European Home DesignsTuesday, March 30, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Define Your Style - Home Design Ideas
Leonardo Da Vinci once said, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" and when it comes to interior design this can often by the best route to take if you don't trust your own design instincts. There is a danger however, that your house will blend into every other Magnolia drenched, carbon copy home that we see cloned on every street in Britain today. Why do we practice such safe design? Is it because we suffer from a lack of imagination, or are home owners up and down the land just not brave enough to experiment? Maybe in this difficult economic climate we cannot risk straying from that safe colour palette of cream and white?
I say, why create a 'blank canvas' (just in case you move home), for someone else to put his or her stamp on. Look for inspiration everywhere and don't fear your own style. There are several ways in which you can experiment without breaking the bank and below are a few ideas and tips, which could inspire you to create your own unique groove. Firstly, do a little research. Websites such as housetohome have a fantastic gallery of pictures and suppliers that can inspire you and are less likely to be found in the house next door.
Create a mood board. Collect images, colour swabs and fabric samples in order to focus your ideas and inspire you. This way you will be able to see which colours and styles go together and it will also help you commit to only buying what you need. Steer clear of the plain and create simple elegance by choosing a simple colour palette but also experimenting with different textures of paint and fabrics. B&Q have a paint colour mixing service, which can match any of your favourite items.
Add a splash of colour by adding cushions and throws or curtains. Cushions, and more surprisingly curtains, are easy to make if you have a bit of time on your hands and you can get quality designer fabrics at greatly reduced prices online. Stores such as http://www.digbyandwilloughby.co.uk sell designer fabrics at £10 a meter instead of the recommended retail price of £30 to £100 a meter. If you don't fancy making curtains yourself, Digby & Willoughby can get these made up for you. Alternatively breathe life into a favourite chair with new upholstery with Fabrics from Digby & Willoughby.
Accessorise with one or two unique pieces such as a beautiful free standing mirror or a piece of artwork. To save some pennies you could visit auction houses such as lotsroad or criterionauctions. I recently found a fantastic seascape oil painting in a charity shop and a beautiful art deco bedroom suite on freecycle.org so keep your eyes peeled. Love the traditional? Experiment with mixing the traditional with the new to avoid being old fashioned. Choose classic wallpapers with a funky twist from companies such as Cole & Sons and Zoffany to create a feature wall. Visit reclamation yards such as wellsreclaimation or sites such as salvo.co.uk to find beautiful antique wooden furniture and natural materials to create a classic and unique vintage look.
A statement piece of furniture can be the inspiration for the design of your whole room. Cover an old chest of drawers or table with fantastic hand printed wallpaper, protected with layers of clear varnish and jazz it up with new or antique handles. Try emmamolony.com for hand printed wallpapers. Go off piste, I recently purchase antique music scores from a local bookshop, which cost me 30p each and they make the perfect vintage wall coverings. If you religiously follow modern styles, what is the buzz from the world of interior design, what are the hot colours for 2010?
Colours from Mexico such as, burnt oranges, sunny yellows, gingers and taupe's are on trend. Various shades of midnight blue with greying whites are in vogue and as well as being chic and ultimately classic, they would be a good long-term investment. Soft vintage colours, such as neapolitan pinks and yellows reflect the current boom in homemade crafts and reclaimed materials. Other colours in style for 2010 will be natural hues, soft beiges and nudes with green or purple accessories. There are plenty of ways to create your own unique style and to update your home. And remember, to play on the words of Jim Rohn, 'if you don't design your own style, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much!'
I say, why create a 'blank canvas' (just in case you move home), for someone else to put his or her stamp on. Look for inspiration everywhere and don't fear your own style. There are several ways in which you can experiment without breaking the bank and below are a few ideas and tips, which could inspire you to create your own unique groove. Firstly, do a little research. Websites such as housetohome have a fantastic gallery of pictures and suppliers that can inspire you and are less likely to be found in the house next door.
Create a mood board. Collect images, colour swabs and fabric samples in order to focus your ideas and inspire you. This way you will be able to see which colours and styles go together and it will also help you commit to only buying what you need. Steer clear of the plain and create simple elegance by choosing a simple colour palette but also experimenting with different textures of paint and fabrics. B&Q have a paint colour mixing service, which can match any of your favourite items.
