Sunday, 25 December 2011

Fun Kids Room Decorating Ideas Start With These Design Tips!

Kid's room decorating ideas, kid's room layout and bedroom colors for kids should be driven by one guiding theme: Fun.

Friends and clients ask me all the time, what exactly makes for a great kid's room? And, more specifically, what are some really great kid's room decorating ideas?


My answer is always: go for the FUN and the ideas will come!


Organize your kid's room decorating ideas around the following four elements and you'll add function and style to the equation and end up with winning kids' rooms.

COLOR: Choosing bedroom colors for kids is easy. Let them pick. Expect their choices to be brighter, sharper, wilder than yours would be.


My daughter chose bright orange and yellow for her bed room colors and it was an intuitively smart choice for a smaller north facing bedroom with minimal natural light from one small window. The warm colors brightened the space and, while they did pull the walls and ceiling in, they gave the room a secure, cozy feeling that made the space feel welcoming. Leave it to kids!

You can select three or four additional hues related to your kid's original paint selections to add interest and complexity. Use them as accent paint colors and when choosing accessories.


Don't forget to include the ceiling as another surface to bring to life with color.

STORAGE: Funny thing about storage. No matter how much you have, you always fill it up. kid's room storage can be tricky. kid's have so much stuff!!


How about toy boxes that double as toys. Do you have a young knight who could use a castle with battlements he can hide behind? He can drop the drawbridge door to load his playthings, making clean up fun. Fun! There's that word again.

A Doll House toy box is another fun idea. Make a simple gabled roof with 1/4" plywood and paint siding, doors and windows with shutters on the sides. Do you have a pirate, soccer player, farmer or ballet dancer? You get the picture.


Plastic pull-out containers that fit under beds or at the bottom of closets can be found at any store that sells household goods. They're great for smaller kid's rooms. Bookshelves that are end-table height (22-26 inches or 56-66 cm) double as play surfaces and provide storage at a height kids can really use. I found awesome tiered hanging baskets for clothing and miscellaneous stuff at Ikea.


SPACE and SCALE: The best
kids' room decorating ideas celebrate space.

A giant empty space in the middle of a Living room would signal that something is missing from the composition. In a kid's room it's a gift. I try to not clutter up a kid's room so much that there's no room to roll around on the floor with the puppy, or build a LEGO city or make a feast out of modeling clay. Make sure there's space to play.


And, no matter how spacious your child's room, they'll feel more comfortable and confident if you bring the scale down to their perspective and needs. I talked about end-table height bookshelves that they can access easily. If your kid's room has a high ceiling, consider painting it a darker color to make it feel closer. You can install a "picture rail" trim down two feet from a high ceiling to create a feeling of a child scaled room. Hang pictures and other art lower than you would in other rooms. After all, it is their room.


CREATIVITY: Imagination is more important than knowledge, a wise man once said. So give your kids ample opportunity to create.


I like sliding doors with blackboard material and chalk so kids can draw to their hearts' content--and, then start over the next day.


Modular furniture can keep a room flexible to accommodate different activities...and, the kids can move it around to create their own layouts. Bulletin boards, mop boards, space for posters and personal artwork... it's all good.


No matter how large or how small the space, the best kid's room
decorating idea that I leave with you is to make your child's room conducive to creativity. Creativity can be messy though, so consider linoleum tiles that are easily wiped down. Also washable and paintable wallpapers and sharper, saturated colors that don't easily show dirt and wear.

I hope these ideas inspire you...that they stimulate your creativity to come up with your own kid's room decorating ideas.

Sunday, 18 December 2011

Living Room Furniture Ideas For a Small Room

Maximize Your Living Room Space
Having a small living room doesn't mean that you can't have a beautiful living room. The trick is in knowing what styles of furniture to choose. Everyone knows that the furniture makes the room, but this is even more true when you have a small room. Too much furniture, or furniture that is too large will make the room seem even smaller.

One of the easiest ways to make a small room seem larger is to use furniture that is visually lightweight. Visually lightweight doesn't refer to furniture that is actually lightweight, it means furniture that looks light and airy. Instead of boxed style pieces of furniture, choose furnishings that have legs.

Make Your Small Space Look Larger

Furniture that is open allows the view to extend through the room making it seem larger than it is. Accent chairs with legs and glass top tables are both excellent ways to open up a small living room. You can also use mirrors on the walls to create a look of more space. The trick it to choose items that allow as much light to pass through the room as possible.

