Category — Live

Even with the best of relationships, designing a room that is a common space can be a tricky subject for roommates.  Similar tastes are ideal, but even then, roommates can differ on some of the most basic things in a room’s decor.  Instead of fighting it out, take a moment to sit down and come up with a plan of action for the room in question.  You may find that your roommate’s suggestions are better than your own.  Use the ideas below to help get your started on the road to peaceful room redecorating.

Neutral Ground

The first thing you want to do is find a neutral spot to talk about the upcoming room redecorating project.  Sitting in the room in question may seem like a good idea at the time, but it can also lead to clouded thinking.  You have your vision of what the room should look like, and your roommate has hers.  Being in the room will make it harder to compromise on some of the design elements that need to be compromised on.  A kitchen table or front porch talk will probably result in everyone being more relaxed and open to different ideas.

The Basics

Before worrying about the wall decorations or what will be going on the fireplace mantel, you have to hash out the specifics about the basic elements of the room.  The wall color, floor covering and major furniture pieces all need to be discussed first.  If you want to create a themed room, it is important to finalize that theme before moving on to the other elements.  It is also critical that both roommates be willing to discuss calmly and compromise when their ideas clash.  If you cannot agree on a bold color or bright pattern, opt for a neutral shade instead.  With that idea in place, some rooms may end up being completely done in neutral tones, but the accent pieces can bring out the style of each roommate.

The Specifics

Once the basics have been decided and agreed upon, it is okay to start talking about the specifics.  If you have decided on a theme, it is usually easier to accommodate different accessories, because they will be based around that theme.  If you want a wide range of accessories, agree on a world traveler or fun and funky theme.  You can also agree that all accessories must contain one or two common colors, so that the room has harmony and continuity.  For example, you may agree that every piece has to have at least something white or something hot pink.  By applying this principle to the accessories, you ensure that everything will match in some way.

Designing a common room with a roommate can be done, but the process is more about open communication than dazzling design.  The room must be a spot where both of you feel comfortable relaxing and entertaining.  Much like married couples have to agree upon a room’s decor, so do roommates.  Do not let a room redecorating project ruin a friendship.

Metal-Wall-Art.com regularly features articles by Alyssa Davis on decorating with Southwestern wall decor and wrought iron grilles

Winter is quickly fading away and with its departure comes the arrival of spring.  While you can always keep the same decor from season to season, it is fun to spice up your abode with some seasonal favorites.  Instead of keeping things the same as they have been all winter long, get your apartment ready for spring with the simple ideas below.  You may find that a quick burst of color can make all the difference in your decor.

Flowers

Fresh cut flowers are the easiest way to make your apartment pop for spring time decor.  Gather a bunch of flowers from you local florist and create a cheerful spring bouquet.  If your apartment is modern and contemporary in style, opt for a white, red or yellow monochromatic bouquet that will give you the burst of life you want without the clutter of multiple colors.

Cool Curtains

Fabric plays a big part in any room, but when you live in an apartment, the colors you select can play a huge part in the feel of your space.  While winter dictates dark, heavy fabrics, spring gives you a chance to lighten and brighten your decor.  Sew some simple, lightweight, and colorful curtains for your windows.  The lighter fabric and colors will brighten the room and make it appear more open.  If you cannot find pre-made curtains in a style that you like, purchase some fabric from the fabric store and sew your own.

Roll Out the Rug

Roll-up that dark, heavy carpet and replace it with something more spring-like instead.  The dark brown and burgundy designs in the area rug that made the apartment feel perfect for winter, now look oppressive and out of place.  An area rug with light robin’s egg blue or cheerful daffodil yellow can create a brand new look that is sure to speak of spring.  While you need not replace all of the rugs in the apartment, a few well-placed ones will make a big difference.

Fun and Funky Accessories

Unless your style is strictly minimalist, there are bound to be some accessories scattered around your apartment.  Everything from the wall clock in the kitchen to the bookends on the living room wall shelf can take on new life when replaced or repainted with spring-like colors.  Do not let their current color or state of non-spring-like design deter you; with a jar of paint or a can of spray paint, you can transform just about any accessory into one that is meant for spring.  Shop at garage sales, thrift stores and consignment stores for inexpensive and quirky accessories that offer a breath of spring.

Decorating your apartment for spring can take some creative thinking, especially if you are on a tight budget.  Do not let money woes keep you from transforming your home, however.  By using the things that you already own to create new items, or from simply taking a walk to gather flowers, you can go from the winter doldrums to springtime fabulous in no time flat.

Professional designer Jessica Ackerman, writes for WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, and specializes in decorating with restaurant wall art and kitchen wall art

Welcoming friends and family to stay in your home means entertaining them and making them comfortable. It’s a great chance to show off your skills as a host and the most important thing to think about is where are they going to sleep?

If you are lucky enough to have a spare bedroom then considering guest beds will be top of the list. Do you go for ultra cool, modern and minimalist or something a bit more indulgent and cosy. There are endless choices out there so think about the look you want to achieve and start with the bed as the center piece of the room.

