Selecting Interior Product

Here we will cover the majority of finishes and products that you will come across in the world of design. It is important to have an understanding of what they are, what they are used for, when and where to use them and why. The why is important, as you must always be able to justify WHY you have selected a finish or a product to use.

Selecting product, as discussed requires accessing the products performance capabilities. The following items should be considered:

• Economic and budgetary issues. Does the budget allow for the initial purchase cost of the material as well as the installation? Does the product require long-term maintenance, which may impact on the weekly household budget?


• Durability considerations. Will the product withstand daily wear and tear –water spillage, foot traffic, pets, and children with artistic flair, furniture movement? Is the product able to be easily maintained? Is it easily broken, or scratched, prone to changing temperatures?


• Safety issues. Is it slippery when wet (flooring)? Is it a fire hazard? Does it have hard or sharp edges? Does it provide a surface for glare? I.e. is it highly polished and reflective. Is the product dull and dark and impede vision without the lights on?


• Comfort and Aesthetic considerations. Does it look great? Does it fit in with your scheme, texturally, colour wise, patterned items? Does it meet the acoustic and thermal insulation requirements of the local building authority? Do the tactile properties live up to the look? I.e. is it soft to touch, silky to run your fingers over, or cool underfoot?

taken from www.interordezine.com

Interesting Home Interior Design and Decoration Articles

The best way to learn about interior design and decorating is by reading decorating articles in magazines or web sites like this. Chris and Lee Brown, founders of interiordezine.com have written most of the articles on this web site but there are some decorating articles by other authors, home decorating articles, home improvement articles and house and garden articles.

The web site covers many different areas of interior decorating. Environmentally Friendly Ways to Deter Household Pests provides ideas for not using chemicals around your home. Try planning your outdoor living space in a safe and functional way, complete with decoration, or you could decide if you follow the trends or like being a leader in design, learn some ways to use your imagination and get innovative and creative with decorating to bring out the best you have to offer. Cure the Clutter bug, a five step cure for all those that are prone to collecting too much in their home, simple yet effective.

Interior Lighting

Understanding The Lighting SystemLight can define space, substance and style. Outdoors, with the shifting sun and atmospheric conditions, light and the shadows change the appearance of things natural and man made. But in the indoors, the play of natural and artificial lighting largely determine both function and decoration. Today lighting is considered to be a very important element of decorating scheme. The invention of the incandescent bulb in 1978 revolutionized lighting systems as it allowed light to be easily manipulated. Apart from exploiting natural light by using opaque or transparent glass walls, sky lights, large windows etc. for offices, architect work out the detailed light fittings which are conducive for a work environment. In homes, a careful selection of lights extends and enhances the aesthetics of interiors. Similarly for hotels, showrooms, museums, gardens, water bodies, individual lighting requirements are worked out. Artificial light falling from various angles and heights on different surfaces guide us to perceive various features and dimensions while creating a specific mood. With technological developments and the stress on precision lighting, a variety of lighting fixtures are readily available with options which offer manifold possibilities in terms of effect. The choice of fitting according to the room , gets very difficult , one gets puzzled off as there are so many varieties in lights like the table lamps , spot lights , clamp lights , recessed / surface mounted lights , up lighters , halogens , incandescent bulb , pendants , fluorescent fixtures and lots of others. Once the basic idea of the space, mood, interior design, highlighting, function of work have been specified, one can then consider the basic types of lighting. Initially only the planned positions of lights need to be decided. Later, the selection of bulbs and the exact effect can be created. One should always keep in mind some of the basic rules while designing the light.
1. Every activity that takes place in the interior must have lights of the right kind, intensity and the right direction.
2. The eye prefers even lighting with the minimum of contrast between the brightness of the room surfaces and the lighting fixtures.
3. The eye works best when the work surface is more brightly lit then the surroundings.
The eye is stimulated by the contrast of tone and sparkle.
4. When room lighting change, color changes or disappear, thus objects become more or less important in the room.
5. There are three basic types of lighting which are categorized according to the intensity of the light used.
General lighting - It supplies an overall illumination in the area. Task lighting - It supplies the required illumination for specific tasks such as reading, painting etc. It directs strong local illumination without high general illumination as required for activities carried in a particular area. Accent lighting- It offers a decorative element to the area by highlighting the particular objects or features in the area. They are auxiliary to the general lighting and provide an added, and at times, dramatic dimensions to the scheme. Spaces can be provided with one, two or all types of these lightings, depending upon the requirement. With different types of lighting in each room and dimmers to adjust the intensity of light, an ordinary space can be infused with much dramatic look to convey different moods to suit different times of the day.

