Today we speak to one of our tastemakers - Pandora Maxton (@pandora.maxton). On a lovely sunny afternoon, we join Pandora by the terrace doors in her living room looking out onto her gorgeous garden. With nearly 50k followers on Instagram, she is well known for her eclectic and maximalist style and is focusing on celebrating country living and lifestyle. We delve into some of her tips on maximalist décor and she reveals the top three things that her space must have!

​There is definitely a knack to maximalist interiors. My first tip would be to keep an eye on the colours that you use and make sure they are cohesive and work well together, but also that things aren't TOO matchy-matchy as it quickly becomes boring. I usually have a warmer element within my spaces even if it is just the glow of a lamp or some fairy lights. A second tip would be to use a dark colour as a base colour to tie all the other colours together, something like Downpipe from Farrow and Ball works really well instead of having a white/off white. Lastly, I would also suggest that you mix different styles together including mid-century, antiques and rustic elements. Try to overcome the fear and risk making a mistake - but this always something you can learn and improve on. I am constantly turning spaces within my home around, it keeps things fresh and interesting. Just before speaking to you, I moved my dining table around and it just gives the space a new perspective.

​Must there only be one?? I am so frustrated with the lack of natural light inside our kitchen. I would love to have the opportunity to re-do it and glaze a whole side. We spend so much time in the kitchen and its quite gloomy but I appreciate that we are lucky to have an already beautiful kitchen, so it is not a priority but will get to it eventually.

Hello Everyone! When I was working on a clients study space we were discussing window treatment for her guest bedroom/study. The layout that we came up with had a floating dropleaf desk that went out of the way when she had guests staying allowing it to also function as a headboard! Smart right? Well that meant that you cannot have any curtains unless they are short ones (this is a bit of a NoNo in my honest opinion). So I proposed a roman blind that still adds pattern and a focal point to the room but would help filter out the light. She loved this option  and after hunting for the right fabric we landed on this gorgeous pattern from IKEA. Its called SKUGGBRÄCKA (try saying that while chewing fudge!). They had another stunning fabric with more of a structured pattern but considering the width of the blind this pattern worked better. Read all the way to the bottom for the things I would do differently in future. 

Our guest bedroom in our Victorian home had all its original features taken out prior to us moving in. So everything from the fireplace, the coving, picture rails, and even the skirting board were all gone! Most people who live in newer homes might say, well what's the big deal? The issue is that the room had lost all its character and didn't feel as connected to the rest of the house. Also it had some massive built in cupboards put into the alcoves on either side of the chimney breast put in. I have been very tempted to rip these out, but what would I achieve? So I tried thinking of alternative ways to use them within the room and allow me to re-introduce character. This is where the panelling idea came forward. I thought that if I could create a panelled wall all the way around the room, keeping the proportions similar to those used on the doors of the wardrobe, it would tie the space together.

​I used the panels on the wardrobe as my proportion points, keeping the same line all the way around the room created a wholistic look, as though those panels and wardrobes were designed at the same time. I used masking tape to mark where the panels would go, and this allowed me to play around with shapes and proportions . The tape also helped in  determining the thickness that my panel beading should be. It would be a lot easier to use a lazer level that can project a horizontal line along the whole room, but I  did it the old school way. Also as all the walls in this old house are wonky, the organic approach seemed to work. 

​Work your way around the area you want to panel. Making sure you keep things level and neat. Once all the pieces are up, congratulate yourself on finishing one of the biggest puzzles of your life! I would suggest using caulk to fill in any gaps, holes or uneven joins. A light sand, and you are ready to paint.

Hello everyone! I am super excited to show you my latest bathroom refurbishment using Topps Tiles. My client came to me with the desire to create a fresh and bright space in her main bathroom. The apartment had a slightly odd layout with a loo in the separate room which, due to reasons beyond our control, couldn't be incorporated into the main bathroom space, so we focused on creating an oasis of calm in this small but crucial space.

So we worked on the layout, as the staircase  headroom came up through this bathroom we had to think creatively to find a solution for turning this challenge into a positive aspect of the space.  We decided to include built in storage above the sloping wall to make the space work for my client and also make it a beautiful feature of the room.  As we didn't want it encroaching too far into the room we only used a small section of the slope at its highest point. At the lower end of the slope we later built a foot rest, perfect for a pedicure and grooming. 

