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Your New Bathroom – Choices, Ideas and Final Touches

15 Jun

Your New Bathroom – Choices, Ideas and Final Touches

The decision is made! the budget is set the finances are in place and finally you are planning your new bathroom after re-thinking the whole of your home decoration or perhaps just revamping that useful room from scratch. You will be full of excitement as you begin to ponder the many aspects of your new bathroom design. The excitement may fall off slightly as you realize the hard work and planning involved in general bathroom remodelling. Many stores offer a planning service, or you can download an application to help you with this crucial stage of your design. If you are getting the professionals in to fit your room, you will almost certainly be given advice and assistance, however be careful not to let over zealous salespeople talk you in to over spending.

Making the Right Choices

Whatever the fuss involved be sure that you make the right choices at the planning stage and once you have made your major decisions you are advised not to change them as this could affect aspects such as drains and other practical considerations. If you are simply replacing the bathroom suites for new bathroom suites with the same measurements then you will not have to worry so much, but if you are looking at a brand new bathroom with a new interior design then things could become unsettled as ideas are tried and tested in the planning stage. Compromises may well have to be reached on many aspects, including the style if space is limited and the price.>

New Bathroom Ideas

New ideas may involve a double basin corner bathroom vanity unit to save space and introduce storage for all the bits you accumulate. Initially it will be the choice of larger items you are selecting; you may want a roll top old styled cast iron bath or be examining the latest new bathroom trends. Do research your ideas thoroughly as you may find items that have the slightly smaller dimensions you require, also check on the price comparison websites for the best deals, remembering that delivery often costs money so factor this in when calculating the  costs of your new look bathroom. Home Depot has an excellent range of fixtures and stylish fittings to compliment your new bath or shower room, do consider the finished look at the design stage, but do not get carried away by the finishing touches quite just yet.

If you are planning a new small bathroom with limited space, perhaps in a small flat or as an additional room; it could be you are fitting an en-suite for example. You may want to forgo the new bath tub and instead just install a roomy shower enclosure, this gives you more room for your sink and may allow you to incorporate storage into your new room. Another idea is to consider installing an integrated-membrane wet room. Often having level-access these rooms are ideally suited to people with disabilities and suppliers will advise on all aspects including accessories such as grab rails. A wet room is a really modern addition to your home and certainly worth considering if you can afford the costs involved.

Final Touches

When the major planning of your new bathroom is done you can get down to the more fun aspects of bathroom color schemes. Your tile floor will probably have been considered in the design stage but now you can really begin to see your design coming together you will be examining the range of wall tiles available. Remember if you wish to sell your home, or are adding new bathrooms as an investment for when you decide to move on, it is a good idea to stick to neutral shades. White is a good color for tiles and you can introduce your personal style with accessories. Shower curtains, bath caddies, bath mats and towels can transform the simplest room into an exotic oasis (see seashell bathroom decor) and can also be changed as regularly as wish to inject a new exciting look into your decor with minimal cost. Exciting.

Photo: by Lorena **Cortesy of flickr.com – Creative Commons-

new-bathroom

Which Bathroom Color Scheme?

4 Jun

Which Bathroom Color Scheme?

The right color schemes for bathrooms is really up to the style you are particularly trying to achieve, but the traditional bathroom color scheme should aim towards something that is soft and soothing at the same time especially if you like relaxing in the hot bath. A scheme like this would bring in a refreshing, spacious feel even to small bathrooms, driving out dinginess while still filling the room with color.

Harmonious Hues

The key to creating a restful scheme is combining harmonious hues or different tones of one color. The bath could be painted then in a darker color like green, while silvery blue slate floor tiles and splashback tiles in watery greens and greys would look glorious as they would, especially if you harmonize with accessories in aqua colors like towels.

Jade and Terracotta

With jade-green louvred shutters and walls painted in a deep shade of terracotta, a small bathroom can recreate the feel of an old Italian villa. Scumble glaze any MDF bath paneling to give it the look of the beach hut weathered by brine and breeze; throw into relief by adding a chocolate brown flooring. White tiles will suit it nicely, set them diagonally for extra interest and provide the necessary light contrast for all the dark, moody tones.

