Happy Colors For A Happy Home

 

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Wall colors and decorations in the home are mostly viewed in terms of appearance – what will look attractive. However, color psychologists suggest that choosing the right colors to beautify your home can greatly impact you and your family’s mental well-being.

Leslie Harrington, a color expert from Old Greenwich, says that color is generally a nonverbal language that most of us can speak. The colors we utilize to paint our walls and closets aren’t just because they look pretty, but we can use them to help maintain our emotions.

Other experts also believe that considering the function of each room before assigning a color to it is a great way to create a mentally healthy abode. Picking a primary color would be the next step. This has not been proven scientifically, although homeowners along with other psychologists agree that some shades are more effective than others at enabling calmness and positivity. Would you like to know if all this is true?

Perhaps you should try reading this rundown of the essential spaces in your home and their corresponding color match in terms of the mood they evoke.

 

The Rooms And Their Colors

Living Room And Porch. Yellow, red, oranges and earth colors such as beige and brown almost always work great in the living room and the porches or hallways. These tones are said to encourage conversation. The warmness calms the space and people are inspired to gather together and talk. The connection is there when they are embraced by these colors.

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Dining Room. Shades of red on your decorations are effective in creating a cozy dining area. Aside from stimulating conversations, red is also an appetite enhancer. Color consultants also believe that when someone’s dining room is red, guests will think that the owner is a great cook!

Kitchen. Experts agree that people who have fond recollections of their family in the kitchen when they were children would do well to create the same kitchen in their current homes. If you had a pretty kitchen with blue and white hues, then those are probably the best colors for your own kitchen, to rekindle the past happiness and perhaps pass it on to your family.

If you don’t have any particular scheme in mind, then yellow and red are some of the commonly chosen tones. If you’re health conscious and are aiming to lose weight, however, just stay away with the red and stick with yellow. Even the restaurants would agree with this idea!

Bedrooms. Naturally, colors that are cool and light to the eyes are best for the bedrooms. Lavender, green, and blue have a wonderfully calming effect. When you’re stressed and your mind is boggled, let your bedroom be your respite. Red is a no-no for this space, as it suggests heat and is said to increase one’s heart rate and blood pressure.

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Bathroom. We always want our bathroom to reflect cleanliness, which is why white has never gotten out of style. But recently, the emergence of spas has encouraged homeowners to create their bathrooms in such a way that they feel they’re in the spa or in the ocean, so the blue-greens and the yellow-greens are in, as they signify clean and fresh.

 

Those are some wonderful ideas that you can follow if you’re planning to build a home, or simply want to do a home makeover. There’s no harm in trying, and it’s never too late to change those past color schemes if you want to stay happy, calm and mentally healthy in your own abode.

 

 

A DIY Guide For Designing The Master Bedroom

 

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When building or renovating a house, the first spot you might put much effort into is the living room, especially if you love having friends and family over. In case you consider yourself a master chef – or a learning one, that is – the creative juices may flow towards the kitchen.

What rarely receives attention from the beginning, however, is the master bedroom. Some individuals choose to focus on areas that visitors will mostly see. Others think that this part of the house is mainly for sleeping and changing clothes, so it only requires a bed, a closet, and perhaps even a vanity.

While those are valid points, you may be forgetting that the master bedroom is the one place where you can enjoy some “me” time. It should offer you peace whenever you’re in there. Because of that, you ought to give the design of this room more thought.

 

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Check out this quick DIY guide on how to decorate a master bedroom.

  1. Make A List Of Essential Things

As you are looking at the bare room, try to list down the items that you need in it. Maybe you will like a desk on one corner for when you are working at home. If you are into fashion, you may want a large closet and a full-sized mirror. In case you prefer to eat and drink without taking a trip to the kitchen, you can add a mini refrigerator inside.

  1. Be Smart About Furniture Choices

The size of every fixture that goes into the main bedroom depends on how much space you have. Considering you live in a big house, it may be okay to get a king-sized bed or even a mini bar in there. If you own or rent a small apartment in the city, though, you may need to downsize your furniture choices to avoid having to walk on top of your stuff every time.