Add a splash of colour by adding cushions and throws or curtains. Cushions, and more surprisingly curtains, are easy to make if you have a bit of time on your hands and you can get quality designer fabrics at greatly reduced prices online. Stores such as http://www.digbyandwilloughby.co.uk sell designer fabrics at £10 a meter instead of the recommended retail price of £30 to £100 a meter. If you don't fancy making curtains yourself, Digby & Willoughby can get these made up for you. Alternatively breathe life into a favourite chair with new upholstery with Fabrics from Digby & Willoughby.
Accessorise with one or two unique pieces such as a beautiful free standing mirror or a piece of artwork. To save some pennies you could visit auction houses such as lotsroad or criterionauctions. I recently found a fantastic seascape oil painting in a charity shop and a beautiful art deco bedroom suite on freecycle.org so keep your eyes peeled. Love the traditional? Experiment with mixing the traditional with the new to avoid being old fashioned. Choose classic wallpapers with a funky twist from companies such as Cole & Sons and Zoffany to create a feature wall. Visit reclamation yards such as wellsreclaimation or sites such as salvo.co.uk to find beautiful antique wooden furniture and natural materials to create a classic and unique vintage look.
A statement piece of furniture can be the inspiration for the design of your whole room. Cover an old chest of drawers or table with fantastic hand printed wallpaper, protected with layers of clear varnish and jazz it up with new or antique handles. Try emmamolony.com for hand printed wallpapers. Go off piste, I recently purchase antique music scores from a local bookshop, which cost me 30p each and they make the perfect vintage wall coverings. If you religiously follow modern styles, what is the buzz from the world of interior design, what are the hot colours for 2010?
Colours from Mexico such as, burnt oranges, sunny yellows, gingers and taupe's are on trend. Various shades of midnight blue with greying whites are in vogue and as well as being chic and ultimately classic, they would be a good long-term investment. Soft vintage colours, such as neapolitan pinks and yellows reflect the current boom in homemade crafts and reclaimed materials. Other colours in style for 2010 will be natural hues, soft beiges and nudes with green or purple accessories. There are plenty of ways to create your own unique style and to update your home. And remember, to play on the words of Jim Rohn, 'if you don't design your own style, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much!'
Individual Home Design
There are very few things that are closer to our hearts than the houses that we live in. And there are even fewer things that we take a greater interest in than the homes which we personally own. The actual size of the house does not matter really. It is our personal little castle on this earth.
It is really hard for us to create a house which mirrors or reflects the personality and traits of its owner where it is consistent to all of its parts and faithful to its chosen style or character and also containing over all the elements of a good design. It is no wonder that in these fast paced days, when our time is filled with so many interests, we sometimes feel like strangers in our own homes.
In a larger home we are more likely to draw our inspiration for its design from widely separate fields and we bring into them the accumulated art forms of the distant past to finally create a grand home rich in history and culture. Also, a spirit of pride and emulation is often designed into the building of a larger home.
Quite too often though, this motive to build the super ornate home demonstrates its self like the construction of a fort that separates us from our ideals and the things which we actually wanted to accomplish. Our motives were to build something beautiful and ornate but we wind up creating something large and gaudy. If the designer is not careful in his or her blending of treatments and trims, we wind up designing something that was not really a reflection of ourselves, but of something that is from someone else's past ideas and not really what we had in mind at all.
The same can be said about the motives that influence us who are trying to design a smaller house. Fortunately, it is not true to the same extent. Firstly, more often than not, we lack the money for the super elaborate. The materials we build our home from need to be found close at hand, and for the sake of economy, they must be inexpensive. This particular influence together with a bunch of others of a similar nature force us towards the design of the smaller house which actually can be more intimate.
In American homes, especially the smaller ones, we have learned to be inventive in order to make the home more personal in nature. Sixty percent of the homes built in the United States follow the simple Ranch or Rancher design which has a very straightforward layout and can be built with economy in mind. The Rancher can also be adaptive in that it does not have to follow conventional rules. For instance, a room or two can be added outside of the rectangle which is the basic design of the building and then treatments like ornate columns, shutters, gable vents, modified roofs, etc., can be added to make the house more individual.
