Decorate Your Home: Scandinavian Style

Like it or not, Scandinavian style is hitting big in the world of interior design.
It is admired by more and more people because of its brightness, cleanness and elegance.

On top of it, it feels modern and relevant, providing a unique and relaxing living ambient.
Interior with a Scandinavian look has two basic rules – keep it natural and keep it simple, and those looking to give their home an overhaul should never lose sight of them.

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First things first- the space must be open and uncluttered in order to embrace the Scandinavian spirit. Those blessed with a large living area are in advantage here, but there are some tricks to add volume to your rooms. One of the ways to pull this off is with light floor shades and long wide planks. Just do not overlook the functionality and organization, otherwise even a vast space can feel cluttered.

Melting snow

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In the frozen north, the days are short and winters seem to stretch forever. That is why light is also very important for any Scandinavian home. Use many different sources of light such as lamps and candles, and keep the light fixtures minimalistic and modern. Do not forget to let in as much natural light as you can- this will give a touch of warmth to the space, and make it shine.

To take cosiness to the next level, use materials such as leather, cotton or wool as well. The latter is welcome in all forms such as rugs, blankets and table runners. You can make some wool items yourself and find high quality wool and ideas online, browsing websites of companies such as Darn Good Yarn. Wrap yourself in something warm and enjoy the cosiness at its best.

Natural foundations

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White and natural tones dominate the Scandinavian scenery, offering a feeling of peace and quiet.  It is best to leave the walls and ceilings as white as snow, or in some light natural color. Such a setting expands the space and makes it look airy and fresh. One can combine multiple colors that are a few shades apart to create a bit of contrast as well.

Wallpapers are not common, and to introduce some color you can opt for bright cushions, rugs or other accessories. Take caution with bright accents and use them in moderation to liven up the space. On the other hand, without any colorful details, your living space might feel sterile or uninviting. Some choose to go with contemporary painting, posters or even stickers.

Natural is the way to go when it comes to materials. Wood is Scandinavian style’s darling, so try to decorate the space with some beech, pine or oak. They can be brushed or rugged, and both work well with different elements of the style.  Most designer advise minimal treatment of wood though, because that way its natural appearance is preserved.

This material is a must for flooring and furniture, and Scandinavian home is almost unimaginable without it. Furniture should feature clean lines and be both practical and comfortable. Again, try to find some natural-colored pieces in brown, beige, grey or similar. With a thick fuzzy blanket to keep you warm in a sleek sofa, you found the most comfortable shelter for long and cold winter nights.

Author's Bio
Zoe Clark is a home decorator from the land down under. She loves playing with colors and spaces, and has a tender spot in her heart for everything vintage.

Guide on Designing an Easy to Clean Bathroom

Having a good bathroom around the house is a really important part of home design, no matter how you look at it. If you need to have a great bathroom, said place will also need to be as easy to clean as it can be to ensure you won’t spend countless hours keeping it that way. So how can you do that?

Well for starters, you will need to make use of materials that are easy to clean for your bathroom to keep it functional and hygienic. The following examples will point out the basics of what needs to be done to make it a reality:

One really nice way of avoiding the excessive cleaning usually connected to bathrooms is to have less grout present around it. Stone slabs can be a good way to get that started, as they happen to have nothing but thin lines in the way they are made, meaning you will have far less domestic cleaning to deal with at the end of the week or month.

Caesar stone happens to be another great material you can use for your countertops and the walls of the bathroom. It has qualities that allow it to work pretty well in terms of aesthetics and practicality.

Vinyl walls are also one really good way to deal with bathroom surfaces, for they are waterproof and come in a variety of styles and patterns that go for a lot of flexibility you can use. The best thing is that you can easily clean them with a sponge or an equally simple solution as you go about your day.

Another good solution that happens to be a tad unorthodox is to use back-painted glass for your walls. Even though it may not be quite as sturdy as the other solutions, it still has a lot of positives. You can have many color combinations and it happens to be a breeze in terms of cleaning.

Certain areas around your walls will not need to be tiled, but they do need to be painted with moisture-resisting paint to ensure mold and mildew will not catch on easily. Always ensure proper ventilation and a dehumidifier if you believe it is necessary.

