In our modern world with the advent of technology, people want things yesterday. There is a growing expectation for immediacy across the board. The more technology advances, the less patient we become. This creates a whole other set of issues and potentially lethal narratives.

Working across both commercial and residential sectors within construction, I can safely say that the same pitfalls and issues arise across the board. Taking on board learnings and common issues faced during commercial and residential construction, I want to highlight where it is worth slowing down and taking your time to avoid the long-term impact of poor, rushed decisions that will haunt you for years to come in this fast paced industry.

1. “Rome wasn’t built in a day”

Layout and configuration are arguably the most important aspect of the interior of any building. It stands to reason that taking time to critically assess the requirements, wants and needs to ensure the layout best reflects them is extremely beneficial. Often this process can be rushed in order to get works started on the ground. However, it is worth spending an additional month or two analysing and tweaking this with the design team prior to detailing or beginning any construction works.

2. “The details are not the details, they make the design” – Charles Eames

A lot of the beauty of a finished space is in the selection of materials, finishes and fittings. Depending on how long a construction stage is, this can be over looked and rushed, with seemingly endless decisions needing to be made. No one wants to be responsible for delaying a project and with so many decisions need to be made along the way, it can be daunting. My advice would be to take the time to decide what you want and request a timeline from the contractor setting out when decisions need to be made.

3. “If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”

Even with the best design team and architectural drawings, any build is heavily reliant on the skilled contractors and trades implementing them. It is crucial to get this right and to appoint the right team for your project. Make sure to get recommendations from experienced experts, as well as seeing completed works and speaking to previous clients before appointing trades to carry out your work.

4. “We live in a culture full of hares; but the tortoise always wins”

Skill and craftmanship is slow and steady, much like the tortoise. Quality takes time. Shortcuts are shortcuts. If you want the best result, it is worth waiting for. Countless times, this is ignored, and a high-end design is put at risk and often accidentally sabotaged by overpromising teams that have overlooked the detail involved.

5. “Buy less, choose well and make it last” – Vivienne Westwood

When planning the key items for your home or commercial project, try to have a reason for every single thing. In the words of William Morris “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”
Less is more and sometimes investing in one item that you will love for years to come is more worthwhile than cluttering up your space with fleeting trends.

6. “Keep calm, Christmas is around the corner”

Construction has many pressures, but Christmas looming is one of the biggest.
If you are not in by the end of October, accept that being in for Christmas may not be an option. It is an extremely emotionally charged time for people, adding a construction project to the mix only increases tensions and stress levels.

In general, for your own sanity and peace of mind, add in a couple of weeks to your estimated timeline to avoid starting off on a negative footing in your new space. After investing your hard-earned time and money into a construction project, the end goal should always be excitement and happiness!

To sum up, it is undoubtedly worth the time and effort to slow down and take your time with your construction project. As with most things in life, to achieve the best result takes careful consideration, planning and strategic implementation. Try not to lose sight of the overall vision along the way and it will all pay off!

This blog post is an edited version of an article first written by Róisín for The Sunday Business Post on 17 March 2019. Click here to view the full article in its entirety.

This week’s colour is that of trust, clarity, and statistically the favourite colour of the most people in the world. Today, we are focusing on the colour blue, and specifically, for the month that is upon us, the September birthstone of Sapphire.

Sapphire & The Blue Family

Blue is psychologically a colour that can mean many different things. As the opposite of red and not commonly seen within foods, this hue lends itself to be unappetizing. However, it is also commonly associated with trust and it is the colour of a magnitude of different corporations and many country’s flags. Emotions and mental implications aside, blue can be a colour perfectly executed within interior design, whether it be in paint or furniture.

Tips

Blue can be calm, or bold, or sophisticated. It is all about how it is played off within a space. Here are some tips on how to incorporate sapphire and blue into your own design endeavors!

• for a more sophisticated look within a space, pair navy blues with woodsy, rich brown shades. This creates a similar royalty vibe to more purple tones, without becoming overpowering and retaining the peacefulness of its cooler nature.
• Blues pair amazingly with other cool tones, specifically cool grays. Try balancing the two together for a modern take on blue.
• Blues tend to work best when balanced with other colours of a similar brightness. If using bright blues, try using bright yellow and white to give the room a fun colourful look. Pair deeper blues with more aged tones, such as burnt ambers and mustards. Pair grey-blues with other muted hues, such as muted red.

