Interior Design and Decorating
Which Style of Designer Rug Will You Choose This Year?
In the current home furnishing market, where Designer Rugs abound, perhaps it could be helpful to appreciate the architectural movements that may be already influencing your home, without you being aware of it!
In the first of a series of pieces, we look at the modern, iconic designer Philippe Starck, born in 1949, who has been involved in almost every area of design in the modern world. His father was an inventor and an aeronautic engineer, which may go something along the way to explain why his ideas and concepts are always so wildly imaginative, surprising and fantastic. What is great about Starck is that he brings a new and often unexplored angle to the design of every day objects that we have probably taken for granted previously. He constantly strives for the things he designs to be functional as well as beautiful to look at.
One of Philippe Starck’s key objectives is to enhance the quality of everyday objects, and to ensure that they are priced realistically, a concept which he calls ‘democratic design’. His was a lone voice in the crowd when to own a designer rug or designer chair was seen as a status enhancer within the elite parts of society.
However, in 2012, there can’t be many of us who aren’t familiar with his now iconic lemon juicer designed for Alessi in 1990? If you don’t remember it then search for the Alessi Juicy Lemon Squeezer on Google and you’ll see what I mean.
But that is only a small part of his influence, which extends from large hotels right through to hosiery for Wolford – not to mention traffic lights, street lamps, chairs, motor bikes and cars. Believe it or not, he has now turned his hand to inter-galactic space travel design, with artistic design input into the ‘Virgin Galactic’ project with Richard Branson! Furthermore, he has also set up his own organic food production company, to influence how we eat as well as how we live our everyday lives.
And as we become more green focused and ecologically aware, we are simply catching up with the ethical ideals and philosophy that he has supported for a long time. He developed domestic wind turbines, a revolutionary ideology which he describes as ‘democratic ecology’, to bring green down to everyday accessibility. Still to come from him are solar powered boats and hydrogen powered cars, to safeguard our planet and our children’s future, so watch out!
If Philippe Starck embodies your outlook on life, his design has undoubtedly described your style – whether totally cutting edge, or cutting edge with a green slant. This may also help to guide your choice of designer rug within your home environment…why not live your life the PHILIPPE STARCK way, with a blend of love poetry and humour.
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Decorating With Vintage Home Accessories for a Timeless Home
Many families and individuals have started to embrace the traditional and laid-back style for their homes. This is because of the warmth, the relaxing ambiance and the comfort that this style comes with. Homeowners do not have to spend so much on vintage home accessories too as they are very affordable and easy to find. In fact, existing retro cushions at home can be nice and functional decorative pieces even if they look old already. The mood in any room of the house can also be set using Moroccan lighting pieces and to obtain that vintage and classical design scheme.
The Vintage Era
Back in the 1940s and 1950s, people were faced with new challenges and had to go through new beginnings. Life, in general, moved at a relatively slower pace and everything was more safe, simple and relaxed. This lifestyle was very apparent in the homes of many people. Post war circumstances forced people to make do with what they have left so they used old furnishings and restored them for their homes. Although most individuals at present would only remember the vintage era from their childhood or the house of their grandparents, this design scheme inspired by this era never fails to bring feelings of comfort, warmth and safety.
Why It Became Very Popular
At present, homeowners have to work around a budget when decorating their homes. It is possible to use a shabby chic, vintage look without having to spend a lot of money. People who prefer to have a more classical theme inside their homes and yet they cannot afford to buy grand chandeliers opt for vintage accessories instead. Also, this theme did not require people to change pieces of furniture or to upgrade appliances every year in order to follow the trends. Adding unique pieces of soft furnishings can transform a room instantly instead of replacing all items in the room that are starting to look old. Homeowners were also given an opportunity to combine new items with old pieces of furniture and decorations. Because of these reasons and benefits, many people chose to use a vintage style in their homes for its appealing design and practicality.
How to Decorate Using Vintage Accessories
It is very easy to achieve the gorgeous ambiance of a country vintage look in the house. This fresh design can be integrated into any parts of the house, whether it is in the living room or the bedroom. Here are a few ways on how one can decorate the house using stylish vintage accents.
