Making a personal statement at home

Having the right pieces and colours in your home, will determine everything from the look of the room to the way you feel. Terene Sewell, who is involved in creating homes from the ground up, knows how to help us create the ideal space for our family and friends.

Sewell currently works with DCL Castles and Cottages Development Limited who are currently building the Richesse Chateaux apartment complex on Gladstone Drive. Not only is she integral in the colour choice of the units, but also the fixtures, and how it will all tie in. She choose timeless fixtures and modern colours that the clients will love and on some occasions, soliciting their advice to get a hint of their personality.

She tells Outlook that personality is one of the most important elements in not only selecting the fixtures and the colour of the walls of your home but also the decor. This has led Sewell to start her own business - Sapphire Decor and Home Furnishings.

She took Outlook into one of her units to walk us through the elements homeowners should bear in mind when decorating their space.

Colour

The wall in the unit is a cool lavender which makes the room look light and airy. She admits that she has seen the common mistakes of persons using a bold blue and complementing it with yellow furnishings. This is a 'no no' because when you are home and you need to relax, persons do not realise just how much their mood is influenced by their choice of colours. She advises that if you have a bold personality, allow this to be reflected in your statement pieces, and not in the colour of your walls.

Furniture

The furniture selected was done to complement and not compete with the wall colour. She highlights that you can never go wrong with a round glass dining table. When it came to statement pieces, she chose a tall vase for the corner of the room beautiful enough to see and artistic enough to start a conversation, but not too big and colourful to compete with other elements in the room. She also added a elephant on the side table that shows personality.

Accessories

When choosing cushions, they should not be taller than the back of the sofa. You do not have to choose only one colour or style. Mix it up. In Sewell's display, she made sure to have a statement cushion in the centre that almost matches the walls, then she added fur cushions of different styles white and grey to go with the colour scheme of the room. The differences strike the balance between visible and subtle.

- The mat on the floor also feeds off the look of the cushions, so that it appears to be one collection and has a fluid feel. The centre table is glass which gives one more options with what can be used to toy with the centrepieces.

- Faux flowers not only saves you from constantly changing water and flowers.

- When it comes to wall art, stick to one per wall, but you do not need one on ever wall. It will had the colour of the wall and make the room feel crowded. Slender walls or panels goes better with taller wall pieces. The shapes of the furniture should be taken into consideration because if you have a round dining table in the corner and you would like to put something next to it on the wall then something round would be the best option.

There are two main piece of advise she always gives to her customers when they walk into her store. First, choose something that is genuinely you. And choose a piece that is timeless do not choose something just because it is modern and in style, because it will go out of style. Select something that even 10 years from now you would love. Make a statement but make it a statement that truly reflects you.

All decor pieces (except furniture) are available at:

Sapphire Decor and Home Furnishings

Address: Shop #7 Dragon Centre

6 South Avenue,

Kingston 10

Telephone: 631-4418