The Nest - Colour Scheme

The next very exciting step in my life is the fact that I have just bought my first apartment! In a gorgeous sought-after village location, two bedrooms and all brand-spanking new, I'm very excited about getting creative and making and decorating all the little bits and pieces that take a building from a house to a home.

The first and most important part of any project is the mood board and colour scheme. From when I first started looking at houses and mentally decorating the minute I walked inside, I realised that the space, the light, the shape of the rooms and the location all had a huge bearing on how I wanted my home to look. The builders had painted the majority of the walls a beautiful buttermilk colour, and this formed the basis of my scheme from the start.
I wanted it to be in-keeping with the style of the country surroundings, but the more I looked at fabrics and colours, the more I realised it was heading in a beachy / countryside direction, which I was very happy with!

Colours and Paint:
I was happy with the buttermilk colour the builders had used on the walls, so to compliment this for the woodwork and furniture, I chose Swedish Blue by Craig & Rose. I seem to have developed a huge aversion to shiny paint, especially gloss, over the past few years, so I chose an acrylic eggshell finish. For furniture paint especially, I would always recommend going for the top range that you can afford. Craig & Rose is the oldest independent paint manufacturer in the UK, and as such have a beautiful range of Period colours to choose from. The Swedish Blue comes from the Georgian and Regency period, which was popular in the Baltic states in the 18th and 19th Centuries when they were under Sweden's control (just in case you were interested!) Visit their website for more information and their complete range of colours and finishes, plus an excellent complimentary colour picker.

www.craigandrose.com

Fabrics:
When you think of the seaside, you think of deckchairs, and traditionally deckchairs were made of a stripy canvas. To continue this theme, I decided that ticking stripes would be the perfect choice. I visited Sinclair Fabrics in Bozeat, Northampton, who have an excellent range of fabrics to choose from. (Visit their website for more details www.sinclairfabrics.co.uk) I looked through many books before I found the Sanderson Home range. Much cheaper than the traditional Sanderson range, Country Stripes was perfect. I selected a gorgeous stripe in blue and cream which will be used for the dining room chair upholstery and decorations on the roller blinds.

I have always highly rated Dunelm Mill for their fabrics, especially how reasonably priced they are along with excellent choice, and  it was here I found my curtain fabric. Another blue and creamy yellow ticking strip, this will be used for the curtains and the Velux window blinds.

www.dunelm-mill.com/shop/decor/fabric-and-haberdashery/

Soft Furnishings:
When I knew my offer had been accepted on the apartment, I headed off to DFS to look at a sofa I had seen on their website. Not only was it lovely, but it was the perfect size for the wall, with only 4cm to spare! I wanted to go with a pale blue, but practicality took over and I decided to go for a chocolate brown.

If it had been in my budget, I probably would have chosen furniture from the Country Living range offered by DFS (The Gower is my favourite - In the stripe of course!) Not only are they beautiful to look at but they are supremely comfortable, and would have looked perfect in my living room. I strongly urge you to have a look if your budget stretches that far.

Visit www.dfs.co.uk/country-living/results

I had also been looking at the Sherlock style chair in Next, and decided to go with two in complimentary fabrics, one in Versatile Check Henshaw Green and the other in Versatile Check Lawson Dark Natural. Both of them wont fit in the lounge, but hopefully one in the bedroom will the the perfect compromise.

Visit www.next.co.uk