Color is a powerful tool when it comes to decorating an environment. Not only can it fill in the gaps in our artistic lines, but various hues will also have a subtle symbolic meaning, that will add undertones to the very nature of the space. Knowledge of this can allow you to create soothing, relaxing environments, using a variety of color strategies to add an understated sense of tranquility to a room.
In general, the darker the colors used, the more subdued a space will become. On the other hand, brighter colors will tend to make an environment feel more active and vigorous.
This effect is tempered by contrasting effects. The color black, the darkest tone available, can actually be made to add vigor and excitement to a room when contrasted with its polar opposite, in black on white patterns. Conversely, a low level of contrast, such as found by applying varying shades of the same color, can actually tend to make a space feel more relaxed and less energetic.
Much of the symbolic value ascribed to colors comes from the natural elements that bear their hue. For instance, most blue shades tend to make people think about oceans, water, or a cloudless sky. In general this makes blue a very relaxing and peaceful color. Its use can lend feelings of tranquility to a space, simulating the feel of a deep quiet ocean, or a perfect sunny day.
However you have to be careful. Some darker blue tones will simulate nature too well, creating a feeling of a tempestuous maelstrom at sea, adding a subtle hint of dynamic tension to the environment where it is used.
Green tones also tend to be generally peaceful when used in decorative settings. Many shades of green will bring to mind ideas of life, nature, and the growing teeming world of plants and animals. While this does add a hint of vibrant energy to the space, it’s a subdued energy rather than a frantic, frenetic feeling of anxiousness.
Darker green shades are especially tranquil because they can simulate the feeling of being in a deep, quiet woods, or hidden within the folds of the rainforest. On the other hand, some lighter shades of green will actually simulate disease, or bring to mind thoughts of nausea and sickness, prompting an environment which feels particularly unsettling.
Earth tones generally make us think of home. The Earth is all around us, it is our source, we are descended from people who lived in caves, and rocks have always provided us with shelter from the wind, and the sun, and sometimes the rain and snow. Generally these shades will lend a sense of warmth and comfort to a space.
Minimizing contrast to create a gently flowing color gradient within the space is one of the most important keys to creating a soothing environment. Earth tones are great for this. You can use the varying shades of earthen brown as a base, creating a comforting and inviting backdrop. Then tones of amber, gold, and burnt red can be woven through your design, to add laces of energy to what will be primarily a subdued design.
In general, creating calm, relaxed environments will be about choosing colors which bring to mind soothing scenes, such as forest greens, ocean blues, and gentle earth tones. Choosing darker tones, and minimizing contrast, will also go a long way towards helping to relax the atmosphere of the space.
This article is brought to you by PebbleZ.com’s line of natural stone tables unique hand crafted mosaic pieces built from the finest mountain born stone. The article itself was written by stone artist and designer Joey pebble.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Creating Welcoming Kitchens
The kitchen is a place of business, where the chef must toil in the preparation of savory nourishment for friends and family alike. However if you have the room, this can also be a social center, a gathering place where people come together to bask in the warmth and delicious smells of the location, while also enjoying one another’s company. In this way your kitchen can serve a dual purpose, both as the source of sustenance, and as the hub of the home community.
Making a kitchen more inviting is a process that involves accommodating the needs of others, while still catering to the requirements of the chef. You have to find a balance between functions, a decorative compromise that will allow the room to reach its full potential.
One thing you should always be aware of is floor and counter space. These are the two major components of the functioning kitchen, and are very important for a chef’s work within this room. Avoid cluttering these areas up with decorative pieces or non culinary items. Instead, choose functional cooking accessories which are attractive, and are matched in style and color, and let the necessities of the space be the decorative style of the room.
With floor and counters dedicated to the needs of the cook, your decorative endeavors are going to be left largely to the walls. Imagine these as canvases across which you can work the beauty of your creative mind. Cover these spaces with pictures and portraits, art and patterns which evoke a sense of comfort and family. People often hang images of fruit, or other food based pictures, in order to reinforce the edible nature of the room. Family pictures, or simple, meaningful motto’s, are also often hung from the walls to create a folksy familial feeling within the space.
