Interior Design Ideas: Enter the Dragon into Your Kitchen
Today we turn our attention to kitchens and what better style to adopt if you love shiny surfaces, high-tech gadgets and designs which call out to be the hub of a home. Flooring: For practicalities tiles, wood (or wood laminate) or stone floors are ideal. To take away the coldness an elegant, yet functional kitchen rugs are ideal. Walls: Tiled walls are a great ...
Interior Design Ideas: Enter the Dragon into Your Bedroom
It's easy to get a Chinese style look in your bedroom. As red is a favourite colour for good health and good fortune in the East, here in the West we often use red in the bedroom as a symbol – intentional or not – of romance and love. Incorporate the two and you have a winning combination to refresh ...
Interior Design Ideas: Enter the Dragon into Your Dining Room
It has to be said that many Chinese adore antiques, especially in their dining room. Ornate dining room tables and chairs, along with sideboards and cupboards are much sort after, along with antique diner services, plates etc. Many of the genuine Chinese antiques command very high prices, as such the revival of antiques has gathered momentum over recent years. Flooring: Hard wood ...
Interior Design Ideas: Enter the Dragon into Your Living Room
Today we take a look at ways to bring a touch of the orient into your living room. As we discussed yesterday the colour scheme for the Year of the Black Water Dragon is predominately oceanic blues and greens, red, black and gold, with stripes to create dynamic interiors that will suit all styles of interiors with a little tweaking ...
Interior Design: Enter the Dragon
Today marks the start of the Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the dragon, or to be more exact the year if The Black Water Dragon. Before you think that dragons are all about children's story tales the Chinese hold their year symbols very highly – more especially as their dragons aren't the fire breathing creatures many ...
Turning Over a New Leaf in Home Office Interior Design
To end this mini-series we're going to include home offices as they have become an integral part of many people's homes. You may not have a room dedicated to being a home office, however, you can turn over a new leaf this year but making your office corner or space looks like a planned and well thought part of a ...
Turning Over a New Leaf in Kitchen Interior Design
Kitchens are returning to the 'olden days' of being the hub of the home, with an informal table for eating or stools along the back of island units. Maximising space is also high on this year's kitchen trends as we see the use of shelving replace the more traditional wall cupboards. Colours Inspired by Nature: Lime green may be a little intense ...
Turning Over a New Leaf in Bathroom Interior Design
This year bathrooms are seeing the continuation of space saving ideas and cost efficiency. Bathrooms are also continuing to lean towards a personal spa experience rather than just a place to wash and clean your teeth. Colours Inspired by Nature: Light colours which reflect the natural light are ideal for bathrooms with hints of leafy green, or oceanic blues as accents and ...
Turning Over a New Leaf in Bedroom Interior Design
The bedroom may be one of the easiest rooms in your home to begin your quest of turning over a new leaf. With modern bedroom designs making use of natural light, along with rugs to bring warmth to flooring and help ground a colour scheme, there are many ways you can transform and up-date your bedroom without breaking the bank. Colours ...
Turning Over a New Leaf in Dining Room Interior Design
It's possible to turn a section of your kitchen or lounge into a dining room simply by look at some interior design inspiration! Today we take an informal look at ways to turn over a new leaf in dining rooms/areas which will bring bursts of colour and life into your home – which is especially poignant and many people are ...
Interior Design Ideas: Enter the Dragon into Your Kitchen
Today we turn our attention to kitchens and what better style to adopt if you love shiny surfaces, high-tech gadgets and designs which call out to be the hub of a home. Flooring: For practicalities tiles, wood (or wood laminate) or stone floors are ideal. To take away the coldness an elegant, yet functional kitchen rugs are ideal. Walls: Tiled walls are a great idea in kitchens as they can so easily be kept clean, while their reflective surfaces embraces the style beautifully. Use a combination of white painted walls with large areas of tiles on the wall above the work surfaces. Extend the tiles to more than the more typical two or three rows to give a more modern look. Lighting: Practical and functional are key when selecting kitchen lighting. Rather than fluorescent tubes spot lights are a good alternative and can be directed to make work areas lighter and potentially safer. Furniture: Wooden cupboards are a mainstay in Chinese design, however, we mustn’t forget that the Chinese... [Read more...]
