Family Rooms

Which room is the family room anyway? These days rooms are multi-tasking, so this question isn't as silly as it sounds. Older homes tend to have a formal living room and a den, while the newer, modern homes have a 'great room' which combines a family room and living room. So, the family room specifically is an informal, all-purpose room usually used for recreation. So how do you decorate this room to make it a pleasant, special place for the family to come together and enjoy themselves? It presents challenges, particularly if you are decorating a family room on a budget.

Create a Focal Point

Whatever makes your family room stand out should be the main focal point. So, if you have a beautiful painting or a stunning fireplace, accent it with lighting or furniture arrangements that draw the eye to this feature.

Try not to make the television set the focal point of your family room - we all know it really is, but you don't have to advertise it! If you have a big, old bulky TV - use an entertainment center so you can hide it when you have guests. The flat screens are much nicer to work into a decor, as they are not so obtrusive and don't take up so much room. Either way, just try not to have it as the first thing you see when someone enters the room.

Furnishings


Two things to keep in mind when furnishing your family room are comfort and durability. Must-haves for family rooms are:

A comfortable durable sofa and/or soft large chairs that you can relax in
Plenty of tables to set drinks on
A table to play games on
A television with a cabinet, preferably with doors so it can be closed off when not in use
Lighting that can be adjusted for function
Plenty of storage space for books, games and toys
Large Family Rooms
If you think decorating a small family room on a budget is difficult, decorating a larger family room or great room inexpensively is even more of a challenge. Keep the following in mind when planning your decorating project or budget makeover for your family's larger space:

Divide the space up into different areas with furniture – don’t place your furniture around the walls in the room.
Create little areas for specific tasks within the room.
If you have a fireplace, create a seating area around it.
Make a play area for kids in another portion of the room with a table for them and places for their toys.
Create a seating area for watching television.
Make sure there are plenty of places to put snacks and drinks - the old Southern rule is everyone seated should be able to reach a spot to place their drink.
Keep these tips in mind when decorating a family room, and remember, your ultimate goal is to make your family room a place that you will all remember as a warm, inviting gathering place where life was lived and memories made.

Eight Step To A Beautiful Home.

1 - FLOORING


Like most large things in our home, flooring choices are extremely important in practicality, function and design. Our flooring is the first step and foundation for building our decorating scheme. Before you decide on floor coverings, consider how the room will be used and what kind of wear and traffic it will have. For instance, kitchens and bathrooms are hard wear areas and should have tough flooring while living spaces and bedrooms usually need the warmth of area rugs or carpet. What is appropriate for some rooms will not be appropriate for others. Decide whether you need hard or soft flooring before considering color choices.

It is best to choose a key/inspiration item before attempting to choose flooring colors. If you haven't, choose what you like best for your home and then find a key fabric or item that works well with the flooring choices. Now, start building from there. Floors take a tougher beating than any other surface in your home and are comparatively expensive to cover. In terms of appearance and durability it is always worth buying the best quality you can afford.

Do not make decisions about purchasing new flooring until you are sure you cannot revitalize the existing floor in any way. For example, old wood floors can be sanded down and resealed giving them new life, carpets can be stained or painted, and tiles can be painted or stenciled. Hopefully you are beginning to get the picture. Try being creative with what you have before spending the money it will take to replace these items.

2 - WALLS.....TRIM.....MOLDING


Paint, wallpaper, and architectural moldings each have a purpose in your decorating project. They are the backdrops for everything else you do. I consider these elements to be the second step in your decorating project. The mood, ambience, personality, charm and style of your room or home are all effected by these components. Your flooring and key/inspiration items should be the springboard for the color and style choices that need to be made for your walls, trim and moldings. Remember that personal choice and family personality traits are always the bottom line. Your home is a reflection of you and your family, and it should be pleasing to you


3 - FURNITURE


Furniture (including accent furniture) is singularly the most high-priced decorative expense you will have in your home once you take into consideration that the flooring and walls are already permanent fixtures. Furniture choices are the third step in designing your room or home.

First, we must define the uses and needs of a particular room. In some cases it is obvious, while in others, our lifestyle and purpose for this space will dictate the style and pieces needed. Ask yourself these questions first:

1. Who will use this room most often?
2. What activities will occur in the room?
3. How often will the room be used?
4. How much sunlight will my selected fabrics be exposed to?
5. What look and style do I prefer?
6. Is storage area or desk space needed?
7. What colors will I like to live with?

Once you have taken the time to consider these above questions, the huge array of choices will be narrowed for you. Large upholstered pieces are a big investment, so I suggest you consider buying solid or tone on tone classic pieces in colors that are versatile and compatible with many styles and colors schemes. I then would recommend bringing in pattern on the smaller accent furniture pieces, accent pillows and window treatments. By the time you finish the third step of your design project, excitement is in the air. It's starting to look like something wonderful! Be patient, you're not done yet. It is very important to follow through with the remaining five steps!


4 - WINDOW TREATMENTS, BEDDING ENSEMBLES, ACCENT PILLOWS


Window treatments, bedding ensembles and accent pillows in most homes are an essential decor and functional necessity. The latter two is more decorative than functional. Window treatments can be both. These elements are the fourth step in achieving a beautifully decorated home.

Your choice of window treatments will vary, depending on what you want the particular treatment to accomplish. This is where you must start! Consider some of the following questions:

1. Do I need privacy?
2. Does privacy need to be partial or total?
3. Is filtered sunlight okay?
4. Do I want as much sunlight as possible?
5. Do I have a good view I would like to frame?
6. Do I want function only, or both function and window décor?
7. Do I want to block out the view through the window?
8. Do I want the window(s) to be decorative focal point in the
room?
9. How important is the ease of control?

Once you have decided on the objective for your window treatment, your options for choice become more manageable. Soft treatments are just what the name describes… fabric window treatments. Hard treatments are blinds, shades, shutters, and verticals. Each has a very distinctive purpose, so think this through carefully.

In each style imaginable, fabric choices and trims add thousands of different looks and possibilities. Patterned fabric, solids, textures, stripes, plaids, sheers, semi-sheers, etc. can all become the most dazzling window treatment(s). Your taste, style, color scheme and required function are the variables that should be considered before you decide what type of window treatment you want to have for your home.

How we dress our beds is an important element to the decorating of any bedroom. There are so many different ways and styles to utilize. The bed should be the focal point of any bedroom, so your bedding choices and decorations are significant to the overall design of the bedroom. This is true even for children's rooms.

Accent pillows are an important and valuable decorating asset for your design project. They are an inexpensive way to balance color, pattern and create personality for any room.



5 - LIGHTING YOUR HOME


Proper lighting provides illumination, creates interest, improves safety, and establishes mood and ambiance. Good lighting is both functional and decorative, and careful planning will give you the best results for both attributes. The amount of lighting needed will vary depending on the wall color, natural light available and personal preferences. Lighting becomes the fifth step in decorating a room or home. We are building each step as a building block on the previous; as a result the lighting choices are narrowed due to the earlier steps being completed first. Lighting should address both the functional and decorative needs in each room in your home. After determining the activities that take place in each room, establish what lighting elements will be necessary to accomplish the job.



6 - ARTWORK


Art is a powerful accessory if used and hung properly in the home. It adds style, color, personality, charm, wit, elegance, beauty and just about any other adjective you can imagine. Your personal taste is the most important factor when choosing art for your home. It should be a reflection of your personality and preferences and is the sixth step in decorating a room or home.

