Charlotte Gaisford Little Book of Room Schemes

Charlotte Gaisford

Little Book of Room Schemes Ready to decorate room schemes showing fabric and paint suggestions to aid your inspiration when using Charlotte Gaisford fabric to create that perfect room in your home

Š Charlotte Gaisford Ltd 2020

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Introduction I hope you find this little book helpful and with any luck it will help to revolutionise the way you decorate a room.

I have laid out each scheme over two pages, the page on the right shows what components you need fabric for in your room scheme and the page on the left shows all the fabrics used in the scheme together you can see a bit more of the pattern.

I get asked so many times how I decorate a room and I just have not had the time to help everyone who emails me indiviually so I decided to make this guide. This book will show you a small selection of room scheme ideas you can create yourself using my fabrics.

When I decorate a room I always start with the curtain and blind fabric, this is important because you have to love it and if you paint a room first it is so much harder to find a fabric to match the walls, you will get very frustrated. There are more paint colours out there which you will like compared to fabric choices.

You will see in the schemes that I have made the curtain and blind fabric samples larger than all the other samples. This is a reminder that this is an important starting point and also you will see more of this in proportion to the other fabrics we are going to use in the room.

I find it very common that people just choose one fabric for a room and never think about all the other soft furnishings. For a bedroom you might have the headboard, cushions, lampshades and upholstery to think about. I am hoping these schemes will help show and teach you to think about the other soft furnishings in the room when you start to decorate.

Focal points are really important in rooms, and in bedrooms for example you will find that the headboard and cushions are the main focal point. I have added in a padded/upholstered headboard and then a selection of cushions for the bed. If you had a large bed I would suggest having 2 large cushions and then 2 smaller cushions in front. I haven’t complicated this guide by adding trimmings, I have just used plain fabrics as maybe a contrast piping, you could just self pipe the cushions. I will be adding trimmings etc into other guides but to start off with this guide is all about what fabrics to use. Cushions are really worth spending money on and they help cre2

ate, colour, texture and interest to a room. They are easy to create or have made and you can have lots of fun adding piping, trimmings using different sizes etc. I have added plain fabrics as contrast piping in this guide because it adds more detail and helps to create a more finished look. If you had cushions with nothing around the edge they might look a bit boring. It is a good idea to have well filled cushions so make the covers a little bit smaller then the pad so they look really plump and luxurious. If you look at the schemes you can use the cushion ideas suggested but you can mix and match them and make more cushions for other areas of the room.

Headboards can be a bit of an investment, you can have them made especially for you out of any fabric or you can cover your own, I have bought calico covered headboards from The Dormy House and just used a staple gun to attach the fabric at the back, it looks amazing and is really easy to achieve. There are lots of companies out there now who will make you headboards and ottomans etc. and you just need to send them your chosen fabrics. You can have fun with size and shape, add contrast piping, have button backed effect, there is so much you can do now with a headboard. Personally I prefer the ones which are attached to the wall and not the bed, it creates a bit more of a solid firm look rather than seeing a bit of a gap behind the bed.

Adding details to a room also adds to a more finished look and lampshades are often over looked but can make a real difference to the room. I do like plain shades but I think you can make them look much more interesting these days. You can buy lampshade kits and make them yourself or have someone make one for you and it does not cost the earth. I am not too keen on the drum shaped lampshade, I would have an oval shape or empire shape, I think they look so much more sophisticated. If you own a glue gun you can attach all sorts of trimmings in a matter of minutes and create something totally unique. One thing I try to do it show some sort of uniformity with my lampshades in the room, to do this I either make them all the same size and shape and fabric, or keep them all at the same height. I do quite like larger rather than too small when it comes to my lampshades because it creates the impact I am after and also adds that comfortable and welcoming look in a room. I usually try and buy new lampbases because I know they are safe and I can never seem to find what I am after in Antique shops, everything I like it always very expensive. I have discovered Scumble Goosie who sell great plain wooden lampbases which you can paint any colour you like. They have

some good and large solid shapes which are great for drawing rooms and hallways. Lighting is important in a room and you need to have three types of lighitng, main overhead lighting, atmosphere lighting and task lighting. Table lamps can do two of these things, add atmosphere and be a task light, especially if they are by a bed or on a dressing table.

