Fashion Mode

Looking for different ideas to decorate your home - then instead of looking forward look to past decades for inspiration. Choose your favourite decade from the roaring twenties, funky fifties or the psychedelic seventies. If you do this carefully by just introducing a few items or fabrics which reflect the decade of your choice your house will end up looking stylish and not dated or a museum piece.

Décor in the twenties was very stylish with art deco styling being the height of fashion within interior design. These designs have been updated and are available on the high street - think mirrored and glass furniture and sparkling chandeliers. Chandeliers can be used in any room but look particularly at home in bedrooms and living rooms. Wood should be dark with clean straight lines. Fabrics should be in sumptuous velvet and silk - velvets can be used for upholstered furniture - scallop shapes were very popular and can look also look good in modern interiors. In the bedroom upholster your headboard in velvet. Silk fabrics look fantastic as full length curtains as they drape really well especially if interlined, you can also use faux silks if you prefer. Search second hand and antique shops for an authentic art deco mirror or there are numerous reproductions around.

A trademark of fifties fabric is geometric designs in bright colours of reds and blues. Sofas and chairs can be upholstered in patterned fabric. Try mixing a patterned fabric sofa with a plain chair. Wooden furniture should be in light wood and have tapered legs. Sofas and chairs often have wooden legs and arms - you may be able to pick these up in a second hand shop and then have them re-upholstered. Chrome was very popular in the fifties - look for table and standard lamps with chrome bases.

The seventies had psychedelic patterns in bright colours - oranges, lime greens and turquoises. Use plain bold bright colours for sofas and chairs and then use psychedelic prints for cushions. Car boot sales are an ideal place to look for accessories such as vases and lamps from this era and can probably be picked up quite cheaply. Walnut furniture was a key trend of this decade. Thick pile carpets were very popular particularly in the lounge and bedrooms. Mix and match patterns and bright colours to capture the essence of this decade.

So choose your decade and mix and match authentic pieces found in second hand shops, antique shops or car boot sales with current high street pieces. An essential style tip to getting these schemes to look right is to choose the right curtain fabric which reflects the decade - there are lots of current curtain fabrics which 'nod' towards all of these decades and will be the main ingredient in getting your design scheme right.