The Importance of Color in Interior Design

If you've ever dipped your toes into the world of interior design, you've probably quickly become overwhelmed by all the different concepts from decorative accessories to visual texture, incorporating balance and of course, let's not forget color. So why is color so important in interior design, especially when there are a number of elements that need to be incorporated into the mix?

Warm or Cool?

The color tones that you choose for your color palette will affect not only your interior design, but also your mood in the long run. With that in mind, don't forget that you can swap out colors relatively easily to create new looks if you decide that the current look isn't working for you.

That being said, there are two types of colors you can choose for your space: warm or cool. Cooler tones typically go one of three ways: they can be refreshing, they can be soothing or they can be stark, sterile and cold. In interior design, if you're looking to create a refreshing space you might choose a crisp and refreshing green or a refreshing gray. On the other hand, if you're looking to create a space that is more soothing, you may be more drawn to cool tones such as a soft blue. For stark color palettes, many people agree that too much white is the quickest way to this look.

This same concept also applies to warm color tones such as reds, yellows and oranges but also browns. These hues can stimulate and excite, but they can also comfort. For example, if you're looking for an energizing look for your interior design, you might choose a shade of yellow. If you're looking to create a more comfortable look, you might choose a warm shade of brown. Color affects our moods, making it extremely important for interior design.

Color is Everywhere

Of course, it goes without saying that color affects each and every single item that you choose for your space. This includes not only your paint, but also your flooring choices, your furniture, your wall art, your various knick knacks: vases, table lamps, wall clocks, even the books on your shelves!

It goes without saying that we are unaware of how much of an influence that color really has on us, not just in interior design, but also in our every day lives.

Kitchen Interior Design - Tips And Ideas

After your home has been constructed, interior design comes into play. The kitchen is one of the significant places in your house that requires interior designing. However, it is also among the most expensive zones to renovate and re-design. So when experts charge you high enough just for a piece of advice, why not attempt to remodel your kitchen by yourself?

Whether you employ an interior designer or you intend to do the job yourself, careful planning is always important in order to achieve the looks and the effect that you want for your kitchen. For do it yourselfers, you have to be knowledgeable enough of the tips and ideas as well as the mistakes that most homeowners have made in remodeling their kitchens.

Design Tips

1. If you have a small kitchen, make use of light colors like beige or off white. If you want to enliven or brighten up the place, you can accentuate it using bright colors. Remember that dark colors will make the kitchen appear smaller than its real size.

2. Avoid using dark colored tiles in the kitchen counters. Though royal blue or black look great, soap residue is very visible in these shades. And what's worse is that it becomes very difficult to clean when it hardened. So if you don't have a housekeeper or a helper that will clean and maintain the countertops everyday, better choose tiles with light colors.

3. The refrigerator, sink and cooking stove should be arranged well, forming a work triangle. The distance of these three stations should not be more than 26 feet. They need to be close enough for ease in food preparation.

4. You can adorn your kitchen with indoor plants, especially the small ones. Plants always bring a fresh feeling to the kitchen's interior design.

5. On holidays, transform the appearance of the kitchen by using themed slipcovers, window curtains and table cloth to spice up the room and make it fit for the occasion.

6. Be very sure that the kitchen has an adequate lighting. Insufficient lighting will make your kitchen look and feel gloomy and cramped. Besides the main lighting fixture in the middle of the kitchen, you can also put task lights under the hanging cabinets.

7. Get placemats, dishes, trivets, bowls and other cutlery that match the theme of your kitchen design.

What Are the Benefits of Office Interior Design?

In this modern world, it is really vital that a company keeps their office modern. But keeping an office is not as easy as a person will think. It requires genuine planning and some significant changes in the structure of the office to provide it with a better and modern look. To be brief, interior design is a priority to almost all the people managing offices. From my assumption and as many people think, the furnishing of an office plays an important role in providing an office with a certain look. Lots of offices nowadays don't mind spending in buying luxurious and modern furniture for offices. Some companies even employ furnishing designers to customize their existing furniture for the interior design of their office space.

In the last few years, furnishing designers faced problems on how quick workplace spaces altered. There has been a change in trends as far as modification of furniture is concerned. To be specific, technology has taken a large amount of space in an office room.

Computer systems have turned out to be more and more essential in any contemporary workplace atmosphere. This trend has brought about revolutionary changes in designing suitable workplace decorators. Yes, it's true that technology is dynamic. So then is the furnishing of an office. But one thing that a company cannot afford is to exclude technology or technical devices in order to match an office with any other furniture. The interior designer of an office has to have an idea on how to create a harmony between the furniture and the technical devices in an office.

If a company is looking for cheap alternatives for the replacement of their existing furniture, it may not always work. The main reason behind this is that modified furniture may not always contribute to the beautification of an office. So, it's perhaps a better idea to ask for the help of an interior designer and then replace the existing outdated furniture with a new furniture and equipment.

Today, people are really getting concerned about the natural environment. It has been suggested to preserve trees for the safety of our future generations. This idea has impacted the interior designing of workplaces. People, today, are interested in modernizing their office rooms or space with the help of furniture. But they do not want to do it by cutting trees more often and thus endanger our existence in this world. Therefore, office interior designers have been using components or materials for furniture that is friendlier to the environment and avoiding some materials such as plastic.

Without any doubt, the new design of any furniture for office space rests on the idea of the interior designers for an office. With the passage of time, new and original looking furniture are gaining popularity among the masses. Some furniture is designed based on what the furniture will be used for. For example, furniture that will be used to put a TV on it and furniture that will be used to put a computer on it may be different in sizes and even in design.

Interior Design Trends: Painted Ceilings

In recent months, more and more people are finding that their ceiling doesn't have to be white, nor does it have to be a popcorn type ceiling. With that in mind, many are also finding that the ceiling is a perfect way to add a good dose of color into the interior design of their home. Here's the low down on the colorful painted ceiling trend.

Where Can I Use a Painted Ceiling?

Getting right down to business, it's worth mentioning that you can actually do a colorful painted ceiling in just about any room in your home. In fact, it is a great way to add a pop of color to bedroom designs, bathroom designs and even living room designs. If done in a tasteful way, a colorful painted ceiling can also add a whimsical, romantic or elegant touch to kitchen designs.

You can also paint ceilings in your outdoor space if you're not quite ready to paint your interior ceilings. Consider painting the ceiling of your gazebo or front porch, or other outdoor space, to test the waters and see if you can stomach painting the ceilings in your interior spaces.

Pros and Cons of Painted Ceilings

One of the biggest benefits to the painted ceiling is that it is truly unique, especially in interior design. Many people wouldn't even dare paint their ceiling a hue other than white, making it highly unlikely that you'll see this look in your neighbor's home, or anywhere else for that matter.

Another benefit is that a painted ceiling can help a large, cavernous room feel smaller, more cozy. This is beneficial in extremely large rooms where you're having a hard time dealing with all the space, at least in terms of decorating ideas.

Finally, painted ceilings can add a unique touch of elegance, a touch of whimsy or any other inspired feeling you'd like to add to any given space. They're unexpected and when done right, they're a great way to compliment your existing interior design.

On the other hand, if you end up choosing a color that doesn't work like you'd imagined, it can be difficult to repaint it. This is because repainting a ceiling is hard work, harder work than repainting your walls. Holding your arms upwards can make the task take significantly longer.

Since it is a time consuming and exhausting task, you may find yourself contemplating hiring a professional painter which of course, is a con purely because it costs you additional money that you may not have planned in your interior design budget.

Painting the ceiling is a great way to add unexpected color to a space. However, it's not for everyone, and it's certainly not for the faint of heart. Be confident in your choices and you'll find that you love how your interior design looks with a beautiful, colorful painted ceiling-even if that color is subtle or vibrant.

How To Tell If A Career In Interior Design Is Right For You

It is a myth that one is always sure of what career path they should choose, or what their life's work will entail. In fact, many young people in fashion colleges or other universities remain unsure of what they really want to do throughout the process of obtaining their various degrees. However, you might have an inkling of a career path inside of your natural passions. For instance, an interior design school education might be right for you and you don't even know it yet! Read on to see if you can identify with any of these vital signs that could point you towards a rewarding career in design.

Take a moment to ask yourself a few simple questions. Do you have an interest in spaces? When you are in a new place do you pay a lot of attention to your surroundings? Are you often making changes to your house or apartment and its design elements? Are you creative and artistic? Are you crafty? Do you work well in a group or team dynamic? If you have answered yes to some or all of these questions, an interior design school degree might be just what you need to get your career off to a great start. The experience you will get at a top-notch design college will prepare you with the knowledge and skills you will use in any number of rewarding professional projects. For instance....

1. Artistic and technical foundation. Design students will learn how to draft plans for a space and communicate those plans to others. They will also familiarize themselves with a number of different design and construction methods and materials to create and furnish a space. Additionally, students learn how to accent a space with textures, colors and light.

2. Communication. A strong interior design degree program will also emphasize to its students the importance of interpersonal communication skills in the professional world. Often, a designer working on a project will be responsible for communicating with several different people all at once. Between clients, contractors and a design team, you must learn to command attention and also to listen carefully.

3. Strategies. Another important skill you can practice at design college is how to strategically plan out all of your projects and work. It is common for somebody in the interior design business to work on several different projects at once, often with demanding time constraints. A strong designer will carefully plan out their schedules and installation dates so they can satisfy their clients with a job well done.

An interior designer is somebody who possesses a wide variety of skills. A good designer must obviously be creative, artistic and have a knack for, well...design! But that is far from all. A truly good interior designer must also be innovative, precise in their designs and able to communicate idea and plans both to clients and to their work staff. An interior design school can teach you a lot of technique, but the true interior designer's flair must come from within. Do you have what it takes?

Interior Design Tips and Disciplines

Interior design is in line with architecture. It has little to do with the decoration of the interior of a building. It includes renovation of homes, floor plans and codes of construction. Interior designers are people who design the interiors of buildings. Creativity is a key aspect in this profession and it works in unison with the establishment of an abstract course.

Interior Design Disciplines

There is quite a wide series of disciplines in the interior design career. They include specialized performance, function, computer technology, skills for presentation, social disciplines, aesthetic, promotional and professional disciplines. Cultural implications also play a disciplinary role in relation to interior design. In order to pursue this career, a person needs to have attained a degree in architecture or technology.

The Design Process

The process of designing the interior of a building is similar for all types of buildings. It begins by identifying a client's objective, budget and timescale. This is what interior designers refer to as brief taking. The main aim at this stage is to improve the client's returns.

The designer provides the client with a Cost Proposal, which gives the total estimated costs of the interior design that is to be performed. Most designers prefer to use the Computer Aided Design but a few others use hand sketches. The later portrays individuality. Computer aided design is mainly used to correspond solutions for design in sensible views. This program saves time as compared to hand sketching, which is time consuming.

The preliminary concepts are then presented for authorization. Once approved, the designers begin to make floor plans. Afterwards, specifications are made in connection to the furnishings, alterations and finishing. Repositioning of windows, doors and walls is done if necessary, at this stage. While this is being done, the designer must have the exterior plans in mind as well. If the performance handles project management, then the interior designers may naturally take up this role.

Specifications of the design are incorporated in a package which is later on used by the building contractor to finalize the client's design. The design phase can be done years or even months after the completion of the design requirements.