You can never have enough lamps, and my house is full of them because they really set the scene especially in the evenings or on a dark winters night.

the same colour, doors, dado, skirting boards and I love this effect, it really helps to blend everything together. I think you can either have a light and neutral room or go for a dark room. If you don’t want to go dark all the way through then you can paint one wall or two opposite walls, sometimes this can make the room feel wider. You can also break it up by adding a dado/chair rail this will also break up the colours, add some more character and make the room feel wider.

I have added a suggestion for upholstery in a room, you could look at this as a little covered nursing chair in a bedroom, an ottoman at the bottom of the bed or window seats etc. This fabric is an alternative to the other fabrics in the schemes, you could use it for a valance on a bed or a fabric covered table, there are lots of other soft furnishing items in a room which get over looked. One thing about upholstery is that is uses much more fabric than you think. I think bed valances are really important and you will find it difficult to buy one off the shelf so often they are made to fit the room. They really compliment the headboard but they do use up a great deal of fabric, for example 5m if using a small repeat pattern. It is worth spending on this item because it really finishes off the bed and no valance can really make a bed look naked. This really only applies to a divan bed and not a framed bed. Valances really add the cosy factor to a room, I have started making frilly ones rather than straight, I found that straight ones can loose their shape and look messy quite quickly, frilly ones are more relaxed looking, so they don’t have the problem of loosing their shape. Little upholstered chairs can use up lots of fabric too, I often buy little chairs from auctions for next to nothing but I always check they don’t need a full upholstery job, they just need a change of cover which works out at much less expensive if you want to go down that route.

I think when you a decorating a room you have to try and see the bigger picture, sometimes you can look too closely at the paint colour and fabric, you have to remember there are lots of other things in the room doing the decorating, the floor, furniture, pictures etc. you are creating an overall feel and the fabric for lampshade might only represent a small proption of the fabric in relation to the rest of the room. It is good to think about what you want in that room and we are allowed to change our minds when we don’t think something it going to fit or we don’t like it anymore. It is such a personal journey and you need to use your gut instinct and decorate the room for yourself and not what your next door neighbour likes. Its good to be critical and show your friends you ideas you can often look at something in a different light when you hear comments from other people.

Sometimes this can be a good thing and maybe helps you not worry or get too bogged down within one aspect of the decor. Often we have to work around things we can’t get rid of, if it all gets too much and you can’t decide or are not happy with the scheme, get rid of that item and start again. I decorate in stages, don’t rush it and a room evolves over time and is always changing when you add more decor or reorganise the room depending on what you use it for.

Paint is usually the last thing I choose after I have chosen my fabrics. The fabrics help me see a decorating direction for the room and the painting is the icing on the cake. Within the schemes I have added some colour suggestions. I would always advise buying a match pot and painting a large piece of paper with that colour and sticking it to the walls of the room. You can move it around and see what it looks like at different times of the day. When I do any decorating I stick all my samples on the walls, hang my fabrics where I want them to go and then leave the room for a few hours. Come back and you see it all with fresh eyes, let it sink in and it will help you to deicdie which colour you are going to use. Don’t be frightend to use dark colours, I paint everything 3

Lastly I am not an interior decorator, I have lived in lots of house and decorated lots of rooms and I have just learnt by having to do it! I now make it fun for myself ! I am always decorating somewhere in the house it’s a good excuse to have a clear out and a deep clean and you feel so much better about that room once it has been refreshed. Your house is the Fourth road bridge and it needs attention all the time. Hopefully these schemes will help you with your decorating plans and make it fun for you too!

How to use the Schemes Dear Reader I have designed 19 rooms schemes to create this little book. I have really concentrated on fabric and paint colours and depending how popular this book is, I will create another book using wallpapers and trimmings. I have lots more ideas and this is really a start and an experiement. If you find this book useful then do please give me some feedback I would love to hear your thoughts.

I have put together these schemes as if I was going to use them in my house. You just need to follow my steps below to help you plan your room decoration.