The colors you choose has a big effect on how large the room looks. Colors can even make a large room look much smaller than it is. A neutral palette of taupe and beige. or pastel colors will add a airy feel to any small space. Lighter colors just naturally make things appear to be larger. Carry the colors throughout the entire room so that the eye can roam freely.


Try to avoid upholstery with stripes, plaids and large prints. If you really want a design in the upholstery, choose pieces that are textured. Textured upholstery will give you the look of a design without making the room look cramped. If you really want prints, choose small designs in pastel or neutral colors that will extend the flow of the room.


One of the biggest mistakes people make when decorating a small room is not taking advantage of the vertical space. When your floor space is limited, find creative ways to use the vertical space. Instead of a short, wide book shelf, choose one that is narrow and taller. And, accent the room with tall floor lamps that will help to draw the eye upward.

Choose Size Appropriate Furniture

When shopping for furniture, choose pieces that are size appropriate. If space is limited, it's very important to measure everything. A piece of furniture that looks small in a large showroom, might not be so small when you get it home. Since the sofa is generally the most used piece of furniture in the living room, choose it first. Then, choose coordinating pieces that will fit well with the sofa.

Avoid Clutter

Clutter can quickly make a small room feel more like a closet. Choose your decorating accessories carefully. A small room isn't the ideal place to display a favorite collection. Instead, choose a few focal pieces that match the decor and keep shelves and tables as clear as possible. Vases and statues crowded together will make your space look a lot smaller than it is.

Tuesday, 6 December 2011

5 Popular Living Room Design Ideas

Decorating a living room shouldn't be too extravagant and expensive. If you are in a tight budget, you can always do it yourself instead of hiring an interior designer; but if you can afford to hire a good designer, then why not. You can plan ahead and check for designs on the internet or magazines to visualize the effect on your actual living room.

Below are some of the popular living room design ideas that you may find on the internet and in various home design magazines:


1. Classic-Modern design is one of the most common living room design ideas. Homes that have Classic-Modern style design enjoy mostly the relaxing feel and texture of the living space. If you have a very geometric or sharp edged space, toning and softening it with textures is the way to do it.

2. Hawaiian-inspired design is not so difficult to achieve. Always remember the key elements: hand-made native ornaments and accessories, woven furniture, bamboo and of course the signature bold floral prints. If you love the Hawaiian sun, sea and flora, you can incorporate these aspects when planning for your living room design.

3. Modern Zen design is made to relax and bring comfort into your living space. This living room design idea is quite popular nowadays especially for folks who wanted to have balance and comfort in their home. Having a focal point in your
living room and accents to balance the style are the key ingredients. Incorporate a natural feel by opening up the room and letting in some natural light completes the Zen feel.

4. Tropical Style brings in the outdoor color pallets. The lush greens and yellows of natural flora are just two of most common colors you can find in a tropical living room design idea. Choose colors that are found naturally like the color of trees, plants, flowers and fruits. Think of a tropical forest or a market full of tropical fruits to inspire your design.


5. Victorian Style living rooms are plush and classy. You would normally find Victorian Style living rooms in Victorian style homes and hotels. The key here is classic sophisticated style with a splash of color and texture. Victorian style living rooms speak of opulence.

Whatever
living room design idea you have in mind, make sure that it will fit your needs and lifestyle. Make sure to consult from a designer who knows how to handle a tight budget and complies with what you want. And always remember to choose the design that you will enjoy for a long time.

Thursday, 24 November 2011

Living Room Furniture: A Right Representative Of Your Style And Artistic Sense

Living room furniture serve as the most important pieces of furniture for nearly every home, and this significance is mainly because often you spend most of the time with some guest in the living room. Before buying living room furniture, you must keep this important factor in mind that it must be so comfortable and aptly designed so that the visitor must feel at home as well as appreciate your style.

What kind of living room furniture can serve your needs best and what can be the true representative of your technique and good aesthetic taste? Keep this question in mind when buying living room furniture.


Though you have a extensive range of selections to choose living room furniture, there are some pieces of living room furniture, which are considered essential for almost every house. Which are these essential pieces, let's find out.