Artwork framed or unframed is a picture of objects, scenes, landscapes, people, animals, etc. that you enjoy looking at. It can be found everywhere and anywhere! The challenge of finding just the right thing can be a fun adventure. Do not rule out any possible source. I have seen wonderful art at hardware stores, garage sales, auctions, and flea markets and in local bed and bath shops. Look everywhere! The obvious places to look are art galleries, furniture stores, home decorating specialty stores, craft stores, antique shops and accessory stores. Do not forget to check your Grandmothers attic!

7 - ACCESSORIES


Accessories give your home a lived in, comfortable look. They are invaluable in helping to achieve color and design balance. The accessories and artwork in your home are direct reflections of your interests, personality, taste and style. They do not have to be expensive to achieve the goal. Color, scale and balance are far more important than monetary value. Accessories are the seventh step in achieving a beautifully decorated room or home. Without them a home will feel cold and incomplete


8 - FLORAL/GREENERY


In my opinion, trees, greenery and floral arrangements are the final and eighth important element in a completed design project and they should not be ignored. Flowers and greenery provide life, interest, balance, color, sizzle, impact and drama. Their part in the overall-decorating scheme is vital to a beautiful room or home.

Happy Decorating

Home Interior Designs Will Dress-Up Your Home Decor

The success of any decorating scheme depends on how well it suits all the members of your family. To create a decor that you will be happy with, think about what you want and also what you don't want.
It's a good idea to know what you have before you begun to change things. As you begin to pull your design ideas together, think about your preference and what will work in your home.

Putting a new face on an old room is more fun when you have the basics on hand and can move ahead whenever the urge to decorate comes on.

There are three surfaces, floor, ceiling, and walls, that can be treated all alike or each in a different way. Part of the fun is designing a space that appears as inviting and comfortable from within.

Color can work wonders; it can change the look of a room and change your feeling about the room. You can start by looking through magazines, and display catalogs. Give yourself plenty of time, it will take longer than you think, and your ideas will develop as you go.

Gathering samples is a great way to begin. If you are starting with a color, your samples might include fabric, paint chips, wallpaper, carpet, wood, stone, and tile.

Knowing what you can spend on a project will give you a clearer idea of what you can achieve. If you'll on a limited budget, mark off those things that will make the most difference, such as a new wall color and a new sofa.

You can set the mood of a room in lots of ways, such as lights, and furnishings. There are no hard or fast rules or must-do sequence for this process. Whatever the purpose, you can create a truly inviting room.

Basic Interior Design Principles

There are several principles for interior design used by interior designer. Some basic rules are must to follow to create a great design. Interior design is the process of shaping the interior space of the house. Decorate the space keeping in view the entire basic requirement. An interior designer is the professional person in interior designing. While doing interior designing it is necessary to think the house as one whole and then the theme of the house should be planned. Select colors according to the themes.

There are basically three style of balance: symmetrical, asymmetrical, and radial.

Symmetrical balance is featured as the same objects kept in either side of the vertical axis. It is found in the traditional interiors. This type of interior is said to be a balance setting. This symmetrical balance reflects the human form.

Asymmetrical balance is more of casual and less contrived in feeling. This type of balance is very difficult to achieve. A balance here is achieved by dissimilar object that have equal weight and attraction. Now-a-days asymmetrical balance is used to design interiors.

Radial balance is when all the element of design reflects the center point. The best example of radial balance is the spiral staircase. This type of balance is not used often but if used approximately then it gives very interesting look to the design.

Interior design’s biggest enemy is boredom. Depending on the size of room, the well designed room always has one or two focal point. A focal point should be dominant to encourage viewer to look further. A focal point should always be interesting that match to style, scale color or theme. A flat TV is the best example about the focal point. If you don’t have natural focal point in your space, then you can create it highlighting the piece of furniture or by painting or by art work or by giving contrast color to a particular space. And also maintain the balance in design so that other thing does not go unattended.

In interior design, rhythm is the vision. Rhythm is nothing but continuity, recurrence and organized movement. Repetition, progression, transition and contrast are element that helps to achieve theme in the design.

Repetition is the use of same object or element more than once in the space. Anything like text, pattern, color, texture, and element can be repeated.

Progression means taking the element and creating variations in it. Variation can be like increasing or decreasing the size of the element. The best example of progression can be variety of candles of different size kept in the single tray which would be very impressive.

Unlike repetition and progression transition is little harder to define. Transition is nothing but a smooth flow where eyes automatically move from one place to another. Curves in the space could be the best example for transition.

Contrast is nothing but putting two elements in opposite sides. Contrast can be of any type like contrast of two different colors, contrast of two forms e.g.: circles and square and many more. While encouraging contrast make sure it don’t mess up.

These are the basic interior design principle which is required to keep in mind while designing the interior.

Brighten Your Living Room - How to Decorate Your Living Area

In your home, the living area is one of the busiest rooms. It's the room that an outsider gets to see and form a lasting impression about your home. Hence the living area should be well decorated, well-laid out and should appeal to guests and family members. It should project a homely, comfortable yet elegant image.

With a combination of imagination, good taste, statues and lamps any living area can be transformed into one that exudes elegance and coziness at the same time. There are several ways you can decorate your living area to catch the attention of the visitors and earn numerous compliments:

Rearranging Furniture

Your lifestyle or taste determines what the focal point of your living area is. If you have a fireplace, you can rearrange your furniture around it. Or if a piano is the focal point of your living area your furniture could be set around it. When rearranging your furniture, also consider traffic in your living area.

Colours to Create Warmth

Colours have psychological effects on people and their moods. When applied in your living area, colours can intimidate, invite or irritate. Decorating using colours is also an inexpensive way because it only involves painting or papering walls. You want your living area to be warm and inviting and you could experiment with green as it is one of the warmest and most relaxing colours.

Mirrors for Space & Depth

Create space and depth for your small living area by positioning a mirror on a wall. Your mirror should reflect something pleasing to the eyes. If you have more wall space, try adding small paintings on either side of the mirror.

Adding Small Furniture

To create a 'lived-in' aura for your living area, position small furniture in the room. This can be a small bench or a low sofa table. Place magazines, journals and newspapers under the table. Placing flower vases, baskets and small plants on your table also creates beauty and livens up the room.

Statues for Elegance

Corners and table tops are good places for small statues. Statues, especially marble ones, provide an aesthetic feel to your living area. The Greeks use marble for sculptures for its strength, durability. Statues of deities and laughing Buddha bring in positive energy. You could also experiment with themes.

Lighting Up Your Living Room

Living room lighting is not just about lighting up your room, it's also about creating a mood for relaxation, or entertaining or just watching TV.

Your living room can take on many different roles, it can be used for watching television, reading, listening to music, relaxing and chatting to friends and family as well as being used for hobbies and various pastimes such as playing chess or knitting.

Therefore the lighting in this room needs to be sufficient in order to accommodate such a wide variety of different uses. This is easily achieved by using lighting that is both flexible in quantity and quality. And, instead of having just one mediocre light bulb hanging from the centre of the room - you can go wild and give your imagination a run for its money by incorporating downlighters, recessed lighting, decorative table lamps, reading lamps, wall lights, maybe picture lights as well to highlight an interesting object, and of course your pendant lighting or chandeliers.

Living room lighting lends itself to being open to many different lighting sources and your mix of indoor light fixtures and fittings should accommodate a wide spectrum of moods and activities.

Generally, many households tend to have an insufficient number of light fittings to completely satisfy the lighting requirements of the room. A pendant and a few lamps, floor and table lamps, for example, are generally not enough to do justice to living rooms which also tend to be quite large in comparison to other rooms in the house.

