Interior Design today is an art form in self-expression. Now is the time, the home is yours, and the style is you! Now is the time to create your environment with your style. We all have favorite colors, textures, personal collectibles and specific ideas about how to turn a home into an expression of individuality.
We may have antique family heirlooms that mix well with contemporary furnishings to create that up to the moment design but with a feeling of stability and nostalgia. Our lives are more fast paced today and we want our homes to provide more beauty, comfort and low maintenance with carefree fabrics. We can now choose fabrics for upholstery and draperies that can blend in perfectly with heirlooms from the past. No longer does a home need to be one style with everything matching. A "collected" look is in and more interesting. We can mix the finishes of our wood pieces and use painted finishes as well.
- Try
warming a modern room with a reproduction
chair or use a parsons dining table or other
modern dining table with chairs of a more traditional nature contrasting
the straight contemporary lines in the table with curved lines in the
chairs such as those found among these
parsons chairs. Mix rough textures with smooth, shiny surfaces with dull ones. - Take your favorite color and spread it lavishly throughout your home, changing the accent colors from room to room for interest.
- For a dramatic and exciting look you may want to use lots of bold color, large patterns and accessories. Perhaps though you opt for a quiet background. You can create this with texture and small patterns and monochromatic color schemes.
Now is the time, the home is yours, the style is you!
What is your style? Take this mini test and learn more about yourself.
Do you enjoy surroundings with books and magazines, family photo albums, classic museum art , and objects collected through the years? Do these touches give you a secure feeling? You are a traditionalist.
How
do you feel about chintz and billowing sheers like the Villanova
Sheer by Croscill?
Do you like to curl up and sink into pillows with soft light and ferns
around you? You are the romantic type.
What do you think of ruffles, plump cushions, many pattern blends of fabric, collectibles, like this rooster place setting, or decorative items made of copper like a Firewood Tub, or a copper clock and thermometer set, or, perhaps, a copper finish Woodland Birdbath and easy, comfortable elegance? You'd probably enjoy a country feeling.
Do you love and appreciate all styles? Does the look of a contemporary fabric on a traditional chair appeal to you? Are you hoping for a clean-cut freshness but with security and familiarity? Consider yourself an eclectic mixer.
Do you like high contrasts in color, chrome and glass, leather? Do you enjoy being in "high-tech" surroundings? You are leaning more to the contemporary.
Window Treatments of Today (cont'd)
Some decisions you should think about:
- The amount of light you want or need
- The amount of privacy you prefer
- The style and look you prefer
- Outdoor visibility - is there a good view?
- The ability of the window to reflect the personality of the room.
- The materials that work best for the room - how well it will wear in relation to the environment (weather, humidity, temperature range, children, pets, etc.).
- Color and colorfastness
Windows that make for interesting rooms are those that are arched, bayed, colored with stained glass, etched, latticed or beveled. Any kind of unusual window often shoud be highlighted in a room, drawing attention to the special nature of this room's additional architectural details.
Windows
that are too plain, too small or too large can be specially treated with
draperies, cornices, 
valances,
sheers, blinds and/or shades. Treating
a window can naturally adorn its beauty and its particular role in a room.
But window treatments also can be a cosmetic application or decorative
devices to make the window fit a room aesthetically.
Picture the visual drama of an unusually small window, treated simply, adorned with a simple single flower in a slender vase. The vase or decorative jar or pot may sit in the sill, it the sill is deep, or upon a slender table immediately beneath the window.
Study
pieces of art that depict interiors such as
Grand
Interiors posters and prints at Art.com. Artists are particularly
aware of windows because of the light source they provide. Are you aware
of the variances of light in each of your rooms at different times of
day? Your windows - and the way they are treated - can be a fascinating
source of upgrading the dramatic appeal of your interiors.
If you have oddly shaped windows, they can be treated. Skylights too. Dormer windows, jalousie windows and very large palladium windows can be treated beautifully and practically.
