Honeysuckle Summer Decorating Ideas

Honeysuckle has been named Pantone’s color of the year for 2011. Named for the popular flower, this bold, feminine color has taken center stage in the world of fashion and design, and it’s no wonder! This beautiful shade falls perfectly between pink and red; it harmoniously retains the unobtrusive character of pink while embodying the energy and vigor of its mother tone, red. Furthermore, this shade is perfect for summer. According to Pantone’s Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman, honeysuckle brings a “a wave of nostalgia for its associated delicious scent reminiscent of the carefree days of spring and summer.” This intense shade expresses the confidence and uplifting spirit of the season and it’s bound to make a splash in your home décor! So how do you incorporate honeysuckle summer decorating ideas? This invigorating color is known to stimulate both appetite and conversation, so it is great in the kitchen, dining room or living room. Some room decorating ideas for the kitchen or dining room are to decorate the table with a honeysuckle tablecloth, some place-mats, napkins….Read the Rest of this Decor Idea

Romantic Decorating Ideas for your Bed

The bedroom is the most important room of your home to create a feeling of romance and relaxation.  But how do you turn an ordinary bedroom into a romantic retreat? Here are some romantic  decorating ideas for your bed that will help you begin to create the sensual bedroom of your dreams. Since the main purpose of this room is relaxation and sleep, the bed is essentially the “raison d’être” of your bedroom.  Special attention must be paid to the bed when creating a romantic setting.  First of all, consider the type of bed.  Four-poster beds are extremely luxurious and create a romantic feel.  A french ornate bed or a canopy bed are also great choices.  A canopy in a small bedroom is great if you put it around a large bed and the nightstands as well.  It will make you feel like you are in a huge, spacious bed instead of in a small room. Other decorating elements can make you feel like you have a new, romantic bed without actually having to buy….Read the Rest of this Decor Idea

Black and White Bedroom Decorating Ideas

Black and white decor is elegant and simple! It is a relatively easy style  to decorate your bedroom with since you already have your colors picked out from the get-go! If you’re anything like me and get overwhelmed by too many choices, you’ll love black and white bedroom decorating ideas. One of the main principles behind modern decor is minimalism. Decorating your bedroom in black and white is an easy way to give it a sleek, contemporary look and feel that is clean and put together. Wouldn’t you like to sleep in a neatly designed, stress-free bedroom? Start with the walls. When decorating your bedroom, start with the walls. You don’t have to paint all your walls either black or white. You can paint some walls black and others white, play around with wall decals, or use wallpaper.  You might want to use a combination or paint, decals and wallpaper like in the picture on the left.  Black walls are great for creating contrast- anything stands out on a black wall! A striped wall can….Read the Rest of this Decor Idea

Bohemian Decorating

Bohemian decorating is original and personal.  It is about turning the mundane into chic decor with vintage items and lots of creativity.  ”Bohemians” are technically people who live non-traditional lifestyles and reject social conventions; such as artists, writers and musicians.  Although it may seem like an oxymoron to adopt a design style that is “individual” by definition, there are enough basic elements of Bohemian style that make it possible to incorporate it into your home decor. Bohemian style is all about creating warmth and interest.  It is a busy, cluttered style with a lot of interesting things going on.  There is a lot of freedom with this style and many room decorating ideas to choose from. Regarding color, think rich, warm and deep.  Bohemian styled rooms usually have multiple colors; although a general palette should be chosen to create some kind of cohesive look.  The walls can be painted red, orange, blue, purple, deep brown or any other  rich color.  Stay away from neons or colors that are very bright, like white.  Warmth is a….Read the Rest of this Decor Idea

Flea Market Decorating Ideas

Summer is approaching and a a great time to check out your local flea markets for great room decorating ideas! But amidst the maze of chachkas and chinkets, where do you begin?  And how do you turn junk into something that can beautify your home? First of all, you should arrive at a flea market early (i.e. before everything good is taken!).  Dress down, be friendly and prepare to bargain! It is good to come prepared with a tape measure and some basic measurements of your home (especially if you are planning on purchasing furniture). An easy way to make your way through a flea market, is by color.  Try picking out a color or a few colors that you are looking for to decorate your home.  Do you have a picture on your wall that you are looking to compliment? A couch you would like to match? With a color in mind, searching for flea market decorating ideas becomes much simpler. In general, check to see if an object is in good condition.  If….Read the Rest of this Decor Idea