As a rough guide, having a couple of table lamps, four to six recessed downlighters, a picture light to highlight an ornamental object or painting, some sort of concealed lighting inside a bookshelf or other unit, as well as a floor lamp - are considered a good quantity of light fittings which can be used to properly light up your living room. As you can see, you do not need to have all these different types of lighting and lamps all on at the same time. Rather, for effect, you would have a few lights on depending on what sort of mood you wanted to create and what activities were taking place.

Remember also that when it comes to lighting, the different types of light fixtures are quite versatile and can adapt to suit different lighting requirements. For instance, using adjustable lights means that you can highlight different objects by simply repositioning the light source from the lamp. Similarly, decorative table lamps can be used not only as an ornamental object but can provide background lighting for performing tasks as well as being a light source for other objects displayed on the table.

Living room lighting is not just about lighting up your room, it's also about creating a mood for relaxation, or entertaining or just watching TV.

Lighting room lighting can include decorative table lamps, all types of Tiffany style lighting as well as sconces and floor lamps. By using all of these you give the room depth and character.

Arranging Living Room Furniture for Maximum Effect

The living room is today's most 'lived in' room, so it is important to make the most of the space you have. Get some simple expert tips...


For many years, the living room was the formal room in the home – a room that was only used for special guests. Families either gathered in the den or gathered in the kitchen. As times have changed, the living room has become just that – the living room. This has now become the room in most homes where the family gathers – relaxing together over a good book or watching favorite TV shows together, and even entertaining friends. We now tend to invite our guests and friends into the comfort of the room in which we actually perform the art of living, in a less-formal, more inviting atmosphere.

The arrangement of your furniture can have an affect on how the room is viewed by family and guests. Does the room seem open and inviting? Does the room seem small and crowded? You want to convey a feeling of welcome and comfort to your family and guests – allowing them to feel that they are free to actually "live" in the room. The first step is to determine what the focal point of the room will be – will it be an entertainment center or perhaps a warm, cozy fireplace?

One of the most important aspects of furniture placement in the living room is allowing for traffic to move through the room comfortably. You don’t want guests having to worry about bumping in to knick-knacks and other things as they move around the room. You want them to be able to move from place to place within the room easily. Depending on the size of your room, you may want to have one grouping of comfortable seats – close enough for conversation, yet far enough apart for individual privacy as well. For a larger room, you may want to have several groupings of comfortable seats, with a central focal point on the entertainment center or fireplace.

Large furniture should be placed along the walls whenever possible. This leaves more space for traffic in the center of the room. If your living room is used often – as is usually the case when the room is used both for entertaining and for family, there will be a lot of traffic – and by leaving maneuverable space, you are letting your family and friends know that it is okay to use this room for living, without them having to worry about breaking things or knocking things over.

For living rooms that are used for entertainment and family rooms, you can use furniture to your advantage. Many tables and entertainment centers have shelves and storage spaces that can be used to keep the room cleared of clutter. Games, movies, CD’s, and books can all be stored within easy reach without cluttering the room and creating a sense of less space. A great idea if you have small children is to use an area rug in an open space in the room, giving them a "play area" that can be utilized even when adults are entertaining friends.

When deciding on the arrangement of your furniture, you need to keep in mind the comfort of your guests, the amount of space needed for traffic, and the atmosphere that you are trying to create. Using small tables beside chairs offers a person a feeling of personal privacy within a room of people by giving them somewhere to put things such as their drink glass or a favorite book they may be reading. Use corners for things such as lamps and large decorative pieces, allowing them to add to the décor of the room without taking away space and making the room feel crowded. Whether your focal point is a fireplace or an entertainment center, you should arrange furniture that invites each person in the room to be a part of the group as a whole, and also allows them the privacy to take a break from the conversation when needed. The point is to make your family and guests feel that they are welcome in your living room and that this is the room for "living" – together.

Traditional Interior Design

Traditional interior design encompasses a great variety of elements in a home. From the ceilings to the floor; including the trim, the wall finishes–all the way to the window treatments and the furniture. The careful designer must focus attention on each of these items in order to create the ideal design. Lighting, wall treatments, flooring, and furniture are all fundamental steps in creating a smooth design. Each of these elements should tie in carefully with the last, creating an interchanging staircase of design. Theme, color, texture, and placement are the tools with which you are to design this delicate stairway.

Themes of traditional interior design vary from traditional to modernistic, from eclectic to yes–even retro. The decision of theme should (in my opinion) be left entirely up to the individual homeowner or business owner. Each person has a message they would like to convey to the world through their space. It is your job, as the designer, to listen to their wants and needs and to develop a solution that suits them perfectly. If the client is having difficulty in assessing his or her design needs, provide them catalogs or magazines to browse through. Traditional interior design is a concept that is simple and everyone should be able to understand. After browsing through magazines and determining what appeals to them visually, it would be a good idea to ask them about their lifestyle needs. Most clients with children will definitely need to keep the cost modest of their furniture. If the person is active socially and plans on entertaining, you will want to be sure to organize any recreational spaces in a way that is ideal for that type of entertaining.

Once the basic theme has been decided upon, the next major set of choices will be what colors to base those themes on. I always advise clients that it is better to fit the color with the space then the person in this situation. Does that sound unfair? Many clients will associate their first color selection with their favorite color. A favorite color and wall paint sometimes don’t mix very well. Traditional interior design motivates the color choices more towards colors that match the room’s needs. This is so because very often you will find that even if a client is less then enthusiastic about the color selection, after the room has been painted and they have had the chance to see it, they change their minds quickly. Try to offer this type of solution to your client in an encouraging, helpful way rather then with a know-it-all attitude. If they are still not very enthusiastic, try to show them pictures of similar colors in catalogs to give them a better feel of how it will look. Catalogs and magazines are an endless resource for things like this because it offers people a little insight into how designs play out.

All right, you have a theme in mind and a palette of colors to work from. What’s next in traditional interior design? It honestly depends on the magnitude and scope of the project. Choose your wall treatments and get those out of the way if you intend on making any flooring changes. Don’t become hasty and have new flooring installed or the existing flooring refurnished only to paint over the top of it while applying your wall treatment. Once the walls have been complete and allowed time to properly dry, then is the time to make flooring changes.

Flooring! Traditional interior design offers so many choices for all types of flooring; it is best to base this choice upon the needs and lifestyle of your clients. If they have children, suggest that easily washable, flat surfaced flooring is used with the compliment of a large rug in any recreational rooms. These rooms will be the rooms that are mostly used the most often and are danger areas for anyone with kids or children. Explain to them that the rug is easily replaced but carpeting is not!!!

When the ‘canvas’ is ready (the bare bones of the room), it is time for you to treat any windows before you begin moving furniture in and things get crowded. For small rooms, open them up by adding more light using sheer window coverings. The same idea with dark rooms that need a little extra light. Make ‘short’ rooms tall using window-to-floor curtains or draperies in contrast to short furniture. Traditional interior design includes MANY alternatives to window covering that will fit any home. Keep in mind while doing this the activity on the outside of the window as much as you to the appearance on the inside of it. If it is a very open window and the setting of the home does not offer much privacy, they will probably want privacy window coverings. After your windows are complete, hang any wall accessories before proceeding to the next step.

Time to bring in the furniture! A few key rules to remember while positioning furniture in traditional interior design: first, create lines and continuity. Second, be sure to create adequate walking space. Third, don’t over clutter. And fourth, be creative.

