The Importance Of Lighting In Interior Design

How you light your house is an important part of redecorating. A change in the lighting can change how the room is viewed. Lighting interior design contributes greatly to the look and feel of a room. There are many types of lighting which can be used in various rooms. We are no longer restricted to a few lamps around the room.

Ambient lighting is a hidden light source that washes the room with a glow. This creates very few shadows and tends to flatten a room. Japanese paper lanterns and wall sconces both produce ambient lighting. For temporary ambient effects, use a dimmer with your ordinary lighting.

Accent lighting provides interest to a room. This method of lighting interior design highlights and object or architectural feature. To use accent lighting, you only need a bulb and a shield to direct the light to the desired focus. Halogen spotlights and opaquely shaded table lamps both provide accent lighting.

Another kind of lighting used in interior design is task lighting. This is a more practical lighting strategy, highlighting an area for daily activities such as reading, cooking, and sewing. Effective task lighting prevents eyes strain and helps with the performance of vital activities. The kitchen is a particularly good place to incorporate task lighting in your interior design. Task lighting sources should be unobtrusive and shielded to prevent glare. Task lighting can be effectively combined with accent lighting to produce lovely effects.

Some lighting can be a work of art in and of itself. Aesthetic lighting is purely decorative, such as a neon sculpture or a spotlight illuminating a statue or painting. This type of lighting must not be used alone, but accompanied by other lighting strategies in your interior design.

Of course, no survey of lighting interior design would be complete without a mention of natural light. Rooms can be arranged to take advantage of the position of the sun at different times of day. This type of lighting is also called kinetic lighting because the light from outside moves. It is one of the less reliable types, as it is affected by the seasons and the weather, but natural lighting can produce an effect unequaled by any artificial light source when used properly.

Lighting is an important tool in your design collection. The way you do your lighting interior design affects the perception of any room. Lighting is also versatile. Using several strategies at once in a room allows you to turn any of them off, changing the look and feel with the flick of a switch. This can be effective for creating different moods in different rooms at night.

Storing And Displaying Your Jewelry

Do you have trouble trying to store jewelery without it getting all tangled, earrings separated from each other, tipping out your whole jewelery box just to find one piece of jewelery?? Well here are some tips for on storing your jewelery in a neat and decorative fashion.

Designing and selling jewelery both on a website and from home I need to be able to display my earrings in an organised and professional manner - I hope you can find some inspiration from the ideas below.

* Store earrings (hooks) around a wine glass for an instant neat and decorative look.

* A long string of pearls across the top of your mirror and hang your earrings in the gaps.

* A small storage box from the hardware shop, the ones that have little draws for nails etc. There are 16 draws so you know exactly where everything is.

* Store earrings on a long piece of ribbon and tack the ends onto the back of a dresser/wardrobe

* Use a corkboard, with pins on it and the earrings and necklaces hang off the pins. Or if you are feeling crafty you can decorate the frame of your cork board - remove the actual cork inside the frame, paint the frame and add some little decorations like sequins, beads, lace, ribbon etc staple a piece of mesh (tulle fabric or mesh from your hardware store) and staple that to the frame, this provides room to hold lots of earrings this idea also works with old picture frames as well. To hold necklaces and bracelets simply screw in some little hooks (you can get these from hardware shops) around the frame.

* Large clear bead containers that are round and screw on top of each other-they are fantastic for rings, beaded bracelets etc as you can see exactly what it is you want and if you don't wear something for awhile it doesn't get dusty. Nothing gets tangled either!!

* A roll of film which is damaged place the film horizontal across your shelf and hook your earrings on those little square holes that film has on the edge

* An ornate candelabra that to dangle earrings, necklaces and bracelets from you can sometimes pick these up cheaply at op shops.

* A decorative glass light fitting and then hang them around the edge just like you would on a drinking glass - you could pick up a cheap old light fitting at markets, garage sales etc and then you just dismantle it.

* Mug/cup holders from home wares shops are great for draping your jewelery on.

Hawaiian Decorating - Make Your Home An Island Retreat

Tropical beaches, clear blue ocean, sunny sand filled beaches, palm trees, these are all things that typically come to mind when someone says Hawaiian. If you would like to create a Hawaiian style in your home, you want to think breezy and open. This would be the typical feel to a home or room in Hawaii.

To begin with, it you’re painting the walls, you will want a white or other bright and open color. The earthy tones that you might find elsewhere will not be found here. For Hawaii, we want to think of openness and white walls will help create that feel. If they are painted a color at all, make sure that color is bright without reaching into the neon categories. A soft, bright yellow or green may also create the open feel you’re trying to achieve. Doorways and moldings should be a rich brown such as an oak or cherry. These will contrast nicely with the painted walls while keeping the open feeling in the room.

Decorative touches should include some sort of large green plant. If you can do a palm inside this would be perfect. Another nicely large and green plant would be the elephant plant. This has large broad leaves and can grow several feet tall. This will further add to the tropical feel that you’ve already created through the use of paint on the walls. Other accessories may include shells that could have easily come from the beach, light, airy curtains that can sway in a breeze with an open window, and pineapple shaped glasses in the kitchen or other pineapple shaped kitchen appliances or utensils.