1. When I create a scheme I start with the curtain and blind fabric which you will see if the largest of the samples on the right hand page. It is so much harder to find a fabric that you love than a paint colour where there are many lovely colours to choose from.

2. Next is the headboard fabric, you could choose a fun shape and use plain fabric to pipe around it or just self pipe in all the same fabric. You can buy a new headboard made or re-cover an exisiting one.

3. Cushions are important and I have given you a few choices, you don’t have to use all the fabrics in these schemes you can choose which ones you like in the scheme and leave out some others. Cushions you can mix and match and I have made suggestions for plain fabric which you could use as contrast piping or for making some plain fabric cushions. For a bedroom I try and make different sizes cushions for the bed, for example a double bed I would have 2 large square cushions and then 2 half height cushions in front. I would also make a few other cushions for the rest of the room to add to a chair or window seat etc.

4. Upholstery fabric is important if you have chairs, bed valances, window seat etc. You don’t have to use this fabric if there is no upholstery in the room, use it for cushions instead.

5. Lampshades are more fun when they are a colour and they will compliement the cushions and headboard, I try to keep them the same size and colour in the room. You can never have enough lamps in a room, do not forget the ceiling light you need a lampshade for that too.

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6. I choose the paint last because now I can see all the colours of my fabrics, it is very hard to choose a fabric to fit in with a paint colour. You need to decide if you want a dark or a light room, you can paint all the woodwork the same colour as the walls which saves you having to choose different paint colours.

Try not to paint woodwork in a white colour, choose a similar lighter tone of the walls, it will help it all to blend. I reccommend buying match pots and applying the paint onto large sheets of paper and sticking them to the wall. Go away for a few hours and then come back and you will see the colours with fresh eyes. You can paint different walls different colours and it is a good idea to have something different behind the headboard wall. Try to keep your paint ideas on paper and do not paint the wall with the match pots, it means you can add and take away ideas and having a patchwork of colours on the wall is only a distraction and can be confusing.

You can email me for samples of the fabrics, I would hang them in the room or stick them on the wall, the most important thing to do is to look at your scheme from a distance, walk to the door and turn around and have a look, things look so different from a distance and if you like it from a distance then you know it is going to work out.

I really hope I have managed to give you some inspiration and confidence to help plan your own room.

This should be a fun process and you will enjoy doing it. I love looking for all the bits and pieces I need to finish off the room but with the conponents I have given you fabric and paint wise, you will be well on the road to having a comfortable, cosy and sophisicated room.

Good luck and do email me some photos of your results I would love to see them Charlotte

Charlotte Gaisford

CONTENTS Introduction

2-3

How to use the schemes

4-5

Camilla

6-7

The Countess

8-9

Tarina

10-11

Harry

12-13

Rosie

14-15

Elephant

16-17

Healey Monkey

18-19

Ionian Blue

20-21

Georgie Girl

22-23

The White House

24-25

Georgios

26-27

Roxi Bar

28-29

Camilla Blue

30-31

Dancing Daphne

32-33

Betty

34-35

Sharanshar

36-37

Paxos

38-39

African Father

40-41

Tiger

42-43

Suppliers

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Piping for cushions: Stone and Rose plain

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Suppliers Fabric and Wallpaper Charlotte Gaisford www.charlottegaisford.co.uk Paint Edward Bulmer www.edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk Farrow and Ball www.farrow-ball.com Headboards made to order Headboard workshop www.theheadboardworkshop.co.uk The Room Interiors www.theroominteriors.co.uk Lighting Pooky Lights www.pooky.com Scumble Goosie www.scumblegoosie.co.uk Cushion makers Velvet Thistle via Charlotte Gaisford Lampshade makers Velvet Thistle via Charlotte Gaisford Curtain makers Charlotte Gaisford has a page on her website with recommended curtain makers, some can work remotely Bed Valances The Room Interiors www.theroominteriors.co.uk

Charlotte Gaisford Ltd www.charlottegaisford.co.uk 0044 +1434 689583 0044 +7766073701 charlotte@charlottegaisford.co.uk

Š Charlotte Gaisford Ltd 2020 44