Business Women Scotland BWS EDITION 47 | Page 14

#BWSMAGAZINE Ask the expert Chelsea Mclaine | Tel: 0141 357 4007 | Bearsden & West End, Glasgow Interiors expert, Margot Paton of Glasgow based Chelsea Mclaine uses her creative flair to answer your design dilemmas. BED HEAD - a bespoke designed headboard with upholstered and studded fabric can produce a strong visual feature for a bedroom. I’m planning a new bedroom but quite fancy a headboard that stands out a bit. Any suggestions? Statement headboards are a fantastic way of introducing different elements to the bedroom, utilising the fabric’s texture and upholstery styles to deliver the impact. As you can see in this image we have created a stylish headboard using quilting and studding techniques in colour tones that work really well with the rest of the room’s tones and furniture. The great bonus too is you can always give the room a fresh new look just by changing the fabric on the headboard further down the line. We’ve inherited my grandmother’s house. There’s a fairly newish – but boring looking - 3-piece suite in what’s otherwise a lovely bright room. We want to shake it up a bit so are selling the suite. What should we replace it with? Think about using chairs rather than sofas to create more sociable – and interesting - seating arrangements. Increasingly we’re seeing a move away from groups of sofas to a more eclectic mix of one or two sofas mixed with chairs. So no longer are we seeing suits of furniture or even ‘matching’ sofas and chairs. Modular seating units along with feature chairs – often in contrasting colours or fabrics – all add up to something more sociable and welcoming for gatherings. My partner and I are arguing over colour choices for a very small study. It’s a clear cut battle over dark versus light. Can you adjudicate for us please? Go for the darker hues. Light colours can often appear cold and lacking atmosphere in small or cellular rooms. Where space is at a premium we have to make the most of every square inch of wall, floor, nook and corner and even the ceiling to deliver impact. Use the same or complementing dark, saturated colour in various forms – paint, wallcoverings, carpets, wood finishes - to create a real sense of identity and personality in the room. You won’t be disappointed. 14