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Monday, May 16th, 2016
Cynthia Rowley: 1586-75203-GLD3 Shangri-La Gilded Dining Table Base
Not too many homeowners immediately resort to gold when decorating their dwellings. Others think that it’s a pretentious color while some feel that it represents their personality. But are you one of these people who are willing to get out of their comfort zone? There is no doubt that the timelessness of gold is what makes it an awesome choice in interior design. It is rich, daring and invaluable. It effortlessly symbolizes power and wealth.
Compromising with Gold
If gold is a little too much for you to use as the dominant color in your home, then you can always use it as an accent hue. Small accents of gold can have a huge impact in any interior.
The holidays often use gold to represent the merriments and luxury enjoyed by families during the holidays. But you don’t have to wait till the Christmas season for your home to look glamorous. You can already decorate your home and make it look glitzy and glamorous for your loved ones.
Gold accents are one of the hottest trends (if not a classy trend). There are so many fun and surprisingly easy way that you can add the beauty of gold in your home.
Golden Chandeliers
The chandelier is a wonderful piece to infuse the shining glory of gold. It is highly recommended that you pick an elegant chandelier that adds the needed luxury in your room. For example, find one that does not concentrate on the metallic side of gold. Find materials such as glass or fabric then use gold to frame or highlight your chosen material. Doing so will give the living room, dining room or the bedroom a more stylish feeling.
Golden chandeliers aren’t just for dining rooms anymore. This is an unexpected and often unutilized glamour enhancer.
Cynthia Rowley: 1586-90004B-GLD1 Antoinette Gilded Mirror
Gold Prints, Fabrics, Furnishings, etc.
Nothing can be more glamorous than gold furniture. Just try perusing through any interior design magazine or website and you will surely see one gold furniture or two. The most elegant rooms have gold accents. These rooms look posh because gold accents are placed strategically throughout.
You, too, can pull off this kind of look without looking tacky. Swap your linens, curtains, pillows, area rugs and fabrics with ones that come with accents of gold. You can also choose to switch a neutral-colored wall with glimmering paint. If the gold wall is a tad too much, then just place an accent piece such as a coffee table.
Accentuating the dining room is as easy as adding a gold runner. This is the kind of accent piece that can be used all year long especially when paired with the correct centerpiece.
Should you host a special dinner, the table can be decorated with gold napkins and gold-trimmed china.
Add More Sparkle
Candles are meant to burn and give glamour but be careful when adding a touch of gold in your home decor. It is easy to go overboard if you use a lot of both elements. Just try to add glittery candles instead. This is like hitting two birds with one stone.
The Gold Hardware
Brass is definitely in! Don’t think of the ‘80s kind of brass fixtures, though. Brass hardware can level up the touch of formality in your home. Fuse gold with your brass hardware, accessories and fixtures. Do this and you won’t have to worry about being too flashy.
Gold Frame It
The simplest way that you can add gold into your home is to use a gold picture frame. Just replace the usual wooden frames and use gold borders instead. Watch your walls come to life!
Tags: designing luxury homes, elements of luxury homes, glamorous interior design, glamour, gold, gold accent, gold accents, gold in interior design, gold interior design, gold interiors, luxurious home, luxurious interiors, luxurious living, luxury home, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings
Posted in Color Schemes, Interior Design 101, Interior Design Themes | No Comments »
Saturday, May 14th, 2016
FFDM Brentwood Collection: The light touch of yellow on the lampshade, artwork, area rug and accent chair makes it a noticeable yet non-glaring element inside this beautiful room.
You either love or hate yellow – what is it? Some may answer that their level of emotion towards this color depends on how vibrant or soft it is. Believe it or not, though, yellow is crucial in interior design.
Color can affect humans physiologically without them noticing it most of the time. This only means that you must never underestimate the power that colors or color combinations have among humans.
A Fair Share of Yellow
You might have seen a good amount of yellow in interior design magazines and sites these days. Stop wondering why yellow seems to be taking the interior design industry by storm.
Yellow is a retrospective color, meaning, your grandma and grandpa did enjoy using this color during their days.