  1. Think Of The Lighting Situation

Before moving in, you probably already have an inkling of how much sunlight comes in your master bedroom. That is supposed to be your basis when deciding on what kind of lighting and curtains you should obtain. Practically speaking, if you don’t get natural light shining through the windows, you can install LED lights and use sheer drapes. In case the sun becomes very bright, you may not need much lighting, and thick curtains are necessary.

  1. Consider The Vibe You Want To Get

When putting together the pieces that will go into your room, you should also think of the overall style that you wish to achieve. Say, you are aiming for a summery vibe. The general idea that comes with it is opting for pastel, ocean, or earth colors on every fixture. You may add a potted plant somewhere and buy a unique lamp to complete the look as well.

  1. Add The Final Accents

Once you got the essentials ready and placed wherever you want them in the bedroom, you can reflect on the last decorations that it requires. Would you like scented candles there while you relax or do yoga? Is there an artwork that you think will be a perfect addition to your room? Now is the time to obtain such items so that you’ll be able to say that you havethe whole shebang in one place.

 

Source: flickr.com

 

In Summary

Designing your master bedroom does not need to cost thousands of dollars. You can be your own interior designer. You can repurpose or reinvent old furniture to fit the aesthetics you have in mind. What you should never do, however, is turn this part of the house into a glorified storage unit. Believe us – that will not help you rest at night at all.

 

What Elements Make A Living Room Look Great?

 

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Every part of your house is essential, but you ought to pay more attention to the living room. That is where you receive your visitors in the first place. Your family members can converse there all night long after a hearty dinner. When there’s Super Bowl or another event broadcasted on TV, the loved ones commune in that area and enjoy each other’s company.

In case you haven’t noticed, the most fascinating living rooms are not the ones with 24-karat gold chips on the walls or diamond chandeliers. They are also not the type with a rug made out of a real animal or expensive vases and masterpieces. Often, people think that the best receiving spot has stories to tell and articles to talk about, not brag out to others.

Here are the elements that make a living room look great.

  1. The Couch Is Strategically Placed

More than the plushness and appeal of the couch that you own, you should realize that where and how you place it is just as important. You cannot move the pieces of the furniture in different corners of the living room and expect your guests to appreciate it. Even your family members won’t applaud you for it, primarily if the placement pushes them to yell to hear out one another.

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For the couch to become an asset, therefore, you better keep the furniture on one side of the room. L-shaped settees are great since you have no choice but to follow that design. If you have a long sofa and several two-seaters, however, the latter should surround or at least be close to the former so that the folks who will sit on them can be face to face.

  1. You Won’t See An Invaluable Decoration

As mentioned above, the things that you bring in the living room should all be valuable for you and your future visitors. Say, considering you have a small space, you may use an organizer that doubles as a stool. The table can be multifunctional too. You are even free to hang your first painting from childhood or display an object that is priceless to you.

What you should put in the storage, on the other hand, are the pieces that are only with you because you have no time to drive to a donation center. That can be a set of curtains, figurines, vases, et cetera. When you let those items remain in your living room, you effectively take away the spot that’s supposed to be for more valuable finds.

  1. It Is Always Clean

Your living room doesn’t need to look like something out of glossy pages, but it has to be neat all the time. Some homeowners, to be honest, only think of turning on the vacuum cleaner or taking out their feather duster when a visitor comes. In case nobody pays a visit, they allow dust and tiny debris to remain unnoticed.

Nevertheless, maintaining its cleanliness can make the living room a few times better than the ones that interior designers decorated. Everything is in place; your family and friends won’t have to sit on couches that give off dust when you put weight on the cushion. The bonus is that you can accept sudden guests without worrying about what garbage they’ll find there.

  1. It Can Change Over The Years

Last but not the least, an excellent living room never looks the same as it did a decade or two ago. You see, the people staying in the house have undoubtedly experienced personal growth over the years. Their appearance and style may be entirely different now as well. Because of that, the evolution should reflect on the way that this area appears.

You may move the couch from the center to the side of a window, for instance. Changing or adding new photos of the family can also be great. If you want a significant transformation, you can repaint one wall with your new favorite colors.

 

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The best elements of an excellent living room are not the ornaments or furniture you managed to cram in it, frankly speaking. Your chairs don’t always have to match; your ceiling and walls don’t need expensive chandeliers or paints, respectively. What you should never forget is that the placement of these items and your openness to change are the two things that genuinely matter.

