The five elements you need to create a timeless interior

Author: Emma Bolger

“If you can create something time cannot erode, something that ignores the eccentricities of particular eras or moments, something truly timeless… this is ultimate victory.” – Dr Ferry Porsche.
   
When attempting to create a timeless interior, it’s important to be clear about your interior decorating style, while also considering past, present and future trends.  Here are five key elements that will enable you to create a timeless foundation that you can develop – or easily reinvent – over time.

1. Choose open-plan design
Open-plan living provides a seamless transition through different areas of the home and allows a unified approach to interior design.

Particularly notable is the relationship between the kitchen, dining and living areas. To create a seamless relationship between zones, consider carrying your flooring, colour scheme, any motifs or lighting styles through both spaces.

2. Go for white walls and ceilings
White walls and ceilings create continuity in open-plan spaces, while providing a blank canvas to evolve your decor at any time.

With so many variations of white paint available, it’s important to select the white that best suits your interior style and the feeling you want to create in your home.

Cool whites: Ideal for neutralising bright light in spaces abundant with natural light, the crispness of cool whites also makes them a popular choice for modern and minimalist decorating styles. With a black or blue base, start your search with Dulux “Vivid White” or Porter’s Paints “Milk”.

Warm whites: If you want to make a room feel more inviting or have a lot of natural textures in your home, then warm whites are for you. With yellow, brown or red bases, my favourite is Dulux “Antique White USA”, but other popular warm whites include Taubmans “Plain Vanilla” and Porter’s Paints “Long Grain”.  

As you start to investigate whites you may also be drawn to greys. Cool greys are ideal for glamorous spaces, whereas warm greys set a more relaxed tone.

3. Think about your flooring

We’ve moved past the days where carpet dominated flooring choices at home. As hard flooring takes its place, texture is moving to the forefront. Here are some good textural options:

Timber: Oak is a popular timber choice as its grain adds just the right amount of texture to suit any interior style. From the blonde oaks that are seen in Scandinavian decorating styles to dark chocolate tones that amp up the glamour, the variation of tints make oak easy to team with your style. Spotted gum, blackbutt and other Australian species are growing in popularity, and their distinctive grains and colours make them a good match for timeless interiors.

Polished concrete, stone or tiles: These look classic in various shades of grey. Selected in this instance as an alternative to timber, they are also useful in wet areas of the home, such as laundries and bathrooms, where timber flooring is not as suitable.

Carpet: Carpet provides a luxurious foundation to sink your feet into and works particularly well in bedrooms or other secluded areas of the home that aren’t high in traffic and suit softness underfoot. With timelessness in mind, it’s hard go to past twist or textured carpet designs. While both styles are easy to maintain and work well with all interior styles, a twist carpet is ideal if you have pets, as their claws are less likely to get stuck in the fibres.

Rugs: Rugs enable you to enhance your interior style, while softening the sound, and defining zones within a larger area. When it comes to rug fibres and textures, it’s best to be guided by the look and feel you want to create – keeping in mind that timelessness is about quality not quantity.

Tip: Selecting the right size rug for your space is key and one of the best ways to determine this is by using a sheet. Simply place a sheet down in the area you want to place a rug in and play with the size of the sheet and placement of your furniture until you find a balance you’re happy with.

4. Move to metals
From stainless steel and chrome, to copper and rose gold, metallic finishes have a lifelong appeal. Ideal for lamps, fixtures, vases and other smaller accessories, keeping metallics as accents within your interior scheme will allow it to remain timeless while adding character to your home.

Although it’s important to stay true to your interior style, don’t be afraid to challenge conventional thinking by mixing different metallic finishes in the same space.  This kitchen provides a good example as the stainless-steel appliances and fittings recede into the background while the copper light fittings take centre stage.

5. Select clean, simple lines
Choosing streamlined fixtures, fittings and appliances allows them to seamlessly tie into your interior. You can either:

Make your fixtures fit in with your wall colour: If you prefer a minimalistic approach or have selected statement pieces throughout your space, then consider following the lead of this interior, which ties the tones and textures of the kitchen cupboards and stainless steel appliances into the hue on the walls.

Or mix it up: If your decorating style embraces different textures, or you’re looking to do something a little different to the norm, then select a different material, colour and/or texture (timber, metallic, glass or statement colour) for cupboards, splashbacks, benches, or fixtures and other fittings.

This kitchen is a good example, utilising American oak veneer (un-stained with a sprayed clear coat) for the cupboards and extended ceiling in addition to a black veneer bench, the streamlined design creates a statement within the home while not overpowering the rest of the interior. It is this balance, between statement and a complementary streamlined design – that makes it timeless.

As you combine these five key elements with your interior style, you’ll find you’ve created a timeless home to sit back and enjoy.