Decisive decorating ideas for a more organised interior
New year, new resolve to get it together? When your home is operating smoothly, you’ll be ready to take on the world.
Incognito office
If you don’t have a home office but really need to take care of business, create a dedicated study nook in another space that’s as good-looking as it is comfortable and functional. Make it a highlight not a blight on the rest of the room by investing in an elegant desk and chair, and choosing well-designed workaday essentials.
BACKDROP (throughout) Walls in Resene Double Blanc, resene.co.nz. Floor in Breath Natural tiles, $79.50/m2, tilespace.co.nz. MAIN IMAGE, ON SHELF, FROM LEFT Card holder, $17, milligram.com. The Sound of Magiqueprint by Hotel Magique, $95, fatherrabbit.com. Clock by Karlsson, $145, koop.co.nz. ON DESK, FROM LEFT Desk tiled with Magma Coral Pink tiles, $99.50/m2, tilespace.co.nz, and painted with Resene Rustic Red, resene.co.nz. Isosceles book stand, $145, powersurge.co.nz. Puggy’s Best High Stationery notebook by Hightide, $23, milligram.com. Grooved mug, $20, orient-nz.com. Blackwing pencils by Palomino, $6 each, crisphome.co.nz. Swirl hourglass, $39, boconcept.co.nz. Fat dining chair by Tom Dixon, $2140, ecc.co.nz. Penco clipboard, $23, and Margin notepad by Hightide, $27, milligram.com. Robusto mechanical pencil by Astier de Villatte, $28, tessuti.co.nz. Shelter table lamp, $849, boconcept.co.nz.
Tall order
Built-in vertical shelving is a hack for orderly living that helps you start as you mean to continue. A combination of open shelves and closed cupboards allows you to display objects of desire while stashing some of the messier necessities of life close to hand. It also confines the busyness to one wall, maintaining a more minimalist overall effect than items dotted all over the room.
Long game
Marrying organisation and personal expression, a well-styled shelf tells a story, so keep the visual journey top of mind. This is an ever-evolving projectin which patience and curiosity are key. Follow your heart to arrange and rearrange as the mood or season takes you, integrating purely decorative items with others you put to good use (jugs, vases), plants and dried foliage. Large hero finds can stand alone; use books and magazines as a stage for smaller pieces.
Make a day of visiting your favourite boutiques to get ideas for your own dressing room. Decluttering, swapping your wardrobe door for a graceful curtain or adding crafted lighting could make an everyday experience a much more luxe one.
Quick drawers
Exhibit thoughtful items used for your regular rituals and tuck away those that create chaos. But out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind or make for better living, so give yourself the gift of tidy drawers in which everything is instantly accessible. Uncluttered drawers are life-affirming — consider it an act of self-care to keep them that way.