Tag Archives: home decorating

The no-cost home makeover

Posted on September 21, 2016 | Leave a comment

paint

Use leftover paint to add color to vintage furniture pieces, such as this painted sideboard. Bonus? You’ll be rid of those half-empty cans.

See all at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/home/sc-home-zero-cost-decorating-gallery-20160325-photogallery.html

Decorating Trends that are OUT

Posted on June 27, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hexagon tile

“2015 was a fun year, we used the hexagon tile,” says Nathan Ruttner, Interior Designer at Techne Architecture and Interior Design in Melbourne.

“This tile, acting as a feature, allowed us to break our rules stepping away from mainly using the square and rectangle tile. But as fast as it has come in, the overuse of it has really given the hex a dated look.”

Feature lighting and feature walls

“Putting lights over benches, over vanities in bathrooms and over dining tables is an overused idea,” says architect Jesse Linardi, design director at DKO Architecture in Melbourne. “It’s not so much that the idea has no merit, rather that lighting fixtures tend to date very quickly.” The same applies for feature walls using fake stone or wallpaper, he adds. “Simple classic and natural finishes tend not to date.”

Vertical garden

“The idea of the feature wall has given birth to the vertical garden,” says Ruttner. “Indoor plants themselves are a great way to liven a space especially when they are in beautiful ceramics pots. Although vertical gardens add a nice touch of ‘greenery’ to the space it does feel like a done idea, usually done wrong.”

Metallic finish

Warm metallic finishes – gold, rose gold and brass – are “overused, overrated and far from timeless. I don’t see any of these lasting,” says head of interior design Narelle Cuthbert from Plus Architecture in Melbourne. “Instead we will see a trend where lighting and key pieces will remain in these tones contrasted by other finishes and textures.”

Creating a stylish home on a budget

Posted on June 18, 2016 | Leave a comment

Sometimes you walk into a home and it’s hard to put your finger on exactly why, but you just know it oozes style. And it’s not all about the contents of the house either, but rather the way they are displayed. I am regularly asked what defines a “stylish” home and after some serious contemplation and memory archiving, I have managed to compile a shortlist of commonalities. The one thing I can assure you of, though, is the non-existent correlation between style and the state of people’s bank accounts. It needs more than money thrown at it – as they say, “you just can’t buy style”.

Knowing where to bomb money

The other differentiator with stylish homes is their sixth sense of knowing where to bomb their money. And the more interesting ones are not full of high-priced unachievable items either, but rather an interesting mix of inexpensive with collectible. I have met many a homeowner that has chosen a decrepit old couch from a junk store for its shape but had it reupholstered in the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier fabric so that you would never know its original price tag. And others that have mixed a high end dining table with chairs from IKEA. Knowing where to spend it, and what to spend it on can be the game changer to a layered and stylishly appointed space.

In my humble opinion, it’s often these traits that are “invisible to the naked eye” that set a home apart from the crowd – rather than its contents alone – and define it as stylish.