Interior Design Ideas: Enter the Dragon into Your Bedroom
It’s easy to get a Chinese style look in your bedroom. As red is a favourite colour for good health and good fortune in the East, here in the West we often use red in the bedroom as a symbol – intentional or not – of romance and love. Incorporate the two and you have a winning combination to refresh the look of your bedroom with some of this year’s interior design trends. Flooring: As wood plays an important part in Chinese design, wooden flooring is an ideal choice for a bedroom. Use a mid tone colour to give style and warmth to the room. For creature comforts include a large pattern rug and rather than the more traditional UK bedroom style place the rug at the end of the bed rather than two smaller ones each side – unless you have tiled or a stone floor in which case the UK two small rugs either side of the bed may be more fitting to step onto as you get out of bed. Walls: Use natural materials and earth tone colours to get the look. Red bricks offer an up-beat loft... [Read more...]
Interior Design Ideas: Enter the Dragon into Your Dining Room
It has to be said that many Chinese adore antiques, especially in their dining room. Ornate dining room tables and chairs, along with sideboards and cupboards are much sort after, along with antique diner services, plates etc. Many of the genuine Chinese antiques command very high prices, as such the revival of antiques has gathered momentum over recent years. Flooring: Hard wood floors, stone or tiles are not only beautiful but make practical sense for easy maintenance and cleaning. Often large Chinese rugs are placed under the table and although it means much of the glorious pattern is not easily viewed the practicalities of warm feet and aesthetic looks speak volumes. As per yesterday’s post buy rugs direct to enable you to choose the correct size and colours to suit your dining room’s colour scheme. Walls: Plain or patterned, either will look ‘right’ – if you have a large dining room then wallpaper with a Chinese pattern will enhance the overall look of the... [Read more...]
Interior Design Ideas: Enter the Dragon into Your Living Room
Today we take a look at ways to bring a touch of the orient into your living room. As we discussed yesterday the colour scheme for the Year of the Black Water Dragon is predominately oceanic blues and greens, red, black and gold, with stripes to create dynamic interiors that will suit all styles of interiors with a little tweaking and emphasising the room’s focal point. Flooring: As with the vast majority of modern and contemporary interior designs, floors with a highly reflective surface are replacing fitted carpets. Under foot comfort is provided by using Chinese rugs, which are highly decorative and offer a superb softness under foot. It may be wise to buy rugs direct from online retailers in order to get the best designs, sizes and of course prices! Walls: Walls are typically plain which enables wall art to be displayed and admired. Cream and hues of red are often seen as these are easy on the eye, while the red is believed to bring financial rewards and luck to a home. Lighting: Central... [Read more...]
Interior Design: Enter the Dragon
Today marks the start of the Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the dragon, or to be more exact the year if The Black Water Dragon. Before you think that dragons are all about children’s story tales the Chinese hold their year symbols very highly – more especially as their dragons aren’t the fire breathing creatures many of us imagine. Their dragon is believed to help those who are less fortunate than others as well as have auspicious powers. As this year is the Black Water Dragon you’ll be able to encompass some of this year’s interior design trends to achieve a balanced and well thought-out interior. As we saw last week flowing water is amongst this year’s trends – so bringing the water element of Feng Shui into your home offers you the opportunity to embrace the latest trends. Red is used to celebrate the Chinese New Year and can be used in any room of your home as an accent colour which coordinate superbly with black to create a contemporary... [Read more...]
Turning Over a New Leaf in Home Office Interior Design
To end this mini-series we’re going to include home offices as they have become an integral part of many people’s homes. You may not have a room dedicated to being a home office, however, you can turn over a new leaf this year but making your office corner or space looks like a planned and well thought part of a room, rather than just a stuck into the corner of a room! Colours Inspired by Nature: Rather than opt for greens and earth tones why not be inspired by animal prints, such as zebra prints to team with wall paper and curtains. Patterns and Prints: This is one room where the use of pattern and prints needs to be done carefully otherwise you may find that too much pattern can cause loss of concentration and confusion in your mind. If your office is part of another room, the use of pattern can create a superb visual boundary – enabling you to step in and out of ‘work’ mode more easily. Faux Bois: As we’ve mentioned Faux Bois encapsulates any faux soft... [Read more...]
Curtains, Poles, Bedding and Blinds
