Kitchen Design Ideas - Cool and Cozy

Kitchen designs differ from country to country - so why not incorporate some international kitchen design ideas into your home.

The weather has a major influence on the way we live. Homes in climates that are constantly hot are constructed in a completely different manner to those that have to withstand dramatic changes from one season to another.

In a country where for most of the year food is cooked on an outside barbecue and meals are eaten al fresco the kitchen design may reflect this lifestyle. It may be that ensuring that you have good ventilation to maintain a cool atmosphere inside becomes your primary concern, and of course efficient refrigeration will be vital if perishable foods are to be stored safely. Choosing lightweight furniture that can easily be moved into the garden, or onto the verandah, patio or terrace is another practical aspect to consider; it is usually made of woven cane or pale timber.

If it is continually hot outside, you may prefer to create a kitchen that will also be visually cool - by devising a pale, soothing color scheme. Use flat matt shades of blue and grey with pale painted walls and try to avoid complicated patterns that would upset the sense of calm. It is worth remembering, however, that these decorative schemes need lots of bright clear light, or their coolness tends to become clinical and unwelcoming.

The enduring appeal of the white villages of rural southern Spain, Provence and Tuscany is due in part to the other colors - drawn from the surrounding countryside - that are combined with that white. These baked terracotta, natural sandstone and dusty pink tones also provide warmth in the winters, which are often harshly cold. Of course you can glean inspiration and decorative ideas from holidays abroad, but to transport the style of one country to another may be completely disastrous: colors that look sensational in sunshine can feel oppressive unless you can reproduce a similar light, by natural or artificial means.

Thick wooden shutters on the windows, or canvas canopies, function not only to provide shade in summer but protection from freezing winds too. Stone or tiled floors are pleasantly cool in the summer and may be warmed up by mats or rugs if necessary And you may have a door opening directly from the kitchen onto the garden that can be left open permanently when the weather is fine to allow a cooling breeze to refresh the kitchen. But cool breezes become icy draughts in winter so this will probably need weatherproofing - with a warm and colorful curtain perhaps. And flexible but reliable heating that can respond quickly to changes in the weather is a modern convenience that nearly everyone would consider essential.

It is obviously sensible to wait for a year before you make any major design decisions, unless you are really confident that you can anticipate any seasonal weather changes. Real style is definitely more than surface deep.

5 Easy Interior Design Ideas For a Cool Home

I recently moved into a new flat. When I moved in the flat was bare, and any furnishings that were included were either dull, or, well,... dull! Despite this I saw great potential in the flat, and knew that I could breathe life into it if I just got a bit creative. By adding a few Canvas Prints, Lighting effects and some personal touches, it became the coolest flat I've ever had.

Below are some easy, cheap Interior Design Ideas that helped transform my bland-flat, into a stylish bachelor pad!

1. Choose a Colour Scheme

The first thing that needed to be sorted in my new flat was the colour scheme, or should I say, I needed to first introduce a colour scheme. I like my rock and metal music. I therefore like dark colours such as black, dark reds and blues. It is important when choosing a colour scheme that you choose colours one reflects your personality. In the end I went with black and dark purple.

2. Paint

Now that I had chosen my colour scheme it was time to get messy with paint. A good technique when painting the walls of a room, is to paint opposite walls the same colour, and the remaining two walls a different colour. In my case I painted two of my opposite facing walls dark purple, and the remaining two I left white. These white walls would be added to later with art and other such decoration, to give them more appeal.

3. Buy Nice Furnishings or Improve What You've Got

My flat came part furnished, it had a bed, sofa, old coffee table, wardrobes and a few storage cupboards. The sofa provided was a horrible murky brown colour, so I bought a nice big black sofa throw, which I used to cover the sofa. I bought a few dark purple cushions and "Hey Presto" a cool new sofa! I then bought some funky Dark Purple curtains that had a black swirly pattern, these matched my cushions and helped promote my colour scheme throughout the flat. As for the coffee table, wardrobes and cupboards, I simply painted them black using a paint designed for wood, then gave them a nice coat of varnish. By being a little creative you can pretty much transfer any old furnishings into wonderful new ones.

4. Decorate with Art and Personal Items

This part is fun, and again should reflect your hobbies and interests in life. As mentioned I am a huge fan of rock and metal music. To add more variation to the walls of my flat I decided to invest a little money in some Canvas Photo Prints. I chose a few of my favourite album covers, which included Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Pantera. I had my local printing company transform these images into wonderful Canvas Prints. They look great on the walls and give the place a very personal touch. I also has a few old guitars, so instead of throwing them out, I mounted one of them on the wall using a guitar holder that I bought from a local music store. Personal touches like these really add character and individuality to a home, why not experiment with what you have?