This style of home should be furnished with a heavy use of bamboo, wicker, and/or rattan. The use of this type of furniture will encourage the light, airy feel you’re trying to achieve. This tropical atmosphere will be completed with the use of this type of furniture. The furniture can be painted white or it can be in its natural state of wood. Either way, this addition will help to complete the Hawaiian look.

Fans and in the ceiling whose blades are shaped like palms are a nice touch when creating the Hawaiian feel. You can find them in stores like Home Depot, Lowes, or any retail hardware store that carries ceiling fans. These fans can be used indoors in a kitchen or dining room as well as outside under a canopy. This type of fan would make a great finishing touch.

The Hawaiian feel is one of relaxation and enjoyment. In order to create this feel in your home short of moving to Hawaii, use the above tips. You’ll feel like you’re on the beaches soaking up the sun in no time.

Victorian Decorating For Nostalgic Home Decor

In recent years an increasing number of people have become interested in Victorian style and this includes Victorian decorating. It is not too hard to give your home a Victorian look but it is not a cheap way of doing things.

Although people are interested in using Victorian decorating styles in their homes they don’t want to go the whole way – so other than a few eccentrics or English stately homes don’t expect to see the Victorian kitchen with the kettle hanging over an open fire. Most people who favor Victorian decorating have fitted kitchens, some have them made in natural wood but this is about the only concession. Some aficionados may have a plant on the kitchen window ledge and pans hung from hooks.

Victorian style was quite ornate and because of the hypocritical Victorian morality even the tables had to have their legs covered – in some homes the chair legs were also hidden by a sort of valance. The Victorians made great use of wallpaper and again this was quite ornate, often sporting a flowery pattern. The mantle over the fireplace was also kept covered during the Victorian era but very few people choose to do this today.

The Victorians liked their furniture to be well stuffed, usually with horsehair. Most of the chairs had upright backs and there has been a rise in the number of people favoring this type of chair. If you are going for a Victorian Decorating style then you would do well to remember that they liked heavy drapes. This was because they were not just seen as window decoration but were used as a way of keeping the draft out (no double-glazing) and the room warm. They were often accompanied by heavy lace curtains underneath. Many Victorian homes had lots of books and ornaments. It was not unusual to see a side table that was completely covered in framed photographs.

You can still get hold of genuine Victorian chairs and tables with their ornately carved legs but as they become more popular so the price gets higher. Another favorite from the past in this style of decorating is the grandfather clock. Modern examples of this are quite good though it is possible to find an original - again at a price. Beds were ornate and made of wood or cast iron with bolsters, a sort of long pillow, and often two pillows as well. The sheets and blankets were covered by an eiderdown quilt for extra warmth – no duvets for the Victorians. It was usual to have a jug and bowl on the dresser for the morning wash.

Tiling Adds To Your Home

There are many things to take into consideration when you are choosing new kitchen flooring. Since there are so many styles to choose from, even if you’ve picked out what kind of tiling you prefer it can still be hard to go from there. Once you’ve bought your ceramic tile than you need to know quite a bit before you start to put it down.

There are many pluses to choosing ceramic tile. For one thing it is very easy to maintain and clean up is a breeze. Sometimes your space won’t work well with ceramic tile and if you want them for a basement then remember how cold they will be during the winter. You should also be careful when choosing tiles for your foyer since they can be slippery and if you are coming home in wet shoes, this could be dangerous. You should find some tiles that are more gripping for your shoes.

You can buy ceramic tiles in many different shapes ands styles. Usually ceramic tiles are beween 1 and 1.5 feet. You can choose the right size tiles by knowing the size of the room that you need them for. If you have a small room then choose a smaller size tile. The larger your room the better a large size tile will fit in the space. They will also look less busy in a larger room and fit in better.

Style wise you can figure out what kind of tile you want depending on the look of your room. If you have a home in the country and want that rustic look than choose something more earth toned and rugged. If you want a more polished and clean look than go for marble that is sleek and polished.

You can choose the texture based on the look you want as well. For the rustic look get a tile that is less smooth. This is also a great texture if you want something that is more resistant to slipping. If you get a tile that is very smoothed you have to be careful in terms of slipping in your home. This is also something to consider if you live with small children who love to run around in their socks.

Make sure that the grout between the tiles will compliment your tile and not clash with it. You need to find the right colored grout to go with your choice of tiles.

There are lots of ways to install ceramic tile and you need to figure out which is best for you. It can be time consuming, but doing a good job is key to making the finished look something worthy of your home. Make sure that you lay them right and that cut is correct on all your tile. You want the space between tiling to be evenly placed as well. You can also think about hiring someone else to lay the tile for you if you don’t think you can do a professional job.

Take care of your tile by keeping them clean and sweeping and mopping your tile regularly. It is quite simple, but worth doing!