Bring on the glamour

This season, the trendiest homes are all about layers of luxury and accessories, with empty bare homes thankfully a thing of the past. Gabrielle Fagan picks out some trends and products to look out for...

There's no escaping the chill winds and bleak winter days ahead but thanks to the latest trend in interiors you can turn your home into the perfect, stylish sanctuary that's a joy to return to. Glamour - which has been waiting in the wings while cold, hard-edged minimalism ruled - is making a welcome return to warm our rooms. It's the key ingredient in this season's feminine boudoir trend and softens the other autumn/winter look around, monochrome. As long as rooms are dressed up, rather than down, they're bound to succeed. Whatever you do, don't hold back this autumn - go for glamour...

Boudoir
If you're in the mood for romance embrace 'boudoir' which needn't be confined to the bedroom - think instead of the decadent Hollywood homes of those stunning screen icons of the 30s and 40s.

Define the style in a grand way with bold prints, oversize mirrors, and eye-catching chandeliers, or opt for a subtle soft approach with delicate flower patterns, lace, embroidery, jewels and mirrored furniture.

Laura Ashley's creative director, Mark Winstanley describes the look as "grown up decorating". He says: "It's sophisticated, easy and not too expensive. You can choose from so many elements that the result is bound to be exclusive."

Walls
Wallpaper is an easy way to 'dress' a room. Laura Ashley's new Chinoiserie range has its origins in the late 18th century with the wallcoverings designed for the Prince Regent's Brighton Pavillion. The Chinoiserie wallpapers - Oriental Garden, Summer Palace, Kimono and Erin - cost £20 a roll. (www.laurashley.com)

Windows
They should be well dressed with full curtains. Use shimmering silks, heavy slubs embellished with embroideries or cottons decorated in toile de jouy or florals. You'll find plenty of fabric and ready-made ideas at stores such as John Lewis. (www.johnlewis.com) Little touches, such as sparkling curtain ties, are essential. Make your own by decorating fabric with glittering beads from The Bead Shop, London (www.londonbeadco.co.uk), or visit The Pier, which has ready-made bead ties, £8.95 each. (www.pier.co.uk)

Furniture
Mirrored furniture always adds glamour, light and sparkle to any interior. Set the scene with Laura Ashley's 1930's Art Deco inspired addition to the Gatsby range, Summer Palace. Mirrored pieces are decorated with a floral and bird motif: three drawer chest, £1,200; cube table £175; mirror, £275. (www.laurashley.com) Other stores reflect the look – a chunky mirrored cube, costs £124 at House of Fraser, and Next has a four-drawer chest, £349 and a bedside table, £149. (www.next.co.uk)

Conjure French period style 'boudoir' with white-painted furniture, from Linda Barker's catalogue. Her antiqued wooden console costs £95; the handcarved, white painted mahogany bed, £2,600. (www.reallylindabarker.co.uk)

Focal point
A fireplace is often a focal point in a room particularly in winter. Fire specialists, CVO of London have a Pearl fire surround, hand-painted with flowers and inset with pearls on plaster. Fire surrounds from £2,500. (www.cvo.co.uk)

Accessories
Chandeliers are an obvious lighting choice. Laura Ashley, Marks and Spencer (www.marksandspencer.com) and Christopher Wray (www.christopherwray.co.uk) offer sparkling ranges at competitive prices. Linda Barker lamps include Luxury Frou-Frou silk trimmed and tasselled lamp, £39.50 or a Toile de Jouy antiqued lamp, £42.50.

Layer a bed with beautiful bedding. Monsoon's autumn home collection, Boudoir, has Camille Rose bed linen, throws and cushions in rich velvets and satins. (www.monsoon.co.uk)

Monochrome
A contrasting combination of black and white is an enduring classic, and well suited to contemporary rooms because it is simple yet elegant. Designer Alison Henry (www.alisonhenry.com) says: "Black and white are the key colours this season and this monochrome approach works well in all areas of the home. As far as design is concerned, consumers want it strong and simple with the best possible quality and finish blended with an element of splendour."

Walls
Walls painted white are the perfect backdrop for this look. Paint companies such as Farrow & Ball (www.farrowball.co.uk) have a comprehensive selection of whites from snow white through to warmer ivory and parchment. If painted walls are too plain opt for decorative effects using textured or patterned wallpapers in white. B&Q has an excellent selection. (www.diy.com) Black and white floral or contemporary patterned paper suits the look and is more glamorous, so you don't have to rely on accessories. The Paint & Paper Library (www.paintlibrary.co.uk) has a Zebra collection of wallpapers, featuring black and white combinations.

Windows
You can dress windows simply with blinds in black or white, but that's too bleak on cold winter nights, so add warmth and the essential touch of luxury with drapes. Treat the window like a theatre stage and swag and drape in sensual velvet, silk or use heavy cottons, silks or damasks.

