To create a harmonious home design, Lauren Pearse from Rylo Interiors has some sage advice for anyone who doesn’t know where to begin – start from the ground up. Because your floor coverings span such a large area, they will be a major part of your colour palette and will have a huge effect on the overall vibe of your home.

Lauren encourages clients to try and use the same flooring throughout the home, as this not only makes the space feel bigger, it makes your home design feel cohesive. If you have different floor coverings for areas like your bathroom or kitchen, it is still possible to achieve a unified design. Say you have a tiled ensuite bathroom floor and light timber flooring in the bedroom; just draw on the light tone of the timber when selecting your tiles for a harmonising effect.

By starting with flooring, you can create a neutral palette that you can build on later with your personal style and flair. After establishing your base, you can begin the fun part of adding all your decorator items.

To make your home design feel harmonious without it taking on the uniformity of a chain hotel room, Lauren stresses the importance of texture. Creating a homey design means playing with contrasts. Install a marble countertop in your kitchen to contrast against rich timber flooring, or offset lush carpet in the bedroom with a gorgeous timber bedside table. You don’t want everything matchy-matchy – really, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing – so look for different textures to produce visual interest and balance.

When it comes to selecting decorator items, Lauren suggests starting with a hero piece. A hero piece is an item that really makes a statement. It can be a modernist armchair, a hand-woven rug, or a sculptural pendant light; the options are endless, as long as it makes an impact. Your hero piece will serve as a great jumping off point to base your other decorator items on.

Perhaps you have selected a bright, beautiful painting as the hero piece of your room? Drawing from the colours, textures, and shapes of the painting for the rest of your decor will help you to create a cohesive design. Whether you extend the characteristics of your hero piece by adding a lampshade in the same colour or cushions in similar print, these items will harmonise together to create a well-balanced interior.

If you start from the ground up with a good palette as your foundation, all of your decorator items will sing.

Looking for more advice on designing your interiors? Step into an Andersens showroom and speak to one of our friendly consultants for help.