Step 1 Begin by daring to dream

Firstly, think about what your new house will look and feel like when you have finished all your refurbishment work and you can put your feet up and begin living in your dream home. It is time to let your imagination think freely here!

Diving in and enjoying creating a whole house interior design scheme is the best place to start if you want to achieve a stylish and cohesive interior with visual consistency throughout, or to put is simply: a unified home interior design that flows.

A general overview of how to do this involves taking a ‘broad brush’ view of your favourite styles, colours, shapes, textures, lifestyle choices and home technology essentials. As the organising expert Marie Kondo would say, home furnishings trends that “spark joy” for you.

Step 2 Gathering ideas and inspiration

It is a good idea to commence by gathering together snips, torn out paper highlights and flyers from the best interiors magazines and glossy newspaper supplements that happen to catch your eye.

The paint department in DIY stores often have lovely leaflets, with many images of the latest fashionable paint pairings and techniques to try out when decorating this year.

You don’t need to invest in an expensive portfolio or computer equipment. A cheap A4 folder with a few dozen plastic sleeve pockets is ideal. These lightweight files are really portable, if you are lucky enough to be travelling around for inspiration too.

A passport isn’t necessary either, for this fun research task, luckily. Most places around the United Kingdom and beyond have great cultural houses, museums and trendy hot spots that can be checked out locally. Many counties and regions in England and Europe are filled with visitor attractions. Here you will find unusual interior colour combinations, architectural features and handmade craft treasures that you can view, that could also look great in your space, in one form or another.

Experiencing interesting environments in person, can be a great way of finding treats for all the senses. Music, fragrances and textures are key to creating a whole home, that reflects a brilliant blend of the individuals that live within.

In addition, as most design projects are now posted online, the internet is a brilliant place to search and discover enticing interiors from all over the world.

Taking photographs (smart phones are great for this) of the grand houses and unique buildings that you are able to visit and admire is very helpful as you can see how different rooms have been assembled by professionals.

Walking through these public abodes is valuable time spent in order to think about what suits you and your family and how it could be possible to adapt some of the inviting and sophisticated ensembles, into a more informal or simplified version, that would work well in your own personal pad.

Visually ‘shopping’ room sets and commercial interiors (in hotels or restaurants for example) that you really like, will help you to build up a design direction for your scheme.

Watching films and documentaries that are set in the design periods that you prefer and that relate to your chosen architecture can be illuminating. Watching recent adverts on television and streaming lifestyle, design and travel programs can be a surprising source of contemporary inspiration too.

Picking up samples of paints, fabrics, flooring and tiles that you find beautiful or exciting can be really useful at this stage.

Chatting with your nearest and dearest about what they love about being at home is helpful to build your understanding about what to incorporate into your plan that is especially for them.

Finding out what current trends float their boat, will also positively involve them in your whole house interior design, from the beginning. It is a winning strategy to get everybody onboard. Your loved ones might surprise you with their creative wisdom and flair for finding fabulous home accessories and coordinating materials.

If you are digitally minded, websites like the online Pinterest social media site is a handy free tool. Posting on Instagram and other messaging sites that include images, have the pleasurable benefit for enabling your creative interiors research to become a more social experience.

You can chat to friends and other home interiors enthusiasts about possibilities, colour combinations and so on. Exploring design pins on the web enables you to get feedback and encouragement about your emerging ideas from lots of different people if you wish.

Step 3 Consider what you have and what you can borrow

Considering what you have already to furnish your home and which items is special and what you love is a good idea at this stage. If you already own some great furniture, curtains, prints or handmade artwork pieces, now is the time to make sure that they are center stage, in your whole house design. 

Choosing the perfect pieces of art and decorative textiles, that you would like to incorporate in a scheme for your home can be a delightful activity. It can also happen somewhat accidentally as you are given pieces to ‘look after’. Alternatively, your ‘anchor’ pieces may be something that can happily build up into a set, that happens randomly over time. These meaningful artworks and furnishings can evolve, as you build a collection that celebrates your households’ identities, good times, travels and interests.

The colours, shapes, materials and styles that are in your art, antiques, sculptures and textiles (and more) can provide a starting point for an initial colour palette and also a mood. New (or vintage) pieces can be introduced to harmonise (or strikingly contrast if you are feeling confident) with the core items that you may already have within your possessions.

If you are excited about the creative direction that your pre-loved particulars are taking you already, you will be well on your way to building a unique home scheme that is both original and delightful. 

