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Colour is everything. Whether it is bright and bold, or a cool and calm, colour is the make or break of a design scheme.

If you are navigating decorating your first home or your third rental property, interior design can be daunting if you aren’t working with an expert. There are just so many questions:
How will that colour look in the lounge?
Will that go with the colour of the sofa?
Will this colour be too dark for the room?
Will the colour be too intense for the space?
Can be daunting but this is where colour palettes, swatches and mood boards come in, they aren’t only for the professional designers amongst us!

Here are Fritz Fryer top picks on DIY interior design.

  1. Mood Boards
    A great way to start is to source some A3 paper (A2 if you are feeling brave) to fill up with all of the bits that fill you with joy. Colour combinations, patterns, textures, fabrics, aspirational brands or simply an image of a corner of a room that you would love to recreate. Use these sheets as a holding place for all of your inspirations. Let your imagination go wild. Over time you will find an aesthetic emerging, things will drop off and others will replace them, this is all part of the process.
  2. Samples
    When thinking of the metal finishes you wish to use in the room for door furniture, ironmongery or switch plates, it is worth approaching companies and asking for metal samples to add to your mood board and to ensure they are consistent across the board. Starting with the more curated options of metal work is a great way to limit your palette, which will help when it comes to the next step, paint charts! We offer a sample pack that includes everything you could need to make your decisions easier, find it here.
  3. Paint charts
    The fabulous Farrow & Ball offer a lovely paint chart allowing you to explore all the colours they have on offer. Other paint manufacturers have larger books that allow you to fold pages in such a way two colours can be seen next to one another for comparison and contrast. Alternatively, make your own! Use sample pots of paint that spark your interest to paint A4 sheets of paper, edge to edge, and pin them up on the wall, check in on them at different times of the day as levels of light will affect the look of the colour.
  4. One off consultations
    The queen of colour and colour consultant, Andrea Curtis offers appointments to go through the psychology of colour, what type of colour suits you as a person and how that can translate into your home. How to mix colours, how to create a palette and how to place the different colours within the home to create a harmonious space. If you would like to be bolder in your choices or seek permission to go wild Andrea can definitely help.
  5. Pinterest
    If you wanted to work digitally, Pinterest is the only place to be. You can take inspiration from other people’s boards, create your own pins and curate your own corner of the Internet. This is no new trick, but the platform is still everyone’s best friend when it comes to a place to hoard ideas, inspiration and wish lists. If you haven’t dipped your toe into the Pinterest world, take a look at our selection to get you started here.
  6. Instagram
    Instagram is a really great place to explore when it comes to inspiration. Many interior lovers post images of their home with all the information you need to recreate the look, everything from paint colour, brands and colour name, to shops that stock similar bar stools for example. Don’t forget you can save Instagram images onto boards within the app, or pin them to your Pinterest mood boards, which is a great way to get quick access to what you love and what inspires you.And once you’ve considered all of this, you know where to come for some expert lighting tips!