Category: interior decoration

How to introduce a taste of the exotic to your home

Eclectic bedroomcredit

Who doesn’t love travelling, seeing the world and learning about other cultures and customs? When you’ve arrived back home you may want to incorporate your exotic experiences into your home décor. Here are a few of our tips for doing just that.

Have faraway dreams

You may have returned home, back to your everyday lives, but you can always go to sleep and dream about your past adventures. Envelop yourself in beautiful, bohemian bedding like this duvet set pictured below from Vaulia.

Exotic duvet set available from Vaulia

Turn your bathroom into a tropical rainforest

The bathroom is where you go to wash away the stresses of the day and recharge your batteries. Fill the space with lush, architectural plants. Many exotic, tropical plants will thrive in a warm, damp bathroom environment – even where there’s little sunlight. Try growing ferns, orchids and small bamboos to create your own tropical rainforest.

Roll-top bath surrounded by tropical plantscredit

Wall to wall paradise

Wallpaper is a great way of updating the feel of a room. Bold, bright, sumptuous prints incorporating exotic birds, flowers, plants – and in this case – palm trees introduce an equatorial ambiance.

Palm tree print wallpapercredit

Map the world

We all have a wish list of places we’d like to visit before we die. Hang a large world map on your wall and stick pins into the countries & cities where you want to holiday. You could also attach snaps, postcards, ticket stubs and the like to the places you’ve already been as a reminder of past good times. We love the idea of this DIY project below where a string of fairy lights has been used to illuminate spots on a map where the maker has been.

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Art

This massive mural of Vladimir Tretchikoff’s ‘Lady from the Orient’ creates a striking, eastern vibe. Such a stunning addition needs plenty of space around it in order to appreciate it to full effect. Keep furnishings in muted colours and accessories to a minimum.

Wayne Hemingway in front of a huge mural of Tretchikoff's Lady from the Orientcredit

Display souvenirs from your travels

When you’ve visited exciting and far-flung destinations, a way of of keeping the memories of your trip alive is to bring back souvenirs. Anything from vernacular furniture items to unique trinkets & handicrafts, beach-combed finds to pieces of locally-made jewellery. Blow up, print, frame and display your favourite holiday photos. Having them in out plain sight feeds your wanderlust – you’ll be planning that next journey in no time!

Ethnic furniture finds with blown up photograph of an African girl in traditional dresscredit

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3 Ways to make your home look more spacious

Open plan kitchen dinercredit

It’s incredibly easy and affordable to make smaller rooms in your home appear more spacious. In fact, it doesn’t have to cost anything at all. By following these 3 steps, you can easily add length, depth and height to any space.

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Use low-contrasting, cool colours

Lighter colours reflect light. Darker colours absorb it. In the world of decorating, there are several ways to manipulate colour to make a space feel larger:

  • Lower the contrast among the colours in a room. Stick with neutral tones in adjacent shades throughout your design.
  • Paint trim and moulding a shade or two lighter than the walls. This helps to make walls appear as if they’re receding.
  • Use colours that are cool, as opposed to warm – icy blues, greys, mint greens – these are all colours that give the illusion of spaciousness. Carry them over from your wall colours to your designer curtain fabrics, wall art and throw pillows.
  • Consider your art work. If you’re decorating a small room, covering the walls with multiple large canvases or frames can often make the space feel more overcrowded. If you’re wanting to make an artistic statement in your room, try installing wall murals instead.

Dwelle prefabricated homecredit

Create room flow

Avoid interrupting the flow of your space as much as possible. Rooms that are cut up into sections by furniture, rugs or other elements feel smaller than rooms with plenty of open space. There are a few simple methods of optimising the flow in your home.

