Elegant looks that don't have to cost a fortune
Interiors stylist Atlanta Bartlett's new book, Easy Elegance, overturns all the decor rules in favour of truly personal style of decorating.
"My own approach to decorating started as a backlash against the formality of interior-designed homes and the blanket of bland 'good taste' spreading across the shops," she says.
From her warm, welcoming family home filled with quirky, intriguing details, she explains that truly successful interiors can only be achieved "if you believe in your own taste and have the conviction to stick to it.
"Mix the old with the new and the luxurious with the everyday. Most of us have wonderful items which just need displaying well, or perhaps a little more space around them or a plainer backdrop."
As if to prove the point, she gestures around her lounge where old objects contrast harmoniously with new ones.
"Easy elegance is not so much a design principle as a way of life, with personal expression, comfort and practicality at its heart," she says. "It's about displaying treasured possessions which give your home its own special soul."
The mother-of-three believes that the look can be interpreted with the minimum fuss and outlay to reflect a variety of tastes including country, modern, retro or feminine.
"Easy elegance is all about contrast, injecting humour and keeping the overall effect lively and personal."
Modern elegance
n Soften exposed brick walls by painting them warm shades of dove grey or dusky ink which will highlight texture.
n Team conventional heritage paint shades with flashes of vibrant neon for an exciting twist. Or use black as a bold neutral background colour.
n Remember that focal points can be fun: cover a chimney breast in metallic mosaic tiles to cast a glow or make a natural statement by lining an entire wall with stacked logs.
Country elegance
n Lime-washed plaster or wood-panelled walls might be the obvious choice, says Atlanta, but flamboyantly patterned wallpaper can give an unexpected touch of grandeur.
n While bare concrete walls and sliding glass doors are normally associated with minimalist interiors, they could also offer a contrasting, yet sympathetic, backdrop to a living room furnished
with simple but stunning hand-crafted rustic pieces.
Feminine elegance
n Counterbalance charming, chintzy wallpaper by combining it with bare, white-washed floorboards.
n Alternatively, try positioning a shabby Louis XVI antique chair in front of a wall covered with oriental-style cherry blossom wallpaper.
Retro elegance
n Great pieces need a great backdrop so paint walls pure white for a cool, clean art gallery feel and maybe contrast with a painted black floor.
n If that's too stark for your taste, opt for deeper, sensual tones like dark olive or purple brown for an intimate sexy feel.
n Although vintage wallpapers work well, they may be hard to source, so contemporary papers in retro hues, such as chocolate or avocado, could be appropriate to give a 1970s' atmosphere.
n Easy Elegance by Atlanta Bartlett, photography Polly Wreford, is published by Ryland Peters & Small, priced 19.99. Yorkshire Post readers can purchase it at a special price of 17.99 (inc p&p) from Macmillan Direct. Call 01256 302 699 and quote reference GLR 1LA.
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