Keeping Cool on Hot, Sultry Nights

It’s hot and sultry at nights during the summer and for some strange reason the majority of people who live in the UK can never quite fathom out what to do to reduce the heat in their bedrooms!

Image: A Cup Of Jo

Ultimately air conditioning is the answer, however for the few nights which make sleeping difficult air con may not be a very cost effective way of keeping cool. Opening the windows may help, but if you live in a city, the continuous noise may also prevent you from sleeping peacefully!

Having bedroom décor which is cool to the eye is a great way to embrace the latest interior design styles of using white. Floaty voile curtains are also a good option if you live in more rural areas, as they allow the breeze to drift in through open windows. During the day lightweight curtains can provide a chic look which can make you feel cooler, sweep open and hold them in place with tie backs.

Crisp, clean white bed linen are also a good idea, opt for beautiful Egyptian cotton to help you remain cool whilst you sleep.

These ideas may be mind tricks, but they work!

The Versatility Of Fabulous Fabrics

Image: This Is Glamorous

Fabric is so versatile, a simple statement but one which is very true! You may not be an interior designer or an expert with a sewing machine and that is the great advantage of having ready made curtains in all different types of fabrics, styles and patterns.

With a little ingenuity and the help of inspirational interior design blogs and magazines anyone can transform their homes into chic and very stylish places quite effortlessly! Rather than have open cupboards or shelving hide everything away by using roller blinds or by simply use gorgeous fabric in eyelet or tab top curtains as doors.

The latest sheer fabrics, organza and silk are a great way to add both colour and texture to your rooms and can every brighten up the space under the stairs which are tired of looking at in a very affordable way.

Opt for these sheer fabrics if you want to keep a light and airy feel to the room or for total masking of areas you really don’t want to see either opt for blinds or thicker fabrics. The choice is yours and the outcome cheap and effective!

Image: This Is Glamorous

Furniture Shades By Greatboys

Stockholm designers Greatboys have come up with this ingenious piece of furniture which they have aptly named Shades!

shade-by-greatboys

Mixed reviews are being voiced, with many people saying it looks like an air conditioning unit, whilst others are saying it isn’t very child friendly. Whatever your opinions you have to admit that if you are among the hundreds of people who enjoy a minimalist look to their interiors and like to have everything matching this clever storage unit would look right at home when combined with white Venetian blinds!

It appears the operating system is just as versatile as a Venetian blind making it easily accessible and a great way to keep clutter kept neatly hidden and out of sight!

It will also appeal to those who opt for all white interiors, providing clean sleek lines. It may even be extremely useful for offices as well as ideal storage space in teenager’s bedrooms with its non-fussy appearance.

Image:  Freshome

Bay Windows Dressed To Perfection

Image: Delight By Design

Bay windows can often pose quite a problem when it comes to deciding how to dress them. Traditionally bay windows had heavy or medium weight curtains, often with large floral patterns and whilst floral patterns are back in-vogue within interior design styles the choice of having beautiful full length sheer curtains is much preferred by many designers.

Making the most of a bay window by having seating within the bay is an excellent use of space. Having lightweight curtains which allow as much natural light into the room as well as being a great way to keep prying eyes from seeing inside creates an informal and relaxed look which suits many people’s lifestyles perfectly.

Having plain neutral coloured fabric curtains also enables you use other soft furnishings, cushions, rugs and table lamps to inject subtle touches of colour into the room, giving it an inviting and homely ambience effortlessly. Opt for an eclectic style which fits in with your own unique personality to make your house your home.

Image: Design By Delight

Beach Ball Lamps = Happy Carefree Holidays!

Beach Ball Lamps

Many of us will be thinking of warm summer sun and holidays. These wonderful beach ball lamps by Toby Sander shown at Designersblock Show in Milan 2009 are great reminders of fun being had at the beach or poolside!

Their beautiful bright colours are ideal to inject a sense of fun into a room as well as being a very practical and stylish way to light provide light.

Children’s bedrooms themed as beaches are the perfect place to hang these playful lamps or simply hang them in rooms where you want to remember bygone, carefree days spent with family or friends whilst on holiday at the coast!

