Thursday, June 13, 2013

Accessorizing and Designing the Kitchen



Accessorizing and designing a kitchen is the most challenging task for a homeowner or an interior designer.  Kitchen designing has its own limitations, such as space, functionality, storage, and much more.  Designing and accessorizing within a limited space can be challenging, yet a fun way to be creative.  Interior designers, with their professional experience, come up with great design ideas that make your kitchen look attractive and achieve the perfect functionality.

Once a kitchen has been designed (keeping in mind the storage and organizational aspects, along with space and functionality) then comes accessorizing. Accessorizing the kitchen counter tops can be fun; you can add fresh flowers in a beautiful vase in the corner of the counter top, or keep potted plants near the kitchen window to give your kitchen a fresh look.  You can try decorative back splashes that make a statement, a pretty bowl filled with fresh fruits that can add instant drama to your kitchen, glass jars with pasta, or your kids favorite candies on counter top. Kitchen appliances that are regularly used can be arranged neatly on the counter tops; though you should be weary of overdoing it because cluttered counter tops look messy.

Lighting fixtures can also add warmth and appeal to your kitchen. Under cabinet task lighting, decorative wall sconces, and stylish pendant lighting for your island can enhance the look of your kitchen. In addition, decorative flooring, or accent rugs, can add zest to your kitchen.



Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Luxurious Living Room with an Interior Designer



Interior decorating a luxurious living room can be a challenging task for an interior designer.  As the budget is never a problem here, the interior designer needs to live up to the challenge and meet the client’s expectations and taste.

The first thing an interior designer faces in any luxurious living room is the large space, in a luxurious living room design the space is often large than any moderate home and dealing with the larger space can be challenging as the wall space is larger and you need to design them very creatively without making the room look too cluttered or ordinary.

Perfect planning is required with great attention to minute details like the perfect size of furniture and the placement.   The materials used for window coverings or the cushions needs to be the best and spell luxury.  Fireplace is an added luxury in most of the larger living room and can look elegant when done creatively.  Lighting fixture is another point that needs to be given full attention while decorating a large space, Beautiful, elegant lighting fixtures well placed and planned keeping in mind each and every corner adds to the beauty of your luxurious living room.  Discussing your taste and checking some of the other luxurious living rooms with your interior designer can reap the best results and make your Luxurious living room dream come true.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Teenager Bedroom Ideas




Teenage is one of the tricky phases of life, where you are undergoing a lot of changes and lead a stressful life.  Teenagers need privacy and wish to have a place of their own where they can retreat and feel relaxed.  They need a room that represents them and make them feel good.  The best idea to make them feel significant and all grown up is by letting them design their own bedroom.


Decorating a teenager’s bedroom can bring you and your teenager closer.  Pay attention to your teenagers likes and dislikes and discuss it with the interior designer.  Let your teenager talk frankly with the interior designer and discuss about colors, furniture, accessories and what else would look gorgeous in their bedroom.  Teenagers can even refer magazines, visit teen interior decorating forums and check out other teenagers room on internet to get ideas on colors, lighting or furnishings.


Let your teenager select the colors for his/her bedroom, teenagers most often opt for bold colors, you can visit paint stores with them, get the sample paint colors and let your teenager test it on a part of the wall and see if they like the effect of that particular color.  If not, they can always go for a lighter shade of the same hue or try different color.  You can help them mix and match colors.  If their wall colors are bold then choose the furnishings or bed covers in neutral tone.  But remember their choice comes first.


Teenagers spend a lot of time in their bedroom either reading, working on computer, working on their favorite hobbies or just relaxing.  Lighting should be able to do justice to all this activities and hence chosen and implemented wisely.  Teenagers love decorating their rooms.  They love to show off their friends how creative they are through the decor of their room.  They like to decorate their room with their photos, let them make collages using their best photos and hang them as a decor item.  Use stencils and create their favorite wordings to create impact to their bedroom.  Help them choose fabrics in their favorite colors that would make them feel comfortable and lift their mood but make sure the colors blend with the wall color and other accessories.


Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Well Planned Lighting for your Home


















Lighting is the most important aspect of any home, proper lighting enhances the ambient of your home and also makes your home look fantastic.  A good well planned and implemented lighting makes your home look warm and inviting along with adding a glint to your décor.  Interior designers plan lighting in advance according to your needs and achieve the desired effect.

Before lighting fixtures are finalized to any of your rooms, you will need to understand the necessities and the functions of that room, you should try to determine the purpose of the lighting to be used and whether it fulfills the desired purpose.  Only after planning in advance you can opt for the type of lighting that matches each room.  Lighting should set the right mood and function in the desired way.  There are various means to achieve your goal like task or desk lighting to focus on the work you do, wall sconces or focus light to add sparkle to your artwork, decorative light to add an extra touch to your décor and ambient lighting for overall lighting of a space.

Proper Lighting should be provided in walkways, staircase, sidewalks and the exterior of your home thus providing safety.  A dull lighting or improper lighting for your staircase or sidewalks can prove to be unsafe.  You can also use lighting like wall scones or flood lights for exterior décor as the first glance of any home is the exterior look and so the exterior too needs to make the best impression. You should give the same importance and priority to your exterior décor as you give to your interior decoration.