Once your furniture is in place and has been ‘tested’, time to accessorize. Traditional interior design normally does this by placing a few instrumental accessories into place. Simplicity is elegant and too much accessories can lead to an uncomfortable room. Try to purchase well-defined items that can even make great conversational pieces. If the homeowners are hands-on and involved, get them to add personal touches by creating an accessory themselves.

Traditional interior design is a catch-all that incorporates the workability and usability with the beauty of a room. Achieve the perfect balance by properly combining these items and you will be successful!

Interior Design for Children

Interior design for children is one of the most fun, delightful aspects of the business if you ask me. It is so fun because children are limitless as far as their creativity and imaginations are concerned. Whenever planning interior design for children, be sure to involve the children in the planning and-if you feel very brave, the implementation of your designs.

A good beginning point or theme for interior design for children is to start with any favorite activity or toy or even character of the child’s interest. Remember that many items of interest to children are topics that will change with time so try to take advantage of these interests and favorites with accessories and changes that will be easy to replace in the future as their interests and needs change. If a child has an interest or a particular activity that they are very enthused about and they have a special request that would make the design very special to them, go for it as long as the parents are as enthusiastic as the child is. Also, forewarn them of any possible headaches they might experience changing it in the future when it comes time to redesign the space in order to accommodate the child’s changing needs.

When choosing your color plan or schemes remember that interior design for children offers you unique opportunities to use bold or bright colors that would usually not be ideal for use in adult surroundings. Along the same lines, certain areas of the room would be more ergonomic to use as focal points then would in an adult’s atmosphere. For example, a chalkboard or toy box might capture a child’s attention more so then would a table or seating arrangement.

Another aspect of design that will vary from adult tastes when planning interior design for children would be the accessories that will be used to highlight and accentuate key features. Toys and collectibles make wonderful objects to use in this application. However, many times toys that are placed on display or for decoration are toys that the child would enjoy much more by being able to play with it rather then it actually being on display. You can solve this dilemma by either using old, unused toys that no longer captivate the child’s interests or even by purchasing duplicates and allowing them to actually use one version of the toy and letting them know that the others are ‘for looking only’. Also, keep in mind that collectibles often times are of less significance to smaller children then are to adults so make sure that any item placed in a child’s room is not of significant fiscal or sentimental value just in case!

Tying in interior design for children can be accomplished easily by purchasing one of millions of available bed treatments that is complimentary to the designs and themes used in the creation of the room layout as well as fitting in well with the accessories chosen. Many bed treatment packages come prepackaged with matching detailed sheets, a comforter, dust ruffle, and window coverings. These items can bring a room together in the greatest of all fashions and are an option in interior design for children that are obtainable by anyone looking to make a change.

Always remember when planning interior design for children that a child changes attitudes, opinions, and behaviors around every three years. Permanent changes of any type are a big no-no and practical, cost effective ones are ideal. A good furniture tip to remember when designing for kids is to buy reasonably priced, sound furniture that doesn’t break the bank. Kids are even harder on furniture then they are on clothes! And most importantly to take into consideration when working with interior design for children–of course, HAVE FUN!!!

Interior Design for Couples

Interior design for couples is one of the hottest, most popular types of design these days. In the past, men have not taken the initiative to actually be involved in the interior design of their homes, often resulting in very female orientated, elegant designs that are beautiful although not exactly appealing to the Saturday afternoon football crew. This type of design is often beautiful and can be ideal in certain situations. Although, more and more men today are interested in helping to decide what their home looks like on the inside!

Beware! Interior design for couples can put you (the designer) into a bit of a hot seat in the battle of the sexes. Here are a few tips on how to avoid disaster. First of all, always communicate with and listen to what both parties involved envision as being their dream space. Many times one party or the other will be much more dominate in the planning and conversations then the other. Take note of this and pay special attention to the quiet party by asking the questions and making sure to offer them the opportunity to express themselves. In this aspect of interior design for couples, you are the mediator. Take both sides into careful consideration before doing any planning.

During planning stages, again, be sure to include both parties in the process and if one person is noticeably quiet during the conversation, don’t be shy to point things out that might be important to them. This way, you tend to buffer any arguments or resentment that may arise from your interjection of a neutral opinion or thoughts. If there are any problems, remind them both that your vision is to create a space that is pleasant and acceptable to both of them and that interior design for couples can be unpleasant but it is very easy to work within both person’s boundaries in order to ensure that everyone is happy with the outcome.

If you see certain situations that you, as a designer can find ways to compromise in order to fit things into both peoples’ expectations this is key. Also, stress to both parties involved that a little give and a little take is vital when discussing and planning interior design for couples and that while they won’t always reach the same conclusion, if they both make some trade offs it will create an environment they are both comfortable in.

If all else fails, encourage both people when making references to certain aspects of one another’s design ideas that they are good ideas that can be compatible with the other’s thoughts. Whenever dealing with interior design for couples, a certain ‘he says, she says’ attitude is likely to arise at some point and it is your job as the designer to see that things work out smoothly and in the best interest of both people.

Color and furniture are normally the main items that are disagreed upon in interior design for couples. Suggest to the female counterpart that the leather sofa her husband is interested in can be a very classic and comfortable edition to any living space. Explain to her husband that the peach color she is looking for can actually be considered a light beige. You would be surprised what miracles a little bit of convincing can do when carried out in the right manner.

If neither party is willing to compromise, I have seen for instances when the designer actually had both of the couple write down their design needs/wants and do a point by point comparison/bargaining session that allowed each person an equal amount of yes and nos. Sound ridiculously childish? Be prepared!

Cheap Interior Design Ideas

Cheap interior design ideas come in many forms these days. From television shows to magazines, the industry is trying to teach the consumer how to design cheap. In the past, ideas such as cheap design shows would have left most interior designers horrified. The industry of interior design has changed dramatically over the past few years in order to better accommodate consumers. In it’s early to mid stages of evolution, interior design was an industry of prestige. Now, due to the demand for cost-cutting design for the average customer, designing on a budget and cheap interior design has become a topic of much interest and acceptance. Of course, you will always find the designers who absolutely insist that durability and style of a design is identifiable with the name brand associated with the contents therein, which relates back to the price tag. Most everyday people do not relate to this line of thinking therefore it has become increasingly unpopular within the normal ranks of the professionals in the industry.

A secret tool to marvelous rooms created using cheap interior design ideas is good decision making. By purchasing some slightly more expensive key items in a room’s furniture and cost-cutting on the smaller items or accessories you can save big bucks and still achieve the same look that is achieved in other more expensive, name brand rooms. The first question that pops into your mind here is likely to be, alright, simple concept, now where do I buy the bargain items?

Easily answered! Your hunt for cheap interior design ideas and items can begin successfully at any bargain-type store. The stores and availability of items in these stores will vary according to your location. Many times, there are locally known ‘bargain bins’ or stores at which you can by slightly-damaged or used items at a fraction of the cost associated with similar store bought items. When buying at these stores, be careful not to overspend. Many of us have a tenancy to get overly enthused and purchase items that are not good bargains or ones that we are not very likely to use. Save your money for where it counts. If you bargain shop for long enough, you will find the perfect items that fit into your lifestyle and space, just waiting for you to purchase!

Some accessories are easier to find bargains on then others. If you search and search for a certain item and are unable to find it, try to improvise or select another similar item to take its’ place. Cheap interior design ideas are abundant to the creative thinker who is willing to overcome obstacles with unusual, cheap solutions. Keep your mind open to all possibilities and applications of furniture…a pulled-together solution adds style and a conversation piece to any room.

