Posts Tagged ‘flooring’

South-Western Home Decor

Friday, February 26th, 2010

So what exactly is southwestern home decor and how can you get it into your own home? Well, to begin with southwestern home decor reflects the southwest and all its best aspects. Southwestern home decor involves colourful throw rugs, gorgeous wall hangings, and if you look hard enough, you will even unearth some useful kitchen accessories too.

If you’re thinking about bringing southwestern home decor into your home, first of all, you need to check whether it will blend in with your existing decor or whether it will clash badly. Almost all southwestern home decor involves bright, eye catching colours and stunning designs and motifs.

So, if your existing furniture would clash with any of these lovely pieces you can do one of two things. First up, you could always just throw out every single piece of ratty and unwanted furniture that you already have and replace it with gorgeous pieces of southwestern home decor. Or you could just buy one or two pieces of the southwestern home decor range and match it selectively to your existing knick-knacks.

Personally speaking, I would just love to replace everything I already have since there’s some wear and tear, but in reality that’s just not possible. For one thing it would just be way over my budget, and for another I would rather not have to listen to a lecture from my mother about waste. I’ve discovered that you can escape from your friends but not from your mother!

Besides, I’m also a little relieved that I didn’t give into my first impulse and redecorate all in a southwestern home decor style. Granted that it does look really nice, but sometimes I also like the peace and quiet that some of my other pieces of furniture bring about in me. Therefore, I have now come up with the perfect solution and have instead resorted to purchasing one-off pieces that catch my attention and dotting my home with those instead.

And I have to say that its made quite a difference in the look and feel of my entire home. Expensive pieces of the more traditional furniture now sit quite comfortably next to the more flamboyant and stunning designs of my southwestern home decor. I’ve also bought a great rug for my bathroom floor and a gorgeous set of hand towels. My kitchen has a new set of southwestern motifs, and my foyer has the most wonderful lampshade and statuette in prominent view.

Though all of this might sound over the top, I’ve found that this is the best way to bring the glories of southwestern home decor into your life, without going all out and renewing my whole house with southwestern decor and motifs.

After all, you just want to bring a dash of southwestern decor to your home, not the whole thing. Oh, and did I forget to mention the gorgeous tapestry I bought the other day? It’s just perfect.

If you are searching for stylish ideas on Stylish Home Decor, then you ought to visit our website for more free ideas on Interior Design Ideas and more.

categories: decor,decorating,interior design,style,design,southwest,hobbies,house,modern,advice,environment,family,flooring,other

Ideas for Painting Walls

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

So, here you are then, in your new house! Its a bit of a mess though since the previous owner was in a rush to sell and had been in the middle of renovating. But, you don’t really mind that though, since it gives you the perfect chance to do your house up just the way you want it.

But now you need to decide where everything goes and what colours will suit your rooms, but you still don’t have any wall painting ideas.

So, you eagerly sort out your new keys and wander through your new house. The minute you step in through a door ideas hit you. That huge urn you bought a year ago would look fantastic in the corner, and you’re pretty sure that your existing sofa set will fit in this other room. And you know the antique mirror table would look stunning in the hallway. The only thing you really get hung up on though are wall painting ideas.

You don’t want to just dab on a coat of neutral coloured paint and be done with it. What you want is a masterpiece, something that you can look at with pride every time you see it. Naturally, you should be able to keep looking at it with pleasure for some time to come as well, so it shouldn’t be too severe.

But where do you get good wall painting ideas from, and how do you go about getting the wall painting actually done? There are a few ways that you could go about this, the easiest of which being if you have an artistic flair, so that you could get your wall painting ideas out of your head, so to speak and paint the walls as you like. Unfortunately, most of us aren’t very artistic and we are hesitant to pick up a brush or roller and apply the first coat of paint without supervision. In this scenario then, you will need some help.

You could begin by hiring a professional interior designer to help you decide what would look good or you could sit down and watch some DIY programs on the TV, where they show some pretty good ideas on what to do when decorating a house and will even give you some great wall painting ideas.

