Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Use of Accent Colour

By using a strong complementary colour within a decorating scheme, unity and finish can be added to the interior design.
MIXING RICH & BOLD:
Most importantly, an accent colour must be bright enough to hold its own but should be used in moderation to prevent it from overpowering the scheme.Mixing strong shades will not lessen the impact of either, providing they are of equal tonal strength.
SUBTLY IMPACTING:
To work effectively, an accent colour should contrast dramatically with the overall scheme. But be careful to make sure the colour choice contrasts, not clashes. Make sure you carefully consider the proportions of the colour used. Use too much of the accent colour and the impact is lost.
HOW TO:
Remember balance. Combine rich dark hues and vivid accent colours with splashes of white. Opt for accessories and occasional furniture in the chosen colour but use simple shades.
For maximum effect, use bold panels of accent colours in recesses, such as either side of the chimney, and in alcoves.
Accent colour in upholstery detailing, blinds, curtain tie-backs and cushions can help create a tailored look.Accent colour can also be introduced through the use of bold wallpaper. Try creating customised photo frames using the same vivid wallpaper.

Decorating Walls…

Decorating Walls:
WALLPAPER
Used over all the walls in a compact room, pattern gives a sense of intimacy. When covering just one wall it enhances the feeling of space…
After quite an absence, wallpaper is now back and there is a huge variety to choose from. Many new designs have taken their inspiration from traditional sources, using damasks, bird motifs and florals.Inspired by an earlier time in design, these are not copies but re-workings, simplified, produced on a larger scale and coloured with a different palette.When you are choosing wallpaper, think about the density of the design as well as its scale and colour. Dominating all-over patterns makes rooms feel smaller, whereas finely drawn patterns which reveal a lot of the background give a light and airy feel.
PAINT
Gentle pastels evoke a restful ambience, deep colours create drama and sophistication and positive tones add energy…
Paint is versatile, inexpensive, easy to apply and available in an endless array of colours. For more than a decade we have seen heritage paint ranges dominate the scene with manufacturers producing collections of ‘historic’ colours inspired by decorating colours of old.Although neutral walls are a compatible background for most furnishings and therefore popular, coloured walls are an effective way to give a room character.

A Guide To Wood Flooring…

Timbre flooring can strike just the right note in any style of home. It looks natural and warm when used in a country cottage and can add texture and depth to a modern setting. Also, there are various vinyl and laminate versions available as a practical and cheaper option for both modern and period homes.
Timbre flooring is generally acknowledged as being cost effectively sound.
TYPES OF TIMBRE FLOORING:
Solid Wood Flooring:
Solid Wood flooring is made form the named timbre, so solid-oak hardwood flooring is exactly that- oak all the way through.
Reclaimed Wood Flooring:
Reclaimed Wood flooring can be bought as bundles of planks, boards or panels from renovation place and salvage yards. When finished reclaimed timbre flooring can look amazing but vision is needed to begin with as it can look uninspiring.
Multi-layered or Engineered Flooring:
Multi-layered or Engineered flooring has a top layer of the named timbre but below are several criss-cross layers of hardwood or softwood boards, on a plywood or veneered base. This type of flooring is considered to be extremely stable.
Laminate Flooring:
Laminate flooring is made by producing an image of wood on a layer of plastic which is laminated to a board backing. If choosing this type of flooring, go for top quality versions which look convincing and are hardwearing and tough.
Vinyl Flooring:
Vinyl flooring is widely available in timbre patterns. Luxury sheet vinyl can be good for kitchens and bathrooms and is considerably less costly than solid wood.

Decorating Living Room & Bedroom

Decorating a Living Room:
A living room needs to be a place of safety where you and your family can relax in a room where you feel totally "at home". Choose a peaceful, calm colour for your walls. For example, a couple of good warm colours are Dulux Ashbury or Crown Mellow Sage. These colours create a cosy feeling during the day and at night when soft lighting is used.
It is easy to accessorise with these colours. Canvas Art by Carmel incorporating a small amount of the chosen colour along with some of your other favourite colours and textures can be used for maximum design impact. Scatter cushions and curtains can then be added to bring the scheme together.
Decorating a Bedroom
This seasons colours are berry, olive green and baig. These are luxurious, rich colours which will make your bedroom feel cosy and inviting. Dulux have a lovely deep shade of plum called Moroccan Velvet. You can easily mix and match these colours to compliment each other.
Hand-painted canvas art on your walls using these colours is an easy way to bring your bedroom decor up to date without the hassle of redecorating the entire room.

Quick Interior Designing Tips

Here are some quick design tips that can make a big difference to a room with very little effort:

  • Use a mix of table lamps and overhead lights with dimmer switches for best effect when lighting a room.
  • A nest of tables is a great way of maximising space in a small room.
  • A large-patterned floral wallpaper looks great when applied to just one wall.
  • Add fragranced linen water to your iron to give sheets a beautiful scent.
  • When having curtains made, make some cushion covers with the same material.

Hanging a Mirror at the Right Height:

Taking the average persons eye line at 1.5m from the floor, remember to hang your mirror with its centre at the same distance from the ground. If you're placing any furniture below the mirror, now you know how high it should be - it should come to no less than 25cm from the bottom of the mirror.

Decorating for a Relaxing Room:
For a more soothing look, choose painted furniture in soft shades rather than bright white. A wonderfully relaxing bedroom can be achieved by painting in shades of off-white and then accessorising in your desired warm accent colours.

