Interior Decoration | Improve Your Lovely Home

August 8, 2009

Log Home Decorating

Filed under: Interior Decoration — admin @ 12:33 am

Log Home Decoration Log home decorating is perhaps one of the more fun decorating projects. Using a cottage theme, log home decorating provides you an opportunity to draw from nature and implement some of your favourite objects. If you are a person who spends a lot of time at your cottage or log home, no doubt you’ve started a collection of treasures to display. Family photos and handmade ornaments are popular accessories for log home decorating. Any object reflecting family memories are great for a log home or cottage.

A log cabin is a home away from home. It is intended to be warm and cozy for all those who visit. Choosing earthly colors for paint and fabric would help create this atmosphere in log home decorating. This environment is meant to be welcoming and cheerful. Adding some vibrant colors and patterns in cushions and slip-covers will certainly brighten the space and enhance your log home decorating.

Usually people try to find used furniture for their log home or cottage. You many have some unwanted furniture at home such as a chair, a table or a couch. Instead of discarding them, why not take them to your log home. Flea markets and garage sales are great places to find amazing furniture to use in your log home decorating project. Remember, one person’s junk is another person’s treasure. Old wooden pieces of furniture are perfect for log cabin decorating. You may want to leave them in their original state or to give them a newer look, you may want to paint them or if it’s a chair, perhaps make nice slip-covers in a bright floral pattern.

Besides the mementos you brought from home, there are many accessories you can use in log cabin decorating. Trying to keep with a cottage theme, you might look for baskets made from natural materials that you can hang from the ceiling or place on a table, wooden bowls, galvanized tin pots and buckets, old jars or jugs, there are countless objects you could use to accessorize in log home decorating. Trying to create a feeling of warmth and cosiness, you could have handmade quilts in your log cabin. Handmade items make wonderful additions to log home decorating.

When choosing flooring for a log home or cottage, natural wood such as birch, cedar or pine, are great choices. You can leave your wood floor in its natural form, allowing it to age and remain authentic looking. You can also pick from many beautiful wood stains to use on your floor which will protect it and also compliment it. Area rugs are nice in log home decorating. Area rugs make a space cozy especially when laid on a wood floor.

Log home decorating allows you to be in touch with nature and all the wonderful materials it has to share. The very structure of the building is made of logs which came from the forest. The scent of the logs alone, add to the natural feeling in a log cabin. Log home decorating is a project that may never be completed. You’ll always find something special that can only be appreciated in your log cabin or cottage.

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July 5, 2009

How To Improve Your Room Decor

Filed under: Interior Decoration — admin @ 7:30 pm

Room decor The decor is of utmost importance in homecare. It is a reflection of personal taste and deals with the balance of furnishings, lightings and the structure of the house to improve the aesthetics of a room; even the most well-designed and built house in the world would be an uncomfortable place to live without correct decor. This article will provide a short, easy to follow guide to some simple steps to instantly improve the decor of a room in your house by focusing on two main principles; lighting and furnishing.

Interior lighting is a major factor in altering the feel of a room and modern decorating techniques mean that we are no longer reliant on free-standing lamps to provide this feel. Ambient lighting, for example, creates very few shadows by filling the room with a glow rather than an intense source of light. This flattening of the room as be created by using a dimmer switch, wall sconces or paper lanterns. Accent lighting, by contrast, highlights individual features of a room by directing a light source at them, or positioning a light source directly above or below them. This is used to especially good effect in rooms with centrepieces or natural focal points; fireplaces and large paintings for example. By choosing the correct type of lighting for the intended feel of the room, you will discover limitless possibilities for the overall decor of the house.

Possibly the most important factor is successful decor, however, is the furnishings or a room. It is highly advisable to pick a theme for a room and stick to it with regards to both decoration and furnishings; the carpet, wall paper, curtains and furnishings must all be of a certain theme to avoid clashing. Metal blinds and laminate flooring combined with a large traditional wooden fireplace and mahogany furniture, for example, would be hideous to behold. The key is to choose your theme and stick to it; be it modern, traditional or a very clever mix of the two. Once you have picked your theme and installed the basic furnishings, consider adding some stylish additions like pictures on the walls, bookshelves and rugs. Rugs especially can make a huge impact on a room – for better or for worse! A rug must be chosen very carefully to avoid it clashing with the rest of a room; not only in terms of colour but also in design and style.

Although a clashing colour will make the rug useless, a clashing design can also change the impact of the rug entirely; a spotted rug on a striped carpet, for example, could look awful. Again the style and theme of the rug must also match the room; a thin, clinically-shaped and pastel-coloured rug would look most out of place in the middle of a deep, woollen carpet in a lavishly decorated front room, for example. That being said, sometimes shaggy rugs make wonderful additions to otherwise minimalistic rooms; serving as a centrepiece for the around which the other furnishings can be positioned!

A combination of stylish furnishings and appropriate lighting will be the cornerstone of the decor of any room. Modern furnishings normally benefit from task lighting or aesthetic lighting that serves as decoration in itself, where traditionally decorated rooms often look best with more subdued lighting, with accents for focal points in the decor. However, experimentation is the foundation of discovery and I highly advise everybody to try new things with their decor, though to also avoid spending lots of money of furnishings bought on whims!

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December 18, 2007

Interior Designer as a Profession

Filed under: Interior Decoration, Tips — admin @ 7:40 pm

If you have always had a flair for interior design and help friends turn their homes into masterpieces, perhaps you should consider turning your natural talent into a career. The business of interior decorating can be very lucrative and rewarding for those that know what they’re doing.