Yellow is often used because of its positive qualities. It is known to evoke happiness, confidence and optimism. Imagine feeling optimistic just because you wake up to a sunny yellow room every day. There is a downside to this color, though. Overusing it (meaning you surround yourself with everything that’s yellow), or using the wrong tone, even pairing it with the wrong hue will render the yellow useless (if not damaging to the overall design).
This means that you should harness just the right shade of yellow. If you don’t know what shade to pick, then find the one that resonates the most with you. See also that this shade of yellow does not create disharmony in your existing interior design theme.
Yellow can range from daffodil, creams, sunflower shades and acid hues.
Choosing or Avoiding Yellow
The rooms where you should use yellow are the hallways, the breakfast nook, and any room that asks for a lot of activities and foot traffic. The hallways, for instance, are often dark and so yellow is the best welcoming color that you can use there.
Uttermost Lamps and Lighting Pratella Lamp 27491 features a bright yellow base that will surely captivate the beholder.
Teaming Up with YellowYellow can relate to the emotions just like a person taking an upper. This only means that you shouldn’t use yellow in areas where you should be resting such as the bedroom or the bathroom. The reading room might not be a good area to use this color in. Being exposed to yellow in these places of relaxation will only make the person annoyed or irritable in the long run. Remember that even as you sleep, the psychological properties of yellow are still at work so better be careful in using this activity-inducing hue.
You are seeing a lot of yellow pairings in many interiors at the moment. Different combinations are being used under different circumstances. Depending on yellow’s strengths, gray is often used as the hue to tone down this active color.
Tonal white versions of yellow include ivory, cream and oyster hues. These look lively, fresh and happy and are known to excite the senses. Spring showed much of these beautiful colors so it would be a waste if you would not be able to harness yellow to your home’s advantage.
A complementary color to yellow is any shade of purple. If you think you have doused your home with too much yellow, then freely use purple to counteract the overactive environment that you have created.
For a calmer color scheme, find the analogous colors. Which colors sit right next to yellow on the color wheel?
For yellow, these would be red and orange.
The key to successfully using yellow as a color scheme is to use it together with the hues from the same family. It also pays to identify which colors are primary, secondary and accents.
Yellow has always been a contradictory color. It can be the color of slaves (during the Spanish Inquisition) or it can represent nobility (this is apparent among the Chinese). At the end of the day, it will always represent cheerfulness so use it with caution.
Tags: bright colors, bright hues, bright paint colors, brightening up rooms, brightening up your home, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, yellow, yellow color palette, yellow color psychology, yellow interior design, yellow interiors
Posted in Color Schemes, Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements, Interior Design Themes | No Comments »
Friday, May 13th, 2016
Hooker Furniture Bedroom Rhapsody King Panel Bed offers curvaceous lines that spell elegance and romance.
It wouldn’t hurt to have a little romance in your life, would it? Romance doesn’t come often to some people, meaning, you have to work hard to get a slice of it. Adding a little love and sensuality into your home is as easy as following these guidelines –
Candle-Lit Atmosphere
Candles are the cornerstones of all romantic ambiences. Don’t just get any kind of candle, though. Settling for paraffin candles is like saying yes to pollution. These are made from sludge found at the bottom of barrel oils and are hazardous when inhaled.
For a more environmentally-sound romantic lighting, go for beeswax or soy candles. Light some scented candles if you want to stimulate your senses.
Say no to glaring lights that will only detract the romantic atmosphere. A dimmed, soft light is the way to go. There should be zero fluorescent lighting at this point. You could be the most energy-conscious person on the planet but it’s time to forget about LED lighting during this time.
Bring out those warm, incandescent lights. These are just as good as candles in stimulating romantic feelings.
There is really no point in arguing about the inspiration that candles evoke. Their warm glow can create flattery and a heightened level of intimacy.
If you want to splurge, there are many other ways of romantically lighting your home. Invest in a crystal chandelier to extend the romantic feel of the home for many, many years to come.
Sometimes, you don’t have to spend much. You can also place light behind a potted plant and you can already change the aura inside the living room.
Find Moroccan lanterns to add mystery in a corner. Their subtle glow will surely invoke passionate feelings.
