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home guide - design
trends - tips |
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| A house with blank white
walls and windows with pull down
shades often leaves you clueless
on how to decorate it. You can
add the character and the
personality to your home for it
to serve as an extension of your
own self, your family and your
culture. Your personal touches
give your home an intimacy that
makes you feel comfortable. To
help you make your home cozy,
warm and homely the following
points can come handy: |
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| 1. Global Looks - Themes
you can create: A few global
concepts that can be a guiding
factor while decorating your
home. They could help you
personalize your home
interestingly, apart from
reflecting your personality,
likes, tastes and hobbies and
the …read more. |
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| 2. Eliminate things that
don't fit into the theme
décor of the room or modify them
to suit the overall theme. ….
read more. |
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3. Artifacts - All
collectors love to display their
collections. Artifacts that suit
your theme can add a special
touch to the room décor such as
a small wooden ship to go with
the nautical theme of stamps,
coins, dolls or other trinkets
in a special creative way…
read
more |
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| 4. Colors of walls,
fabrics, furniture, linen,
pillows, shelves and curtains
and type of furniture, beds,
sofas and seating arrangements
and even accessories…
read more |
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1. Global Looks: Themes
you can Create! |
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| It is a reflection on your
personality, likes, tastes and
hobbies and the culture of your
family. A chosen theme such as
Moroccan, Thai and Terracotta
can be the unifying factor for
all your furniture, furnishings,
accessories, colors of walls and
ceilings, windows and doors and
even the showcase area to
display your collections, arts,
crafts and other prized
possessions. |
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| a. Decorating with Red |
| Red is a feisty color that
spells confidence, sensuality,
passion and vibrancy. |
| Red is a fantastic color for
interiors as it can instantly
give a room depth and life. In
fact, the Chinese use red
commonly in interiors as it's
the color of success and luck. |
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| If you think a full-on red
room may be a little
overwhelming and over-the-top
for your tastes, then there are
ways you can tone it down.
Instead of decorating in punchy
pillar-box red and contrasting
your woodwork in white, choose a
slightly more earthy red shade. |
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| When it comes to
accessorizing your room, choose
similarly earthy textures such
as hessian blinds, wicker
seating, honey-coloured wooden
furniture, linen cushions,
chunky wool throws and
sculptural stone vases. Wooden
floors work best with this
slightly ethnic theme, so if
your boards are in good nick,
sand them down and treat them to
a mid-tone wood stain. |
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b. Moroccan Style |
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| The trend for introducing
global cultures into home décor
continues, with Moroccan style
at the forefront. Throw together
some North African fretwork
accessories with an intricate
metal lampshade and Turkish rug
and you'll capture the look
perfectly. |
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| The first step is to get the
bones of your scheme right.
Floors should be either bare
board, tiled or carpeted with
coir. Walls are best painted in
strong colours like ochre,
terracotta or blue.
Alternatively, if this is too
authentic, keep things simple by
painting everything white and
bring colour to the room with
soft furnishings. Lighting
should be subtle, but ethnic.
Serve your tea in Moroccan tea
glasses and arrange the table
with decorative pottery |
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| c. Thai Lounge |
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| The Far East provides a rich
tapestry of styles, patterns and
colours to draw from. So if
you're going for this particular
look, keep the influences and
styles broad so you have lots of
flexibility in putting the
various elements together. It's
a beautiful theme that lets you
use lots of jewel colours,
opulent satins and silks, exotic
embroidery, deeply polished and
carved wood, and gilt detailing
set against the more basic
elemental ingredients such as
bamboo, rush, stone and jade. |
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| For your sitting room, start
by choosing a coir or jute floor
covering if you'd like something
warm underfoot. |
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| At the windows, go for
simple reedy bamboo roller
blinds. For a sophisticated look
on the walls, add a bamboo
design textured wallpaper to one
or two surfaces and a splash of
olive or deep lime paint to the
others. Finally, add a jewel
bright mix of glassware, mosaic
mirrored accessories, gilt edged
candles and textured soft
furnishings to complete the
look. |
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| d. Arabian Night |
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| The Rock the Kasbah looks is
a fantastic theme for a living
room. There are a lot of rich
fabrics and decorative
accessories around that are
perfect for this look and easy
to get your hands on. |
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| Invest in some richly
textured kelim style fabric to
drape over furniture and in
doorways for a Berber tent
effect that evokes a sense of
mysticism and sets the scene for
a Bedouin bash. It's a bit of a
cheat, but you could even use
Indian-inspired voile curtain
panels with gold or silver
filigree thread. It's not
strictly Arabian but great for
spicing up this sensual theme
nonetheless. |
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| This is a look that needs
candlelight and an exotic
ambience, so look for cutwork
lanterns that throw out
intricate decorative shadows
when lit and burn heady incense
to conjure up the ambience of
the ancient Marrakesh souks.
