home decor

 Questions  about the wisdom of  choosing dark  kitchen cabinets keep cropping up in my reading and client discussions. Of course there are no absolutes in decorating.  You can make anything work or look good if you have the skills, and using dark cabinets in any room  requires a deft hand. If you want your dark cabinet choice to work and have the longest style staying power, consider the following: Let the cabinets shine   source  When I work with clients who want everything that they consider trendy in one space, I always discuss the wisdom of this approach.   Something has to be the star in a space and you should decide in the beginning what the star will be.  When you choose dark cabinets they demand centre stage, and everything else should support them and make them look their best.  Using lots of white or very light colours with dark cabinets is the way to go to get that sophisticated, rich, classy look that many people ...

 The one topic I've written about on my blog that gets attention from thousands of decor happy readers is decorating small spaces.  I think that is because rooms and homes today are smaller than they once were.  People living in condos or apartments must be conscious of using every trick in the book to enlarge their living spaces. So stay awhile and see how colour can solve some of your small space dilemmas.  Perhaps in these suggestions you will find a treatment for your small space. Use one colour everywhere This might seem like an extreme solution but it isn't really.  Using one colour all over a room makes the different planes blend together  to give a more unified look.  You can even use the same colour on the floor and ceiling if you wish.  Since your eye continues to move  freely around the room you have no sense of the boundaries of it.  source If I could change one thing about this room above, I would paint the trim a soft pi...

Many of my clients remark  that my home must be perfectly decorated.   My answer is a resounding NO.   I actually have little interest in perfectly decorated homes because that usually means boring in my book. Besides, the reality is that there is only so much money and time that one can devote to a place to live.  You have a life, you have things you want to do, and often home projects get pushed to the bottom of the pile as you live with your decisions.  It's called setting priorities. If you are spending your hard earned money on a place to live, how can you have the best space possible within your budget parameters?  This is a roundup of suggestions supported by  past posts that you might want to consider as you decide how to create an interesting home. 1. Don't try to keep up with the neighbours   Don't go there. I've had lots of chats especially with young  professional first time homeowners who feel trapped in the friends' comparison g...

I hope you enjoy the tips and very on trend images our guest blogger, Anna,  has for designing a compact bathroom.  Welcome to Designing Home blog Anna. Do check out the links below for more bathroom decor inspiration. Hello! My name is Anna and today I am really excited to be guest posting on this wonderful blog about how we can design a compact bathroom without going through a lot of trouble. For more bathroom decor tips follow us on Facebook , Twitter , Pinterest and Google Plus .   source The bathroom is hugely important to the comfort of your home: just imagine living without a bathroom for a week and you will soon see what I mean! Therefore, it is well worth the effort and expense to plan, design and fit out a bathroom with the best possible products. After all, your bathroom is going to be a high traffic, intensive-use space for years to come! Fitting Furniture?   source  If your bathroom is particularly small and tending towards cramped, then you can ...

Do  you agree with Ralph Waldo Emerson that the earth laughs in flowers? I do.  Flowers are such an integral part of my existence; I could not imagine a world without them.  There are certain times of the year that I think about flowers more than others, and spring (so called, little evidence yet) in Newfoundland is one of those times. As I look out at a light dusting of snow today (yes, snow), I am happy I have beautiful tulips on my coffee table. Happiness reflected I can't get enough fresh flowers in my house, but my budget doesn't allow frequent trips to the florist resulting in long gaps between vibrant colour.  No deals in this city when it comes to flowers!  I constantly joke that if I won a million dollars I would have fresh flowers in every room of my house every day.   Yep, that would be the first change I would make. Not a very exciting option according to friends, but it would make me happy.   Flowers also move me to paint.  I...