9 Design Mantras We Struggle to Follow... and Why That's OK
Ever feel like a naughty student, always struggling to stick to interior design or renovation 'rules'? You're not alone!
Rubbish at decluttering? Often caught out with contractors’ quotes? Owner of lots of unused impulse buys? We may all know the tips we’ve picked up over the years about how to do up a home, but putting them into practice is another matter altogether. Here are some of the design mantras you may be struggling to follow… and why that’s ok.
The Mantra:
One in one out
The last time you turbo-tidied and purged your wardrobe or, indeed, the kitchen cupboards and bathroom drawers, the feeling of chucking out loads of stuff you no longer needed or wanted was euphoric, right? And what about all the new-found space? Bliss.
Visitors, your spouse, your children, even the pets, may well have been treated to an open-door demo of how tidy and how user-friendly your freshly edited storage space had become. While navigating this dizzying high, you promised yourself it would last: never again would you acquire new items and stuff them into a space that didn’t have room for them. Instead, you’d only allow new introductions if you’d dispensed with an existing item taking up space.
How to give yourself a break:
That didn’t work too well, did it? And d’you know why? When you’ve already purged your possessions ruthlessly, it’s really quite hard to purge any more for quite a long time. Instead, try accepting that this might not be a feasible rule to follow every time you buy something, but one you might embrace once a year instead. And that’s ok.
3 super decluttering jobs you can achieve in 60 minutes
One in one out
The last time you turbo-tidied and purged your wardrobe or, indeed, the kitchen cupboards and bathroom drawers, the feeling of chucking out loads of stuff you no longer needed or wanted was euphoric, right? And what about all the new-found space? Bliss.
Visitors, your spouse, your children, even the pets, may well have been treated to an open-door demo of how tidy and how user-friendly your freshly edited storage space had become. While navigating this dizzying high, you promised yourself it would last: never again would you acquire new items and stuff them into a space that didn’t have room for them. Instead, you’d only allow new introductions if you’d dispensed with an existing item taking up space.
How to give yourself a break:
That didn’t work too well, did it? And d’you know why? When you’ve already purged your possessions ruthlessly, it’s really quite hard to purge any more for quite a long time. Instead, try accepting that this might not be a feasible rule to follow every time you buy something, but one you might embrace once a year instead. And that’s ok.
3 super decluttering jobs you can achieve in 60 minutes
The Mantra:
Don’t forget to factor in the VAT
You have a project taking shape in your mind, perhaps it’s got as far as your computer screen or a notebook. Ideas, sketches, saved photos and ‘want’ lists gather momentum until you have something that looks close to a brief for your contractor.
You’ve overseen projects before, whether small or large – perhaps a decorating job, some bedroom carpentry, a new bathroom or even a loft extension. You’re proud of how organised you’ve become: no last-minute decision frenzy mid-project for you, nuh-uh. No realising you haven’t specified your tiles and the ones you want can’t be delivered until a fortnight after the job’s meant to have finished. No siree. You’ve chatted rough costs with your professional and trimmed your specification accordingly. You’ve thought of everything. Except… hang on… what’s that larger-than-expected figure at the bottom of your contractor’s quote? The one that’s, ooh, let’s say 20 per cent higher than your budget? Oh yes… you forgot to factor in the VAT!
How to give yourself a break:
If it’s any consolation, it’s not even a rookie mistake. It’s a pitfall that even seasoned renovators have been known to succumb to. Unless you’re a design and renovation professional, and therefore have VAT-awareness as a default setting in your brain, this one is likely to be disappointingly and budget-bustingly familiar. But if you are starting a new project, ensure you write this on a very large Post-it and leave it somewhere prominent!
Don’t forget to factor in the VAT
You have a project taking shape in your mind, perhaps it’s got as far as your computer screen or a notebook. Ideas, sketches, saved photos and ‘want’ lists gather momentum until you have something that looks close to a brief for your contractor.
You’ve overseen projects before, whether small or large – perhaps a decorating job, some bedroom carpentry, a new bathroom or even a loft extension. You’re proud of how organised you’ve become: no last-minute decision frenzy mid-project for you, nuh-uh. No realising you haven’t specified your tiles and the ones you want can’t be delivered until a fortnight after the job’s meant to have finished. No siree. You’ve chatted rough costs with your professional and trimmed your specification accordingly. You’ve thought of everything. Except… hang on… what’s that larger-than-expected figure at the bottom of your contractor’s quote? The one that’s, ooh, let’s say 20 per cent higher than your budget? Oh yes… you forgot to factor in the VAT!
How to give yourself a break:
If it’s any consolation, it’s not even a rookie mistake. It’s a pitfall that even seasoned renovators have been known to succumb to. Unless you’re a design and renovation professional, and therefore have VAT-awareness as a default setting in your brain, this one is likely to be disappointingly and budget-bustingly familiar. But if you are starting a new project, ensure you write this on a very large Post-it and leave it somewhere prominent!
The Mantra:
Measure twice, cut once
Agh! This old adage is just the tip for the too-short curtains, the tiling that stops one row short – or the perfect piece of furniture that’s one infuriating centimetre too big to fit into the space it was meant for.
