Enjoy ‘Health Through Water’ In Your Very Own Spa
Many might still hanker for a pristine polar white kitchen but in the bathroom there are signs of a more sophisticated approach to colour and pattern. It’s easy to add colour with wall decor treatments and accessories but we also have help from the manufacturers who are keen to introduce us to new materials and some rather smart design. No longer is the tub just a tub! With different shapes available we can inject style and personality into our bathrooms just as we would any other room in the house. From Teuco, ‘Accademia’ is a new collection by Carlo Colomb and this bath, made from Duralight®, is from the range called POP. It caught my eye at the interiors trade show 100% Design, which took place in London in September 2014, and it wasn’t only me that noticed it. Design London voted it as being rather special and Teuco picked up a further two awards for it this year: Red Dot Award Best of the Best 2014 and MIAW Muuuz International Award 2014. Colour and Wellness White is considered a hygienic neutral to use where germs can spread so it is popular for decor in the kitchen and bathroom. But the trend is to think of our bathrooms as a place of relaxation and the tub especially is key to this idea. Clinical no longer, the bathroom can replicate the appeal of a spa and with colour being linked strongly to wellness we can use more of it. Getting the feel of a spa at home requires a sense of luxury and through colour, texture and pattern it is achievable. The naturally occurring blues, aquas and greens we enjoy where water is present will always have the effect of making us feel at ease and help us unwind. Whatever the style of your home you can enjoy ‘health through water’ in your very own spa. Even if we keep our all-white bathroom suite for a while we can work around it by introducing colour in accessories, in the decor and window dressings. But when buying a new suite the choice is varied and as innovative materials become more affordable we can splash out on something that is functional but has aesthetic charm like this tub designed by Jaime Hayon. The shower is where we wash and the bath a place to relax, meditate and...
Transform Your Bathroom Into Your Own Personal Spa Retreat
Often times the bathroom is the last room in the home to receive a little TLC. But with just a little care and some thoughtful finishing touches, you can transform your bathroom so it feels more like a spa retreat. Makeover your bathroom design now with these luxurious finishing touches: Flameless candles One of the first and most obvious and instant ways to give your bathroom the spa treatment is to add a few candles. Flameless candles are an exceptional option as they never burn out. Put a few around the vanity and then some around the edge of the bath if you have enough space. Experiment with different sized candles clustered in lots of three. Heated towel rack There’s nothing like stepping out of the shower and wrapping yourself up in a warm, fluffy towel. Heated towels are soothing on the skin and give you that ‘day spa feeling.’ LED lights around your mirror Rather than always using bright, overhead lights for doing your makeup or hair, why not use LED strip lights around the outside of your mirror to provide the perfect level of illumination right where you need it? These lights also give that contemporary yet glamorous feel we all love. Plush towels, robe, and slippers Invest in a few high-quality plush towels plus a soft robe and matching slippers. When you step out of the bath or shower, you want to be able to reach for your heated towel, before putting on your soft robe and slippers on exiting the bathroom. It really is all of the little things that make the world of difference! Fresh cut flowers or indoor plant Ever notice how your favourite day spa seems to always have gorgeous bunches of fresh flowers in every room? Flowers add colour, vibrancy and fragrance. Treat yourself to flowers for your bathroom from time to time or invest in an indoor plant that’s suitable for bathroom conditions. You’d be surprised how much difference a touch of green or living colour will make. By adding just a few finishing touches you’ll be able to transform your bathroom into one of your favourite rooms in your home. Your bathroom should promote relaxation and calm and by adding a few stylish additions you’ll experience just how easy it is to recreate that spa feeling at...
