The Home Shop Blog

When you’re first arranging your home or if you decide to change the entire décor in your current house; take a look at some of the modern furniture which is offered at almost all outlets. These pieces are available in both in real life as well as online.

 

Rather than laying down extensive amounts of money on hiring an interior decorator or other professionals, consider doing some extra research on your own and then plan your own DIY project for decorating your home.

 

Modern furniture has a definite look and feel. The lines are sleek, the colors are bright and airy, and there is no end to the numbers of furniture combinations you can come up with, using simple mix and match rules.

 

If you wish to make a compelling statement, examine some of the more daring, futuristic and outlandish designs, which scream “look at me”. However, this does not mean that modern furniture for those whose tastes are more plain and conservative. Basic living room sets as well as kitchen and bedroom sets are offered in these more contemporary forms, and they can be as attention-getting or as neutral as you desire them to be.

Here are some simple, useful decorating tips, which let you to combine different models of modern furniture and accessories to turn your home into a picture-perfect display:

Before you set out to buy any furniture or accessories, make a point to have a clear estimate of the color scheme and setting you would desire to decorate with in each room. Take the required measurements and devise a complete list of all the items you will need.  With modern furniture, “less is more”! Hence, plan on having no more than 2-3 or less items of furniture in every room. Having a multitude of accessories or collectibles positioned around the room, tends to clutter up the free space.   After all this is the primary concept of beautifying your rooms with furnishings that are made with clean and simple lines, which is the hallmark of modern furniture décor.  It is recommended that the walls are painted with bright colors. In fact, you could in all probability paint 2 walls in one color and the other two in various complementary colors, with both colors highlighting the furniture and accessories layout.  Look for design thoughts from magazines, design shows on TV, large home-décor retail and wholesale outlets and on-line and let creative mind work overtime, to put together interesting and colorful designs to decorate your home.

By: Express-Furniture.co.uk

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Hire an Interior Decorator or an Interior Designer? Have you recently renovated a room in your house and wish to have it professionally decorated? Are you looking to refresh your home with a new colour scheme and furnishings? Or, are you thinking of putting up your home for sale and want it to attract a larger range of buyers? When should you hire an interior designer or could an interior decorator suffice? What is the Scope of the Project? Redecorating your home can make a huge difference, as seen on home improvement shows that feature those popular and fun before and after makeovers. Keep in mind however, that it’s not as easy as it looks, and how often is the overall cost mentioned? If you just want to re-style your house, for example paint your walls in a new colour scheme, change your window coverings, or buy new furniture but don’t know where to begin, an interior decorator would be a less expensive professional choice. Home-stagers also fall under this category. Many of them tend to be former decorators or real estate agents. Homes can be staged to improve resale value or to enhance and renew your home’s appearance. Planning to knock down some walls or have some other ideas that may change the structure of your property? For that, it may be best to go with an interior designer. What’s the Difference? In a word it’s accreditation. Although there may be courses offered from various venues to be a decorator or stager, being a registered interior designer means having a diploma from an accredited course, four years of industry work experience and passing the NCIDQ (National Council of Interior Design Qualification) certification exam. A designer has studied various aspects that you might not have even considered and can provide drawings, permits, and the like. Decorators may have a background working with companies involved with home interiors and be experienced with various options for colour window coverings, flooring, furniture, art, etc. Homestaging is a technique that can be used by homeowners to make their homes more attractive when they put their property on the market. Renting furniture or art, buying new accessories and ridding of clutter are some of the ways the home is made to appear newer, larger, cozier, or generally more appealing. Homes can also be staged to improve the aesthetics of the home for people don’t necessarily want to renovate. How to Find a Design Professional? If money is no object, the easiest way to find an interior designer is to find an example of work you love, whether in magazines, on television shows, at home shows, or through acquaintances and ask for the name and contact. Many decorators and designers advertise of course, whether in the phone book, in magazines, via their own website. Where Can I Find a registered Interior Designer? The Interior Designers of Canada (IDC) (www.interiordesigncanada.ca) and the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) (www.americandesignsociety.com) have databases of registered members, which can be accessed on their respective websites. The ASID is comprised of a merging of the American Institute of Interior Designers and the National Society of Interior Designers, founders of the National Council of Interior Design and its examination. Both the IDC and ASID affiliations require its members to have successfully completed the NCIDQ. This certification (in effect for almost forty years) serves to reflect the proficiency of meeting universal standards in the professional field and ensures that education continues to be upgraded with newly arising knowledge and skills. What Should I Know about the Process? Once you have found a professional you are interested in working with, set up an initial consultation where he or she will present his/her portfolio and can assess home and desired project. There may or may not be charge a – make sure to ask. If you decide you would like to hire a designer from a large firm, confirm that he or she will be the actual person doing the work – sometimes it gets passed on to a junior associate. What You Can Prepare Decide on a budget. This may actual make the choice easier of which professional you decide to hire. Regardless, be very upfront about what you are willing to spend. Ask for some possible spending options – budget, mid-range, high-end – so you can get an idea of the ranges. Once you’ve got that set, perhaps you’re thinking of just leaving everything to the expert and sitting back. However, just like getting a good hair cut, you’ll want to make clear what you like and more importantly, do not like. Start by collecting pictures of both to show your designer so that he or she can better ascertain your taste. Colour and fabric swatches that you fancy are also handy. Consider whether or not you wish to keep all, or only some of your existing furniture. Payment Structure Another very important part of the communication process with your designer is the payment they expect and what you are comfortable with. After the initial agreement is made, typically a retainer fee will be paid. There are different ways in which designers can expect to be paid for the remainder. It can be a flat fee (a bid), by the hour, or based on a percentage on top of the purchases (cost plus); it will depend on the scope of the project. A mix of these methods might be a utilized. Payment can be made at scheduled increments, at certain milestones, or involve deposits from time to time that cover the materials cost before the work is started. Make sure however, that everything is very clearly laid out. Outline what will be charged – phone calls, shopping excursions, consultations? Will you be paying a commission on top of the purchases or will they be obtained at a discount? Make a schedule of deposits and payments. It’s always better for both parties to have everything in writing – don’t feel badly about doing that despite how friendly the relationship seems. If it ends up that you are not satisfied with your designer, have a frank talk about dissolving the contract. You are still hiring professional services and if it doesn’t work out, you are entitled to find the right fit and be completely satisfied with the results. It is your home after all – and no pun intended – you do have to live with it.