Few things are going to make a kitchen more welcoming than a table and set of chairs. This will actually give people a destination, somewhere that they can go, and sit, and relax, rather than wandering the floor of the space constantly getting in the cooks way. Its very presence will invite people to occupy its chairs, and the table surface will give them a place to work if the chef decides to delegate some of the chopping, stirring, or mixing tasks to others.
If your kitchen doesn’t have the space to fit an entire table, then you may want to consider a smaller alternative such as a counter shelf or bar top. These smaller surfaces can be butted up against a wall, and then coupled with a few bar stools. In this way you can get the same destination element that you get with a table, without having to take up the full amount of space that such a piece would require.
Making your kitchen more inviting is a way to welcome the home into this space, adding to its inherently functional purpose, and turning it into a center of the home community. This can be accomplished through comforting art and decorative pieces, as well as the addition of seating and eating locations that can serve to give people a destination within the space.
This article was written on behalf of PebbleZ.com’s line of natural stone mosaic kitchen tables, hand crafted mosaic tables built from slate, limestone, granite, onyx and marble. The author of this piece is design expert Joey Pebble.
Making a kitchen more inviting is a process that involves accommodating the needs of others, while still catering to the requirements of the chef. You have to find a balance between functions, a decorative compromise that will allow the room to reach its full potential.
One thing you should always be aware of is floor and counter space. These are the two major components of the functioning kitchen, and are very important for a chef’s work within this room. Avoid cluttering these areas up with decorative pieces or non culinary items. Instead, choose functional cooking accessories which are attractive, and are matched in style and color, and let the necessities of the space be the decorative style of the room.
With floor and counters dedicated to the needs of the cook, your decorative endeavors are going to be left largely to the walls. Imagine these as canvases across which you can work the beauty of your creative mind. Cover these spaces with pictures and portraits, art and patterns which evoke a sense of comfort and family. People often hang images of fruit, or other food based pictures, in order to reinforce the edible nature of the room. Family pictures, or simple, meaningful motto’s, are also often hung from the walls to create a folksy familial feeling within the space.
Few things are going to make a kitchen more welcoming than a table and set of chairs. This will actually give people a destination, somewhere that they can go, and sit, and relax, rather than wandering the floor of the space constantly getting in the cooks way. Its very presence will invite people to occupy its chairs, and the table surface will give them a place to work if the chef decides to delegate some of the chopping, stirring, or mixing tasks to others.
If your kitchen doesn’t have the space to fit an entire table, then you may want to consider a smaller alternative such as a counter shelf or bar top. These smaller surfaces can be butted up against a wall, and then coupled with a few bar stools. In this way you can get the same destination element that you get with a table, without having to take up the full amount of space that such a piece would require.
Making your kitchen more inviting is a way to welcome the home into this space, adding to its inherently functional purpose, and turning it into a center of the home community. This can be accomplished through comforting art and decorative pieces, as well as the addition of seating and eating locations that can serve to give people a destination within the space.
This article was written on behalf of PebbleZ.com’s line of natural stone mosaic kitchen tables, hand crafted mosaic tables built from slate, limestone, granite, onyx and marble. The author of this piece is design expert Joey Pebble.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Decorating For the Lazy Person
Decorating is important. The environment you live in affects who you are and how you think. If you live in a cluttered, unattractive, mess of a home, your mind will tend to be disorderly and unpredictable. However by creating spaces that are beautiful, and which inspire you each day, you can foster positive qualities in yourself subconsciously.Even if you’re lazy, there are a few very simple things you can do to vastly improve the look and feel of your home. None of these requires making drastic changes. Mostly you will be sitting and relaxing in various rooms, trying to feel how the nature of the space affects you, and trying to imagine ways to make it more beautiful to you personally.
The first trick is to find one piece of furniture that has a pattern that you really enjoy. The easiest piece to choose is a rug, but it can be a table, a sofa, or anything which is attractive and appeals to your personal tastes, and which has a variety of colors mixed in.
