How To Choose Interior Finishes For Your Home
Decisions about materials and interior finishes will determine the personality and functionality of your home. The fabrics, floor & wall treatments and furniture choices you make should all come together to create a space that feels complete, coherent and intentional.
With a plethora of options available, choosing these elements can be a daunting process. To help you get started, we’ve put this guide together to walk you through the 5 key steps you’ll need to take to choose the perfect interior finishes.
1. Start With A Vision
Without a clear idea of how you want your home to look and feel, you can easily end up with an interior you didn’t want.
We recommend paging through home decor magazines and browsing online for images that excite you. As you collect pictures of interior finishes, it will soon become apparent to you what style you prefer, such as modern, traditional or eclectic, and what colours or patterns you are drawn to.
Create a mood board and refer to this visual plan often throughout your project. Your inspiration folder will also help your interior designers to form a precise vision of the home you want.
2. Apply The Principles of Design
A beautifully designed home is one that has depth and visual interest. You create this through carefully chosen interior finishes that use repetition, balance and a combination of different textures and continuity.
As interior designers, we lean on the same design principles that a fine artist would when painting a masterpiece.
When you adhere to these foundations of design you can elevate your interior to one worthy of an editorial feature.
Repetition
Have a theme tying each room together by repeating elements such as texture, shape, materials and colour. This will create a consistent visual experience.
Rhythm
Introduce visual interest by creating patterns of contrast and repetition at different intervals, so that the eye dances around the room.
Contrast
Create a focal point by distinguishing objects from each other. This will make your space dynamic and give it depth and dimension.
Harmony
Interior finishes are all about elements that flawlessly fit together. The visual continuation will result in a relaxing, pleasing and comfortable room.
Emphasis
Giving all objects in a room equal importance will lead to a scattered or boring look. Find an anchor and use it as a focal point of interest.
Balance
Ultimately, your home should have visual harmony. By evenly spreading your chosen decor elements throughout the house, you’ll find that your spaces are unified and balanced.
3. Have A Budget In Mind
When you have a budget and you keep track of it, it will help you end up with more of the items on your wishlist. It’s all about pinpointing where can save money so that you can fund the big, must-have interior finishes you really want.
Keep your budget realistic. Custom finshes like luxury wallpaper, delicate fabrics and high-end stones will cost more than the store-bought versions. Where your budget is limited, use small accents of expensive materials in contrast with the more affordable features for an achievable luxury look.
4. Follow A Process
Not all finishes are equal, so the order in which you select your material is important. By following a logical sequence to the process, you’ll find it easier to select the next elements once you’ve pinned down the first key selections.
Floors
Start from the bottom with your flooring. Decide whether you want wooden floors or extravagant tiles, and then pick your colour scheme. The floor will set the tone of the room, so take your time and choose wisely.
Countertops
Next, it’s time to focus on countertops in the kitchen, bathrooms, dressing room and laundry room. Our designers use a wide range of luxury materials in their work such as Caesarstone, Granite, Concrete, and Soapstone.
Walls
When you choose a wall colour, it’s important to also consider the texture of the paint as this can affect how light bounces off the walls. Apart from paint, wallpaper is very on trend, with scenic landscape murals enjoying a special moment spotlight. We have a wide range of luxury wallpaper in our showroom library that you can browse.
Cabinets
As wardrobe specialists, we take pride in designing luxury fitted wardrobes with endless options to customise them in the exact style that you want. The finish you choose will make your home unique to you.
We offer over 200 options including Melamine, Matt or Gloss Lacquer, Wood Veneer, Painted Matt or Gloss Glass, Mirrored and Leather variations.
Upholstery
The type of fabric you choose for your furniture and draping will influence the aesthetic of your room.
Our luxury furniture collections are fully customisable, with an enormous range of colours, materials and finishes available for each of our brands. We always advise you to chat with us about what you want your furniture to reflect so that we can guide you to the perfect material.
5. Hire Professionals
It can be overwhelming when you first start looking at custom finishes for your furniture. There are many places where you can buy a ready-made products online, but that’s not how we do things.
All of our furniture can be customised according to your preferences and made to match existing styling in your home. Visit our London showroom or book a virtual meeting with our team. We’ll answer any questions you have about mixing and matching colours, fabrics and styles and we’ll guide you through the new materials emerging for each furniture item.
We have 40 years of experience in interior design, furniture sourcing, custom joinery and wallpaper installation. And with over 100 premium brands in our portfolio, we have proven credentials in designing and curating furniture for the interiors of many luxury homes in the UK.
In Conclusion
Choosing the interior finishes of a home is a huge undertaking. You’ll see how many things need to be balanced in order to crate a space that feels great to live in and is uniquely yours.
Hop onto a call or come and discuss your project over a coffee at our London showroom. We look forward to working with you.
