May 19, 2012

You are here: Home / Decorating

What Are Flooring Accessories Exactly?

December 26, 2011 By Jake

I don’t know about you but I find all the jargon associated with DIY jobs a bit off putting. Maybe they do it on purpose! Sometimes though it just leads to frustration and a feeling that you are not quite sure what you are doing…

 

If you are buying and installing a hardwood or engineered wood floor then you need to know all about the required flooring accessories as well. It is important not to overlook the need for the correct accessories to ensure that your flooring project is a success so read on for what to look out for as all of these things are classed as flooring accessories:

 

  1. Underlay. It is usual to put a layer under the wood for various reasons such as to reduce noise and to protect from moisture: make sure you know what you need.

  2. Adhesives. You may not need them but if you do then check with the manufacturers instructions as to their recommended type.

  3. Nails. Particularly for solid wood floor the installation will require the panels to be nailed together instead of ‘clicking’. Special nails called cleats or flooring staples are advisable.

  4. Trims: these might be decorative edging strips to cover expansion gaps, edging pieces for stair tread or fittings to go around radiator pipes for example.

  5. Moldings: these are ingenious devices to help transitions between floor heights and into rooms with different floor coverings such as carpets.

  6. Edgings: For Flooringanddoors it is ideal to get a good finish for warmth and the general look of the room so edgings are used to create a perfect finish.

  7. Tools of the trade. The ideal accessories for the person fitting the floor will vary depending on the type of floor and the house itself. Get prepared before you start work.

Filed Under: Decorating Tagged With: , ,

Why not look for eco-friendly furniture?

December 6, 2011 By Jake

When decorating your home it’s very easy to go down to the local furniture sale and pick out the items that look most appealing to you. You just have to check how they fit with your budget and make your choice.

Wrong! If you consider yourself to be environmentally aware, then what you need to do is a little more research before buying any new furniture.  Much of today’s furniture is made using responsibly sourced wood, it’s true.  Check with the retailer, and they’ll be able to give you information about their supply chain.

However, new wood is still new, and what’s even better for the planet is to buy pieces made with reclaimed wood.

Reclaimed wood is wood that has already been made into something in a previous life – including floor boarding, joists, ships’ timbers.  It has a hue and depth of colour and tone that’s so difficult to recreate in new wood – as wood matures gradually over the years.  So pieces of furniture made from reclaimed wood are often really beautiful.

A classic example is a dining table and chair set or a coffee table. If your rooms are modern in design, then having some reclaimed wood in the room can look really great.

One third of our planet is covered with forest, but left in its natural state before agriculture began, we would have 40 per cent more forest than we do now. Our demand for wood and land to grow food has robbed the planet of its natural vegetation. In the 1990s, 8.9 million hectares of trees were lost every year.

As a society, we are now making amends – with responsible forestry where two trees are planted for every one felled, but by choosing to buy reclaimed wood over new, we can do our bit to help the world’s forests as individuals.

 

Filed Under: Decorating Tagged With: , , ,

Planning a colour scheme

November 30, 2011 By Jake

When deciding how to decorate a living area in your home, it’s best to start by deciding the colour scheme you’d like to have.

Different colours can create different ambiences.  If you spend much time in a room you’ll be seeing a lot of the colour you choose, so make sure it’s something you will like for a long time.  Think about the different ways you use a room.  It may be that it’s more of a formal reception room that you only use for entertaining.  In this case a bright vivid colour might be a good choice. However, if the room doubles up as your cosy den for just the family, bright and vivid might not make it for a very calming environment.

Blues and greens can be very soothing, but if your room doesn’t have much natural light, they can feel a little cold, so choose the tone carefully. These cooler colours tend to work best in a south-facing room, where the tone of the light coming in from outside is warmer.

Yellow, on the other hand, can brighten up a north facing room, but may be a little too overpowering.  An option is to pick a neutral shade for the walls, and use cushions and picture frames to work in your preferred colour theme.

Don’t try and use colour too much in a room. Pick out the colours on furnishings like curtains and the sofa, or make those the neutrals and put colour on the walls. Many sofas UK retailers now sell include great patterned fabrics, which stand out against a plain painted wall without having to be brightly coloured.

It’s worth going down to a furniture sale and looking at different room sets to get inspiration. Similarly look through interiors magazines and websites.

Once you’ve made your colour choices, sound it out on a few objective friends or relatives.  They will give you an honest opinion and guide you if you are about to make a grave error of judgement!

 

Filed Under: Decorating Tagged With: , , ,

Treat the Little Princess in Your Life like Royalty

November 30, 2011 By Jake

When it comes to making the transition from nursery to little girl’s bedroom there is perhaps one of the nicest interior design jobs on the planet to be undertaken. What little princess doesn’t want a bedroom that looks like it is straight out of a fairytale castle? And the dressing up outfits to match of course. Here is my list of the best things to include when you make your little girl’s room fit for a princess:

 

  1. An incredible bed. A Cinderella carriage pulled by mice, a platform at the top of a tower or just gorgeous metal children’s beds draped in pretty muslin and piled high with frilly cushions.