By: Robert

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Modern furniture has a definite character. Of course, knowing this without having any further knowledge may not help you at all. That is why you are offered ten uncomplicated modern furniture decoration tips as exhibited below:

Before you shop, calculate the essential measurements and devise a checklist of all essential items. This will ensure you do not order or purchase items that are too large or too small. It will also reduce the possibility that the decor you select would not sit right in a given space. Prior to purchasing any furniture or accessories, be certain that you have general idea of the color and arrangements you would desire decorate each room. This will further help you create a look that is very pleasing to the eye. If you want to make a strong statement, seek some of the more daring, futuristic and outlandish pieces as you shop. However, make sure you do not overdue it. Two or less unique items can make any plain room stand out. Whether you plan to decorate your home for the first time or again for the tenth time; make it a priority to look at many of the budget modern furniture items. These are sold at almost all online and offline stores. In lieu of investing vast sums of money on employing an interior decorator or other creative professional, take time to do some extensive research on your own. Then begin the planning of your DIY home decoration project. If you desire to accessorize, modern abstract paintings composed of colors that coordinate with the overall décor scheme of a room are a very wise choice. You can be a bit daring as you exercise your creative power, yet employ this simple designing tip. While fine-tuning your whole room display, beware that placing too many extra items in a room can monopolize free living space. You want the room to be as exquisite as possible, but realize that you are decorating a personal home, not creating a worldwide tourist attraction. It should be attractive, but remain as comfortable of a place as possible. If you only have a limited sum of money to invest in furniture remember that it is perfectly acceptable to shop discount stores. In fact, you can also find quality reproduced modern furniture for sale representative of designers such as the following: Arne Jacobson, Eileen Gray, Charles Le Corbusier, or George Nelson. To create an even more special touch, think about using more artistic lighting sources. In many households, people prefer to place a sculpted chandelier, contemporary lamp, or colored lights in a room. To make the rooms of your home stand out more, one suggestion would be to paint the walls with bright colors. Then, place modern furniture of contrasting colors in the appropriate spaces.

By: Express-Furniture.co.uk

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So Santa Claus will be visiting soon and you have not finished (or started) decorating your home for your guests or for your enjoyment. Or perhaps you look around your home and feel as if there is something missing in your decoration.

Don’t panic!

Don’t hide in the closet!

Don’t try to wrap yourself in a box to avoid decorating!

Don’t grab the scissors and stare at the tangled Christmas lights!

Don’t put an extra something in the eggnog to try to calm your nerves!

Don’t eye the ornaments and imagine your family as targets!

Follow these 3 simple steps, practiced by elves at the North Pole in charge of interior decorating, in order to find your creative inspiration for decorating the interior of your home.

1st step

Remember your goal. The goal is to decorate so you LOVE walking into your home and inviting people to visit. Not just admiring the outside Christmas lights, but the heart of the home (the inside!!) … so you can FEEL that Christmas is near … so people can talk about how wonderful your home looks (hey, there is nothing wrong with having fans admire your creative unique interior decorations). You make your home special every time you decorate because no matter how many ideas an interior decorator may give you; it is ultimately your personality (as an individual or a family) that chooses the ultimate Christmas decorating design. No home can ever be decorated the same because we all have different personalities, styles, and tastes that inspire our creative heart to reach our desired goal.