You and your guests, definitely, need something to sit on and this something can be the most important piece or pieces for living room furniture. Sofas, ottomans, loveseats and two seaters are some of your common options in this connection, but if you are looking for some unique and stylish choices, you can also go for a nice looking rocking chair or a daybed. You must consider the style and d?cor of your room when considering these options for your living room furniture. Table is another important piece of furniture for your living room.

You need to understand this fact that you have somewhat endless options in picking living room furniture. If you have a modern style apartment, you can go for a daybed, and similarly, if you have a country-style theme of your living room, you may need to look for an elegantly stylish living room chair. The style of your
living room furniture depends on many different aspects, but the thing that really plays an important role is your choice. However, the good thing is that you often have so many options. However, sometimes it becomes difficult for you to decide.

Besides representing your style and aesthetic sense, another important thing is the level of comfort that you must think of before buying your living room furniture. You must know that fashionable is not always comfortable, and comfortable is not always stylish. You need to pick something that has both: comfort and style.


Most of the people seem to sacrifice or overlook one thing for the other. Some want exceptional elegance in their every piece of furniture; others seem to prefer the level of comfort in living room furniture, or some other such kind of products. Sane are those who look for both and try to get something, which has both these elements.


Some really exciting living room furniture have the elements of stylishness and comfort in an equal proportion and only this kind of furniture can be the true representative of not only your style and aesthetic sense, but also of your sanity and choosiness. Your home tells a lot about you to your visitors and you must keep this element in mind when choosing your living room furniture.

Thursday, 3 November 2011

Big Decorating Ideas For Small Rooms On A Tight Budget!

Decorating a small room is one of the biggest challenges many families have in their homes today. Making a small room work for your loved ones can be frustrating and confusing. Here are some great low budget ways to simply transform your small rooms no matter what your budget!

1. First of all, determine if making your room look larger is really the way to go. After all, what's so great about large rooms? Maybe you want your living room to be comforting, and to wrap people with warmth when they enter. Or your bath to be charming, filled with personality everywhere you look! So don't be so quick to assume bigger is always better...you might just be creating a problem where there is none!


2.Make the most of a
small room you wish to make cozy by using warm rich colors. Drape the windows with fabric, and add throw blankets and pillows to cozy up with. You can buy inexpensive muslin and twist and swag it over a curtain rod for a casual but stunning frame to your windows. Buy flat sheets and sew up pillow covers, and make throws from fleece fabric from the craft store. Make your room cozy deliberately, and its special style will show through, not the size of the room.

3. Reduce the clutter in a small room! This is the #1 problem within small spaces, and also the fastest to fix. Take a box and remove all clutter from the room. Move out accessories, pillows, everything! Now bring things back one at a time, and stop when it's perfect. The key here is restraint!


4.Use large scale items in a small room. Now, traditional rules about scale in a
room would lead you to believe a small room needs small scale furniture, but the opposite is true. Using just a few larger scale pieces reduces clutter and gives the eye a smoother trip across the room. The same goes for artwork! If you are trying to make a room look larger, go for one large print on the wall, or hang a decorative rug, instead of small collections.

5.A simple tip to make rooms look larger? Keep your windows and slick surfaces sparkling clean! Believe it or not, the reflection of clean will make a room look brighter, fresher and larger. Try it!


6.Paint just one focal wall a rich deep color to add depth to your room. Leave the other walls either white, or a much paler version of your accent wall and those walls will appear to fall away. Also keep in mind that cooler colors such as greens and blues tend to recede from the eye, while warmer colors such as reds and yellows seem to close in a room.

7.Finally, remember to use as many double duty items in the room as possible to reduce clutter. A chest of drawers can hold a tv, and store all your magazines and games, a futon sofa can double as a guest room, and a pine chest makes a great coffee table, while storing extra linens!

Remember, it’s not the size of the room, it’s the size of the heart who creates the room. Let yours show through with personality and creativity, not cash!

Monday, 17 October 2011

Unforeseen Ideas of Decorating A Narrow Living Room Like An Expert

Every house has a different size of living room. While some are big and are in a square size, there are cases whereby the living rooms are small and narrow. When it comes to interior design and decoration, it may be much harder to find the right decoration for a small and long room as compared with the one that is in a perfect square. However, there are definitely ways that you can make use of to transform a small and narrow living room into a great one just like how the expert usually does.