Other places you can find cheap interior design ideas are yard sales, estate sales, and flea markets. Remember again when shopping in areas such as this that it is easy to get caught up in the moment and overspend. Take your time and comb the items carefully for objects of value. Many times in these type of sales the physically larger items tend to sell for more then cost value and the smaller valuable items are looked over in haste. Cheap interior design ideas are not limited to large items! If you find a good deal on an accessory or such, especially If it is part of a group or collection of items, buy it and use it to accentuate your other items.

Cheap interior design ideas are easy to find these days, you just have to know the right places to look and the right items to purchase. Time is the essential element in designing cheaply. Patience pays off in most any situation, including interior design!

Interior Design for New Homes

When decorating or making decorating decisions for new homes, it is important to remember that your major decisions could affect decorating choices for quite a long period of time. Commitment to bold or unusual color treatments before you have actually had the opportunity to consider how such changes will coordinate with your furniture placement is not very advisable in this type of situation. In any case, the best advice you could receive while planning interior design for new homes is to make mediocre, undramatic design choices to begin that you can alter at a later time if you choose to do so.

This may seem like very unusual advice concerning interior design for new homes especially coming from someone who is working within the design industry—but there is good explanation for this reasoning. A large, open space without viewing or visualizing any furniture content within that space is quite easy to get a little carried away with while making structural changes. Also, keep in mind that by using very bold or dramatic designer interior colors on the walls you might be closing off your future alternative color choices to those that will cover the bright color therefore eliminating any possibility of using neutral colors without major restructuring of wall surfaces.

Wallpaper is another such choice that you might reconsider using while building interior design for new homes. Again, removing wallpaper and resurfacing the surface is often times quite a headache that can be avoided by using other alternatives for creative wall finishing. A great alternative for wallpaper that adds a great texture to the wall surfaces would be a finishing technique such as faux finishing, sponging, or stenciling. These choices (and many more like them) offer you a variety of substitutes that are equally appealing and much easier to change then more permanent solutions such as wallpaper. If you absolutely must have wallpaper in any of the rooms, try using a border to achieve the look you’re going for instead of covering the entire wall surface.

When painting walls, if you apply a few well known interior design tips and tricks to your method, you will be pleasantly surprised in the overall effects when complete. For example, brighten up small or dark rooms with light wall colors. Add character and direction to larger areas by defining them with contrasting colors and textures. Bold or stark color panels can also provide a defining feature to an area that you can showcase wall pieces on when you are ready to accessorize.

Once the walls have been treated in your new home, the next item on the agenda while planning interior design for new homes would be dynamic placement of your hanging accessories such as mirrors, pictures, and art. Do not over clutter walls. Make good choices and place such items in key places by establishing focal points or presentation areas that will flatter the rest of your design.

Interior design for new homes can be a tricky process. There is a good possibility that the area pertained in your new home will be slightly larger or smaller then the space in your previous home. It is this reason that planning placement and theme of each space in your new home is so vitally important to successful interior design of new homes. Be sure to measure widths of furniture and doorways before moving day comes in order to avoid hassle while getting the furniture into your new living space. Take careful notice of any moving activity that occurs into and around your new home. Careless moving errors can disfigure floors and walls and create flaws in your new house before you have even begun living there.

Placement of furniture in new homes is one of the key aspects of unique interior design for new homes. The old philosophy of creating larger spaces (this is seen especially in living areas and rec rooms) by lining the furniture along the walls is true at times although at other times (again, especially in recreational-type rooms), dividing the room into two separate spaces by positioning furniture towards separate focal points therefore adding space and versatility to the area as well as enlarging it.

The most important matter of concern when designing or planning interior design for new homes is to build an environment that caters to the individuals living there. Creating a space that is accommodating to each person’s lifestyles is the general principle of new home design.

The Finishing Touches

Your contractors have left you have a brand new interior, you have placed your furniture, but there is still something missing. Yes! The finishing touches. This is where, less is definately best, so select wisely. You want to create features in the room, not collections.

Here are some ways to finish your room:

1. Artwork - paintings or prints. Select pictures or prints that relate to your theme or style, make sure they incorporate colors from your color scheme. They can be used to highlight your colors or just to create a texture to the wall in similar color tonings. If you have a lot of paintings, you are best to group them together to create "one" picture, rather than spread them one by one across the wall. To find out more about placing artwork visit this article below.
Arranging Artwork
2. Artwork - sculpture. Sculpture is a great way to create a focal point in a room, find a god spot to display it and make sure you have a way of highlighting it with light.

3. Vases - Flowers, fresh or artificial. These are a great way to soften a look. Fresh flowers are great because you can always create a new look depending on the type of flowers and the way they are arranged. For example wild flowers grouped suggest randomness, tulips on their own suggest simplicity, red roses on centre stage suggest passion, spring flowers evoke cheerfulness to a room at the changing of a season, large white asian lillies express opulence. To save time and money artifical flowers are a very good option today. They are almost too real looking, and you do look a bit silly when you go to smell them and have a closer inspection! Choose flowers that suit the style you have created, if you need help with this, most florists have a good background in matching flowers to your taste.

4. Cushions - These are the greatest accessory, especially if you
have children, they just love messing up your well placed accessories! They are great as you can further enhance the colors and fabrics that you have chosen, use the same fabric in a slightly different color way or the same colo rway in a different design. Contrasting colors work well to brighten a scheme, or textured cushions in a monochromatic scheme. Fringes and tassels, buttons and beads, the world is your oyster when it comes to decorating cushions, these are a "must have" in almost every room.

5. Throws - these are a simple way to make a room feel more homely.
They are great when you sit in front of the fire at night to read a book and you wrap the throw around your shoulders and snuggle. So they are useful as well as adding color, texture and style to your room. Once again you can follow the prinicples for cushion selection to choose what they will look like.

6. Tie backs, hold backs - curtain accessories, these really add a touch of class to your window treatments. You can choose from such
a huge selection today, so I will just send you to another website to look at how these work.
curtains.interiordezine.com

7. Lamps - we touched on these in furniture placement, but I can't stress enough how these really add the finishing touch and create
versatility in mood creation to your room. You have many options with lamp bases and shades to add color and texture to your room.
8. Coffee table books - the ultimate accessory - The coffee table book. Something grand on a trendy topic like Food from Tuscany, or The History of Fashion, something that makes people want to pick it up and flick through. This is a way of making people feel welcome in your home.

9. Ornaments - keep these to a minimum, as they are the fastest way to clutter, but the odd strategically placed ornament will definately make your house look and feel like a home.

10. Mirrors - These are a simple way to make rooms look larger or
bring in more light to a room via reflected light. There are so many beautiful frames available today that you are bound to be able
to find something to suit your style or look.

How to Pull Your Decorating Scheme Together

With all the hard work over, we now need to tie up all the loose ends. Unfortunately, like every job there is the element of paperwork! I'm sorry, but it can't all be glamor and fun. You must document your scheme, so that everyone involved is following the same path. This is then able to be used to get pricing from contractors and suppliers of products, as well as making sure that you or (your client if you are doing this for someone else) knows exactly where they stand and what they are going to get for their money.
So I will keep this short and sweet.


1. Always write a finishes schedule. This lists up all there areas that you are working in, walls, ceiling, floor etc and what rooms you are working, and then what finish they will receive. This means that a contractor for example a painter can take this piece of paper and walk around the rooms and measure the quantities he needs of each product for each application.

2. Make sure your client signs this document to ensure they know what they are getting. If you are doing this for your self you obviously don't need to sign, but you do need to make sure you have a system if you change anything on this list, so that you can update it and reissue it to your contractors and you all know what is the most up to date copy.

