Furniture & Home Design Ideas

Rooms decorated in green colors peculate an awareness of earth consciousness and reflects an appreciation for the outdoors. Whenever focusing on a natural green or a eco-living style home you need to think like mother nature by balancing feel and lighting with a triad of colors and textures. Green themed rooms that are themed around gentle natural earth tones bring to life a simplistic, and refreshing experience that enriches a sense of relaxation, peace and serenity.

The colors used for drapery, furniture and walls need to reflect and evenly distribute lighting that brightens a room to maximum potential. Use modern understated furniture that flatters with subtle elegance instead of bulky and darker furniture that can easily overpower a room. Highlight and splash areas using smaller decor to provide a hint of darker rich colors that flirt with they eyes and remind us of nature’s textures, such as the slate blacks, wisps of light ocean blues, and small specks of the vibrant reds. Use light colors of green for walls, and specially placed objects to unambiguously interweave it among other colors. As long as the majority of colors are natural and light, the greens will pop and draw the eye.

Blinds are a great asset for your home. Not only do they look fantastic, but they can also keep out unwanted sunlight effectively lowing the cost of your air conditioning bill. That being said, if you’ve ever been in the situation of needing to shorten your blinds, you also know that blinds can sometimes pose challenges. Fortunately, shortening your blinds doesn’t have to be such a hassle. The following steps will walk you through shortening your blinds. Not to worry, it won’t take long and the process won’t make you want to throw your blinds in the trash. Instead, you’ll be smiling and ready to hang your newly shortened blinds.

1) The first step to shortening your blinds is to remove the cap at the bottom. Depending on the type of blinds you’re working with, you may find that your blinds have one to three caps; remove them all. You may need a small tool in order to be able to pop the caps off.

2) After you remove the caps, you’ll find that the strings from both the front and back sides of the blinds will then fall out. At the bottom of the slip cord, you’ll see a knot. In order to cut the knot, pull on it and then cut off the end.

3) Once you’ve cut the knot off of the slip cord, you’ll then be able to pull the slip cord out of the slats that you want to remove in order to shorten your blinds. When doing this step, be careful to make sure that you pull the slip cord out of both sides.

4) Next, you’ll have to take the sections that you don’t want and remove them by sliding them out sideways. When taking this step, remember that the bottom blind has to stay the bottom blind, meaning that you’ll have to take that measurement into consideration.

5) Take the bottom blind and slide into the ladder strings.

6) Find the slip cord and pull it back through the hole near the bottom blind. Once you’ve done that, you’ll need to tie a new knot at the end of the slip cord. If you have any excess slip cord or extra string on the ladder strings, you’ll need to fit the new lengths you’ve created.

7) Find the caps that you took off at the beginning of the process and put them back.

After completing those seven, simple steps, the only thing you have left to do is hang your blinds and marvel at your excellent blind-shortening skills!

Windowless spaces such as basements and bathrooms can pose a tricky decorating challenge. Simply adding a few lighting fixtures is not always an adequate solution for making these dark rooms as functional as they need to be in the home. Fortunately, there are a few design tricks that can transform any windowless room from dim to radiant.
The first basic step is to choose a light wall color. Dark tones will absorb what light there is and make the room feel smaller. Painting the walls a light shade will instantly brighten the room and create a more open appearance to the space. To enhance the use of the walls, opt for gloss or semi-gloss paint. The shine from the paint will help reflect light back into the room and make it seem brighter.

This same principle can be applied to the room’s furnishings and décor. Furniture in deep tones looks heavy and adds a sense of weight to a room. The best thing to do is look for surfaces and materials such as glass or metal that has a reflective quality to them. Place items all around the area that catch light and send it back into the space. Lamps with metallic stands are the perfect accessory for windowless rooms as the light from the lamp is immediately amplified. Decorating with mirrors is an easy and ideal way to manipulate light and give the illusion of a bigger area as well. For best results, hang mirrors on opposite walls so that the light will bounce back and forth across the room. Tables with glass tops and metal legs, sofas and chairs with metal stud detailing, and fabrics with sheen or metallic thread are excellent for subtly maximizing the light in a room while still providing functionality to the space.