Then you take the various colors found in the pattern, and you fill the room with items that match those shades. You don’t have to go out on a shopping spree. Just bear those colors in mind when making purchases. The trick is that if the pattern is attractive, then it means the colors match. Therefore you can use this as a guide for the entire house. Its no thought color matching.
The simplest way to keep your home looking beautiful is to keep it organized. Clutter is by its very nature unattractive. Just maintaining a tidy atmosphere can go a long way towards helping to improve the nature of a space.
The lazy way to keep a room organized is to keep things simple. The fewer possessions you own, the less mess you have to deal with. What possessions you do own should be largely stored away in boxes, under the bed or in a closet. This allows the living space to remain clutter free, and easy to maintain.
It is better to have a simple, neat, tidy home, which is empty and devoid of character, than it is to have a messy disorganized and chaotic home, which is the result of decay and neglect.
Another trick is to use size to your advantage. It is much easier to select a few large pieces, than it is to pick and choose dozens of smaller pieces. There are certain necessities in the home. Aside from those, you can get away with having just a few focal point pieces that will give each room character. Size is of course relative, and any piece should be chosen to match the existing space comfortably, and not to overwhelm it.
After that, simple touches will go the furthest. You don’t have to worry about hunting elaborate works of art, inspiring sculptures, or exotic designs. A simple vase with a bouquet of fresh flowers can do wonders for the atmosphere of an entire room.
Simple, organic, beautiful, those are the qualities that will help you achieve an attractive home with the least amount of effort possible. Just keep things organized, and decorate with a few focal points and simple touches.
This article was written by Jim Slate on behalf of PebbleZ’s line of natural stone tables. These tables are hand crafted in the United States from real pieces of mountain born slate, limestone, marble, onyx, and travertine.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Frugal Style, Stretching Your Decorating Dollars
When it comes to priorities in life, food, shelter, and clothing are going to come at the top of the list. Interior decorating usually has to come in somewhere further down the line. However just because you don’t have a fortune doesn’t mean you can’t have a home that looks fabulous. The following frugal decorating tips should help you to maximize your decorative spending, making every dollar count more, in order to achieve the most attractive spaces possible.
The first thing you should consider is used items. Just because something is being discarded doesn’t mean that it is ugly, tattered, or ruined. Many times people cycle the style of their homes, discarding, donating, or selling objects which they have owned for a while, but which they no longer have the space for.
Yard sales are a great place to find inexpensive home décor items. Often you can purchase pieces that look brand new, for prices that are a fraction of what the original owner paid. Since decorative items are often only lightly used, they can survive the test of time better than other more functional pieces. One trick is to patrol the neighborhood in search of yard sales early in the morning to find the greatest selection, or to search them out late in the day, when they will be more likely to make a deal just so they can get rid of something.
You should also keep your eye open for flyers or ads in the paper about multi family garage sales. These are much larger events, with a number of different venders converging to offer their new and used wares. The advantage is that you can compare prices, and even play the different vendors off of one another.
EBay is sort of a huge, international yard sale, with literally millions of items listed for auction. While many commercial products are set at retail prices, there is always the possibility of finding a private seller that is just trying to make a few bucks getting rid of some old decorative items. In general, you will want to purchase smaller pieces from eBay, as shipping can end up being a factor. One way to offset this is to do searches by location and narrowing the listing down to items which are within driving distance so that you can go and pick them up.
Craigslist is another online tool that you can use to search out great deals on inexpensive home products. A giant classified ad, you can narrow your searches by item and location. Often you will find people listing very nice pieces of furniture on there for little or no money. However you should always be cautious when entering someone’s home to view a potential product. If possible it is always better to meet in a neutral, public location, to ensure everyone’s safety.
Even if you prefer to do your shopping for new, in store items, you should always be certain to compare prices. If you have a web enabled phone a quick search should be able to tell you if the same item is available online at a better price. If not, a pad and a pen will allow you to record prices and do competitive searches later on. Having a beautiful home doesn’t have to cost a fortune. There are a variety of tricks that you can use to save a couple of bucks. The key is to have a discerning eye, and to understand the value of the products you are looking at. You don’t want to just leap on the first cheep piece of junk that you see. Instead you should wait and browse and take your time making only the finest selections.