The great thing about the colours is that they will coordinate well with white decors or alternatively provide a striking focal point in rooms with a light an airy feel to them during the day and of course provide direct light when switched on during the evening.

Image: Notcot

The Better View- New Concepts In Blackout Blinds

Better View

A new concept in blackout blinds has been created by Elina Aalto, an award winning designer from Helsinki.

Small cut out holes have been incorporated to the blind to bring night views of cities, including Helsinki, Tokyo, Paris and Stockholm as the sun streams through the holes during the day. The concept is great, but it somewhat defeats the object of a blackout blind?

Some fantastic diffused lighting effects could also be created at night for those who live in towns and cities which have copious amounts of light pollution, bring a subtle and yet effective form of window dressing.

Designers are creating some wonderful new concepts in blinds, from solar panels in metal Venetian styles to solar energy units which provide images of lights on them at night. The humble blind continues to be one of the most popular forms of window treatments and are a great at providing essential privacy for those who live in towns and cities.

Image source: Laissezfaire

W.O.W – Why Only White?

W.O.W. – Why Only White by Teda have taken the fact that the majority of showers available are only white and brought them into the 21st century with wonder showers which are also great works of art.

W.O.W. by Teda

From the more simplistic floral design which will make you feel as fresh as a daisy after your shower! To intricate designs which reflect the owner’s more romantic notions!

The idea of making the bathroom as trendy and as modern as the rest of a house is often sadly overlooked by many home owners. The need for havens of peace and relaxation are a great way to de-stress after a hard day at work, however, first thing in the morning a shower needs to be an instant wake up and tonic to set you for the day ahead!

These showers are the perfect solution and a clever design concept which uses art as an integral part of our lives to cheer and rejuvenate our bodies and minds.

For further information and image source visit If It’s Hip, It’s Here

Glorious Natural Wood Zeen Collection

Zeen Collection

These exciting, practical and visually stunning chair and table have been designed and created by Oluf Lund and Eva Paarmann using beech wood with a veneer of walnut and olive ash top.

The Zeen collection is also manufactured by Oluf and Eva, they have used the natural beauty of the woods very effectively to create a design which would look great in any modern or contemporary home.

The great thing about furniture such as this collection is they way it would blend effortlessly into a room which has popular stripped floor boards and wooden blinds. Anyone who loves the beauty of natural wood will adore Zeen.

Pieces within the collection, such as the loungers, have sheepskin rugs to add additional comfort, however for me this somehow detracts from the beauty the wood brings to the pieces.

With unpretentious black stands and legs the pieces focus on practicality and modern living styles.

To see more of the Zeen collection visit  contemorist

UpTown Blues Bar

This stunning and very unusual bar combines wonderful tones of purples and pinks in stained glass panels is aptly named Uptown Blues Bar.

UpTown Blues Bar

Designed by Xander Blue their range of contemporary furniture offers the use of traditional stained glass panels which have been transformed into a wide variety of different items of furniture. This bar is a great storage place for bottles and offers an ideal flat surface for serving drinks in a contemporary or modern interior design styled room.

As with traditional stained glass the best effects are see when natural or artificial lighting shines and filters through the colours from behind. The ideal place to place this bar would be in front of a window or by providing artificial lighting during the evening.

The combination of contemporary stainless steel supports for the glass panels adds additional light reflection, providing a sleek, beautiful and very practical item of modern furniture.

For further information and image source visit furniturestoreblog

Pump It!

Pump It!

When unexpected guests arrive there will always be a bed with this inflatable mattress-Pump It. In prototype stage when this image was taken the design Pump It! makes use of the carpet simply by attaching a pump or bellows a single section of carpets inflates into a single mattress.
An ingenious design concept which does away with tripping over a standard inflatable air mattress and solves the storage problem when it is not in use. Once deflated the carpet returns to its usual floor covering. Not sure just how flat the deflated carpet would lie-there must surly be a slight ridge?

A great idea to use in a kid’s bedroom for those impromptu ‘sleep overs‘- no more trying to find an air bed and it looks far more comfortable then sleeping on the floor itself!

The designers Silke Klemm and Lisa Hillmann came up with this intelligent use of a living room carpet some years ago now. Let’s hope their ingenious concept came to fruition for them?

Visit architonic for image source.