Black and White

When it comes to bathroom color schemes black and white are not really an easy combination to live with in rooms where you spend a lot of time, but in a bathroom it can look smart and striking, and is a classic choice if you want a more hard-edged, masculine style. Big chequerboard tiles and black rubber flooring can make a really dramatic statement. To slightly alleviate the darkness of the monochrome scheme, the bath can be apinted chocolate brown (gorgeous!) and the walls or upper walls if you’ve got tiles in light mustard

The Modern Look

In any type of home decoration the modern look can be really striking, and when it comes to the restroom, an idea would be to combine hard edge industrial style of galvanized metal with a lush grass green on the walls. Cutting edge and very appealing. Bathroom paint color schemes don’t have to be soft and mild all the time. cover the bath panels and splashback in pre-weathered zing titanium alloy. You will find that despite all the metal, the look has an essentially natural character; enhance it by adding a sisal-effect flooring and wicker chair. Leafy pot plants in bright green can join in with a stunning lime green wall color to suggest a tropical feel.

Color Schemes for Bathrooms: Blue Hues

3 Jun

Color Schemes for Bathrooms: Blue Hues

Look at the color wheel and you will see that blue can give you a crisp and clean impact and also furniture and fittings can be as important as color in setting the scene. A sleek metal cabinet and stainless steel bath paneling can add to the modern color schemes for bathrooms, the clinical and also cutting edge feel. Reflective surfaces also earn their keep if you are wanting to work with color schemes for small bathrooms. Blue on the walls provides just enough color to make the look livable, while splashes of red could energize the scheme.

Cool blues and aquas, reminiscent of sea and sky, are popular choices for bathrooms. It’s easy to see why, as they are real feel good hues. The blue color scheme for bathroom will bring together a number of harmonizing shades; from watery aquas to rich turquoise, to create a look that is enrichingly colorful but also deeply relaxing.

Small amounts of pure white, in the bathroom fittings and on the skirting board, provide a clean contrast for the floor to ceiling color.

Adding Contrast

Contast is the name of the game if you want to jazz up your restroom. A bright and breezy bathroom will take deep pinks and sparkling whites, which will stand out against the sea of cool blue. For inspiring schemes, try painting different wall panels so they can act like stripes, leading the eye upwards and adding to the height of the room. They also draw together fittings like the basin, any shelves, or a free standing bathroom mirror if the room happens to be a spacious one, making the accessories and vanities stand out and really eye catching.

Repeat the deep pink in other areas of your bathroom like a window frame. Bathroom color schemes like deep Mediterranean blue mixed with aqua and pink work really well in almost any bathroom decor style, creating an electrifying contrast

that comes from accents you could add of bright pink. Look for inspiration in the smaller things, like the color of your plastic bath toy, for example. The yellow of a rubber duck is glorious and easy to mix with many different types of color designs. Paint your floorboards white to provide a light base for these types of strong colors; the clean white of the bath and simple sheer curtains will freshen up the look instantly. A nice color scheme for bathroom is to also play with different hues of the same color.

Colors play an important part to any home decoration, whether you decide to revamp the walls or just add that accessory that brings to life any dark corner in the room.

Photo by Egilshay **Cortesy of sxc.hu

blue chart

Living Room Color Schemes: Bring it to Life!

11 Jan


Color is such a useful and effective tool when it comes any type of home decoration, and if you are thinking or revamping any room in your house with the aid of colors, you should start working around with your living room color schemes and think of adding warmth, vitality, harmony, relaxation and even many optical effects that can help us enhance the natural light of your room.

Take your time to check out what needs to be done: space, furniture distribution and other accessories should be key to decide the color scheme that we want to use depending on our personal tastes and what we want to achieve. Home decoration is NOT an exact science and the order of how and why we do things can be altered many times due to different circumstances. An armchair or sofa that we fell in love with in a magazine can really destroy our color scheme plans and force us to study a different range of colors that will coordinate with the initial piece. Whatever the case, it should be clear that it is extremely important to coordinate the colors of the furniture with the colors of the walls, textures and other accessories.