Roses Are Red
Don’t forget roses when trying to achieve a romantic setting. The colors of roses could mean a lot of things – one could mean friendship, another purity, etc. Don’t get confused with these different meanings. Only red roses mean love so choose this color when wanting to achieve a romantic setting.
Add a crystal vase with a little water for your bouquet of red roses. This should effortlessly provide the romance that any home needs. Place a drop of lemon into the water in the vase so that the roses remain fresh longer.
Soft Music
What would a good movie be without proper music to excite your senses? This is also true when you’re trying to set up a romantic home (or just the bedroom). Keep the music low and soft as you would only want to have a background that won’t irritate or distract.
Of course, you also wouldn’t want your special someone to go dancing to the beat of the music when all you want to do is snuggle.
Words are unnecessary, just let the music flow. There is no need for those forced conversations.
Glamorize the Dining Room
A huge part of any romantic home date is having dinner. This indoor event should highlight only the luxurious furniture, accessories, food and wine.
Forget about paper products for now. Bring out the nice china and silverware as well as the cloth napkins. These can add an elegant touch to your planned romantic setup. Cap the dinner with a bottle of champagne and chocolates and you’re a runaway winner in the romantic department.
Once again, no romantic dinner is complete without the candles, vase of roses and soft music. Add these to your elegant dining furniture and chinaware to complete your romantic getaway project.
Remember these two words and you should be fine – soft and sensuous.
Wesley Allen Dining Room Table DT204H40: Most of the time, romance is all about being intimate. What could be more intimate than sharing a glass of champagne on this petite dining set?
Tags: elegant interior design, glamorous interior design, glamour, luxurious home, luxurious interiors, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, romantic design, romantic home, romantic interior design, romantic setting, romantic setup
Posted in Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements, Interior Design Themes | No Comments »
Thursday, May 12th, 2016
Flexsteel Living Room Round Cocktail Table 6629-034 features solid wood, wicker and glass – all elements that work perfectly inside a Mexican-inspired home.
A famous part of many Spanish homes is the so-called comedor or dining room. Mexican homes are no different. Their dining spaces are adorned with many Spanish-inspired elements such as colorful paintings, religious relics, and pottery.
The ceilings of many Spanish dining rooms are also used as canvas for beautiful paintings. Choose from the many possible themes for the ceiling painting. In the absence of a colorful painting, have a luxurious chandelier hung.
Mexican interior design is a relative of the Spanish design. If you want to have this kind of theme in your home, then you can also use ethnic fabrics and drape them on the colorful dining chairs. These same fabrics can also be used on Mexican shelves as they can add a different level of interest and characteristic to the informal space.
Borrowed Architectural ElementsMexican homes often come with arches, thick walls and high ceilings. More often than not, hand-painted pottery lies across the table and shelves (talk of the Spanish people’s love for flair).
Mexican interior design has similar elements with Spanish architecture. Try looking from top to bottom and you would immediately notice the wooden support beams (also known as the vigas), the latticework or the latillas and the carved corbels which support the beams on the ceiling. These corbels also serve as decorative elements.
Now look at the floor where you’re standing at – Spanish flooring is often made with the most colorful Talavera tiles. These will surely draw the eyes towards the center of any room. The Spaniards have also introduced to the Mexicans the unique Saltillo tiles which are terracotta tiles that are best used in areas with warm climates.
‘Care to visit the Mexican-inspired bathroom? Then you would probably find a claw foot tub in a nook.
Universal Furniture Dining Room Upholstered Back Arm Chair 016639-RTA is the haciendero’s preferred seating style.
Mexican Accessories
When you’re out to frame the beautiful features of a Mexican home, be sure to have a lot of vibrant colors on your palette. You can use recessed lighting to provide a more magical touch to intimate rooms in your home. This style can be used in the bedroom or dining areas that are not used for frequent social gatherings.
Place a weathered chair in a corner then drape it with a huipil which is a traditional garment from Mexico. You would certainly love the embroideries on your huipil. These have special cultural meanings among Mexicans.
A bedside table can be covered with the African kente cloth then topped with a small yet antique wooden saint. In the absence of the latter, you can also resort to silver objects coming from India as they also offer a distinct, rustic appeal.
