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Inside Story: Try these quick – and cost-effective – room updates




Spring heralds a fresh start inside as well as out. Cambridge interior designer Georgina Robertson shares simple - and cost-effective - ideas to update your interiors for the new season

Sometimes we feel the urge to breathe new life into our interiors - and what better time to do that than the start of spring? There are plenty of ways to update your rooms without a complete redesign. It could be as simple as new table linen or a bunch of fresh tulips. With that in mind, here are some ideas to implement this spring without breaking the bank.

Rearrange Your Spaces - Original BTC Shard Chandelier
Rearrange Your Spaces - Original BTC Shard Chandelier

Rearrange Your Spaces
Lots of people get stuck in their ways at home and find it hard to look beyond how the room looks in its current form. If you can look beyond how your furniture is currently arranged, or even the obvious layout that the space offers, you could create a more inviting, compelling space.
Could you rotate the dining table? What about moving a side table? Or adding a side table? Does the sofa need to be pushed against the wall or could it be enhanced by pulling it into the centre and creating more of a social talking space?
It can be quite fun to pull all your furniture out of the room or simply into the centre and try your key pieces in different layouts to find what works best for you and the space.

Upscale Upholstery - Original BTC X Beata Heuman Alma Wall Light
Upscale Upholstery - Original BTC X Beata Heuman Alma Wall Light

Upscale Upholstery
Upgrading upholstery on sofas and chairs can feel like an expensive task. Instead of having a piece recovered or replacing it with something new, you can simply try changing your soft furnishings - such as cushions and throws - which can completely overhaul the look and feel for relatively low expense.

Add Dramatic Lighting - Original BTC Blossom Portable Light
Add Dramatic Lighting - Original BTC Blossom Portable Light

Add Dramatic Lighting
As an interior designer, lighting design is a technical part of the job that we spend a lot of time thinking about and working with our electricians to bring to life. Good lighting can completely transform your space in an instant. However, if you already have your lighting complete in your house, it can be an expensive task to update it, so how do you create an atmosphere in a more affordable way?
Adding low-level lighting, to create a variety of lighting levels in a space, is key. Try adding table lamps or floor lamps. Another low-cost option is to have your switches changed to dimmers and swap in dimmable bulbs; this gives you much more variety in the levels of your lighting. Lastly, don’t forget to always go for warm white instead of bright white.

Fragrance & Florals - Sophie Allport Faux Parrot Tulips
Fragrance & Florals - Sophie Allport Faux Parrot Tulips

Fragrance and Florals
This might be an obvious one, but it’s often the most forgotten when it comes to your interiors. Interior design is all about your senses; not only does the interior design have an impact on how you view your space, but we also want to incorporate our sense of smell into our rooms. Try adding diffusers and candles that smell like spring and simple bunches of flowers such as tulips and daffodils.

Meet the Designer
Georgina is the founder of Cambridge’s Georgina Robertson Interiors. With her grandma a seamstress, she was inspired by fabrics, colour and the concept of design creation from a young age. Growing up, she worked extensively with furnishing fabrics, learning bespoke curtain making and design. With an extensive career in marketing, Georgina then decided to pursue her passion and talent for interior design into creating sophisticated, luxury interiors.
Find out more at georginarobertsoninteriors.com


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