You would also do well to find a nice, silent fan for ventilation that has a timer. This will allow you to both save money and power, while at the same time making it quiet enough to work with. This will ensure you have a bathroom that will dry fast with no side effects.

You should also make sure you use larger porcelain tiles in different sizes, as the larger the tiles are, the less cleaning of grout you will need to deal with. Another benefit is that they will be much faster to lay down when you do a renovation of your current bathroom.

Another thing worth mentioning is that the use of a linear drain will allow you to get a good slope going. This should keep your floor dry when you’re done bathing or washing the bathroom during your regular cleaning efforts.

This is a guest post by Heather Roberts.

5 Things Everyone Forget When Designing a Living Room

While arguing about the rugs and waffling over the perfect TV spot, you may forget about important details for every living room design. 

In the frenzy of choosing the right wall colour, picking a carpet or finding  the perfect sofa, you may get so overwhelmed and omit otherwise obvious things. 

Later on, you will regret your poor judgement, but it will be futile. That is why you need to take care of these issues now, before setting up your living room.

Ensuring An Effective Floor Plan

The floor plan is essential for the overall appearance and flow of the room, yet many people simply neglect it. The result is cramped room and inadequately positioned appliances. If you don’t want to constantly trip on a chair or get creative with the ways to get around the table, then carefully plan the position of each object in your place. 

The living room combines multiple purposes. Make the functional and easily adaptable to your different needs. Proper floor plan will make the domestic cleaning a breeze as well. Work with your own space, instead of ripping off the design from a decor magazine. Lastly, trust your instincts on what feels “right”.

Consider Extra Seating 

The living room is the most sociable area at your home. When deciding the amount of seats you may need in your living room, you probably think of the main people who will use the space. Chances are you will invite occasionally friends and relatives over. The last thing you want is having guests perching over the sofa arm, because there is nowhere else to sit. Your living room should be able to fit more than the usual group of residents.


Decide how many seats you will use on a daily basis and then figure out a way to pull up extra seating place. It can be anything from sturdy side tables to upholstered stools. You can always bring into the mix your dining chairs. Just have a plan for the situations when you will need extra seating spot.

Getting Flexible Furniture

The living room tends to get messy pretty easily, because it is exposed to high traffic and usage. If you don’t want to be buried in clutter and save some time from home cleaning, then choose double – duty furniture.  For example pick a coffee table with storage compartment to keep all the bills, papers and magazines.

Taking Care of The Wires

The wire management is a huge issue in many living rooms. This little detail has enormous impact on the look and the feel of your living room. The tangled cables of your TV, laptop and charges on the can make the room appear disorganized. Plus they can make the regular dusting and house cleaning a nightmare. There are many ways to put the wires in order – from DIY projects to commercial organizers.

Thinking That This is The Final Look

Don’t think of every design decision as final. You can always make upgrades in your living room decor like repainting or getting new furniture. Sometimes a little home cleaning and de-cluttering is enough to beautify and improve the space. If something doesn’t work you can switch it, move it around or makeover it.

This is a guest post by Heather Roberts.

6 Apartment Hacks to Save Space in Style

Apartments are convenient and cheap places to live in, but they’re not exactly known for being spacious. 

You can call for services that offer carpet cleaning in Geelong, Australia or anywhere else in the world, but they’ll solve your carpet stain problems, not your lack of ample living space.

But don’t fret, because you don’t even need to call a paid professional to help you out with your spatial problems. Just try for yourselves these six space-saving hacks on your apartment space so you can finally have somewhere to stretch your legs in. 

No More Desk Jobs

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Desks take up a considerable amount of space. So if all you need for work is a laptop, then it would be best that you use something else to place your device, which also happens to be your entire workplace. You can just use your dining table instead, or use a ledge of your shelf. This way, you not only save space - you also save money, which you can use for other more important things.

Let it Slide

Hinged doors, when closed, hardly take up any space. But once you use one, you’re going to realize that closing or opening them requires a space that is proportional to its size. Now imagine how much space you’re going to need if you have a big hinged door in your apartment.

A hinged front door is perfectly fine, but for closets and bathrooms, a sliding door would be a much better choice. Since you don’t have to push or pull it to open, you can place stuff in front or behind it and open it just enough for you to be able to enter. 

Chests Are A Treasure

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If you have enough space for either a coffee table or a container for your things but not both, then get neither. Instead, buy a chest.