3. With your list (and this should be done when you are selecting your products) check with all the suppliers that the products are available and or that you can get them within your time frame. It adds a lot of money onto your project if you have to courier a product to get it on time. So forward planning is essential here.

4. Make sure that you work out a time line and all your contractors
know when they have the space to do their work and when they are
expected to be finished, and make sure you are tough on this one, it is like a domino effect if you let one slip behind.

5. Make sure you have all your prices and costs in your hand before
you start engaging contractors or manufactures to start making
things for you. You need to ensure that you are within your budget before you start. You want to make sure that you can pay everyone,
if you want to get a start into the decorating industry, lets make it a good one.

6. Engage your contractors and manufacturers ie painters, carpet layers, curtain manufacturers, in writing, always refer to their quotation or estimate and confirm the agreed amount and the payment arrangements. For example a deposit and remainder on completion or
with installments, or payment in full before commencement (watch out for this one, don't ever pay the total account until you have the total amount of work completed or else you have no way of getting the job finished if they don't turn up. They have your money and you have an incomplete job.)

7. Get the work underway, make sure you keep your eyes on the time
and the quality of the work. Always be around, this keeps the contractors on their toes! You don't have to stay but keep popping in to check up on things. You don't want to have the job completed and see that the painter has misread your finishes schedule and swapped some bedrooms around!

8. When the job is completed, check all the work has been done to a
satisfactory standard before you pay the entire account. If you find any problems, write them down and get the contractor back to remedy them. It is important that you get this done ASAP as the sooner it is done the more likely they are to finish it, some contractors start another job and you just can't get them back. So be very prompt on this job.

9. Take out your camera and take some photos for your brag book!!
Well done.

Furniture Placement Guidelines

Now that we are progressing well into the field of decorating, and have a solid grasp on getting a design brief, brainstorming for a style, using color well, making fabrics work for you and what to look for in home finishes, we will look at how to place the furniture into you cleverly decorated room. The furniture placement will further enhance all your good work you have done so far.

I will show you how to place your furniture by telling you what not to do!!

The most common error in furniture placement is to place all the
pieces around the walls, thinking that it will make the room look
larger. Unfortunately this theory is incorrect, and it does exactly
the opposite, it makes the room feel smaller and is less usable.

The next error is to group all the furniture around a focal piece, half right, except it is the television! Neglecting other features like a fireplace or a spectacular view.

A popular error for hoarders is to have so much furniture that they
have to stuff it all into one space, less is best when it comes to design, we don't want to go back to the Victorian style of decorating.

This isn't really a placement error, rather a purchasing, make sure
that the furniture is in proportion to the size of a room. A huge chunky sofa may be comfy, but if is the only thing that fits into the room, then it definitely is not in proportion. The same can be said for the heights of furniture, if you have a high stud then the space will look bigger automatically and you can have taller and more solid furniture. The other area here is that a large sofa and a small spindly side table will also look out of proportion, so think about how furniture will work together when you are purchasing or deciding which furniture to keep in your room if you are a hoarder!

So how do we go about making these spaces work?

Small Steps

Decide what you are going to do in the space, ie read, watch tv, sleep, exercise, relax, converse, play.

Then work out what you need to achieve these tasks. (do this for every room) For example the living room - the most difficult as it has to be very flexible to accommodate a whole family. You will need to allow furniture for watching TV - sofas, chairs and coffee table or side tables (to hold the remote controls obviously!), chairs, playing computer games - desk, office chairs, reading quietly - armchair with accompanying side table and lamp, play are for the small children - bean bags, cushions, toy chest, bookshelf. Do you start to see what we are trying to achieve?

Next step - if you can draught, you can plan out on paper how you
are going to fit all this furniture in, remembering to look at where people come and go from the room, you don't want them walking in front of the television every time they need to leave the room, orientate the furniture in another direction. If you can't draught, don't worry, good old graph paper will do, measure the size of the room, layout out the overall space on the paper, then measure the furniture and on another piece of graph paper, measure and draw using the graph paper to help you, a rough shape of the furniture, then cut them out and you can start placing them in the room. This is much easier than literally pushing the furniture around the room yourself. This way you can explore the numerous options until you feel that the space works.

Some tips:

Group sofas, chairs parallel to each other if you are wanting people to converse, in general keep you furniture parallel to the walls, this is the most pleasing on the eye. You can get away with angling a chair in a corner but apart from that parallel to the walls is best.

Define a specific area with a change in floor coverings, ie a rug under a dinging table, under a sofa and chairs, or as a way to protect your carpet and define where the children play in an area.

Keep all your electrical equipment in one area, TVs, Stereo, Video,
DVD etc, this way it reduces the cables lying around on the floor,
if possible use an entertainment unit and it can also store all your cds, dvds and videos out of sight, this makes a huge difference in a living room. If you are able, get your speakers wired into the walls and ceiling, this way you won't have to see them on the walls or on the floor.

Think about how you want to create the mood in the room, lighting
is where I'm going here. It is great to have your general lighting from the light switch, but to create different moods and effects, don't overlook the power of lamps, there are so many types available now that there is no excuse not to be able to find some to suit your scheme, some are sculptural, some are slim and almost invisible, others have the traditional lamp base and shade.

What they all do is create an extra zing to the room, and this will
show off all the hard work you have done.

Where do you place them? Tall up light lamps look best in corners as
they make the room look larger, small lamps work best on side tables next to chairs or sofas, as they provide light for you to read or do handiwork with, sculptural lamps can become a focal point, so they can go anywhere.

Focal points, I think I have overlooked explaining this and it is very important for furniture placement. Every room should have a focal point, this is how we succeed in decorating and design. We have something attractive that immediately draws the eye into the room and makes you want to be there. Some people are lucky and have an ever changing view from a window that does this naturally, but most of us have to work at it.

The most common ways to achieve a focal point is with the use of a
piece of artwork be it sculptural or a painting. Other ways include
a large decorative mirror, a fireplace, using a change in wall color with a feature wall, using a change in texture with a wallpaper or fabric to draw your eye. Sometimes a piece of furniture or a rug can be a focal point, but they aren't usually as obvious because you eye has to look down to see these, the best place for a focal point is at eye level. Don't forget to highlight the focal point with lighting.

Use these guidelines to work with the other rooms in the house.

What to Look for in Home

It is important to have an understanding of what interior finishes
are, what they are used for, when and where to use them and why.
The why is important, as you must always be able to justify WHY you
have selected a finish or a product to use. Because "I like the
look of it" is not enough. This is the part of Interior Decoration
that we get accessed on, as it is what people "see." It is a
complex process of continual questions that we need to ask to
ensure that the product will do what we expect of it.

The best way to gain knowledge of these products is by assessing
supplier and manufacturer's information and specifications. They
freely distribute these and some are happy to provide samples so
that you can physically compare different products. Be careful when
checking for flame resistance. I once naively put a match to a
small swatch of fabric to see if it could withstand flame. A split
second later I had a hot black gooey melted fabric over my finger.
It hurt and I came to the conclusion that the fabric was not what I
was looking for and it wasn't specified for the project. It pays to
read the back of the label for the properties and used their tried
and tested information.

Selecting products or finishes, as discussed requires accessing
their performance capabilities. The following items should be
considered:

Economic and budgetary issues. Does the budget allow for the
initial purchase cost of the material as well as the installation?

Does the product require long-term maintenance, which may impact on the weekly household budget?