If you have an eye for decorating and are very good at it, you will go far in the interior design world. Just like many other businesses though, you do have to be able to adapt to the styles each individual client will have. You will need to learn how to put your taste aside so that it doesn’t try to influence your client. Let their unique style show in their home or office so that your clients will come back to you for more.

To be an interior design professional, you don’t have to go to school but it is recommended. You will want to have a degree because it will make you look more reputable and knowledgeable about this chosen field. If you want to make a lot of money doing interior decorating, school will help you get there. People are more willing to trust decorators with a degree because they know they have the basic background and know-how to get the job done. So, check out your local colleges and see if they have a program that can get you a degree in interior design. It’s never too late to go back to school so don’t let your age stop you!

Once you’ve graduated, you can work at an interior design firm or you can start your own business. Most people start out working as an interior decorator for someone else’s company and then start their own business a little later down the road. You will need to have some money saved up to start a decorating business, so make sure you have a nest egg before you leave your current job.

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December 15, 2007

Home Interior Decoration

Filed under: Interior Decoration — admin @ 7:21 pm

Home Interior Decoration – The process of decorating a home in order to make it look good becomes easier to use and gels well with the architecture. Home interior decoration provides a certain “feel” to the home; it includes applying wallpaper, painting the walls, choosing of furniture and fittings such as light fixtures, and adding decorations such as paintings.

Home interior decoration is professionally done by interior designers/ decorators and also by a few architects. There is a distinctive difference between home interior decoration and interior design.

Home interior decoration is focused on finishing, such as wallpaper, window covering, furnishings and paint. Interior design is more integrated with the architecture, and in addition to home interior decoration involves cabinet making, room layout etc and host of other design parameters that go into making a home.

Although the concept of home interior decoration evolved in Paris and London in the late 18th century, modern home interior decoration began with Jeanselme in Paris, Lenygon and Morant in London and Ogden Codman from New York. This concept of home interior decoration has gone through many trends and discussions. The current trends of this industry is to discover innovative ways to decorate on a budget mostly shoe string.

The whole objective of home interior decoration is to functionally improve the home and make it reflect your tastes and personality at the same time rendering it unique. A big challenge, nevertheless, undertaken by artistic scientists.

Homeowners spent approximately $175 billion in the year 2003 to improve their homes. About 65% of this can be attributed to home interior decoration. The new trends indicate most spending on expanding kitchens and livening up bathrooms with new fittings. Current trends also indicate that emphasis is being given to creating specialty rooms and areas for individual members of the family. Growing in popularity are massage suites, spa areas, media space, craft rooms, wine cellars and home library areas. Even though luxury is a synonym for space, most small home owners are eagerly using home interior decoration to create definition areas for each individual.

Colors are also undergoing a new preference towards earthly, natural and warm brown tones from the vibrant and loud colors of the past. Blue and gray hues are preferred today over dull reds and dark blues of the past.

Innovative home interior decoration ideas, which cost less but at the same time giving the impression of an ornate design scheme are in vogue for new career professionals and newly married couples.

The new trend of Life-styling has given home interior decoration industry a boost. This has given rise to eclectic decorating styles which include High Tech and Shabby Chic replacing the good old Victorian or Early American.

Focus has changed to harmony and function compared to uniqueness and good looking. Rightly so, since uniqueness can never be 100% and neatness has always been good looking, which can be brought about by good functionality.

Home interior decoration has changed more drastically over the past 15 years or so than in its long history. Keeping track of new trends is almost as essential as for a computer professional keeping track of new software or hardware.

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December 10, 2007

Wall Decorations and Home Interior Design

Filed under: Interior Decoration — admin @ 7:38 pm

A big part of home interior decorating is determining what to use on your walls. You can mount pictures, posters, paintings or mirrors to bring out the decorative balance in your room. Whatever you decide to put up on your walls should complement you home interior decorating style. Choose your pieces carefully and mount then thoughtfully. Each piece you hang up should be fully appreciated.

Determining Location

When determining the height at which to hang your decoration, choose a height where the pictures or paintings are at the eye level for easy viewing. If you hang pictures to high or too low the image is distorted and will not be appreciated. Take into consideration the pieces relation to the furniture. A wall decoration can either make or break a piece of furniture. For example a huge mirror should not be hung over a small credenza.

Enhancing your Pictures

The right frame can play an important role in bringing out your pictures. A picture frame can easily be modified by painting its molding. Keep your picture and mirror frames clean. Illuminate your pictures with picture lights, increasing the desired impact. You can also use spot lighting for the same effect. Take also into consideration the paint color of your walls when choosing your wall decorations. Choose a paint color or wall decorations that complement your home interior decorating style.

Using posters instead of Pictures

Posters are affordable options for a wall decoration project. Purchase posters that match your home interior decorating style. Once you have decided on your posters, you need to first smooth the poster. Use a cool iron, this allows the corners to stop curling up. The poster can then be attached directly to the wall by using wall paper adhesive. To finish off your poster wall decoration consider painting over it with matte vanish. A poster can also be attached to a poster board or framed and mounted as your picture would.

Using Mirrors

Mirrors in home interior decorating add a feeling of larger space. Choosing the right mirrors is crucial. Mirrors are an inexpensive way to give a room a new look. Mirrors dramatically change the appearance of a room. A mirror brightens a room by reflecting the limited light and also gives the illusion of increased size of the room. Mirrors can be hung over an ugly spot on the wall or can even be used as a table top. Hanging a mirror requires the same hardware used to hang pictures. If hanging a large mirror drill in the nails. Use nails or screws that can support the weight of the mirror. When tightening the screws, use a thin piece of cardboard to determine how tight the screw is.

If you are seeking a new look for a room, change the location of your wall decorations. This will give your room a new look without having to spend money on new pictures or paint for the walls.

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