Look through your family’s heirloom furniture. You might already own some weathered chests which you can use at the foot of the beds. If not, www.mccreerys.com offers a wide array of these lovely wooden chests. They have a rustic appeal that is hard to equal. Add to their beauty by investing in iron candelabra.
Add red silk shades for a more elegant look.
Dress Up the Entry Hall
Know as the zaguan, the entry hall can feature hand-painted things on the ceiling. The more antique-looking the door is, the more useful it would be in your Mexican-inspired home. Complete the look with a Mexican tile rug. Add wall sconces for a more culturally-inspired space.
If you want to go authentic on your Spanish design, you could also use a bench right by the entry hall. This is quite common in Spanish haciendas where the hired help lie in wait.
Blend traditional elements with some of the new ones that depict your personality. Be vibrant, be colorful, have flair.
Dare to be you.
Maitland-Smith Living Room Carved Occasional Table 3030-953 will also look great on the entry hall.
Tags: McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, Mexican, Mexican interior design, Mexican interiors, Mexican style, rustic, rustic charm, rustic decor, rustic design, rustic elements, rustic interiors, rustic look, rustic style, Spanish interior design, Spanish interiors, tips
Posted in Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements, Interior Design Themes | No Comments »
Thursday, May 12th, 2016
Accessories Uttermost Daria Antique Mirror Photo Frames S3 18567 go well with a rustic or any traditional environment.
‘Thinking of displaying old and memorable family photographs onto your walls? There is no easy way in doing that. Pictures that have been taken during varying occasions in people’s lives using different cameras are a great way to liven up walls. Different kinds of technology pose different challenges when it comes to posting them.
Family photographs, having come from different eras often do not match. Some photos could still be in black and white while most could already be in color. There is also the added task of framing the photos in ways that would emphasize their beauty.
How – exactly – would you frame and eventually display photos in style?
Plan
Family photographs must be enjoyed at eye level. So go ahead and take a pencil and mark the spots where you are supposed to hang the photographs. Use painter’s tape if you need a more visible approach in marking the walls. For some, this could even be used to make the photographs stick to the wall.Just as you would any endeavor, you must plan your photo arrangements. Who would want to punch a multitude of nails into the walls, right? If you are still renting, then your landlord will surely thank you for taking care of the walls.
You must also decide which walls will become the informal photo gallery. Of course, you can’t just pepper the walls with uncoordinated photographs so decide which wall you would use from the onset. Hallways, stairways and bedrooms are popular areas.
Decide also whether you would want the photographs to be hung symmetrically or asymmetrically. Whichever you choose, there should always be a unified look for all the photographs.
Accessories Uttermost Daria Antique Mirror Photo Frames S3 18567 show an unbalanced beauty that will perk up your wall.
Create a Story
When planning on how to display the family photos on your walls, consider telling a story. We may already be living on the digital era but we still want to display the things representing people whom we love most.
The family photographs could turn a sterile wall into something more welcoming. Tell that story when you went on your first trip to Paris. Hang those right in the middle of the living room. When in the kitchen, consider displaying the photographs of the whole family eating at a seafood restaurant.
Be imaginative. You can have this as a DIY weekend project for the entire family or you could choose to hire a professional. You may think that it’s too much to hire a professional just to hang old family photos but – keep in mind that – putting up framed photos haphazardly on your walls is just like allowing junk to be displayed.
Family photographs have to be coordinated whether by story, color, size or pattern. Even an asymmetrical display will look nice when there is a single concept that unifies all of the framed memories. And who says one can’t use an abstract concept in hanging photos on walls?
How about using time-tested concepts in displaying memories? Sometimes, hanging pictures is as easy as using cool thumbtacks to affix the photos right onto the walls. The colorful thumbtacks could even become a part of the art.
Hanging vintage frames is best done by having them at an equal distance from each other. If you already have a wide variety of photo frames or have collected a good number of professionally-framed ones, then have them hung artistically, meaning, it’s up to you if you want them perfectly aligned or unbalanced. Art, after all, depends on the perception of its creator.
Add or Swap
Your family might have a great collection of memorable photographs now but your history isn’t finished yet. More occasions will be celebrated and more family members will be added. As your family grows and even changes, keep adding or swapping the photos on the walls.
