Interior Design: Small Details for Big Looks {Guest Post}

It was American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe who once famously said, “God is in the details”, and it is hard to argue with such great logic. In fact, pick up any home décor magazine or surf any interior designer's website and you will notice that it is the smallest of details, and not the superfluous design elements, that make a difference to its surrounding environment. So for that added panache, one needs to shop for suitable and beautiful home accessories like an eye-catching lighting fixture, an exquisite antique photo frame, or a luxury throw cushion. Listed below are some easy decorating tips that will make your home beautiful and be the talk of the neighborhood.

Flower Vases (via)

Vases by the Fireplace (via)

Nothing brightens up a room than a gorgeous arrangement of flowers. However it is not just the flower arrangement that makes a difference, as the vase is equally important. You can purchase different sized flower vases and then place them strategically on a mantle or next to the unused fireplace.

Art Attack (via)

It doesn’t matter if you prefer modern, pop or classical art. The point is to create a focal point in a room. If buying artwork is not too appealing then make your own wall art décor (like the polka dots/red and white circles pictured above) and unleash the creative genius inside you.

Light Up (via)

When it comes to selecting light fixtures, one is spoiled for choice, as the market is flooded with beautiful pendant lights, table lamps, and desk lamps. A clever alternative to traditional lamps are tea light candleholders since they look charming and have an unique appeal.

Make A Splash (via)

Brighten up any room and inject a touch of vibrancy by experimenting with color. However, subtlety is the key here. For example a room with a monochromatic color palette can be made more appealing by throwing in some colorful and quirky knick-knacks.

Picture Perfect (via)

A home without family photos is incomplete and incorporating them in your décor is always recommended. Wall mounted picture frames or even digital photo frames will add a touch of warmth and make your décor more personal. The black table lamps in the picture above are a nice added touch to this lovely seating area.

Lead A Cushy Life (via)

The simplest way to enhance any space is to buy beautiful and quality throw pillows. The throw pillows can be scattered casually around the house to achieve a casual chic look. To achieve an instant makeover, experiment with different patterns, textures and sizes and group them together in odd numbers.

Content provided by Arcadian Lighting, a site that specializes in top quality lighting fixtures at extremely affordable prices. Come visit us today!

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Inspiring Images - Budapest

Last week I left Denver to visit a dear friend that now lives in Budapest, Hungary.  The city contains beautiful and unique architecture that can be a great source of inspiration for your own interior design and decoration projects. I hope you’ll be as inspired by the beauty of the city as I was. Enjoy!

There are several copper and bronze statues in the castle hill area on the Buda side of the city. I love the way the metal has aged and gained patina into the beautiful turquoise shade.  It’s great inspiration for using metals in your outdoor spaces and leaving them exposed to the elements. Or perhaps you could use this particular patina turquoise as an interior paint or accessory color.

These beautiful gates and the Chain Bridge could be another great point of inspiration for your interior design plan. I find inspiration in both the combination of metal and stone and the detailed pattern of the iron work. It could be inspiration for interior or exterior railings or perhaps a fabric or wallpaper pattern loosely based on the scrolling iron work.

 

Finally, I would have to say that my favorite point of inspiration came from the cathedral roof tops in Budapest.  I have traveled a lot throughout Europe and have noticed that each culture puts their own flair on the cathedrals. The Hungarians have added a charming and unique touch with colorful glazed roof tiles. The obvious inspiration here is in using glazed tiles to create interesting patterns. Other uses could be in using glazed tiles in an unexpected application, perhaps a design on a table top. Or creating similar patterns in fabric or paint.

 

And a  look at the Buda side from the Pest side of the Danube. Look at those beautiful roof tiles. 

Have these images inspired you? What can Budapest bring to your interior design project?

Want more Inspiring Images? Check out these Inspiring Images posts.

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Spring is in this House

Spring is in the air! I’m feeling inspired by lighter, fresher rooms. I often feel this way at this time of year. Here is a Spring-inspired-interiors post from last year.
Recently, I found this home in the Bahamas to provide the fresh feel I’ve been looking for after a long winter. This home was featured in Luxe Magazine. While the overall look features a bit too much pink for my taste, I still love the overall feel you get from the spaces: light, fresh, breezy. Enjoy!
 
Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Paint Your Ceiling

The ceiling is the most neglected surface in any room. The ceiling is rarely thought about and even more rarely changed from the standard white paint. Yet changing the ceiling color, even very subtly has a more dramatic impact than any changes to the walls or flooring.  Afraid of ceiling color? You certainly aren’t alone. This post is full of inspiration to get you thinking about your ceiling with options ranging from subtle to extremely bold.
Starting with the subtle…
In previous posts, I shared my favorite ceiling tip: use the wall color at 50% strength on the ceiling. I use this particularly with bold wall colors and stained-wood built-ins as the bold colors and white ceiling usually clash and draw more attention to the ceiling. The result is subtle and adds a sophistication to rooms. For more on that tip read: To Paint or Not To Paint…The Ceiling.
A subtle option from House Beautiful, This ceiling is such an interesting feature that it absolutely deserves to be highlighted as a focal point. This room would lose so much character if the ceiling were white.

Yes, the room above is obvious because of the interesting architecture of the ceiling, a feature that most of use do not have in our own homes. A paint, wallpaper or other treatment can still have a significant impact in rooms with “plain” ceilings. The bedroom below features a serene blue paint on a plain ceiling, from Apartment Therapy. This small color change adds a lot of interest to the bedroom and could remain if the orange accessories were changed out for another color.

Now let’s step it up a notch with bolder colors featured on the ceilings and rooms where the major color impact is found on the ceiling.
From Apartment Therapy, this work space received a dramatic and uplifting ceiling color. The white walls keep the room feeling light, but the ceiling adds energy and interest to the space.

 

Another from Apartment Therapy, a bold orange ceiling color to enliven an otherwise traditional and formal living room. Again, the ceiling is the primary color source in the room.

Now let’s go extremely bold with ceiling paint! The next two rooms use the ceiling color and design to literally take the spaces to a whole new level.
From House Beautiful, this pea-green gingham painted ceiling makes a huge statement when coupled with the green kitchen island. The two sources of green create a wonderful balance in the room. The ceilings are also quite high in this kitchen. The paint brings them down, again adding to the sense of balance. What a fun place to be everyday!

From Interior Designer Albert Hadley, featured in House Beautiful, an iridescent ceiling in his personal study. A very bold choice, but it works well in this small space.

 

I hope these have inspired you to think out-of-the box when it comes to the most neglected surface in a room. Have you painted a ceiling? Have you seen other painted ceilings? Share your photos with us here or on Facebook!

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Favorite Things - Rivets Wall Coverings

To my regular readers, it’s no secret that I absolutely love both polka dots and nail head trim in Interior Design. As if answering my call, Phillip Jeffries has a new line of wall coverings called Rivets and it appeals to the polka-dot, nail-head loving designer in me. Phillip Jeffries has long been a creator of beautiful textural wall coverings and Rivets combines the look of nail heads or industrial rivets with the texture they are known for in the interiors industry: grass cloth.

 

From the Phillip Jeffries website: “Adding another dimension to wallcoverings is the RIVETS collection. Hand crafted by artisans, a raised relief pattern made with pearlized inks is hand applied to our natural Manila Hemp, Glazed Abaca, Linen and Jute wallcoverings to create the look and feel of authentic nail heads. Strong and bold, this pattern of 11.3” squares is available in nine unique color combinations that are truly riveting!” 

  Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Trends in Tile: Large Format, Large Pattern

Continuing on with the Latest and Greatest in Surfacing Trends, today the focus is big, big, big. Both larger format (size) and large pattern tiles are gaining presence in Interior Design markets and showrooms.  It’s no wonder that larger format tiles are gaining popularity, particularly in more contemporary interiors. The larger the tile, the fewer grout lines and a more even, continuous surface. Another trend in tiles is the use of more rectangular and plank shapes in place of traditional square tiles.

For an example of these trends, the best place to look is Italy. Italian manufacturers have long been on the leading edge of stone and porcelain surfacing materials. When it comes to all things getting larger, Italian manufacturers do not disappoint. The examples featured here are from Florin Ceramiche, particularly the Casa dolce Casa porcelain products. The particular tiles featured here are from the Nera line. The Nera tiles meet all three trends of larger sizes (up to a full 4 feet!), a variety of rectangular and plank shapes, and large patterns. The tiles are available in 6″X4′, 1′X4′, 2′X4′, 4′X4′ sizes.

Larger scale patterns are also being seen across the surfacing and Interior Design world.  Pattern is nothing new to tile, but manufacturers and designers are simply blowing up the scale for a much more dramatic impact.

Large Format

 Above we see the 4ft x 4ft tiles across the floor. It creates a beautiful streamlined interior without the distraction of grout lines.


Large Scale Pattern

Above, the simple geometric and monochromatic pattern is dramatic because of the large scale.  I must admit that I just love this floor and would happily add it to my own home.


Large Format and Pattern

Above we see both applications with the floor and wall tiles. This interior is absolutely stunning, with the wall tile extending up two stories with that large and very bold pattern. The Nera images pages will give you a better glimpse.


These products are available in Colorado through Interior Designers and the Decorative Materials showroom.

