Dining Room with Books

A makeover of an open plan apartment space, adding color, texture and focal points to the room. A contemporary apartment can successfully host a collection of antiques and artwork to create the ideal "bachelor pad".
Interior design and decorating creates major changes in people's lives. Done well it can improve the way we feel in our home environment, giving us a more positive start to each day.
This project has created definite spaces within a contemporary open plan apartment making it more intimate and functional, and has changed the entire modern design with the use of furniture, fabrics, paint color and artwork, providing a more rich and luxurious look, as well as feeling homely and comfortable.
The solid timber bookcases have made the biggest impact. They have the same motif on the ends as the library table in the corner. They are dark and dramatic and the books add a lot of texture, movement and color into the space.

The existing dining space.

The Design Brief:

This open plan room was currently in transition, the client was moving in, but had decided to use the far corner for a dining area. He wanted to create a more appropriate space to house his antiques and artwork. The existing scheme was very contemporary and had a sterile feeling, charcoal carpet, white walls, white vertical and mini blinds that were not in good order.

The client wanted a definite space for dining and to house a superb collection of books. He wanted a softer look, but not feminine, he wanted to create the ideal "bachelor pad"

The Design Method:

• Select a masculine theme.
• Design solid timber bookcases to tie in with existing antique furniture.
• Remove blinds as room was to be used mostly in the evening, drapes were all that was necessary.
• Paint the walls in a warm but still light color to bring out the richness in the timber antiques, and create a cozy atmosphere.

Design Conclusion:

A warm taupe with a hint of yellow was used for the wall color to enhance the richness of the antique timber furniture. Vertical striped opulent red, gold and taupe drapes were used to add some height to the space, soften the room, add texture and color making it more intimate at night.

The solid timber bookcases have made the biggest impact.

They have the same motif on the ends as the library table in the corner. They are dark and dramatic and the books add a lot of texture, movement and color into the space.

The sofa has been recovered in a luxurious fabric to match the wall color with checked cushions from the same range as the drapery fabric, and has a sofa table behind it. Together they act as a visual division between the dining and living room spaces.

  

articel resource: http://www.interiordezine.com

How to Minimise Your Home Building or Renovation Costs Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6229397

So you've decided to build a new home or renovate / remodel an existing home, you're on a budget, want to minimise your building costs and get the most value for your money.

The best time to save money is before you start building. Pre-planning and defining your home building or renovation project is a key factor in minimising your home building cost. Once you have employed and signed a contract with a home building contractor, the chances to save money on your home building cost is reduced significantly.

You will never get all the details of any building project 100% perfectly planned before you start, however you can certainly remove many unknowns and have a chance to minimise the home building cost.

Also remember that the cost is not just the money you hand over to the contractor, it includes ancillary costs which can occur if the project is delayed like additional rent in another place or the emotional cost of waiting for the project to be completed which can stretch even the best relationships to breaking point.

The main ways to minimise your home building costs are:

1. Define what you want - Take your time to think through what you want for your home renovation or building. The clearer your definition of what you want is before you sign the contract the less variations to the contract which will occur and so the lower will be your home building costs.

2. Overall Total Home Building Costs - select the best contractor for your project, this may not always the cheapest. Too often in building large projects, for various reasons, clients have decided to accept the lowest initial cost from a builder, when clearly at the end of the day it would cost my client more with hidden extras, delays and stressful negotiations to resolve issues. The building process is stressful enough don't add to your potential problems and always consider the overall total home building costs.

3. Money - the financing cost of any project can be significant whether you have the cash in the bank or you are borrowing it from the bank. When making decisions on which contractor to employ, sometimes it will be beneficial to not always employ the lowest home building cost contractor as they may take longer and cost you more in things like interest, alternative rental costs and more.

4. Set time aside to Manage the Process - any building or renovation project is going to take a significant amount of your time prior to construction, during construction and to a lesser extent after completion. This will occur no matter how good your contractor, architect or project manager are at their jobs. Don't start the project until you have the time to dedicate to be available to make decisions on what you want in the project on a daily basis.

5. Be Decisive - Time is money in any project for both you and your contractor. By being decisive you will allow the project to keep flowing, which ultimately be one of the key factors which will determine how long the project will take.

6. If Unsure about Advice - if you are getting "contrary" advice or if the advice you are receiving from experts does not feel right, do not be afraid to call in an independent expert or friend to help you clarify any issue. Trust your instincts and gut feeling as people involved in a project can sometimes become too close the project and lose their objectivity.

To get the lowest overall home building cost is always a matter of balance, however if you consider these 6 ways to minimise your home building cost you will be along way to successfully achieving your dream home building project.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6229397

5 Point Checklist for Buying Your First Home

When you are ready to search for the house that could become your home, you'll need the right tools in hand so you can go into negotiations with ease. The more prepared you are, the less time it will hopefully take for closing, and you'll be able to hold your keys in hand. While it's true home buying can be a timely processed, with a five-point checklist in hand your experience should seem like it's taking forever.

Ready to get started? Here is a five-point checklist to keep in mind when you begin your home search:

1) Know your budget. How much can you afford to spend on a home, and what is the absolute maximum amount you can spend on a mortgage payment? Once you have the numbers figured out, you'll have a better idea of the price range in which you can search. Some potential home buyers may consult with a bank or other lending institution to get a feel for their financial situation. Not necessarily a bad idea, and if you work with a real estate agent they will like assist you in this manner.