This article was brought to you courtesy of PebbleZ.com, the manufacturers of a line of inexpensive drink coasters made from natural sandstone, slate, marble, onyx, and fossil stone. The actual text was written by style philosopher Joey Pebble.
SW Home Decor
SantaFeDecor.com
WesternCowboyHorseDecor.com
The first thing you should consider is used items. Just because something is being discarded doesn’t mean that it is ugly, tattered, or ruined. Many times people cycle the style of their homes, discarding, donating, or selling objects which they have owned for a while, but which they no longer have the space for.
Yard sales are a great place to find inexpensive home décor items. Often you can purchase pieces that look brand new, for prices that are a fraction of what the original owner paid. Since decorative items are often only lightly used, they can survive the test of time better than other more functional pieces. One trick is to patrol the neighborhood in search of yard sales early in the morning to find the greatest selection, or to search them out late in the day, when they will be more likely to make a deal just so they can get rid of something.
You should also keep your eye open for flyers or ads in the paper about multi family garage sales. These are much larger events, with a number of different venders converging to offer their new and used wares. The advantage is that you can compare prices, and even play the different vendors off of one another.
EBay is sort of a huge, international yard sale, with literally millions of items listed for auction. While many commercial products are set at retail prices, there is always the possibility of finding a private seller that is just trying to make a few bucks getting rid of some old decorative items. In general, you will want to purchase smaller pieces from eBay, as shipping can end up being a factor. One way to offset this is to do searches by location and narrowing the listing down to items which are within driving distance so that you can go and pick them up.
Craigslist is another online tool that you can use to search out great deals on inexpensive home products. A giant classified ad, you can narrow your searches by item and location. Often you will find people listing very nice pieces of furniture on there for little or no money. However you should always be cautious when entering someone’s home to view a potential product. If possible it is always better to meet in a neutral, public location, to ensure everyone’s safety.
Even if you prefer to do your shopping for new, in store items, you should always be certain to compare prices. If you have a web enabled phone a quick search should be able to tell you if the same item is available online at a better price. If not, a pad and a pen will allow you to record prices and do competitive searches later on. Having a beautiful home doesn’t have to cost a fortune. There are a variety of tricks that you can use to save a couple of bucks. The key is to have a discerning eye, and to understand the value of the products you are looking at. You don’t want to just leap on the first cheep piece of junk that you see. Instead you should wait and browse and take your time making only the finest selections.
This article was brought to you courtesy of PebbleZ.com, the manufacturers of a line of inexpensive drink coasters made from natural sandstone, slate, marble, onyx, and fossil stone. The actual text was written by style philosopher Joey Pebble.
SW Home Decor
SantaFeDecor.com
WesternCowboyHorseDecor.com
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Decorating Ideas for Tiny Kitchens
Space is crucial in the kitchen; the chef has to have enough room for stirring, chopping, mixing, marinating, and just setting out the ingredients for everything they are preparing. The larger the meal, the more room you need. Unfortunately if your kitchen is inherently tiny, you are going to run into some problems finding space for everything. The following organizational tips should help you to find and make some extra room in even the smallest kitchen.
The first thing you should do is eliminate all clutter from the kitchen. Sometimes it isn’t always easy to recognize what clutter is in this space. There are so many fancy kitchen gadgets available that promise to revolutionize the future of cooking. However the truth is that many of these items get used just once or twice, and then are left taking up space and collecting dust.
You should make a sweep of the kitchen and place everything that isn’t used on a weekly basis into a box. Clearly label the box, and then put it away into storage, either in a closet, under a bed, or somewhere where it won’t be taking up valuable floor or counter space. Then, when an occasion arises where you need to use one of those tools, the clearly marked box will be right there waiting for you.
Next you should develop a formal organizational strategy within the space. Every accessory, every utensil, every bowl, ladle, and cup should have a home where they are constantly kept. If possible, use the tiny size of the kitchen to your advantage, hanging and storing everything you might need just an arms length away. In this way you can wrap the space around you like a cozy glove, which allows you to work faster and more efficiently.
