Wallpaper and lighting for the modern age

People seeking properties for sale in Berkshire may be motivated by the wish to find a large, top end property in a good area and with excellent transport links, particularly to London, but the importance of good interior design will also matter.

For when people move into a new home, it can often be like a piece of clay, to be moulded into the style and shape that suits the needs and wants of its residents. This can apply to the furnishings and decor inside and the garden and exterior outside.

But for many people, a key consideration is making sure their home keeps up with the latest design trends and according to Helen Bygraves and Jenny Weiss, directors of hillhouseinteriors.com and members of the Society of British Interior design, the emergence of a variety of new wallpaper designs has been notable recently, with these taking a traditional look and adapting it for the 21st century.

They added: "Also, it seems wallpapers are part of the new England look - that includes shutters, bookcases, show books - that sort of thing and an array of contemporary colours."

Such an approach may on this basis form the template for an entire style of decor that dominates the whole house.

But wallpaper and furnishings alone are not everything, the experts pointed out, revealing that lighting has also become an increasingly important issue and many new designs are focused on being very energy efficient to save on both carbon emissions and energy bills.

Ms Weiss stated: "There's a lot more choice on the market and I think more and more people are generally recognising the importance of lighting design. Without good lighting design, a room could look flat and dead."

LED lighting will be a particularly popular feature in homes in 2012, spokeswoman for independent lighting consultancy Light IQ Natalie Timmerman stated earlier this month.