Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Guide to.. FAKING IT


THERE is one way TV's exuberant interior designer can pare down his love of luxury... by faking it.


It doesn't compromise the clean, modern feel, but it does knock the edge off the operating theatre atmosphere that white bathrooms suffer at night. It's also the perfect foil for the citrus-rich orange shades I wanted to include to invigorate the family's eyes in the morning.Sante Fe stripe towels from pounds 3 each (www.johnlewis.com, 0845 604 9049)FOR more inspirational decorating techniques see Laurence's new book, Decorating With Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, pounds 20, Quadrille Publishing.Using paint, stickers and stencils, these fun and punky takes on luxe living are a lot cheaper, and so quick and easy to change too.The space boasted soaring ceilings, rich wood paneling and a beautiful stone wall, all of which added to the "lodge" feeling. I wanted to keep all of those natural elements, but decided to add a few modern upgrades -- sage-green paint on a few of the walls and a crisp white coat on some of the wood paneling -- to breathe new life into the room.Damask cushion in fuchsia pounds 5.98 from B&Q (www.diy.com, 0845 850 0175)This room had a good start but needed a great finish. So I added layers of lighting, fresh furnishings and modern accessories, and gave Fran and Jeff a great room that lives up to its name. Now that's divine!Goddaughter's bedroomThe space had five quirky windows of varying heights, so to unify them, I put up long, beautiful draperies in linen, light sage and orange hues. But while the windows gave some light to the space, the room was still fairly dark owing to the wood paneling. So in addition to the two new chandeliers, I put up track lighting, flanked one of the big windows with two traditional sconces and filled up the room with an assortment of lamps.Baroque headboard wall sticker in choice of 39 colours pounds 140 (www.rockettstgeorge.co.uk, 020 8350 5450)of wood. The Stencil Library (www.stencil-library.co.uk, 01661 844844) have a large selection of stencils to choose from. A zebra stencil costs from pounds 15.95 and you can repeat it to make your "rug" as small or large as you like.I then started the redesign at the focal point of the room -- a soaring stone fireplace. I used this fireplace as the jumping-off point for the colors in the room -- a palette of sage, stone, taupe and caramel -- and for the scale of the new furniture.Home and Garden TelevisionFran and Jeff never dreamed they would raise their family in a log cabin. But when they found a rustic, revamped log house on the outskirts of the city, they decided to be modern-day pioneers and move right in.SLEEPING BEAUTYIt's in-jokes and witty references like these that can make a scheme like this such fun for the whole family. Remember, if at any time the jokes falls flat, you can always paint the offending item out.'Part of the problem is all that white. The bath, the basin, the loo, the tiles - if you're not careful a typical bathroom can give you snow-blindness.Large mirror and candlesticks wall stickers from pounds 35 for a set (www.decosticker.co.uk, 0870 961 9242)WHILE light, bright and convenient is all we need from a bathroom in the morning scramble when the emphasis is on getting ready and getting out, we'd all prefer something more inviting for an evening bathtime treat.The result is a family-centric space that is flexible enough to accommodate four very different personalities.EVEN the colour scheme - a twisted, saccharine version of the revolutionary tricolour's red, white and blue (here pink, ivory and Wedgewood blue) - echoes the punk obsession with defacing the Union Jack. Brimming with ideas, all the elements of this space combine to ask one question. Is this teenage bedroom about punking up taste... or tasting up punk?SINCE part of my brief was to persuade the children to be a little tidier, one of the murals I commissioned was a charming hand- drawn image that shows clutter neatly put away on shelves. It proved to be an amusing way of encouraging the younger bathroom inhabitants to keep the real, less attractive, clutter under control providing a specific example of how and where things such as towels and toothbrushes should be stored.It's almost as if being told as a toddler that writing on the walls was out of bounds has inspired her to this ravishing act of aesthetic revenge. This is graffiti at its most glamorous - fusing the raw energy of late 1970s punk rock with the static charm of the late Rococo.To add interest to the fireplace wall, I put up a long mirror in a beautiful wooden frame that reduces the scale of the stone and reflects a good portion of the room. I got rid of the dated furniture and arranged a new lounge area around the fireplace with two huge sofas, a wooden coffee table, an area rug and beautiful pieces for storage. As a replacement to the old wagon-wheel fixture, I installed an elegant chandelier with an antique finish that I centered in front of the fireplace and above the new seating arrangement.Outside, it was all trees, ravines and greenery. But inside, it was another story. Some of the rooms had been updated, but the home's main space (what the couple call their "great room") was still stuck in the Wild West. The gigantic space had tons of promise, but it was overshadowed by all of the outdated lighting and shabby furniture, not to mention a huge wagon-wheel chandelier.Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen mannequin pounds 45 (www.matalan.co.uk, 0845 330 3330)Scripps Howard News Service

The result is a family-centric space that is flexible enough to accommodate four very different personalities.




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