Doing your own home design allows you to express yourself in a way that no one else can do for you. Choices not only become easier when you do your own home design, but you’ll find that you have more of them than if you’d hired a professional to do it for you.

One of the first things you should consider in your home design project is the function of the room you’re working on. Function is a key home design factor. It will dictate the majority of what items will go into the room. Two major points in function to consider is the intended use of the room and who will be using it. Naturally, a room which will receive high traffic would need more resilient flooring and furniture than a room which would not get as much traffic. Knowing what the room is going to be used for and by whom is the first step in home design.

Style is another key factor in home design. After the function of the room is determined, you’ll need to decide the style of décor you’ll be incorporating in your home design. Certainly a family game room would have a more modern style with clean lines, while a country kitchen may have more of a cottage style or rustic home design. Fabrics like furniture, drapes, throws and pillows would play a major role in the feel of the room. Colors used properly in home design can alter a person’s mood upon entering the room. Earthy tones and light blues have a calming effect, while bright reds and contrasting colors can create a sense of excitement. Style when used properly can make any room a success story.

The placement of items and objects in a room will always alter the flow of movement to both the body and the eye. Flow is yet another key factor in home design. The flow of the room is crucial, as you don’t want the room to be awkward to navigate. This not only applies to the person moving across the room, but also the eye of the person moving from one part of the room to another. Of course the physical flow in home design is achieved by the placement of furniture such as sofas, chairs and tables. The eye flow of the room can be controlled by the decorative items placed in the room, as well as how the room is painted. Colors which flow easily into each other create a nice even sense of movement to the eye from one area to another.

Home design should never be a daunting challenge, but rather an enjoyable experience to those who wish to do their own home design. By following the three major factors of function, style and flow, every home design project you complete will be a successful one.

A good kitchen designer should be able to work with you to create the design that will both fit your desires and needs and that squares with your budget.

1. How Much Are You Willing To Spend?
Level with the designer just how much you will be willing to spend on your kitchen design project.
Let the designer know just what you would feel comfortable spending. This way you can insure that the designer and contractor will have a clear direction on where to go with the project and not go overboard. They will have a good idea of the limits when drawing up plans and selecting materials.

2. How Much Time Are You Willing To Devote?
You need to consider what your personal needs are and if you will be able to work around the necessary construction in your kitchen. By consulting with an experienced kitchen designer you can get a good idea of how long your kitchen design project will take by providing a timeline that your family can plan around.

3. What Style Are You Planning For Your Kitchen Design Project?
You want to give the kitchen designer as much information as possible. You need to do as much research as possible before your meeting with a kitchen designer.

First you should consult with design magazines and catalogs to get an idea of what style and design elements you would like to see for your kitchen. To compile more ideas visit kitchen design showrooms, check out products and design on the internet and take notes. What are your likes and dislikes regarding color and styles. Make a scrapbook with clips from the magazines and catalogs, as well as examples of materials and design elements you would like to see in the kitchen. Use these to show the kitchen designer what your vision is for the new kitchen. Also bring a list of questions for your kitchen designer.

4. How Do You Use Your Kitchen?
You need to be prepared for questions that a kitchen designer will ask you when you first meet with him. Among the questions that you need to ask yourself before talking to your kitchen designer are:
Will you be doing a lot of entertaining with family and friends? Is your family busy during the week with lots of activities? You should also fine out what other family members have in the way of ideas.

5. How To Prepare For Your Kitchen Design Project?
You will need to prepare for the disruption that will be caused by your kitchen design project. But with the right planning you can make the project run as smoothly and a quickly as possible.
You need to make sure that the kitchen design project area and the living area are separate for both safety reasons and to stay out of the way of the contractor and his crew. You might have to set up a temporary kitchen in another room of the house. What time of the year you schedule a kitchen design project can make it easier on everyone since in the warmer months it is possible to eat and cook outdoors.