Avoiding Museum Syndrome
A lot of people dream about renovating their homes. Even brand-new homes get a bit dinged up over the course of a decade or two – raising a family, a herd of dogs and cats, hosting visitors, dealing with the inevitable roof leaks, mud-tracking incidents, and the occasional flooded garage. Even if you avoid disasters, your floors will slowly get scratched up by claws and high heels and kitty litter, your walls will get scuffed and sport ancient hand-prints, and your décor will slow fade into deprecated old-fashioned-ness. That’s when people start scrutinising the design magazines and calculating the interest rates on their mortgage redraw options. And renovating, while exhausting and frequently frustrating (and always more expensive than you expected) is a lot of fun, and can completely renew your beloved old house. There’s just one thing to be careful of: Museum Syndrome. Look But Don’t Touch If you ever visited someone as a child and sat in a living room on furniture covered in plastic, you’you’ve experienced Museum Syndrome: When a home is so overly designed that it’s really not meant to be lived in, but is more of a museum of the owner’s taste. There are a few ways to identify Museum Syndrome in your home or someone else’s: The presence of furniture you’re not supposed to sit in or use. Entire rooms that serve no purpose, and which visitors are discouraged from entering. A lack of practical living areas or access to the functional areas of the house. You know the feeling, too: When you’re afraid to move or touch anything in someone’s home, no matter how gorgeous it is, they’ve turned their home into a museum and forgotten the first rule of residential interior design: The space must be usable as well as beautiful. Fabulous, but Liveable The fact is, you can make a home beautiful, inspiring, and high-end and still practical and liveable – in fact, this is the trick that separates the great interior decorators from the rest. You don’t want your home to wind up a cold, forbidding museum, but you want it to look great. Here’s a few simple exercises you can employ in the planning stages to ensure that your home comes out fabulous – but liveable. Start with Purpose Every room in your home should have a distinct purpose. The kitchen and bathrooms are obvious, as are defined bedrooms. In other areas, know what the purpose of the room will be before you start designing. Use a Mix of Durable Textures Remember that if you want a room to be alive and useful, it has to be durable. High-end,...
Add A Touch Of Magic To Your Home With Fairytale Accents
If you want to add some whimsical magic to your home, adding fairytale accents here and there could be just what you’re looking for. Forget Disney figurines and sparkly wands. After all, the fairytale look can have a very grown up edge to it, if done properly. Here we’ll run through some beautiful interior decorating ideas to add a touch of magic to your home. Are you an Alice in Wonderful fan? This rabbit lamp is perfect for lounge rooms and dining room spaces. While it features an adorable, curious looking rabbit as the lamp base, it’s sleek design and colour means that it will perfectly match with a range of home interior styles. Bright coloured candles also bring to mind mysticism and magic. Flameless candles are a great alternative to traditional candles as they look just as good, yet never burn out. Try clustering together different candles in bright colours. They will look beautiful at night and illuminate a relaxing glow. Fairytales and folk stories are also about the impossible, the strange and the quirky. Consider this lamp that was originally designed by Charles Trevelyan. It’s unique design makes it a serious dinner party talking point while adding something uniquely different to your home. String lights, or ‘fairy lights’ as they are often called look beautiful when draped appropriately. Just make sure you purchase the right fairy lights for how you want to use them. There’s the indoor and outdoor variety. Flower-shaped solar powered string lights look dainty when draped across a courtyard or balcony. Apart from beautiful lighting accents, consider ways to incorporate natural elements into your home. Fresh flowers always add something special to any room and terrariums with natural moss and ornaments are a fun and playful way to add something magical to your home. Pine cones clustered together in a bowl and pieces of driftwood displayed correctly also look really effective, they just require some foraging on your part. By adding just a few hints of whimsy here and there, you should, on all counts, live happily ever...
Spring Make-Over
Spring is in the air! Time to do some spring cleaning and get ready for the new season. Whether you are looking to do slight enhancement or major overhaul here are some pointers to get you started. First identify what it is you aim to do, then get an inspiration notebook to keep all your ideas in one place. I suggest the following pointers to assist you in getting ready for spring new look 2014: Cut-out or make a copy of the inspiration room picture you so desire. Next, get yourself a notebook to help you get organized. Paste the inspiration image in your notebook, and use that page as your concept page. Once you have your concept page, identify the elements and items that you will be needing to change or add. Some example of this can be: choosing new colors for the walls, getting new lamps, replacing an existing rug, etc. Keep this list in your notebook and don’t forget to take it with you when you go shopping! Look for those items you already listed, and remember to always use the concept image as a reference a guide to your design – do not get side tracked with the items you like randomly! Keep referring to your list and stay focused on your inspiration concept. Now that you have your 7 pointers to help you stay on track let’s look at the “IN” colours according to Pantone Colour trends for spring 2014. Colour is super important and sometimes we shy away from bold colours but as long as you pick one main colour and use it as an accent colour then it can tie the rest of the space rather nicely. Here is a great way to accessorise your space with some Celosia Orange. If you’re just looking for a simple enhancement to your space, you can add accent pillows, or choose a nice piece of art work to complement the pillows and the gray, adding a pop of color to enhance the space without having to change too much, patterns seem to be dominating the scene this spring as far rugs go. Here is a beautiful example of how to make patterns work in your space. Use neutral tones for the walls and accentuate with a nice pattern rug. Whether you are trying to enhance or add colour this spring, just remember to keep your ideas together and not lose focus on the ideal style you are looking for. Lots of bold colours can be used this spring to accentuate and layer with home accents. When in doubt refer to your inspiration image and have fun creating your new space for...
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