Typical space-staging by designer Abigail Ahern*

When I recently strolled through my fav interior exhibition ‘Maison et Objet’ in Paris I spotted a booth with an amazing interior collection, which I would love to introduce to you. Abigail Ahern is one of the most influential interior designers and tastemakers. Whether she is pioneering faux flowers or dark, inky color palettes, Abigail is consistently ahead of the design trail. She started her career in interior design in the United States, where she designed residential properties and chic hotels.

Furs and thick carpets make our homes well prepared for the upcoming season*

Beside her retail and product designs the Brit Abigail Ahern is also a best-selling author of interior books and runs an interior-blog and international design masterclasses. Her advice: Be fearless, when decorating. If you ever have the opportunity to visit her shop in London, go – it is worth it!  BvH

The new tablelamps of the fall-winter-collection – cosy!*

The brass ‘Brewer Trolley’ in the 50s look is a must-have*

These mirrors are new items of the latest collection*

Abigail Ahern’s top 10 tips on how to color boost your home

1. Start by picking a color for your biggest room – say your living room or kitchen.
Choose a hue that feels beautiful and inspiring, and true to what you love. Build on this to create a limited palette of colors for your entire home, using different combinations of those colors in each room.
2. Use an existing feature in your pad to inspire the basis of your color scheme.
This could be a view from the window, a work of art or any favourite item you own.
3. Think about what you want from your home to communicate to the outside world.
No one will be talking about your beige-on-beige home, so go a little crazy. Be reckless, I say! The more your confidence grows, the more you’ll feel like experimenting with colour.

At the exhibition ‘Maison et Objet’ in Paris Abigail Ahern presented an ambience in which I would move in immediately

4. Be brave!
To start with, decorating with color can seem like a daunting task.
Color behaves differently according to where you put it. The effect changes again once you add lighting, pattern, texture and greenery into the mix. I think this is why people favour whites over any other color group, as they distort less when other elements are thrown into the mix. However, to me, this is a bit like decorating by numbers. Too easy!
Bold hues, on the other hand, make everything on display feel grander, cooler, more intense, with beautiful undertones subtly changing in the daylight. You’ll never look back!
5. Remember, there are no no-nos. Well almost none.
Pastels are one grouping I never want to work with. But then plop me in Miami and I’m sure I’d be instantly seduced!

The greenery in the background is deceptively authentic. Abigail Ahern loves this retro scenarios with cactus-landscapes

6. Use color in unexpected places
Behind closed doors, inside kitchen cupboards, bedroom wardrobes, the loo – all those tucked away places that surprise the minute you enter.
7. Remember the small stuff
Introduce color through cushions, vases, bowls, fruit, greenery – you name it. There should be splashes everywhere for your eye to alight on!
8. All color schemes are improved by accents:
the final touches of color that add an element of surprise, and bring rooms to life.
There are no fixed rules when it comes to choosing these; just take care with the amount of color you use and where you use it. As fab as that bright orange might look on a pillow, it may not feel quite so amazing on four walls because the impact will be so much stronger.

The ‘Wild Bill Sofa’ is as cozy as it looks!

9. Patterns provide necessary punctuation; don’t neglect them …
… They anchor a space like nothing else I know.
10. Create the illusion of space by blurring the boundaries between walls and ceilings.
Paint them all out the same color and suddenly you’ve made your space a zillion times bigger. Promise!

Please have a seat: The ‘Saloon Barrel Chair’ is MyStylery’s favorite chair

Contact:

Abigail Ahern
137 Upper Street
London N1 1QP
www.abigailahern.com

**Abigail Ahern: Colour – Quadrille publishing house
* Featured pic and pics marked* by Abigail Ahern

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