Tags: displaying photographs, family room, family room design, family room design elements, family room essentials, family room style, framing photos, hanging family photos, hanging photographs, hanging photos, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, photographs on walls, wall decor
Posted in Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements, Wall Design | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 11th, 2016
Hooker Furniture Bedroom Studio 7H Slumbr Queen Metal Upholstered Bed’s simple lines and unfrilled looks make it the best bedroom piece for your commercial space turned residential unit.
A Visionary’s Project
Turning a commercial space into a new home is a project that requires vision. When faced with the task of turning an old building into a habitable one, make sure you are able to embrace the quirkiness that you find in the first place.
When you think that you need to cover the damaged plaster walls, think again. You can, instead, polish the said walls and highlight their aged patina. The glass walls front could be kept where they are so the
Now it’s time to convert these rough diamonds into something of a modern convenience. Warehouse conversions are getting more and more popular especially in cramped cities such as San Francisco, New York and Chicago.new inhabitants could have a great view of the downtown area. What you get when you retain the old building parts is the old character of the industrial building but with an updated look.
Don’t think that converting a commercial space into your home is going to be an easy task, though, as it won’t be. Industrial buildings do not offer the same plumbing systems. The walls and window placements are also far from conventional.
What you can benefit from are the open space layouts and high ceilings. While these features are difficult to tackle, they can offer visual delights that no other physical structures can offer.
Prepare for other sorts of surprises such as asbestos tiles, lead paint and other concerns such as unstable foundations. These are pretty common with older types of buildings. Know all these features from the onset as it can take months for such to be removed.
You will need to hire a professional electrician to set up a new electrical system for the commercial space turned would-be home. Plumbing must also be taken care of. See also that natural light is welcomed into your new home. Request for pendant lights that can be used for both functional and aesthetic means.
A huge part of your planning should – preferably – include a landscaped courtyard right at the heart of the building. See if you can have the roof deck dressed up for your social requirements.
As for the penthouse, this is the perfect place for a huge master bedroom that is adjacent to the master bath. You can even house your private art collections in that spacious area.
Finding a place in the city is getting more and more taxing. Buyers are looking into even bigger homes which they are willing to refashion if necessary. In the city of Manhattan, for instance, a parking garage is already being converted into condo.
The creation of commercial to residential is an effective way of widening the options for real estate inventory. If you don’t plan on turning the whole commercial structure into a residential space then you can retain a commercial section. The front part of the home could be your home office while the back part would serve as your place of rest.
So go ahead, seek them out – factories, warehouses, and mills. These may not look like cozy spaces at first but redesigning them can convert them into beautiful, modern homes – just believe that you have it in you to go through this huge project.
Universal Furniture Accessories The Bakery Rack 313674 will be useful inside your modern kitchen.
Tags: converting commercial space, industrial design, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, tips
Posted in Interior Design 101, Interior Design Themes | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 10th, 2016
Compact is the name of the game when choosing furniture for a small kitchen/dining area. Featured furniture set is the Hooker Furniture Dining Room Indigo Creek Pedestal Dining Table and chairs.
Dreaming about the perfect kitchen often does not involve the word – small or compact. This is the reality that most homeowners have to live with, though. There is that limited counter space as well as a work triangle that hardly fits into the kitchen floor area. If you are not ready to knock down walls, then you can just go to the next best solution – design your kitchen correctly.
Glass vs. Solid Wood Cabinet Doors
What you would want to achieve now is an illusion of space, right? So, what better material is there than glass?
Glass cabinet doors visually lighten the cabinets which allows the beholder’s eyes to travel to the back of the furniture. This will visually expand the kitchen for as long as there aren’t too many knickknacks inside the cabinet. Having a lot of stuff cramped into a glass front cabinet will only defeat its purpose.
Limit the color of the walls and your cabinets to just a single hue. This is a technique that gets rid of visual boundaries. This liberates the eyes using the popular notion that light colors reflect light. The kitchen space will feel a lot bigger since the light is reflected off both surfaces (the walls and the cabinetry).Same Old, Same Old
Don’t think that you are only limited to light hues, though. You can still dare to use dark colors such navy blue, black, chocolate and charcoal. These deep tones have a tendency to create the impression that your kitchen walls are actually farther back (receding effect).