Chests are not only practical because they give you additional space to put in your loose things that you won’t be using anytime soon, as they also serve an aesthetic function, giving the place a more rustic feel.

However, if your chest isn’t exactly the type that is tasteful or doesn’t match or enhance the look and feel of your living room, then put a drape over it. 

Vertically Gifted

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Perhaps the most common reason why those who rent apartments - probably including you - run out of space is because they only use floor space. Then again, it can’t be helped; since we can’t fly or crawl walls, we only see the floor we step on as the only viable space to put our stuff in. But when you start looking up, you’ll realize that you actually have a lot of space you can use.

You can install cupboards on places that you won’t be walking around in. And instead of a clothes rack that will be sitting on the floor of your room, it would be better to put a clothesline to hang your clothes in. In fact, as long as you have vertical space that is high enough so you won’t hit your head but not so high that it takes a lot of effort to reach it, then it’s up to you to make your vertical space-saver - just don’t overdo it!

Into the Fold

Beds, chairs, and tables are bulky pieces of furniture that eat away a lot of space, which you can use for something else whenever you’re not using these things. You can choose to do away with these things and just sit, sleep, and eat on cushions that separate you from the cold, hard floor, but that’s not a comforting and comfortable idea.

Thankfully, with foldable bed, table, and chairs, you can have both your space and your furniture - just not at the same time. Pop them up when you need them; fold and hide them away when you need the space for other things - simple and convenient. 

Start the Chaise

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As what has been said earlier, beds and sofas take up a lot of room. If that’s the case, then you have two alternatives for both: a chaise lounge or a sofa bed.

The latter, as its name suggests, is a combination of both a sofa and a bed, saving you a lot of space that would’ve been consumed by the two. The chaise lounge, on the other hand, is a kind of a couch that is quite short. It takes up less room, you can move it a lot, and you can put two chaise lounges together to create a makeshift bed. See? Two different stones that both hit two birds.

Having little apartment space can be quite a challenge. But living spaces are like life - it’s not about how much you got, but how much you make of it. And with creativity and proper planning, you can make and get a lot. 

Author Bio:

Yyanna Reema Marquez is a student- writer based in Manila, Philippines. She is a student of Interior Design and love to explore places that offers extraordinary experience. Connect with her on Twitter

Top 10 Bathroom Design Styles that Rock in 2015

Bathroom is without doubt one of the most important rooms in our home and as such should get all the attention it deserves.

What this means is that when it comes to the renovation efforts, bathroom should be pretty high on your list of priorities. This is also your opportunity to additionally spice things up and instead of just refreshing it do a complete thematic makeover.

Here are 10 bathroom design styles that really rock in 2015.

1. Dark floor

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Most of the surveys on this topic have shown that people feel most comfortable when their bathroom is as light as possible. This means, large window, strong artificial light and of course bathroom elements in bright colors (beige for example). 

However, adding some contrast can really add to the complexity and improve the general impression that your bathroom makes. This is why it would be a great idea to create a bathroom design with dark hardwood floor at the basis.

2. One with nature

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There is a popular belief that plants simply don’t belong in the bathroom. If you think logically for just one second, there is no reason why this should be so. The humid air can be extremely nurturing for your plants and create an altogether different atmosphere in your bathroom. You can always add some pot plants in the bathroom to spice things up. There is another however, a bit more revolutionary, way to achieve the same effect and that is by adding a vertical garden to your bathroom. The choice is all yours.

3. Water saving solutions

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Not every design is about style, some are about practicality. Why not save your planet and your wallet at the same time by installing some budget and eco-friendly elements in your bathroom. This naturally consists of low-flush toilets, as well as low-flow showerheads and faucets. 

These few simple changes alone will be enough to save you a substantial amounts of water on the annual basis. Apart from making an ecological difference, this can have a significant positive impact on your home budget.

4. A freestanding bathtub

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Now this is something that you have seen many times in movies. Still, you never once thought that there will be an opportunity to have one in your own bathroom. This change, although seemingly not great, implements some fundamental changes in your bathroom design. What was a bathtub before now becomes a form of artistic expression. Furthermore, combining other parts of your bathroom not with but around this central point makes everything more interesting and daring.

