Need Some Help With Interior Design? Start Here and Learn These Lessons!

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Jeremy Leake

Designing a new space can be extremely challenging especially if you aren’t a very creative person. In order to help you out we found this article with 10 different interior design lessons. We hope it helps you design a space you love!

————–
If you need Condo association dryer vent cleaning services, then Dryer Vents Plus is your #1 choice! Call Jeremy Leake today at 225-612-7752 to schedule your 100% Free, No Obligation Quote! Make your dream a reality! Call us today at 601-264-4403
————–

From the article:

Think of this as a little 101 in decorating. While we all cannot possess the eye for exquisite design and detail ??? we can decorate our homes as though we do. In some ways, interior decorating can be thought of as a formula with specific steps; building blocks that will help create your very own interior design.

On the other side, there is an art to decorating; a flair that doesn???t really follow any rules or formulas. While you may not have an artful flair, you can begin to learn how to develop one.

How? Well, there are some basics when it comes to pulling together the interior design of a room. By following these 10 steps you can begin to create a peaceful and functional interior space that takes your four walls and makes them feel like home.

Functional Layout
Interior design must begin with a functional layout of a room. To begin, we suggest looking online for the numerous free offerings of online tools for room layout and design. In these design programs you can input room measurements, furniture measurements and then play with room layout to see what is most optimal.

We learn a lot of our floor plan mistakes the hard way, so why not virtually design your room first, avoiding the drudgery of moving heavy furniture around, and failing repeatedly to get the proper layout.

Functionality of your home is very dependent on individual lifestyles. If you have an empty nest, then you may be more willing to invest in expensive pieces and room decor, while busy families may prefer an open floor plan that is unobstructed by numerous decorative objects. Consider your individual living needs and then choose the right design software that can help you achieve your ideal layout.

Splurge on Seating
Most designers will tell you that if you are going to splurge on one item, then let it be the sofa. Choosing the correct seating for a room is overwhelming! What color do you choose? What fabric? What size? How much should you spend? What is a good quality sofa? This New York Times article offers some insightful advice when it comes to choosing a high-quality sofa.

Visiting numerous design showrooms will also help you in the initial search of style options that suit your needs and tastes. But before venturing out to shop, MEASURE! It would be awful to fall in love with a piece only to discover that it is too large for your space.

We suggest you narrow down your choices to a few final options and then choose based on highest quality. A sofa can be a lifelong investment when the best quality is purchased, so buy the best that you can afford. Oh, and choose a fabric that you won???t grow tired of???who wants to live with a floral patterned couch or a dated ???it was hot when I bought it??? color the rest of their lives?

Take a Picture and Then Edit
This might be one of the most important steps. After all, a picture is worth one-thousand words. Standing back and taking a snap shot of your room allows you to peer through a new perspective. In a way, a photograph allows you to see the room for the first time, through a visitor???s eyes.

Suddenly it becomes glaringly obvious that a picture needs to be moved because it is hung too high, or that you have too many small objects cluttering the room, or that the pillows really don???t work.

Taking several snapshots of the room from different angles is the best way to edit a room of its clutter and items that simply don???t work in the space.

—————–
Looking for more help in designing your space? Checkout this article with interior design priciples that could be of interest to you.
—————–

Read the entire article here: http://freshome.com/2014/08/20/10-interior-design-lessons-that-everyone-should-know/

Do You Know What Design Principles Are Important When Designing? Learn Them Here!

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Jeremy Leake

Designing can be challenging unless you have someone doing it for you. In order to help you out we found this article with some design principles to implement. We hope it helps you design your dream home!

————–
If you need Lafayette dryer vent cleaning services, then Dryer Vents Plus is your #1 choice! Call Jeremy Leake today at 225-612-7752 to schedule your 100% Free, No Obligation Quote! Make your dream a reality! Call us today at 601-264-4403
————–

From the article:

Some people are born with a great eye for decorating or design. Others learn the skill and are able to apply it successfully. And then there are the rest of us. If you don’t have much of a knack for design, a few basic techniques can go a long way.

These decorating rules and principles are simple enough that most anyone can apply them. Your home might not look like a West Elm catalogue, but it’ll look presentable.

Follow The Rule of Odd Numbers
You might already be familiar with the rule of thirds for photography. Designing with odd numbers as a foundation can create harmony and visual interest, explains designer

Cecilia Walker:”The basic idea of the rule is that details and objects that are arranged or grouped in odd numbers are more appealing, memorable, and effective than even-numbered pairings.
It helps to have groupings of objects in varying heights, shapes and textures. At the same time, there should be something similar about them. This advice seems to contradict itself, but the point is, there should be something that groups your items together, but also something about each of them that is slightly different.”

