Guest Post: Seasonal Decorating Ideas

07 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, Guest Posts, The Home

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books, card garland, christmas, Decorating Ideas, diy, holiday, leaves, ornaments, Poles Direct, Shehla Ali, snowflakes, snowglobe, snowman, tinsel, traditional, tree

When it comes to seasonal decorating everyone wants a stylish and sleek look, not the usual commercial over the top presentation. Here are few ideas you can try during this holiday season.

If you always put your decorations in the same place then why not rearrange things. It’s fun and won’t cost you anything.

Instead of having the traditional Christmas tree why not use books to make one. It really is easy and more modern. Just pile on layers of books making the piles smaller length wise on top. Once you have accomplished this, then wrap Christmas lights around it.

Photo Credit: Neatorama

Cut bits of tinsel and tie it on chairs at home. If you have a floor lamp then use that for Christmas décor too.

Use warm colors in your home. This does not mean you have to redecorate everything, just tiny adjustments will enhance your room and give it a seasonal effect. Instead of new carpet or flooring add a rug that will compliment the color of your floor.

If you’ve run out of room because there is too much décor, try taking extra ornaments and hang them on interior curtain poles.
Guest Post: Seasonal Decorating Ideas
Photo Credit: (left) Cozy Little House (right) Free Home Decorating Ideas

Create a display for all your Christmas cards. Stick a piece of string on one of your walls and hang the cards on them rather than causing clutter.

Photo Credit: Summer Holiday Vintage

Pick up leaves or cut out snowflakes and put them in glass frames and display them around the house.

Take an old jar and put fake snow inside of it to create a holiday globe. Include a festive icon such as a snowman or a christmas tree and you’ve created a wonderful decoration.

Photo Credit: Worley’s Lighting

When you have finished snuggle up with a cosy blanket, light some candles and enjoy your Christmas.

{Shehla Ali has written this article on behalf of Poles Direct, a supplier of curtain rods in the UK.}

Guest Post: Different Ways to Add Wooden Features to Your Home

28 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, Guest Posts, The Home

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diy, foreign countries, home, Natasha Alatassi, natural element, ornaments, rustic, Travels, wood, Wooden Floors, Wooden Furniture

Depending on your personal taste, you might love wooden features as much as I do. I think it can give a home a really natural look and adds a rustic feel to décor. However, unless you want to put lots of bonsai trees and tall plants in your house, it’s not easy to incorporate your love of nature in your interior design ideas.

That’s why I’ve come up with a few ideas on how you can do this – without making your property look like a jungle!

Bring Back Ornaments from Your Travels
My love of travelling allows me to combine a lot of my interests, and although you may not initially assume going on long-haul holidays does this, it enables me to express my character in my interior design plans. This is because you can pick up lots of knick knacks, pictures and ornaments from foreign countries, and I love bringing home lots of wooden features.

No matter where you go, you’re bound to find lots of carvings and picture frames made out of wood. I can’t tell you how many statues, masks and boxes I have from all over the world featured around my house. This is a great way to add a natural element to your property and it also gives you lots of things to talk about with guests when they compliment one of your findings. If you have items from lots of the countries you’ve visited, you’ll have several conversation starters to use with your friends.

Photo Credit: Flickr – Riz

Buy Wooden Furniture
Perhaps the most obvious way to add wooden objects in your home (apart from putting lots of small trees in your house, which is often not a suitable option!) is to buy new furniture. It can be easy these days to pick up inexpensive pieces for our home. However, if it’s authentic wooden features you’re looking for, you may have to expect to pay a higher rate to get good-quality wood.

Having said this, you don’t have to replace these items of furniture as often as you would metal, plastic or a lower-standard of wood because they are built to last. Therefore, you could see your oak dining table or mahogany bureau enduring many years.

Photo Credit: West Elm

Photo Credit: Pottery Barn

Install Wooden Floors
If you really want a rustic look to your house, I recommend installing wooden floors. These fit well in a manner of properties, from old Victorian houses, where wooden floor boards were typical at the time, to modern homes.

Photo Credit: Floortex Design

Those who are quite good at DIY might want to try rescuing the original wooden floor if you have one but I think it’s far easier to get new solid wood or engineered wood flooring fitted. This way, you don’t have to worry about any rotten or loose floor boards, as everything is brand new and looks smooth and stylish. You can choose from a variety of wood floors and have many options when it comes to color and style. You can even select ones that look aged to give your period property an authentic appearance. In fact, if it was me, I wouldn’t tell anyone your new floor wasn’t an original feature and I bet they wouldn’t be able to guess otherwise!

Photo Credit: West Elm

{Natasha Alatassi specializes in writing about home interiors and DIY on behalf of Ryder International.}

Restoration Blues

24 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, Guest Posts, James Harper, The Home

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diy, home, interior design, Momentum, restoration

Taking on a home restoration project is a lot of work; when you move in to a period home, it’s easy to be enthusiastic about the potential – you can imagine what the home will look like once you have an authentic looking (but still suitably modern and luxurious) kitchen, an exquisite period fireplace, and historically faithful, heavy and imposing period doors. Your home, you tell yourself, will be a mini mansion. All it will take is a bit of research and elbow grease.

