Orange Bay Company’s Delight Morris prides herself for being able to create beautiful spaces on a budget.

She’s the person you call when you’ve found a piece of furniture you absolutely love, but don’t know how to fit it into your space.

She’s also the one people run to when they want to find a way to revamp and update pieces they already have.

Below, her seven habits of highly successful design:

1. MIX IT UP

Mrs Morris has found that the most appealing rooms are the ones with personality. For her, that means a room furnished with pieces that reflect the tastes and experiences of the people who live in them.

Very often, people get too focused on making things match, she said.

“To me, it’s more enjoyable to be in a space that has an eclectic mix of old and new pieces; sleek and antique together,” Mrs Morris explained.

“If you really love every item in the room — no matter the vintage or style of the individual pieces — when you bring it all together, chances are you’ll fall in love with the room, too.”

2. SHARE

YOUR BAGGAGE

Mrs Morris can’t get enough of old luggage. Whether it’s steamer trunks or antique leather suitcases, the more beaten up the better in her view.

When stacked up, old suitcases can serve as the perfect side table, while trunks make for great coffee tables with built-in storage.

“For me, old suitcases also evoke a sense of home, reflecting the fact that you’ve travelled around, seen the world, but set your bags down here and this is where you want to stay,” she added.

3. SING THE BLUES

Mrs Morris likes to add pops of blue into rooms by adding accessories with cobalt blue and white.

The result? A timeless look that can go with any decor.

She said: “The combination of blue and white has been among the favourite colour choices of artisans throughout the ages and across the world.

“I’ve used contemporary pieces as well as antiques from places as diverse as the Netherlands and the Far East in my staging, but I always pop some blue and white porcelain in my room designs. It always works — with any colour scheme and with any style of furniture.”

4. GO GREEN

Mrs Morris doesn’t have much of a green thumb but has found that having a bit of greenery in a room brings life to the space — literally and figuratively.

“A trick I’ve used in a lot of my staging projects is to place giant philodendron leaves in a clear vase in water,” she explained. “It provides a great focal point and a pop of colour, and the leaf will stay fresh looking for three months in water.

“When it starts to wilt, just pick a new one and pop it in the vase.”

5. CUSHION THINGS

If you’re trying to spruce up your living room with only a limited budget, throw cushions are a safe bet. Using them on couches and chairs instantly makes a space look more cosy, said Mrs Morris.

“Setting them atop a cedar chest in the corner creates a new seating surface.

“Cushions are also a great, cost-effective way to add colour and comfort to any space. You can mix up the patterns and colours, too.

“They don’t have to match — in fact it’s better if they don’t — but they do have to complement each other and the colours and patterns of the other soft surfaces in the room.”

6. GET PERSONAL

It’s easy to get caught up with a design idea we see in a magazine or online, but it’s important to make every space in your home reflective of you and your family.

That’s why Mrs Morris said one should “always, always, always” include items in a room that are meaningful to them.

“Whether it’s a special toy from your childhood, your dad’s old guitar or your auntie’s Easter bonnet, accessorise your room with something that brings back good memories and evokes happy thoughts. This is how you make a space truly unique and personalised.

“And the good juju those pieces bring to the room will make it a place you feel at peace and want to spend time in.”

7. START

A CONVERSATION

Mrs Morris likes to accessorise rooms with unusual pieces that have a story connected to them. She encourages people to find pieces that will spark a conversation when visitors spot them in their home and ask about them.

“It could be a souvenir from the client’s travels or an object that speaks to their personal hobbies and history,” she explained.

“If you studied fine art at college, why not use your old, paint-splattered easel to hold up a poster or print, rather than hang it on the wall? If you have old family photos framed on a side table, get your hands on the old camera dad took them with and pop it on a shelf nearby.”

Useful website: www.orangebaycompany.com