Kitchen Makeovers: 8 Quick Tips

Giving your kitchen a makeover can seem like a daunting task, but it is definitely possible and can even be achieved within a reasonable budget. The trick to not getting overwhelmed is focusing on specific areas where you can make quick changes and see immediate results. Here are 8 kitchen decorating tips to get you started: Tip 1: Start with the kitchen cabinets Rather than spending a fortune on replacing old cabinets, there may be an opportunity to salvage them and give them a whole new look. You can achieve this by sanding down the existing layer of paint and going for a whole new color. Make sure you wipe the cabinets clean before sanding. Here is a clear guide on how to repaint your cabinets. When selecting a color, keep in mind the entire color scheme of your kitchen. If you have many stainless steel appliances, the trend has been moving away from lighter pale color schemes to darker, more saturated cabinet colors. Tip 2: Upgrade your cabinet knobs Changing the knobs on your….Read the Rest of this Decor Idea

Black and White Decorating Ideas

Black and white décor is an affordable way to make your home look sophisticated, elegant and dramatic. You can easily transform any room into this style by repainting old furniture and purchasing a few basic accessories. Try framing pictures such as black and white photos, with bold black frames. These will provide a great contrast to a stark-white wall. Using other black and white artwork or framing objects is also a great black and white room decorating idea. The point is to have lots of contrast. To keep your black and white rooms from being too boring try using large, interesting accessories with unusual and creative shapes. Large black candle sticks on a bright white table can add to the dramatic effect, and you can find candle sticks in all different shapes and designs. You can also try using a funky contemporary looking black or white lamp, bowl or coffee table. A black and white checkerboard tiled floor is classic and never gets boring, but it can be pricey to redo your whole floor. An….Read the Rest of this Decor Idea

Simplicity with Zen Decor

Many of us are moving in the direction of a more holistic approach to living and one of the most important areas which affect our overall health is our home space. As a result, room designs that incorporate Zen decorating concepts and decor styles have become increasingly popular. The key to Zen decor is simplicity. The goal is to create a harmonious interior that simply flows, without any obsticals, clutter, or uneccesary items in the way which allows you to ‘be’ in the present moment.  Although Zen decorating is minimalistic, the items that are in the home should each have a specific use, visible, and highly functional despite their simplicity. Working within the Zen means beginning to use more natural materials when decorating your home. The color tones in the home should be earthy, and the furniture you have around the house should have simple, clean lines and be in keeping with the color scheme. You can still add accessories when creating a zen room, but think more in terms of woven area rugs, different….Read the Rest of this Decor Idea

Kitchen Decorating Ideas

One of the easiest ways to find good, solid ideas for decorating your kitchen is to begin by looking at different themes. The kitchen is one of the main rooms in our homes that we often overlook in terms of decor potential. When you buy a new home or remodel an old kitchen, you have a lot of flexibility in deciding which ‘theme’ to go with and can decorate from top to bottom accordingly. If remodeling your kitchen isn’t in the budget for the near future, then there are also ways to borrow kitchen decorating ideas from existing themes, have fun with a bit of color and accessories such as pottery, plants, or paintings, enhance your current setup, and give your kitchen a fun makeover. Most importantly, keep your eye out for ideas that don’t sacrifice practicality, because ultimately, we still have to use our kitchens to cook! Lets start with the classics. Here is a lovely country kitchen idea. Notice the use of wood and the coloring of the cabinets and the floor. The….Read the Rest of this Decor Idea

Bedroom Design

Finding a proper balance between space, color, texture, and lighting is essential to quality bedroom design. We don’t all have the luxury of a large and spacious bedroom, but we do have the ability to take inspiration from great designers and architects who understood that balancing a number of elements is key. One of the most difficult elements to work with is the limitations of space. In the many places I have lived, the structure of the bedrooms themselves have ranged from asymmetrical to perfectly square, abnormally narrow and long, tiny, low or high ceilings, or even simply very large. Each time the challenge was to analyze the potential of bedroom design versus the limitation of space. Buying new furniture simplifies the issue, but if we are working with existing furniture, then we have to be prepared to find creative solutions to maximize our design potential through paying attention to furniture placement. Lighting also plays a large role in bedroom design once spacial considerations have been taken into account. Ideally, the primary lighting should be….Read the Rest of this Decor Idea

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