Tips Finding Home Design

Home Decoration

Finding home designs that work for you is a kind to finding an outfit or hairstyle you like.

Cast a net
Search high and low for home designs and take note of what you like. Inspiration for home designs can come from the likeliest and unlikeliest of places. Flip through design magazines, books, and catalogs. Find the images that you love and tab them. Visit furniture showrooms, model homes, and design galleries. Your favorite flower, landscape, or natural element can lend to inspiration for colors, prints, and surfaces. Movies, fashion, and art are also rich resources of inspiration. Make a catalog of all the images and samples you have selected.

Personal aesthetic
Chances are several different home designing styles will emerge, and you will be able to define your style with more than one term: comfortable, luxury, eclectic, bohemian, classic, traditional, contemporary, elegant, and earthy, to name a few. It is possible to pair even the unlikeliest of design styles; in fact, mixing and matching elements from different styles creates interest and injects personality into your home. Color themes will also emerge from your collection of images and samples. Take note of what you absolutely love and get rid of the rest. Defining your personal style will help you find home designs that fit the look are trying to create in your room.

Set a budget
You have defined your style, identified pieces and elements you love, and are ready to start shopping. Right? A good rule of thumb when making a budget for home designs is to err on the conservative side. Make sure you have a buffer since home design projects can cost more than you think. Once you have established your budget, decide how you want to execute your home designs. Making a list of things you need to do to complete your home designs will save you time and sanity. Make a list of the furniture that needs to be ordered, pieces that need to be sent to the upholsterer, and appointments with consultants and professional decorators. A checklist will help you stay on track, realize that everything does not need to be done at once, and will keep the process moving toward creating home designs with lasting rewards.

Defining your personal style is the most important step toward choosing home designs. Without a doubt there are hundreds of home design styles to choose. Knowing what draws you in and depicts your personality will help you create unique home designs for your next decorating project.

A Home Designer is a Decorator?

Home Design

A Home Designer is a Decorator? It is important to understand the distinct differences between the various titles associated with home design and interior decorating projects. Why? Because simply put, there is a difference between a home designer and a decorator.

A professional home designer, also known as a building designer, specializes in designing light-frame buildings, such as single-family homes, and decorative facades for larger buildings. So, if you want to create custom plans for your home or remodel your existing home, then it is a professional home designer you want to hire. A home decorator, on the other hand, is someone who could assist you with choosing interior designs for your home. While the titles are sometimes used interchangeably, a home designer is not a decorator.

Not to be confused as an architect, a professional home designer is not legally required to pass exams or receive special licenses. However, a designer who has the title Certified Professional Building Designer, or CPBD, has completed training courses, passed an exam, and has built a portfolio. A certified building designer will have a broad background in construction, problem solving, and architectural design, and may have studied architecture or structural engineering on the job, under the supervision of a building designer, architect, or structural engineer.

Consult with several different home designers in order choose someone you feel is right to help you build your dream home. How long has the home designer been in business? Has the designer worked on the type of project you are doing?

If you are consulting with someone, ask if he/she is the home designer who will be designing and drawing your home.

Does the home designer work with only certain builders? The designer should bring pictures of past projects. The designer should have creative and practical ways of achieving your remodel or custom home plans, while staying on budget.

Will you be expected to pay for property visitations during the construction process?

Is the home designer familiar with the costs of the construction process?

If building a custom home, make sure you have a topographical survey of your property. A good home designer will have a list of references with positive reviews.

Once you have selected your designer, she should assess your needs, desires, and budget during the initial design phase, and should familiarize herself with your property’s positive and negative concerns. Knowing your property well will help you avoid costly mistakes. Consider these other benefits of hiring a professional designer.

Benefits of hiring a home designer
A home designer can help you build the unique home of your dreams, while ensuring that your family and budget needs are met as well as the needs of your property. Good home designers create plans with resale benefits in mind. Professional designers keep up with design trends, yet also know how to create timeless designs.

Choosing to hire a professional home designer to help you realize the home of your dreams is an important decision. Define your design goals, consult with potential home designers, and ask the right questions to ensure you find a home designer who will help you build the home of your dreams.

Ideas for Easy Window Coverings

Design Home

Ideas for Easy Window Coverings. Have your interior designer or decorator utilize some of these five ideas for easy window coverings to truly personalize your space. A professional will take your desires, mesh them with their know-how, and create a space that reflects your personality. Though window coverings often get the bad rep of being stuffy, formal, pretentious, etc., they don’t have to be. Who says it has to be a curtain, drape, valance, or swag – in the formal sense? A lovely piece of fabric that reflects your style, or matches/contrasts perfectly with a key piece on the room can pull a room together. A visit to a local fabric shop could make all the difference in your design. Trust your decorator to select the appropriate design, rod, etc. to make your fabric choices pop in your room.

Shades are a very easy way to cover a window. However, if you thought you were stuck with a solid color shade, or limited to the selection in a store or catalog, think again. Ask your designer/decorator to personalize your shades. Perhaps with a stencil that matches the detailing in the fabric, or by adding fabric to the shade, or an embellishment. Allow them to dip into their knowledge pool and get creative. Window blinds can be custom-made to fit almost any window size, and just about any budget. If curtains or drapes do not suit your vision, consider vertical or horizontal blinds. They are available in aluminum, vinyl, wood, faux wood and fabric and can transform a space in the blink of an eye. The assortment of available styles, make it easy to achieve the desired effect.

Lastly, if looking for a little insulation, cellular or honeycomb shades are perfect window coverings with a definite purpose. The open cells look like honeycombs, but those open little pockets of air insulate a space, keeping heat or cold out of a room. These shades are available in an incredible selection of colors that will help your designer keep the integrity of the design intact, while conserving energy to incorporate a little green into the theme.

Use these five ideas for easy window coverings to help make your space your own. It’s the quickest and easiest way to change the look of a space- short of painting the room. Just remember to discuss your goals with your decorator/designer and let creativity reign.

Home Design Tips

Home Design

Home Design Tips. Use this collection of home design tips to help inspire you for your next design project. Before painting walls and purchasing materials, check out these home design tips to help you update your space with professional flare and style.

Tip #1: Choose your color theme

Use these home design tips for choosing a color theme to comfortably let color make a bold statement in your home. A useful home design tip for color is to use the 60-30-10 rule. Sixty percent of the room should be done in a dominant color; thirty percent should be in a secondary color; and 10 percent should be an accent color. Think of dressing in a suit: the suit is the dominant color, the shirt is the secondary color, and scarves, accessories, ties, or belts have accent colors.) Pull the dominant color from the largest pattern in your room. The pattern can come from an area rug, painting, window treatment, or large blanket. Your accent color can perform as bold prints, striking vases, throw pillows, or brazen artwork, which will add contrast to your room.

Tip #2 Mix and match

Another home design tip is to mix up colors, patterns, and furniture styles. Giving your room an eclectic flair will help keep it fun and stylish. Here are some home design tips for mixing and matching: Add variation to your color theme by choosing various shades of the dominant color. Tie together different patterns with like elements, such as color.

Tip #3 Enlarge a small space

Homeowners with small spaces can design a room to look bigger with these home design tips. Use transparent end tables and coffee tables as to avoid making a small room look cluttered. Hang window treatments from the ceiling to floor to elongate walls. Use horizontal stripes on the walls to make a room appear larger. Use functional furniture pieces – with less room, there is less space for storage and seating.

Tip #4 Point of interest

Create a point of interest in the room. If you have a large wall, you can create a point of interest by hanging a large piece of art or by grouping together smaller prints, mirrors, or funky plates. An oversized area rug with a unique pattern will draw attention to the room’s furniture. Fireplace mantels are great stages where interesting accessories can perform as points of interest.

Tip #5 Light up your space

Updating the lighting in your home can add instant drama and style to a room. Using halogen bulbs in recessed lights will give your room a professional feel. It is a trick restaurants, clubs, furniture showrooms, and design galleries use to create a sophisticated look. Lamps are also great accessories in a room. Ensure that your next home design project is a success by using these home design tips.