There are many space saving accessories which you can also purchase to increase storage facilities and make the room more organized. If you have a free wall, a kitchen island can be a way to add portable storage and counter space to the room. Shelving is another good use of extra space, allowing you to further segment and organize your utensils.
Overhead racks are also great space saving devices. Installed on either walls or the ceiling, these can turn empty air above your head into a functional place to hang your spoons, ladles, bowels, whisks and other culinary tools.
While a small kitchen can be a bit of a challenge, it is one which you can overcome using organization and creativity. You want to know exactly where every tool you need is, and you don’t need any useless clutter getting in your way. In this manner, you can bring even the tiniest kitchen up to optimal efficiency.
This article is sponsored by PebbleZ, makers of over 40 styles of natural stone mosaic kitchen tables. These attractive tables are hand crafted from real pieces of slate, limestone, marble, travertine, and onyx. The article itself was written by Joey Pebble, an artist and designer that works with the company.
SW Home Decor
SantaFeDecor.com
WesternCowboyHorseDecor.com
The first thing you should do is eliminate all clutter from the kitchen. Sometimes it isn’t always easy to recognize what clutter is in this space. There are so many fancy kitchen gadgets available that promise to revolutionize the future of cooking. However the truth is that many of these items get used just once or twice, and then are left taking up space and collecting dust.
You should make a sweep of the kitchen and place everything that isn’t used on a weekly basis into a box. Clearly label the box, and then put it away into storage, either in a closet, under a bed, or somewhere where it won’t be taking up valuable floor or counter space. Then, when an occasion arises where you need to use one of those tools, the clearly marked box will be right there waiting for you.
Next you should develop a formal organizational strategy within the space. Every accessory, every utensil, every bowl, ladle, and cup should have a home where they are constantly kept. If possible, use the tiny size of the kitchen to your advantage, hanging and storing everything you might need just an arms length away. In this way you can wrap the space around you like a cozy glove, which allows you to work faster and more efficiently.
There are many space saving accessories which you can also purchase to increase storage facilities and make the room more organized. If you have a free wall, a kitchen island can be a way to add portable storage and counter space to the room. Shelving is another good use of extra space, allowing you to further segment and organize your utensils.
Overhead racks are also great space saving devices. Installed on either walls or the ceiling, these can turn empty air above your head into a functional place to hang your spoons, ladles, bowels, whisks and other culinary tools.
While a small kitchen can be a bit of a challenge, it is one which you can overcome using organization and creativity. You want to know exactly where every tool you need is, and you don’t need any useless clutter getting in your way. In this manner, you can bring even the tiniest kitchen up to optimal efficiency.
This article is sponsored by PebbleZ, makers of over 40 styles of natural stone mosaic kitchen tables. These attractive tables are hand crafted from real pieces of slate, limestone, marble, travertine, and onyx. The article itself was written by Joey Pebble, an artist and designer that works with the company.
SW Home Decor
SantaFeDecor.com
WesternCowboyHorseDecor.com
Friday, October 2, 2009
Ten Tips To Chase The "Boring" Out of Your Bedroom
There are things that can be done to chase the boring out of your bedroom. With today's consumer in mind, it can also be done without breaking the bank.
When considering your bedroom never choose dark colors for the walls and ceilings. Dark colors make the room, gloomy and appear small. Choose lighter colors, white beige, off-white, light blue, yellow; these colors will make your bedroom appear larger and given a light and airy feeling to the room. And whatever you do, make sure your color selection is in harmony.
Here are 10 tips that you can use to bring life back to an otherwise boring bedroom. Following these tips you can have a calm and serene atmosphere where the tranquility will never bore you.
- Clear The Clutter. Take a look at your bedroom and get rid of anything that isn't conducive to relaxation or romance. This includes getting rid of the TV. (Research shows that the TV in the bedroom can hinder sleep.)
- Shake It Up. Shifting or moving around your bedroom furniture can add new life to your familiar quarters. And hey, while you're at it rotate and flip your mattress to minimize uneven wear.
- Trim It Up. You'd be amazed how adding a simple rickrack, ribbon or trim borders can add a little spice to an otherwise boring bedroom.
