Concept selection

Selecting a concept for a house is literally the success or failure of a job. Without a clear plan going forward of the style, theme, areas isolated for features, clearly defined furniture styles, colours, layouts and finishes, trying to work in reverse can quite literally see you flushing money down the drain.

This concept was crafted for my clients who bought the Australian Outback house featured in a previous project. Just to give you some background into what goes into selecting fabrics for clients, to start off with, the house has 180 degree views of vegetation and landscape and I felt it was important in this application to bring the outdoors indoors by creating a space filled with subtle plant life and soft vegetation. The house has vinyl ‘wooden’ floors and wood features in light and medium tones. Lots of black stands out as surrounding the windows and doors and must also be incorporated into the concept.

The house is filled with children so an acrylic and highly serviceable fabric was chosen for the sofas and the palette was colourful and cheerful to offer the kids a vibrant and stimulating environment to be in. We chose a variety of textures featuring the tactility as a major part of the concept: Rough overlaid fabrics, sumptuous velvet, soft pseudo leatherette and cotton all add contrast to the overall feel of the room. The chair legs are black metal or stained black wood to compliment the black elements in the structure of the house.

The key to the success of this concept is that it still has the sophistication and appeal for adults while allowing interest for children and the fabrics allow everyone to enjoy the space without stressing about wear and tear. If a design is done well, it appears as if the house and the furniture and concept were chosen simultaneously as the compliment one another in all ways.