Who stays with you the most? What do they like? If it’s kids then funky bright colours and quirky touches such as novelty lamps will go down well, and if it’s more likely to be Grandma then luxury fabrics and homely touches will appeal. You could even decide to entertain and pick a theme for the room based around a favourite picture, film or decade. Imagine how wild you could go with a 70’s Elvis inspired bedroom for example!

If you have more limited space then the ideal solutions are of course sofa beds. For occasional sleepovers these are perfect in a den or study, making the best use of smaller spaces. This is your chance to invest in some fantastic bedding to transform a room and still create the kind of environment you want for your guests.

Whatever space you have and whatever feel you create, don’t forget to anticipate what your guests might need during their stay and provide little extras such as bottled water and a few well chosen magazines. When you go back to their house for a return visit it will be fun to see if they live up to the standards you set!

Most people face this dilemma when they’ve just purchased a home or when they want to renovate or redecorate their home – they’re unsure of whether they should hire an interior decorator or do the job themselves. The answer to the above question depends on a host of factors, the most important of which are money, time and skill. In general, it pays to hire an interior designer if:

• You can afford it – designers don’t come cheap, and the changes they recommend could also be costly and the contractors they use could end up draining your bank balance, so even if you do have money, fix a budget if you don’t want your designer to assume carte blanche and go the whole hog in redecorating your home.
• You want a professional look – your home is bound to look more appealing and stylish when trusted to the hands of a professional designer. So if money is no constraint and you want your home to look the best, by all means, go ahead and hire a designer who has a good reputation and is able to understand what you want for your house and translate it into reality.
• You don’t have the time – some folks may prefer DIY projects, but if they don’t have the time, they know that going with the services of a professional designer is the best thing to do. However, if you do know what you want and are able to manage with just the help of a few workmen and a contractor, then you could reduce your overall cost and get a great looking home.
• DIY would end up costing more – I know a couple who had to shell out tons of money on undoing the damage that the husband had wrought because of his DIY passion. DIY only if you know what you’re doing, if you have the time and inclination to learn all you can about the task you’re supposed to do and if you know how to handle the tools of the trade without inflicting harm on yourself or damaging objects around the home. It’s not much of an option if you’re going to have to hire a contractor and/or a designer to undo the damage that you’ve done and redo your home all over again.
• You have absolutely zero design skills – this is actually not a problem if you don’t mind living in a practical, no-frills home with just the basic furniture and furnishings. But if you find yourself giving the homes of your friends admiring looks for a minute too long and wondering why your home looks drab in comparison, then it’s time to bring in a designer, if only to get their opinion on what you need to do to spice things up. You could choose to pay just for a consultation or go all the way and get them to take care of the job as well.

Remember, interior designers come in all kinds, so do your homework and find the one who’s just right for your budget, your home, and your temperament.

This guest post is contributed by Sharon Harlan, she writes on the topic of interior design degree online . She welcomes your comments at her email id: sharon.harlan83<@>gmail<.>com.

Thinking about designing a guest bedroom where family and friends can stay and relax? Well here are a few tips that will make sure they want to revisit again and again.

The first thing you need to consider is your guest beds. Whether you decide to use two single beds, a double or a king sized, it’s important to make them as comfy as possible so your guests can enjoy a good night sleep.

As everyone’s opinion on what is the comfiest bed is different, make sure you have plenty of pillows, cushions and blankets pre arranged on the bed so that your visitors can take them away if they prefer less.

When choosing a duvet, make sure that it’s the right tog for the time of year, with a high grade cover being more suitable for those cold winter nights.

When decorating the guest room, it’s important to make the bedroom feel as welcoming as possible. Use yellows and oranges for the walls as this will bring a warm feeling to the bedroom.

To get the most out of these vibrant colours, try using neutral tones for the wardrobes and drawers as a contrast.

Another way to bring warmth to the guest bedroom, apart from turning on the radiator, is to get the lighting right.

Spotlights in the ceiling can be focused above focal areas such as the bed or dresser to draw the eye to these features. A lamp on a bedside table is not only practical but it will also add a warming glow to the bedroom.

To make the room feel a bit more homely, have some magazines or books around the room to add a nice touch. Some fresh towels on the bed will also add an extra welcome.

The internet is a wonderful tool, especially when it comes to carrying out research. It’s particularly useful for shopping around when it’s time to take out a new car or home insurance policy, allowing users to gain a large number of quotes in a matter of minutes, making their decision on which policy to take out a much easier process. It also provides an extremely quick way for consumers to see how certain variables – such as the level of voluntary excess they’re willing to pay – will affect the price of their premium.

One way in which people have really taken to gathering insurance quotes in recent years is by heading to price comparison sites – and while it’s clear that these sites do offer a wealth of information in a fraction of the time it would take to visit each individual provider’s site and request a quote one-by-one, it’s also hugely important to realise that they won’t necessarily provide you with the best price or overall package for your needs.