KNOW MORE ABOUT THE COLORS

Color is the most powerful decorating element in our homes. Color is memorable and above all personal. An understanding of color can really help us achieve the goal of a pleasant , personal and comfortable home. There are hundreds of options but only one decision maker , that matters and that is You. The people who eat and sleep , entertain , play and rejuvenate in the spaces are the ones whose well-being is affected.

If we understand the basics of the color , then we can make a perfect color scheme. The colors are divided into three categories

Primary color- These are the three basic hues , red , blue and yellow. They are the foundation of the color wheel and all other colors are derived from them.
Secondary color – When two primary colors are mixed , they form a secondary color . They are orange , green and violet.
Tertiary color- When two secondary colors are mixed , they form a tertiary color , like citron , olive , russet. THE COLOR WHEEL – The color wheel is a complete picture of all the colors available , once you understand this , there will not be any problem in forming any color scheme. In the color wheel at the right , the primaries form a triangle with equal sides with in the circle , and the secondaries form another triangle opposite to that. Each color has a ‘complement’ which is located directly across from it on the wheel. Thus , green is complement of red , orange is complement of blue.

A perfectly balanced color scheme might use equal parts of three colors which are equidistant on the color wheel . Interior designers often compensate for intensity by either tinting (adding white) or toning ( adding black ) or by graying (adding complementary colors ) . In these way they create contrast through a change in value (lightness and darkness ) or intensity ( brightness and dullness ) . With even this limited information , it is easy to see how the possibilities for combining colors are infinite and inviting. Using the tints and tones ,the total effect is lively and pleasing but not overwhelming , a beautifully colored room. Now here are some of the colors with their effects and the nature they depict and the places where they are suggested to use.

RED : Red is the most dramatic , emotional and active of the three primaries . It is an especially versatile color in its effects , enlivening interior spaces by creating excitement , warmth and elegance . The use of red suggests a bold and confident attitude. It is used in those areas where one needs excitement like the bars. It is less often used in sleeping area because of its energizing quality. The complement of red is green.

BLUE : Blue is the only colors which is the most universally equated with the beauty. Blue is timeless , linking the present with tradition and lasting values. It is the most versatile in expressive values. Psychologically, blue is associated with tranquility and contentment. In interior design , softer and lighter blues are generally preferred for the larger areas.

YELLOW : It is a powerful color , both light in value and extremely intense in its purest form. It evokes a sense of energy and excitement. Yellow is a perennial favourite in interior design , combining with greens to provide the natural freshness and with red for gaiety and richness.

GREEN : Green is the most common choice of the designers. It is often used as a dominant room color . Green goes with every other color and makes it a natural neutral. It represents the greenery of the nature and thus provide the room with liveliness.

VIOLET : It seems to be a color of emotional contrasts. Its paler tints are unabashedly romantic, fragile and quiet feminine . It enjoyed the popularity in the Victorian era and now as pure colors emerge again , beautiful violet is certain to be a player.

ORANGE : It is amazingly versatile , capable of emitting great energy in its purest form and as an earth tone , it evokes warmth , comfort and reassurance. Nowadays , the lighter orange , popularly known as peach is common in use as it gives a cool effect.

PASTELS : Pastels are simply lighter tints of any hue , white added to red yields pink and light pink is a pastel. There is not any particular definition for a pastel color but when colors become so light that they almost seem to be white , they are pastels. The pastels are becoming more and more popular as they crate the most sober and elegant look.

NEUTRALS : Using neutrals does not mean not using color . Any low intensity color that is used as a background for other accent colors , features , furniture and objects in a space can be classified as neutrals. Neutrals are practical and by changing accessories and fabrics the look of space can be dramatically altered against the same neutral background.

Enjoy color , take these tips from the professionals and then you can become creative. You must think about the people in your home who matter the most for you and then imagine the things you do together and then finally go for a final color scheme.