Interior Design And Decorating Tips

● If you just bought a new house and will start decorating, keep the walls simple and majority of the walls plain especially if you are the typical Filipino who keeps accumulating things over the years and can't throw away anything because of sentimental reasons. So that when you move in your furniture, wall decors and accessories, the rooms will not look cluttered.● If you are buying new furniture, measure your room and the furniture. Scale the room & furniture on cutout newspaper: 1 feet = 1 inch and see if the furniture are proportionate to the room. Make sure there are ample spaces to walk around your furniture.● Feel free to mix and match different styles of stuff, like contemporary furniture with oriental pieces. Just don't over do it. Make sure they blend together.● One way to beautify a room even if the walls are plain white is by putting moldings or cornice on the ceiling edge and baseboards.● If you want to make a room look bigger, use mirrors. they give you an illusion of more space. Colors too affect the illusion of space. A monochromatic color scheme (one/similar color with different shades) like off whites, cream & beige will give you an appearance of more space while warm colors like red and yellow will give an impression of a smaller space. On the other hand cool colors like blue and green will give an openness appearance.● When choosing a new color for a wall, paint a section of the wall and observe it for a few days at different times. It is a good idea to paint one shade lighter than your sample swatch. Almost always, the color on your sample will look brighter on a big wall than on a small swatch.● Don't use gloss paint on ceilings, they will show imperfections specially at night when you open the lights.● It is advised that you don't use strong colors on areas that you frequently use. But you can be more daring with colors on hallways and staircases where you just pass by and don't really stay as often like your bedroom.● Install your picture frames on eye level, putting them high on the wall makes your ceiling seem lower. Aside from the fact that people will have to gaze up to look at your picture.● If your floor is made of concrete, tiles or any stone material, put area rugs to make your room cozy and rotate your rug /carpet once in a while to even out the wear and tear.● Use inexpensive garden pots as indoor planter by painting and decorating them.● Your garden affects a great deal in beautifying your home but be cautious with big plants, shrubs and trees. They can be hiding places for burglars.● It is also a good idea to put gravel near windows so you (or your dog) can hear if somebody is trying to peek inside.● Lights are deterrent to thieves. Light your house exterior more than the inside of your house when going to bed.● In designing, the overall look of your home is paramount. From your furniture, wall colors, to lighting fixtures, everything should be proportional, balanced and harmonious. A small and delicately carved side table may be beautiful as a piece of furniture but it may not blend well next to a bulky and oversized living room set. Always consider other elements in a room when choosing your furniture, drapes, etc. Ask yourself it is the right size & scale, color and style. If the answer is yes, go ahead and trust your instincts.● Your home should reflect your personality. You can hire an interior designer or decorator, but in the end it should be you and your family's character that should reflect in your home. Go along only with suggestions that is pleasing to you. Remember that a beautiful home is a home that is beautiful to it's owner.

Interior Design Tips: Living and Dining Room Area

● In interior design, a focal point is important in every room. It could be a large window or painting or an interesting art piece. In your living room, arrange your furniture around a focal point. Put your biggest piece of furniture first (like the sofa) then continue with the smaller pieces of furniture down to your accent pieces.● Consider the size of your living room when you buy the furniture. Don't buy oversized pieces if your room is not that big. It will make your room smaller and cramped. And also don't buy tall furniture if your ceiling is low, they will make the ceiling appear lower.● Many of us Filipinos tend to buy living room furniture "sets" with a sofa, two matching side chairs, with matching coffee and side tables. Be different, don't match the couch with the side chairs. In fact, in interior design, it is more fashionable to have different styled pieces put together like a modern sofa with classic or antique side chairs and different styled tables.● If you plan to put several picture frames on the walls. it is a good idea to group them together by theme and arrange them inside an imaginary frame. They can be the focal point of the room.● Before you buy you dining room set, take a good look at your space. Be sure that there is ample room to walk around the dining set even if all the seats are occupied. Interior design has a lot to do with ergonometrics, not just appearance. We Filipinos have the tendency to buy bigger dining sets than our space can accommodate and push one side of the table against the wall.● If your living and dining area is on the same room, you may use a different flooring material on the dining area to delineate the space from the living area. Or you may put an area rug on your dining area for definition. A free standing screen is another good option. ● Avoid using fluorescent (white) lighting in the living and dining areas. Food looks more inviting under incandescent (yellow) light and people's complexion too look better under yellow light. But if you really like to use fluorescent light, combine both white & yellow light at the same time.● If you plan to put a chandelier above your dinning table, don't put it up so high. Lower it 3 to 4 feet from the table top.● Aside from your direct light source above the dining table (a chandelier for example), add some pin lights around the room and a dimmer switch to make your surroundings more pleasing to the eye. Do the same with your living room.● It is ok to put family pictures on the living room but don't put so many, specially school diplomas and trophies. They are better put in the den or your bedroom.