Let’s start one room at a time, first move everything out except your very large furniture pieces. Now sit down and look around, are you satisfied with your present furniture, if not consider reupholstering your furniture pieces or you may head out to a couple of furniture stores and check out there selections and prices.

Maybe you decide that what you have is fine, that’s okay. Whatever choice you make, if it’s new furniture, new fabric or keeping what you have; make sure it blends in color wise to your room.

Now you have the appropriate furniture in place, let’s look at your window and doors. Unless you live in the perfect year round climate or have the latest insulating windows installed, you may want to consider some form of curtains or drapes that will insulate from the cold and the sun.

There are fabric or vinyl curtains, wood or vinyl shutters, blinds and shades that may help. Windows and doors give you views and if you’re satisfied with these views, then take advantage of it. Expose your views by rolling up or sliding back or folding open your drapes, shutters or blinds. Of course these drapes, curtains, shades and blinds come in an assortment of colors and fabrics combos. So take heed and select an appropriate color combination. You can get additional tips by checking out certain stores that sell these products or get an interior design book to register some ideas. Enhancing the views, with these proper window dressings, will greatly improve the atmosphere within the room.

Okay, start to return slowly other pieces to the room, the largest objects first. You’ll know in your heart, what should go and what should stay. Try moving your items to different parts of the room; view them from different positions as well. Feel what is comfortable to the eye. Alright, we got these in place, hold it there, and let’s work on the wall décor items next.

Wall décor is anything that hangs from the wall except lighting and that to could be considered décor. So we can have framed art or art without frames or even open frames over a wall to give it a certain taste. Metal, wood and plastic can all be relevant in the creation of art hanging objects. Tapestry is a form of heavy woven cloth that can also grace your homes walls. You can have things like clocks, mirrors and other personal decorating touches put directly on the walls or on shelving of some sort.
In the placement of wall art, take your time and choose the proper eye height, have someone hold a picture while you decide on the location. If you’re working alone, use some painter’s wall tape, and then make an outline for your art piece, this tape removes easily. If you have several pictures, make some sort of arrangement depending on the size of the frames. Try different locations for your wall art décor till you got the right look and appeal, in the placement of your framed art.

Bring in your light fixtures, start with the larger floor lamps, then your table lamps, plug them in and turn on. Do you need any additional lighting, maybe an overhead fan with lights or perhaps wall sconce lighting, to brighten up a piece of art work. If you need more than floor or table lamps you might have to have some electrical work done. So think about that.

Everything else comes back in the room now; you may decide to replace a few things, that’ll be okay, try not to overcrowd your room. Proper placement and those certain decorative touches will improve your look.

Next, accent lighting is used to accent or highlight architectural or favorite displays of a room. If you have a large home with high ceilings with beautiful architecture you will want to show it off. Lastly, ambient lighting is used as filler. It lights up every part of the room. In other words it’s all the lighting combined. In a proper environment, all the types of lights should be properly placed, as well as all of them must exist in balance for creating a good working environment. Lights influence humans deeply.

In a theatre room, lighting becomes a tough job. Many problems must be addressed. The light should just be balanced, so as not to cast a glare or make it too dark to making movement impossible. If you have a large screened television lighting is very important for the room. Glare off of one of these televisions is worse then a smaller one. Moreover, it is always preferable to make the room look inviting. It should be comfortable for everyone.

It is always advisable to plan everything in advance before purchasing anything. Consulting an interior decorater should be considered but if you can’ afford the expense you will need to pick up magazines and read all the articles you can on the subject. One should have a clear idea of what effect one ones to create before you pick up the phone to call. The fixtures should be wisely selected from the wide range available in all shapes, sizes, color and wattages. It should be kept in mind where a person will seat and the correct type of lighting should be decided on that.

