Kitchen Decorating Is Easy To Do
June 14, 2007
Kitchen decor themes can turn a dull kitchen into a beautiful living space. Being the central gathering place for family and friends, the right theme can make any occasion a memorable event.
Kitchen decorating can be bright and simple or with a little more work can become a great conversation piece. Because you spend so much time in your kitchen decorating to suit your taste is very important for long lasting enjoyment.
One of the more important aspects of kitchen decor themes is creating areas of open space. Next, large counter tops with easy to clean surfaces are always a good idea. And picking materials for the floor which are both beautiful and durable belong in anyone’s modern kitchen.
Kitchen decor themes have many advantages but be sure you give plenty of time for careful planning and thoughtful consideration for a kitchen that is stylish and functions properly according to your families needs.
Kitchen design themes can be made to fit anyone’s taste and budget. Here are some of the more common themes:
Antique Kitchen Themes Home Sweet Home Kitchen Themes Bright Colors Kitchen Themes Country Kitchen Themes Italian Kitchen Themes Grape Kitchen Themes Rooster Kitchen Themes Mexican Kitchen Themes
Light Up Your Life
June 13, 2007
A house or any particular room can be carefully planned, well thought out and perfectly executed but without the proper lighting it never really comes to life. A perfect example is a tile back splash in a kitchen. Without some nice under cabinet lighting to show it off it never really reaches it’s potential as an eye opener.
As you plan each room there are three basic forms of lighting. General Lighting - which is the light you need in a room to function. A means to safely navigate the room in the dark of night. Accent Lighting - light that highlights a particular item or items of importance to you or the room design. Task lighting - light that serves a function related to a particular task or area where work is performed.
A kitchen benefits most from all three forms of lighting in most cases. Recessed lighting combined with a pendant or two and possibly a ceiling fan can provide the general lighting. Under cabinet lighting serves two functions. It acts as Task lighting for working on the countertop as well as Accent lighting to highlight that beautiful countertop and back splash. Additional accent lighting can be added in glass cabinets, which really brings them to life. In some cases where crown molding is installed and there is space above some cove lighting can create a wonderful effect and ambience to a room.
Your Home is Your Symphony
June 12, 2007
“Dr. Carl Sagan once wrote, “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” Although Dr. Sagan was commenting on the wonders to be found in the vastness of outer space, there are also incredible design possibilities just waiting to be discovered right in your own home. In fact, your home’s overall design represents a symphony, and the individual design details are the musical notes you use to compose the melody and harmony for the symphony of your living space.
Your home should always bolster feelings of happiness, serenity, and comfort, and once you’re aware of a few simple rules, composing a home symphony that supports positive emotions and encourages joyful living is easy.
Begin composing your symphony by choosing the color of your walls. All of your home’s colors should harmonize, both inside and out. Once you’ve chosen your exterior colors, bring subtle shades of those same colors inside, using them as accents throughout your home. Harmonize your colors with ones you see in the natural world surrounding your house. Use colors that blend with the lighting from the natural environment and support a feeling of serenity and cheerfulness.
Creating Your Joyful Home: Inspiration to Make a Home Planning Journal
June 11, 2007
If you are planning a home makeover or remodeling project, here are some ideas to help you.
Inspiration to make a home planning journal from “Joy to the Home Planner:”
“Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context — a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.” - Eliel Saarinen (Finnish Architect)
Declaration of Intent
Form your unique design plan encompassing your entire home, from the first glimpse, all the way throughout your home, and to the far reaches of the back patio, garden, or yard.
Think about the feelings you want to bring about: joy, peace, comfort, and contentment. Add in ease, simplicity, and economy. Start with your feelings and the emotions you want to bring about for yourself and those you share your home with.
Write down your ideas. Start with your desired emotion and expand until you create your personal design goal. Something like this:
“I desire peace. I want my home to sing in perfect harmony with the universe. I need to encourage nature’s music of bird songs and plan a birdbath.”
Home Decorating: Planning Lightning
June 10, 2007
When you are choosing a bathroom light fixtures or lightning for any room in your home, the first thing to take into account is how that room will be used and, thus, the type of lightning you will need. Light is very important in a room, because it affects colors and makes them seem lighter or darker.
Natural light from windows will change the appearance of colors at different times of the day ? enlivening them in the morning sun and gradually toning them down as the day progresses.
Artificial lights also affect the colors in a room, making them look lighter or darker. They can also play tricks with colors, sometimes causing dramatic changes a, literally the flick a switch.
Lamps are the most popular choice of lights today and are easy to install, a homeowner can accomplish this by himself in just a few hours. They are a very important part of any home that will beautify and add warmth and elegance for every room in your home.
