| Are you all set to launch your home remodeling | | | | principals and subtleties it requires, or to hire a |
| project? Here are 10 interior design ideas to expand | | | | professional to do an analysis and work over of your |
| your horizons and help you on your quest. | | | | home. However, Feng Shui does teach us something |
| Color Me Beautiful | | | | that is very useful when decorating your home. |
| Break out of the white, off-white, and beige, and let | | | | * Color: Pay attention to how colors make you feel. |
| some color in your life (and on your walls)! Hit Designer | | | | Color is known to have an enormous effect of |
| Dave Bromstad, winner of HGTV Design Star and | | | | people's moods and energy levels, however it is also |
| host of HGTV's new show, Color Splash, is big on | | | | very individual. You may be the type of person who is |
| color. "I think brown is a great color because it looks | | | | comfortable in dark colors, while other people may find |
| great in a lot of combinations: brown and yellow, brown | | | | it depressing. Colors also affect the nature of |
| and blue, brown and orange. It's been hot for the last | | | | interactions, and when you enter a new space you |
| five years and will continue to be hot. Whites and blues | | | | should always pay attention to the way people |
| are also big, and you can make a big impact with reds | | | | behave to one another. If there is a room in your home |
| and oranges," says the rising star. But he also cautions | | | | where people tend to get into arguments, reassess |
| to not be too matchy-matchy. If you decide to go for | | | | the colors in that room. Bright or extreme colors can |
| red walls, there is no need for a red comforter on your | | | | irritate people's eyes and increase their metabolism, |
| bed! | | | | making them more likely to fight. Darker rooms can put |
| Rock the Casbah | | | | people in a bad mood and make them lethargic. |
| Moroccan design is welcoming, warm, inexpensive and | | | | * Flow: In traditional Feng Shui, the goal is to maximize |
| relatively easy to pull together, all wonderful traits for | | | | the flow of positive chi in an area. While you will |
| those interested in Moroccan-style home decorating. | | | | probably not be able to detect the essence of the |
| "Moroccan styles are timeless," says interior designer | | | | energy of a space, you can increase the feeling of |
| Vanessa De Vargas. Morocco is known for its | | | | flow in a room by paying attention to the way people |
| handmade works like carved doors and columns, | | | | and objects move through the space. The flow you |
| hand-woven carpets, intricately painted tiles, lanterns, | | | | want to achieve is in the essence of the room. You |
| leather goods and silver tea sets. The color palette is | | | | want there to be easy access for people moving |
| warm yet cool. Earth tones combined with various | | | | through the room, as well as in and out of it. You want |
| shades of blue and pink are common, as are texture | | | | objects to be able to move from their storage, into |
| and pattern. | | | | use, and back without adding to clutter. This kind of |
| A modernized version of Moroccan style is popular in | | | | flow is a mixture of organization and design that |
| the U.S. because it successfully takes classic | | | | focuses on removing blockages and allowing easy |
| Moroccan-design motifs, materials and styles and | | | | movement through every area. |
| gives them a fresh spin. Traditional Moroccan design is | | | | Island Fantasies |
| heavier and more ornate. | | | | Whether you make yearly pilgrimages to the |
| Back to Nature | | | | white-sand beaches of the tropics or merely travel via |
| Use Indoor plants to bring nature into your home! | | | | daydreams, interiors inspired by the ocean, sand, and |
| During the 1970s, there was a new appreciation for the | | | | gentle sea breezes bring the feeling home. Simply |
| great outdoors. Consequently interior decorating | | | | designed rooms, filled with light and fresh air, enchant |
| incorporated macramé, redwood and anything | | | | the senses and have the ability to transport you to |
| in shades of oatmeal, green or brown. In keeping with | | | | another headspace. Think of it as an exotic take on |
| the back-to-nature movement, homeowners did what | | | | spring cleaning. |
| they could to bring the outdoors in. Although the days | | | | Imperial Beds |
| of green and brown printed wallpaper are long gone | | | | The Four-Poster bed is a timeless piece in any |
| (or so we hope), plants and flowering plants are still the | | | | bedroom design. To avoid being heavy, new |
| rage in interior design. | | | | four-poster beds have thin posts, and are airy enough |
| Wallpaper is Back! | | | | to be considered modern. Since four-poster beds are |
| Wallpaper has been getting some really bad press in | | | | the most romantic of beds, a romantic design, soft, |
| the past few years, while solid colors and wall patterns | | | | comfortable, and inviting, is highly recommended to |
| were hip and in. It seems like wallpaper is coming back, | | | | accompany this fantastic traditional bed. |
| bigger and better than ever! Traditional block printed | | | | Classic White |
| 'paper' wallpaper isn't the only option. Fabric wallpaper | | | | The purpose of creating a white monochrome elegant |
| is also available and will add a luxurious touch to any | | | | space is to feel peaceful, serene and sophisticated. In |
| room. Other materials include those with a metallic | | | | a white on white room, you have more freedom to do |
| luster and paper that gives the appearance of silk. | | | | things differently. "Clutter is kept away, everything |
| According to Karen Beauchamp from Cole & | | | | should be hidden," says Ammie Kim, a Beverly Hills |
| Son, we are exploring new ways to use wallpaper. | | | | designer. All unnecessary items or things with colors |
| Here are some suggestions on how to bring more | | | | should be moved. It's a very sophisticated and minimal |
| patterns into your surroundings: | | | | look. |
| * Cover only one wall (its trendy, and you can be more | | | | Kitchen Freestyle |
| adventurous). | | | | Because we're spending more and more time in our |
| Putting wallpaper on panels can be a great color | | | | kitchens and baths, there is a move away from the |
| addition to doors and cabinets. Choose the scale of | | | | all-or-nothing "fitted" look of continuous counters. Look |
| the pattern carefully though: if the space is too small | | | | for more freestanding pieces of furniture or features |
| and the scale too large, the pattern will get lost. | | | | with furniture-like qualities. These details won't be fussy |
| * For the really adventurous, add a twist on tradition by | | | | but will further the notion that the kitchen is a room to |
| wallpapering a ceiling. This works particularly well with | | | | be lived in. |
| high ceilings, such as those in period properties. | | | | Country Living in the City |
| Everyone Feng Shui! | | | | Do you miss the open spaces, the country roads, and |
| Take the mystical out of Feng Shui design and learn its | | | | the peace and quiet that comes from being away |
| practical uses. Decorating using these principles will help | | | | from New York for more than a week? Why not |
| you create a simple, balanced living environment. Real | | | | transform your city apartment and go country? |
| Feng Shui is extraordinarily specific, and complex. The | | | | Combine the best of city sophistication and country |
| only way to do real Feng Shui is either to become a | | | | rustic, and see how much nicer it feels to eat in that |
| student of this art, and painstakingly learn the many | | | | dining room you never use! |