Scatter Berber style kelim rugs
on the floor and oversized floor
cushions for low-level loungey
comfort. |
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| e. Tying-in Terracotta
Tones |
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| Terracotta and cream is a
very warm, relaxed and
sophisticated combination for a
living room or a bedroom. |
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| Introduce yellow and even
black to the mix for a chic,
smart urban ethnic look, or if
you'd like a brighter outlook,
consider mixing in touches of
navy or even cobalt blue which
looks stunning next to
terracotta and evokes a more
Mediterranean outlook. |
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| If you go for the black and
yellow option, invest in some
black leather cushions and
beanbags, black wrought iron
curtain poles and tribal print
soft furnishings such as
curtains, throws and rug. Seek
out unusual carvings, pieces of
rich, dark wooden furniture and
wooden vases filled with twigs
or bamboo. Wicker furniture
looks great with the
Mediterranean option too, but
for decorative items opt instead
for cobalt blue glass, floor
standing terracotta urns filled
with indoor palms and cream
calico Roman blinds at the
window. |
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2. Eliminate things that
don't fit |
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| Eliminate things that don’t
fit into the theme décor of the
room or modify them to suit the
overall theme. This can be a
good restraint on impulsive
shopping, disproportionate
planning or unplanned
implementation of decoration
items. |
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| You need some organized
storage solutions in your home,
but before you even consider
getting what you've got in
order, you need to clear out the
bulk of it. |
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| Use something called the
80/20 rule. Most people use just
20 per cent of what they own on
a regular basis and a hefty
proportion of the other 80 per
cent is made up of things we
either used in the past or
things we feel we might find
some use for in the future. |
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| Look at which group each of
your items belongs to. If it
falls into the 20 per cent pile
that you use regularly, keep it.
If it falls into the 80 per cent
pile, bin it or put it in the
charity shop bag. If you're
really not sure about something,
get a large box and store that
and anything else that's a
'maybe' for six months. |
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3. Artifacts- All
collectors love to display their
collections |
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| Display collections that
suit your theme and can add a
special touch to the room décor
such as a small wooden ship to
go with the nautical theme of
stamps, coins, dolls or other
trinkets in a special creative
way. Linear arrangements can be
dull so may be grouping them and
presenting them in interesting
ways such as in glass cupboards
will draw more attention to them
and to your skill of refinement. |
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| Personalize your home, give
it your touch! |
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4. Colors |
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| Colors of walls, fabrics,
furniture, linen, pillows,
shelves and curtains and type of
furniture, beds, sofas and
seating arrangements and even
accessories, lamps and vases
that you use must also confirm
with your room or home décor
theme. |
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| Color scheme helps you to
establish the harmony between
colors in home décor. A color
wheel can be quite useful while
deciding a color scheme for your
home as it helps you to compare
complimentary colors.
Interactive color wheel tools
and software are available
online for your reference. The
use of color wheel makes
choosing the combination of
colors for painting your walls,
accents, furnishings, furniture
and accessories much easier.
Here are a few tips that you can
use while deciding upon the
color scheme for your home: |
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| Monochromatic color
scheme uses only one color
throughout. |
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| Complimentary color
scheme uses two colors
placed opposite to each other on
the color wheel. |
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| Triadic color schemes
use three hues placed
consecutively or at equal
distances from each other |
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| Color can make quite a lot
of difference to the size and
proportion of the room. So,
remember that white and pale
colors reflect light more making
the room appear larger while
dark colors make room appear
cozier and smaller. |
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