While watching a movie, one does not like to be in total darkness. It restricts movement and puts strain on the eyes. However, with proper lighting, it is possible to cast an illusion of little light while taking care of the eyestrain. One solution is to use wall sconces, which create low light but is enough to diminish eyestrain. This is why movie theaters do this because it’s easy on the eyes. They can be positioned all around a room, mounted on walls along the baseboards or even hung from the ceiling. For a properly lit room, the lights should be able to be controlled individually. In no case, should more than three lights be assigned to a particular switch. This will enable a person to have the perfect lighting for any occasion.

There are many professionals working in the field of lighting. Should you have any question, you should not hesitate to ask for advice. It is very important to get it right. And there are many out there who are willing to help the people who want to do it themselves without any cost.

When arranging a space with accessories, one has to keep in mind that the most important thing to avoid here is boredom! This has a lot less to do with the objects you choose than how you choose to display them. To keep an arrangement from putting the neighbors down for their afternoon nap, remember to keep a balance of harmony (things that feel like they go together, like similar colors or styles) and contrast (things that spice things up by being different…smooth against texture, round against straight line, et…) You want a bit of both in your arrangement. Perhaps you could create harmony by repeating a square shape or the color purple, and then add contrast by sitting a smooth candlestick next to a rough basket.

Scale and Shape

Make sure that the items you are using fit into their new homes scale…you don’t want one tiny paperweight on a large kitchen table, and you want to steer clear of using a huge ceiling high arrangement of flowers on a tiny end table. Most people tend to use things that are too small for their surroundings however. If you have small accessories you would like to display, but need to give them more oomph in the arrangement, try grouping them on a plate or a fabric covered box. You can also give them height by perching them atop stacked books or baskets.

Layer and Soften

Once you’ve chosen your objects for the space following the design principles above, now it’s time to layer and soften. Start with a larger, taller piece slightly off center…this will be the defining piece in your arrangement. Now work to the outer edges in layers…Add a taller background layer, a middle sized medium height layer, and your tiniest objects in the front. Keep the eye moving up and down as it purveys the arrangement from left to right for interest. Add some fabric or twisted ribbon to soften the edges of the shelf or table, to bring in color, and to highlight certain objects.

Above all, keep trying new combinations of items until you find an arrangement that works for you. Use things in unusual ways. Tuck flowers or a live plant into an arrangement that seems too static. Even professional designers will occasionally be surprised by trying things in a new way! And remember, if your arrangement still looks cluttered and lost, chances are you are trying to display too much. Develop a prop box or closet where you can keep some of your treasures, and switch them our a couple of times a year for a fresh new look without spending a dime! For an example photo of accessory arrangement, visit this page on our website at http://www.thebudgetdecorator.com/arrange_accessory.html

Some of the common theme names we have heard are
1) Contemporary theme
2) Oriental theme
3) Country theme
etc..

So a theme includes elements of decorating that are responsible for a drastic change in any given interior space. What these elements can be? A theme might include colors, finishes, textures, specific shapes to be used, budget restrictions, or even a material of only by a particular manufacturer.

Such a group of design elements when combined together gives birth to a “theme”. It is perfectly possible to add, delete, modify, alter, replace any one or all the elements in this theme. It all depends on what you like/dislike.

For example If I say that a “contemporary design theme” does nor or should not include a specific color for ceiling in the living room, you have total right to modify the above statement and make your own depending upon what you like/dislike. So any design theme is always evolving and you can use “creativity” to give birth to new themes.

But what about the themes that are already existing?

1) Contemporary design theme:

In these type of designs much emphasis is given on “simplicity” and straight lines and forms. this type theme says that a square in it self is a beautiful and “balanced” entity hence most design elements in this theme are simple forms made of straight lines.

Also plain colors with their shades are used to create a “play” of light and shadows.

2) Oriental design theme:

In these type of design majority of surfaces are treated for “relief work” such as textured plasters with heavy decorating, wallpapers, with decorating prints of natural elements such as leaves, flowers, scenery. Surfaces are treated as a way of expression.

