interior design ideas

Ett Hem, a hotel in Stockholm, is filled with great design ideas. A clever space saver for smaller bedrooms is this bedside table, which is built into the panelling of the wall.

One way to deal with a small space effectively is through harnessing the power of colour. Designer and author Claire Lloyd and her artist husband Matthew Usman have chosen a chaste palate that virtually erases the perimeters of this tiny bedroom. Painting out the awkwardly placed window also helps to give the room a feeling of cohesion. The eye is then drawn irresistibly to the few notes of colour and detail that the room has to offer, meaning that fewer decorative flourishes are needed to give impact and character. Texture is key here to avoid the room looking sparse. When making a small space totally white opt for the natural warmth given by wood or roughly hewn stone as a base.

This cottage is now a part of us, an effortless comfort blanket, says designer Caroline Holdaway of the adorable Cotswolds cottage she shares with her photographer partner, Fatimah Namdar, on weekends. The wall shelves in the spare room along with providing storage draw the eye up, making the cosy ceilings appear higher, while a chair provides double duty as a bedside table. An olive stripe flatweave rug from Sinclair Till contrasts with a vibrant tartan rug from Toast used as a bedspread and cushions made from fabric pieces left over from projects.

If you dont have space for all your glassware in the kitchen, listen in. Designed by owner and decorator Emma Burns of Colefax & Fowler this gem of a pantry is concealed behind a bookcase. Long shelves store her collection of crockery and picnic paraphernalia.

If you dont have room for a dedicated study take note. Having commissioned an award winning newbuild in Suffolk, the owners entrusted its decoration to interior designer Virginia White. The gallery leading to the spare bedrooms has been turned into a self contained study, where Virgina chose a corner desk attatched the mezzanine wall to minimise the amount of floor space used.

Small spaces can be the hardest rooms to get right. The DNA of small rooms from bathrooms to bedrooms, are made to test the limits of your design ideas.
This newly renovated eighteenth century farmers house was completely restructured to create a sense of comfort and space. Designed by Caroline Holdaway and Fatimah Namdar, the grey horizontal panelled bathroom utilises every inch of space. Using contrasting shelving and a light and airy colour scheme.

This living room by Philippa Thorp is actually much smaller than it appears. Every drop of space has been utilised, and every trick in the book employed, to make the space feel bigger and lighter.
We needed to fit a three bedroom house into just 93 square metres without its seeming squeezed, says Philippa, so we had to make excellent use of space. It was also very dark. We basically gutted it and started again, to bring in as much light as possible, and increase the sense of space.
Every nook and cranny cleverly camouflages storage. Even the window seat and custom made table conceal touch catch drawers, and a false bookcase to the left of the fire incorporates a rise and fall mechanism that reveals the television. I went to a second hand bookshop and bought books to the exact measurements, then had to chop them up for their spines, says Philippa. I felt very guilty but the result looks genuine.

Dont think you have room for a dressing table? Try this idea from interior designer Jane Taylors London flat. Here, a mirror lined dressing table fits into the window reveal in the main bedroom. If youre extra short on space, the table can also double as a stylish desk.

How do you solve a problem like a 17m? studio apartment? If youre our decorating team, by using a whole lot of stylish space saving ideas. One example: Forgo a cumbersome wardrobe for separate storage crates and hanging rails, which can be hidden behind a decorative curtain. See where to get the look here.

Were you to read that, when designing a house of the Seven Dwarves in the animated film version of Snow White, Disneys artists had taken their inspiration from early photographs of this very eighteenth century barn, you might well believe it.

However, youd be off by several decades, for although the main footprint of this fairytale Oxfordshire barn is original, much of its glorious eccentricity and atmosphere is totally fake. Lincoln and Tish Seligmans home designed by the artist Paul Nicholls who was the former occupant has been divided cleverly using beams, ladders, platforms and mezzanines.