Modern Furniture

Interior Designing Ideas

Feng Shui Living Room

Living Room is the place where people spend quite a lot of time when they are at home. One is required to pay extra attention towards it, so as to allow free flow of positive life energy 'chi', a Feng Shui theory that aspires to develop great harmony in the surroundings as well as life. For living rooms, Feng Shui confers some easy tips to improve the overall quality of life. While planning your living room, keep in mind that dehumidifiers are not acceptable by Feng Shui, whereas corner and alcoves are regarded to be the obstructers of 'chi'.

Consequently, the lights should be placed in such a manner that dark corners do not arise in your living rooms. In case they occur, brighten them up by arranging some piece of art, colorful painting or a plant, to facilitate the flow of positive energy. Make certain not to keep straight plants with thorns in the room. In case your wall is looking dull without any knick-knack, place a mirror that would give a spacious look to your room. Try to put the mirrors in a way so that they reflect a beautiful image or they might encourage negative energy.

Interior Design Tips

Interior Lighting Designs

Bedroom Lighting Designs :

Measure Your Room
Successful bedroom lighting also depends on knowing the measurements of your room. Be sure to measure the height of your ceiling as well. Make a note of where your outlets are located. Furniture placement matters too.

Consider Scale
While chandeliers in bedrooms are very popular right now, don’t make the mistake of hanging them too low. You don’t want to bump into your light fixtures. Reading lamps should be scaled according to the size and height of your nightstands and bed.

Layer Your Lighting
Do you work in your bedroom? Is it a larger room with a seating area? You may want to install task lighting for work areas and softer light for seating areas. Maybe you want to emphasize some wall art which calls for accent lighting. You do not have to light everything all at once. Too much light in one space can feel glaring and unpleasant.

Choose Shades for Light
Today you have a vast variety of shapes, materials, styles and colors to choose from. Try to stay away from very opaque shades unless you need them for their decorative value alone and are not relying on those as primary light sources. Too dark a room can feel as unpleasant as a bedroom that is lit too bright.

For reading in bed, consider buying lamps that you can adjust and swivel to suit your position. Shades should be positioned to shield yours and your partner’s eyes from the glare of bulbs. You can also consider installing reading lights on the wall behind your bed.

Install Dimmers
Installing dimmers could be the easiest and most effective way of controlling light in a room, so that you can alter effects as you please. You will have to check CFLs for dimmer compatibility.

4 Important Bedroom Lighting Tips for a Relaxing Bedroom

Well controlled bedroom lighting will provide the appropriate lighting condition. The interior lighting design will equipped the bedroom into providing the type of ambient that you want for your bedroom. Consider the tips in lighting your bedroom to have control in a bedroom space where you can both relax and do other activities.

Portugal: going on holiday in style...

We're off for a week on holiday soon and I can't wait. We wanted to catch some last Autumn sun before diving into Winter and picked Portugal as our destination. It's promising to stay sunny and warm, so that's perfect.

Always looking for beautiful places that inspire me, I found a lovely guesthouse in the Algarve, close to the coast. I hate going to big chain hotels and places for mass-tourism - of which there are unfortunately plenty in the Med -  and so I was chuffed about this one. Of course, we haven't been yet, so we'll have to wait and see what it's really like, but the photos look promising! www.tapadadogramacho.com

 

 
I'll be chilling out by the pool or on the beach I think, while my man is trying out some kite-surfing (oh dear). I'd rather relax, read a book and indulge in some delicious 'Pasteis de nata' or Portuguese custard tarts. Don't know these tarts? Let me introduce you to them with this recipe...Yum!

I am also planning to look for some nice Portuguese antique tiles, or 'azulejos' as they call them, to take back home. I saw them some years back when I was in Portugal for the first time and they're so beautiful. I'll probably only be able to take a few back, due to airline restrictions, but perhaps that is not such a bad thing, budget-wise...

I got plenty of creative ideas for what to do with them anyway...using them in bathroom tiling, making coasters out of them or simply displaying them as pretty objects.

Or actually, you could do as the Portuguese and stick them on the outside of your house!

Até a vista ! (see you soon!)

www.flickr.com/photos/zedworks/

www.flickr.com/photos/dubes

Cool Scottish contemporary craft and design

Image: Papa Stour

I don't usually boast about Scotland as the place to be when it comes to interior design, as most interior shops up here I just find incredibly boring and traditional. Sofas are bulky, sideboards massive, "contemporary design sofas" often means "oddly shaped" and made out of black or red leather - but still bulky. Where are the aesthetics?

I am always flabbergasted (I love that word) by the many homes decked out with complete lack of inspiration, with everything bought brand new, in the same shop, on the same day, in the same colour. Playing 'safe', by choosing beige, creams and 'neutral' colours. It's so soul-less!

Image: Papa Stour

Anyway, I will get off my soap box now - phew - because today I am proud to present Papa Stour, a wonderful Scottish online shop featuring great individual, eccentric home decor pieces by some very talented artists!

Papa Stour was launched 5 years ago by Rosie Brown, a Scottish textile designer, freelance interior stylist and a regular contributor to publications such as Elle Decoration, Living Etc and Homes & Gardens. 

Since Scottish design seems to be my topic today, I'd also like to boast about my good friend Libby Day, who is a very talented designer based in Aberdeen, making the most wonderful contemporary interior pieces - and jewelry (including my wedding ring!). 

Libby focuses on the natural and built environment as inspiration for her designs, which I think is shown beautifully in her room dividers/screens and the box seats. Libby does large commissions and big interior projects, but also sells limited edition items on her website www.day2designs.co.uk. Do check out her fruit bowl and lighting, as they're ace.

Recycling vintage maps into notebooks, cufflinks and lampshades

What do you do with maps when they're worn, torn or out of date? Plenty of inspiration can be found on Etsy. I love Etsy and have bought many beautiful hand-made jewelry on there as well as a super cool guitar strap made out of an old tie. Why buy from the high street when you can buy from creative individuals around the globe making beautiful items just for you? Often items arrive with personal thank you cards and wrapped as gifts and you almost feel as if you've made a new friend somewhere in the world.

MrYen's notebook on Etsy

Today Etsy featured this gorgeous notebook made out of recycled maps and it's just beautiful. It really makes you want to start doing some serious travel-writing.

Cufflinks by WhiteDoveJewelry on Etsy

Vintage maps also have something romantic and poetic about them, don't you think? The fact that someone has used them to travel somewhere, the history of this person and the places on the map, the story of the journey.

I bought my husband a set of custom-made cufflinks for Christmas last year, with on one a map of where we met (The Hague) and on the other a map of where we were getting married (Greece). He wore them on our wedding last May.

Envelopes by PaperRoute

For those of you who still write real letters and have not gone totally digital, there's also a great set of envelopes made from maps.

Bunting by MonkeyPuzzle

Or what about some vintage map bunting?

Coasters by Susweedesigns

I could go on and on (is it me or does Etsy just seem to get bigger everyday?), but to finish it off... some coasters and a lovely set of wooden bowls.

Bowls by YanniCreations

Make your own lampshade!

Now to get those creative juices flowing... how to make a lampshade out of a vintage map! Chez Larsson has a great how-to on her blog.

You could start selling them on Etsy of course, but if you are going to give them away as a present, at least make sure they are offered in a matching gift bag! Have fun!  DIY gift bags