5. Give some room to your shower

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Regardless of how much time you spend in your bathroom, you enjoy this visit the most while under shower. Your morning shower is what sets you straight and there is nothing such as stepping into its warm embrace after a long day at work. 

After examining some of the amazing designs by Sydney bathroom renovation professionals we came to the conclusion that the more room your shower area takes the better. Dream big, settle for no less and don’t take no for an answer when your bathroom is in question.

6. Custom vanity

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While speaking about time spent in the bathroom, right next to your shower the second most prominent spot is taken by vanity. So why not order a custom made vanity and make your bathroom truly unique. This way, any potential guest or visitor will be in awe of the amazing design and incredible effort invested into the very process of remodeling of your bathroom.

7. Geometric bathroom

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Proportion, symmetry and geometry are something that is subconsciously of extreme significance to human eye. Even Plato himself wrote on the door of his Academia, that he who does not know geometry shouldn’t dare to enter. 

Don’t get us wrong, chaotic and spontaneous can be good but if you really want to create an impression of organization in your bathroom making it geometric is the right way to go. Start with tiles, vanity and for the end, you can even get a square showerhead. 

8. Fail-proof grey

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If you feel like your bathroom definitely needs something, but you just can’t pinpoint what it is. If you are fresh out of ideas and are completely desperate about it have no fear you simply cannot go wrong with grey. In all its shades and nuances, this color is just perfectly neutral yet never unnoticeable solution for both your bathroom walls, floor and elements.

9. Break the wall

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With the modern, home market space has become a genuine commodity, bathrooms are getting smaller and smaller, and so are the bedrooms. However, by breaking down the wall between them, you will not only be able to admire your amazing vanity at all times, but also gain more room in your living space. Some might object to this idea, but once you really consider it, it really starts growing on you.

10. Let there be light

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As we already stated at the beginning light is vital and without it, most of the actions that one performs in the bathroom would be simply impossible. This is why you should always try to utilize the lighting situation in your bathroom as best as you can. Add some neon lights, chose quality window and add an adequate mirror to the mix. All left for you now is to add some tiles of reflecting color and you are ready to go.

You owe it to yourself to make the most of your bathroom. Vital step here is to do some research in order to see what your options are and start planning. Take as much time as you need for your planning stage and when you are confident enough to start, spring into action with no hesitation! This way, you will have the bathroom of your dreams in no time.

This is a guest post by Kate Flannery from High Style Life.

10 Contemporary Living Room Design Photos with a Library

The living room is a very important place in every home. The social hub one might say, and it really needs to reflect your own personality and style since pretty much everyone who steps in your house will spend some time there. So, you must be very careful with the design and the decor.

This collection of contemporary living room ideas is here to help you get inspired and transform your old living room into one modern social hub that you will be proud of. Also, this article will be featuring living rooms that have a library, because nothing says interesting more than a complete library.

Source: Houzz | Related: Stylish Contemporary Apartment In TelAviv

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10 Bathroom Design Photos with Dark Hardwood Floors

I am sure that many of you are tired of the same old house, the same old design and you think about renovating and decorating a lot of times. Here, this is an article, to help you get inspired and take the necessary steps for a new room. This time: the bathroom.

Well I guess I am gonna tell you some secrets about a great new bathroom. First of all, and the most important thing to consider when upgrading, is the lightning. Many studies show that a good light in combination with neutral, relaxing colors on the walls affects the mood in a very positive way.  As I was saying, the next big thing to do is the color. Buy new tiles, find beautiful neutral colors, and I don't mean black or white. Try something new, a light green or a sandy beige.

If you still have a lot of questions regarding a bathroom upgrade I've collected 10 beautiful pictures with bathrooms for your inspiration. I thought it would be a fun task to showcase only bathrooms with dark floors, so you and anybody else can see the amazing contrast.

Source: Houzz

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12 Expansive Modern Living Room Design Photos

Living Room is the focal point of a house, is the place you greet your guests and friends and it's the room that must reflect your personality.
The modern style is one of the most interesting interior designs out there these days. A lot of people want to design their home in a modern, contemporary way, but not all of them have the inspiration necessary to pull it off.

So, if you haven't got the money to hire an interior decorator or you just want to put your heart and soul as well as your own work into your interior design, we collected these 12 pictures with modern living room designs to help you a little. So get inspired and dive into all our living room design ideas.

Source: Houzz

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