Choosing your Color Schemes

When you are thinking of color schemes for living rooms or in fact any room in the house you should stick with certain basic rules. The experts when it comes to decoration recommend avoiding more than two or three colors in one given scheme in order to achieve a pleasant and relaxing feel. The choice of color is a very personal decision, not everybody reacts the same when it comes to certain tones of yellow or red, which for many can be a stimulating and lively color, but aggressive and not welcoming to others. So, the only possible advice that can be given without failure is to choose a range which you really feel comfortable with. If you are not really sure of the color palette or scheme you want, try cutting out photographs and pictures from magazines, postcards, add bits of clothing, pins, the material any color you can think of that looks “good and pleasant in your head”. Pin it up against the walls and leave for a few days. See how you feel afterwards, if you start to unlike it then that is not the color scheme you want to go for. If you can live with your designed board for more than a week, you can live with it for a very long time.

The Perfect Living Room Color Scheme?

Depending on your chosen tonal ranges we can really speak about three color schemes. Tonal pattern is the first one: a pattern that is made of two or three shades of just the one color (for example: white, off white and egg white). This option is perfect for those who want to achieve a serene environment, but its apparent simplicity might be a little bit deceptive. In fact, it is not easy to create a tonal scheme that dynamically displays an interesting look. Another possibility would be to combine colors that are close to the color wheel, such as terracotta, brown and orange; or blue and purple. This would be the harmonic scheme, and it will add a relaxing atmosphere to your living room. Finally, we can opt for creating a scheme that is based in contrasting colors (opposite colors) like orange and blue or red and green. This is a risky one, but it also enables you create very dynamic and challenging environments.

Color Ranges

Colors can be grouped into two main groups; warms and colds. Oranges, earthy tones, yellows and reds belong to the warm tonal ranges, while blue, green or gray are considered cool colors. To ensure a harmonious result it is ideal to combine same of each tonal range (cools with cools; warms with warms). In the above mentioned scheme with contrasting colors we could use the opposite type of tonal range to highlight elements in the room such as walls, the fireplace or pillars.

As you can see, there are many living room color schemes options for you to choose from: find the feel you want to add to the room start creating a pin up board with your favorite colors, materials and photographs.

Also, check out bathroom color schemes.

Lovely Living Room Color Schemes

Creative Commons License photo credit: Wonderlane


White Decor – Decorating with White will add Elegance and Style

6 Jan


Many people do not consider white a true color but rather a value; the union of all other colors. If you want to display white decor at home you have to be cautious as its intrinsic nature makes it a neutral color and therefore rather difficult to work with and be successful at the same time.

Black, the whole range of grays and creams – being fawn, beige, biscuit, sand, suede, etc – are all natural colors as well and so to work with black and white decor at home should also be done carefully.

Decorating With White

White as always been associated with innocence and purity. It is the color brides choose for the wedding dresses and it is also connected to spiritualism, religion, angels and peace. When it comes to home decor, decorating with black and white or just white adds lots of simplicity to any room. These neutral colors visually enlarge any given space and can even add a sense of both emptiness and infinity all combined into one mixed with a lovely touch of coolness and calm. In addition, it also enhances natural light and, on its own, it is its own light “source” due to its brightness. For example, if you want to make any room feel bigger than what it really is, all you have to do is paint the walls white and place light wooden floors. Add white bedroom furniture to your budoir and the overall result will be soft and spacious.With the right accessories like a heated mattress pad you can avoid cluttering your room with lots of unnecessary extra duvets and blankets, especially during the winter period.

Take into Consideration…

When we talk about white home decor we are also saying timeless, elegant and obviously and above all neutral. Some people might think that opting for white is the easiest choice and they can’t be further from the truth. White decor involves knowing how to play with different textures and materials that can create very different atmospheres (and not always the desired one!). Its simplicity may allow for achieving rooms that have a wonderful and romantic aura whilst harmonious.