3) Country design theme:

In this theme more and more natural elements are used for creating furniture and other elements. that’s why more country houses have wooden furniture, wooden flooring, shutters, ceiling made of wood etc.

So wood is used as a major language of expression.

While selecting theme for your living room it is necessary to first analyze what you like most and the budget criteria. Once this has been defined finding design elements that fits your design theme is relatively easy. But one thing must be kept in mind that a living room is the face of your home. Once you decide or finalize the theme for your living room, it becomes almost necessary to use the same theme for rest of the room.

Of course this is not an absolute rule ,but keeping a common theme for your entire home helps to maintain a visual balance.

I hope this article was helpful to everyone.

Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya

Kitchen design ideas – choose the one that suits you best!
When thinking of ideas for designing your kitchen, you could either consider one- one part of the kitchen at a time or pick up a complete theme. A complete theme could be something like a design based on Feng Shui which incorporates all its principles. Feng shui concerns the art of placement and you could help you to arrange your kitchen in a way that enhances its good energy. For instance, according to Feng shui, the cook’s back should never face the kitchen entrance so you must design accordingly

Now according to the other way, you could choose a particular look for the kitchen floor, the walls, the storing place etc. this can be done in various ways depending upon the amount of money you are willing to spend, the lay out of the kitchen and your taste. Here are some specific design ideas for your kitchen –

* Kitchen floor- Your flooring choice is important as it will set the tone for the whole kitchen. The textural quality of the floor always appeals to eye and has a radical effect on how one perceives the room as a whole. For kitchens, the two most elegant floors are tiles / stones and laminated or hardwood floors. Ceramic tiles are a premium product for a kitchen and represent an impressive upgrade over any other floor. The only disadvantage is the cold feel. However if you want you can also opt for a floor heating system.
* Kitchen countertops – While choosing your countertop, select a color and texture that will compliment your cabinetry, floor or paint selection. Don’t be afraid in combining two or more countertop materials. Complimentary colors and textures on adjacent surfaces create visual interest. Also remember, it pays to select a material, which will withstand years of use without extraordinary maintenance requirements and is easily repairable should an accident occur. Granite and marble are strong options.
* Kitchen lighting – you might have a large ceiling fixture, equipped with energy-efficient fluorescent tubes that supply plenty of well-diffused general lighting. However it may leave you working in your own shadow at the sink, range, and countertops. These areas in your kitchen need supplemental task lighting. Also placing your windows is a tricky question.

Kitchen design layout –

The perfect arrangement

Kitchen designing is very subjective, so a layout that might be perfect for one can be disastrous for another. This is primarily because the tastes, and the ways of people in terms of working habits, styles are vastly different. Thus kitchen layouts should be done according to the necessities and specifications of the prime user of the space, who has definite ideas about how he/she would like their working space to be. But apart from this subjective outlook, there are certain steps that you should follow while designing your kitchen plan or layout. Following are the stages –

Stages in kitchen design layout

Follow these simple steps in order to get your kitchen space rightly utilized with a desirable look-
1. Measure your kitchen in a detailed manner, the position of the doors, windows, electric points, drains and sinks etc.
2. Demarcate the kitchen areas into three – Storage, cooking and cleaning. Go about planning the space, keeping these three aspects in mind.
3. Make a list of the appliances that you are likely to use in the kitchen, and provide space for them according to their dimensions.
Keep these three points in mind and then design your kitchen in a style that fits in accordance to your tastes. Following are some of the stereotypical kitchen design layouts that are used –

Kitchen design layouts – Types

These are the 4 basic kitchen layouts that are generally followed while designing a kitchen –
1. Corridor layout – This is meant for a narrow kitchen, where there are two facing rows. One for storage and the other for cleaning and cooking. Make sure there is a minimum 1200mm space between the two rows.
2. L shaped layout – This is a layout, where the rows are diagonal to one another, thus forming an L shape. This gets the kitchen working space into the corner, thus giving a lot of free space to move about.
3. U shaped layout – this is the best choice for small kitchens and very convenient too.
4. Island layout – This one on the other hand is meant for large kitchens. Here the cooking hob is altogether a different box unit, while the L shaped row is meant for the sink and storage purposes.
These are the different ways in which you could plan your kitchen layout, and also make changes and alterations according to your preferences.