2) Know your neighborhood. If you have kids, you'll want to narrow your search to neighborhoods with quality schools and recreation areas. Also to consider: neighborhoods near your workplace, church, social activities, and other interests. You can search statistical information on the Internet if you really want details.

3) Make the time to search. You're a busy person, and more than likely you have reserved weekends for the house hunt. That makes sense, but it also stands to reason that everybody else is doing the same thing. Consider taking a personal day during the week to tour available homes for sale. Not only can this put you ahead of the game, but you can get a feel for certain neighborhoods at their most active.

4) Be ready to respond during the bidding process. Phone calls from your agent may come fast and furious if you have a hot prospect, so it's important to have all your information together when you start placing bids. Should you be outbid on a property, don't feel that you have to jump the gun. Consult with your agent and negotiate with a level head.

5) Stay focused. Your goal is to buy home, but you want it to be the home you want. Don't settle for a place because the price is right or because it's the only one available. Listen to your intuition as you tour a house and ask yourself if this is where you want to spend the next thirty years. Learn everything you can about every potential property - needed repairs, history of the previous owners, did they have pets, etc.

Keep your focus, negotiate with calm, and you may find the home buying process isn't painful at all.




Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathryn_Lively

Choosing Colors For Children's Bedrooms

Choosing colors should be fun, an enjoyable experience, until you have to do it for your children. Children now are allowed to have a mind of their own and their own opinion, and boy do they have a lot of opinions. Unfortunately they change their mind like the wind and are the worst clients ever!

So how do you handle choosing colors for children's bedrooms?

Here is how I am about to handle my daughter's bedroom. We are about to have her room repainted due to the earthquake damage, so I said, foolishly, go and pick a paint color that you like, knowing that it is a 2 minute job for me. Well, she fell asleep on the paint fandeck with three colors sticking out of it. Lime green, ice blue and a cream with an orange tint. Having the skills and experience I do with color, I instantly dismissed all three as she has hot pink curtains and candy striped blinds with pink and mint green. Then the painter arrives for me to give him the paint colors.....what do I do? She is at school, no discussion over the paint colors happened this morning, I need to make a decision and I do. A lovely pale dusky blue for her bedroom and her brothers. Way off from what she had picked I know, but I also know my daughter and this is actually her favorite color. I also know that when you choose colors for a children's bedroom, that by the time they have filled it up with all their "stuff" you barely see the wall color anyway. So the painter is coming back tomorrow to start the job, we will wait and see how she handles it, but at the end of the day, I know that I have made the right choice. I will be the worst mother in the world for not letting her choose it, she will hate me, but I am used to that when she doesn't get her own way, and at the blink of an eyelid, I'm the best mother in the world again! Children change their mind like the wind, and have very short memories.

So to summarize, here are my quick tips for choosing children's bedroom colors:

• Keep it simple, children have so much stuff that a great wallpaper, or well planned paint scheme or mural is often lost in the room.
• Find a color that will withstand children's trends. (Pink is a little girls favorite color, then bang over night when you least expect it, pink is the last color they want to see, they won't wear it and will hate having it painted on their walls). Using a neutral color on the walls and then adding the color in the accessories is the best way to manage this, the bed linen is much easier and cost effective to change than repainting or wallpapering. 
• Adding color and design with a wallpaper frieze or border is a way to decorate for their age that can be changed reasonably easily.
• Putting feature colors in a floor rug is a great way to jazz up the space, and kids love to lie on them.
• Add colored bean bags and cushions. These items are easy to replace or recover.
• Stripes are an excellent design choice as they tend to be more timeless than Pooh Bear, Thomas the Tank Engine, Princesses or Fairies. Especially with a more expensive facet of decoration like curtains or blinds, upholstered chairs or sofas.
• Using the current trend of wall art that you and just stick on and peel off when you need a change is a great way to decorate, and you can let kids pick their own with this item.
• In general, selecting a neutral base does sound like a cop out, but unless you want to be constantly redecorating children's bedrooms, then I would recommend this option.
• When it comes to furniture, I would also recommend as above, choosing a neutral finish like timber, or white, grey, cream or black. This way you have so many more options for choosing colors to go with the furniture, and you will get more use from the furniture. I know there are so many gorgeous children's furniture sets available. I learnt from experience with one of our children, my son, that after only two years in his really great bunk bed he has outgrown it, hates it and wants a normal timber bed like his sister.
• Picture frames are a fabulous way to change colors and design. Buy some simple frames and then you can put in pictures, photos, children's art work, old birthday cards, anything that the children like really to change the decor on a regular basis. I do it with our children and it is fun for everyone. We hang them on the walls and when we are tired of them we choose a rainy day to sit down and change them.

If you hate all my advice and have the resources to change your child's bedroom on a regular basis, then go for it, do some research with your child to get a feel for what they like, show them pictures in magazines, visit retail stores and see beds made up, they often have show bedrooms to look at, and it will give you some ideas on what they want and what you think will work for them.

The most important aspect of creating your child's bedroom is making it a comfortable, fun and safe place for them to live in, a space that they can personalize and call their own. Then with a bit of luck they might be so proud of it that they keep it clean and tidy. I am still working on that theory!




articel resource: http://interiordeziner.blogspot.com/