It is really hard for us to create a house which mirrors or reflects the personality and traits of its owner where it is consistent to all of its parts and faithful to its chosen style or character and also containing over all the elements of a good design. It is no wonder that in these fast paced days, when our time is filled with so many interests, we sometimes feel like strangers in our own homes.
In a larger home we are more likely to draw our inspiration for its design from widely separate fields and we bring into them the accumulated art forms of the distant past to finally create a grand home rich in history and culture. Also, a spirit of pride and emulation is often designed into the building of a larger home.
Quite too often though, this motive to build the super ornate home demonstrates its self like the construction of a fort that separates us from our ideals and the things which we actually wanted to accomplish. Our motives were to build something beautiful and ornate but we wind up creating something large and gaudy. If the designer is not careful in his or her blending of treatments and trims, we wind up designing something that was not really a reflection of ourselves, but of something that is from someone else's past ideas and not really what we had in mind at all.
The same can be said about the motives that influence us who are trying to design a smaller house. Fortunately, it is not true to the same extent. Firstly, more often than not, we lack the money for the super elaborate. The materials we build our home from need to be found close at hand, and for the sake of economy, they must be inexpensive. This particular influence together with a bunch of others of a similar nature force us towards the design of the smaller house which actually can be more intimate.
In American homes, especially the smaller ones, we have learned to be inventive in order to make the home more personal in nature. Sixty percent of the homes built in the United States follow the simple Ranch or Rancher design which has a very straightforward layout and can be built with economy in mind. The Rancher can also be adaptive in that it does not have to follow conventional rules. For instance, a room or two can be added outside of the rectangle which is the basic design of the building and then treatments like ornate columns, shutters, gable vents, modified roofs, etc., can be added to make the house more individual.
Green Living - Eco Home Design and Environmental Friendly Habits
Why green living?
I have 8 grandchildren and I would like them to live in the future in a world as good or better than the world we know today. But that will only be possible if we take more care of our use of natural resources and the environment. I think I need to take responsibility for what I can, linked to my daily life, and I would recommend you to do the same if you care for your grandchildren.
Is it difficult to live more green?
Many have the feeling that to live more green is very bothersome, expensive and difficult. But take these advices and see if they fit your temper and possibilities. As with a lot of things in life it helps to think and plan a little ahead of what you want to do. For me the following approach toward a more green daily life has been rewarding.
Generate ideas of more green living
Use five minutes to list a lot of things you expect would reduce your and your family's impact on the environment. Just dot the ideas down as they come into your mind. If feasible do it as a family event around the table and engage everyone in this green brainstorm. Think of three types of more green living as follows and put your green ideas into the three categories:
1. Green ideas that will save you money
2. Green ideas that will be neutral on your economy
3. Green ideas that will cost you money
1. Green ideas that will save you money
The ideas for greener living that will save you money should be implemented immediately. It is stupid to waste money and at the same time pollute more or use more resources than needed. Many companies here in Denmark have made use of this to reduce their environmental impact and to improve their competitiveness and profit from that green initiative at the same time. Many private households would benefit from it too.
Examples of green ideas that will save you money more or less from the moment you implement them are:
- Avoid running toilets and dripping taps (remember the garden, too).
- Have your lamps and electricity running more than needed, e.g. in rooms without any persons, and the standby lamps of electrical equipment.
- Drive your care more softly and you reduce the consumption of gasoline and keep your tires longer.
2. Green ideas that will be neutral on your economy
If you think of your grandchildren as I recommend the green ideas that will be neutral to your economy should also be taken into consideration. It is ideas for greener living that just need a little attention from you in your daily life.
Such more green habits could be
- When you are shopping avoid the extra bags and wrapping from the shop if you don't need it.
- Make your own compost in your garden and keep as much of the nutrition's in your garden instead of 'exporting' garden waste and have to buy fertilizers etc.
- Reduce your consumption of red meat and prepare food with more fish, chicken and turkey and supplement more with veggies. - That will also be healthier.