  2. A fantasy mural. If you are handy with a paintbrush then why not create an imaginative scene across the bedroom walls complete with a knight in shining armour.

  3. A grown up dressing room. Every little girl wants to be just like Mummy so why not give her a dressing table with a heart shaped mirror and some sparkly fairy dust to sweep on her cheeks.

  4. Plenty of play space. For practising dance steps for the ball, dressing up in enormous frocks and entertaining ones loyal subjects at a royal tea party.

  5. Somewhere to stash her tiaras. A princess naturally has an enormous wardrobe of clothes so build in somewhere to house them along with all those matching shoes.

  6. Just the right bedding. Check out the range of comfortable pillows and bedding at Sleepmasters and make sure your little one doesn’t have a princess and the pea experience!

  7. Make a window feature. Princesses are always singing out of windows or talking to little birds in the nearby trees so set the scene with beautiful draped curtains and maybe a padded window seat too.

Filed Under: Decorating Tagged With: ,

Get The Oriental Bedroom Look

November 21, 2011 By Jake

Creating an oriental bedroom is the perfect way to redecorate a boring old room and bring it bang up to date. It doesn’t have to cost the earth either as with the help of a few well chosen accessories you can achieve a slick finish. Concentrate on starting with a blank canvas and introduce some of the following elements:

 

  1. Dark wood furniture. Dark or even black furniture with clean lines is the ideal way to move your interior scheme in the direction of the orient. For a real statement piece invest in an authentically decorated cabinet and make it a feature.

  2. The right colour scheme. Look out for deep pomegranate pink, rich jade green and opulent purples to offset the black furnishings perfectly.

  3. Patterns on purpose. China blue willow patterns, delicate pink cherry blossom and exotic bird motifs will all work well in an oriental scheme. Apply to walls, fabrics on beds or use framed artwork in smaller spaces.

  4. The bed frame says it all. http://sleepmasters.co.uk have a great range of beds to choose from so select the best one for you and pile it high with just the right bedding.

  5. Accessories will pull it all together. Look out for jade ornaments, oriental vases and even fans to decorate your room. Why not add a China tea set on a tray for a cute touch to the bedroom too.

  6. Be practical as well as stylish. Use decorated storage boxes to keep all you nick-knacks tidied away and further embellish the room.

  7. Get yourself in the oriental mood. A beautiful patterned kimono-style dressing gown on a hanger will be decorative, romantic and add a further dimension to this pretty bedroom.

  8. Arouse the senses. Scent the room with a spicy eastern scented candle or room spray and evoke the orient in an instant.
Filed Under: Decorating Tagged With: , ,

How to paint your bathroom

November 21, 2011 By Jake

 

If your bathroom needs a bit of a spruce up then one of the easiest ways to freshen it up a bit is to give it a new coat of paint. Make sure you take into consideration the following factors before you begin.

 

First, you should consider the colour scheme you wish to have. If you’re starting from scratch with a brand new bathroom then you can pick any colour you like, but if you are painting an existing bathroom then you’ll need to think about the colour of your bath, sink, toilet and so on, and consider what shade of paint will complement the existing colours.

 

If you decide you want to replace your bath and shower, you can start fresh with any colours you like. And for those decorating for elderly or disabled relatives, or if you are not so steady on your feet yourself, it could be worth considering mobility showers and baths from Mobility-plus.co.uk. Having a mobility shower or bath fitted now will save you doing this again in the future.

 

Once you have decided upon a colour scheme, you will need to make sure you purchase the right kind of paint. It goes without saying, but bathrooms are wet and therefore special considerations need to be made. Gloss paints are better than matte paints for the bathroom as they repel moisture more, and you can also find special types of mould and mildew resistant paints, which are idea if your bathroom is particularly damp and prone to these things.

 

Finally, make sure you have the correct tools for the job. For much of the bathroom, normal paint brushes and rollers will be fine, but for some areas you might need to purchase specific implements. For example, if you are painting between the toilet tank and the bathroom wall then you will probably need to purchase a skinny paint roller to do the job efficiently.

Filed Under: Decorating Tagged With: , , ,

Paint Your New Leaf

October 21, 2011 By Jake

There are times in our lives when all we want is a nice, fresh start. Sometimes the reasons are perhaps not as we’d wish such as a separation or family bereavement, sometimes it is just a case of time moving on like a grown up child leaving home and more often than not we just fancy a change. We move house, we get bored with our surroundings and we look for something new to inspire us.

 

One of the quickest and easiest ways to give your home a lift if you are trying to make a fresh start is to repaint the house from top to bottom. Start with the exterior and get all the woodwork and any rendered walls repainted so that your home looks brand new once more. The front door is particularly important – brighten your world with a bold colour, perhaps pillar box red, and smile at its cheeriness every time you come home.

