Home And Family

Archive for July, 2010

It is often easier to decorate around the house; there exist some amount of spontaneity inspiring you to plunge into your own styling. When it comes to wall color schemes, things turn the other way. For amateurs and enthusiasts and homemakers too, this field appears a bit risky, with lots to lose— time, money, and efforts to start with, not to mention the redoing it requires.

You don’t need to feel overwhelmed with the ordeal. To plan and co-ordinate color scheme for every room in the home, you can take one step at a time. Assess each room individually and make notes as to the amount of natural light it receives, the kind of lighting you have used and the color that will best compliment the natural architectural features of your home. It’s easy to estimate these details, if you have lived in the house for some time.

Before you decide, take a closer look at the existing carpeting, flooring and woodwork and it will allow you to make a safe choice. On an average, color scheme on the walls will helps you to determine the harmony between colors to be used throughout the décor. Color wheels are often used to determine the complimentary colors; you can do the accents furnishings (rugs, lamps, paintings) and furniture in the complimentary colors. Some common schemes for selecting the best color for a space,

• Monochromatic Color Scheme: The most common one, it uses a single color in different shades, tints, values, textures and hues to bring the harmony and flow, a sense of uniformity to a place.
• Analogous scheme: This one uses adjacent colors on the color wheel, allowing you many possibilities within the warm or cool color category. Plan the colors diligently, for it is important for the colors to come out as a great combo.
• A complementary scheme: Here, one can use the colors opposite each other on the color wheel, again a difficult task as the balance of colors will take some careful thinking. Considered bold and modern.
• Triadic Color Scheme: This one uses three hues. Each is placed consecutively or at equal distances from each other. For example, yellow, green and red, this scheming uses their tones, shades and scales in three hues placed at equal distances from each other.On studying the color wheel and looking up different color scheming, get a practical view and start planning. Here are a few steps for your consideration,
• When you have decided on the color palette for a room, start with the lighter shades for walls, medium for furniture and windows (or contrasts), doors etc. If you don’t want to change the furniture, work around a wall color that is a shade lighter in the same order. Accessories may look great in the darkest of shade on your color card.
• Lighter shades like cream, whites, lemon, Ivory can make a big difference in making a space look larger. You can use a lighter shade as the base or neutral color; play with contrast and bolder shades for rest of the décor.
• You need to have ‘eye resting point’ where all the colors break even. Nothing big or too loud, a great complimentary colored vase or bowl or art piece or painting that highlights the accents, and harmonizes the interiors in a balancing art.
• Usually, people use boldest of colors on fabrics like cushions, curtains and mats. You can use harmonize fabrics by using colors as accent fabrics on chairs, decorative pillows, tablecloths and mats.
• Repeat each colors in an equal proportion throughout the room, and in at least 3-4 places. The best color ratio: Divide color use to approximately 60% of the room in the background (lightest) color, 30% in the mid-tone color, and 10% in the brightest, accent colors.

Play within the color rules, but when it comes to creativity, don’t overlook your own power. You can do wonders with pieces and bits within the arena and create a space that reflects your taste, your individuality.

Platform beds are in fashion. The Oriental look is one of ‘the-rage’ model for modern furniture buffs, and seems so for sound reasons too. If you wonder, what exactly a platform bed means, look up its definition, ‘spring less beds with a raised, flat, hard, horizontal surface meant to support a mattress’. There are many factors that favor platform beds and its great design. The height is a strong plus, for it has a lower profile than most regular beds and hence, is more convenient. Platform beds do not use box spring units, and are built using a structure of wooden slats. The look is much more unfussy, relaxed and looks neat in any space.

It is much easier to decorate a platform bed. If you like, use Oriental looking duvets, and comforters against a plain scheme to bring out the features. Regular Western patterns look great too. Some of the platform bed models extend up to the ground, so your bed skirts won’t work well with hiding stuff below (good for all, solution). Then there are some box models that look just great while offering you the ease of storage, those extra linen and pillow covers, sheets and blankets you keep wondering where to place.

One of the reasons for the growing popularity of platform beds is its casual looks and functionality. With the modern lifestyle, space has acquired new meaning and value, and the added utility plays a vital role in our lives. You can find some swish leather platform beds with storage room or box underneath that not just looks chic, but happens to also be quite functional and practical. Since these beds have a low- profile stature than most conventional beds, they don’t seem to occupy much space. It is also the minimal design that bestows platform beds with simplicity, making it easier to match up with existing décor, as also with building themes around your bedroom area.

Usually, the popular Oak and Maple hardwood is used for construction. As to which is best, it really depends on your choice of the grain and finish, as each of it has a special tone. There are metal platform beds too, made from rolled steel that are quite popular. You also get ready-made suites that take away all the burden of matching up a dresser, closet, nightstand or lamp. It seems like a worthwhile idea to invest in a suite and then do the other details like walls, rugs and décor. And the quality and harmony is all there.

Selecting a bedroom set can be one of the most rewarding exercises. It takes a bit of time to round up on possibilities within your bedroom area. But if you are sure about your likings, it becomes all the more effortless to pick out.