Bathroom is a place to drain out all your weariness of being a daylong spilling of energy due to stress and burden of work. To heal your all day long stress needs a royal treatment which can be obtained in an royal bathroom with the tendency of cleanliness, elegance and proper hardware choice to your bathroom.

Hardware choices should be the primary concern when designing a bathroom. Looks of your bathroom cause a palatable and opulent bath according to your preferences and choices. Gloomy and lack of ventilated bathroom can only give a give an unconsummated bath with no satisfaction.

To make your bathrooms more elegant and ornamental you should give emphasize upon few things as follows:

Bathroom lighting:

Bathroom lights give a special costume to your bathroom. Your bathroom should be illuminated by natural daylights along with artificial lights. Lighting gives a complete alteration in terms of looks of the bathrooms.

When diffused day light mingle with artificial lights make the bathroom space more pleasant and loving. You can select a wide range of bathroom lights according to your choices and preferences as below:

Down lights & Shower lights

Spot Lights

Ceiling Lights

Wall Lights

Mirror & Shaving Lights

If you are a busy person with lack of time and you are staying in Birmingham, UK then you can get it from purebathrooms.net.

So these bathroom lights will give your bathrooms a new and elegant looks.

Bathroom heat and ventilation:

A royal bathroom should have optimum ventilation and heat maintenance. By maintaining the proper heat and ventilation you can give a gear of freshness to your bathroom.

Ventilation, how ever is essential to eliminate odor and moisture. Operable windows are helpful for ventilation and heat, but extractor fans are more particular in case of heat and ventilation.

Bathroom mirrors:

Bathroom mirrors are the integrated part of the bathroom decoration. Bathroom mirrors helps to exhibit the bathroom more spacious and designing. Bathroom mirrors give a complete alteration to your bathroom.

One of the most important functions of bathroom mirror is to reflect lights both artificial and natural. Bathroom mirrors increase the shiny quality and trigger the drama of your bathrooms. Mirror also can be used to reflect the favorite objects in the bathroom.

Most people consider home improvement to be a daunting task, which it can be if you go to extremes. Those who attempt to completely renovate their entire home at once are faced with a multitude of problems that are associated with having to move furniture and other items out of the way so the interior design process can take place. For others, it is easier to do a little bit at a time to make sure that each project gets completed with the minimum of hassle and interruption to daily life.

One of the easiest things to start with when it comes to interior design and home improvement is cabinet refacing. Cabinets that you are going to reface will not interrupt the day to day activities as other type projects can and will when doing home improvement. To reface cabinets it is best to start with the doors as they simple to remove and take to a workshop or basement. When you reface you are basically just changing the tone of the wood that is used for design of the cabinets. This is done most times because the color or tone does not fit with the new furniture that has been purchased. This is a common practice among existing home buyers who want to create their own personal style.

Cabinet refacing also entails changing the front face plate of the cabinets to match the doors that have been changed. This is another common practice but it can be quite difficult. It is best to hire a professional when you are planning on refacing any type of cabinets as the skills required to do so do take a long time to learn. There are several books on the subject floating around but they tend to only give the base knowledge that is necessary and do not give the complete picture for dealing with all the different types of problems that you could run into.

