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  • Christmas Decorating Ideas for Outdoor Settings

    Christmas Decorating Ideas for Outdoor Settings

    Winter season has already arrived on December 1st and we already feel this in the weather which gets colder each day. People usually think how to make their home more comfortable and warmer and the home decor may change drastically in order to ensure that coziness. If we think that after a few weeks Christmas is celebrated, than every aspect of the house will surely have a festive theme that will spread the holiday cheer. This magical time of the year is always expected by many of us with a childish impatience thinking long in advance what gifts to surprise our loved ones and what Christmas decorations to use in order to beautify both our home interior and exterior.

    Some of us use the same decorations like the previous year because they are still new and gorgeous, others find that their Christmas decorations are already old and unattractive and it’s time for a change this year, and others simply love to come up each season with new and fresh ideas to be added to their existing decor. You don’t have to be limited by your budget, just look around on the Internet or in the stores and you’ll find tones of amazing ideas for every pocket, which will put you in the holidays spirit and create that charming Christmas wonderland. Explore your imagination and you’ll be pleasantly surprised how simple creative ideas that aren’t expensive, will create unexpected holiday accents. During Christmas, front yard decor of your home should be given as much importance as for the interior one, because it completes the fun and festive overall look of your home, giving your neighbors a peek of your Christmas theme decorations and sharing the joy with each passer-by.

    Each year designers and stores come up with innovative solutions and  new designs for decorating your yard in an original style, so from this point of view you can create almost any setting you want. No matter what the color and shape (Santa, reindeers, angels, shepherds, candy canes, elves) you like most, twinkling lights are a” must have” item for Christmas decoration. Use them to decorate trees, shrubs, swings or anything that you want to stand out more. Oversized globe glass string lights, flameless candles that look like wintry tree bark can give you a special winter warm glow over outdoor gatherings.

    Make a welcoming statement for your holiday guests with a printed doormat made of thickly woven of naturally durable coir, pre-lit stars adorned with small lights and woven from natural twigs and a beautiful garland from real pinecones and twigs, faux berries and festive red jingle bells, which decorate the banister or mantel. A huge favourite among outdoor Christmas decorations is the nativity scene, which visually  symbolizes the meaning of the Christmas holiday and which you can personalize it as you want, if you keep the main characters, angels and animals. You may create fake “snow fall” effect with the help of some snowfall light boxes for an extra touch of creativity. An innovative outdoor decoration idea could be giant inflatable yard decorations, which comes in many sizes and shapes and will definitely add a unique touch to your outdoor decor.

    They are easy to use and also the kids’ favourites ones. And where would Christmas be without a Christmas tree and Santa Claus. To grab attention you can place a big Santa outside or a Rudolph to enhance your garden appearance. Be sure they are made of strong materials to withstand the fickle weather. Another symbol for Christmas holiday is the tree, and of course a huge lighted Christmas tree out in the front yard, decorated with unique hangings, doesn’t compare to anything, but if your budget doesn’t allow you to do that, a lit twig tree made of handwoven rattan and wrapped with string lights, or a boxwood peace topiary (like in the image below) could be a stylish and not so expensive choice. Don’t forget to choose a big gorgeous wreath for hanging on the main door to add a classic touch to your holiday look and lend a great festive feel to your home.

     Photos © Pottery Barn

  • Original Bespoke Cabinets for Bedroom

    Original Bespoke Cabinets for Bedroom

    Discovered on @mocoloco.com, these fantastic custom cabinetry surprise us in a very pleasant way by its original look envisioned by Hendzel + Hunt, a design studio based in South London led by two young designers Jan Hendzel and Oscar Hunt. Together with a dedicated multidisciplinary team, they create innovative and exceptional bespoke furniture and products with the help of reclaimed and sustainable materials. If you examine better the photos, these beautiful-looking cabinets still keep in their appearance various patterns of the rough materials  from which they were made. In fact, this is the main feature about Hendzel + Hunt’s furniture collections which differentiates them from the rest and makes every piece being distinctively unique.

    Described as “a great tribute to sunny days past and present”, these cabinets can be considered a celebration for their client’s love for the shadow cast into his bedroom. Actually, what was supposed to be just a relatively simple project, it was transformed into something innovative inspired by the client’s room itself, which was filled with a beautiful afternoon glow, resulting in deep shadow cast upon the walls and floor.

    12 O’clock Shadow, as it was entitled, captures permanently these shadows thanks to the 2 kinds of reclaimed plywood, which allowed to be replicated taking into consideration a sunny summer afternoon. Their shadows along with wood patterns details has composed  a very special design with a strong visual effect that will complement any contmporary bedroom. Old builder’s shuttering plywood and salvaged Ash doorframes are the materials used for creating  12 O’clock Shadow.