Anyway, to understand why it seems to be such a tough job to decorate a small and narrow room, it could be because of your lack of knowledge in this aspect. For example, you could be putting too much emphasis on one particular direction or you could be using the wrong color which makes the room look even smaller. To really start learning about the right way, you need to start identifying where the focal point is. More often than not, the focal point is the side wall. You should put your sofa or fireplace at that location to balance out the length of the
room.

Next, since the room is already limited in its size, you would not want to have too many furnitures there. Otherwise, the
small living room will become congested and will appear as even longer and narrower. All you should have are just several simple furnitures and some organizing tools. On the same note, you might want to take the size of the living room furniture into consideration as most of them are usually quite huge in size.

When it comes to extremely long living room, perhaps the best way to decorate it is to place some rugs at strategic locations. A very good idea is to place a rug underneath the sofa and the coffee table to draw the attention of people. Besides that, some experts like putting a medium-sized rectangular rug right in front of the fireplace to achieve the same purpose as well. If you are able to heed all these advices which are recommended by experts themselves, rest assured that your
living room which is initially narrow and long will appear just nice ultimately.

Wednesday, 21 September 2011

Home Decorating Ideas – Tips On Decorating Small Spaces

Every inch counts when decorating small spaces! Here is an assortment of small room and small space home decorating ideas to use today.

* A favorite home decorating idea is using a hutch that tucks perfectly into a corner to display dishes or collectibles such as teacups and teapots. It also provides additional storage for table linens.


*Even if your guest bedroom has limited closet space, adding an old kitchen cupboard to the room will solve the storage challenge. It holds extra blankets and linens and offers ample space for storing your guest’s supplies such as towels, wash cloths, and scented soaps. It can also provide a place for guests to stow away their personal items to keep the room looking neat.


*What about a good night’s sleep in a small bedroom? The size of the room is far less significant than the mood of the room. A small bedroom gives a feeling of coziness and security. By painting a second-hand dresser a color similar to the bedroom walls, the dresser blends in and the room appears larger—a home decorating idea that can be used in any room.

*Wicker furniture is versatile as well as enduring and works just as well indoors as outdoors. For
small-space or budget decorating, wicker chairs may be the answer to your decorating dilemma. Wicker baskets are also wonderful additions to any room to help organize clutter. They can be found in an infinite number of designs and sizes; their versatility makes them a “must” for any home.

*Furniture in a small room needs to offer flexibility. Upholstered chairs in the living room can sit alone or slide together to make a love seat. A stack of cushions works well as a footrest. A coffee table can be a “hard worker” by choosing one that has shelves to hold magazines or books. A coffee table that has a lid that opens is another great storage solution for
decorating small spaces.

*If you like collectibles but have very little room to display them, consider collecting buttons—they take up very little room (although you may end up collecting a lot of them) and are perfect for displaying in
small decorative dishes. They become a conversation piece when entertaining guests.

Monday, 22 August 2011

Tips And Tricks For Your Small Living Room

Living room is the room of resting. It's the place for you to relax and fill your leisure time. Small living room is not a problem as long as you can keep it cozy and homely.

If you have a small living room, here are some tips and ideas to make it look appealing.


First, you should use brighter colors to give a wide and spacious visual looks. These bright colors can be applied on wide spaces like walls, floor, or ceiling. Don't use dark colors since it will give suppressing impression. Dark color is only effective when applied on small area or used as accent.


Second, set the focus only to one interior item. Make one of your favorite furniture as the spot centre. It can be the antique table, or the vase, or a sculpture in the foyer. In a small room, too many accents will make the room feel narrow and will make many distraction.


Third, in
small living room, you should use practical, multifunction or moveable furniture. This will add to flexibility in the living room. Leave out those big and heavy items to get a balance composition. And remember, you only have small space so don't keep too many things in your living room.

Fourth, make a good plan for your storage, because it can save some space. Utilize every corner efficiently, such as using the space between your cabinet and ceilings. You can extend your cabinet to the ceiling to make the storage integrated to it.


Fifth, remove solid partitions and replace it with transparent partition. Glass or transparent acrylic can give wide and glamorous atmosphere.


Sixth, use small patterns on the wallpapers or interior fabrics instead of big ones, because patterns can also give significant effect. Big pattern can contribute to constricted ambience.


Lastly, give optimal brightness.
Small living room needs optimal brightness to give friendly and warm feeling.