Basic Decorating Rules For Any Part Of The House

 

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Many people tend to hire an interior decorator for various reasons. Sometimes it’s because they don’t trust themselves when it comes to mixing and matching patterns and colors. Other times, their excuse is that they can’t find the time to get the pieces that’ll fill their home themselves.

The most common reason, however, is that these folks want to keep their sanity, which may be too easy to lose if you think of every room that needs decorating. When you finish the living room, after all, there’s still the kitchen and the bathrooms. Once the master bedroom has every accoutrement necessary, the other sleeping quarters require attention too.

Nonetheless, there are ways to avoid losing your head when decorating any part of your house. Here are some rules that you – the homeowner – should keep in mind.

Avoid Trying To Impress Everyone

The first thing you ought to do is stop including your future visitors to your considerations. You may say, “Oh, grandpa likes to sit by the window so that I will place a reclining chair there” or “My friends love watching movies and drinking, so I’m putting a personal refrigerator in the living room.”

You mean well – that’s obvious – but you should avoid trying to impress everyone. There may be more guests to come to your home, and they may have something nasty to say about your furniture placement. Some may like your color scheme, while others may find it annoying. Instead of focusing on pleasing them, therefore, you better consider your personal preferences.

Think Of All-Year-Round Décor

When you are decorating a house, you need not worry about Halloween or Christmas being around the corner. You should not also assume that you have to embellish the place with hearts, chocolates,

and roses because it’s almost Valentine’s day. Furthermore, it is not smart to get all the fixtures in red, blue, and white merely because of the fourth of July celebration.

You can make your home festive-looking several times a year, but no one expects you to keep things that way for 365 days. The décor you’ll pick from the stores, for that reason, should be great for any occasion.

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Make Improvements Along The Way

Another excellent rule to remember is that you do not ever have to aim for perfection. In case you want an L-shaped couch, for instance, yet you can only afford a three-seater sofa, you don’t have to spend all your money to get the former. If your mother gave you a dresser, you might use it.

The aesthetics of the house can improve as your personality and taste changes, you see. Kids are not merely the ones who can like blue one day, and then red the next. There’s no regulation that your home has to look the same after five or 10 years; that’s why you can undeniably stick with the furniture you have if you must.

Don’t Rush The Process

Lastly, you have to realize that there is no time limit when it comes to decorating a house. In the living room, for example, you only need to set up a couch, a center table, and perhaps a TV rack there. The bedrooms mostly require a bed, billows, and a closet.

Considering you can’t decide on the paint, paintings, lamps, and some other décor that will go in such rooms, wait until you get an idea. It’s not good to paint the walls with any color to keep them from being bare. You are ideally in the store already, so you might as well pick something you fancy, even if it’s merely for now. The same goes for the lamps, bathroom fixtures, and moretrinkets.

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Final Thoughts

You are the best person to decorate your house. You own it; you will live in it. Although the professional will inform you about the details before doing anything, your options remain restricted. Hence, next time you decorate your house, try to do it on your own.

 

 

 

 

 

6 Decorating Ideas For Your Children’s Bedrooms

 

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It’s no secret that parents will and can do everything to allow their kids to live comfortably. They work hard to be able to send them to a reputable school and enroll the little ones in extracurricular activities. They plan trips in and out of town so that the children can immerse themselves in various cultures at a young age.

Of course, parents try to make the house where the kids will grow up in as cozy a place as it can be. Having gone through childhood themselves, these adults know that children get lured to stay outside their home more often than not when they find nothing fun to do inside. Instead of staring at the boring walls for hours, the youngsters prefer to stay at their friend’s place until mom and dad come by to pick them up.

Although you don’t necessarily have to revamp your entire residence to make your children contented with it, you can redecorate their bedrooms. Here are some ideas that your kids might love.

 

Source: flickr.com
  1. Let The Little Ones Set The Theme

From the start, you should ask your children if they want the room to have their favorite characters everywhere. Just hearing that from you can make their eyes sparkle with happiness, so the kids will ideally be more enthusiastic when it comes to giving you details about how their bedrooms are supposed to look like after the redecoration.

  1. Paint The Walls With Their Favorite Colors

Baby pink and power blue paints seem only acceptable for infants who cannot express their likes and dislikes yet. In case you already have kids past the age of two, you may get their opinion on the wall color(s) that they want. Once the children see the result of it, they may hardly come out of the bedroom.

  1. Make Room For The Toys

The little ones begin to feel a sense of ownership over their belongings. They tend to say, “This ship is mine” or “I own that Barbie doll.” To keep them from fighting over toys all the time, it is advisable to have a space for their prized possessions in every room.

  1. Ensure That All Furniture Are Within Their Reach

You should also remember that floor-to-ceiling shelves and cabinets are highly unreachable for young kids. That can keep them from growing some independence; worse, they will feel the need to call you if they can’t get stuff off the top layers. For the meantime, therefore, add furniture in the rooms that are within their eye level.

  1. Think Of Customizing The Bed

Considering your son is genuinely in love with trucks or jeeps, while your daughter wants to live in a castle, you may try to have their beds customized. Many woodworkers are craftier than ever now, in the sense that they can create bed frames that boast more than the four posts or curtains that were popular back then. They can do practically any design that you have in mind.

  1. Add Fixtures That Will Encourage Them To Become Organized

When redecorating a child’s bedroom, you also need to consider how the little ones can maintain orderliness in it. You may not have to worry about a thing if they’re already teens; young kids, however, necessitate a bit more push to clean after themselves. Nevertheless, the latter may get encouraged to organize better once you place a laundry bag, baskets for different toys, or shelves in the rooms and teach what to put where.

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Final Thoughts

Decorating your children’s bedrooms does not require help from a professional interior designer. As long as you know what the kiddos like, you can never go wrong. After all, they will be the ones using the rooms, so they know better than anyone what they want to see in these parts of the house.

 

How To Make Your Home Look Less Messy Than It Truly Is

 

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We all want our house to look clean, yet we also know that that is not a hundred percent achievable. If you have dogs or cats, they often shed hair on the floor, carpet or couches. In case your children still cannot organize their toys, you may find a truck or a doll in odd places.

Despite that, whoever said that it is impossible to make your home look less messy than it is in actuality?

Here are some tips on how you’ll be able to achieve that clean house vibe.

  1. Use Air Fresheners

We remember seeing a TV ad a few years back in which a company that sells air fresheners sprayed it in a very unsanitary public bathroom. The walls are grimy, the door for every cubicle is unhinged, and the toilets seem like they have not been rinsed for ages. Then, they made random people go in there to describe the smell, which turned out to be pleasant. It was only after that that the company revealed the actual state of the bathroom, but the reactions are not as bad as one may think since they can still smell the air freshener.

Although your house may not be as troublesome as that public bathroom mentioned above, what we’re trying to help you envision here is the idea that good odor can change someone’s perspective about a place instantly. You may have toys all over the floor; your dishes may still be on the sink. However, if you have an air freshener all over your home, the visitors won’t think much about the imperfections.

  1. Set Up Baskets With Lids Everywhere

Another trick that you might find helpful is placing large baskets with a cover on different points of the house. Say, put one beside the refrigerator, another one outside the bathroom, and then one more in the living room. These containers should not only be statement pieces but should also serve as bins for whatever clutter you may want to hide from your guests quickly.

Having baskets all over your residence is important, especially if you tend to strip off your clothes anywhere in the house and go straight to bed with no care in the world after work. It is also an effective way to teach children to clean up after themselves. Even though their organizational skills are unpolished still, they can at least take toys off the floor and into the basket.

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  1. Keep Only The Necessary Kitchen Appliances On Display

When you have a home of your own, you undoubtedly want to buy every kind of appliance there may be at the store and display them. This way, when visitors come, you can wow them with the number of fancy fixtures you have.

Nevertheless, if we’re honest, you do not always need all the kitchen appliances on a daily basis. Though you cannot bake, for instance, the pastry mixer is still on display. Say, you can only fry eggs, yet various pots and pans are out to make guests think that you genuinely cook. You may not even drink coffee, but your coffeemaker is on the countertop.

Such items merely turn into clutter in your kitchen; that’s why it looks super messy. They seem out of place because you rarely or never use them. To make this area cleaner than usual, you will then have to stow away the unnecessary items to create more negative space in the room.

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How would you like to have friends and family come over without giving you time to tidy up the house and still receive compliments because of how everything looks and smells altogether?

Give the tips above a try, and let us know what you think with the outcome. Cheers!