Interior Design: Bedroom Area

● When interior designing your bedrooms, make sure the rooms are cozy and restful in appearance. Avoid bright colors like orange. Bright colors won't induce you to sleep. Neutral, pastel and warm colors are best suited for bedrooms.● If you are starting your interiors from scratch, you can start by choosing fabrics first and base the color of you wall from it, then you can select furniture that compliments the color of walls and the fabrics that you are going to use.● Save on expensive wall decor, go through magazines, art books or even your child's art work at school and have the picture framed. Not only will you save, you will have a unique picture that is not found on commercial home decor stores.● Consider an extra cabinet or storage space inside your bedroom or den, they are areas that usually invite clutter. It is important to always have your room neat and clutter free.● Use warm flooring on bedroom floors like wood and carpet. Don't use ceramic tiles, marble or granite on bedroom floors. It is not pleasant to get out of bed in the morning and step on a cold floor. If a cold flooring material is already installed, put an area rug beside the bed.● If you can, use the same fabric, design and color of the bedcovers as with the curtains. The room will have that "Interior Designed" look.● If your room is small, use mirrors on the walls. It gives the room an illusion of space (If you are a Feng Shui believer, see the tips on mirrors).● For bedrooms and specially dens, put an exhaust fan on the ceiling or wall farthest from the window. It will suck-in the cold air outside and keep the air inside the room fresh and cool. This can even save you electricity bills by not using your air conditioner during cool months.● Some of us wants our bedrooms to be dark even late in the day specially when we sleep late. Thus some of us put up very dark curtains. Deep colored curtains against a light colored wall comes very strong. It is better to have your walls a shade darker and the curtain a little lighter to lessen the contrast. An alternative is to use two layered curtains instead one that is very dark.● Aside from the typical center light on the middle of the ceiling, use lampshades, pin lights and up lights for mood lighting. These type of lighting gives dark and light patterns of light in the room.● 1/3 of you life is spent on your bed. Invest in a good mattress, pillows and cotton or linen sheets -they absorb perspiration better.● The bedroom is your private space, among all rooms in your home, your bedroom's look and atmosphere should be the most relaxing and reflective of your personal taste and style.

Interior Design: Kitchen And Bathroom Area

● If your kitchen is small (or any room for that matter) use light colors: off white, beige etc. but you can accent the room with bright colors if you like to brighten up your kitchen. Dark colors will make a room look smaller than it's actual size.● The kitchen sink, cooking stove and the refrigerator should form a work triangle where the total distance of the three stations is no more than 26 feet.The three stations should be close enough for convenience when preparing food.● Avoid dark colored tiles on shower areas of bathrooms and kitchen counters. Although black or royal blue may look stunning, soap residue can easily be seen and is difficult to clean when hardened. Unless you have a helper to clean the bathroom right after you shower, it is better to use light colored tiles on the shower area.● Like any other room, if your bathroom is too small use a large mirror on top of the sink or one whole wall - it will make the bathroom look bigger.● You can also place a mirror in the kitchen. A good place is opposite the window, it will not only make the room larger but it will reflect the light and brighten the room.● Put small indoor plants on small pots in your kitchen and bathroom. Plants gives a fresh feeling to the interior design of the kitchen and bathroom.● Don't be limited to stainless steel sinks, drawer handles, frames and pans, use copper, chrome, wrought iron, tin, brass and platinum. They will make your kitchen or bathroom more interesting.● If you have shelves to spare, put cookbooks, small indoor plants and other accessories to make your kitchen more appealing.● During holidays change the look of your kitchen by putting themed table cloth and chair slipcovers to cheer up the room.● Always make sure that there is adequate lighting on bathrooms and kitchen. Inadequate lighting makes the kitchen & bathroom feel cramped and gloomy. Aside from the general lighting fixture at the center of the room. Put task lights under the kitchen hanging cabinets. In the bathroom, put wall lights on either sides of the vanity mirror. The classic style of placing small wall lamps on both sides of the mirror gives your bathroom a charming and elegant look.● Bathroom interior design can be fun. If your bathroom is big enough, you can decorate it with some framed pictures or artwork. Just make sure that it is not affected by moisture. Pictures or artwork makes the bathroom more interesting. Also put some scented candles, soaps and flowers. They are always a welcome add on -specially to your visitors.