If neither of these is a viable option for you though, you could just settle for going down to your local hardware store with a few fabric swatches and colour sheets of your most prominent pieces of furniture and enlist their help on stylish wall decorating ideas.

You may come up with a hodge-podge of wall painting ideas with this last suggestion, but I found that it was the one that worked best for me and now I’m very proud of my ‘personalized’ house, because it reflects who I am just perfectly.

If you are searching for more ideas on Stylish Home Decor, then you really really must go along to our website for more free ideas on Interior Design Ideas and more.

Country Home Decor Style

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

The house is finally spick and span and you put your feet up for a minute with a nice cup of coffee by the side of you and you pick away at your muffin. You are worn out but it’s the good kind of tired where you know you’ve done a hard day’s work and you have no regrets about it. A happy feeling settles about you and you look around yourself with contentment.

A magazine lies tantalizingly within reach and you give in and pull it towards you, intending to enjoy your well-deserved rest. The main cover story jumps right out at you, called Country Home Decor. Naturally you flip through eagerly to that very section, you had just seen an article on turning your house into a small country haven in another magazine and you were interested.

There is page after page of the magazine filled with what can only be described as the most perfect examples of country home decor you can imagine. You gaze longingly at the various styles and furnishings you see gracing the magazine’s pages. A quick look up from your magazine assures you that your own modest home hasn’t changed somehow into one of those lovely country homes you were just looking at.

A heavy sigh passes your lips at the realization and so you go back to reading the magazine article. You had never thought that you were the sort of person who could stand the country home decor style but now upon reflection you think you just might be able to.

Now without your even realising it, you begin marking the pieces that interest you the most, doing small maths calculations on how best to create the same effect but on the smaller budget that you have to spend. After all, it just wouldn’t do to spring for that lovely Welsh dresser and have to go without your freshly ground whole bean coffee, would it?

But, you could certainly buy that appealing table runner without too much of a problem. And if you gave all those modern chrome coffee mugs and dinner sets to charity you wouldn’t really be splashing out, would you, since you would have already done your best for charity and donated all these things?

What about swapping your snazzy blinds for something that’s a bit more in the country home decor style, and while you’re about it perhaps you could even exchange that ugly lampshade you received as a Christmas gift for something a little more country.

The only thing that is left for you to do now is to sit back and enjoy the results of your labours and gaze with open pride upon your beautifully redecorated home. Furnished, naturally enough, in the best country home decor style that you could gain from every source that you came across, like that first magazine article that spurred it all off way back when.

If you are looking for stylish ideas on stylish home decor, then you must visit our website for more free ideas on country home decor and more.

categories: decor,decorating,interior design,style,design,self help,hobbies,home,advice,building,environment,family,flooring,other

Decorating Your Bathroom And Kitchen

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

For people who seem to have everything or for the people who are bored with their lifestyle, there are several things that they can do to spruce-up their lives. Maybe one of the best ways though is to begin redecorating one’s house. Two of the first places you should consider redecorating are your bathroom and kitchen.

These are usually the most ignored and yet, most often used rooms in the entire house. Just think about it, have you redecorated at least even one of these rooms in the last five years? The answer is almost certainly “no”, in which case, try to think back to the last time you even looked closely at your bathroom or kitchen other than to Spring clean them.

More than likely, if you noticed anything at all, you put the notion off until a future date when you could devote more time to decorating your bathroom or kitchen. At that time though, the place probably didn’t look as old as it does now, after all, the years add up and even though you’ve been keeping it spotlessly clean you can’t stop the steady march of time.

The chances are that if you took a closer look now, you’ll find that the curtains are looking a might drab and worn around the edges, as are the bathroom rugs. And let’s not even look at the toilet roll holder. It is quite true that they don’t make them like they used to, and with very good reason too!

So, do yourself a favour and throw out all that unnecessary clutter in the bathroom and get yourself some new stuff - you will be surprised at what lovely things you can find these days. Besides, you’ve probably been admiring that lovely bathroom set you saw in the shop for some time, so at the very least now you will have a good reason to go out and splash out on yourself.

