Guest Post: How to Choose the Perfect Blinds to Modernize Your Home

16 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, Guest Posts

Tags

bamboo, blinds, curtains, decor, design, diy, eco friendly, home, home decor, light, modern, roller bilnds, tone, venetian blinds, windows, wood, wood blinds

From their easy fitting to their ability to control tone and light, blinds provide an excellent way to modernize your home. Moreover, they can provide essential solutions to establishing an overall decoration scheme, while updating your fittings to be more environmentally sound, and making the most of the space. It’s important to look at the different kinds of blinds that you can use, from horizontal Venetian blinds to UPVC vertical blinds, as well as single fabric roller and Roman blinds. With the multiple options available for those looking to update the feel of their home, it’s worth considering how each of these blinds will provide different but complementary effects.

Choosing the Right Kind of Blinds
First, you must think about what kind of blinds best suit your home and the ways in which you want to create a modern look. Vertical UPVC blinds are particularly recommended for creating a minimalist look, and are ideal for kitchens and bathrooms. However, horizontal wooden Venetian blinds work well for creating a relaxed atmosphere in studies and living rooms, and can also work well in bedrooms. Roller blinds are similarly effective as single pieces of fabric that can be decorated to tie into your overall decor.

The Best Blinds for Managing Tone and Light
You need to think about the best way of managing color, tone and light in your home and how it will contribute to an updated, modern style. Roller and Roman blinds that use high quality fabrics and insulating materials are recommended if you want to use striking or more understated colors, while single color vertical or horizontal blinds can blend in with the tone of wallpaper.

In terms of managing the amount of light passing into a room, easily adjusted UPVC and horizontal blinds are excellent at making small changes to a room’s atmosphere. By contrast, roller blinds can be easily removed from view, or converted into black out blinds if you want to create a more striking look.

Contributing to an Overall Decor
The perfect blind should contribute to an overall decor, and should be consistent with the look of a particular room. Kitchen blinds should consequently be lighter, using UPVC materials and horizontal slats to best let in light, while bathroom blinds should have the option for complete blackout for privacy. If you want to create a minimalist and modern look for your home, using these kind of simple blinds can ensure a clean finish. By contrast, heavier Roman fabric and wooden Venetian blinds are effective if you want to establish a rustic look for living rooms and bedrooms.

Being Eco Friendly
A modern home should take eco friendly materials and appliances into consideration as part of an overall commitment to recycling. As well as eco lighting and LEDs around the home, blinds can be chosen to provide the perfect blend of style and environmental strengths. Vertical and horizontal blinds can be purchased in materials like bamboo, woven polyester and honeycomb. These materials are naturally sourced and designed to be long lasting and resistant to dirt, while improving insulation and protecting from UV rays.

Maximizing Space
The best blinds are capable of enhancing the space in your home, and work particularly well for rooms with low ceilings. Vertical blinds work well at lengthening a room when combined with high bed posts and mirrors. Roman and roller blinds that can be removed from view during the day will also let in more light and open out the room. Skylight blinds fitted in conservatories and to windows in bedrooms can also work well to maximize the space in a room.

{Writing in coordination with Web Blinds, Christina Appleworth reviews the process of choosing the most perfect blinds to modernize your home. Christina’s passion is creative writing but when not writing she enjoys DIY design and modernizing her own home!}

Anatomy of an Invite

06 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Advice & Inspiration, Invites & Save the Dates, Wedding Decor Ideas, Weddings

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antique, art, bridal shower, bride, cottage chic, decor, design, earth, engagement party, events, farm, gray star design, groom, natural, nature, save the dates, seating cards, stamps, table charts, table numbers, vintage, wedding decor, wedding invites, weddings

Wedding invites are supposed to be one of the fun things about planning a wedding. Along with the save the dates, they allow your guests to take a sneak peak into your special day and help build anticipation to attend. Personally, I think they are one of the most important pieces in tying your theme together and really should make sense when it comes to your wedding’s decor.

Although everyone has different tastes and styles, I think we can all agree that getting an invitation in the mail for an event, whatever it may be, is exciting excited. Being a designer, I get all happy just to see how they are designed. I can’t help analyzing its elements and typography and grade how it’s all put together. Using my inside voice of course. And yes, a lot of the time I find a few things I would have done differently. All the more reason I am in the design field. Alas, not everyone has a keen eye for design

Since I am launching new designs in my Etsy shop, most of which will be for events such as weddings, I thought it was fitting to write a post on the anatomy of an invite ,and include some extras, to share what to include and how to showcase different elements. The main thing to remember is the final piece should represent your event and have a cohesive look. I decided to use mine as a reference so lets get started!