     Photos © Hendzel and Hunt

  • Innovative Modular System for Modern Home Offices

    Innovative Modular System for Modern Home Offices

    In an ever changing world, keeping up with the latest functional and aesthetical requirements in term of interior design solutions is imperative if you want to be part of this reality. Adaptability seems to be the most important feature that nowadays furniture items should possess in order to give us the possibility to personalize our home environments as we wish. To meet such demands, the international creative agency Hangar Design Group has designed the Dotbox for Dieffebi, an innovative storage system for modern home offices.

    Practical and intelligent, DotBox stands out not only through its attractive minimal look, but also through its ability to extend both vertically and horizontally, which allows you to create infinite designs thanks to its modular and stackable units. Characterized by clean design with rigorous lines and subtle color contrasts (white and warm grey for the furniture casing and a palette of bright colors for the handles and internal panels), this modular system matches any interior design’s office for sure.

    Tehcnical product details:

    Materials: steel
    Modular and stackable units
    Castors: diam. 65 mm castors, available
    with or without brakes
    Feet: gliders as standard, chromed feet 110 mm high optional
    Locking device: key lock with bending key
    Filing: file drawer unit equipped to lodge hanging files
    Powder coated previously cleaned with phosphates and fixing at 200°C

     Photos © Hangar Design Group

  • Single Familiy House Rehabilitation in Bellaterra, Barcelona

    Single Familiy House Rehabilitation in Bellaterra, Barcelona

    We received information an photos about a project regarding a  house rehabilitation made by the Spanish-German architectural design firm YLAB Arquitectos Barcelona, which offers integrated design services that reinforce the identity as well as adding key added value to your residential, commercial or corporate interior design projects. The house you see in the pictures above is a single family house which didn’t look at all with the old one. The owners purchase it due to its beautiful location and fabulous views of the residential area of Bellaterra, in Cerdanyola del Vallès; closed to Barcelona and in the surroundings of the Collserola natural park, but wanted to transform the house radically both in terms of internal redistribution  and design of the space , as well as about the exterior aspect of it and the outdoor spaces in order to fit with their passion for spacious and bright interiors.

    Thinking that the original 442 m2 property was divided in two floors and an underground, its location had a strong slope hard to use or enjoy and featured considerable problems regarding both the exterior and interior (irregular brick work volume, windows and porches with different sizes, poor exterior connections, back garden with a much lower level than the house, too many small rooms and long corridors.), than this final results is fantastic we must say. Now it’s a modern house with a totally different aspect, inviting and welcoming, displaying a good sense of elegance, symmetry and cutting-edge equipment and finishes.

    Adjusting the old porches and windows, and creating new windows that opens, it meant an unified exterior façades and interior spaces flooded with natural light all day long.  In the new configuration, the north-facing façade is a large 13 meters Niangon wood window with the access door integrated, which occupies also the porch space. Thanks to it, now the living room looks bigger than before and is connected with the front garden, which was also remodeled showcasing a big staircase in natural bush-hammered stone. In the back area, the house was extended with a series of bushhammered Sabbia natural stone and lanscaped terraces, usable gardens and an infinity pool for relaxation.

    Regarding the interiors , the house boasts a new contemporary design fully functional and aesthetically amazing. The spaces are exactly as owners wished: large, airy, luminous,  interconnected with central vestibules for access, but also visually connected to the outdoor space. Subtly separated by a big Sabbia natural stone fireplace and a kitchen area at the back, a spacious living room and a beautiful dining area form one side of the ground floor, whlist the other side consists of a family room, an office and a music room that can be separated from the rest by two large sliding.

    At the upper floor a central vestibule separates different bedrooms and can be used also as a children leisure room. A modern minimalist bathroom and a terrace are part of this floor. Ivory white walls, built-in furniture pieces showing either a natural tropical Etimoe wood or an ivory white satin laquer finish, and natural Sahel polished limestone pavements are found in the bedrooms’ decor, creating an appealing contrast of a natural-looking warmth and whit, glossy surfaces which increase the light intensity. Enjoy the images and tell us what you think!