And while you’re about it, don’t forget to buy that lovely new salt and pepper mill set you saw last week for the kitchen and a few mats that can be used in either room. They should be resilient to such commonplace accidents as water, soap, oil grease, fat and all the other things that somehow seem to become ground into carpets.

But, if you’re looking for a few new ideas about decorating your bathroom or your kitchen, there are a number of sources you can get your inspiration from. The best one I’ve found so far are the catalogues, which you can peruse until you find what you want.

With all these options, you can even substitute something that is less expensive for the things you see in the catalogues. This then, is the easiest way to get your decorating projects started and to keep yourself amusingly busy for some time to come and to transform your long suffering bathroom and kitchen into new and sparkling areas.

If you are searching for modern ideas on stylish home decor, then you must visit our website for more free ideas on bathroom and kitchen remodeling and more.

categories: decor,decorating,interior design,style,design,self help,hobbies,home,building,advice,family,flooring,free,other

Black And White Ideas For Stylish Home Decor

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Whenever people begin thinking about living room decorating ideas and making changes to their residence, whether it be one or two rooms or even the entire house, the first thing that usually springs to mind is ‘what colours shall I use’. Generally, people choose colours that they are fond of or those which match pieces of their existing furniture. When searching for living room decorating inspiration, one idea which is perhaps too often overlooked is decorating with the two basic colours (or shades, to be completely accurate) ” black and white.

Black and white, when used in decorating shows style and creates drama. Top decorators say that every room in the house could benefit by using a slash of black. Black is a colour which anchors and grounds a room. Bringing sophistication, black is certainly a colour that requires attention. Living room decorating ideas for a home using black may include accessories such as light fixtures, trim or furniture. Black serves to bring definition to the focal points in a room. Black is just one of the colours that makes a statement, but it is definitely one of the most eye-catching!

Using black and white shades in your stylish home decor, provides a clean, fresh, elegant touch to the mood of the room. This combination can be added to any room in a home making it a sophisticated space. Black and white are often used in contemporary home decorating and often used to accent other colors in French Country design. It may be hard to visualize but there are many ideas for decorating a home using combinations of only these two basic shades.

The flooring is a great place to start when considering stylish home decor. Black and white vinyl tiles laid alternately make a beautiful chessboard pattern and gives a clean and elegant appearance. Black marble used on the floor, accented by wide white skirting boards is another beautiful idea for decorating a home. Laying white ceramic tiles with a black border or simply painting the floor black or white and using stencils of the opposite colour for decoration, is also quite stunning. These are great ideas for decorating a room.

Can you think of anything more perfect than white walls in the Mediterranean style? Painting the walls white or even an off-white, say smoke-white or apple-whitewould make an ideal backdrop for accessories such as shelving framed in black. Great living room decorating ideas! Elegant black window surrounds or black shutters against a clean, crisp white wall would definitely create an air of sophistication. Maybe a glass-topped table with a black iron trim and black chairs? These are terrific ideas for decorating a room using only black and white.

Imagine a bedroom decorated using only black and white - that would be lovely stylish home decor too. A black or white iron bed-stead, covered with a striped black and white duvet or eiderdown. The pillow cases could be either all black or all white and you could add throw cushions in the other colour.

A chunky leather black or white armchair or sofa in the corner would definitely accent the living room decorating ideas. Then you could have the white walls with a modern piece of artwork, framed in black, hanging on it. That would surely add to the modern feel of your living room decorating ideas. Black furniture against the crisp white walls would definitely look really neat and tidy and you could jazz it all up with accessories like pewter or silver candlesticks, jugs or vases.

If you think the living room decorating ideas need a bit more colour to complete the look, perhaps a throw or a cushion in a bold colour like red or gold for the chair in the corner of the room would be enough to accent the room. There are many ways to decorate a room. However, finding the one that suits you and those who live with you is very important. It’s nice to do something extreme and off-the-wall but remember you must be able to live with it for quite a while.