So our mood board was developing nicely and I created a 3D image the space to help the client and bathroom fitter visualise the space and for us all to be singing from the same hymn sheet. Have a look at the video and then the final photos below and see how with a bit of elbow grease and good design planning we managed to create this space. Have a look at the photos below and let me know your favourite bits in the comments below.

Bare Brick: I adore this look, its quite easy to come by this in industrial buildings or in older houses. They add great amounts of texture and colour to a space. Unfortunately there is no guarantee that your brick wall will be pretty as it depends on how the wall was built. even in the picture here you can see there are some bricks put in a different orientation to the others. But overall this can add to the character of the space. You can leave this bare (just make sure you seal the exposed bricks), or you can paint it with masonry paint if you wanted to mute down the colours or create something more artistic. 

Cons: Need to really think about insulation if this is an external wall.

​Photo: Cape Cod Collegiate 

Bare Plaster: This is another high texture finish for internal walls. The plaster usually dries in a soft pink finish with beautiful natural variations in the colour intensity and finish. I was very tempted to leave bare plaster in one of our bedrooms as it was he perfect colour of soft pink that I wanted! This surface can be sealed and left bare. It reflects a warm light off it into the space.

Cons: Any marks in the plaster will forever be on show, so be sure that the plasterer does good work quickly as any joint lines can affect the look. 

​Photo: VOGUE Australia 

Painted walls: This the easiest way and is a default for most people. I wont discuss colour choices as that is for a different blog but I encourage you to look at painting walls and their features from a different perspective.

• Does the whole wall need to be the same colour?
• What about the skirting?
• What about the picture rail?
• What about the coving or corncing? 
• How about horizontal dividing line along the wall?
• Why not a diagonal line?
• Can you zone an area of a room or a corner with a different colour?
• How does this colour relate to the floors and the ceiling?
• Does the paint need to be matt? What would a glossy or satin finish wall look like?

Cons: if you have an old house, plaster can move and crack and show up in your paintwork. 
Photo: Domino

Wallpapers and Wall Murals: Now this is where things can get really exciting. There is a gigantic selection of wall papers on the market, from subtle to more out there designs, like this stunning example from De Gournay . Its a super quick way of updating the feel of a space. Its important to consider scale, colour and finish with wallpapers. Here are some pointers:

• Get samples before you put in your order, sometimes metallic finishes aren't well translated though online purchases.
• Make sure its from the same batch, as there is a strong possibility of having a completely different colour if you get a different batch. This mightn't sit well with the original wallpaper.
• If you are matching paints to the paper, wait until you get your paper in, as the batch from the sample might be different. 
• In high traffic areas consider a matt varnish on top to protect them.

​Cons: More costly than paint, and can be tricky to hang properly

Panelling: This is a beautiful way to add structural interest to your walls. It can be formal and elegant like shown here on the side, more rustic with a tongue and groove look, or individual and artistic with a Hex wall like used by KarenAnita. It is relatively uncomplicated to do simple patterns yourself. For more complex patterns and details I would involve the professionals. Some points to remember

• Always use a spirit level
• Make sure your walls are straight
• Consider the height of your furniture
• Caulk is your friend

Cons: Can be very expensive if you don't DIY.

​Photo: Modernfloorlamps.net

Vinyl: These are a lot more resilient than standard wall paper and paint. You are more likely to see these in commercial spaces but they have become a lot more exciting than they sound. They can be pure vinyl with printed patterns, or vinyl backed paper or fabric. The choice in these is growing daily and the example on the side by  Textura shows their beautiful "Endo" collection which has a stone underlay with a crackle finish above.

Keep this option in mind if you have a high traffic area that you want something more robust for.

Fabric: Now I hear you say, What on earth! but yes you can use beautiful fabrics to cover your walls There are many methods that can be considered. 

• If you are using a light weight fabric you can use starch to apply it to the wall. Its also a great solution for renters as it comes off super easy.
• If you are using a heavier fabric, you can drape it like a curtain or use it to create fabric over panels that cover the whole wall. Create one big panel or many smaller ones with the same or various different fabrics to mix up the look.

Some of you might be thinking that this will be very expensve to do, but in reality, some light weight fabrics can be a lot cheaper than high end wallpaper. 
Here is a blog post on Apartment Therapy about how to starch a light weight fabric to the wall as shown with the beautifully colourful fabric here. 

Cons: Can be a bit messy and tricky to get it all aligned. I would advise to stay away from very structured patterns on the fabric if its your first time.