For some people, interior design comes naturally, but for others, well they have to work much harder to find inspiration for new ideas that will allow their creative streak to shine through so that they too can produce spaces that are beautiful, functional and in perfect harmony with the rest of the surroundings.

If it sounds like too much hard work for you then perhaps you should call in a professional interior design so that you can just sit back and watch the transformation take place. However, if you want to have a go yourself, then it would be wise and certainly less expensive if you sought to avoid making some common mistakes and aimed for getting it right first time.

Remember to plan

The most important task in any interior design project is proper planning, get this right and the rest will follow relatively smoothly. For example, you need to ask yourself what the space is going to be used for, what safety and practical issues need to be considered, how much money you are prepared to spend and of course you need to have an idea of what sort of look or style you are aiming for as this will influence the furniture, fixtures and fittings, colour schemes, materials and finishing touches.