First, you should treat the envelopes will care just as much as you do with the invite. Think of it as the door people will open before they step inside your home. You want it to be clean and beautiful showcasing your guests name in decorative type on nice paper. Featuring special stamps surely add a nice touch. And there are a bunch of different types of packaging you can use as well so don’t feel you have to settle for an basic envelope. Basically, you don’t want it to look like an everyday piece of mail.

The thing to look out for, and this is a no no for sure in my book, is using a font or handwriting that people can’t read. Whether you are having calligraphy done or choosing to print the names and addresses, its important that the mail carriers and your guests can read it. I think this is probably where a lot of people go wrong. They want a fancy looking envelope but just go a little too far. If the designer who worked with them felt it was good to go, then I question their typography skills.

I chose to use the font featured on our invites so they would match. Plus, I am in love with the one I used, so pretty and organic. The envelopes were textured recycled taupe which was made sense since our day represented a natural style and eco-friendly feel. The vintage floral stamps purchased on Etsy really brought the whole thing together. I bought all different ones so not all the invites were the same and also mixed in some recent stamps to mix it up.

For the back we used a custom stamp we had made with our names and address. Just from the envelope alone, one can clearly see our wedding day was going to be nature inspired and peaceful, which is was.

The invites were 2 pieces of recycled sand speckled paper that I joined together by a little button clasp in the top left corner. It was important to me to use earth friendly materials and have an overall natural vintage look. Since our wedding was on a farm held during a Sunday afternoon, I also made sure the invite carried a soft and light style to mirror daylight as apposed to a fancier evening wedding.

The front piece was created with various patterns and digital stitching to look like a quilt. I used a needlepoint font that stayed within that feel and included the two other fonts I used for the info piece. So in total I chose three fonts for the invite which I used throughout all the decor for the wedding. This kept the theme cohesive and helped all the decor flow with each other.

The addition of the key represents the vintage key Dan gave me on our anniversary before we were engaged. It opened the small treasure chest I would eventually be given on the night he proposed. It’s little things like this that make an invite really special. Heartfelt and personal, this tiny key is a gesture of our engagement.

The inside piece included all the information our guests would need to know about our wedding day. I wanted the text to show our love for the Earth and animals and including small decorative illustrations of natural elements helped carry along that message. I used two fonts and laid them out so the invite was easy to read as well as interesting. Playing with typography is one of my favorite things to do and I feel that clearly shows in the invites. The addition of the blue lace was also used on other decor and was introduced here for that reason.

Since it was a casual spring wedding, we let people know the dress code with a little poem, Let Spring Inspire Your Attire, hoping they understand that suits and formal gowns were definitely not fit for the day. And to stick with our eco-friendly theme, we chose to use an online RSVP instead which could be found on our wedding blog. From the invites alone, Dan and I were represented well. One can see that our wedding was truly about us and not just having an event to have it.

I also included directions so everyone would know how to get to the venue, along with the contact information. I was happy to get positive responses from guests about how nice the invites looked. It made me happy to know that all my hard work paid off. Having done all the design work for the event, it got stressful at times. Especially, since we had just bought a house less than 3 months before. But in the end, I am happy I pulled it off and learned from the experience.

Here are some of the other items I designed for our special day. I created the table numbers to match the invite, you can now purchase these at my Etsy shop and instead of seating cards I decided to go with seating charts to save paper. I hung these on linen ribbon between two vintage shovels at the entrance. Notice how they all flow nicely with each other and fit into our theme.

And for the pre-wedding items like the save the dates, wedding site and bridal shower invites, I tried to have them represent the same style but show different elements. Dan and I threw our engagement party for friends at our old apartment and didn’t want it to be a big deal. So for that I saved trees and sent everyone an evite. You can see more about the party in my post, Decorating Your Way to a Great Party.

The save the dates I designed as a vintage postcard which featured one of our photos from the engagement shoot on the front. It also included our wedding site info so our guests could look into the details of our special day. Since they were 4×6 postcards, we were able to save a little money on the postage as well.

Our wedding site was a blog I put together to showcase all the things our guests could look forward to on our wedding day. Besides info on the all vegetarian menu, I included a bio on our dj, photographer, videographer and officiant. Most of all were friends and people we knew. I made sure to share the story of how Dan and I met with updates on our lives as well as our engagement story. People could also find our registry and RSVP on the site too. Everyone in one place!

