  Put each in a different cover and use one in place of a throw. or comforter  This is also a great solution for summer when you don’t need the warmth but still want that high loft effect.

The haters: For reals.  Lots of people get mystifyingly fussy about using lots of pillows on beds (and couches). Sadly, the shade is likely to come from a source surprisingly close to home by way of your significant other.  “Why do we need so many pillows, we only have one head, wah wah wah.”  Whatevs.  I say do your thing until they can pack the dishwasher properly…

Happy styling, Peeps!

Dave xx