How not to decorate

I am not one to criticise the way people like to live or their decorating, unless that is, they clearly have a poor idea of taste but are quite sure they have produced something worthy of Architectural Digest and yet do not know the difference between a tread and a riser or an architrave and a cornice.  But oh boy do they know about a bright cheap crushed velvet cushion making the difference to a room. 

Below are some gems off a popular expat forum, some of the user names say it all, I should have known.  Bianca 72, clearly not Jagger, makes the mind boggle and could induce a migraine. Eclectic fusion Europe meets Asia is for people who buy anything and everything at cheap tourist shops. KCQ is a wannabe lighting engeneer and eveyone knows feature walls are for those who are art-less. Get a canvas, start painting, fill your empty walls and stop giving people crap advice.

Abby n Christina

In my old house i went for a very warm colour scheme... so the whole place was done up in shades of chocolate, caramel & cream... so lots of beige, sand colour, rich browns, dark browns... and while that was lovely (very warm and cozy) after four years of it i soon got fed up...

soooo... in my new place I've changed the theme to something much more modern and have a very city chic look about it... so all the furniture is leather (black), metal (silver) and glass (mirrors, reflective surfaces, etc.)... and since i didn't want it to look too cold and uninviting I threw in one bold colour (blood red) into the framework... so now i have two feature walls (one is black & silver baroque wallpaper and the other is red with just three baroque designs in black on it)... plus red cushions, red rug and a few funky eclectic mirrors... all the furniture )dining table, tv unit base, shoe cabinets, etc are all black... and whatever old stuff I had like wall units, crockery shelves, sofa cum bed all i either got upholstered in black or then just painted from brown to black (easily done cheap in sharjah markets)... love what i'm left with now... and DH's hoping i don't get bored of it for another three years at least

KCQ

I have an eclectic mix of Europe meets Asia,
simple effective not cluttered (in my opinion ),
best of all not sterile, welcoming and all functional !

Decided to have accent walls vs. all of them painted,
it works for me and highlights certain pieces I'm fond
of. I have blinds vs. curtains...no pelmets nor any decorative
valances etc., not my thing. If your apartment is not very spacious, may I recommend you keep
colours light and flowing through. Lighting is of utmost importance, if
anything, invest is some free standing lamps first and give the living
areas a boost of lighting.

Have a fun time doing it up.

Bianca 72

We just moved and that was a great opportunity to change our interior drastically. We went from natural (dark wood, whites, oranges) to a vintage dark purple/dirty pink/turquoise/wine red color scheme. I bought 8 dining chairs in these 4 colors (2 each), had my sofa/chair refurbished to dark purple, painted one wall pink, bought a dark red rug and added some decorative stuff in all 4 colors. Love it!