If you are looking for more ideas on Stylish Home Decor, then you ought to go along to our website for more free ideas on Interior Design Ideas and more.

categories: decor,decorating,interior design,style,design,self help,hobbies,house,modern,advice,environment,family,flooring,other

Wedding Decorating Ideas

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Yes! Yes, yes, and yes a thousand times more. That was the answer you gave a week ago when your boyfriend took you out to dinner and proposed. There was no second thought in your mind then and there isn’t any now either really. The only thing that you’re hung up on though is the actual details of the wedding.

Your boyfriend, now your fiance of course, is very laid back and casual about it and said that anything you want is fine with him. He was certain that you would do a great job, just tell him if you wanted anything.

That’s all good and fine, and usually you would have jumped at the chance, in fact you did jump at the chance. But now you’re getting confused about what to do for your wedding decorating ideas. The motifs are all blending as one into your brain and you still don’t know where to have the reception.

Of course, you could have the reception in an up market hotel with the works, everything catered for and all the niggily little details taken care of, but that seemed so impersonal, and you really want your wedding to be one that you, and everyone else, will remember for the rest of your life. So what can you do now?

Well, first off, just take a deep breath and relax. Working yourself up into a frenzy won’t do you any good. Next call your bridesmaids, and anyone else you trust, together and have a council of war.

This is where you will decide on the details and get a fresh perspective and new ideas on your planning, and where most of all, you can have some fun with your wedding decorating ideas. You’ll be just amazed at how many great ideas a group of people can get if they’re working together on something like wedding decorating ideas with wedding cards being only a small part of it.

So you begin with an idea, say to have the all of the cards handmade so that they become even more special to you as time goes by. Someone else has the great idea of getting a bunch of those little disposable cameras so that those who wanted to, would be able to take photos, and you’d end up with a great many more candid pictures than you otherwise would have had.

Yet another person comes up with a great overall design theme. Your wedding decorating ideas are now coming fast and furious as one person after another chimes in giving you all the assistance you need to sort out your wedding plans.

Your mother however, comes up with the best wedding decorating ideas of all and such like being the least of all her concerns! Maybe you’d like to get married and then have your reception at their house.

They could put up a marquee to take care of all the guests, and the house could be done up to suit the occasion. And you say, ‘Yes’, again because there’s nothing you want more than to get married at home.

If you are looking for more info on Wedding Decorating Ideas, then you really must visit our website for more free ideas on Stylish Home Decor and more.

categories: decor,decorating,interior design,style,design,self help,hobbies,house,modern,advice,environment,family,flooring,other

Plastic Shower Curtains

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

So, one day, fabric shower curtains went the way of the dodo and glass shower doors became all the rage. But, like most fads, common sense resurfaced and the fashions that once were, have come back as they do. You’ll now find that fabric shower curtains are all the rage once again and are easily available from most stylish home decor stores.

However, don’t dump your old glass doors just yet either. The convenience and sophisticated look of the glass doors seem to be firmly established in some quarters. True blue die-hards of the glass doors will swear by these and will even sometimes be ready to lay down their reputations for them.

You’ll discover, when talking about fabric shower curtains, that their owners are complacent and will smile when questioned about their preferences. Naturally, they’ll defend their fabric shower curtains but they also admit to realizing the advantages of glass shower doors as well. No dripping from the bottom of the curtain, no constantly damp curtain folds that need to be separated out each morning in order to discourage mould.

The biggest convenience of all, is the easy cleaning afforded by glass shower doors. However, as the proponents of fabric shower curtains will also say to you, glass doors have their disadvantages as well, the biggest of which being that if you allow the cleaning of the doors to slide for even one week, dark stains will begin to form along the sides where they’re attached to the wall and some of these seem to have great determination.

And if you don’t give the glass shower doors a regular wipe-down, your otherwise nice clean bathroom will begin to look rather grubby. The reason though why fabric shower curtains are an all time favourite of many people in the know, is for just one reason and one reason only. This is also what leads these people to have a contented smile on their faces even after they’ve just spent the last half hour sponging their bathroom. Fabric shower curtains are disposable and so can be changed quickly.

