INTERIOR INSPIRATION
BY KATE KINGSTON
Kate Kingston, Managing Director of Kingston Shaw, an award winning
interior design company with offices on the Wirral, London and Dubai,
shares with us the latest trends for creating the perfect home.
IS YOUR HEART WHERE YOUR HOME IS?
The other day I stumbled across a piece of research that had been
commissioned by Kingfisher and B&Q and posed the question ‘does your
home affect your happiness’?
According to the report our homes account for 15% of our happiness and
73% of us who are happy at home, are happy in life. I have spent my career
making houses into homes and instinctively know what to add or deduct to
make a space a happier place, so the report caught my attention!
There are five key emotions that decide on how happy we feel at home:
•
Pride
•
Comfort
•
Identity
•
Safety
•
Control
Fourthly, SAFETY, the new luxury in our world! We want to be
safe and we want our families to be safe. In my life my home is my
sanctuary, it is the very extension of my soul and I feel completely safe
enveloped in its walls, but I have practically made it safe too by adding
a security system, ensuring that all electrics in the property are up to
date, sourcing new external doors and external lighting. However it’s
not just about the practical elements to safety that you can employ it
is also a mind-set, that is encouraged by use of colour and scent in
the house. For example I have used warm and muted colours in the
reception rooms to promote a feeling of calm and wellbeing and used
pale healing and restorative colours of green and blue in the bedrooms.
When guests come to stay they always comment on how safe they feel
and how well they have slept - you and I know that’s because the house
has been designed that way.
So how do you encourage those feelings in a house through design, making
you happy and your house a home?
Cushion from teepublic.com
Firstly, PRIDE can be achieved by simply
taking ownership of the property, whether
you have purchased or are renting. Doing
something that you can be proud of in a
space of your own is a liberating feeling.
Naturally I would recommend that you
hire an Interior Designer to help you make
smart choices, but in the absence of a
professional you can make a huge impact
in a space by using colour in the soft
furnishings or paintwork. My advice, buy
the best you can afford and be proud of it.
Available at parkscandles.com
Available at safewise.com
Lastly, CONTROL, this is a simple one, don’t let your house take
over, don’t leave projects undone or avoided. Take control of your
surroundings and ensure that choices are made with research and be
decisive. Do away with clutter and forget hoarding it is the ultimate
lack of control. Invest in proper storage and get rid of the things that
you neither want nor can use.
Secondly, COMFORT is King! A comfortable sofa is a must and please
ensure that your bed has the very best mattress that is available to you.
Splurging on a cashmere throw or a thick pile carpet can make a huge
difference to you being able to fully relax in your space. For me, it’s the
bath, I need a deep bath, candles in the room and lots of bubbles!
Sofa by Andrew Martin
andrewmartin.co.uk
Thirdly, IDENTITY refers to
making choices that reflect your
personality and your lifestyle. If
you are a busy professional who
likes entertaining then your social
spaces will be given more attention
than if you are a creative fashionista,
whose walk in closet is the envy of
the neighbourhood! People will also
stamp their identity on their homes picture of who you are and how you live
then you are more likely to feel properly
with colour, pattern and or art.
at home there.
Point being if your space paints a
60 wirrallife.com
In essence our homes are a collection of our lives, who we are and
where we have been, let’s make a conscious effort to accurately reflect
that in our homes and if the report is correct which I suspect it is then
73% of us are both interested and spend time on home improvements
and are proud of our homes and that accounts for a lot of happiness.
If you would like us to make you happy and make your house a home
then please contact us at [email protected]