Designing for Small Spaces:
If you have a small space but big ideas, try to stick to the following key points in order to make maximum use of space and convey a sense of size. Firstly, don't clutter. A small number of items on a table draws attention to the objects and opens up the room. Try to avoid large patterns and intense colours as these can make a small space seem even smaller. Finally choose furniture that has a dual purpose. For example, a chest can serve both for storage and as a seat. Where limited space is an issue, dual function rooms are the ideal use of resources. What is normally the dining table in the evening can serve as the office desk during the working day.

Colour Tips and Choosing the Right TV Size

Colour Tips:
Choice of colour when designing a room is of course critical. Warm colours that are striking, such as red, yellow and orange tend to make a room feel small, while a sense of space can be achieved through the use of colours such as greens, blues and violets. Be careful though with the darker shades of these colours, which can have the opposite affect.
Choose light and neutral colours on walls to convey a sense of space. The sense of size can be accentuated further by choosing even lighter colours for mouldings and skirting boards.
Finally, for north facing rooms that receive little or no direct sunlight, don't choose cool colours. These should be reserved for south facing rooms.
Choosing the Right TV Size:
Fearful of ending up with a cinema screen dominating a room or afraid you'll be straining to recognise the tiny characters on screen? The following is a useful guide for getting the TV size right first time. Simply measure the distance from the TV to wherever it is you're likely to be sitting. Divide this distance (in inches) by 2.5 to give the optimal width of TV screen.

Design with Flowers and Fruit and Dressing a Room with Mirrors

Design with Flowers and Fruit:
You will often see professionally designed rooms in magazines with a vase of flowers or a fruit bowl carefully chosen for an effective centre piece or striking accessory. Some tips with this approach are to use only one type of fruit or flower in a carefully selected bowl or vase - these are just as important as the contents themselves. For example, a bowl of lemons in the kitchen can be very effective, or a vase of single colour in the living room acts as a striking feature and draws the eye more than a vase of mixed stems would. If you're going for a simple look, try a single stem in a slender vase, or three such stems arranged in a line on a dining table or mantlepiece.
Dressing a Room with Mirrors:
This is old trick, but a good one. Adding a mirror gives a sense of space in an otherwise small room. A mirror can also add the element of surprise and a carefully chosen frame on a large mirror will add a touch of elegance to a space.

Interior Designing Tips

Here are some interior designing tips and techniques that I'd like to share to help you create beautiful design schemes of your own at home or in the office. Check back here often for new tips and techniques.
Decorating with Canvas Art:
The perfect way to add that finishing touch and to bring your room together is to have some personalised artwork done in your room. In doing so, you get exactly what you want in the colours and style that suit your taste.
Canvas Art is not expensive and can be viewed as a good investment. It also provides an interesting talking point when friends and family visit, as the piece is unique and blends perfectly with the room.
So whether you are decorating the hall, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room, dining room or home office, original hand-painted canvases are the ideal way to accessorise your rooms in a unique and cost effective way.
Choosing a Colour Scheme:
When designing a room, choose a colour for the walls that is neutral, as you don't want the colour to dominate the room. You can then add lots of colour splashes using accessories such as soft furnishings, lighting shades, artwork or even a feature wall with a bolder plain colour or patterned wallpaper.
This approach has the advantage of being easily modified as personal taste or fashion changes over time, without having to re-paint the entire room.

10 interior designing tips

Here are 10 interior designing tips with which u can make your home more attractive and beautiful.
Tip 1:
One Prominent Feature:
For an eye-catching room, design around a focal point to draw the eye. For a bedroom, invest in a dramatic bed or utilize the fireplace in a living room. Don't make the room compete for the eye's attention, have one large feature and then smaller ones that complement it.
Tip 2:
Furniture Arrangement:
Arrange the furniture around the focal point of the room (a picture window, a fireplace, etc.) To create a sense of intimacy, set furniture away from the wall and to encourage conversation, place pieces about 6 feet apart.
Tip 3:
Scale:
When using multiple patterns or stripes, keep scale in mind. Patterns that are different can be complementary if they are of similar scale. If designing a room with large furniture, the scale of the pattern should also be large or it may get lost among the rest of the room's items. Delicate, small-boned furniture will be flattered by partnering it with smaller pattern designs and stripes.
Tip 4:
Colors:
Colors found in nature tend to invoke feelings of calm and restfulness. The lighter the paint, the lighter and larger the room will look. Darker paints such as reds, oranges and brown will make rooms appear smaller. In general, reds and oranges are great colors for a kitchen and dining room as they are lively and stimulate conversation and appetite. Greens and blues are restful and calm colors that promote stability and calmness.
Tip 5:
Lighting:
How the sun lights your room, and whether you have a view of greenery will make a difference in what colors you should use on the walls. To make your room appear larger, use up lights to light the ceilings and walls.
Tip 6:
Glass As an Accessory:
Glass is much more commonly used now and brings light into a room, whether as a mirror, vase, or a collection of wine glasses.
Tip 7:
Inspiration:
If you are unsure of what colors "go" together take a look outside. Colors that naturally occur in nature are a great guide. Think of the many shades of a calming blue and gray at the beach. Or the complex variations of green at work in an English garden.
Tip 8:
Balance:
A well-designed room tends to have a majority of one thing (a base color), a small percentage of something else (a pattern) and just a dash of something dramatic (a bold, bright color or an exotic painting).
Tip 9:
Fabrics:
Save money by using cotton-based materials for the larger slipcovers, and more expensive fabrics for smaller accent pillows.
Tip 10:
Experiment:
Before spending money on making an interior design change, try rearranging the furniture or moving furniture from one room to another. You may find a solution to a problem without spending a dime. Also, before tackling a huge room with your new paint color, test it on a small area and let it dry to make sure it's your perfect color.