And the real problem is often not that you haven’t measured twice – in fact, you might have measured twice AND had someone else check your figures – but that you’re in this mess because you haven’t measured at all. Yes, this frustrating state of affairs often comes about with a spontaneous purchase – you spot something fabulous in the sales or stumble across a one-off you can’t resist and must buy right then. It looks the right size, so you cross your fingers and wing it.
How to give yourself a break:
Hands up if your attic/spare room/garage/room corners are littered with redundant objects you can’t return, but can’t use. Don’t cast your purchase away in despair; see this as the perfect excuse to get creative and transform it into something else that will be able to find a home. Undersized curtains? Transform them into cushion covers. Oversized wardrobe? Turn it into hallway storage.
Measure twice, cut once
Agh! This old adage is just the tip for the too-short curtains, the tiling that stops one row short – or the perfect piece of furniture that’s one infuriating centimetre too big to fit into the space it was meant for.
And the real problem is often not that you haven’t measured twice – in fact, you might have measured twice AND had someone else check your figures – but that you’re in this mess because you haven’t measured at all. Yes, this frustrating state of affairs often comes about with a spontaneous purchase – you spot something fabulous in the sales or stumble across a one-off you can’t resist and must buy right then. It looks the right size, so you cross your fingers and wing it.
How to give yourself a break:
Hands up if your attic/spare room/garage/room corners are littered with redundant objects you can’t return, but can’t use. Don’t cast your purchase away in despair; see this as the perfect excuse to get creative and transform it into something else that will be able to find a home. Undersized curtains? Transform them into cushion covers. Oversized wardrobe? Turn it into hallway storage.
The Mantra:
Stick to your budget
Buying a key piece for your home can be exciting. Often it’s something you’ve saved for or put off until you have a cheap few months to offset it. So it’s not like you haven’t thought about the money side of things long and hard.
But when you go into, say, that sofa shop and see the perfect design, new in and not yet on the website (or you’d have come prepared)… well, something just takes over. Breathlessly, giddily, you are able to almost blank out the fact that it costs double what you’d intended to spend. Your home just has to have it.
How to give yourself a break:
It’s important, here, to hone your self-justification skills: try telling yourself, for example, that a statement feature has the power to transform your whole home, unfurling its influence way beyond the room it’ll live in (and it’s true!). And if you’re splashing out on something more expensive because it’s well-made, then bonus points to you. Just repeat to yourself the mantra “buy cheap, buy twice” and enjoy your investment.
Stick to your budget
Buying a key piece for your home can be exciting. Often it’s something you’ve saved for or put off until you have a cheap few months to offset it. So it’s not like you haven’t thought about the money side of things long and hard.
But when you go into, say, that sofa shop and see the perfect design, new in and not yet on the website (or you’d have come prepared)… well, something just takes over. Breathlessly, giddily, you are able to almost blank out the fact that it costs double what you’d intended to spend. Your home just has to have it.
How to give yourself a break:
It’s important, here, to hone your self-justification skills: try telling yourself, for example, that a statement feature has the power to transform your whole home, unfurling its influence way beyond the room it’ll live in (and it’s true!). And if you’re splashing out on something more expensive because it’s well-made, then bonus points to you. Just repeat to yourself the mantra “buy cheap, buy twice” and enjoy your investment.
The Mantra:
Take time to be mindful
Between projects, it’s important to stop and enjoy the spaces you’ve put so much energy into perfecting. So make a soothing herbal tea, recline on that new sofa you bought, and get lost in a book or simply pause and clear your head…
Yes, yes, but it’s hard when you can’t stop noticing the paintwork you didn’t finish properly, or the piece of furniture that really doesn’t go in that spot you’ve put it in. Such is the curse of being an interiors obsessive. Being mindful is for those who have the inner strength to ignore the inner voice pushing for perfectionism.
How to give yourself a break:
What’s good to remember is that even the enviable lifestyle gurus you see on social media, enjoying stylish moments of mindfulness, probably don’t live like that all the time. Just out of shot, the demands, clutter and chaos of daily life are probably calling them, too. So do take a moment of mindfulness whenever you need one, but also remember, if your life doesn’t feel Instagram perfect every single minute, that’s ok, too; real life is rarely neat or perfect.
Take time to be mindful
Between projects, it’s important to stop and enjoy the spaces you’ve put so much energy into perfecting. So make a soothing herbal tea, recline on that new sofa you bought, and get lost in a book or simply pause and clear your head…
Yes, yes, but it’s hard when you can’t stop noticing the paintwork you didn’t finish properly, or the piece of furniture that really doesn’t go in that spot you’ve put it in. Such is the curse of being an interiors obsessive. Being mindful is for those who have the inner strength to ignore the inner voice pushing for perfectionism.
How to give yourself a break:
What’s good to remember is that even the enviable lifestyle gurus you see on social media, enjoying stylish moments of mindfulness, probably don’t live like that all the time. Just out of shot, the demands, clutter and chaos of daily life are probably calling them, too. So do take a moment of mindfulness whenever you need one, but also remember, if your life doesn’t feel Instagram perfect every single minute, that’s ok, too; real life is rarely neat or perfect.