Restore the furniture. A good idea to transform a room without replacing the current items is to restore the furnishings. For instance, it may be a good idea to repaint that wicker chair with a pastel or more neutral colour. Moroccan inspired cushions can also be used to accentuate the chair and give it a more comforting look. There are people who purchase new items only to distress it in order to get the aged furniture look that will go well with the theme. An old piece of furniture would not need to go through the same thing, as time would have caused it to wear naturally. However it could still use a little bit of restoration and maintenance for it to last longer.
Choose handmade products. When in the lookout for decorations and pieces of furniture, homeowners should seriously consider getting handmade ones. There are also lighting fixtures that are handmade, as well as fabrics, crochets and quilts. This gives the house a more personal feel, as the item is carefully crafted by hand.
Go for muted and pastel hues. In order to make the rest of the shabby chic furnishings stand out, painting the walls white, beige or any neutral tones is a good idea. If there is a need to use retro cushions, pastel tones can create a more relaxed look compared to bright colours.
Do not be afraid to use lighting. This is a good way to set an ambient mood in any room. Moroccan lighting fixtures can certainly highlight the vintage setting in the house with its exotic yet warm features.
The timeless feel that this design scheme brings to people makes it a popular theme for many homes. Every home can brighten up easily with the right choice of vintage home accessories.
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When to Contact and How an Interior Designer Works
During planning of a house an interior designer can guide the architect or the builder on where to place doors and windows, how can they use the maximum input of natural light, where to allocate storage spaces, avoiding demolition of walls, sizing walls, making desired openings, providing specific light points as per the lighting scheme by the designer and also early spotting of desired plumbing points for the exclusively designed bathrooms. This early involvement of interior decorator during planning will help in saving a lot of money which can be later used for re-modification after the completion of the building.
Clients usually feel that they must have a vivid vision of the problem before they consult a decorator, but this actually is not the fact. In a study conducted by an interior decoration agency in India among the designers and clients, most of the designers argued that they preferred to be involved with the project from the very beginning. As an interior decorator, I do agree with the point generally the interior decorators used to make regarding the early consultation of an interior decorator. So meet your designer immediately after you finalize the preliminary design proposal by the architect for your residential as well as buildings built for commercial purpose.
Finding a suitable interior decorator is the most important thing before assigning your interior designing job to anyone, you can realize from the list of qualified, certified and registered designers with the government approved design council in the country. In India, the institute which provides authentic information about interior designer in the country is the Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID). You can browse through the list of interior decorators practising in the country and select a reputed designer from the list and visit their website or approach them to have a look at their successful projects in the similar category. Once you select the designer, discuss your requirements and budget for the interiors and finalize the agreement on the project’s time schedule and professional fees.
Before staring the designing process of your interior first of all the interior decorator have to conduct a series of talks with the customers basically to know the type of designing the person wants. This series of conversations with the client and designer eventually lead to a mutual agreement about the requirements and it will help to know the aspiration and desires of the client with regard to his interior design. About 90% of clients usually have a good idea of their needs and preferences, a professional interior designer must reeducate the client’s attitude about preferences.
The next step is the design of the interior to presented before the client as a soft copy or a hard copy. Designer has to present a proposal which might consists of sketches, 2-dimensional drawings of plan and coloured elevations along with a budget proposal. At the preliminary presentation the specific colours, furnishings, and details are not resolved yet, since the aim at that stage is to obtain the basic approval from the client.
Once the preliminary presentation / proposal has been accepted by the client, the designer will start working on the final stages. Some of the clients used to make changes in their agreed design once the design is already approved, for making these change the client must have separate meeting / meetings with the designer to finalize the design. The next stages of the design may consist of a series of drawings such as plans, elevations, details, sections and specifications are the language of good design offices, and they are prepared with carefully drawn dimensions and notes for the contractors who carry out the actual implementation. Each phase of the job is usually under the supervision of a job captain or chief designer to assure that everything has been considered and the job is moving smoothly to completion.
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