Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Jazz Up Your Home With Today's Eclectic Design Choices

!±8± Jazz Up Your Home With Today's Eclectic Design Choices

Looking for a way to add interest to your home design? Maybe you love your home décor but feel it needs something extra or you might want to bring something in that makes for a fun atmosphere. Whatever your reason for adding spice to your home's interior; there are several different ways of doing it.

5 Head-Turning Ways that you can Jazz Up Your Decorating

1 - Accented Walls

Paint or paper an accent wall in bright pink, green, blue or red. Patterned wallpaper with bright designs can set off a wall when done by someone with a talent for recognizing "off" pieces that work!

2 - Glass Top Coffee Tables

Buy a new glass-top coffee table framed in metal or wood. The excitement about glass-tops is that the frames and legs are not just your typical straight-legged frames anymore. Spirals, spools and lavish design methods hold up your clear or tinted glass coffee table making for an interesting piece right in the middle of your living room.

3 - Lamps & Lights

Gone are the days when lamps came in two or three colors and shades were made of one or two different kinds of fabrics. There is a wide choice when it comes to lamps. Some are made specifically for accenting while others are made to stand out and add actual lighting to your room. Fiber optic lamps are a great way to jazz up a room, but do not count on them for lighting. A multi-colored chandelier is a wonderful way to add a "hip" look and light up your living, dining or entrance area with a good deal of flair.

4- Printed & Patterned Furniture

Refurbish your seating furniture and footstools or buy a new set with a great print. When you decorate your home in mostly one color, you can get away with a few large pieces that are brighter and patterned with interesting artwork.

5 - Interesting Area Rugs

Add an area rug or two. Today's area rug is not your grandma's rug. They come in incredible choices of material and design with a more modern feel. Colorful geometrics contrast perfectly with neutral colors of browns, black or white. They come in floral or cultural-ethnic designs, too. The environmentally friendly area rugs made of bamboo are great in a tropical or Asian theme but are just as complimentary in modern or traditional themes. You can even buy shag area rugs, reminiscent of the psychedelic sixties and bold look of 70's décor.

For the ultimate "jazz up" in your home, combine all of these ideas together to make your design eclectic.


Jazz Up Your Home With Today's Eclectic Design Choices

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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Interior Design Ideas: Making the Old Look Modern

!±8± Interior Design Ideas: Making the Old Look Modern

Interior design ideas are a great place to start for those who like to craft a look that is truly their own. For those with a modern flair it may be frustrating to live with old furniture or outdated design and it can be difficult knowing where to start. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to upgrade and save money without big renovations or rushing out to purchase designer brands. There is also no need to stow away heirloom furniture in favor of IKEA products with no personal relevance to your life. No matter how out of style your home interior is, there is still hope!

Old Home Interiors
You may not see it right now, but your historic home may actually have some old-world finesse that can be contrasted, with wonderful success, with the modern accents you want to employ. Structural beams, window and door frames, crown molding, and other remnants can be refinished and showcased for their classic elegance even in the presence of modern furnishings. Painting, stripping, refinishing, and replacing hardware are all activities that will be at the top of your list to modernize an old home interior.

Hanging light fixtures can be removed in favor of recessed lighting as a quick way to bring spaces up to contemporary style. If the walls are still painted in retro pales or country blues, consider updating them with a monochromatic scheme. Bold splashes of color may be added to relief walls to provide depth and an adventurous vibe through the unexpected doorway or on a landing wall. There is any combination of textures and palettes that can create a modern space regardless of older accents.

Old Furniture
Working with aged and out-dated furniture can actually be really fun. There are tons of ways to modify those unsightly artifacts over the weekend. One of the toughest to update can be heavy wooden furniture, which can be refinished in a lighter color in the style of other modern furniture. Scrolled or decorative legs can be easily replaced with a huge variety of straight, clean, contemporary styles that can also be refinished to suit your needs. To finish up the job, replace or eliminate hardware fixtures where possible, opting for less decorative but highly innovative designs. Be bold, your home is filled with interior design ideas.

Upholstery is one area that has seen a dramatic transformation in popular style over the years. Not only does it become tattered and faded, but the patterns and designs of the past few decades just don't cut it in a modern setting. It can easily be replaced with solid colors and crisp fabrics for a dramatic change in appearance. Clean stripes or extremely simple patterns can be borrowed from existing décor to really tie a space together.

Reusing existing items instead of purchasing new is a sustainable solution to interior design ideas. Many designers will even tell you that sustainability is the undeniable future of modern design. They may say that to push their sleek bamboo accessories and recycled molded plastic, but I think we're safe to assume that reclaiming our furniture in a modern light is just as much the future as anything else!


Interior Design Ideas: Making the Old Look Modern

Sharp Xr10s Grand Sale

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Interior Trends - 1950s Modernism

!±8± Interior Trends - 1950s Modernism

I love the 1950s Modernist revival. Lucienne Day fabrics, Danish furniture, muted autumnal shades. It's not saccharin like the chintzy Cath Kidston style but it's a lot easier to live with than 1960s space age modernism. I simply can't watch an episode of Mad Men, the hit series that shows us the lives of NY's Ad men in the 1950s and 60s, without drooling over the wonderful interiors. With this in mind I have decided to set about re-designing my own living room to pay homage to this great era. The only problem is that I have a very limited budget and I can't be bothered to redecorate again! Fortunately, it won't be necessary. I already have the perfect blank canvas: hardwood strip flooring soft grey walls and a modern neutral sofa. All I need to do is change a few textiles, add some accessories and wall stickers the look will be achieved without major upheaval.

So, where to start? Ikea! The Stockholm Blad curtains in brown are a perfect fit; autumn leaves are a nod to the textiles of Lucienne Day that are key to this look. At only £59 a pair these are a real bargain. So down with the modern blinds and up go the fabulous 50s inspired fabric. They also stock a lovely easy chair in the same fabric but at £229 I'm going to have to add this at a later date.

Time to add a bit of the real thing. A good search on eBay and I sourced a teak sideboard and a 1950s desk lamp. I also found some studio pottery from the era that I really love. All for under £400 - amazing! Besides, I was dying to get rid of the boring white gloss storage unit that they have replaced.

I have been eying up Sanderson's Dandelion Clock wallpaper for ages. I chose the Chaffinch colour option which is bold blue-green and yellow - very 50s retro. Instead of wallpapering a whole wall I decided to make some "Art". Using different sized art frames I simply stapled the wallpaper around the frames and hung them on the wall. Very effective! I then found some matching cushions which tie the look together.

Finally I felt it was still looking a bit bland so I decided to add a modern twist in the form of wall stickers. Some beautiful Trees with Falling Leaves in Grey with Lime green birds gave the room a real wow factor. They were so easy to apply and at such a reasonable price I was really pleased with the huge impact they made. My new living room looks like a set from Mad Men, there was no hard work involved and all this for well under my £700 budget. A huge success!


Interior Trends - 1950s Modernism

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