London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

How to Cheer Up Your Interiors

How to Cheer Up Your Interiors

Because who couldn’t use a little pick-me-up from their home decor?

We’re all spending a lot more time at home than ever before. And let’s just say, staring at the same neutral palette all day every day can get tiring.

“Your environment is directly linked to your mental and emotional well-being; we need our spaces to convey positive feelings to preserve it,” said Isabel Ladd of Isabel Ladd Interiors in Lexington, Kentucky.

Whether infusing bright pops, adding greenery or adjusting the lights, little tweaks can do wonders to boost your home (and your mood). Here, tips from the design pros for a home that’s happy.

Go For It


“We never encourage clients to play it safe when it comes to color, pattern or art. We have a client who loves pink in all shades and put it everywhere, and she keeps telling us how glad she is that she went for it.

“Frame kids’ artwork or family photos and hang them. They will bring you joy every time you look at them—and if you think your walls are full, looking for an unexpected stretch—in your kitchen, closet or even your bathroom.

“Appreciate all those great books, antique bowls or match strikes you may have bought on a trip and put them on display.

“Paint a piece of furniture that feels boring or stale. A coat of the right color paint can really amp things up. The same applies to walls—if a room is boring, pick the happiest color you can think of or branch out and try a striped wall.”


Tones of pink create an instant lift in a home designed by Julie Massucco Kleiner.


Make Small Tweaks, Too


“Wallpaper your entry, or any room you walk through often, in bright, cheerful patterned paper that makes you smile. Consider doing this in transition rooms such as foyers or hallways. Small pillows or throw blanket upgrades may not boost your mood the way your favorite wallpapers, paints or large-scale furniture will.

“Surrounding yourself with greenery adds a boost to your daily routine and fresh oxygen to your home. Pothos ivy or succulents are easy to maintain.

“Consider ambient lighting instead of direct, overhead lighting. I love working next to a lamp instead of under can lights; it creates a more calming mood. Add dimmers to lights and consider lamps with three-way bulbs, so you can control whether you want low, medium or high light.

“Declutter your home so that your surroundings feel light and you don't feel weighed down. Then, organize your things in pretty containers. An organized room, free of clutter, is easier to maintain because you'll want to prolong the feeling it gives you.”


Yellow printed wallpaper immediately creates a sunny impression in a foyer designed by Isabel Ladd.

Be Bold


“Bold coloring can really create drama. For a project at Chelsea Waterfront, we used a joinery piece in the reception area to create drama with the use of blue tones and gold leaf ginkgo leaves. This statement piece pops but also gives considered elegance to a very bright space.

“Lighting is fundamental in any interior. For example, think of disco lights; how do you feel in that setting? Now compare it with the soft glow of a burning candle. Two extremes, but immediately you see the difference in the mood.”

Layer by Layer


“Think about the light levels in the room, how you are going to use the space and whether you are someone who gets bored easily. In this case, it might not be worth investing heavily in bright colors or recreating something seen on Instagram. Bright colors work really well for stimulating some people's moods, but others can find them distracting.

“If you are nervous about color, try layering items. Although white, gray and beige may be considered boring, you can create an interesting and comforting environment by layering high-quality materials and natural textures.

“It's also good to layer lighting and have different options for light levels. Access to natural light is the starting point, but in the depth of winter there isn't much around. Combine bright overhead task lighting with lamps and pendants to draw attention to specific areas of your home. “


Designed by Sam McNally, a forgotten corner gets a poppy lift with bold, bright artwork.

Do Brights Right


“Color is a great way to boost the mood as it is so inextricably linked to the senses. For example, yellow is proven to make us feel happy, while blue is thought to stimulate and calm the mind, with green bringing greater harmony and reducing anxiety.

“Pick where you use color carefully. Yellow, for example, is great for a pop to a chair or cushion but you might not necessarily paint a whole room yellow. Dark blues and greens can highlight architectural features such as alcoves and architraves as they immediately draw the eye, showcasing these details, and can also help turn an otherwise awkward space into a statement. Bright colors also work well in areas like stairwells that need a bit of lift. We recently introduced a bright red wall into a kitchen which lifted the entire space and gave it a sense of character and warmth.

“Having a regular clean out is a great way to keep calm and ensure the home continues to work in the most positive way for you.”

playful headboard and bold pillows add sense of playful sophistication to a bedroom designed by Ed O'Donnell.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×