Decadence and opulence combine in Andrew Martin's new Chaucer fabric collection, with two damask designs in black and white, from £90 a metre. (www.andrewmartin.co.uk)

Soften the look with a nearly black shade, Laura Ashley's Charcoal. Floral Picardie, £18 a metre; checked, Clermont, £15 a metre.

Furniture
Slim, sleek well-designed pieces should star in uncluttered rooms to give maximum impact. Alison Henry's opulent furniture and accessories include a Button back sofa, available in white leather, £6,499.99 and a white leather console table, £1,100. John Lewis Autumn range features a new monochrome Deco look. Create a glamorous monochrome ensemble with black leather Maestro furniture: sofa, £750; chair, £495; footstool, £295 and cushions, £75 each.

Contrast that with the glossy white lacquer, Glacier collection: Sideboard, £395; entertainment unit, £295; nest of tables, £175. Look design savvy and invest in a classic Eileen Gray steel and glass circular table, £150. (www.johnlewis.com) Alternatively superstore IKEA has the affordable Arild seating collection. It's available in Karaktar white leather and costs £695 for a three-seater. Team with a pure white Svansbo coffee table, £24.90 and Gidea dining table with glossy white top and chrome frame and legs, £235. (www.ikea.com)

Focal point
CVO's appropriately named Glamour fire surround has bevelled mirror glass framing a black granite and polished steel inset. Fire surrounds start from around £2,500. (www.cvo.co.uk) Feel the heat at Next: Try the plain square, Zen fire surround in black, £525 or the Malmo electric fireplace with white surround, black granite shelf and white pebbles with a flame effect, £375. (www.next.co.uk)

Accessories
Use black and white photographs on walls. Sleep in style with John Lewis Lucian bedding - pale cream swirls on a black background, with duvet covers from £40. Light up with a 1960s inspired Quant white and black lamp £70, and keep time with a matching Othello mantle clock, £15. Walk on the wild side with a Zebra patterned rug from £195, or a Lucien wool rug, white swirls on a black background, from £300.

Second hand style
Gabrielle Fagan presents some tips for flea market shoppers... At first sight, the current fashion for picking up other people's old furniture, fabrics and bric-a-brac at markets and using them to decorate your rooms is, frankly, fraught with danger. In inexperienced hands your home can end up looking like the jumbled, down-at-heel set of TV's famous rag and bone men, Steptoe and Son.

But this risk shouldn't put you off because those slightly battered pieces - which are so much cheaper than buying new - are a chic essential in today's successful interiors, to bring colour and personality. As well as saving money you avoid creating boring, predictable rooms where everything co-ordinates or patently comes from one high street store - that's just so yesterday. Still having doubts? Ali Hanan, co-author of an inspiring new book, Flea Market Style, is the woman to convert you and make you flea market savvy. Talking at her own home, stylishly furnished with bargains from London's famous Portobello Market, she says: "I believe that the old saying that 'one person's trash is another person's treasure' has never been more true. Unlike hot-off-the-shop-floor high street products, second-hand things have a casual, careworn air which is chic and stylish and wonderfully comfortable to live with."

Flea Market Guide

• Country style fans should look for wicker storage baskets, wooden rocking chairs, farmhouse-style tables.
• Retro enthusiasts can source a feast of vintage furniture at markets and auctions. Look for wooden sideboards, kidney shaped tables, low level vinyl sofas and plastic modular storage.
• Learn to recognise design classic such as an iconic Verner Panton 'S' chair, or a Charles and Ray Eames recliner.
• When buying furniture, check for sound bone structure - a sturdy frame, springs and legs and intact stuffing.
• If a piece is in good shape but haggard think cosmetic surgery - a coat of paint, a new cover, or re-upholstery. Always test for comfort before buying.
• Checking local papers and notice boards for jumble and car boot sales. Surf the net for details of larger markets and antiques sales. Show Off Style
• When trying to create a relaxing space in flea-market style the backdrops - walls and floor - really count. If you want to include patterned furniture keep the walls and paintwork neutral.
• If you like pattern, use vintage wallpaper to decorate one wall, and add interest on a plain floor with old animal skins, interesting rugs such as Persian prayer mats or Indian dhurries.
• Use vintage fabric finds for throws on furniture or sew together pieces for a decorative wall hanging.
• Cover cushions in luxurious secondhand finds, including silk dressing gowns, pashmina shawls, or cashmere jerseys.
• If you need side tables look for school desks and outdoor furniture in wrought iron.
• Old iron hospital beds, or an antique French bedstead will give an injection of instant charm to a bedroom.
• Pick a theme for paintings, and collect them in all shapes and sizes and hang together in a hall or as a feature in a lounge.

Style by Emily Chalmers and Ali Hanan. Published by Ryland Peters & Small, £18.99.