  • Consider installing seamless flooring, such as hardwood or tile, that flows uninterrupted from room to room. Choose larger flooring units, as opposed to smaller ones. For instance, 18-inch tiles make a room appear more spacious than 12-inch tiles because there are fewer grout lines that intersect, making the overall pattern appear less busy.
  • Purchase furniture that serves a dual purpose, such as an ottoman that doubles as a coffee table or an armoire that stores your television and electronics. This will help you streamline your furnishings and eliminate extra pieces that take up needless space. You also want to make sure the furniture pieces you’re displaying are proportional to the size of your room. While oversized couches, cabinets, dressers and beds look dramatic; they take up much more space than needed.
  • De-clutter and organise. Go for a minimalist approach to help your space look larger. Make good use of vertical space in the form of bookshelves and wall-mounted ledges. This will help to get articles such as books and collectibles off tables and stands that take up precious floor space.

Buttoned chair & footstool in front of a fireplace filled with logs with large mirror abovecredit

Reflect soft, natural light around the room

The way in which a room is lit goes a long way toward creating a mood, whether it’s small and cosy or spacious and relaxing. There are many creative ways to bring openness to a space using light:

  • Introduce natural light. Cut daylight-blocking shrubbery away from the windows of your home, and clean and polish the glass on both sides. The addition of natural light to a space gives it an airy and open appeal.
  • Where natural light is not an option, use lamps. Try to create soft shadows as opposed to stark contrast between dark corners and bright white walls.
  • Use mirrors – mirrored doors, back splashes or decorative mirrors mounted as art. Mirrors help reflect light around a room, giving it depth and fullness.

These simple design tips will easily and instantly make a small space seem much more spacious.

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Quick tips to make a family-friendly designed home

Sitting room with mustard velvet sofa in a family-friendly designed homecredit

Feel the need to redesign the look of your home? Start with the practicalities – have children or pets for instance? Then it’s probably not wise to put a delicate glass collection arranged in a cabinet for starters – it will end in tears. However, you wouldn’t like a home that looks like a day-care centre either. There is a middle ground: an attractive, comfortable and unique home that can withstand the rough & tumble of family life.

Colourful children's area with world map muralcredit

Moving in soon? This advice is even better if you’re looking to purchase a new home in a fresh location since you’ll have more freedom with regards to design and greater influence over the look of each room in your house. Start by looking at expertly-built homes in a good development beforehand. The houses for sale in Adelaide, Australia are worth considering during your house-hunting expedition.

Now, read on to discover the dos and don’ts when creating a home with family-friendly design.

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Consider your family’s lifestyle. Each room in your home might look beautiful, but if it doesn’t take into account the unique demands of your family, life will quickly become frustrating – and a little dull too perhaps. To avoid this, adapt your decorating style to stand up to the rigours of daily life – vomiting babies, sibling food fights, messy pets, indoor rugby matches, and even slobby spouses. Take into account everyone who’s living with you and decorate accordingly.

Colourful, built-in children's play areacredit

Don’t put off decorating. Many families hold off decorating their homes until their children are older – making the family do with tired furniture and household accessories many years after they’ve passed their best. It’s not necessary with a bit of thought. A fresh look gives everyone a lift! Even your youngest kids can benefit from the new, beautiful scheme. You can even get your kids involved in the process – asking what they’d like to have in their room when redecorating – and showing them how they could help. They’d learn skills that they might actually enjoy – and perhaps develop a sense of ownership. They might think twice before messing up rooms that they’ve helped to create!

Pop-inspired family roomcredit

Make it simple and sophisticated. There is beauty in simplicity. A clean-lined, but casual and comfy look is always a good way to go for family life. Avoid over fussy furniture and unnecessary detailing – real dust traps. Choose materials that can stand up to those dirty shoe prints and pet hair. Vintage and well-loved items survive kids better than precious antiques or the pristine new – a bit of extra wear & tear can even add to the vintage charm. Whatever you choose, low maintenance is a must! Once you have kids, you’ll have little time to plump up cushions, dust surfaces and constantly clear clutter.

Family-friendly boot roomcredit

Choose indestructible finishes and materials. Look for the toughest materials around. For the walls, choose a wipeable paint. You can also have a chalkboard paint or graffiti board for your little artist. For hallways, install kick boards and paint it with gloss or semi-gloss paints. For the windows, opt for simple, easy-clean roller blinds or good roman shades – those made with natural materials such as bamboo are also great – they’re durable, stylish and add a bit of texture to all the smooth paint. For floorings, look for surfaces that can be cleaned up with a damp mop. Wood, laminate, rubber and linoleum work well.