One of the main issues of not having windows is the lack of focal point and depth they provide. Artwork can provide a view that perhaps a window could not. Choosing bright artwork for the windowless space is the simplest way to create a similar experience. The bright colors will not only draw the eye’s attention, but will add lightness and depth of perception to the room. Installing gallery lighting over the art piece is a wonderful way to make the most of the art and add another light source to the room.
No windowless room is doomed to feel like a cave. The key is to take advantage of available light sources with the materials that furnish the space. Light colors, shiny surfaces, and vibrant accessories are the winning combination for bringing a home out of the dark ages and into the light.

Painting a room is a great way to revitalize its appearance. After years with the same wall colors, many grow tired of the room’s appearance, and a couple coatings of paint can transform its appearance dramatically. It is important, however, to realize that while painting is not permanent, repainting costs money and can take away a weekend. Thought is necessary, but there are a few colors that a room should never be painted.

Near the top of the list has to be pink. Most think that only young or teenage girls would consider this option, but pink walls are surprisingly common in houses. Pink can make a great accent color, but an entirely pink room is overkill. “Visual noise” is a term used to express an overwhelming feeling from too much visual information, and pink paint can turn the visual noise rating up quite high. Pink is a tiring color, and it gives the room a juvenile appearance.

Another common mistake is painting a room black. Black rooms rarely achieve the look homeowners strive for, and most who choose black end up regretting the decision quickly. Black paint will effectively shrink a room and may cause a claustrophobic reaction in some. With the exception of dedicated home theater rooms, black should be never be considered for a home; it does not look tough, and it does not look elegant. It simply looks bad.

Green and blue are other popular options, but extreme caution is due when considering these colors. With some competent advice, there are some shades of green and blue that can be effective, but the vast majority of green and blue hues come up short. Baby blue might function in a baby’s room, but this look fails in other portions of a house. Kelly green or darker shades may work in a sports or billiards room, but lighter shades will demand a repaint in the near future.

Finally, homeowners should be wary of red paint. Bright red is simply unusable in most rooms; the shade is visually overpowering and has been shown to induce stress. Darker shades of red may be effective, but it requires careful coordination with the room’s furniture and accents. Unless considering a complete room remodeling, red should be scratched off the list.

Painting is fairly easy, and its cost-to-change ratio is perhaps the best among room renovation options. Sometimes, however, a bit more thought is necessary. A painted accent stripe is a great option, and some are considering eco-friendly wallpapers instead of paint. The best advice for would-be room painters is to slow down and take time to find the best option available.

Feng shui is making its way into western design culture and is becoming a very popular way to design a person’s house. People use feng shui from the living room to the bedroom. There are many different rules to bring peace and harmony into a person’s house.

The first step to having great energy is to remove all the unnecessary items such as the television, computer and exercise equipment. Having these items will destroy the energy. Another step to take is to open the windows and let the fresh air into the room. Be mindful of the air levels in the room; good feng shui is compromised with stale air or pollutants. Different lighting settings help great a good mood.

Candles are the best for feng shui in the bedroom, but be sure the candles are made with no toxins.
The paint in the room will also help with the color scheme. Colors that bring in the best energy are human skin colors. These colors vary from pale white to a rich dark chocolate; bringing this color into the room will help the energy flow. Make sure to pick a color that goes along with your décor as well. Art décor is also important for the room, pick pictures or images that you want to see happen in your life, positive influences.

The bed also plays an important role for bedroom feng shui. The rules for the bed are as follows a bed needs to be accessible from each side; there should be two side tables so that makes the room symmetrical. The bed should not be in line with the door. A comfortable mattress with a headboard that is sturdy is also needed. The last rule that will help with the energy is to shut all the bedroom doors. Clean and organized will create a sense of calm and peace in the bedroom.

A growing trend in home design is rustic modern. This style takes traditional rustic elements that you see in cabins and hunting lodges and re-imagines and then places them into an urban setting. The resulting design aesthetic is as individual as every homeowner. Rustic modern exemplifies the perfect marriage of natural and machine born materials, finished with modern design principles like sharp lines and functional forms. You will see a lot of exposed wooden beams alongside glass or metal furniture. A rustic modern bedroom might use all white bedding and walls, with a reclaimed wood headboard. The kitchen is the perfect place to use these style of design, with concrete or slate flooring, a vintage butcher block or farm table, and all stainless steel appliances.

