home decor

  Are you challenged when it comes to arranging  accessories? Do you look at details in  decorating magazines and marvel at how everything  looks just right? Many people think the final touches are the most difficult part of home decor, but they don't have to be.  There are all kinds of tips and tricks of the trade.  One of the simplest design tips I can offer is the use  of  letter formations to organize interesting accessory vignettes. I'm calling on my background in visual art and floral arrangement to offer you this advice.  Other decorators may have different ways of describing their approach.  The most useful letters for designing vignettes are ....  A, V,  O, C, L, and M.   Here goes... A Niche Interiors This is a very tight A line of design.  The visual height is always through the middle and the base is wider, but the bottom width can vary.  My eye wants to see something slightly taller than the dish -...

When someone says dining room, what picture appears in your mind?  Try  it.  List the elements. For many of us these words conjure up a dining room set with everything matching, a chandelier and some sort of hutch or maybe buffet.  Probably a picture of some sort will be included.  I bet matching is the most obvious characteristic. It doesn't have to be that way unless that's what you like.  Here are 5 ways you can  make your dining space stand out a little. Mix and match your chairs and table The days of dining sets have moved behind us.  In many magazines you will see all sorts of mixing of styles, materials and colours. I love the look of upholstered chairs with a wood table. They soften the hard edges and provide some relief in the "wood" department. Some adventurous types will go for two different styles of chairs.  Adore magazine  Another option if you aren't too adventurous is to upholster each of your wooden chairs with a differe...

And continuing with thoughts of spring decorating.... When you enter my house the dining table is in full view from the entry.   In a desperation move while babysitting my 3 granddaughters, I  stuck some fake lavender in a glass jar and thought that I could get away with it.  I was called out on that move by a family member who was a little horrified I had fake flowers.  I admit they were not good fakes.  I defensively pointed out I had beautiful fresh, pink tulips on my kitchen table, but I was caught.  Time to make amends. Something green  Nothing denotes spring like new growth, green and/or plants. Lately I've been seeing live plants in lanterns.  I like the look and feel, but my place is not a lantern kind of home.  I already tried the plainest one I could find, and moved it all over the downstairs rooms to no avail.  It went back to Pier 1. I love repetition as a design statement so it's little wonder I'm attracted to these ferns. L...

I don't know about you, but around this time of year my decor starts to look a little like I feel after a long, cold winter.  Tired and worse for wear.  I had the urge to bring some spring to my house; I tried, I really did, but mother nature had other ideas.   I had visions  of something  like this  for my front containers with a bit of fake thrown in until the real thing is possible - that means late June here. Source    I bought pussy willows and some  short, purple flowers to  add to the greenery that is there.  Unfortunately the current items from Christmas are still frozen solid.   I have  what survived the raging winds and snow of winter .... I guess it will be red dogwood, Spanish Broom and pine for a little longer! The berries are long gone. Then I thought what about a new wreath to hang over the containers.  I wracked my brains.  Do you know a spring motif that would look great with Christmas planters? ...

Large can have a lot of meanings, but in Newfoundland large often  mean great or good or the best as in " it's a large day".   Given that understanding here's  a "large" dining room and a closer look at why it merits that rating. Liz Levin Interiors  This room has a lot packed into a very small space.    Just imagine this space with a matched dining set.  It would blend into the floor and be totally blah.  How did the designer achieve this look? Perhaps there's something in her kit of tricks that you could use.   Upholstered chairs   If you have a dining table you love, and hate the chairs, consider changing them  to coloured leather or fully upholstered ones.  It helps break up all the wood that you tend to get in dining rooms.  This approach usually means you can get away without the area rug that many people have to resort to so their set doesn't disappear into a similar wood floor. Mixing styles I know this isn't for e...

  We all have our ways to relax; one of mine is experimenting with design using different design apps. Several weeks ago I found Neybers.  Have you heard of it? You can spend way too many hours perfecting a design, and there are so many designs to look at. Modern magenta, Margaret Ryall using  Neybers What is Neybers? Neybers is an  interior design app created by amagumo games and available on ITunes.  Users  can decorate rooms with images of thousands of real products from  international interior design brands.  There is also a social component to Neybers, allowing you to follow other people, like specific designs, and make comments.  It is a fun, easy app meant for everybody. Using Neybers Choose a room backgrounds/template that can be decorated by clicking to select wallpaper, paint and flooring.  Windows and doors can be added, cloned for multiples, and sized. You can even choose a scene to put behind a window!  If you cha...

Sometimes I have to remind myself of the power of mirrors to solve common decorating problems.   Here are seven  fantastic uses of mirrors that might not be on your radar. 1. To reflect light This is one great space for a number of reasons, but the mirrors make it in my opinion.  Not only do they break up a dark wall and provide height to match the window, they reflect light in what might otherwise be a blah room. 2. To create a window in a windowless room  There are often sections of a space that are dark and windowless.  Mirrors can give the illusion of a window and light without having to make architectural changes.  In both rooms above the mirrors also add dramatic focal points. 3. Add drama to an open space This high ceilinged space demands a large scale treatment.  This mirror fills the bill when it comes to matching the scale of the space.  The choice of a lucite table ensures that the lines of the mirror remain dominant. 4. To replace art ...