- You Can't Handle The Truth. This is a low effort method that adds unique personality and style to otherwise boring furniture. Replace old drawer handles and drawer pulls, with new decorative ones.
- Window Wow. Add some personality, and even some unique color with a valance. You can complement solid color curtains with a patterned valance - or flip-flop the look. You could even go with an upholstered look, by learning how to build a cornice and covering it with coordinating fabric.
- Turn Down The Highbeams. Bedroom lighting should be subdued and indirect. Use a nightstand lamp or properly positioned wall scones for light to read by. But when you do that use three-way bulbs so you can control the lighting.
- Bring Life To Your Room. An element that is sometimes overlooked in the bedroom is adding a houseplant or two. Houseplants generate oxygen and remove toxins from the air. So it is like adding "new life" to your bedroom by adding a houseplant.
- Don't Get Caught With Matches. It may be tempting to get a bed in a bag that comes with everything. Remember you're trying to add life and variety to your bedroom - so it's not boring. There is nothing more boring than having everything match.
- What Is In A Headboard? Any bed can take on a lush and sleek look with even the simplest headboard. There are even some headboard versions that are painted on or stencils that go right on the wall to give the appearance of a headboard without the expense.
- Liven Up The Covering. Consider adding a new duvet or a new comforter. A new duvet cover or a new comforter (with matching shams) can create a whole new look almost instantly. You can move from dull and boring to snappy graphic, a modern to a classic look. All these can be accomplished in a snap by simply changing or adding a new duvet or a new comforter.
SW Home Decor
Friday, August 14, 2009
The Subtle Power of Color in the Bedroom
Color is a very powerful yet often overlooked part of our lives. It creates the backdrop of our existence. In an environment, the various colors all work together to form a mood. This mood can alter the way people think and act in a space. In the bedroom, where you let down your emotional and cognitive defenses each night, color is particularly important, because it will influence your mind, and actually have an effect, over the long term, on the kind of person you are.
The bedroom is a place where several very particular activities take place. At night you get undressed, climb into bed, turn off your mind, and go to sleep. Then you dream, and your unconscious mind gets to have its way with reality for a while. Then in the morning, the bedroom is where you wake up.
As far as sleep and dreaming, the colors in your bedroom are going to be the last things you see when you close your eyes. You had better believe that they will have an influence on what goes on in your mind, while you sleep. Then when you wake up, that is the first moment of consciousness that you have, and it can set the tone for the entire day.
It is important to note that different colors have different meanings. While the meaning of a certain tone may vary from person to person based on their personal experiences, there are colors which have a generally universal meaning, and which cause the same sort of reaction in most people.
For instance, in general red is a very passionate and inflammatory color. It symbolizes blood, war, and conflict, but also love, romance and passion. In the bedroom the color red is most often used to create energy. This can be romantic energy, or it can simply be the kind of energy that will help wake you up and invigorate you in the morning. The flip side of this is that these tones may also make it harder to fall asleep
at night.
at night.
Blue and green are considered soothing colors, and are a favorite choice for many bedrooms. Blue tends to elicit thoughts of the ocean, or a cloudless sky, both things which have a quiet air to them. Green is the color of life and nature, and it will make the space seem relaxed, yet lively, like being in the folds of a deep enchanted forest.
Earth tones tend to make a space feel cozier. Throughout history most building materials have been earthen in color and even further back or ancestors lived in caves. Browns, grays, soft oranges, and adobe colors all make us feel like we are inside, somewhere safe and warm. Earth tones are also the color of family, and so using these in a bedroom will simply make the space feel more comfortable and homey.
Of course the most important reference for how colors affect a person is how the tones actually make you feel. Everyone is different. You have to understand how you react to these different shades. This is especially important in a bedroom, where you are going to be one of the very few people affected. The colors choices you make in this space are very personal, and should be based largely on your own taste and reactions.
This article provided on behalf of PebbleZ.com’s line of decorative stone candle holders and natural gemstone and onyx home décor accessories. The actual article was written by Joey pebble, a style philosopher and stone artist.
SW Home Decor
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