Each room needs multiple lighting like for instance kitchen is a place where several tasks are performed and needs to be well lit, you can go for under cabinet lighting along with ceiling or pendant lighting.  Living room being the most used and liked area needs varieties of lighting like task lighting to highlight artwork, table lamps for darker areas of your living room and some general lighting.  Dining room can have chandeliers or pendant lighting and some wall scones to add great ambiance.  Bedrooms should not have too bright light, wall scones or desk lamps suit your bedrooms with a dimmer switch though.  Seeking a professional interior designers help for the best suitable, functional and available lighting fixtures is the best option in terms of saving time and undue work.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Redecorating your Family Room



Does your family room needs attention and looks outdated?  It is time you start redecorating your family room to make it bright and cheerful.  Family room needs to be cheerful and attractive as you spend the most valuable time with your family and friends by interacting, entertaining or having parties.

Redecorating a family room need not affect your pocket, set the budget and try to work accordingly.  Recycle, reuse or renew can be the new mantra for your redecorating process.  To do this, first you need to take into account all the things of your family room and other rooms that are not in use.  Maybe the side table of your bedroom is unused; why not use it as a coffee table in your family room, who knows the same side table looks damn beautiful as a coffee table.  The wall art of your dining room does not complement the color of your dining room, try to use it in your family room and lo it just changed the entire look of your family room.

You just need creative and out of the box thinking to breathe new life into your family room.  Just the rearrangement of your furniture may give your family room the spacious look that you wished for or adding the right light fixtures, that are not too costly can make your family room look bright and cozy.  Try reupholstering your old furniture or just add new textured, bold pillows and see the stunning effect it creates.

If you are running short of ideas or are not sure how to manage redecoration within your budget? Try hiring a professional interior designer.  Experienced and reliable interior designer will help you redecorate your family room as per your budget in the most creative and artistic way.  They will share their decorating ideas and suggest the best way to redecorate, whether reupholstering the furniture, changing the colors of the family room or adding new or used accessories at the right place, your designer is well capable of achieving all this to your expectations.

Interior decorating or redecorating family room is fun when done in the right tone.  Choose a theme that suits your family and start redecorating.  Your theme decides what other décor elements need to be used for your family room.  Frame pictures of your family and use them as wall décor.  Family photos add warm feeling to your family room.  Add carpet to your flooring and see the difference it makes to your otherwise cold and uninviting flooring.  Get creative and start redecorating your family room with a new vigor.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Importance of colors for your interiors



Color is life, life without colors is unimaginable and unexciting.  Color plays a very important role in the interior decoration of your home.  Colors create mood and make your home look stylish and beautiful.

The best resource for the selection of colors for your home is your interior designer.  Interior designers have a vast knowledge of color and its effect, the combinations to be used, the contrast to be selected, the finishings suitable for your home, and all other special effects that would suit your interiors.

Colors are said to have a psychological effect and thus need to be selected wisely.  As color choice is personal and one color that you like may not be liked by the other members of your family, before choosing colors, sit and discuss the color chart or go through the color wheel and decide on the color that would be comfortable, bright and pleasing to your family.

Color should complement the furnishings, match the fabric, accentuate the other décor items of your home.   Neutral colors are always pleasing, calm and graceful and go well with any kind of décor you choose for your home.  Neutral colors like white, off-white or grey creates a soothing effect.  If you feel the neutral color could get too monotonous then you can complement it through dark or bold color furniture or window treatments.  Any artwork or frames look beautiful on a neutral color wall.

If you love bold and dark colors like red, purple or other bold colors, you can incorporate them in the form of furniture, window treatments or lighting fixtures or carpets.   But if you wish to color your walls in bold, then you can color one or two of your wall in your favorite color making it the focal point of your room and keep the other wall colors in neutral shades.  If you paint all the four walls of your room in one bold color, such as red, then it can get on your nerves and make you jittery after a while.

You can also use contrast colors for your walls and furnishings.  Contrast colors should be chosen in such a way that it complements each other.  If not, it will look odd in your room and make your room appear uninviting and unwelcoming.  If you want to mix and match colors then it is best to experiment with samples before you get into action.  Colors reflect your moods and nature.  Make a safe choice and be proud of owning a stylish and beautiful home.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Interior Designer or Decorator




Whom to hire? An interior designer or an interior decorator? Before you start thinking on these lines you should know the difference between the designer and the decorator.  Even before this is answered you should be able to answer what you need: are you in search of someone who can guide you in decorating your home, or are you looking for someone who can take care of not only beautification of your home, but also other responsibilities involving building structure, building permits and so on?



Once you are sure about this, then you can hire the one who fulfils your needs.  Both interior designers and decorators work hard to provide you a beautiful functional space that you would be proud to show off to your family and friends.

Your interior decorator works towards interior decoration by looking into different aspects involving the beautification of your space by choosing right fixtures, furnishings, surfaces, paint, window treatments, wall coverings and fabric, keeping in mind your preferences and personality. To achieve this they may meet you regularly, try to get an idea of your interests, and work towards achieving it, by guiding you through the right items in the right place, thus reflecting your personality.  Your decorators need not know the safety and building codes, and are not involved in designing the layout of your space.  Decorators work towards beautification of your home. Decorators need to be talented and artistic in order to meet your expectations and create an attractive space.

Whereas if you are concerned not only about attractive functional space, but also wish someone to look into safety codes and building codes, make suggestions in regards to architectural changes and design the layout of your floor plan, than you need an interior designer.  Your interior designer takes care of all these aspects and at the same time plays a role of a decorator by suggesting and choosing colors, furnishings, lighting and other décor.  Your interior designer has to plan in such a way that he takes into consideration all the interests and needs of your family members.

Whether you hire an interior designer or an interior decorator they should be friendly, attentive and talented enough so as to completely satisfy your needs with an awesome interior within the timeframe and the stipulated budget.  Their main concern should be you, your family’s safety, and the budget, along with a beautiful functional space.