Durability considerations. Will the product withstand daily wear
and tear -water spillage, foot traffic, pets, and children with
artistic flair, furniture movement? Is the product able to be
easily maintained? Is it easily broken, or scratched, prone to
changing temperatures?

Safety issues. Is it slippery when wet (flooring)? Is it a fire
hazard? Does it have hard or sharp edges? Does it provide a surface for glare? I.e. is it highly polished and reflective. Is the
product dull and dark and impede vision without the lights on?

Comfort and Aesthetic considerations. Does it look great? Does it fit in with your scheme, texturally, color wise, patterned items? Does it meet the acoustic and thermal insulation requirements of the local building authority? Do the tactile properties live up to the look? I.e. is it soft to touch, silky to run your fingers over, or cool underfoot?

Keeping all these items in mind, start visiting interior stores to
have your interior finishes and product knowledge increased. A way
to remember the product and its properties and functions is to
consider where you would put it and why, it helps to keep a
notebook of these observations until you become confident with
interior products and finishes available.

Always ask lots of questions to the sales staff, especially when
you are considering wet areas, or areas where humidity can be a
factor, for example cork is a wonderful flooring product, it is
warm underfoot, a natural product, economically priced, saves
glasses and crockery from breaking when dropped (most times), but
it is prone to damage with water. It is sealed with polyurethane,
but often moisture can get in around the edges and the tiles start
to lift off the floor and it really does look messy and is
dangerous, the conclusion there is, best not to use them in the
bathroom, kitchen or entrance ways.

Once again the finishes that you select come down to getting a good
clear brief of what you are going to be using the rooms or spaces
for, the style that you are trying to achieve, the color and
texture that fits these parameters and then obtaining the product
for the right cost to suit your budget.

Don't forget to touch and feel all the products, make sure they are
the best quality that you can afford, ensure that they will last to
your expectations, and of course the most obvious, that they look
good!

How to Use Color Well

How to Use Color Well.

1. Always choose one color to start your scheme. That color can come from an existing piece of artwork, a rug, existing upholstery fabric, or a silk flower arrangement. if you are decorating from plans or blue prints then it is often best to start planning color from the floor up.


2. Decide what type of look and or color scheme. (Use your last lesson how to brain storm your style ideas and visit how to use the color wheel as tools for this selection).


3. Then start "layering" your color using your selected color scheme, start with the largest areas, floor, walls and ceiling.


4. Slowly bring in other large pieces, furniture, chairs, etc. Remembering to balance the room. Don't group all the same color in one area, "sprinkle" it so that it is easy on your eye.
   


5. Using patterns is often a hurdle for some people so they just don't bother, and the color scheme lacks interest. We need to make our schemes look alive by using either pattern and / or texture. For more help with these areas pattern and texture.



6. Think in three dimensions when you plan your color, dark curtains will enclose a room, a similar tone to the walls will keep the space looking open for example. A dark color for the floor will essentially "ground" your scheme. To create a cosy intimate feeling use warm dark colors, to create light and airy the opposite, pale and fresh, cool colors will open up a room, and it will feel cool. A dark colored ceiling will lower the height of a room, and the opposite if you use white. Color can be used to reshape your room, for example you have a rectangular room, you can make it look more like a square if you paint the two shortest walls a darker color than the longer walls, this will make them appear to advance, and make the room feel more balanced.


7. Test your color scheme - get "test" or "sample" pots of paint and paint large pieces of card or board. Put them in your room or order a large sample of wallpaper or large piece of fabric. Leave these items in the area that you wish to decorate and look at how they change at different times of the day, due to different lighting situations. The will look dramatically different, this is when you need to decide when the room will be used the most and what color looks best in that light!


8. Ensure that the room or area that you are working in coordinates or is in harmony with the rest of the house. There is nothing worse than a disjointed color scheme with rooms colored hap haphazardly, it is very unsettling for a designer, an just plain unsettling for the general population!


9. If you are looking to choose colors that are in vogue now, your local paint store will be able to help, paint companies keep on top of fashion colors and produce ranges of colors to suit, but if you don't have any luck there then try the fabric stores, they have new ranges of colors for every season. The other place is of course up to date home and garden or interior decorating magazines.


10. Make sure the room has enough light to do your color scheme justice. A very poorly lit room will never look go no matter what you do. Lighting is the interior designer and decorators secret weapon, (and I almost forgot to tell you!)
    
    
    
    
    

Planning a Kitchen

Like all things that are built, if you get the foundation correct then the finishing items usually go into the main system fairly smoothly. So it follows that if you plan your kitchen correctly and methodically then the process should be relatively straight forward, however if you start with the finished idea then that may not be at all practical.

To plan a kitchen we need to start with establishing the parameters within which we have to work. This includes the actual space, the uses of that space and the budget.


There are four stages to planning a kitchen:

Defining the space, which includes either measuring up, and noting the position of the existing services, windows and doors of planning from the start with the architect on how you want the space laid out.

Designing the room's layout to get the appliances, work tops and cupboards where you want them.

Confirming that layout and the services that are needed.(This includes lighting).
Confirming the finishes that you require for the bench tops, the exterior of the cabinetry and the interior of the cabinetry, the flooring, the walls, ceiling and window treatments

The following is intended to help you with the actual planning, but they are only suggestions and will not be practical in all situations, you will often have to compromise. The golden rule is - keep it simple - and remember that the kitchen is one of the main selling points for a house.

For years now kitchen designers have used a simplistic method of a triangle to connect the three main work spaces within a kitchen.


The main working zones in the kitchen are generally recognized as being - food preparation, cooking and serving, and finally washing up. Each activity zone needs to include the work top(s) and appliances required for that activity, also the zone will require the storage space for the utensils, ingredients etc. required for it.

In addition to the three zones, it is important to arrange the appliances and work tops in the correct order i.e. work top - appliance - work top. A work triangle is formed between the three zones.

For the greatest efficiency the total length of the three sides of the triangle should be between 3600mm and 6600mm, and as far as possible, the work triangle should be uninterrupted by through traffic.

The main working zones in the kitchen are generally recognized as being - food preparation, cooking and serving, and finally washing up.

Each activity zone needs to include the work top(s) and appliances required for that activity, also the zone will require the storage space for the utensils, ingredients etc. required for it.


In addition to the three zones, it is important to arrange the appliances and work tops in the correct order i.e. work top - appliance - work top.

A work triangle is formed between the three zones (as shown in the diagrams below). For the greatest efficiency the total length of the three sides of the triangle should be between 3600mm and 6600mm, and as far as possible, the work triangle should be uninterrupted by through traffic.

1. Corridor Kitchen Layout - Galley Kitchen Layout

The galley kitchen name came from the ship's galley - a space of very small porportions. This type of kitchen is common in modern apartments where space is limited and is often used in an open plan room with one side against a wall and the other as a long kitchen island essentially.

In long narrow kitchen spaces with doors or openings at each end, the best design solution is to have two rows of kitchen cabinetry housing the appliances and providing storage and work tops.

There should be a minimum space allowance of 1200mm between the cabinetry to allow for a safe passage through and the ability to open and shut cupboards and load dishwashers etc. Some spaces don't allow for this minimum luxury of space between the cabinetry, so in this case, place all opening appliances and cabinetry along one side.



2. L-shaped Kitchen Layout

This is often the best solution where the kitchen can fit into a corner.


3. U-shaped Kitchen Layout

This layout is convenient as all working areas are within easy reach. It may be the only choice for small rooms although it can also be used with effect where a kitchen area needs to be fitted at one end of a larger room. Try to allow for 1200mm between the parallel sides of the U.