Many furniture designers are combining these two design aesthetics in their work, as you will see in any high-end furniture store these days. Brushed steel legs form the bases of tables that use reclaimed rail ties or barn wood as their table tops. Another trend is rustic modern lighting. Old factories and warehouses used industrial pendant lamps, and those lamps are seeing a huge resurgence of popularity in home design.

Accessories for the Rustic Modern Home

For accessories, we are seeing a lot of antique bottles, maps and tools make an appearance in people’s decor. An old pull-down school map is the perfect solution for a large wall that needs to be filled. Old medicine bottles from an apothecary can line shelves and create a wonderful old-fashioned, yet starkly contemporary look. Animal trophy heads made of wood, and antlers are making a huge comeback in the design world, with companies like Roost doing an entire series of carved wood mountable animal heads.

When putting together a plan for this style in your home, remember to create a balance of the two ideals. If you have a simple, modern space – sometimes all you need is one strong rustic piece to tie the room together perfectly. Consider all the natural and man-made materials such as reclaimed wood and stone or granite. Using simple, uncomplicated furniture and incorporating clean lines amongst the natural elements, you will find that a rustic modern design will create a sense of organic warmth in your home.

In our store, we have gathered a huge collection of both modern furniture, and rustic furniture, so take a look and see all of the limitless combinations you could choose from to create the perfect rustic modern home.

The next time you want to purchase an item for your office or home, choose authentic, original design. When you choose to buy authentic modern designs it ensures fairness and guarantees quality. Like art, furniture designers have meticulously planned out from concept to production the design and materials of a certain piece. Designers work hard to ensure that the design principles, materials and craftsmanship of a piece are all of the highest distinction. In addition, manufacturers who take steps to protect the environment in making a product may find that knockoff products have been created with no regard to environmental safety. In other words, a knockoff item may cost less initially, but the overall value of an authentic piece is far greater. So selecting genuine designs reaffirms the importance of high quality and the hard work of visionary designers and manufacturers.

Bamboo flooring requires some special care. Start by using a cleaner that will not leave a residue that will inhibit bonding and re-coating. While bamboo is more resistant to moisture than most woods, never use a wet mop or sponge to clean the floor. When using any wood flooring cleaner that requires mixing with water, follow the mixing directions precisely.

A cloth that you wet with with water and then squeeze dry can be used to wipe up simple spills, provided the area is buffed dry immediately. Never rub and scrub the accident or you will be massaging it into the wood pores which can result in staining of the floor. Once all of the mess is wiped and lifted off of the wood, dry the area with a paper towel. Heel or scuff marks and stubborn stains may be removed by lightly rubbing with a cloth and a wood floor cleaner.

It is pretty important that you try to dust mop or use a soft bristled floor vacuum on the bamboo flooring daily if you can. You never want to allow dirt, dust, pet hairs or other grit that is tracked into the home building up on your bamboo flooring.

One of the crops that is the most eco-friendly for textile use is hemp. The ecological footprint of hemp is a lot smaller than that of most other plants considered for their fibres. Hemp plants grow extremely fast and dense which makes it nearly impossible for weeds to take hold. This eliminates the need for herbicides and artificial fertilizers. Hemp requires no irrigation as it thrives on the amount of water in the average rainfall, and hemp is highly pest-resistant.

Hemp has naturally long fibres which makes it suitable for spinning with the bare minimum amount of processing. Those fibres are also very durable and long-lasting. Hemp fabrics come in a variety of weights and textures. You can buy fabric or clothing, woven or knit; purchase yarn, materials, belts and a growing number of products made of this versatile and sustainable plant.

Bokashi is a Japanese term that means “fermented organic matter. Bokashi has traditionally been used to increase the microbial diversity and activity in soils and to supply nutrients to plants. As the organic matter waste does not breakdown or decompose while it is in the bucket, much of its original physical property will remain and it will have an almost pickled appearance. Breakdown of waste will occur after it has been transferred to the soil.