Home & Interiors

What this topic covers

Interior design tends to bring expensive renovations to mind, but the changes you actually feel day to day usually come from layout, light and how you keep things. This topic collects what you can do in the home you live in now, without building work, in seven guides: layout and colour that make a room feel bigger, how to pick lighting by brightness and colour temperature, storage rules that stop clutter from creeping back, painting a wall yourself, choosing curtains and blinds, the basics of keeping plants indoors, and the noise between floors that is hard to escape in shared buildings. None of the guides recommends a brand or product. They focus on what to compare and what order to work in so that fewer things go wrong.

Three things decide the feel: light, colour, flow

Strip a room down to what shapes its impression and you are left with light, colour and flow. Light means where daylight enters and what colour and brightness your lamps give. Colour works best when you decide the large surfaces first: walls, floor and big furniture. Flow is whether the paths people use most are clear. The same furniture makes a room feel cramped when it blocks a walkway and roomy when the path is open. Checking these three before buying anything new often gets you a fresh look for far less money.

• Light: direction of daylight, brightness and colour temperature of lamps
• Colour: settle the large surfaces first and keep the number of colours low
• Flow: keep the routes you use every day clear

Where to start

Work from what is hardest to undo and what covers the most area. First clear out what you do not need and decide where things live. Only once there is less stuff can you see the real size of the room, and only then can you settle furniture placement and colour. If you plan to paint, do it before the furniture moves in; it is far easier. Choose lighting and curtains after the layout is fixed, when it is obvious what needs lighting and what needs covering. Treat plants and decorative items as the last step, filling gaps, and you will avoid overdoing them.

Renting? Think about handing it back

If you rent, check your lease and whether the landlord agrees before changing anything. Drilling holes or painting may mean you are asked to restore the original state when you leave. Photograph the condition when you move in, and get consent for painting or fixing things in writing, such as a text message, to reduce disputes later. There are plenty of reversible options too: fixings that leave fewer marks, floor-standing lamps, and curtains hung on tension rods.

Common misconceptions

A lot of home advice is only half true. These are things you hear often that tend to backfire if followed literally.

• More storage units will make it tidy — without owning less, you just end up with more units
• Brighter lighting is always better — warm, lower light is more comfortable for resting
• Small rooms must be painted white — light colours help, but the number of colours and the contrast matter more
• Watering more often helps plants grow — indoor plants die from overwatering more than anything
• Noise is only the upstairs neighbour's fault — sound also travels through walls and pipes from beside and below

Safety comes before style

Most accidents during home projects involve working at height, electricity or poor ventilation. Use a stable stepladder rather than a chair, do not move heavy furniture alone, and anchor tall furniture to the wall so it cannot tip over. If you replace a light fitting yourself, always switch off the breaker first, and if the wiring is unfamiliar, hand it to a professional. Open the windows and ventilate well when using paint or adhesive. In a home with small children, check whether blind cords, sockets, and the soil and leaves of potted plants are within reach.

Read alongside Household Tips

Mould and damp, condensation, moving house, household pests and fire safety are closer to maintenance and repair, and they are covered separately under the Household Tips topic. This topic is about how you use and arrange your space, so if you need to deal with mould before painting, or you are worried about humidity after bringing in plants, read both. The guides on cutting electricity and heating bills are also useful when choosing lighting and curtains.

The seven guides in this topic

You can read them in any order, but if you have just moved, start with storage; if your home feels cramped, start with the small-room and lighting guides.

• Making a small room feel bigger
• Choosing lighting and colour temperature
• Principles of storage and organising
• Painting walls yourself, step by step
• Choosing curtains and blinds
• Houseplant care basics
• Reducing and handling noise between floors