4. Kitchen Island Layout

Often thought of as a luxury, the island layout needs a fairly large room, however in such a room, it does reduce the amount of walking you need to do. Try to allow for 1200mm between the island and any other cupboard/obstruction etc. Although the design shown has the cooking hob on the island, the island could be used for the food preparation area. Remember that services will need to be taken to the island.

10 Tips For The Installation Of Hardwood Flooring On Plywood, Chipboard, Or Other Wood Sub-floor

Any reasonably competent home handyman can install hardwood flooring on a roughed in wood floor base. The quality levels of today’s manufacturing processes insure that adjoining slats or boards fit to create a level floor. Micro beveling of the board edges create splinter free slats.


However, in order to ensure you lay the “perfect” floor, it is important that certain items are taken care of:

Windows

• Why check the windows if you are installing a floor? Good question! Check to make sure that the windows do not leak and that the drywall or plaster below the windows are in good shape. You don’t want to be replacing drywall or plaster directly above a new hardwood floor. If you have window or wall problems fix them before you install the hardwood flooring.

Painting

• If you are planning on painting the room paint it before you install the hardwood flooring, for two reasons. The first is that you don’t want to get paint on the floor and the second is that you don’t want to use a ladder on a new hardwood floor, it can leave foot marks.

Baseboard:

• If there is existing baseboard and/or quarter-round they should be removed. Check for, and remove, any finishing nails that may have pulled through the baseboards and be left in the walls.
  

Doorframe Trim:

• It is easier to remove doorframe trim molding and then reinstall it so that it sits on the hardwood floor. However, it is possible to undercut doorframe trim to allow for the placement of the hardwood under the trim.
  
  

Doors

• Removing doors makes installation easier and allows for trimming the bottom of the doors to accept the increased thickness of the floor.
  
  

Squeaks

• Check the sub-floor for any squeaks and repair by adding screws through the plywood or sub-floor material into the floor joists. It is important to note that the installation of the hardwood flooring will not correct or eliminate any squeaks in the sub-floor.
  

Soft Spots

• Walk on the sub-floor and try to detect any soft spots. These are areas where the sub-floor sags when you walk on it. These areas should be corrected from below by adding extra support between the floor joists.
  

Protruding Screws and Nails

• Any screw or nail heads that are not level or recessed into the floor must be corrected. Where chipboard is used as the sub-floor material, it is not uncommon for screw heads to raise pieces of the chipboard around the screw. These bubbles must be removed with a block plane, belt sander, or wood rasp.
  

Sweep and Vacuum

• The floor must be free of all debris, and dirt. Don’t forget to vacuum under between the plaster or drywall and the sub-floor. Often small pieces of plaster, nails and screws will wedge themselves in that area and for sure, they will end up under one of the flooring boards as you are attempting to nail it down.

Acclimatize the Flooring:

• One of the biggest mistakes made when installing hardwood is not allowing the slats or boards to acclimatize to the home. Hardwood swells and shrinks with temperature and humidity. Hardwood should be acclimatized for a minimum of 48 hours, some manufacturers recommend 72 hours before installation. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Planning is the key to a successful hardwood flooring installation

Interior design tips and hints

Interior design has often been the easiest form of self-expression. Somewhere in every person is an interior designer just waiting to jump out. This may seem unrealistic to some but most all forms of design are based in how we want our homes to feel. This brings along with it a picture of what our home is, what function it serves, and how we want to portray ourselves to others. The decorating process remains one of the great mysteries of the average person. How do we create the home we want to invite others into?
Many people have said that interior design is the process by which we connect with people, and connect with the world while staying safely within our own space. It is safe to say that through interior design, we connect with some energy, some force, and some thing that expresses who we are and how we want to live. And it is through this connecting process that we have the opportunity to use our homes to effect change in our lives.
If we choose, we can become more comfortable or more expressive. Through this process, we can show others how we like to live and invite them to share part of our lives. We can focus on comfort, style, and/or art, truthfully anything we want to express.
Here are the five steps to finding your style as well as some tips to implementing these styles.

Step 1: The decisions
Is your home are filled with trinkets, gadgets, and dust catchers? That you don’t need? Or are these things treasures possessions that you cannot part with for all the tea in china? These items (typically bought for time saving) end up costing us precious space in our homes. We can free up space otherwise saved for these items or display them as they are meant to show who and what you are to the world!
For example, imagine how much space is tied up in the books we bought but have never read? If you’re not going to read it, find another home for it. Donate to a library or give it to a friend that may find they will treasure it. A good rule of thumb is if you haven’t used something in a year, you don’t need it or want it. If the book is treasure for its beauty or worth then displaying it in a room would be much better then letting it collect dust in a box somewhere. We all need to make these decisions, love it or leave it!

Design tip #1: Most likely, it’s on your list of things to, goes thru “things”, and has been there for months or even years. Sometimes we don’t know something unwanted because we have been putting up with it for so long and have gotten used to it. Like that pile of stuff in a basket by the sofa or a drawer in an old unused desk that you don’t really need anymore even when you have to walk around to get a wanted daily used items.
So make sure to take care of the things to do list! A good way to do this is to stand back and think about all the things you own and if you are unsure if you use an item. Place a dot sticker on it with the date. If you use that item within a year, remove the sticker. If you do not use the item within a year, find it a home somewhere that it will be used.

Step 2: Find your style
Create a clear idea of what it is you would like to portray of yourself. Perhaps you are a person into comfort and easy maintenance, or perhaps you are a creative individual who would like to use your home to highlight new projects, new relationships, or a new career. Whatever your personality, begin now by narrowing down the specific style you will be comfortable living with. Remember, being specific is the key here. Make a list of qualities, draw a picture, cut pictures out of magazines do whatever you can to get as specific a picture as you can. Find thing that inspire you.

Step 3: Assistance
The keyword here is ASK! Asking where someone got his or her ideas will not kill you! Look for ideas in the world around you. Sometimes we are afraid to ask where someone we admire shop for the beautiful things that fill their home, but if you admire someone’s interior then let them know it! Other kinds of collaboration can include asking for help to clean out your garage in order to build your new studio, asking friends to come over for a dinner party because you want to get a prospective on how your living space will be used and where people gather, or asking someone to look over your drawing and pictures, a new look into what you are trying to achieve can get some great ideas offered. You don’t have to do it alone!

Step 4: Confidence
The number one attitude you should have is confidence. This can be achieved by realizing that interior design is something you cannot fail at, become you are going to live in it! If you are comfortable, you can be confident and enjoy it. So take a look at the ideas you are coming up with and whether or not you are keeping them to use. Take a look at your ideas, pictures and drawings. They’re full of decisions you have made. Deciding what you really want gives a wonderful feeling. But don’t take my word for it tries it out!

Interior decorating tip #2: Many stores have wallpaper books with great images to go with the wallpapers. And magazines have ideas, too

Step 5: Take the first step
Start arranging and stepping back to see what you have done! Buy something you love and put it in the place of honor and work from there. Once you have de-cluttered and arranged just go for it! Anyone can do interior decoration. If you want to go by a rule, look in books and follow the steps. Many good interior-decorating books will tell you the difference between art deco and Elizabethan and most have steps you can follow. So you have many options and can get your home to be comfortable for you. So jump in and let your personality shine!
These five steps are designed to help you be more open to your own style and the inspiration that the world holds for you. If you work with these steps, you will be able to find a balance of comfort and design while avoiding some of the stresses and find yourself in a real sense of home that you love. Good luck!