5. Lighting

I didn't technically come up with this idea myself, it was provided by a friend who creates lighting for music concerts, but I'm so glad he did because it has elevated my flat to a whole new level of cool. I bought a few free standing tall spot lamps from a local high street store. I placed these in the corners of my room and using the directional lamp heads was able to direct the light in several angles around the room. These lamps also came with dimmer controls allowing me to adjust the level of brightness omitted by each lamp head. By experimenting I was able to come up with some very relaxing and tranquil lighting settings for my flat. Using another guitar on a stand, I wrapped a few fairy-lights around the body and up the neck. What resulted was one of the most talked about features of my flat! Lighting can dramatically effect the way in which a room feels so experiment with colour and brightness to find something that suits you.

Cool Designs Make Cool Tattoo Designs

Many tattoo enthusiasts have proudly displayed their cool tattoo designs to me soliciting my opinion. My thoughts are simply if you think it is cool, then it is in the category of cool tattoo designs. It does compel me to wonder though what is cool and what isn't, and where do cool tattoo designs come from?

Tattoos are a form of art so any style of art is cool to someone. Recently I was maneuvering my vehicle around a very busy section of my city when I got caught in a massive traffic jam. My mind wondered back to the question above, I don't know why but it did.

Looking around me I noticed very little nature, but there was some like trees, birds, squirrels and other natural beauty like trees, flowers and even insects. As I looked around a little smile adorned my face while I envisioned some really cool ideas for cool tattoo designs. Being a creative and imaginative person I began to envision how some of the natural resources around me could be amended to make beautiful art in the form of a tattoo. As these designs bounced around in my mind some unique meanings began to develop and I thought "this is really cool".

I then moved beyond nature to the beauty of the buildings surrounding me. Friends may say I am completely nuts but take the time to notice the fine designs all over the facade of these old structures. This is amazing architecture and simply some cool tattoo designs could come form this art. All around us are cool designs and they make cool tattoo designs.

On my way home I stopped at the Post Office and when I opened my box, out tumbled my new copy of the National Geographic. I stood there in the path of many other patrons as I leafed through the pages of this magazine and new cool designs jumped right off the pages at me. This magazine is full of amazing art, some ancient and some modern, most of which can be used to develop some really cool tattoo designs.

Combine the endless art surrounding us all with the professional knowledge of talented tattoo artists, and the experience of other tattoo enthusiasts and you will be on track to create some intensely meaningful and cool designs. I always take these cool designs back to my online gallery and forums to refine the piece before I have a cool tattoo design that jumps off my body which is really cool!

Interior Designing Ideas & Colours That Decorate Your Room

Interior Decoration is quickly gaining prominence. Most socialites tend to have a knack for this profession, since this not only gets them quick and easy money, but provides them alliance to the most influential people in circle. Interior decoration on a general basis is tailor made for rich people who have a trend for life. Their lifestyles not only cater globally to people of similar tastes, but also set trends for people to follow them and their cause. Right from expensive banquets and lounges to hotels and malls every major architectural structure being put up is hiring the best interior designers to give an exotic look that would look appealing to people. Interior design ideas on a professional level require high level of innovativeness and creativity to make the space look peculiar and in the process create an ambiance that would suit the theme of the space.

Home decoration is the art of decorating a room so that it looks good, is easy to use and function wells with the existing architecture. The goal of home decoration is to provide certain "feel" for the room, it encompasses applying wallpaper, painting walls and other surfaces, choosing furniture and fittings and providing other decorations like artifacts and sculptures. There is a very thin line between designing and decoration. Interior decoration is generally focused more on finishes, such as wallpaper, paint, window covering and furnishings. Interior design leads to be more integrated with the architecture and might also be involved in room layout, cabinet designs, windows and door placement and so on.

Interior design colour is responsible for glow of your space which in turn reflects the mood and purpose of it's creation. Colour combination through various paint techniques provides the trick of giving every part of the space a different theme.

Some of the most commonly used colour techniques used include colour washing, sponging & dry brushing. Colour plays an integral part of your decor. It has the ability to alter the perception of space in many ways - by enhancing a beautiful detail, by subduing an undesirable feature, by imposing scale or by simple compensating for the lack of architectural character. So it is important that you opt for the right combinations. Colours give the essential character to any space. Be it the living room or kitchen, bedroom or lounge. Some of the most commonly used decorative colour ideas include Glam Decor, Cool decor, Natural Decor & vibrant decor. Interior decoration is costly and only the rich seems to afford it. Hence if opted for it is important that you ensure that you get the right colours & paints that would suit your taste and last for a long time.

Home Improvement Ideas

The bedroom need not be just a place for sleeping. It can also be utilized for lounging and even as a makeshift home office with proper bedroom furniture items. While there can be many furniture pieces available in the market today, not all are ideal for the bedroom.

Only comfortable and versatile pieces should be added to make the space more functional and relaxing. Adding some chairs and a bedside table can transform the room into a more functional lounging area. There are many materials available and it can be quite difficult to choose what is best for your homes.

However, there are only a few things to consider when buying furniture items. They should match existing furniture to create an organized look. The materials should also be durable and long lasting.

Wood is a popular material for bedroom furniture due to its durability and finishes. There are many kinds of wood that can be used. Lighter wood material is ideal for overhead cabinets and shelves as they are light enough to be mounted on walls. Pine wood is also an attractive material for drawers.

They can be mixed with other materials to add a modern look. A wooden bedside table is also a great place for a lamp, bedtime items and a cool alarm clock. Wood can also be painted with different colors to match the existing theme of the room. They can also be treated with natural finishes to add a traditional touch to the bedroom space.

Organic materials such as seagrass, wicker and bamboo are also versatile materials for furniture pieces. They add a light and soft atmosphere to the room. They are also durable and attractive. Wicker is popular for drawers as they are light enough to be made into stackable furniture pieces.

This adds more storage space especially in small bedrooms. Bamboo is also an attractive material and can be woven into intricate designs. It is an eco-friendly material and a known renewable resource. Seagrass share the same qualities with wicker and bamboo as they are all easily woven into quality furniture items. They are especially charming as drawers, chairs and tables.

Investing on quality bedroom furniture pieces can be rewarding as they can last for years. They are available in most local home improvement shops. There are also websites that offer furniture items which are ideal for updating the look of the room or filling up empty room space. I hope this has given you some ideas to work with.

Great Home Crafty Ideas With Frames

This article is all about framing things in the home, and covers a lot of concepts discuss on my blog, a link for this blog can be found in my bio at the end of the article so be sure to check it out. There are so many different things that look good in a frame and so many things that get collected and then put in a drawer/ cupboard that could actually be on the wall making you smile. Clearly there are loads more ideas out there for frame inspiration- however I only have so many walls/ shelves/ radiator cabinets to display them all!

STAMPS
If you have a stamp collection then this could make an amazing looking display on your wall - it was something that was a long time coming for me and required patience but the finished picture was worth all the effort! The stamps came from my childhood stamp collection and are mounted on accurately measured foam pads.

FAMILY ART
My dad has recently taken up drawing in his retirement and has produced a lot of nice looking pictures, but these are simply collecting dust in a pad. My husband had been admiring my dad's sketches and drawings when we went to visit in the summer and this framed picture of the family home was one of his presents for Christmas. A lovely surprise and perfect for the mantelpiece and it really looks great with a frame around it. Try it yourself with a family drawing, maybe one of your kids art pieces would look great framed?

BIRTHDAY CARDS
We all love getting cards on our birthday, but a few days later what can you do with them. Yes, a lot may be a bit samey and probably end up in the recycling, but sometimes there are some pretty interesting pictures and patterns on these birthday cards. A bit of arty creativity and these cards can become great pictures when put inside a nice frame. I have done this with a few of the best designed birthday cards I got this year, and they look great hung in my hallway Another similar play on this is to use postcards and also magazine images. I have framed a few of these and they definitely look great. My particular favourite is a postcard of Prague and a orchid drawing that came from a natural history magazine. All things that would otherwise have ended up in a box somewhere or being recycled can now add to your home décor.

MAPS
Any map looks pretty cool as a piece of frames art on the wall, and it will always be a discussion point and something to gaze at when you walk past it. I particularly love vintage maps which show how cities and towns looked a hundred years ago or so. The one I have in my dining room is a frames map of Hull (where we live) from around 1900. I could stare at maps of places I know for hours, especially old ones. Knowing which places have always been around and which are new, finding out what was there before fulfils a deep curiosity in the past and my present surroundings. I would definitely recommend buying some old maps to study and display.

There are many more things that look great in frames if you just show a bit of imagination, such as samples of wall paper that you can pick up from DIY shops for free, but when framed they look great with really nice designs available. Or perhaps you can put together some items from a particular time in your life, such as a honeymoon. Arrange select items in a thick box frame and they could look really nice. I actually did this with my Italy honeymoon, and had ticket stubs, champagne cork, and other small items and they look great on my shelf in the front room.

Have fun and get framing things.