Paint Options

At KLD we use Fleetwood Paints for a majority of our work. Here is a selection of our favourite sapphire-blue inspired shades!

The colour Denim Drift comes from the blue colour family group and has been announced to be Dulux‘s Colour of the Year 2017!

This colour is a mixture of grey and blue hues and is a must have colour for 2017 colour palette, selected by the team of global experts. Timeless and versatile colour has certain calming properties and easy on the eye. As the boundary between work life and personal life is shifting, creating a work-life balance is on everyone’s agenda. Denim Drift creates an inviting mood and private sanctuary to escape from the busy lifestyle.

We love working with DULUX colours due to their wide range of colour choices.

Our favourite Denim Drift DULUX range: DULUX  87BG27/077

Metallics such as gold, brass or copper work very nicely with denim drift colour. Add a metallic pendant, table lamp or accessories for an extra shine in this calming environment.

Stunning kitchen joinery units with a natural stone worktop and backsplash complementing each other beautifully.

We would recommend using Denim Drift in bedroom areas. In combination with neutrals, this colour will withstand any colour ‘fashion’ trends. If your design preference stirs more towards simplicity rather than opulence, this colour will be your perfect choice. For kitchen areas, paint your kitchen units in the same colour as the wall. By doing so, units will automatically blend into the surrounding environment. To enhance the effect of the ultimate simplicity, paint the kitchen island in the same colour too.

Add kitchen utensils, plants, extravagant lighting or any personal items you want to display to add a splash of colour and also to create a focal point of the space.

The colour Raspberry comes from the red colour family group and became quite fashionable recently.

The Raspberry colour is not one of the most obvious choices for any interior space or accessory. It is a playful and summery colour that brightens up any space immediately but can be quite overbearing.

We love working with DULUX colours due to their wide range of colour choices.

Our favourite Raspberry DULUX range: DULUX 84RR13/471   & DULUX 80RR12/516

Due to its vibrancy, we would recommend using raspberry on a feature wall or a feature piece of furniture with quite a demure background so all the focus falls onto the feature furniture or wall. Raspberry works very nicely with grey tones, blues or neutrals. For our braver clients, we would point out a combination of raspberry, teal with hints of yellow as per below image on the mood board.

A more subtle way of incorporating raspberry into your interior is with soft furnishings. You can find some beautiful, colourful ray of accessories and soft furnishings on Bluebellgray website. Any of these will brighten up your space immediately, add extra hints of colour and refresh the environment.

Dinky accent chair by made.com is a delicate piece of furniture with brass legs that will work well in a living room or bedroom spaces.  Have you thought of an oversized floor lamp painted in this sweet colour? We think that this particular combination is definitely fabulous. Check out below images for inspiration.

Add some reflective surfaces for depth and light within your garden…..

If your feeling like spending the weekend outdoors we have some great garden DIY inspiration for the sunny weekend ahead.

Mirrors are a fantastic way to brighten up any garden space. Adding large or small mirrors to your garden creates extra dimension to the space.

Adding mirrors to your garden not only creates extra dimension to the space but it also increases the light in the space as the sun moves throughout the day. It also reflects the planting that you have within the garden, making the garden feel much fuller and giving the garden more depth. This idea works particularly well with small gardens making the garden feel twice the size.

We here at KLD did some of our own garden mirror DIY during the week, and here is how it is done.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

1. Mirror with decorative feature or frame
2. Paint – We prefer to use bright fun colours to brighten up your garden space.
3. Paintbrush
4. Metal Wire

HOW TO:

1. Select a mirror in which you would like to revive. This can be an existing old mirror which you have in your house which you no longer use or a new one. We chose the ‘UNG DRILL’ mirror from IKEA.
2. Take the paint colour that you wish to use on your mirror. We chose the colour ‘Secret Lagoon’ from the Cuprinol ‘HAMMERITE’ range.
3. Paint your mirror and wait for it to dry, it may need two coats if the mirror was a dark colour to begin with.
4. Use the metal wire to hang your mirror on your garden fence or wall.

OUR FAVOURITES:

1. CUPRINOL do a great range of garden paints for all your garden DIY.
2. IKEA have a great selection of affordable mirrors if you don’t have one at home.