Hollywood Couture

Hello People! I hope you've all had a wonderful start to the new year. Mine has been relatively busy marked by attending loads of weddings and cocktail parties. Hopefully things should slow down for me towards the end of Jan and I shall be able to devote more time and attention towards my blog.

Anyhow, I recently came across an interesting interior decorating website called Sproost. The reason why this site is so fab is that it lets you discover your inherent style of interior decoration via its Style Engine. The Style Engine is basically a quiz with a series of pictures of rooms decorated in different ways. You simply pick the pictures that you like, dislike and find just about okay, based on which the engine deduces you preferred style of decorating.

I just discovered my style to be 'Hollywood Couture". This style originated sometime between the roaring 20s and the swinging 40s and it encompasses everything that is glamorous and opulent. (No surprise there!) Hollywood Couture is essentially a mix and match of various different materials and over the top accessories that yet somehow create an inviting and liveable space in their entirety.

Here are some pictures that best represent Hollywood Couture.

Get The Look

It is easy to achieve a Hollywood Couture kind of a look for your room without enlisting a help of a qualified decorator. All you need is a wee bit of creativity and an unlimited budget! Jokes aside, the materials that can be considered to do up a room in this style are leather (patent and otherwise), fur (I only advocate faux), satin/silk, mirrors, acrylic etc. Think glass chandeliers or glossy, lacquered finishes on table tops to get the ball rolling. As far as colours go, the sky is the limit! You may opt for a pale colours like silver, hues and shades of white, grey etc. or you may opt for warmer tones such as pink, yellow, dark blue, green or even black with touches of gold as well. Just let your imagination and good sense prevail while choosing your colour palette.

The main key to getting this style right is effective mixing and matching. Try pairing a contemporary leather sofa along with a pair of vintage chairs upholstered in velvet and place an extremely eye catching mirror or a glass centre-table in between the two. Fix a bling bling crystal chandelier on the ceiling and adorn the walls with  a damask print or a vertically striped wall paper. Fix a  dull gold framed mirror or a painting on one of the walls to add to the drama. Throw a couple of faux fur rugs on the floor or over the sofa to create a cosy and inviting space. Accessories the room with glossy table lamps, sculptures, vases...anything that adds to the opulent luxuriousness of the room.

And oh yes, don't forget to practice the fine art of receiving compliments (for your avant garde taste in interior decoration) in the typical breezy nonchalant Hollywood style!