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Budding performance artists are born everyday with a desire to share those creations with the world. Their chosen creative outlets can range from stage performances, musical compositions or flashy website pages. It is their passion, desire and dedication that are the driving force behind making these creative hobbies a thriving career. This process from hobby to career can be a long and tedious one at best. An online search yields overwhelming possibilities of available Art Colleges for an aspiring artist to review.

There are many factors involved in selecting Fashion Design Schools that will cultivate a designer’s talents. Gaming enthusiasts will want to find the perfect Game Design Schools that will match talent with technological advances in the industry. Taking this process alone can be intimidating and leave many unanswered questions for prospective students. Obtaining the services of an informational art school location website such as Findyourartschool.com is an invaluable alternative to the process.

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I was approached some time ago by the owner of my-iconicdesigns.com to do a wallpaper review. My-iconicdesigns.com is a local online store retailing high quality wallpaper from Ferm LIVING – a Danish design company with a great graphic touch – and the signature collection of Florence Broadhurst, an eccentric but talented Australian reknowned for her contemporary floral wallpaper designs.

The site is well structured with a very user friendly sidebar with useful features like the ability to shop by price-range, the ability to subscribe to their RSS feeds and a clear distinction of the categories of wallpaper e.g. Kids, Floral, Geometric etc. What I particularly fancy about the site is that the owner has made the necessary effort to ensure that the most widely used and popular local payment options are available to users. Another great thing is that Paypal is also accepted at the site.

Overall navigation is pretty seamless and more importantly, real effort has been made to keep the site’s content offering fresh and updated. It’s very easy to be inspired by the myriad designs available. Clicking on any product will direct you to the detailed info page where you’re able to then view large size images to help provide a better picture of the design. Information is also laid out in a simplistic manner, not confusing in any way. A good feature is the ability to do a product comparison within the site. As usual, social bookmarking and sharing features are standard to allow you to share view email, Facebook etc

For those of you looking to liven up your living spaces with wallpaper or wall art, head on over to my-iconicdesigns.com today to have a look. I guarantee you will not be disappointed because they carry high quality products from globally renown brands. Also, if you’re in the hunt to brighten up your children’s room, there’s a great collection of wall art on the site as well.

Next up: The wallpaper review

Paint is undoubtedly the world’s most popular wall treatment due to the fact that it is widely available and relatively cheap. Clever play of colours can draw attention to or away from objects or accents within a room. But what about wallpaper? I’m certain everyone’s seen the brilliant effects wallpaper can have in living spaces but many are often apprehensive due to the common perceptions that surround wallpaper such as:

• high costs involved
• more maintenance required
• isn’t long lasting

Whilst it is true that wallpaper often cost more than painting to decorate a living space, the aesthetic impact of wallpaper is unmatched, unless you’ve got an artist of Michelangelo’s skill to paint you a fresco. Modern wallpaper also last a lot longer (on average 10-15 years) compared to paint which requires repainting every several years. Most modern wallpaper these days offer easy wipe-down cleaning capabilities, voiding user worries about difficulty of wallpaper maintenance. Also, modern wallpaper is no longer difficult to be uninstalled, unlike previous generation wallpaper.

I personally am a fan of wallpaper simply because of the myriad choices available to bring out character and warmth in a living space. It is much more widely available and implemented in modern homes these days and if you really have been thinking about the ’should-I’ or ’should-I-not’ for doing your place up with wallpaper, I’m suggesting you lean towards trying it out – if you’re not adventurous, try it out on a small piece of wall as a feature instead.

Here’s a list of advantages of wallpapering a living space:

• cost effective in the long run
• easy to remove (if you change your mind about it)
• unmatched aesthetic and artistic qualities
• vast number of design choices
• can be used to mimic metallic, wooden, silky, leather, suede, grainy surfaces
• add texture (either through visual motifs or actual textured wallpaper) to walls to hide surface imperfections and cracks
• add character, warmth and oomph to your living space

Coming up: A How’sHouse wallpaper review

Many might not know this but paints typically contain VOC (volatile organic compounds) and it is the VOC in paints that gives it the odour which can cause headaches and nausea. When I was much younger and we had our family home interior repainted every several years, all I really remembered from that experience was my thoughts on how difficult it must be to be a painter because he had to endure the strong odours emitted by the paints.

My mom’s express orders were for us to remain in the designated room that was not yet painted to stay away from the odours. Or she would take us out shopping, which was by far, the more favourable choice. Being exposed to VOC can cause respiratory and allergy issues amongst children and in adults – throat, eyes and nose irritation, on top of the headaches and nausea. Long term exposure could result also in damage to the central nervous system, liver and kidneys. VOCs also affect the environment adversely.

Today, we’re fortunate to have ‘greener’ paints, with near zero VOC. For homeowners looking to repaint or to paint your home, I suggest using ‘green’ paints such as the Nippon Odour-less Premium All-in-One as it does not have the adverse effects of paints with typical VOC concentrations. Painting your home with odourless paints makes the transition of moving in a lot easier, minimizing health risks, especially if you have children. I would definitely recommend parents with infants to apply only odourless paints with near zero VOC levels as infants are more susceptible to respiratory and allergy issues.