Interior decorations are often associated with mere interior embellishments. It is difficult to bestow one particular meaning to this art. Renovations can also include rebuilding something within a home as part of interiors. On a practical note, the concept of interior decorations develops from the spirit of individual taste and likings. You can always rely on professional help, provided the person is willing to do her job after a thorough research into your unique taste and lifestyle.

There are so many ways to go about it. Planning in advance will help you with many factors, including your budget and practicality. If you plan on hiring an Interior Decorator, make sure he spends time with you and your family, it is important to make him understand your specific preferences (colors, dislikes, etc). If you plan to do it yourself, it can be one of the most rewarding experiences. After all, you understand your home the best. But, as it quite often happens, you can get lost in the process, so the first step would be planning. Write down the plan, and start with a realistic budget, following are some of the important questions you can ask yourself before you start,

You can make columns with figures once you have estimated the basics,

• How much are you willing to spend (read BUDGET)?
• Do you want to start with a room or include the entire house?
• Which is the room you would like to start with?
• What is each room used for? Who is going to use the rooms?
• What is the theme you have in mind? Anything specific?
• Would you like to change the wall color/paper?
• Do you prefer low-maintenance interiors or you can do with a high-maintenance décor?
• Do you have kids? Pets?  Do you want to inculcate any special care or theme for them?
• Does your budget include new furniture? (Make a list of it)
• Do you plan to use stuff at home to create your own lamps, hangings etc.?
• What needs to be changed? Work on things you really want to change, and make a separate ‘Wish List’ for dream things.
• Concentrate on the ‘Do’ list first.

Although basic, the answer to the above questions will bring the real picture in front of your eyes. This will help you in practically estimating the cost, and stirring your plan in the right direction. When you are through with the plan, start with a room by measuring its area. And write in front of it the things you will be doing—wall paint/paper; change side tables, add lamp, do panels, change rugs, and so on. After surveying each room (or just a room incase you wish to start with one), and practically jotting down things to be done, now tally this list with your original list(anything from the wish list peeping out?).

Now work on details like the wall color schemes or wall paper, try to use a basic color for all rooms for it will help in keeping the uniformity of your home intact (and costs down), and you can work on different combos with it. For wallpapers, you can use the same background color and work on the print and patterns. A combo of wall paint and paper also looks great with a little thought. You can play with colors on the rugs, curtains and lighting. If modern colors appeal to you, you can work in a combination of colors (complimentary) that go with your furniture and curtains. That should help you with getting started…all the best!

Are you a visual person? Are you able to plan a new garden layout or color scheme for your home without lifting a finger? Can you take a paint chip, tape it to your wall, and instantly visualize the whole room washed in that color? If so, you’re one of the lucky few who have strong visual-spatial skills. For the rest of us, breathing new life into a home or garden can be an extremely challenging task.

To take a small sample of color and mentally apply it to an entire room is very hard for people who have little in the way of visual-spatial intelligence. A person could hold a paint chip against pieces of furniture, window treatments and flooring, but he won’t know if everything flows harmoniously until the entire room is painted. When the room is completed, if he doesn’t like it, he’s just wasted a great deal of time and money, and will need to start the color selection process all over again.

What if something simple like rearranging the furniture is all you need to do to breathe new life into the living room, for example? You might decide to sketch a rough drawing of the room to formulate a plan, or you may simply start moving things around on impulse. Unless you draw your room to scale, you really won’t know how the room will jive until after you’ve lugged everything around. If you have to move everything on your own, this can be a big hassle. If you have help, the person assisting you will quickly lose patience if you don’t have a definite plan in mind.

If you’re interested in giving your home a major facelift, you’re going to need some help deciding what you want, where you want it, and how everything will mesh together in the end. Fortunately, technology has come to the rescue.

3D home renovation software, landscape design programs, and interior design software have been created to help homeowners have a more hands-on experience designing their living spaces. Software packages range from basic, free versions up to professional packages that retail for $500 or more.

These software programs streamline all areas of home design—from color schemes to home schematics. Many programs allow you to view your plans in 3D, which makes your vision really come to life. The higher end programs can even show you where shadows will line up, which plants will be within watering range, and let you view things in daylight or nighttime mode.

These programs have been designed for the average homeowner, so most feature things like drag and drop functionality and video tutorials. You’re able to select from hundreds of floor plans, thousands of furniture pieces and choose details such as custom cabinetry and ceiling trim. Some programs will even allow you to scan images from magazines or home decor books.

In addition to landscaping and decor, a number of software programs also let you plan more intricate phases of the home renovation process like foundation planning, layout of electrical, HVAC, and plumbing systems.

You can even estimate the costs of your project with higher end software packages, and print up blueprint plans to give to the contractor on the project.

By using software such as this, homeowners are able to personalize their home without relying on others to piece together their haphazard visions. Home design software bridges the gap between the homeowner and the contractor, allowing everyone to be on the same page creatively. No more costly and frustrating miscommunications; no more changing your mind half-way through the construction process. Before any nails hit the wall, you can crystallize your plans and make a design that works for you. You can also figure out ahead of time what a realistic budget should be, and make changes to your plans as necessary.

For those of us who lack in visual-spatial judgment, home design software makes planning a renovation fun.