MY DESIGN MANTRA II: Every room needs tension

Very few of us start building a room from scratch. We bring things from our previous homes and past lives and put them together in our new present. We might need some new furniture and a different rug, or we might slot all our existing things into the new space and simply paint the walls a different colour from the ones they sat against previously.

If we get it right, the room will not only look great but will also, and more crucially, feel good. We will want to spend time there as the colour scheme will support, or promote, the right mood. Our eye should travel round the space, landing on photos of loved ones, works of art we have saved for, and collections of objects that bring back memories.

Le Corbusier spoke of a house as a machine for living. I prefer to think of it as a box for memories and moods. A place that holds you and protects you and makes you feel happy.

And you don’t necessarily need to spend a lot of money to create that feeling. Mad About The House has always been about exactly that - helping you to feel excited about your home, whatever your budget.

These pages exist to give you ideas and inspire you with things you may not have seen before. There are suggestions to help you find the style that is right for you, with guidelines on how you might achieve it. There are very few rules - and even then, as we all know, rules are made to be broken. At least if you know the rules and understand why they are there, you can also understand if they are relevant to your situation or if you want to colour outside the lines.

At my reader event last week, one of the guests said that one of the things she loved about Mad About The House is that what is here feels attainable. And that is my greatest goal.

There is no limit to what we can aspire to, but if this newsletter/blog/magazine wants to achieve anything it is to show you how to interpret the inspiration and aspiration into ideas that work for you without simply copying or buying a dupe.

And so we come to one of the most important design elements for any room: You need to add tension.

When you have finished (I use that term loosely, as a house is never done) the room should feel like a series of conversations.

There may be one person holding court in front of a small, but rapt, audience (the focal point). There may be a few quiet chats taking place in other parts of the room (a sofa and a coordinating – but not matching – armchair with a lampshade listening nearby). It’s likely there’s a couple having a whispered row in the corner (the modern lamp on the antique table). And moving between them all are the other guests (the books, vases, ornaments and artwork) joining one conversation here and starting another over there.

The host is the colour palette, introducing everyone, finding the connections and making sure that no-one feels left out.

Those of you who cook may prefer to think of it as a recipe, others as the perfectly accessorised outfit. I like to go with conversation because talking is my thing.

What it is not is boring. There is a mix of quiet and loud. Spots of exuberance and points of calm. Some dancing and some standing. A room should have all these.

So how do we achieve this?

Let’s start by analysing this image of the main room in Beata Heuman’s London studio:

Now you don’t have to like it - this is not about that - but it’s a really good example of how to create a conversation in a room. Once you how how to do it, you can change the subject matter to suit your own interests.

There are five elements to creating a successful room and you need to use them all. They are all fairly self-explanatory although I would add that the last one relates to the period or age of the things in the room, and not the amount of time it takes to decorate.

COLOUR

PATTERN

TEXTURE

SHAPE

TIME

But on their own these aren’t enough to make a room sing. It’s what you do with them that matters and that’s where the tension comes in. And that’s where you need to be a little bit brave. And you need to trust me on this, because it will make your rooms look so much better.

The rest of this post is for paid subscribers. This is where you really learn how to make the most of your own space so that it inspires, supports and nourishes your soul. And all homes should do that. Come and join us - and in addition to an extra weekly post - you also gain access to my monthly Drop-in Design Clinic on Zoom where you can bring me your decorating dilemmas and we will chat them through.