     Photos © YLAB ARQUITECTOS BARCELONA/ Ivan Raga

    Project details:

    Architecture and interior design: YLAB Arquitectos Barcelona
    Authors: Tobias Laarmann y Yolanda Yuste López
    Project: One family house rehabilitation, landscape and interior design
    Client: Private
    Area: 442 m2 interior + 700 m2 garden
    Location: Bellaterra Neighbourhood in Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona
    Industrials: Soldevila Construccions de Fusta, Cristalería Bonanova, Belscon 21, Agrostís Serveis, Integrals de Jardineria
    Suppliers: Grup Sesaelec, Neocerámica, Solnhofen, Materia-Barcelona, Catalonia Cerámica

  • Beautiful Dinner Table Showcasing Ecologic Design

    Beautiful Dinner Table Showcasing Ecologic Design

    Need eco-friendly dinner table ideas to decorate your home? Have a look at “LOCK”, an eye-catching table designed by J.P.Meulendijks design studio, which is guaranteed to add originality to a variety of  modern interiors and create a strong visual effect. Featuring an intriguing bamboo base made visible by a clear glass-top, this round dinner table is the kind of piece which doesn’t need too many on her side to create a spectacular design.

    The concept’s beauty comes from the ingenious combination of geometry and nature, making a product that is in the same time functional, attractive and environmental conscious. Build from pressed layers of flexible bamboo, known as a highly sustainable material, “LOCK” has a unique, super strong masculine dynamic shape formed by the bamboo’s natural bending curve  that looks different watched from different viewing points. You can choose between the version with the bamboo top, which is cut into a 40 mm thick  layer-pattern, or the one with the glass-top, each of them having round edges. 5 to 6 persons can seat to it. For more information about dimensions, please check out the designer’s website above.

     

     

     Photos © J.P.Meulendijks

  • Smart iPad Tablet Cover

    Smart iPad Tablet Cover

    iPad. There’s something familiar to this name, because so many times we’ve heard it, that it became part of our everyday vocabulary. As the interest regarding this line of top gadgets created and marketed by Apple Inc. keeps growing all over the world, all kind of accessories have come up to make your experience even more exciting. For example, iPad tablet covers personalize our devices in an attractive way adding both style and function, but also protecting it to enjoy it for a longer time. Besides, they’ll make great gifts for a loved one too, don’t you think?

    Yesterday, we were looking for some iPad covers and we discovered this new one from Solid Gray, which we really like it and we wanted to share with you guys. Although simple in its overall appearance, this tablet cover showcase an ingenious design with smart details. Made of a single piece of high-tech plastic, it’s a product which not only effectively protects your device from spots,  scratches and everyday accidents and drops, but also it can be transformed into the perfect stand to watch movies, play games, surf the internet or working, supporting  any desired positions. Solid Gray tablet cover is padded on one side adding color, whlist the other side allows you to store the micro-fibre wipe to keep it scratchless and spotless.

    Both sides are locked with the help of two hard-wearing clips a solid snap, which prevent them to open by chance. The only thing you need to do is to place your iPad tablet on the cover and with a mere flick of the finger close the precision engineered clasps. They will hold it snug and firm. Ultra thin and lightweight, this stylishly slim cover may be the perfect complement for your iPad. It provides full access to all iPad functions. So, let the case take the punches, not your tablet. See how it works, down below the images.

     Solid Gray iPad Tablet Cover 

  • Free Inspiring Android Apps to Help You Decorate

    Free Inspiring Android Apps to Help You Decorate

    Everyone needs at some point inspiration when it comes to interior decorating and while we’re in the era of advanced technology, why not enjoy all the benefits that come along with it and make visions come to life with little resources and time. As these days Google’s OS gets more and more popularity and became a favorite of the public in terms of smartphones, we turn our attention to some interesting and handy Android Apps designed for interior design projects, whose features serve you as inspiration, to find more quickly what products are available in stores, but also to know the latest design trends. Here you have some free inspiring Android apps to help you improve your home design. You can find them to download in Google Play Store just searching by their name.

    • IKEA Catalogue for 2013, a new kind of catalogue

    With approximately 350 images, showing almost 1.000 products, this app is, as its name suggests, the Android version for the printed 2013 IKEA catalogue. It’s the official IKEA application for the year to come, full of Scandinavian inpiring ideas and well-designed solutions for home furnishing, no matter what buget and needs. Besides the functions of scrolling through images, pinch-to-zoom the gallery and saving the items, which is extremely useful to take a fast look at what’s available, what is the trend, to get interior design ideas or to show them to someone else, this new 2013 version will make the catalogue to literally come to life. Users will reach a unique way to explore IKEA products, because the app is based on augmented reality. This means that each furniture offer presented in the printed catalogue has a code which is scanned using this app and which allows users to view the furniture items in 3D format. Besides the furniture tridimensional models, customers will find exciting product videos, photo galleries or manual presentation topics for each piece of furniture. This innovation from IKEA comes because it’s celebrating 62 years of the completion of the first IKEA catalogue. Find pages that have the smart icon, scan them entirely and get extra content. Enjoy!