The possibilities for using home lighting are endless when considering light fixtures to decorate your home and the fun and satisfaction of decorating the interior of your home by yourself will be rewarding.
Creating Your Joyful Home: Dawning of Your Emotions
June 9, 2007
“I keep the subject of my inquiry constantly before me, and wait till the first dawning opens gradually, by little and little, into a full and clear light.”
-Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
Creating a joyful home requires careful planning in order to choose the perfect interior design details. When you understand the underlying psychology of colors, patterns, textures, and finishes, you avoid costly mistakes in decorating your home.
In planning your home makeover, start with the feelings you want to bring about in each space. Consider your personal emotional needs. Think about the way you currently feel in your home and the way you want to feel.
Not all of your desired feelings need stimulation in every space. For instance, you may want your child’s bedroom to inspire creativity and your main bedroom to inspire intimacy, while your whole home inspires comfort, peace, and joy.
Choose from the following emotional groups you desire to inspire in your home:
1. Happiness, Joyfulness, Cheerfulness
2. Peace, Serenity, Tranquility
3. Elation, Excitement, Enthusiasm
4. Humor, Congeniality, Playfulness
5. Fantasy, Inspiration
The Secret to Your Home?s Interior Design
June 9, 2007
The secret to your home’s interior design is Love.
If you love yourself, you create a home for your happiness.
If you love your family and friends, you create a home for their happiness.
The next step of love is to be grateful for your home. Gratitude lays the foundation for creating glorious spaces to share your love.
The final aspect of love is joy. Homes designed for joyful living are not decorated for prestige and show; homes designed for gracious living are decorated for happiness and the joy of life!
Interior Design Psychology Tips for Decorating Your Home with Love
1. Don’t clutter your home with too much decorating. The important accessory in your home is you and your family or friends. Select quality furnishings for comfort, beauty, function, and emotional support.
2. Create spaces that support your emotional well-being and productivity. Determine the activity of a space and choose design details that support this use. For instance, soft gray walls in home offices give support for creative writing while slate blue striped walls offer organized tranquility.
3. Give tribute to your family heritage. Honor your ancestors by using design details that tie to your sense of tradition.
An Interview with Design Psychology Expert Jeanette Fisher
June 8, 2007
Interview with Jeanette Fisher by Gary Anderson, of www.abciowa.com
GA: Jeanette, just what is Design Psychology?
JJF: Simply put, Design Psychology empowers you to create a fabulous home that sustains your emotions, using techniques based on science. Design Psychology turns spaces into happy places.
GA: How is Design Psychology different from “traditional” interior design?
JJF: Our senses react to many other factors besides those of basic interior design, even though those factors can profoundly affect our emotions and happiness. Design Psychology addresses elements that interior design doesn’t take into consideration.
GA: What’s the difference between Design Psychology and Feng Shui?
JJF: The two concepts are compatible, and homeowners can use both Feng Shui and Design Psychology to enhance their homes. However, I believe that Design Psychology is superior to Feng Shui, because Feng Shui is based on superstition, while Design Psychology draws its concepts from science.
GA: How did you discover Design Psychology?
Decorating on a Budget - 15 Easy Steps
June 7, 2007
Many years ago I was told that the least expensive way to redecorate is to rearrange what you have. It was one of the best decorating suggestions I’ve ever had-not to mention the one that can be the most fun to implement. How can you beat it? A new room-practically free! You get such a feeling of satisfaction when you accomplish something spectacular using your imagination and what you already have.
Of course, like many suggestions there is a good way to do this and one that isn’t quite so satisfactory. So here’s a step by step.
1. Choose the room you want to give a new look.
2. Decide on the type of change you would like. Do you want it brighter, lighter, more sophisticated, or more casual? Do you want to give it a contemporary flavor or make it a bit exotic?
3. Take a good look at what is in the room and decide what doesn’t fit the new look/theme that you chose. What is worn out, out of place or out of proportion?
Color Help: Color Imagery for Happy Homes
June 6, 2007
Color researchers have estimated that up to 70% of our subconscious reactions to people and environments are based solely on our reactions to color. With that in mind, it’s important that you give special attention to the effects you want to create when choosing the color schemes for the interior spaces in your home.
Color is a visual experience that influences our psychological reality. The way the mind perceives the colors our eyes see is called color imagery, and that mental image profoundly affects our emotions and physical comfort. Colors call out to our feelings and create the emotional atmosphere within a room.
So always begin your color deliberations by asking yourself what feelings you want to evoke in a particular room. Give thought to the purpose of the room. For instance, bathrooms should be retreats for cleansing rituals. In that light, what colors come to mind? Refreshing, blues, greens, creamy white, or your childhood bathroom color? Envision a Florida spring, tropical lagoon, or mountain waterfall. Expand on your joyful memories by adding colors that work for you.