Say Cheese Photos as Art (cont'd)
First, buy a digital camera! That's if you don't already have one. Even if you do, every few months the technology gets better and better (and more economical.) The higher the megapixel, the larger you can crop and zoom to make the perfect picture. Last year I bought a 5- megapixel for under $100 online. This year you can get deals on 7 to 10 megapixel cameras. Check Office Depot's electronics for Digital Cameras My best advice on using a digital camera is…. READ THE OWNER'S MANUAL! This is the only way to discover great features for night shots, action shots, black and whites, and so on. Some of my best shots came out by playing with the settings a little and snapping away.
Next, go out and take some pictures! Last year I traveled to Europe twice and took some incredible shots, but whether you are at home or abroad, think outside the box. What about the downtown of your city? Or, what do you think of an old Victorian house in the neighborhood? A park with wrought iron fences? Nature is great; sunsets and people are a few other examples. Now, if you think you need a change of scenery, traveling is a very rewarding hobby where you can reap many benefits. I have always been able to find great deals by using Orbitz.com especially this time of year! There are other good sites to get travel deals (try Cheaptickets Deals Tab. And it is not too early to plan for 2008 holidays: imagine Christmas in London, or New York, or New Year's Eve in Madrid! A big perk is that you can get some great pictures!
I love architecture, so while in London I took some great shots of famous buildings, gargoyles, and even places like Stonehenge. Upon my return, I cropped shots to show the best parts of the picture, and developed them online. Next, I went shopping for frames. Picture frames are actually very inexpensive these days and there are some great selections! Collage frames are great, so, don't be afraid to mix and match! Actually, I recommend over buying, this way you will always have extras and you can rotate more often. Matting can also help the picture stand out or blend with the décor. Get creative with shadow boxes that can present a photo and a souvenir or ticket stub, not to mention a great conversation piece.
Now that you have some nicely framed pictures, what about a memory book for the coffee table? You can create professional looking story books allows the user to create professional looking story books like this 8x11 travel photo book in suede for around $30. These are easy to create online and are mailed to you home for the perfect scrapbook of your vacation and a great coffee table book.
Finally, have some friends over for a test run. What were their comments, what piece struck up a great conversation, and how did it feel to tell everyone who admired your art photos that you took them during your last trip?
Next
time I will focus on travel, how to plan the perfect trip, and about travel
deals available for the bargain hunter!
Michael Fallon, an avid traveler, and amateur photographer, resides in Central Florida. He can be reached at MikeFallon@writeme.com, His personal website is www.mikefallon.com. Mike is currently working on his business website, which will be, of course, on travel!
Choosing Fabrics Pattern Play (cont'd)
Nonetheles, we still look forward to all that is available to us, and fabric designers and manufacturers are always eager to show us the rich and exciting selections in materials, colors, and designs.
Fabric has the ability to truly dress a room. The generous use of fabric has several important functions:
- When used in well designed window treatments, it can bring a room to life, turn a hohum view into an important element and bring a sense of richness and opulence to the room.
- When fabric is coordinated on furnishings and at the window it can unify unrelated elements and give the room a fully coordinated look.
- What
may seem like a simple fabric at first can look altogether different
when used abundantly and tastefully in a room.
How do YOU find that special and unique fabric that will work perfectly in your room? You could, through a designer, choose from fabrics which are not available through retail stores. However, thanks to the myriad of options today, there is a seemingly endless selection available to you at the retail level as well.
After deciding on your own special pattern or texture, factors such as fabric weight, drapeability, wearability and fiber content must be taken into account.
Some fabrics drape beautifully and can be used very successfully in window treatments where swagging may be appropriate. Other, more crisp fabrics look terrific when used as a floor length cloth ona skirted table, or as a quilted bedspread. Chenilles look fabulous on sofas and sectionals, while some interesting stripes make strong statements as window treatments. Gauze used lavishly on an iron four poster bed can resemble something out of the movies. White duck, on the other hand, has that clean look and is especially suited to roman shades and as an upholstery fabric for wicker and rattan furniture. The textures created by the interplay add a wonderful dimension to a room.
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