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Ribbon Glass Surfaces

Continuing from last week on the latest and greatest in tile, stone and coverings, today’s post is all about Architectural Glass Surfaces (aka glass slabs), particularly a product called Ribbon Glass. It is amazing and I hope it inspires you to use innovative products in your own Design or Decorating projects!
Glass surfaces are nothing new. We’ve seen glass tiles, particularly in tile mosaics, trending for the last several years. Other decorative glass applications have been around for a while, including glass countertops. Even glass blocks have been in and out of style for interiors since the 1930′s.  However, Ribbon Glass is something new and it’s very cool. For those looking for a more modern, artistic or unique surface, or those who are tired of granite as the go to luxury countertop, Ribbon Glass may be the perfect alternative for you.
Interstyle Ceramic and Glass are behind Ribbon Architectural Glass Surfaces. Made with 33% recycled content, the Ribbon surfaces are created by fusing layers of glass in a kiln. Being 100% glass, the surfaces are non-porous and stain-resistant and therefore great for countertop applications in the kitchen or bathroom. But it’s the color and texture that really make the product innovative and eye-catching.

Ribbon glass is versatile and each piece is hand made to specification up to 48″x120″. The custom nature lends the products to unlimited interesting applications beyond kitchens and bathrooms. I can envision this product as a mantel, wall art (especially if back-lit), room partition, or in furniture applications as seen in this table. How would you use Ribbon glass?

Each piece is a hand-crafted original. The company offers the color selection below, and custom color blends are welcome. Available in Denver through Interior Designers and the Decorative Materials showroom.

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

The Latest & Greatest in Coverings

I did not attend Coverings 2011, the premier trade show for all tile, stone and other innovative covering materials. I did, however, get a fantastic update at the Decorative Materials showroom in the Denver Design District last night as part of the National Kitchen and Bath Association meeting. The knowledgeable staff at Decorative Materials gave us an overview of the trends and very innovative new materials and techniques coming in tile, glass, and stone. I’m happy to share them with you here and I can’t wait to use them in the right design project. Many of these tiles are so innovative that they call out for a use beyond the kitchen and bathrooms. How about an entryway or dining room? I hope you will find as much inspiration in these posts as I found at the meeting. A quick overview of hot items in Interior Design Coverings:

• Dimension, Geometry and Texture
• Larger format tiles (think 12″x24″ or 18″x36″)
• Glass slabs
• Large Patterns
• Water jet cut stone and glass
• Rectangle and plank formats

Today I’m going to focus on Dimension Geometry and Texture, with examples from Artistic Tile. Enjoy!
Ambra
Created by an Italian artisan, Ambra is inspired by the fundamental elements of nature – Air, Fire, Water and Earth. Hand-crafted, the sculptural, three-dimensional stone tile was designed with an undulating pattern using an original finishing technique that gives Ambra the appearance of two separate stones by combining matte vs. polished finishes.

Jardin
Jardin collection embodies realistic renderings of organics within nature with elegant, dimensional patterns that interlock and repeat for a seamless installation on an interior wall. The intricate designs in ceramic are highlighted with hand-painted detail to accent the dimensions. Each pattern is available in a variety of color ways blending soft, warm earth tones.

Ziva Inspired by nature, Ziva is a sculptural, three-dimensional stone tile designed with an undulating pattern that gives Ziva its unique appearance. Each tile is hand carved and uses a combination of a polished and a honed finish.

Stay tuned for posts on the other tile trends next week. Do these inspire you? How would you like to use some of these tile and stone products in an Interior Design Project? Share your ideas and creativity!

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Favorite Things - Coco Tiles

I recently came across this very cool environmentally friendly product for numerous interior design and furniture applications: Coco Tiles.  These tiles are from Kirei, a company specializing in environmentally friendly and green building materials.

The Coco Tiles are made from reclaimed coconut shells, low-VOC resins, and sustainably harvested wood backer. And they are simply beautiful; creating texture and movement in a room! They can be used as decorative 12″x12″ tiles or 48″ x48″ panels and both vertically and horizontally.

Although they look very textural, they can be smooth to the touch. The tiles can be ordered as unfilled or filled in with a lacquer to make a polished surface, suitable for wet areas.

About Kirei: “Pronounced ‘Key-ray’, Kirei is the Japanese character signifying ‘beautiful’ or ‘clean’. We have chosen Kirei as the name for our company to reflect our dedication to the principals of
elegant, sustainable design”.
“Our goal is continual introduction of new materials while improving our production and business practices to be as low-impact and sustainable as possible.”

Want to see them locally? Visit Ellie’s Eco Home Store in Boulder, CO.


Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com