The Mantra:
Don’t follow fashion
There’s a lot of sense in the advice about avoiding ‘fashionable’ purchases, which will surely date. But how to resist, say, that heritage-style kitchen painted in the blue that everyone loves right now when it’s so gorgeous? And surely it’d be perversely self-flagellating to deny yourself that expensive, oversized bare-filament bulb/those handleless plywood cabinet doors/brass bathroom fittings (delete or embellish according to your taste).
How to give yourself a break:
Take this wonderful terrazzo worktop: it’s a look that’s hugely ‘on-trend’ right now. Does that mean it should be avoided? Not if it makes your heart sing, no way! The only rule is to really love it. Love it so much that you enjoy it until it hits the mainstream, leaves the shops, becomes deeply unfashionable… and comes back into fashion again in 20 years’ time.
Don’t follow fashion
There’s a lot of sense in the advice about avoiding ‘fashionable’ purchases, which will surely date. But how to resist, say, that heritage-style kitchen painted in the blue that everyone loves right now when it’s so gorgeous? And surely it’d be perversely self-flagellating to deny yourself that expensive, oversized bare-filament bulb/those handleless plywood cabinet doors/brass bathroom fittings (delete or embellish according to your taste).
How to give yourself a break:
Take this wonderful terrazzo worktop: it’s a look that’s hugely ‘on-trend’ right now. Does that mean it should be avoided? Not if it makes your heart sing, no way! The only rule is to really love it. Love it so much that you enjoy it until it hits the mainstream, leaves the shops, becomes deeply unfashionable… and comes back into fashion again in 20 years’ time.
The Mantra:
Play it safe with the basics
Use accessories to jazz up your interiors, goes the mantra. What if you get sick of that statement wallpaper! What if it’s, well, just too much?
How to give yourself a break:
Stop worrying. If you have the style confidence to pull off something as amazingly unconventional as this living room with panache, then you must. And even if you have the urge, but not always the panache – again, you must! What lessons in life have not been learned through making a few mistakes?
The clever details designers use to upgrade interiors
Play it safe with the basics
Use accessories to jazz up your interiors, goes the mantra. What if you get sick of that statement wallpaper! What if it’s, well, just too much?
How to give yourself a break:
Stop worrying. If you have the style confidence to pull off something as amazingly unconventional as this living room with panache, then you must. And even if you have the urge, but not always the panache – again, you must! What lessons in life have not been learned through making a few mistakes?
The clever details designers use to upgrade interiors
The Mantra:
Follow your heart
On the flipside of that, being fearful – of wasting money, of what the friends might think, of how it might affect the value of your house – means it can be hard to follow that other bit of basic interiors advice: to follow your heart, especially when it comes to being adventurous.
How to give yourself a break:
Being bold or extreme or quirky is just as hard for some of us as being conventional is for others. But don’t beat yourself up if you regularly have house envy when you see super creative, unusual interiors and feel ‘boring’ when you come home to your symphony of neutrals and classic furniture. Just do what you’re comfortable doing, but do it beautifully. Add small touches that feel a bit out-there (check out the unusual pendant lamp and wall hanging in this lovely but definitely not wacky living room). Ultimately, though, revel in your comfort zone – who’s to say you’re not inspiring house envy in someone else?
Are there interiors ‘rules’ you think you should be following? Tell us about them (and why you are breaking them!) in the Comments below.
Follow your heart
On the flipside of that, being fearful – of wasting money, of what the friends might think, of how it might affect the value of your house – means it can be hard to follow that other bit of basic interiors advice: to follow your heart, especially when it comes to being adventurous.
How to give yourself a break:
Being bold or extreme or quirky is just as hard for some of us as being conventional is for others. But don’t beat yourself up if you regularly have house envy when you see super creative, unusual interiors and feel ‘boring’ when you come home to your symphony of neutrals and classic furniture. Just do what you’re comfortable doing, but do it beautifully. Add small touches that feel a bit out-there (check out the unusual pendant lamp and wall hanging in this lovely but definitely not wacky living room). Ultimately, though, revel in your comfort zone – who’s to say you’re not inspiring house envy in someone else?
Are there interiors ‘rules’ you think you should be following? Tell us about them (and why you are breaking them!) in the Comments below.
“Keep only that which sparks joy”
One person’s clutter is another person’s understairs art installation – just look at this beautiful collection of treasures. And yet, who hasn’t aspired to a bit of KonMari in their life? That’s the decluttering and organising method from Japanese lifestyle/cleaning guru Marie Kondo, whose famous catchphrase, quoted above, has helped many of us to despair of our hoarding habits. And who wouldn’t be tempted by lines such as this one from her organising bible The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying: “When you tidy your space completely, you transform the scenery around you. The change is so profound that you will feel you are living in a totally different world.”
How to give yourself a break:
If you’ve tried but struggled to fully embrace this method, just remember that cherished piece of dark wood furniture you once reluctantly gave away because it looked dated. And how cross you feel every time you see a photo of something almost identical in a newly photographed, freshly decorated and deeply fashionable house. It could be time to cherish your clutter… but the key is to learn to display it as artfully as this.