3. Green ideas that will cost you money
Ideas for greener living that cost you money might also be worthwhile considering, so please read on. Here I will emphasise the environmental effect when you buy new kinds of equipment, like a new freezer, a new car, a new computer, a new washing machine etc. The whole trend of eco home design will often belong to this category.
Take your time to investigate the different qualities related to the environmental impact of the different brands and models of machines and equipment. Search for independent rating of the environmental impacts. In Europe we have a marking with A to E for the energy consumption and the most environmental friendly washing machines etc. will have an A label. Most consumers at least in Denmark will be very much aware of that label and go for it if it isn't too expensive.
The beauty of such an expense is that in most cases it will pay off in the long run to pay the extra for an environmental friendly model because you will save electricity or other tings in the long run. In many cases the premium environmental friendly machines will also be of the best quality and that will help you too. So you see it isn't that difficult to get started with some new greener habits and you can still look your grandchildren in the eyes because you are caring for their future.
I have 8 grandchildren and I would like them to live in the future in a world as good or better than the world we know today. But that will only be possible if we take more care of our use of natural resources and the environment. I think I need to take responsibility for what I can, linked to my daily life, and I would recommend you to do the same if you care for your grandchildren.
Is it difficult to live more green?
Many have the feeling that to live more green is very bothersome, expensive and difficult. But take these advices and see if they fit your temper and possibilities. As with a lot of things in life it helps to think and plan a little ahead of what you want to do. For me the following approach toward a more green daily life has been rewarding.
Generate ideas of more green living
Use five minutes to list a lot of things you expect would reduce your and your family's impact on the environment. Just dot the ideas down as they come into your mind. If feasible do it as a family event around the table and engage everyone in this green brainstorm. Think of three types of more green living as follows and put your green ideas into the three categories:
1. Green ideas that will save you money
2. Green ideas that will be neutral on your economy
3. Green ideas that will cost you money
1. Green ideas that will save you money
The ideas for greener living that will save you money should be implemented immediately. It is stupid to waste money and at the same time pollute more or use more resources than needed. Many companies here in Denmark have made use of this to reduce their environmental impact and to improve their competitiveness and profit from that green initiative at the same time. Many private households would benefit from it too.
Examples of green ideas that will save you money more or less from the moment you implement them are:
- Avoid running toilets and dripping taps (remember the garden, too).
- Have your lamps and electricity running more than needed, e.g. in rooms without any persons, and the standby lamps of electrical equipment.
- Drive your care more softly and you reduce the consumption of gasoline and keep your tires longer.
2. Green ideas that will be neutral on your economy
If you think of your grandchildren as I recommend the green ideas that will be neutral to your economy should also be taken into consideration. It is ideas for greener living that just need a little attention from you in your daily life.
Such more green habits could be
- When you are shopping avoid the extra bags and wrapping from the shop if you don't need it.
- Make your own compost in your garden and keep as much of the nutrition's in your garden instead of 'exporting' garden waste and have to buy fertilizers etc.
- Reduce your consumption of red meat and prepare food with more fish, chicken and turkey and supplement more with veggies. - That will also be healthier.
3. Green ideas that will cost you money
Ideas for greener living that cost you money might also be worthwhile considering, so please read on. Here I will emphasise the environmental effect when you buy new kinds of equipment, like a new freezer, a new car, a new computer, a new washing machine etc. The whole trend of eco home design will often belong to this category.
Take your time to investigate the different qualities related to the environmental impact of the different brands and models of machines and equipment. Search for independent rating of the environmental impacts. In Europe we have a marking with A to E for the energy consumption and the most environmental friendly washing machines etc. will have an A label. Most consumers at least in Denmark will be very much aware of that label and go for it if it isn't too expensive.
The beauty of such an expense is that in most cases it will pay off in the long run to pay the extra for an environmental friendly model because you will save electricity or other tings in the long run. In many cases the premium environmental friendly machines will also be of the best quality and that will help you too. So you see it isn't that difficult to get started with some new greener habits and you can still look your grandchildren in the eyes because you are caring for their future.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
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