    • Interior Design Gallery HD

    Whether you want to improve your home, renovate or remodel, but you don’t know how exactly you want it to look, or just simply search for interior design photos, Interior Design Gallery HD is another gorgeous app that will inspire you with amazing decorating ideas right on your phone. Dedicated to all users, it’s packed with a large collection of selected HD images showcasing a variaty of interior design styles for everyone tastes, from ultra-modern designs to contemporary and more traditional ones. You can see inspiration for kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms, baby or kids rooms, small space rooms, etc. Users can quickly browse pictures, save them onto( to) phone’s SD card to set as a walpapers or to share them on your favourite social networking services. Many of the ideas presented here are fiction, but there are also simple things, but that you may not have thought ever.

    • Decoration Collection

    Decoration Collection app includes beautiful pictures with fresh and creative home designs divided into different categories such as bathroom, bedroom (beds), blinds and curtains, dining rooms, doors and windows, fabrics, furniture or interior design exhibitions. So, users simply choose the category that matches the room they need to decorate and browse through its images to gather ideas. Moreover, the app provides information and proposals on how to organize your future furnitre, how to furnish and decorate home environment.

     

    • Make Your Home

    This app is one of the most popular interior design application, as you can find a great deal of information regarding home improvement with an ever-expanding database with inspiring pictures. It is a useful tool for Android users, whether they are design professionals or simply homeowners, because they are able to find out immediately, not when the thought has passed, tips on how to make little changes but with great effects, what to keep and what to change in order to achieve either a futuristic or a retro look. In most of the cases, you want to bookmark your favourite photos and to share them with others on Internet, so „Make Your Home” app allows you to do that anytime you want. It’s compatible with all Android 1.6 or higher devices and you should know that it comes with some search links in the form of an icon, homepage and bookmark link, which can be easily removed, if you don’t want to use them.

     

    • Color Matcher

    Color Mather is another great app for color management, which helps users to save the almost exact colors of the objects from the picture you have taken with your device and keep them organized with title and description in a list to which you have access anytime. It’s very useful considering the fact that taking a picture it doesn’t mean to captured the real colors of the objects. What it does this app is actually allowing you to adjust the hues in order to get the closest to the desired real ones.

    • Image Color Picker

    Image Color Picker is an awesome Android app which does exactly what its name says: it picks colors. If you need to find out what color is in a picture, then this mobile application is for you. Why is so useful? Acting as a color inspiration tool, Image Color Picker will detect you the Hex Code, RAL System code, RGB and RAL System name of the color you want to know from photos taken with your Android smartphone.

    • Interior Design Lesson Videos

    If you feel that watching a video instead of reading articles or seeing photos with interior design ideas, then this application is for you. It consists of tones of lesson videos with tips and tricks, advices and information on how to design and decorate everything you want in your home. That sounds very interesting, isn’t it? And above all, it doesn’t cost a thing. It’s free. It may probably show icon adds and notification, but you can opt for deleting them in a very easy way.

    • Living Room Design

    Through this nice app you will discover a large selection of the most exciting living room designs. Easy viewing, it’s a mobile phones picture album with high-resolution adorable images to create you a real visual experience. It’s great to look at for ideas and save them on your Android device.

    • ColorSmart by BEHR™ Mobile

    ColorSmart provides users multiple posilibilites of curstomization associated with color matching. Very easy to use and more intuitive than the website, this paint app is very good for getting a geenral idea of how colors in different rooms work together. Through it, you can find, coordinate and preview a BEHR® paint color anytime you have a paint project. It’s great if you are looking for paint to match a furniture item in your room, browsing the color palletes even if you’re not looking specifically for Behr paint. After you’ve make your color choices, the app allows you to save any of them to your mobile phone and share with your friends via Facebook wall. Moreover, it has a Store Locator feature with which you can find the closest store and a Paint Calculator feature if you want to know how much paint you’ll need before starting your decoration project. Be aware that mobile devices’ screen displays may not show you the most accurate color representation and it might not match BEHR color standards.

  • How to Choose the Perfect Pillow

    How to Choose the Perfect Pillow

    When we furnish our bedrooms, we always think about the design and finish more than the bed mattress, pillow or bed quilt that will “host” them and on which, we actually will rest. Good day meets in the evening, from the moment you get finally to bed, after all the commotion and all the fatigue. With a good night’s sleep, all the stress of the day can go as never was. We are in search of eternal happiness, but happiness is sometimes hidding under our noses. Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and feel it! Perhaps you haven’t ever thought about it, but it’s a truth scientifically proven: only one, a regular extra hour of sleep can do wonders.

    The lack of quality sleep is one of the global problems of modern life; it’s said that between 30 and 45% of world population suffer from various forms of insomnia. The problem is that sometimes it isn’t enough to be overwrought to instantly fall asleep. If you’ve carefully chosen the pillow, mattress and quilt, they can be the best, and certainly, the healthiest sleeping pill ever! You don’t have to believe us, just try it. Once you realize their enormous importance, you face hundreds of choices. When it comes to a good and restful sleep, the role of a pillow is crucial. You must choose the right pillow with the same care you choose mattress and the rest ones.  Each of us sleeps in his own way, so there are so many pillows to meet all your needs. Here are some steps you may follow in order to find your perfect pillow:

    1. Before buying a pillow, it’s very importat to answer a few questions such as: Do your mornings start with a stiff neck since you’ve bought the actual pillow? In what way your old habits as well as your old needs sleep comfort have changed over time? What type of sleeper are you: a back sleeper, side sleeper or a stomach sleeper? Are you allergic? What is your budget for this type of purchase? In determining the budget, put the price in its real perspective: because we spend a third of our lives in bed, the pillow is one of the most important investment in improving sleep quality, and therefore the quality of life.

    2. Determines what type of pillow suits you best. Find out from what materials they are made of  and what models are available in the market depending on your needs. Be sure that there’s a pillow there made just for you. You’ll find an affordable choice of high, low and in-between pillows, especially designed to give your head and neck comfort and support and ease strain on your muscles. You can also find pillows that help keep you propped up in bed in front of a good book. The good news is that all this information is just a click away, on the Internet, where you can use pillows guide too in order to find the best pillow for you. It’s quite very easy.

    Types of pillows by sleeping position:

    a) Pillows for side sleepers – it’s a high pillow for those who prefer sleeping on their side. Keeps your head, neck and spine aligned and straight, so you can relax while sleeping.

    b) Pillows for back sleepers – it’s a medium high pillow for those who prefer sleeping on their back.  Provides support to your head and neck and reduces strain on your muscles.

    c) Pillows for stomach sleepers – it’s a low profile pillow especially designed for people who sleep on their stomach. Reduces the strain on your neck muscles.

    d) Pillows for both side and back sleepers – it’s a special pillow with a high part created for side sleep and a low part that provides good support if you sleep on your back. It’s a firm pillow that you recognize it easily after its interesting shape that follows the contours of your neck. It’s the so called pillow with memory, filled with polyurethane memory foam.

    e) Normal pillows – it’s a support pillow to help you relax, sit up or read comfortably in bed or on the sofa.

    Types of pillows by material:
    a) Pillows filled with animal origin materials
    • Down and goose or duck feathers
    • Wool – lanolin content of pure virgin wool used for stuffing provides excellent thermal protection the body: during summer it protects you from heat and during winter it defends you from cold.
    b) Pillows filled with vegetal origin materials 
    • Bamboo – bamboo is the largest species of “grass” on the planet. It grows amazingly fast (some varieties grow to 50 cm/day) and bamboo fiber is 40% more absorbent than cotton. Because of its hollow tubes, such filling is cool in summer and warm in winter. Given his remarkable natural growth, bamboo is ideal for people with sensitive skin.
    c) Pillows filled with synthetic materials
    • Nanofibres – nanofibres is the smoother and softer synthetic fiber. It is also the best choice for those allergic to down. Products filled with nanofibers provides, therefore, a good night’s sleep also to those who suffer from allergies. Ideal for children too.

    Therefore, you’ll find down and feather pillows, memory foam and foam pillows, and polyester pillows, each one created for a specific purpose.

    3. If you gather all possible information and you haven’t decided yet, which type of pillow suits you best, you can ask for more information from sellers online or in the stores. Whether you purchase it online or pay a visit to the store, it’s highly recommended to test it before. Lie down, turn around from side to side, just how you do when you sleep. Pay attention to how the pillow supports your head and neck, so you’ll find exactly how you’ll feel every night when you go to sleep.

    4. In order to extend the life of the pillow and to protect it from stains, use a pillow protector. A quality pillow protector or pillowcase, washable, it is absolutely necessary to keep the sleeping environment clean and fresh. The pillow protector’s material should absorb and transport moisture away to keep you dry at night.  And don’t forget the fact that pillows have to be changed periodically to ensure a healthy and restful sleep. How often? Well, it depends on the filling material. Depending on the initial quality, a synthetic pillow for example has a lifetime up to 2 years. Whilist, a natural filled pillow (feathers, down, natural fibers) has a lifetime up to 10 years.

    So, you’re happy with your pillow? If the answer is no, than it’s time for a change.