Sadly, that initial enthusiasm rarely lasts for the whole project. Before you move in to the house, you’ll fix the floorboards, replace and re-paint the oak skirting, seal the windows, and do all of the critical work, but as the job drags on, your energy levels will naturally wane.

Photo Credit: Mark F. Levisay

Keeping the Momentum Going
For most people, the lack of energy isn’t down to a lack of interest, or laziness; far from it! The problem, put simply, is real life getting in the way. While it’s easy to devote a weekend or two to fixing up your skirting boards and sourcing authentic looking period doors, it takes far longer to re-do the entire bathroom, or source the right tiles to sort out your roof. If you have a full time job, finding the time and energy to take on another full time job in the form of home restoration is almost impossible.

Once your home gets up to a “liveable” level, you can be forgiven for thinking “I’ll get to it later” when it comes to the more time consuming tasks. So, how can you break out of the restoration blues?

Inspire Yourself
Many people invest in a period home, or a classical barn, and restore it piece by piece based on their mental image of what the place should look like. Instead of relying on your imagination, why not invest in some computer aided design software so that you can see a “real” version of your home in front of you. This will help you to stay motivated, and understand that while you’re “almost there”, your home will look even more awesome when it’s done.

Remove Access
If you’re prone to making excuses such as “Well, I don’t have the marble for the fireplace yet”, or “I haven’t sourced an appropriate cistern so there’s no point doing the rest of the bathroom”, sort that out. Take a trip to a local architectural reclamation yard and find the bits and pieces that you need. Buy as many of them as you can afford – if you spot a good deal on roof tiles that match the ones for your home, get them. If you have everything you need to finish your restoration, and it’s all taking up space in the garage, you should be more likely to finish the work.

Another good way to encourage yourself to get working on your home is to start a blog about the restoration process. Once you start posting progress photographs and diaries, you will have people asking how the work is going; public accountability can be a great motivator!

Written by James Harper on behalf of UK Oak Doors

Creating a Designer Kitchen on a Budget

19 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, Guest Posts, James Harper, The Home

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appliances, cabinets, Caple, color, design, diy, floor models, Frigidaire, General Electric, home, interior design, james harper, kitchen, Kitchen Appliance Centre, redesign, refurbish, shopping, sinks, vintage

The average custom kitchen can cost upwards of $20,000, but in this poor economy not many people can afford to spend that much. If you’re willing to put in some sweat equity, you can have the designer kitchen you want without blowing your budget.

Add a Splash of Color
Bold, bright colors are everywhere; candy-apple reds, sunny yellows, and rich, warm tones are very popular in appliances. Electrical stores and kitchen specialists offer a huge range of products to suit all budgets, look for established brands Neff, Zanussi and Caple and do your research to find top of the line products. Buying your appliances from a discount outlet will give you the high end look you want at a much lower price.

As an alternative to spending thousands on an appliance that will have a permanent place in your kitchen, consider buying changeable panels for your dishwasher, stove and refrigerator. Other less expensive options include freestanding appliances in bright colors, changing lighting fixtures, adding a bright splashback, or re-facing cabinetry and changing hardware. These smaller projects can cost less than $100, but make a big impact.

Photo Credit: Kitchen Cabinet Design Ideas

Refurbish Vintage Pieces
Today’s less structured looks can be achieved at a lower cost by taking some styling cues from your family room. Get the look by using different finishes on furniture-style cabinetry; a cheap way to do it is to refurbish old pieces like dressers, armoires, and even rolling carts to create additional storage. For even more personalization, incorporate architectural pieces from the salvage yard.

Photo Credit: Ghoofie Design

Buy Floor Models
Manufacturers such as General Electric, Frigidaire and Caple frequently have stock that’s been slightly damaged; in most cases, the “damage” is a slight scratch that you won’t even see once the appliance is in place. Buying from scratch-and-dent stores or getting a floor or demo model can give you the kitchen you want without breaking the bank.

Shop Smart
Other kitchen necessities can be bought on the cheap as well. Caple sinks, custom cabinets, granite countertops and flooring made of bamboo and other materials are all widely available from discounters both in-store and online. With all the options available, it can be hard to find the look you want at a cost you can afford–online comparison-shopping tools make the process much easier.

Do the Work Yourself
Some of you may be reluctant to get your hands dirty, but going the DIY route can help you get a designer-look kitchen without the designer price tag. Installing your own countertops and splashbacks will give you a tremendous sense of accomplishment (and a fatter wallet). Of course, your pricing will vary depending on the products you choose, but you’ll definitely save on labor.

Photo Credit: CabFabLab