The All-Time Best Decorating Tips to Steal From Sarah Richardson

Sarah Richardson’s rooms are the perfect mix of comfort, class and style. Learn how to achieve the same look in your home with the designer’s best decorating tips of all time.

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Mix Indoor and Outdoor Decor

Sarah often incorporates garden stools into her interior decor, like this beautiful red bench outside the bathtub. It’s the perfect spot to prop candles or a book.

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Curate by Colour

It’s the details that count! Sarah is the queen of curating accessories. Follow her lead and group tchotchkes in similar colours together to create a cohesive feel.

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Paint the Floors Green

The light turquoise green floors in Sarah’s Rental Cottage are legendary.

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Play with Pale Patterns

Love the idea of mixing prints but worry you’ll tire of the bright look? Sarah offers the perfect solution in this bedroom. She incorporated a variety of prints in pale colours so they don’t overpower.

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Incorporate Vintage Pieces

Sarah’s love for unique vintage finds is well documented in her designs. Here, she incorporates vintage paddles into the decor for added character.

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Decorate with Red and White

Red and white is a reoccurring colour scheme in Sarah’s designs, and it’s easy to see why. The pair of pigments is always classic.

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Wallpaper the Ceiling

Follow Sarah’s lead and make a statement in your home with a wallpapered ceiling.

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Display Pretty Items

Don’t hide your beautiful dinnerware behind closed cupboards! Take a tip from Sarah and keep them front and centre.

Get more great tips on Sarah’s Rental Cottage.

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Paint Exposed Brick

Sarah is full of simple solutions to design problems. She recommends painting outdated exposed brick walls white for a fresh, modern update that costs as little as two cans of paint.

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Store in Style

Sarah finds unique ways to add storage, often using found or repurposed items as catchalls, like the vintage metal bins in this bathroom.

Get more great tips on Sarah’s Rental Cottage.

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Go for Hardwood

Sarah recommends opting for hardwood or engineered flooring over laminate, which can look cheap. As for the colour? “I tend to opt for a wood finish that is close to the colour of natural walnut,” she says.

Get more great tips on Real Potential.

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Go Monotone

Monotone rooms don’t have to be overpowering. Sarah paired different shades of blue on this porch for a soothing and stylish ambiance.

Get more great tips on Sarah’s Rental Cottage.

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Opt for Exposed Piping

Hang elegant hand towels on top of exposed piping to make them look ultra chic.

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Accessorize Open Shelves

Break up a monotonous open shelf display with quirky accessories like porcelain coral.

Get more great tips on Sarah’s House.

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Pick a Coloured Clawfoot

Coloured clawfoot tubs are a great way to make a statement in your bathroom. This stunning yellow soaker is proof!

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Try Beige Wallpaper

Beige and white wallpaper offers a subdued alternative to typically in-your-face patterns.

Get more great tips on Sarah 101.

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Make a Mini Office

Sarah’s tip to creating a mini office in a small space? Incorporate a freestanding piece of furniture that can accommodate your laptop.

Get more great tips on Real Potential.

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Use Bold Light Fixtures

Here, Sarah used three bold light fixtures for one very glamorous kitchen.

Get more great tips on Sarah’s House.

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Tile in Stripes

Redoing the tiles in your bathroom? Lay them on in thick stripes for very chic results.

Get more great tips on Sarah’s House.

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Accessorize with Colour

Sarah often adds fun pops of colour in neutral spaces with easy-to-switch accessories.

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Brighten Basements

Here’s a basement design tip to put in your back pocket: instead of using dark colours, incorporate pattern, texture and light into your basement to make it bright and cheery.

Get more great tips on Real Potential.