Yes, that’s the one whopping big reason why fabric shower curtains are still a firm favourite with a lot of people. Have you ever tried changing your glass doors on a regular basis? It just won’t happen and its doubtful if it will ever happen within a span of five years, unless that is you take a very large sledgehammer to it by accident.

So, now you understand the reason behind that mysterious grin and why fabric shower curtains never really went out of style. Convenience, more convenience and still more convenience. So if you’re thinking of changing from your glass shower doors to the more convenient, disposable fabric shower curtains don’t be put off by having to get started

Once you remove those doors, your life is bound to become simpler, and if it’s not, just exchange one pair of fabric shower curtains for new ones. If nothing else it’ll make you feel a bit better!

If you are looking for more info on stylish Fabric Shower Curtains, then you must go along to our website for more free ideas on Stylish Home Decor and more.

categories: decor,decorating,interior design,style,design,kitchen,hobbies,house,modern,advice,environment,family,flooring,other

Inexpensive Home Decor

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

If you’re redecorating your home, naturally you’ll want only the best materials. However, often you’ll find that the best is also expensive as well. Unfortunately, most of us can’t afford to splurge out on these finer things in life, especially if we’re in the process of redecorating our homes.

That’s where the many discount home decor stores will come to your rescue. In these stores, you’ll find that you can sometimes witness a miracle and find that you can actually get those finer things at a fantastic discount.

Some of the best discount home decor is to be found in your local department stores. They’re probably the last places you’d think of looking for discounts but if you get the timing right, seasonal sales in other stores will drive the prices down to match discount store prices. It doesn’t get better than that, especially if you don’t really want to spend hours going around looking for discount stores or warehouses.

Which leads us, naturally enough, to the next discount home decor shops - discount warehouses, in which you are presented with a large selection from which you can buy your discount home decor and fittings. These large warehouse stores are ideal if you’re happy spending the time doing a bit of browsing.

Be careful though, because if you buy from these discount warehouses, you’re quite likely to see your perfect picture hanging in your neighbour’s house too. You should also go prepared to keep a tight grasp on your wallet as some of the items will simply demand to be bought. In this case, you’ll find that the new discount home decor items you went in to buy, have multiplied substantially in number before you come back out.

Another good method, and one which I constantly use, is the Internet discount stores. Just type in the words “Discount Home Decor” into any Internet search engine and it will produce such a magnitude of stores that you may even become swamped.

The best way to deal with this is simply to search through a small number of the returned results and find a store that you like. As you go along, you can always cull many of them and find ones that best suit your requirements.

The Internet option is also very good, if you decide to look through your local department store’s Internet web site as well. Often, you’ll find a variety of items at discount store prices that you wouldn’t se at the store itself.

Delivery of your discount home decor items purchased over the Internet is also very low and sometimes even free, if you spend over a certain amount of money.

Any or all of these methods is a great way to start your redecorating project and you’ll find that, with only a little effort and thought on your part, you will be able to find discount home decor items that will not only suit your budget but which will also suit your home, and ultimately, that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?

If you are looking for more ideas on Stylish Home Decor, then you must go along to our website for more free ideas on Discount Home Decor and more.

categories: decor,decorating,interior design,style,design,kitchen,hobbies,house,modern,advice,environment,family,flooring,other

Office Decor

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

It’s been at least a year now since you came to your new work place and officially took over your new office. At first, you were busy decorating your new home and learning a new job, but now that you’re settled in you start noticing the same things that you noticed when you first took over your office.

The walls are a boring, drab colour and looking decidedly depressing, the sun streaming in through the heavy duty blinds is decidedly dingy and the furniture is just about as grotty and plain as it can get. You reckon that an acceptable amount of time has passed for you to start an office decorating project.

Of course, before you start it’s always good to make certain that the powers that be don’t have a problem with your plans. And remember that it is just an office and you should treat your decorating plans as such.

Emulsioning the walls a snazzy red colour possibly might not work. However, you could brighten things up a bit by repainting the walls a bright and airy colour that won’t upset anyone, least of all you. Then you could always remove those old blinds that have been hanging there since the early 1980’s and replace them with something more pleasing and functional.