2nd step

Narrow down a mood. The second step to finding your inner Christmas decorating inspiration is to narrow down a mood that you want to feel in the room. What emotion do you want to portray in the room? Do you prefer informal or formal. March of the Wooden Soldiers with Laurel & Hardy movie or White Christmas with Bing Crosby & Rosemary Clooney movie. Making your own gingerbread house or buying one already made.

Now remember, there is nothing wrong with combining two moods and styles as long as there is harmony. How do you go about doing that? Simple: pick your primary mood preference then throw “decor sprinkles” of your secondary preference. You prevent two moods from clashing when the secondary preference is introduced into the room in small amounts – which I call “decor sprinkles”. For example, say you want to decorate your home to reflect an elegant white Christmas look (the main mood preference is relaxed elegance) but you don’t want it to look too fancy (the second preference is a decor sprinkle of fun!).

You can:

Decorate your home with wreaths sprayed with snow and have white elegant fabric bows, with silver bells.  Place white felt fabric on all tables to resemble snow. Decorate your tree with clear Christmas lights, different shades of white & silver round ornaments, fresh cut white roses, beautiful soft doll angels with white feathered wings; and place under your tree presents wrapped in silver with white ribbons and bows. These are all primary mood preferences of elegance.

Then, add your décor sprinkles of fun! Add to your Christmas tree adorable snowmen figurine ornaments with red scarves and red roses that pick up the color of the red scarf on the snowmen; add mistletoe and red berry branches to the center of doorways; and insert small red & white stripped candy canes within your snow covered wreaths.  The red color is your little SPLASH of fun! Be careful not to overwhelm the sprinkle of your secondary preference – the holiday magic word is “subtle”. These are all secondary mood preferences of fun.

Remember, narrowing down what mood you and your family prefer for the current Christmas will inspire you and your family to start visualizing designs in your imagination that bring comfort and joy.

3rd STEP

Organize a decorating plan. Knowing the first two steps gives you a guide (a design blueprint!). So now you know your goal (1st step), and you know the direction of the mood you wish to use for your interior decoration (2nd step). The next step is to organize a decorating plan (3rd step).

How?

Look within yourself … or much easier (less meditation!) … look within the boxes that contain last year’s Christmas decorations in order to organize your decorating plan. If you have a limited amount of decorations, then go window-shopping to sort through store decorations.

Take out all the decorations you have and sort out what you like and what you do not like.  As soon as you start to sort, you will receive inspirational decorating thoughts that will guide you to pick this year’s Christmas decoration   design plan that will impress even Santa Claus.

Search and sort by:

Mood. Sort the decorations by moods (which are fancy, elegant, relaxing, whimsical, funky, playful, etc).

Theme. Organize by theme (nutcrackers, snowmen, a Christmas village, indoor animations, reindeers, etc.)

Color. Separate each ornament or decoration with the color that stands out the most. This goes for Christmas lights as well – separate the multicolor Christmas lights from the single color Christmas lights.

Taking the time to search and sort through your Christmas decorations will:



keep you from wanting to use every single décor you own and inspire you to save them for other Christmases to come.





help you pick out what matches or doesn’t for your (a)  comfort (1st step – goal) and (b) preference (2nd step – mood).





help you plan a design that harmonizes with your personality and furniture. Just because you have a red bow does not mean you have to use it. A red bow attached to a red lampshade will not stand out; whereas a white bow would be a noticeable contrast.





make planning future Christmas decorating easy since you already went through the process of sorting and stored decorations by mood/theme/color.





save you money since now you purchase with a plan in mind that match your goal and the mood that you want to portray in your current Christmas theme, instead of just grabbing any (or all) adorable Christmas decorations.



Perhaps you do not like an ornament that was given to you by a relative, but you feel obligated to have it as part of your Christmas interior décor. REMEMBER, it is your home … your comfort … your creative Christmas décor. Do not let past gifts bully you into feeling that you “have to” display the item(s). Choose decorations that “YOU” want to represent in your home.

Extra Tip: if you have a guest that gave you a unique décor and he/she is planning to stay over for the holiday, then surprise them by decorating the guest room with the unique gift. They will wholeheartedly appreciate the thought you gave into displaying the gift, and feel happier during the happy holidays.

For additional Christmas interior decorating tips check out Christmas Interior Decorating Guide with Ideas that Will Impress Even Santa Claus!, visit: http://www.adasdecoratingsolutions.com/foryou.html

© 2007 Ada’s Interior Design, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Website: www.adasdecoratingsolutions.com



By: Ada Gonzalez

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