Cathelijne de Vilder is the Interior Design Manager for Siesta Homes. Originally from Holland, Cathelijne speaks several languages (she is fluent in Dutch, English and Spanish, she also has working knowledge of French and German) and having worked for the Marriott and Melia, she is highly skilled at managing and styling property for international clientele.
Siesta is different to most property companies on the Costa del Sol. We are not just an intermediary selling 3rd party properties, we also sell our own developments. My Interior Design department plays a major part in making sure our developments are aesthetically pleasing and functional for potential buyers to feel at home.
Within each blog, I will give you an insight into what is currently “hot” in the world of interior design in Siesta Homes.
Within this blog the topic is “Cosiness”.
Bringing Cosiness or warmth and comfort into your house is something we all want to achieve, and more so at this time of the year. I want to give you ideas on how you can style your house for the colder winter months - not by just removing everything you have already bought, but by adding small or new touches to what you already have, giving it an extra dimension through accessorising with different textures and colours.
1. Work with the base colours you have in your house, i.e. those colours that seem to show more often than others.
Look around your house at your chairs, cupboards, carpets, rugs, walls and look at introducing new colours to your base colour. Use blue and yellow to bring back the life in these accessories. Add yellow cushions to the sofa and blue vases to the side tables and add them to your own vases from last year. Use different materials as you introduce these two colours, i.e. don’t just add glass accessories, add other materials too.
Don’t be scared to put it all together – go over the top! It’s the style right now to group accessories in order to add body and definition. The same applies for pictures. Mix them up and put them together, either on the floor or desk. This will also help you to avoid having things all over the house as you bring them together in one group.
2. Make your work area cosy by adding a rug. Add a fabric chair instead of the usual “cold” chairs and add pictures and files to personalise. Let the colours of all this come back in the picture behind, so that it forms a group.
3. When styling your house, work in a triangle, starting high to the back and low to the front. Use tea lights and candles to bring light to the area – if they are big items then put two together, if they are smaller, put three – one on its own looks a bit bare.
4. Animals are still in season so don’t get rid of the animals and sheepskins we discussed in my last blog, just use them to accessorise your bed, bed end, the floor or chair and table areas.
Moving around pieces works miracles! Use the same tactic by adding colours to textures. Move your sheepskins to your dining chairs for those cosy winter dinners.