On the other hand, if the whole of the office is done up in the same style with the same blinds hanging on each window, your a la mode changes might not go down too well with your co-workers. So, think twice before making drastic changes that alter the whole style and dynamic of the entire office.

There are, however, easier ways you can carry out your office decorating project without too much hassle on your part and which doesn’t necessarily need to be thought over too much. You could brighten up any room by placing a pot or two of flowering plants here and there around your office.

However, if you’re like me and you don’t have green fingers or if you enforce suicide on any plants near you, then maybe you shouldn’t bother with plants. You could however bring in some bright pictures and hang them up on your walls. Or perhaps you have kids and they have painted some smashing pictures for you.

These work well too, and will show your co-workers a different aspect of your character. But, don’t get stressed out over anything though - you really don’t need a simple decorating job to add to the rest of your worries. Besides, an office decorating project should be fun and stress free.

Remember, your office decorating project should not mean your turning the whole office, or yourself, on its head. It should be something that you can live with on a daily basis.

After all, you’re at your office most of the day, so it should be a place where you can feel just as relaxed as you are in your own home.

If you are searching for more ideas on Stylish Home Decor, then you really must visit our website for more free ideas on Office Decorating and more.

categories: decor,decorating,interior design,style,design,office,hobbies,house,modern,advice,environment,family,flooring,other

Using Lighting to Create Atmosphere

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

When you are considering the interior design of a house or room, lighting is almost certainly the most important element of the alterations to the interior decoration. After all, it is the element that creates the ambiance of the room. You can create moods from intimacy to bleak clinicalism just by the power of your light bulb or turning a dimmer switch.

Nevertheless, if you want to be sure that the effect of the lighting is the one you are looking for, it is essential that you be familiar with the four principal forms of lighting.

Ambient lighting: This is the general illumination for the entire room. In most rooms it is the usual light in the centre of the ceiling be it a fluorescent tube or an incandescent bulb. It is suggested that you make use of one or more dimmers in order to gain more flexibility in creating effects for every occasion.

Local lights: These lights are used to enhance or even briefly replace the ambient lighting. Local lights are most commonly standard lamps, table and wall lights and are generally used in order to assist such activities as reading, cooking, and shaving. The concentration of the light is local and it has to be properly worked out so it won?t put a strain on the eyes.

Accent lights Accent lights are sources of light for displaying decorative items, usually placed so as to draw attention to an objet d?art . Quite literally to show it in its best light.

Natural light: This is the one we get free though skylights, windows and doors. This light is controllable for part of the day by shades, curtains, drapes, blinds or awnings, but obviously varies with the time of the day, the season and the weather. Some localities see huge variations in natural light according to the season, eg monsoon, snow, etc.

It is possibly easiest, if you consider a house room by room. Start off by analyzing what the room is used for. Retirees will probably want to take advantage of the daytime natural light for hobbies and reading, but a working couple with school-age kids, will be more active in the evening, when additional illumination might be more imperative. Write down what you do and where you do it. Do you have a favourite comfy chair for reading the paper, do you read the paper during daylight hours or after work? Be daring in your selection of lighting, but also bear in mind that lighting can have a powerful influence on our perception of dimensions, making a room look larger or smaller than it is in reality.

There are numerous methods to light a room but they all come from one of two perspectives: the lighting is either functional or aesthetic. Yes, they are both used to allow you to see more easily, but highlighting the pages of a book or a shaving mirror is not quite the same as using a soft light to highlight a statue of the Madonna in an alcove.

In a brief summation, you could use the few lines below to give you preliminary ideas when you are thinking about changing a room?s illumination:

i] Place a standard lamp behind armchairs: they ought to be between three and five feet high. ii] Use an accent light to high or even low light a canvas. iii] Use an accent light to underline the lines of bookshelves. iv] The ambient light ought to be adjustable. v] Use local illumination to cover the walls with a low light or glow (can be sunk into the floor)

About the Author: