How To Get Great Home Interior Design Ideas

If you like the idea of coming up with your own home Interior design, you are not alone. Lots of folks these days are planning out and then executing their own interior designs. But how do you come up with great home interior design ideas? Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

Probably one of the easiest ways to get home decoration ideas is to simply watch television these days. There are several shows that are dedicated to the subject of completely redesigning an entire house room by room. The biggest problem with watching these television shows is having something in front of you as documentation. So a couple of ideas that may help out is to have a pencil and paper available to take notes as you go, and also to record the program for viewing later on.

Even though you may get some great home interior design ideas from these television shows, ask yourself whether or not they will fit well in your particular home. Just because they look great on television in someone else's home does not mean that it will fit in well in your home. So try to visualize the whole project from beginning to end in your house. And plan, plan, plan. By taking extra precaution in the planning stages, you can ensure a more problem free application.

However, television is not the only source for home decoration information and ideas on Interior design. There are several great books on the subject that are able to help designers of almost any background and experience level. The advantage of books is that the documentation is already done for you. It usually has a very well thought out plan for implementing any kind of home interior design on its pages. And usually you'll be able to have more than enough photos and pictures to help get a good mental picture of the process as it goes.

Another way to get excellent ideas for interior design is to look through magazines on the subject. There is no shortage of magazines that are devoted to home decoration and interior design. Believe it or not, even many professional interior designers collect large quantities of magazine articles and pictures and store them in a way that will help them have a larger pool of ideas to draw from in the future. Not being a professional yourself, it may be a good idea to start your own scrapbook of home interior design articles and photos that you can separate according to a specific theme or room type. Sometimes, the best decoration ideas are a combination of things that are brought together from several different sources to form a unique, one-of-a-kind design.

As you become more comfortable with your own level of creativity, you will be able to combine aspects of one design with another more adeptly. However, as you start out it may be best to stick to the overall themes and suggestions given in the magazine for achieving the look that is desired.

If you begin right away to assemble this archive of home interior design ideas, it won't take long for you to have a really sizable reference guide to help you come up with almost any idea that you could ever need.

So as you can see, gathering information and ideas from several different sources and compiling them all together in an easily researched form can be one of the best ways for you to get great home interior design ideas quickly and easily.

Office Interior Design Ideas

When putting together a home office it is important to remember two things: it is an office, but it is also in your home. Too often, we will end up with an office that has too little "homeyness", or an office that has too little office. In this article, I will discuss how to balance the varying goals of building a home office, including how to keep it function while at the same time keeping it warm.

First, make sure your space is actually functional. This isn't a compromise on what I just said above; every home space should be functional first and decorated second. Make sure you have a wide enough desk for any projects you will be engaging in, room for your computer and room to store any files and books you use regularly. If you don't like moving your computer on and off your desk, try to have two desk surfaces as a part of an "L"-shaped design. Make sure you have a strong lamp or lamps to illuminate the surface.

Now comes the tricky part. You'll want to decorate your office now more like a part of a home than like a part of an office. Office decor is not designed to be functional; it is designed to be cheap. You don't need to be cheap in your own home. Bookshelves look very nice in an office, as they match the functional shelves near your office while also evoking the style of a library.

Now, you'll want to work against the harsh "officeyness" of your home office by introducing some homey touches. Be subtle, but be firm. Using plants is one of the best ways to offset the functional feel of a lot of office furniture. In addition, use some paintings, artwork or other touches that match the overall style of your home. Finally, include a sofa, since it allows your family to visit you in your office without feeling like a client.

Recycling is Modern Trend in Interior Designing

The 21st century has conveyed environmental problems, and the use of recycled piece is becoming very fashionable. Creative designers are intriguing old pieces and rotating them into something new and different such as taking an old couch and making it into two chairs, or taking an old piece of wood and whirling it into a fashionable kitchen table.

Recycling is hot quest in interior designing. One of the newest fashions engages taking old wallpaper and recycling it to make new pieces. Recycling materials are cheap for client, but this green project keeps old wallpaper and glue from getting lost in landfills. A new trend in designing is taking diverse furniture pieces and antiques and letting them shine. There's an importance in taking antique pieces from 50 years back as well as pieces made to look like the originals. The trend is receptiveness toward basic pieces that don't have a lot of embellishment or accessories. The importance is on leasing the furniture shine rather than the accessories. Incorporation and corresponding pieces is very trendy.

The newest trend is going with the old slogan that less is more. Portland Oregon interior designers are turning to wide spaces which mean superior ceilings, longer, and wider rooms, and minimal furniture and decorations. Using smaller size furniture, but brighter fabrics and models, gives a nice general look to a room without making it seem too large or out of quantity. Designers are using black and white background colors, graphics and designs which are very trendy.

Seattle Washington interior designers are using this taste in furniture, accessories, wallpaper, and even floors. These colors make accessories popular. Accessory shades of different color such as blue, green, and red are very blistering and clients love the way their pillows, vases, and other accessories look when compared to a black and white background.

The popularity of metal is on the rise. Today, Portland Oregon interior designers and Seattle Washington interior designers are using interior design trends of metal beyond the bathroom and kitchen and into the entire home. Stainless steel is turning up in living room, den, and bedroom furniture, whereas aluminum is accepted in accessories like small decorative boxes, vases, frames, wall art, and more.

Trends come and go. Interior designers should carefully pursue the trends and they know what's new and popular, and what's on its way out the door. However, successful interior designers appreciate that it's eventually the client who determines what's hot and what's not.

The Principles of Interior Design

Scientifically one can break interior design down into a few design principles. But be aware because these are not rules, rather see the principles as fundamental underpinnings for a feeling, flair or intuition to interior design.

Principle 1: UNITY

When doing interior design it is necessary to think of the house as a totality; a series of spaces linked together by halls and stairways. It is therefore appropriate that a common style and theme runs throughout. This is not to say that all interior design elements should be the same but they should work together and complement each other to strengthen the whole composition. A way to create this theme or storyline is with the well considered use of color.

Principle 2: FOCAL POINT

Interior design's biggest enemy is boredom. A well-designed room always has, depending on the size of it, one or more focal points. A focal point must be dominant to draw attention and interesting enough to encourage the viewer to look further. A focal point thus must have a lasting impression but must also be an integral part of the decoration linked through scale, style, color or theme.

Principle 3:BALANCE

Balance can be described as the equal distribution of visual weight in a room.
The simplest, and most formal type of balance is symmetrical balance, where the same objects are repeated in the same positions on either side of a vertical axis, such as one would find in old fashioned state or gala rooms.

Asymmetrical balance is more appropriate in design today. Balance is achieved with some dissimilar objects that have equal visual weight or eye attraction. Asymmetrical balance is more casual and less contrived in feeling, but more difficult to achieve.