Happy Friday ladies and gentlemen. Well I could essentially just say ladies but that’ll be really mean to the handful of gentlemen {a few of you from Norway and a few from all over the world} who have really good taste in home space {woot}, and who have been following me ever since. So it’s forever gonna be ladies and gentlemen here! We’ve been going full steam towards getting our tiny Mumbai loft to fake as much space as possible with loads of white, neutrals and knick and knack of organic materials and I can’t be happier to tell you that it’s all finally falling in place. Including the cat litter which is now a pretty beige.
When I blogged last with snippets of our home, a lot of you asked me about my tips and tricks to work neutrals in an Indian apartment. Thought it’ll be a good day to talk about decorating with neutrals- I promise it will be within 500 words {Jesus Christ}
Decorating with Neutrals: The basics
Decorating with neutrals can be fun, and atleast to me, this color diet totally works because its easier on the eye. But then there is always that thin line that distinguishes a drool worthy neutral homes from one that’s austere or plain language boring. Take a look at the basics so you can ace decorating with neutrals.
Oh, by the way, if you don’t know what exactly Neutrals are- they are colours that don’t show on the colour wheel.
Think soft, subtle shades that blend effortlessly with other colors. For example, white, beige, grey, taupe, khaki, and ivory. Now mind you, depending on the tint, they can be cool neutral or warm neutral and they are just as neutral as they can ever be.
You know, a very funny way too describe this would be, colours that are actually neutral! Take a colour that goes with pretty much every other colour and shade, and in all cases it’ll be Neutral. They are calming, easy on the eyes, never go out of style and gives an illusion of space for small spaces as well.
Depending on the look and feel you want for your home, you can make neutrals play around your theme- it’s the nuances of the style that you’ll have to be careful about.
Decorating with Neutrals: The 5 top tips
1. Beige, White, Cream, Putty: When you want to start decorating neutrals the first thing you need to see is the wall colour and what the space offers in terms of location. What do you see outside your window? If its a home- we are looking thicker curtains in beige. If it offers a wonderful view, we are looking at drapes as well as sheers in light beige or white that’ll naturally take your view outside. I love white, my walls were white too and there was a lovely view outside so I chose white to build my home up. You could choose Putty, Beige, Biscuit or cream as well as that one predominant colour for your space.
2. Natural Material: Give a big nod to natural materials in their natural colours while decorating with neutrals. Choose furniture and storage options; accents and serveware in shades that complement your decor. This is specially crucial if you have a small home like me where everything is in plain view- from the laundry baskets to kitchen shelves. Ditch the plastic for rattan, cane or bamboo. Use natural wood as opposed to painted wood and stick to natural stone or natural looking veneers. Because I have a coastal inspired home, this is of utmost significance to me.
3.Visual Break: A neutral home offers a lot when it comes to accents and serves as the perfect backdrop to show off your paintings, plants, art and artefacts. And you should. Give your neutral home a visual break for that perfect, no bore space. In my space, you’ll find a healthy dose of plants in terracotta pots that break all that white. Sometimes a flower or two or a nifty little shawl does the trick too.
4. From graceful to rustic: One great thing about decorating with neutrals is, you can pan the range from elegant and graceful to completely rustic and vintage. Just change around elements that is all! Imagine a grey living room for example. You could very well add in a dose of queen anne chair with sleek gold bar trolleys. Or, you could bring in barn wood, rustic chandelier, loads of plants and vintage linen. In both cases the outcome will be gorgeous.
5. Baby blue, deep green, blush, mustard and charcoal: In my opinion, these colours look fantastic with neutrals. But this is just me. You can be very well getting in ultra violet and chances are it’ll look drop dead gorgeous too but I have specially found these tones to work wonders with neutrals for that classy, graceful, serenity exuding thang. haha this when I do my blog the way I like.
Also, if you are using neutrals in a very bright room, it helps if you keep it cheerful too- get in tones of oranges and navy if you want some colour splurge with neutrals.
As for our home, it’s white with bits and bobs of brown, terracotta, black, grey and a healthy dose of green- Fresh, coastal, natural- the way I like it.
And now ladies and gentlemen, I am off for a drink.
Haven’t figured what yet
XO