Look at the image above as an example. Three vases, all different heights. The main materials are similar???wicker and glass. But there are subtle differences in elements???sand, water, and the texture of the limes.

Walker points out that this is just a basic rule, and it might not work in every instance. But if this grouping doesn’t look right to you, go with your gut. The goal here is to make sure everything isn’t uniform, and by extension, boring.

Find Your Room’s Focal Point
A room’s focal point is its most emphasized feature. It’s the thing your eyes are naturally drawn to when you walk into the room. And everything around the focal point compliments it.

If you’re lost with how to start decorating a room, finding its focal point is a good start. Many rooms have built-in focal points: a large window with a view, for example, or a fireplace. If your room doesn’t have a built-in focal point, here are some tips and options for creating one:

Paint one wall a different color, then accessorize with artwork or shelves, says interior designer Coral Nafie.

Decide what you want to use the room for, then create a focal point around that, says The Inspired Room. For example, if you want to use a room for reading, you’d make a bookshelf your focal point.

Nafie also suggests simply using a large piece of furniture as a focal point.

You could use a large piece of artwork as a focal point. A large mirror also works well.

Once you find the focal point, decorate around it. Use its main color in elements throughout the rest of the room. In the above example, the focal point???the fireplace???is white. The red walls make its color stand out, and the white candles, orchid and vases all around the room compliment the fireplace.

You can also frame it. In the photo, the vases, windows and sofas serve this purpose. A fireplace is easy to frame, as it usually comes with a mantle. You can add decor on or above the mantle. If your focal point is a large window with a view, you might arrange your furniture to frame it.

Once you have a focal point, a center point helps balance the room. Apartment Therapy explains:

“The center point is the core of your room’s layout. It doesn’t have to be the exact middle of the room, although that’s the case in many homes. The center point of a living room is where the coffee table or center table will sit, with seating arranged around it.”

Think of it as the room’s anchor.

—————–
Looking for more design principles? Checkout this article with design principles that could be of interest to you.
—————–

Read the entire article here: http://lifehacker.com/how-to-use-basic-design-principles-to-decorate-your-hom-1687607782

Looking to Design Your Home? Follow These Principles of Interior Design!

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Jeremy Leake

Designing a home can be very challenging. If you don’t want to hire an interior designer and pay that kind of money then you’ve come to the right place. We found this article from HGTV that outlines the three principles of interior design. We hope it helps you design your dream home!

——————-
If you need Hammond dryer vent cleaning services, then Dryer Vents Plus is your #1 choice! Call Jeremy Leake today at 225-612-7752 to schedule your 100% Free, No Obligation Quote!
——————-

From the article:

A beautifully decorated interior not only functions well but it creates a mood or a feeling and shows off the personality of the family that lives there. It’s attention to these three important ingredients ??? function, mood and personality ??? that ensures decorating success.

Before painting and rearranging, spend some time thinking about your family and how you live. Look through magazines for inspiration and pull out ideas or rooms that appeal to you. Gather things from around the house that make you feel good and study them carefully for color cues and perhaps a clue to the mood you’re looking for in your home. This is the beginning of a well-planned and decorated living area.

As for the rest, let’s start with function.

Function
Decorating is more than just eye appeal ??? it’s making a room really work for you. Here’s how to do it, element by element:

The focal point: Sometimes rooms have natural focal points (places the eyes travel to immediately upon entering a room) ??? a fireplace, a bay window with a view, maybe even a built-in bookcase. If the room doesn’t have a natural focal point, create one with a dynamic piece of art or a colorful area rug.

The furniture: Determine whether the furniture satisfies the functions you’ve planned for the room. If a piece isn’t working or if it’s too large or too small for the size of the room, get rid of it or trade it for something else around the house that may be more appropriate.

The lighting: Lighting should be selected for the functions of the room as well as for visual appeal. Every task will require either direct lighting from a lamp or indirect lights that simply brighten the room for conversation or TV-watching. Accent lighting ??? floor spots, track lighting or recessed spotlights ??? enhance texture, color and room details.

The furniture arrangement: Draw your room on graph paper. Measure and mark electrical outlets and switches, vents, windows and doors. Measure your furniture and place it in your floor plan. Generally, the main furniture pieces are directed toward the focal point, keeping the major traffic patterns open. Fill in with pieces you’d like to have that may or may not be available now. Be sure to balance high and low pieces as well as heavy and light ones around the room.

————–
Looking for ways to organize your home? Then checkout this article about organization ideas that could be of interest to you.
————–

Read about all the principles here: http://www.hgtv.com/decorating-basics/the-3-principles-of-interior-design/index.html