Now, any room that has been mainly painted with white will need more maintenance than the rest. Stains and flaws will show a lot more on the walls and you will need to repaint often if you want that cleanliness and hygienic look to shine through. White blends really well with natural materials such as wood, linen or textured rugs and also mixes well with the other neutral colors like black, cream, beige or gray. Moreover, it will make the other colors appear rather dimmed thus creating textures in the room. You can also use white decor to highlight the elegance and style of certain materials and shapes. To add a fresh touch, combine with green or light cream; if you want to give your rooms a modern feel black white decor will do the job nicely while mixing it with the right accessories will add a touch of color but beware: misused, whites and creams can seem “dirty”! Also, remember that hospitals use white all through their halls, rooms and offices so you really want to avoid ending up looking like one.

Pure, Timeless and Elegant

White decoration can really look fantastic at home as it brightens it up and the idea of adding that pure touch is just lovely when done correctly. It is a very traditional color that is nowadays been used continuously in home decor magazines, showrooms and many fairs to do with decorative styles. White is most definitely back and it is considered to be very trendy at the moment.

One of the most appreciated characteristics of this color is its versatility. It is a tone that can be combined with almost any type of decoration and still manage to look good. Although it does appear as if there is only one white, you can find infinite shades for you to choose from: from eggshell to ash, apple, barley, chalk, jade, linen, marble, off white, vanilla, cotton… the choices are endless. White decorating is most definitely the most effective way to light up any dark rooms, corners or spots. ON floors with limited visual space, this color is crucial because it creates a visual sense of depth and both classical and avant-garde designers have chosen this color for its tone, calmness and relaxing feel.

When it comes to your home decoration, it could be said that any room that has been decorated with white will never go out of style. Amongst its many advantages are that it sheds much light into any room, visually expanding the space and blending nicely with almost every given shade. It is a perfect color for decorating any style, but particularly perfect if you want to achieve the minimalist interior design look. Minimalism aims to create very visually simple environments where less is more and almost any type of

white decor can help us achieve this style easily.

Photo Author:  Shho

White decor in any room will add a sense of space - Cortesy of sxc.hu - Author: shho

White decor in any Room will add a sense of space – Cortesy of sxc.hu


Country Decor at Home

3 Dec


If you are thinking of adding a new look to your home decoration I would recommend you opt for country decor as it is easy to achieve with a few touches here and there on what you’ve already got. If you are starting from scratch, it is very easy to implement it and still not have to spend a lot of money as many accessories can be obtained from second hand shops and bargain stores. Here we will have a look at the feel country home decor can give to the different elements of the house (floors, walls and furniture).

For French country decor style shades of cream with ornate furniture will add sophistication and a serene and peaceful look. For an air of elegance, beautiful accessories, fixtures and timeless furniture like dressing tables become extremely important when it comes to adding decorative touches. Think “dream in cream”- from the walls to the furnitures to the flowers in a jug. A mix of finishes would add variety as well. Use carved wooden cupboards and a slightly distressed table to break up the color and give the eye something to settle on. A touch of fade gilt on a picture frame and burnished silver on the decorative wood carving would add depth, while books and logs can bring dashes of darker color.

Fine tune your country decor style with a corner sofa that is simple and discreet enough to allow other decorative pieces to show off. A Lloyd Loom chair or the right type of interior plantation shutters would bring some texture in while ornate cupboards would look really elegant. Country decorating is all about fixtures, elements and accessories; a low table would be such a practical addition to achieve the look. Get wall clocks that would match the style and a simple fireplace with plain surroundings would become a plain canvas for a dramatic display. Old picture frames would really add to the style, you don’t even need a picture inside as the frame on its own is beautiful enough. An unusual carving perhaps once part of a larger piece of furniture would be stunning and add to the country decor, as well as logs piled high inside the fireplace.

Accessories should stick strongly to the cream scheme, but one or two metallic pieces can be added to pick up the light. Using metallic pieces is a good way to wave variety into a mono-color room. They won’t jar like colored pieces but they do break up the one-shade monotony.