I opted to take a break and purchase the bridal shower invites instead of designing them. I know its tradition to have it be a surprise but in my case it made more sense to know about it and help with the planning. Both my Mother and maid of honor, Meg, live in New Jersey so to make it easier on everyone I just had the shower at my house. Since we just moved in a few months earlier it was nice to have everyone over to check it out, especially since we didn’t have a house warming party.

I wanted the invite to showcase pastels being it was April and I loved the fun and modern feel of the Jolie design on Minted so I went with that. I liked the bonsai stamps because they included nature and for the envelope info I printed a casual but pretty font on the front. I chose April 22nd, which was Earth Day, so it truly would be a nod to what I love. The day turned out very nice and I was so happy to hang with all the ladies in my life. Here are a few photos from the day:

I had such a great experience during the wedding planning process. Having put together so much myself is really an accomplishment and I am pleased with how it all turned out. I am sure you can understand the excitement I feel knowing I can help others with their special events whether it be through design or planning, especially since I just went through the whole process myself. I look forward to doing business with other couples and really make their “dream” day come true.

Coastal Cottage

19 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, The Home

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antique, beach, blue, botanicals, coastal, color, cottage, decor, decorating, design, flowers, gray, green, interior design, ivory, lavender, nature, nautical, neutrals, pastels, pink, plaid, purple, rustic, shabby chic, style, texture, vintage, weathered, wood, yellow

Summer brings the warm sun and nature’s beautiful colors. It also brings a breathe of fresh air to a lot of people who love the heat so beaches, parks and lakes are most popular during this season. I personally love beaches, just not in the summer. I always thought the cooler months really brought out the beauty in coastal scenery. When its hot, some of the personality that clear skies and cool breezes brings out in the water and the surroundings is just hidden.

When I think of the water and the vast sea, usually the first thing that comes to mind is relaxation and a calmness. The bluest of nature is the star. When I think of some styles of decor, there is only one that comes to mind that I feel is comfy, soothing and natural as nature and nautical surroundings. That is surely cottage style.

It’s not surprise I love this style. Not only do I represent it in every room of my home it clearly is showcased in a lot of my design work as well. Over the years I have grown to love this style with all my heart. It is where I feel most calm. So I combined my two loves into a style Mother Nature would love herself – Coastal Cottage. Such a great combination.

To successfully create this style in your home there are a few things to remember. When you are choosing colors, let nature lead the way. Pastel blues, greens, pink and purples are just a few of the many hues that are popular. A sunny yellow in the kitchen, a lavender in the bedroom and a blue inspired by dusk for the living room are just a few examples. Always include darker tones that are inspired from nature to help weigh down the space such as warm browns and cool grays. These all help to maintain a peaceful environment.

When deciding on furniture, look for unique pieces that tell a story. Vintage finds play the perfect role in a cottage style space. Warm woods, soft and comfy cushions, patterns and subtle texture; these all help bring the style together. You want your pieces to feel weathered and rustic while showing craftmanship and strength. This allows them to bring character and personality to the space and help it feel lived in and comfortable.

Accessories are very important because they allow for a cohesive design and help bring your personality to the table. You want them to feel handpicked and important. Textiles such as curtains, tablecloths, blankets and upholstery are key elements here. By showcasing plaids, stripes and botanical prints the cottage style will come alive. Don’t forget to include plants of all types. They will add that natural touch every style needs.

Be careful about bringing too much nautical in because you don’t want the room to feel like you are the captain of a ship or the preppy kids took over. If so, you can kiss the cottage mix goodbye. You also want to watch the colors you add to the space because using too many reds, blues and greens may bring in that Americana feel. And although that is somewhat incorporated into the cottage style, its not the star. It can easily overwhelm the space and give it a completely different look.

And for all the fun details in between, have fun and make it yours. These next few photos are great examples of this style. Get inspired by this unique look and let it fill your heart with glee. I do everyday.

Make it Modern

16 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

chairs, decor, design, furniture, lighting, mod, modern, regency shop, sputnik style light, wicker, wooden double bench

I came across this cool chair from this store, Regency Shop, so I looked around and found a few more modern items I thought were pretty rad. If you like this style than you will love these pieces of furniture.

I saw these chairs and just wanted to snuggle up in my backyard and camp out for the night. How nice would it be to stare at the stars in these? I am a huge fan of wicker so that already sold me but the fact they are so big was a plus as well.

This bench is simple and sleek with tons of texture and style. It would be great set at a table or even in a foyer.

You can’t get any more mod than this light fixture. Besides a dining room, you can give your living room or bedroom a 70s feel and incorporate this sputnik inspired piece for some fun.