Petite Is In
Since you have limited space for your kitchen, you must opt for furnishings with small footprint. Find petite chairs, islands, stools and narrow tables. Say no to bulky furniture with thick bases and curvy legs. These styles, while beautiful when used in a different setting, would add to the visual bulk in your compact kitchen.
Recessed Storage
Tuck that pantry. Have the slimmest possible cabinets and shelves. This is the best way to keep from obstructing the flow inside the kitchen. It is actually easy to retrofit recessed niches, more so if you put it between the wall studs.
Use Clean Lines
Ornate cabinetry and other furniture with fussy details are a no-no in your kitchen. Make sure that the elements used are sleek and tailored. This will smoothen out the general look of your kitchen. Straight lines also stage a roomier feel.
Say yes to open shelving. These can significantly reduce the visual weight and even lend the illusion of a wider space.
You can also merge different nooks into a whole food prep and dining area. If there are still sections in your small kitchen that are separated by low walls, then have those broken down. Make the dining space a natural extension to your cooking area.
Storage is just as important (if not more so) inside a small kitchen. This Stanley Furniture Dining Room Buffet 007-21-05 is suitable as a storage and decorative unit.
Unify
You may have just a few pieces of sleek furniture but make sure they harmonize. Have the same furniture pieces in the same hue. If you can extend your chosen color to the wall, then that would be a nice move. Matching armchairs and other furniture –even when a tad bulkier – could still fit into this kind of setup.
Have a bench mimic the color of the dining chairs to have a sense of continuity in the area. This is if you decide to include the dining space into your small kitchen.
It could be a bit tricky to demarcate areas between two nooks but you can effortlessly do this if you use an area rug. Instead of the usual colossal walls, the humble area rug will be able to distinguish different zones for you.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Lastly, what is a small kitchen without a huge mirror? No other decorative element has been used to create the illusion of space more than mirrors so make sure you install one (or more). The framing should be blond wood or other neutral colors so it will perfectly blend with the light-colored walls.
Tags: cabinet, cabinet organization, designing a small kitchen, kitchen design, kitchen organization, little kitchen design, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, small kitchen design
Posted in Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements, Kitchen Design | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 10th, 2016
Traditional and modern elements are creatively mixed in this bedroom. The wooden pieces take centerstage as the decorative elements effectively frame their beauty. Featured furniture is from FFDM’s American Cherry Collection.
The artists – oh what wonderful people they are. They seem to be wandering about with creative brains that are filled to the brim with DIY ideas. See their homes and you’d know that they have Midas’ touch. If you envy the creativity exhibited by artists and designers, then you’re not alone. A lot of homeowners also secretly wish that they could just do interior design projects on their own.
Being creative is a choice, though. You just have to learn how to express your identity in your works. In essence, it is a manner of operating or doing things.
Most humans are creative at heart, it’s just that some are more able to express themselves freely than others. If you want to train yourself to become more creative so you can decorate your own home, then here are the characteristics and habits that you should be moulding –
Ritualize
‘Waiting for an inspiration to come? It rarely does. Rather than wait, seek it. Creative individuals are able to push through writer’s block or inspiration famines. These are the people who doodle even when their minds feel empty.
‘Feeling down? Create anyway. You must comprehend the power of consistency.
Lighten Up
You only live your life once so stop taking it too seriously. You can design your home without pulling your hair.
Creative folks know how to have fun. Most of them are playful, even childlike. Adapt the mind of a child whose imaginations know no boundaries. Weed out the mundane and dull. Be excited to live life. There is no such thing as a boring home, just a boring interior design.
So, if you want your home’s interiors to be admired by all, know how to have a little humor in your life.
Explore
Interior designers are naturally curious. These are the people who are often voracious readers. To them, ideas are a fusion of elements that have already existed in the past. All they need now is to harmonize these elements and what they would achieve is no less than a masterpiece.
Pablo Picasso amounted to something (that’s an understatement because he was actually great) because he studied long hours. He feasted upon Iberian and African sculptures displayed in Louvre.
Ideas should be constantly fuelled, remember that.
Be In Touch with Your Higher Self
One of the most amazing creative techniques is the ability to relax and allow your subconscious to do the job for you. Who can better attest to this than Thomas Alba Edison?
Edison was stumped for so many times but he did not buckle. He took the time each day to leave his desk and nap. This may sound easy, even futile, but this is a habit that every creative mind should get used to.
Mastering the art of relaxation can help you switch off from creative problems. Once you wake up, you will marvel at the results.
Mingle
Creative people are interested in other people, at least this is the case in majority of the best designers. These are compassionate people who are drawn to the raw emotions evoked by others.
If most people are not good listeners, then change that. Listen, be interested, say hello to people. You would be surprised at the wave of creative ideas that your friends or relatives will be able to offer to you.
A great interior designer must also have excellent communication skills. You should be able to engage in meaningful conversations. It is in such conversations that you can glean creative ideas.
Adapt
No great designer is considered successful without the ability to adapt. The interior design industry is an ever-evolving world. Study new approaches and techniques in interior design. List down your choices and preferences; understand how each material will work with or against a certain project.
Always be a problem solver, a doer, and a visual person. Once you acquire these skills, you should be able to design the rooms of your home without effort.
Hooker Furniture Corsica Collection: This is the perfect harmony of contradicting elements – from dark and light, curvy and straight, distressed and block colors. The unique vase of greens in the middle of the table provides a fresh divergence.
Tags: benefits of having an interior designer, finding interior designers, hiring an interior designer, interior designer characteristics, interior designer skills, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings
Posted in Interior Design 101, The Interior Designer | No Comments »
Monday, May 9th, 2016
The American Leather Living Room Meyer-Sectional invokes clean living with its clean lines and simplicity.
Starting anew whether your family is moving or remodeling is a huge undertaking. Expect mess everywhere but once you’ve settled, you should make minimal to zero waste as your home’s new goal. Of course, an endeavor of such magnitude does sound too good to be true, indeed, it is an ambitious take on life. Through persistence, though, your entire home can have a low-consumption kind of living.
Here are some tips that can help you reduce waste in your home –
Bulk Buying
Carryout containers and packaged foods are a huge source of non-recyclable plastic garbage. Just think about those wrappers, chip bags, cartons, and trays – every little one of such packages are made or mixed with plastics which are disposed in landfills.
Cooking at home is a great solution as is eating fresh produce. Purchase vegetables and fruits, and buying other stuff in bulk will help you veer away from those small plastic containers and packages. Buying fresh helps you cut your salt, preservative and artificial dye consumption.
A lot of cosmetic brands also sell their products in bulk in many health stores. Seek such discounts to eliminate the use of plastic in your home. Simplify also the use of cleaning supplies so that you will have a significant reduction of plastic spray bottle garbage.
Be a Neat Freak
Okay, that’s going a tad overboard but reducing the amount of surface where garbage may accumulate could also minimize the amount of garbage and clutter in your home. To effectively implement this, make sure that you have cabinets and other storage units where you will place only the needful stuff.
Don’t collect things that you don’t need. Keeping stuff for sentimental reasons is modified hoarding. Take a picture of that thing which you hold dear then let go. You can also donate unused stuff on a regular basis. Have a giveaway box set up in the attic or basement. Collecting stuff that you don’t use everyday ends up as a pile of garbage inside drawers and closets.
If giving your stuff away is not your style, then find ways that you can sell some of your things. You can even make more money this way.
Shop for Need
Don’t shop. Period.
More often than not, people shop even when they don’t have a need to. If you will be fully honest with yourself, most of your purchases are unnecessary, right?
Shopping for leisure presents the danger of accumulating stuff that you don’t really need. So, yeah, there’s no need to buy that cute outfit just because it matches your Prada bag. Have your house thank you for owning less stuff.
Look for furniture that can maximize the use of space in your home. This Hooker Furniture Living Room Lift Top Floral Cocktail Trunk doubles as decorative furniture at the foot of your bed while storing some of your stuff.
Clean Up
Hold a general cleaning activity on weekends. Make it a fun activity where family members chat and laugh during the cleanup. Have some lemonade and brownies to pep everyone up.
Let go also of the just in case attitude where you keep things, well, just in case you’d need them. If you truly assess all the stuff that you are currently keeping, you would be surprised how many have just been stored for many years.
If you are unsure about giving away or selling some of your stuff, then place them inside a plastic container. Should months pass and that plastic still remains intact, then you’d know by then that it’s time to let go.
Another way of cleaning up your home is to acquire a new perspective in life. Try visiting a homeless shelter and spend some time with someone who has been deprived of the blessings that you take for granted. Doing this will make you realize that having less is actually more; you will then be ready to let go of things that don’t really matter.
Tags: clutter removal, decluttering, decluttering advice, decluttering project, decluttering system, decluttering techniques, decluttering tips, home decluttering, McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, removing clutter, zero garbage, zero garbage home
Posted in Home Maintenance, Interior Design 101 | No Comments »
Monday, May 9th, 2016
Hooker Furniture Living Room French Two Drawer Chest offers a distressed yet elegant optimization to the white walls.
There are many ways of freshening up a home in terms of its overall look. If you plan to level up on your cleanup, there is a clean-slate strategy that is hassle-free and safe. Painting your walls white is a technique that will make your home into a blank canvas that is ready to be doused with your personality.
A Word of Caution
Before you delve into this undertaking, you might want to look into the possible effects of the color. First, white paint may be the magical solution to many homes that want to start anew but it can also be a cold, unfeeling color.
Just like any other color, consider white to have its own temperature, lighting requirements, mood, even style. It has – more than any other color – maintenance requirements as well as a rich history. If you make the mistake of ignoring these elements, then you end up with a stark color as opposed to the clean, crisp hue that you wanted.
Do not be afraid to use white, though. Most of the time, all it needs is just a dash of another hue to tone down or warm things up.
Room Considerations
Prior to painting your home white, you must take a careful look at its orientation. Those rooms that turn away from midday sun have a gray-blue light. These rooms are great for summer bedrooms, a studio or a gym. This is so because the sun’s angle at this point provides the needed consistency.
White paint tends to optimize the lighting in these spaces. While it works in these rooms, white won’t work in rooms that face the north. White will link the snow-laden outdoors to your home without being visually distressing.
Use red, orange or yellow tint with white when you paint the areas of socialization and dining. Rooms that don’t have a direct access to natural light are the best candidates for these color fusions. The warmth of yellow, orange and red will make up for the heat lost from the sun. These colors are also known to raise blood pressure, thus, upping your level of activity and positive vibe.
Scientific evidences have proven that colors can create a certain psyche, in this case, the warm colors make the body feel heat even in the absence of real warmth.
Rooms that face the south are the ones that receive the most amount of sunlight during the morning. Summer or winter, this side of your home will receive a red-yellow sort of light during a clear day.
White-painted walls will cool such spaces while not limiting your color choices. You can still adjust the glare by looking at your pigmenting options. An example is using gray to soften the reflective property of white. This combination should create a hush-hush feeling inside your living space.
One color choice will not be able to offer the lighting changes required in different seasonal circumstances, however, there are times during the day also certain seasons when rooms get the most lighting wear.
It is during such times that you should dampen or radiate the natural light that comes in. To do this, choose a conditioning color that you can use with white. Cool colors include green, gray and blue tones while the warm ones are orange, red and yellow.
The Uttermost Accessories Resting Dog, Statue 19070 offers an amazing contrast to the starkness of white.
Outside-In
Remember that the outdoors can greatly affect what you have inside. If you have an awesome view of the ocean outside or, perhaps, a beautiful garden, then use it to your advantage. White walls will be able to enhance such picturesque views. White is the perfect solution for that much-wanted year-round shoreline view. You can enhance the view by fusing white with just a small quantity of yellow-orange pigment. This combination should frame the coolness of the view outside.
Now ain’t white beautiful?
Tags: McCreerys, McCreerys Home Furnishings, neutral, neutral colors, neutral hues, neutral interior design, neutral interiors, neutral palette, white, white color palette, white color scheme, white in interior design, white interior design, white interiors, white palette, white walls
Posted in Color Schemes, Interior Design 101, Interior Design Elements | No Comments »
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