Country decorations are all about style and simplicity. For example, try fresh blue and mauve to join forces together with lashing of white to create a pretty country look that’s inspired by nature. When it comes to color look no further than the natural elements for tones that make your heart sing and instantly refresh any room. Fresh blue on the walls combines well with mauve duvet covers and white cushions; place in the room a pretty armchair covered in a large gingham check fabric in blue and white. Combine these elements with a pale, neutral carpet, white furniture and curtains with leafy motifs and you’ll end up with a breezy, country decor feel-good bedroom. For the ultimate comfort and a great night sleep in a room that now looks this comfy, you may want to check the mattress pads guide site for great tips and ideas.

For accessories place a coffee table and chest of drawers that share the same mix of pale good looks – a country classic – and pretty details. A table with a woven shelf and turned legs would look really nice while the chest could have glass inset drawers and rounded brass handles so it would burst with old-style elegance (again, French country decorating style).

Unusual curtains that are made by stitching together lengths of different colored fabrics (Ikea style) will offer a relaxed and pretty country look. Shades of green and white features (like a pretty blue flower-sprig design) add to the effect. Tie the curtains at the top to wooden rings, a pretty detail that also means they would be less complicated to make than tab tops.

For country decor accessories, fresh flowers are a country living room essential and look great in an old jar rather than a vase – reinventing use for vessels is a great way to add to the country decor style!

Bathroom Color Schemes

29 Oct


Let’s have a look at very interesting bathroom color schemes that will make the room spark back to life! Whether you’re going for a seashell bathroom decor, the clean cut look or a calm, nice and relaxed feel, the colors you use in your bathroom will determine the mood and ambiance as much as the style and decor.

Copper

Bring a sophisticated sheen to bathtime with the gleam of copper. Metallic paint can give a gorgeous roll-top tub an opulent glow, while shelves edged with copper leaf are just to dream of. With this scheme, flooring looks good with a cooper lookalike touch. Sage green and cream would provide the perfect understated backdrop, and grey towels could add accent color without stealing the spotlight from the glamorous copper style.

Cream

Using light colors throughout your bathroom will add a sense of space to the smaller room, which is something you can play with throughout your home decoration in general. Too much white can give a clinical feel, but cream crease a clean look that’s easier to live with. Stick to white for the suite, though; not only is a white suite more versatile but it also provides a crisp contrast for the cream, giving it a contemporary edge. Add a touch with gorgeus bathroom vanity sinks and place wood paneling on the walls for a warm and cozy feel. Carved wood cabinets and picture frames will provide your bathroom with great character.

Spice

Spicy colors warm up any cream scheme, and yellow ochre paintwork on the basin and loo housing would add a regal touch. Mix it with orange and cream tiles alternating to make a subtle splashback.

A blind in crisp ginger and white ticking can really brighten up windows and mirror corners. Baskets and wooden accessories work with earthy colors to create a lovely and natural feel. Handmade framed pictures (i.e. paper and willow cane) add an ethnic touch as well as extra color.

Small Spaces

Although light shades give bathrooms the illusion of space, deep colors can also work wonders in small bathrooms, adding drama and warmth. Use them plain rather than patterned, and stick to simple styling. An example would be a room with a hint of oriental style, rose pink, honey-colored wood and buff mosaic to create a very welcoming mix.

Earthy shades turn up the heat in chilly high-ceilinged rooms in a way that draws attention to and makes the most of its original features. Three colors to keep in mind: deep reds for the walls, a slightly darker shade on picture rails and a pale yellow between rails and covings. Also, warm caramel tones of wood flooring and loo seats complement the rest of the colors.

Purple and Yellow

Yellow and purple are lovely complimentary colors. When combining these two very strong tones, keep the deeper one for the lower part of the room. It “grounds” the scheme, while the brighter shade keeps the atmosphere airy. Continue the wall colors over shelves and skirtings. A scheme of two bold colors needs touches of a third for balance. A sharp green does a really good job with purple and yellow.

If You Can’t Decide…

If you can’t decide which color to go for, try them all together! Bright yellow, turquoise and lilac used cheek in jowl in the same small area might sound like a recipe for disaster, but they bring a fun, lively look to any bathroom. More colors can be included as accents: deep pink, orange and green can add both light and dark tones. Also check out living room color schemes.

So there, plenty of lovely bathroom color schemes for you to choose from!