While there are no hard and fast rules, here are some very basic guidelines :
Study as many publications on interiors as possible and decide on the general direction of style you would like to follow. ‘World of Interiors’ would be a good place to start.
1. Comfort is all important, and I have yet to find a comfortable ‘antique’ sofa – I’m not sure such a thing even exists. Buy the best modern sofas you can find and loose cover them in a heavy weave neutral cotton, for example. Once you have your wall and floor coverings, you can venture into colour matching large scale feather cushions etc. Choose a sofa without any ‘show wood’. For sofas, chairs and fabrics check out www.robertkime.com – he has an exquisite range of fabrics.
2. Sort out wall colours. Absolutely vital to get the colour scheme right. www.farrow-ball.com is a good place to start looking.
3. Floors look great in wood with old oriental scatter rugs. Ushaks and Zieglers give a great look. www.oushak-rugs.com www.antiquesandfineart.com/article. Avoid wall-to-wall carpeting.
4. Once you have your colour scheme settled, very gradually add harmonizing items. Don’t over do the antiques, but buy the best you can afford.
5. Chairs must be comfortable – go for large scale Victorian or modern versions. Add some ‘specimen’ side chairs chosen for style.
6. Face the sofas towards the focal point of your room, perhaps the fireplace.
7. Consider a good mirror or painting for above the mantle piece.
8. Coffee tables present problems. Go for plain glass, never select a coffee table that is trying to look antique. An ‘antique coffee table’ as such does not exist so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
9. Lighting is difficult to get right – try to avoid seeing the light source. Discreet spots (yellow bulbs), and dark lamp shades can look the business. Avoid overhead lighting and too much daylight. The latter will spoil your interior. If you want a chandelier you must go for period crystal and the best quality, eg www.antiquecrystalchandeliers.co.uk. Fit low wattage candle bulbs and a rheostat, but no shades.
10. Avoid run of the mill Asian items, but some large scale Chinese ceramics can add style, and some good English lacquer will lift your interior to another level when coupled with old Chinese blue and white www.historytoday.com. A visit to the Victoria & Albert museum’s ceramics collections will pay dividends www.vam.ac.uk.
11. Install TV’s, computers etc elsewhere. Conceal as best you can all electrical cables.
12. Glass fronted bookcases with leather bound books, for example, will add atmosphere www.oldleather.com
13. A longcase clock is a possibility, but more usually placed in a hallway or stairwell. Some cannot tolerate the ticking and striking.
You must take time to allow your interior to evolve as you will inevitably add and subtract items. Better to live with a void temporarily, than to fill every available space for the sake of doing so.
Some swear by adding modern items, and this for some is in fashion right now. Great care is needed here to avoid a ‘contrived’ look.
Always strive to remain understated and controlled, ‘punctuating’ your room with a few of the very best pieces of antique furniture and objects.