Step 4 Start by going back to the drawing (and sample) board

It is a good idea to pin your saved images (and photos of any pieces you already own) onto a big board or paste them into a scrapbook. It is fun to experiment with arranging samples and try out all sorts of different combinations.

Don’t worry about being too careful about collating your samples or too precise about sticking together your selections neatly. There is plenty of time to consider all the options and add to what you have gathered already. You can always reprint or colour photocopy your cut outs, swatches and images again, or several times over if you need to.

Think of your scrapbooks, project wallet files and sample boards as a way of capturing and developing your ideas. Have fun grouping the things that you like best, as you go on your journey to discovering your own whole house interior design scheme.

Step 5 Functional reality checklist

Taking time to ponder (and measure up if appropriate) the existing size and proportions of your home is a useful part of the process. If you have plans of your home already to scale, print these out and look at your room shapes in a view drawn from above.

Assessing the total space that you have available and the number of people who are using each space may be important in deciding where to allocate precious resources. The aim is choosing the most suitable design solution in order to meet all your functional and aesthetic needs, whilst staying within your financial limitations.

Wondering how ‘busy’ or ‘minimalist’ you would like your abode to appear, will really help you ‘max out’ or ‘pare back’ the number and quantity of interior elements that you want to introduce.

At this stage list down on paper, or a digital device, all the occupants and all the visitors that will likely spend time in your home. Then note what activities and entertainments that you and they regularly like to do, as well as all the practical facilities that your home essentially needs to accommodate them welcomely.

This is a really useful exercise to help you define a set brief of things that your overall design has to include, to comfortably provide for you and your family’s (or housemates) needs.

Step 6 Compare the options and know your priorities

Take time to compare your dream pinboard of ideas and your wish list of luxury interior design features with your more practical brief of spaces and equipment and furnishings that you definitely need to incorporate into your scheme. Hopefully you can see how these different aspects can work together and that gives you a really good place to start when developing your own individual house design options.

Don’t be afraid to drop and forget specific ideas and creative directions that do not chime well with your own personal vibe, your chosen activities and your homes age, state of repair, atmosphere and location.

For example, it is best to avoid embracing any very high maintenance decorative fashions such as sumptuous velvet or silk fabric wallcoverings if you have children, boisterous teenagers, pets, lodgers or regularly rather lively house guests.

On the plus side energetic home occupants and four legged friends can add tons of character and healthy joyful energy to any place, so nobody will ever notice your final design scheme is on the ‘keep it practical’ side.

If your property is listed get advice from your local council about suitable specialists to guide you about what you can and cannot do when refurbishing your house. Each local council website in England has an advice section online with lots of information regarding the official building standards you must follow, the planning permissions you must obtain and the certificates that you need to get from professional planning specialists, if you are doing anything major and/or any structural changes as a homeowner.

The local council planning website is also the place to check what you can do without needing to contact the county’s planning department. The good news is that many popular home upgrades and interior refurbishment projects are well within ‘permitted development’ and don’t need any special applications to be administered.

Step 7 Think about proportions, architecture and moderation

Sometimes ‘less is more’ and ‘keeping it simple’ can mean going with a style and colour palette that reflects you own personal taste without ‘throwing the kitchen sink’ of trendy options into your room decoration choices. This is especially true in a relatively modest sized home like our first Create Display complete town house refurbishment project.

Highlighting any excellent architectural features that you would like to keep early on in the project, can really help to identify and anchor your scheme. In this example we celebrated a lot of exposed brickwork which formed a large fireplace and full-length shelving and alcove surrounds which were added by previous homeowners who moved in, not long after the house was built in 1960.

Sitting room with exposed brickwork feature in Hampshire townhouse (also see fireplace image) interior design by Amanda Howse. Photo by Adam for Cubitt and West Ltd.

The existing brick fireplace feature and accompanying storage structures were very solid and functional but felt dated rather than trendily ‘mid-century retro’. However, when we applied a ‘limewash’ effect to the brick, the sitting room was instantly updated into a contemporary blush pink and cream haven. Lots of warm lilacs and buff neutrals with a soft and warm texture that provided the impact that any beautiful home interior needs, as well as a cosy focal point to the heart of this family home.

If existing interior elements are of good quality and in fair condition think about how to update them with additional layers of the latest new finishes such as: adding the latest vogue in paint tints, extra paneling and carpentry, beautiful decorative fabric, gorgeous patterned wallpaper, wonderful upholstery materials or pretty mosaic tiles, to keep your look fresh.

Keep the scheme flowing throughout your home and include every room. Incorporating the bedrooms, study’s, bathrooms, garden and any storage spaces in a consistent way is pleasing to the eye and affects optimistically how you and your guests will perceive the house as a whole.

A rare exception to this general rule is if you have a very large residence like a farmhouse or manor house and you want to surprise your visitors with the fantastically exotic feel of experiencing many different rooms full of treasures from different lands. Usually, a large budget and very confident interior design decoration is required to pull off this kind of more dramatic scheme successfully.

Visiting National Trust, English Heritage or other historic homes around the world can be very helpful if you are considering an elaborate and very imaginative home interior scheme of this sort. For our less theatrical castles these complicated schemes would not be recommended. One harmonious interior design scheme executed really well is the way to go for the majority of our more ‘small is beautiful’ addresses.

For most folks with modest budgets and less than half a dozen bedrooms in their homes, a plan that incorporates mainly simple complimentary colours and styles, with a few more luxurious pieces, featured in the most used rooms, will be more than enough design magic to create a really special custom designed living environment that can be enjoyed by all.

Adding enough curves and circles into home interior schemes that naturally come with lots of boxy right-angled spaces, is a straightforward way to create a softer more inviting appearance and pleasing visual balance in your home.

Step 8 Time to go shopping, visit suppliers and check out potential tradespeople

Once you have your sample boards collated in some sort of organised fashion and you are fairly happy with them, then it is time to visit more suppliers, stores and second-hand emporiums. Considering which retailers, websites and fairs can likely fulfill your visual design recipe in the most affordable, sustainable and timely fashion is a worthwhile task, at this point in the process.

Clarifying exactly what your price range and timescales are and choosing suppliers that can meet your specific requirements easily, can help you complete a successful whole house design project.

Concentrating on the larger areas to cover within your scheme and any bigger and more pricy sized pieces that need to be sourced, will assist with making your budget go as far as possible.

So that means focusing on any of the following first: building work, windows and doors, plumbing, electrical, plastering or major landscaping work, any heating upgrades, kitchen units and equipment, bathroom installations, flooring, wall coverings and large furniture items.

When calculating price ranges and timescales for each part of your scheme don’t forget to include miscellaneous personal items. These home highlights might be individually very important to you or your family members. Items such as a movie screen TV, cocktail bar, gym equipment, a sculpture or an artwork by your favourite artist or perhaps a musical instrument like a grand piano or vintage guitar.

Depending on how much custom made and renovation work needs to be done, labour is often the biggest cost when overseeing a whole house interior design project. Getting several quotes from different tradespeople can help you build up a picture of what is possible to achieve within your maximum budget and timeframes.

Purchasing flooring, furniture and furnishings from companies that can fulfill your access and installation needs is worth thinking about in advance. Measuring up where you can and being as specific as possible about what your requirements are makes sense.

Asking the store managers in advance carefully if they can delivery to your property conveniently for you, is crucial. Some residential properties have rural addresses or unusually small entryways, low ceilings and winding staircases for example and this can lead to unexpected delivery problems if not preempted.

Some forethought in this regard will help you enjoy unpacking your new materials and homeware and mean that you can say goodbye to the tradespeople, put away the DIY tools and pack away your painting kit within your allocated calendar weeks or months. Then you can all set about living and relaxing in your perfectly decorated property after a smooth and timely transition to ticking off everything on your list of interior design and renovation ‘to do’s’.

It is a sensible moment to decide whether having formed your whole house interior design strategy and scheme concept, it might be a good idea to split the refurbishment works into two or more phases to allow for aspects like budgeting, household work and holiday schedules, prebooked personal commitments and also allowing for seasonal weather considerations.

Step 9 Shop local if you can and support your local businesses

Talking with close friends and colleagues is an excellent way to find out about art and antiques fairs, second-hand sales and fantastic boutiques that are near where you live or that are worth a visit.

The local press is also a source of thrifty sales and antiques auctions near you over the coming weeks. Local estate sales or vintage fairs and car boot sales can be a way of shopping for some fine quality second hand items on your list, plus it is better for conserving the environment too.

If you know people in your neighborhood (or you are looking for a nice way to introduce yourself) then asking for personal opinions and recommendations on who are the best tradespeople and who are the top building merchants and decorators etc. in the area, as this is very valuable information to know.

Builders will often know other tradespeople who they regularly work with on projects. Flooring, building and tiling merchants etc. usually have fitters and delivery services they can arrange easily and sometimes at no extra cost.

Step 10 Sell, donate and loose what is unsuitable

It can be really tempting if you are furnishing your first whole home and/or you are on a very tight budget to accept any kindly meant donations or free ‘hand me downs’ to help craft your own oasis and ‘machine for living in’.

Sometimes you can find yourself with unexpected gems after being very grateful to accept excellent furniture and furnishing heirlooms that are no longer needed by those travelling abroad or downsizing, however some caution is required in this regard.

Although the ‘waste not want not’ saying has its place, it is clever to be a bit hesitant in accepting all freebies that are kindly offered by well-meaning friends and family, to avoid becoming inundated with ‘do for now’ homeware compromises and suddenly finding you can’t see the ‘wood from the trees’.

It is much better to be very selective when bringing pieces, especially large furniture items into your new abode, so you can live with the space and then gradually introduce the right good quality pieces from the beginning. If in doubt, just look again at your brief (the list of the things that you definitely want to be included in your design) and don’t stray too far from this guide.

Similarly, if your instincts are that any kitchen equipment, bathroom, furniture or antique pieces that are found in your new home are either not blending with the architectural period or adding positively to your lifestyle and favoured design look, then it is probably best to ‘clear the decks’.

Sell online, in your local antiques auction, in your local online marketplace or just take and donate to charity any unwanted or ‘odd one out’ interior pieces. If you live in the UK, do let charities know if you are eligible (pay UK tax) as this can enable them to claim ‘gift aid’ on your donations as this gives the charity an extra 25% in value in a government scheme.

Step 11 Variety is the spice of life

A basic 2,3 or 4 colour palette which is chosen along with a couple of selected decorative prints and an idea of period references or modern looks, is enough on which to base an entire whole house scheme that looks upbeat, polished and elegant.

The chosen colours and prints can flow from the front driveway through the entrance and be carried consistently around the whole house and out into the garden and also any workshop, hobby studios, home offices or outdoor lodges.

It is worth remembering that textures are important to add interest to simple colour schemes. Choosing real wood flooring (or engineered wood or laminate alternatives) carpets, metallic fittings, interesting ceramic tiles, stone or marble tabletops and lots of different glass and mirrored finishes (safety glass were necessary) can really add understated glamour and everyday luxury to your home.

Different lighting solutions in coordinating tones can add further interest and create flexible moods for different times of day and seasons of the year. Using LED lightbulbs ensures that your property meets the highest environmental rating possible.

Step 12 Go solar and consider adding extra backup power systems

Do you know the current environmental rating for your existing home? It costs less than £100 in England to have an environmental assessment and this will give you valuable information about how to minimize your carbon footprint and heating and utility bills and maximise the efficiency of your entire building.

Look out for government schemes that can enable home upgrades like extra loft insulation and heat pumps to become more affordable. Your local council website will have more information on any green home promotions and programs that are available in your area.

Solar power is great for powering residential house circuits like indoor and outdoor lighting. Considering a new installation of a solar panel system in your garden, carport or outhouses is a super way to minimize your home running costs. Make sure that you consult your utility company and have an electrician oversee and certify any electrical projects as you will need the certificates for your home owner’s files.

Look out for future posts about alternative and more environmentally friendly energy that may be suitable for installing in your home…coming soon.

Shall I lead my whole house interior design project, get some more help or opt to delegate it?

We hope this feature helps you to feel confident to try tackling a whole house interior design project. Some people have limited funds and may lead very busy lives and therefore prefer to decorate one room at a time.

If ‘room by room’ is what you feel comfortable doing that is of course fine and do let us know how you get on and share your interior design gems.

There are still advantages to taking an overall approach with a whole home scheme and often this is the most appropriate way forward if you are moving house, for example. 

Life is about learning and developing don’t be afraid to take risks, get stuck in and try something new. Usually with interior design whatever you do is not completely permanent and can be changed, altered, redone, repainted or recovered if you wish to. Expect your home to evolve organically as you do and your family does, over time.

Don’t worry if you feel that you are unable to ever agree how to decorate with your spouse or fellow household partners this is very normal and it would be a very boring world if we all liked the same thing and we never disagreed.

Perhaps you struggle to see colours clearly or you need help to understand how to handle tricky home layouts or architectural styles? Maybe putting things together and interior design is just ‘not your thing’?

If for whatever reason this all sounds like too much like hard work for an already busy person or you feel overwhelmed, or you simply would like to work with a professional to complete your whole house interior, do get in touch.

Send us a message admin@createdisplay.com and we can talk about your individual residential design project and how our services may be able to help you realise your perfect home dreams one step at a time. https://www.createdisplay.com/?page_id=528