Well, we’ve covered the basics, just focus on function over form, and you’re well on your way to creating a family-friendly designed home. Know any other techniques? Please share them with us below!

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5 mistakes you’re (probably) making in your bathroom design

White contemporary bathroom designcredit

We all think you don’t want a large, free-standing bath in a small room. But sometimes, it’s the smallest (and quirkiest) of design decisions that can actually do the most injustice to what should be the best room in the house. Illuminated Mirrors lists some of the most common bathroom design mistakes and how to avoid them.

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Not considering the colour/material of your towels

Ok, ok. It sounds like an odd choice, but linens and towels are actually one of the biggest causes of bathroom chaos – not because they‘re left on the floor, but because of their colour. Darker shades can leave pieces of fluff absolutely everywhere meaning, while your room might look gorgeous when guests arrive, one rub of wet hands and bits of dark material will make even the newest of suites look grubby. Consider the fluff your different towels will leave, as well as the material they’re made of when buying – a small decision, but one you’ll be grateful for when it comes to the weekly clean.

On the other end of the scale, dazzling whites only stay dazzling for a brief length of time when they’re used as much as a towel is. Opt for shades of cream or muted colours – not only do they bring a statement to your room, but they also save you cleaning/replacement costs in the future.

Illuminated bathroom mirror

Putting mirrors in the wrong place

We’ve all heard the age-old trick that a mirror can add more space, right? However, where you put the mirror is as important as putting it up itself. Consider the places where light is most likely to hit, and avoid placing opposite dirty laundry or parts of the bathroom that need a touch of repair. Reflecting dirty areas of the room or piles of washing will make your room feel smaller and more cluttered – try and position your mirror so it reflects the brightest and lightest areas – whichever feature you wish you had double of (bar the toilet) is always a good start.

Illuminated bathroom cabinet

Poor lighting

Linked directly to the above, insufficient lighting is one of the biggest crimes you can make in your bathroom – it adds a grubby touch to even the cleanest of rooms and makes doing make-up, shaving or general pampering near impossible. It’s a particular problem in rooms with dark features making things like your mirror (in the right place) and clever additional lighting vital. For example, when choosing a cabinet, consider options that come with in-built LED lighting – a small touch, but something that makes a real difference to dark rooms (and as they’re energy saving, your electricity bill too!).

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Not considering storage

What’s a bathroom without all the lotions, potions and general commotion that makes us look beautiful? Male or female, we’re all guilty of storing a few too many bottles at the side of the bath or on shelves – however, all these wonderful items can make your bathroom look smaller, dirtier, more cluttered and generally less of a haven. Consider proper storage when you’re designing – making it a feature, rather than a necessity.

Wicker baskets, for example, can look beautiful in the right style of room while metallic, cool cabinets can hold a huge amount in more modern rooms. Think of your theme and what storage can be linked to it – nautical bathrooms, as an example, could really be brought to life using faux fishing crates. Be creative and don’t be afraid to experiment – you can always remove storage solutions if they don’t work!

Louvred windows providing bathroom ventilationcredit

Bad ventilation

No matter how nice the bath potions used, a poorly ventilated bathroom will always smell damp and be a haven for mould. One of the most common offences in the bathroom lies in lack of airflow – either ignoring an extractor fan or a good old-fashioned window. Consider where you can have your ventilation source before any other design or you’ll pay the price in a worn looking bathroom fairly quickly. While a window wide open is always the best trick for a touch of fresh air, consider a) what you’ll do when it’s freezing cold and b) the amount of dirt the open window will bring in. Having a proper think about small niggles like this before finalising any designs can increase the longevity of your brand new suite and avoid any issues in the long-term, keeping your bathroom beautiful for longer.

Your bathroom should be the best room in the house. A few simple changes can make it just that – no matter how big it is. Consider light, air and space and you’ll be onto the best path with a room you can enjoy for a long time.

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