Interior Decorating - Home Staging

Archive for February, 2008

Babies, babies, babies-yes the topic of this article is based on interior design for nurseries. The new arrival of a baby brings a time of thankfulness and joy into all parents’ lives. It also brings to mind an important question: where will the nursery be?!? Once the actual space has been decided upon, the next concern will be color scheme and furniture. Before you make all of your choices concerning the new arrival’s bedroom quarters, keep these important tips in mind.

To begin with, the gender of a baby will may influence the color scheme used in the room and this will not be something that will be able to be determined right away so either neutral colors should be used or the painting of the walls and purchasing of the accessories should be prolonged. Keep in mind not to wait too long if it is your intention to paint the room. You will want to be sure to allow any noxious fumes time to disperse before bringing baby home and actually using the nursery. The safety of the child should be one of the main elements involved in the planning of interior design for nurseries. Keep this aspect in mind as you make every choice involved with your design.

Fortunately for the early birds, the traditional ‘pink for girls and blue for boys’ theme is not the happening thing in interior design for nurseries these days. Sure, pink is still associated with girls and blue is still normally in tune with boys design but the strict adherence to these rules is no longer the norm. A complimentary mixture of these colors is the basis of most contemporary designs. There is no reason to limit the possibilities of colors used in interior design for nurseries based on old traditions. Exposure to color in the nursery is your baby’s first environmental experience and it has been confirmed by doctors and scientists alike that this exposure aids in your baby’s development.

Stenciling is a method that has been and still is very popular in interior design for nurseries. Almost any of your neighborhood crafting stores should have a sizeable supply of stencil designs that you can easily use to create a ceiling-level or mid-level border around your baby’s nursery. If you are feeling a little more ambitious, there are many more intricate nursery themed designs that you can purchase in stores or even online that will require a little more time but produce astonishingly impressive designs. If this is still too little work for you, then go all out and create your own stencil patterns by sketching them first onto mat board and then cutting them out with an Exacto knife.

Once your walls are complete, it is time to begin making decisions on the furniture for the room. If you have heirloom baby furniture, let me make a suggestion. Don’t use it. Keep this furniture for display purposes and purchase new furniture. I make this suggestion for two reasons. First of all, baby furniture that was made prior to the 1960’s did not have to adhere to any safety regulations. While your father’s philosophy of ‘they don’t make ‘em like this anymore’ might apply to cars, it does not seem like excellent advice concerning children’s furniture. Secondly, even if the furniture were safe, there is a good possibility that it will be damaged or broken during use. The best bet in any case would be to save these treasures to pass along to your child when they are older and to invest in a new set of furniture for use in your nursery.

After the major choices of furniture that cater to the new arrival’s needs have been made, it is important to remember to include a space for mom or dad to sit during those sleepless nights! Rather then purchasing another traditional yet impractical item for the nursery, try considering your alternatives to the long-backed, hard wooden rocker. A comfortable alternate choice might be a spacious, comfortable recliner. You will appreciate this advice at four o’clock one morning as you roll over and try to envision how you would feel sleeping in a rocker around then.

Accessories can make nurseries come together in a wonderful, and useable way. Never focus on the visual aspect of an accessory for a nursery before you consider its usefulness. You will find out soon that practical items such as diaper holders, changing tables, and so forth are much more appreciated then aesthetic items such as ceramics or stuffed animals. The purchase of stuffed animals brings forth another important safety issue. Be sure not to purchase items with small parts or pieces on them which the baby can choke on.

Once all of the necessary and useable accessories have been purchased for the baby’s room, then feel free to go out and invest in some purely decorative items which you can treasure at a future time. This is, after all, a time you will remember and cherish for the rest of your life.

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Lodge style interior decoration, also called rustic or Adirondack style, evokes a strong feeling of those days spent in a summer camp by a lake or a hiking trip taken on a wild trail. Of late, many families are switching over to this style to bring that elusive feeling of nature into their home. Lodge style interior decorating could be the ultimate eco-experience for many people; recreating the natural ambience of a nature camp seems to be one of the objectives.

However, to understand nature and recreating it in an artificial set up may be full of hassles; establishing a clear objective seems to be the first step in this direction. Just trying to visualize the natural elements and developing a clear concept is the first step in this direction. Trying to work with this motive to develop other décor will be a bright idea.

Look out for a theme as the first correct step; it might work as a dose of inspiration for establishing accessories. An artificial wall paper border is a starting point and this can be re-modified later for a better, new decorative scheme. Probably the most important factor that affects the look and feel of a log cabin will be the choice of a compatible color palette. Nature has a range of colors; profusions of dark greens and browns, milder hues of golden grass and blues and passionate splashes of brilliant reds are all part of nature. Probably nature’s own color, green is the most compatible color and no color can bring the nature inside like this color! Green is complimentary to any other color and the whole room can be more attractive along with green. However, always decorate with neutral or soft colors; cream matched with soft grey or Ming green coupled with lighter yellows is always treat to watch. A cool mountain side river border scene surrounded with green trees, bluish skies and grayish valley makes an excellent theme for a marriage of blues and greens.

The look of wood is extremely important; a mix of natural and unpainted wooden logs and pieces are often the best suited for this purpose. Furniture in craft style blends the best in lodge cabin because of its straight lines and form. Trying to find furniture that is too rustic is a better idea to recreate that log feeling. It is preferable to have minimal detailing in the larger pieces, but worn out finishes might look well. Old trunks and suitcases might serve as good coffee or side tables. They also serve as dual advantages of surfaces of storage and display.

All natural materials like old blankets, colorful vintage table cloths can be used as window toppers or pillow covers. Angling and fish trophies available in bargain sales can be hung as wall art or in display windows; this activity also enables a strong conversation with the owner. Old frames with borders can be a nice wall art and the texture of these frames can be the focal point of any log cabin. Pottery, if any, can always be mixed with books and flower vases.

Family trophies and mementos can be arranged symmetrically with photographs framed in all-wooden frames. Bamboo made baskets and art pieces, when hung look natural, lending that feeling of being in a forest. Wall scones add depth to any cabin and also help to create a strong focal point. Log style homes add variety and spice to our life; strong memories of nature are always recalled and recreated in a serene, tranquil manner. It is no wonder that more and more urban-weary people seeking solace of a Lodge cabin to seek that comfort, often missing in their life.

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