Elena Villanueva gives us tips on decorating and interior design

Elena Villanueva, Interior Designer in ShBarcelona, gives us some tips to enhance the decor of our apartment. It is time to change the color of the walls and the furniture distribution! Get rid of some elements that make the rooms of your house seem a museum not a place to relax after a hard workday.

Could you give us some tips to decorate our apartment without spending much money?

The main thing is to change the color of the walls in another color in order to highlight a room. You can also change the furniture distribution or the sofa covers and curtains.

What would you say are those details of decorating an apartment that “change everything”?

The paint can completely change the design of the interior of a house and is an important part of the decor. A painting or a picture, depending on where we place it, depending on its size and on its colors also determine how you perceive a room. Another element or detail that “changes everything” are the curtains, because they allow us to play with light and composition.

When you are painting the rooms of a house, what colors do you recommend for each room to avoid having to “re-paint” each year?

For the bedroom is ideal a relaxing color like gray, beige, etc. The same colors for the rest of the apartment, with variations for the children bedroom, for example, which you can decorate with wallpaper or colored stickers. In the kitchen you can paint a wall in bright colors and put some pictures.

Although it seems easy, hanging a picture has its secrets, what advice do we have to bear in mind?

If we hang painting or pictures in the living room I recommend to place two important paintings that have color harmony among themselves and with the sofa. So that the whole composition is harmonious we must put the pictures on the wall behind the couch at a distance of 60 cm. I recommend don’t hang to many painting or pictures on a house walls, it’s better to have a few combined than a lot that don’t match at all…

What colors and shapes are more suitable if you want your apartment to be very modern and stylish?

The combination of gray and white I think is perfect for this kind of apartment.

What do you think about disciplines of space distribution as Feng Shui?

I think it is very effective and has proven its result for many years, and now there are real experts who make a study on your home and the results are amazing when you apply their advice.

Is there anything that you would strictly ban in decorating a home?

I would never put stuffed animals, they are awful.