Furniture is another big issue when it comes to interior design. When moving into a new home many people like to get new furniture but they cannot always afford the new stuff as prices seem to go up every year. The best course of action is to try and buy the new items piece by piece instead of all at the same time. This will actually save you money in the long run as you can get a better deal as the pieces that you want go on sale over the time that you are purchasing them. There are plenty of furniture dealers around the world and all you need to do is search through them instead of dealing with only one place. There is a matter of finding all the best for the best prices and that is not hard when you take and do a little research on the subject.

If you are planning on doing any painting as part of your home improvement project then it is best to do so before you have moved in. This will save you a lot of hassle as it is hard to find a place to put everything when the house is full of furniture and other items. Paint does not take a long time to dry so it should not hold up the moving in process for very long. The best course of action is to go with the higher quality of pain. The better the quality the better coverage you get when you are painting in the darker colors. If you are painting before you move in then you have the option of using a paint sprayer with a lot more ease. This will cut your painting time in half and will save you money in the long run as you use about half as much paint as you do with the brush and roller method.

Don’t forget to check all the walls for holes before you start any projects. It is easier to reface a wall when there is nothing else going on. You will need to read up on wall refacing before tackling it to make sure that it is done properly. If not then you may end up with a not so nice looking wall that is full of dimples and holes and other unsightly blemishes. Hiring a professional is the best way to go when you have something that needs done with the walls. A professional drywall contractor can easily repair all the problems in less than a day and most likely for a fraction of the cost that you would pay if you tried to do it yourself and messed it up.

Interior design is a fun and exciting time for a lot of people but it can also make for a lot of stress and cost if you are not careful. Before tackling any home improvement project you should first make sure that you have the required skills and funds to complete the project. If you don’t then it is best to hire a professional. More than likely they will be able to save you money in the long run even though their fees sound like they are high. They do have the right to charge higher fees as they have spent years learning their trade. You will find that hiring a professional for your project will make the time a lot more enjoyable for you and your family.

This itself is an indication that the living room is a space that needs some good attention during the entire home decorating project. Let’s try to note down some essentials of a good and successful living room
design.

1) Clear Circulation Space>>

In any home plan whether it is an apartment block or an independent bungalow a person either enters an “entrance lobby” or directly in the living room (if space is an issue). From this living room entrances open to all other spaces namely kitchen, bedrooms, staircases if any, patios, study rooms, family rooms etc..

That’s why while designing a furniture layout it must be kept in mind that the circulation is unobstructed. this can be easily achieved by creating a sample furniture layout on paper first and then the furniture arranged thereafter.

2) Visual Balance>>

Create a good visual balance between the used and unused spaces. By used space I mean the floor that has been occupied by the furniture pieces. It is not necessary to fill every corner of the living room with some furniture element. But as mentioned above a bare minimum circulation space is a must.

Since the main entrance of the entire home is only through the living room (most of the times) allow buffer space to carry the other heavy furniture pieces that are to be placed in the bedrooms such as double beds, wardrobes etc. All these object need to carried through the living room and installed in the bedroom. So think for your entire home, not just the living room.

3) Future Emergency Occupancy>>

Think about what will happen if you throw a party at your place. All your friends/relatives/colleagues will gather in the living room. So plan for this extra occupancy. What will you do in such situations for seating. Will you move your dining chairs in the living or will people stand or even sit on the ground. Whatever your decision plan for future.

4) Ventilation>>

If the living room is considerably large, than in most cases it also has a higher ceiling. This is very perfect for the proportions of the space. So think about ventilating this space naturally and artificially as well. If you are going to use fans then will these be hung from the ceiling or be wall mounted.

5) Warm and Welcoming Color Scheme>>

As a general rule always keep your living room charming using bright color scheme, that has a welcoming attitude. As mentioned above the living room is the first space you will see when you enter you home, so make it a point to use inspiring colors of your choice to add a touch of beauty.

Use of indoor flowering plants around the window bottom is also a great way to add some extra interest in the living room.

In this article I have tried to throw some light upon the living room design ideas, I hope this helps as a starting point for you to think more creatively to decorate your living room.

Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya