The Hottest Interior Design Ideas - Part Two

Read part one for advice on plaster finishes, walk in showers and feature staircases...

When it comes to good interior design, trends do, inevitably, play a huge role in getting it right, but it is only worth investing in these trends if they will work within the style of your home and the lifestyle you lead — basically good interior design should be liveable as well as fashionable.

To get this right, take your lead from the current trends in home design and then adapt them to suit you. The most stylish homes are those where the interiors look to have evolved to be a reflection of the people living there — the complete antithesis of developers’ show homes which reveal zero imagination and often look to be the result of a quick scoot around a DIY superstore.

The End of Open Plan

In the last couple of years, the trend for open plan living reached new heights, and many homes were designed as complete privacy-free zones. Whilst there is much to be said for opening up spaces and creating a free-flowing feel between rooms, for many of us, a completely open plan arrangement just isn’t practical. Expect to see more ‘partial’ open plan spaces, with kitchens, dining areas and living rooms maintaining the open plan approach, but with the addition of room dividers, such as double-sided fireplaces or feature staircases.

Most importantly, semi-open plan schemes should incorporate cosy, private areas, and 2008 is set to see a rise in the ‘snug’: a warm, intimate room away from the public areas.

Semi-open Plan

What is it? A less bare-all approach to open plan living. Half walls and room dividers are used to break up large spaces and provide more private areas

Pros: Clutter can be hidden away and cosy spaces can be created

Cons: As with open plan living it can be expensive to heat this type of layout. May not be the most efficient use of space

Implications Ensure that dividers do not end up preventing natural light from reaching the newly created areas — the beauty of open plan spaces is the way in which they allow light to flow from one area to another. Bear in mind that room dividers can take up more floor space than a wall, so if you are tight on space this may not be the best option — unless your dividers double up as storage units.

Clever Storage Solutions

Storage should be built in to walls, around doorways and incorporated into room dividers. You should not feel as though all storage must be hidden either — making it into a feature can be striking.

Built-in Storage

What is it? A nifty way of storing away all your clutter that also has another use, such as a fireplace

Pros: Much sleeker than a boring bookcase

Cons: Takes more time and money than said boring bookcase

Implications Built-in storage can rarely be bought off the shelf and will need to be designed specifically for your home if it is to fulfil its purpose. As such, putting a price on built-in storage is very difficult and quotes will need to be discussed with your joiner or architect.

Further reading:

• A Guide to Internal Finishes
• Interiors: Getting a Coastal Look
• How to Achieve Instant Character