 

Inside the house, repaint from the upstairs down, leaving the hall, landing and stairs until last. This will reduce the possibility of damage to recently dry paintwork caused by workmen coming in and out and moving furniture out of their way. Mattresses can be placed in the centre of the bedrooms and covered over, as can heavier pieces such as wardrobes. Keep it as simple as possible and only take small items out of each room as you get to it.

 

Sofa beds downstairs are great fun for a family sleepover in the front room while the bedrooms are completed and the smell of fresh paint disperses. Take this opportunity to change things around a bit and don’t be afraid to incorporate new colours into your world as you embark on the next part of the journey. Good luck as you turn over your new leaf, I wish you well.

Filed Under: Decorating Tagged With: , , , , ,

Grey Days are Great Days

October 20, 2011 By Jake

I have had enough of my pretty, floral bedroom and want to re-decorate in a style which is a bit more grown up, a bit less ‘girlie’ and well, just more sophisticated. I am also sharing the bedroom with one of those men who can’t stand fuss and frills so he is highly delighted to hear that the flounced pelmet’s days are numbered.

 

Having researched some ideas I have decided to give grey a whirl. Now this may sound like a crazy idea, but actually when you start to look into it, grey is one of those tones which gets overlooked but can be stunning if used in the right way. The central piece for the design is our existing bed which has a highly polished steel bed frame – you see, grey beds do exist! The surface is reflective and looks beautiful when properly lit and will be the perfect dominant feature.

 

For the walls I am going for soft pearly grey wallpaper which has a sheen to it that almost looks lilac. The colour this will bring to the room will save it from feeling cold, and the texture in the paper will add another dimension. Double beds always look at their most inviting when piled high with throws and cushions, and here it is no exception with faux fur, chunky knitted pieces and satins all mixed together to create a luxury look. Crisp white bed linen underpins this comfort for a sophisticated hotel experience right in your own home.

 

Finishing off with mirrored boudoir-style bedside tables and a dressing table to match and the only non-reflective piece in the room is the wardrobe. Tiny lights bring the whole scheme together and the finished result is better than I ever could have imagined. Perfect for early nights now the winter is drawing in!

Filed Under: Decorating Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Interior Design Current Trends

October 19, 2011 By Jake

Interior design can turn your house into a home and doesn’t have to be done to the extreme. After all, nobody wants to risk claiming on their accidental damage insurance! A clever piece of design can also make a small room seem bigger, and a dark room look brighter.

Current trends are bringing forward old ideas modernised astutely for today…a hint of classic with an embrace of colourful schemes.

Neon shades combined with neutral colours can create a significant visual impact in the bedroom. So, dare to clash some fluorescent yellow, green, blue or pink against some elegant combinations of black and grey, black and silver, white and gold, white and black, brown and black, and so on. The striking colours need to be balanced out with more calming colours in order to create a unique yet relaxed atmosphere.

Mixed textures are also very “in” at the moment, along with prints. Finding the right balance, though, is simply essential. A good example of mixed textures is a bare bricked wall against wooden floor boards. However, too many different textures will ruin a room. You should also remember before stripping your floor boards bare to check your home insurance quote carefully just in case you need to make a claim!

You could also try to mix more than one texture with more than one print but this, 99 times out of 100, tends not to work.

One of the most popular mixtures of prints at the moment is stripes against florals, while you could even mix a combination of prints against a neutral colour. This works just as well.

Another trend that could be focused upon during your bedroom redesign is style, using minimalistic interior with accent furniture.

A chaise lounge works great as an accent piece, and you could integrate prints on it by adding cushions.

There are many trends in vogue in bedroom design today, mixing and clashing being the focus at the moment, but remember it is up to you to let your creativity shine through and create a décor to fit your personality and your home.

Filed Under: Decorating

What to keep in mind when renovating a new house

October 7, 2011 By Jake

With the housing market as it is many people are looking to move up the ladder by purchasing a larger property than their current home, but one which needs a lot of work doing to it. If you decide to do this then you need to be prepared for a lot of hard work unless you are fortunate enough to have the budget to get everything done straight away. The ideal approach would be to do the work whilst you are not living in the house as this obviously gives you a better chance of getting a clear run at it. There is nothing worse than trying to carry on with normal life minus a kitchen or bathroom for any length of time.

 

If your new house needs starting from scratch and you are able to at least start the renovations whilst you live elsewhere then a new kitchen has got to be a priority. Keeping the family fed will help them get through most things! Choose your kitchen cabinets with care as you will have to live with them for a long time. Make sure you are happy with the style and design you have gone for, and most importantly that it suits the building.

 

Quality kitchens are an expensive investment, and by the time you add in all the appliances, gadgets and finishing touches you might require the whole room can cost a small fortune. The good news is that this kind of expense is likely to add value to your new property so you can comfort yourself that you are planning for your financial future and not just shopping!

 

Above all, enjoy yourself. Renovating this home might be the biggest project you ever take on and you might be there for many years enjoying the results of all your hard work.

Filed Under: Decorating, DIY: Household, Kitchen Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »