Blog

Nifty Shades for May: a Brief Guide to the In Colours for 2015

When looking at your home with a fresh pair of Spring-inspired eyes, one of the most satisfying ways of freshening up your interior design is by giving your interior a new colour or shade. As an interior design company in Leicester, we have taken steps to unearth some of the more exciting colour trends for Spring and beyond.

The overriding trend that we noticed was one that is intrinsically linked to our ever more complicated and connected lifestyles. Mobile technology has gripped us like never before and people are choosing to escape the hustle and bustle of modern life in their homes using shades of soothing blues in their homes, instilling a sense of calm and tranquillity. Particularly prominent are the tropical blues including aqua, azure and mellow green, giving further credence to the escapist theory as we all look to bring the holiday vibe into our living space.

These shades of blues can be playfully combined with tans, burnt oranges, corals and lemony colours to revitalise your tired décor and optimize the chill out factor of your home. Once you’ve decided on the exact shades and tones for you, the question remains as to how best to use these colours.

Paint is the easiest and most obvious way to introduce colour, but even after deciding that a lick of paint is the way forward there are many ways in which paint can be used in the home. The idea that paint must be applied to every wall in a room is finally becoming consigned to history and a feature wall may well be what your room is crying out for. A good tip is to choose a prominent wall – such as the wall you first see as you go into a room and make that your statement wall, giving it your soothing blue shade and giving you an instant shot of calm.

Other ways you can boost your tranquillity and update your palette include choosing a piece of furniture – a kitchen table, chairs or desk for instance – and give them the revitalizing colour boost. Outside the realms of paint, you can even use soft furnishings, such as cushions, lampshades and curtains. Moving into bathrooms and kitchens, you have the added option of replacing those tired kitchen tiles with fresh, exciting new ones in the latest, most exciting shades. With the weather on the change and moods lifted, May is a great month to get started.

Style Quite Literally On Tap!

Be they in the kitchen or bathroom, our taps are used so frequently – we wash our hands and face and clean our teeth many times a day – and yet they are often overlooked as simply functional accessories and yet with a bit of digging and inspiration you might find a way to give your basins a lift by replacing your taps. Of course it is not only style that can justify a change in faucet; there are in fact many different types of tap with various pros and cons. As we are at the heart of home refurbishment Leicestershire we keep up with the latest developments.

In terms of functionality requirements are distinct in the bathroom and the kitchen. Your bathroom taps should be able to control the temperature to a more sensitive level as our skin will come in contact with the water from them more regularly, while a kitchen tap will benefit from swifter access to stronger water pressure and the two temperature extremes to satisfy washing up and pouring a nice cold glass of water.

This short article aims to shed some light on the much neglected tap and how despite our apathy towards it, it remains at the forefront of advancements in technology and design.

LED temperature sensitive bathroom taps
Ideal for running baths, these stylish taps are lined with LEDs that change colour in with the temperature of the water (blue=cold, pink=warm and red=hot). This is a nice detail which marries functionality with style and can add to that magical candle-lit bathroom ambience.

It doesn’t have to be chrome
Chrome looks great, which is why in terms of modern bathroom and kitchen design it is all pervasive and yet there are alternatives. Copper and bronze are both making a comeback, especially when contrasted with colours on the grey/silver spectrum and there are a range of copper sinks– especially the hand-hammered textured sinks – that come with gorgeous copper waterfall taps that can really look great in a well-designed bathroom.

Flexible faucets in the kitchen!
Have you ever found yourself with a mountain of washing up and a tap that just won’t move high enough to direct the water? Or perhaps you have a jug or that won’t fit under the tap to fill it? There are some great options that not only solve your problems but look amazing too. At the top end there are some truly gorgeous articulated kitchen taps that can offer around 46 cm clearance and are made of a unique combination of carbon and metal for consistency and durability. If you’re not feeling so flush, there are some excellent monobloc taps with flexible hoses that achieve the same objective.

Mixed Material Accents – an Introduction

If you keep up with the latest Pinterest design trends then you might have noticed the increasing presence of mixed material accents to create statements in the home. With a modicum of thought and inspiration it is amazing the results you can achieve, especially if you take advantage of the advice and expertise of those at the heart of sourcing home accessories Leicestershire. This little article will introduce two of the more prominent examples how this phenomenon is infiltrating the living spaces of those who keep up with the design innovation.

Marble and Brass: This combination is becoming all the rage, especially in the bathroom. Marble tiles and bathroom surfaces are being combined with gorgeous round brass sinks, taps and fixtures, with mirrors hanging from brass fixtures the icing on the cake of this particular example. As you can see, this stunning bathroom even takes the mixed material trend a further step by using wood flooring to add a bit of a rustic and warmer feel, which works beautifully. And, as one blogger commented, ‘brass is the new black.’ Cutting edge furniture design companies have taken up the challenge of integrating this particular set of mixed materials, with this coffee table, one example of how you can get on board without wholesale decorative change. Chopping boards, light fixtures, trays and mirrors all offer opportunities for exploration in mixed materials. Time to explore!

Concrete and Copper: Perhaps an even bolder development has seen the increasing use of copper and concrete accents in the home, lending an industrial feel to the interior, perhaps originating from the trend-setting apartments in old warehouses in the East of London. It is no coincidence, for example, that Dulux’s colour of the year for 2015 is copper blush. Concrete look wallpaper has even emerged to offer a virtual way of integrating the mixed material vibe in your home, without the weight of real concrete to contend with! This can be stunningly offset by hanging pendant light fixtures in copper and mirrors and table ornaments as well. The department stores and boutiques alike have joined in the fun, with lamps of concrete and various metallic contrasts popping up all over the place, offering another chance to explore the many possibilities for exciting mixed materials in the home. Again, the potential for adding a splash of colour is there, just look at how the addition of an orange cushion and visually striking orange egg chair gives a beautiful contrast to the stark grey concrete feel in this room.

Top Window Dressing Trends for 2015

In the world of blinds and curtains exciting things have been happening in terms of what’s hot and what’s not. At the forefront of all things curtains and blinds Leicestershire,we’re in the perfect position to hand out our tips for revamping your window dressings this year.

Grey days

In keeping with the integration of concrete and concrete look in interior design, greys are very much in, with neutral greys dominating in curtains and blinds. You might be asking ‘how can I make this change without leaving my room looking stark and soulless?’

Well here are a few tips…

Contrast the grey with a splash of carefully chosen colour. Burnt oranges, lemon yellows and soothing blues are all very much in vogue and for good reason. Blues offer calming properties, oranges work stunningly with the greys and lemon is always great for a splash of vibrancy. Greys can be complemented by warm and cool tones alike – so your options are endless.

Add silver touches like candlesticks and trays, light fittings and picture frames, to lend a magical touch to the room. This is an alternative option to the grey/copper contrast that is dominating of late and is another stunning alternative.

Time tested olive greens

If the thought of a trend-driven shift frightens you, then olive greens are stylish with little chance of them going out of fashion any time soon.

Our tips for integrating olive green

Use neutral furnishings, as olive green curtains will provide a stunning backdrop.

Dip one foot into the copper trend as olive green and copper are a match made in heaven, while greys also go extremely well with the colour, so concrete effect wallpaper or grey painted walls will not only be extremely in, but will maximise the impact of your new window dressings!

Blind Faith

Blinds can also be used as statement pieces to offset a more minimal, stark wall paint and colour scheme. A hot tip for 2015 is adding to the ‘go to’ neutral of the moment – grey – with a set of vibrant burnt orange blinds, adding warmth to the room. Of course, you might already have enough warmth with some carefully chosen soft furnishings or a feature wall, in which case, art-deco inspired metallic hues are all the rage for retaining the glamour and chic. For kitchens and bathrooms, where perhaps a fresher more invigorating tone is desired, there are some great options, but green tea shades are especially delicate and refreshing.

Sometimes it Really is Black and White

There are many ways this spring to give a room in your home a makeover – often involving a feature wall adding a splash of colour, reflecting what’s happening in the natural world. And yet sometimes working within the confines of good old black and white is just what you need to create a chic and elegant room. This piece focuses on the bathroom, from the perspective of our team involved in bathroom refurbishment Leicestershire.

Bathroom design has so much potential – boundless really and it can be great to let your imagination run wild. However working within the confines of a monochromatic scheme not only frames your project with a dose of realism it also helps avoid the mistake of over-gilding the lily.

In addition, there is little as eye-catching as a well designed black and white room with matching accessories. Let’s start with these.

Crisp, white towels offset with a sharp black edge can really look the business.
Soap dispensers or dishes, toilet brush holders and toothbrush holders can all be found in either black or white. Keep consistent both in style and colour and they will add much for little outlay.
For those blessed with larger bathroom spaces, you’ll have the luxury of being able to choose some suitable furniture – from chairs to benches. For the smaller bathroom a little black stool can work as a compromise. Soft furnishings in black or white not only fit in with the scheme but also add a touch of softness to what can be an unforgiving palette.
All black is a real possibility. If quality matte tiles adorn the walls and floor and a nice matte paint is applied to the ceiling, then there is no reason why you can’t go the whole (black) hog, even opting for black ceramics. The effects of this wholesale switch to the dark side can be surprisingly therapeutic. There’s a fabulous all black tiled swimming pool in the spa at The Grove hotel, where the England footballers stay before matches at Wembley and it is a truly memorable and very calming experience.
Black brick-effect tiled walls can look fantastic and fits in with the trend that has seen a shift towards incorporating the industrial into the home.

Black and white really are a perfect pairing – white reflects and black absorbs – which is why this combination can really yield superb results in the bathroom where bold angles and clean lines dominate.

Which Kitchen Island?

The kitchen island is a vital component of an open plan kitchen and the decision as to which design to opt for is a very important one that you will live with on a daily basis, so it is vital to think it through first. The folk involved in home refurbishment Leicestershire are there to help you decide on your plan of action.

Larger kitchens

The chances are that should you be fortunate enough to have a large open plan kitchen it is likely to be the hub of your home, where dinners, entertaining, food preparation and breakfast all take place. In this case, large, built in islands deserve their place, with the added bonus of drawers either side to tidy away all those pots, pans, scales, juicers and blenders that will not only be out of sight but also perfectly placed to be extricated and placed on the food preparation area of your kitchen oasis!

Options for smaller spaces

For the smaller kitchen there are some space savvy kitchen islands that do not compromise on storage, using vertical space, with the elevation allowing for storage underneath. A nifty tip is also mounting a long towel bar on the side of your island for those tea towels, aprons and oven gloves. However, some small kitchens will need a compromise and that can be made in the way of a mobile ‘cart style’ island. Options range from cheap and easily mobile trolley style pieces to more elaborate islands on wheels that can look as good as their fixed cousins.

The upcycled option

Do you have an old dresser that you no longer use or want out of the bedroom? It could, with a little bit of imagination and elbow grease, be turned into a stylish and economical kitchen island. Add some dividers and give the dresser a shabby chic makeover with some vibrant colour – blue or green perhaps – and you could have a storage-friendly talking point in your kitchen! The upcycled option could even involve taking a butcher’s block (auctions often feature them) and adding legs from an old piece of furniture. This will not provide storage, but it will look incredibly satisfying.

The upgrade

Perhaps your kitchen island ticks all the boxes in terms of size, storage space and style but is rather tired and in need of a revamp. A new countertop or some sleek wooden panels can transform an existing island and cost much less than unnecessarily scrapping your island and replacing it with a more expensive model.

Let there be Light in my Kitchen!

Whether yours is an open plan kitchen or a smaller room, we all have areas in our kitchen from islands to units to corner cupboards that suffer from poor lighting. Fortunately with the enormous range of solutions on the market there is an answer for every lighting issue.

A very clever and reasonably priced solution, especially for those kitchens whose dark spots change with the weather and time of day, is to introduce flexible spotlights. From spot lights with shades that rotate 90 degrees each side to clamp-on, moveable spotlights with long, flexible, scissor arms that can follow the darkness around, perhaps on a seasonal basis, such lighting options represent a great, flexible and inexpensive option.

As open plan kitchens have prevailed as our kitchen of choice, so the question has arisen as to what constitutes the best lighting for such a room. It may be that generalised ceiling spotlighting provides the main light to the room and other options fill in the gaps. Recessed halogen spotlights are unobtrusive and efficient and can be spread evenly across the ceiling giving good universal coverage. However there will likely still be areas that need augmenting.

In larger kitchens a centrepiece hanging light feature like a chandelier or pendant light for a more modern touch, above the island, breakfast bar or dining table can look great and provide character as well as a welcome mood-lighting option. In larger kitchens benefiting from a nice dresser against a wall, perhaps a gorgeous free standing period table lamp could be the answer – with a wall-mounted mirror above the dresser this can be a real coup.

For the more modern kitchen, LED is an option that cannot be ignored for its potential to add real panache. When incorporated below the kickboards of your kitchen units, waterproof, self-adhesive LED tape or strips can be a wonderful addition to a 21st century kitchen. Whether they are applied below the kickboards, in the recesses of handle-less kitchen drawer fascia or above large cabinets, these fun, low energy lights are a superb option. LED tape is also available with colour changing for the more adventurous among us.

What often infuriates me is searching around in the back of those hard to reach corner cupboards for the one thing that I need that has happened to fall down the back and it is impossible to see where. To avoid this frustration, for the gadget lovers amongst us, motion sensitive surface mounted lights can be placed inside the cupboard and only activate as we open it. What makes these nifty gadgets even cooler is that as they run out of battery you simply remove them and charge them via a USB cable with your laptop or PC!

Never has there been a better time to shed some light on the darker recesses of your kitchen spaces and the kitchen refurbishment Leicestershire team are more than happy to show you the way.

Inviting Spring into Your Home

As the winter months become a cold memory and the snowdrops and bluebells warm our hearts with news of spring, it is time to look at our homes in a new light and think of how we can re-energise them with the vibrancy of this season of change. With a little thought your home can be transformed.

Spring clean

It may not be the glamorous option, but a top to bottom spring clean of your home will not only leave your house looking wonderful, but it will leave you feeling energised and you will become fully re-acquainted with your home, helping the ideas as to how to revamp and re-style your property flow. With the car boot season ready to rock now is the time to turn up the music and get those boxes filled with unwanted knickknacks that will free up valuable space.

New carpets or wooden flooring

There’s nothing quite like the satisfying smell of a new carpet and with all those scintillating colour and textile options, new carpets can provide a breathtaking platform for change. Perhaps, on the other hand you’ve always dreamt of that stylish, dust-free wooden floor. A super stylish option is a distressed oak floor, which may have you embarking on a mission to find those statement furniture pieces to do up in a shabby chic style to match.

Bright statements

Nothing says fresh and spring-friendly like a splash of life-affirming green or ocean blue. A bright tiling or wallpaper revamp in the bathroom may seem drastic but those energising blues and greens can make a bold spring statement. This principle can be carried on into the kitchen with whites and greens sure to brighten up your space. Perhaps some green and white chairs for the breakfast bar and a nice shade for that pendant light above the bar might to the trick?

Into the bedroom

For that splash of spring life in the bedroom, now is the time to add that feature wall. There are so many wonderful wallpapers out there that enable you to add a feature tailored to your tastes to your boudoir. With spring in mind, perhaps you could choose from some of those wonderful butterfly-themed pieces or opt for something with those garden birds that have kept you company through the winter and will flourish with the advent of spring.

The fresh spring vibe can be channelled throughout the home with a bit of a clean-up and a splash of colour and the interior design company in Leicester is ready to help you on your journey.

Gas fires vs. Wood-burning Stoves: Modern vs. Traditional

In spite of the fact that winter is finally just a memory, now is the time to get planning if you are considering adding or renovating an existing fireplace in your home in time for the next frost. There are very few homes with rooms that would not benefit from a fireplace feature as the centrepiece and even fewer people for whom the idea of huddling round a fire in the depths of winter with a glass of wine does not hold great appeal. The challenge of you dreamers as well as the interior designer Leicestershire is selecting the right fireplace for each home.

This choice may represent country cottages with traditional inglenook fireplaces that simply cry out for a traditional wood-burning stove, or Edwardian houses with a blend of period features and modern touches that could look great with either a traditional option or a glass fronted gas fire with a sleek black surround that sits comfortably below a wall mounted flat screen high definition TV.

When choosing the right fireplace for you and your home, you should ask yourselves the following questions.

What is the primary desired function – heat or decoration?
What is more important among ease of use, authenticity or fuel efficiency?
Do you have a fuel preference?

These three questions can go a long way to narrowing down your range of options before you look into the minutiae of detail and the myriad options on the market today. In today’s fast-moving and costly age the gas fireplace has gained in popularity, bolstered also by the minimal design options that match the sleek technology-centred living spaces that many people choose for their homes. Gas, despite recent price hikes remains a competitively priced fuel option and is especially attractive for those whose homes do not benefit from existing masonry chimneys. Gas fireplaces also provide comparable heat and radiance without the mess and storage required for wood-burning stoves. For the young, working couple the time, money and space saving nature of the gas fireplace is an attractive draw. Elegant and modern glass fronted gas fireplaces can look stunning even in big, old properties, a stand-out nod to the modern world in an otherwise rustic surround can be truly stunning.

This all said, if you are blessed with a property benefiting from a good masonry chimney, properly lined and with a hearty draw, there is nothing quite as satisfying as lighting a real, wood-burning stove and while it can provoke lively debate in the household (“it’s your turn to put another log!”) they really do radiate quite a wonderful heat and atmosphere and you can’t toast a marshmallow through a glass panel.

Innovative Bathroom Lighting Solutions

For those looking to add a certain je ne sais quoi to their bathrooms or shower rooms, you could do a lot worse and spend a lot more than looking at your lighting. There are so many innovative and creative lighting solutions specifically designed for our watery havens that you will be spoiled for choice. Those working on bathroom refurbishment Leicestershire are well aware of the revitalising qualities imbued in some of these lighting ideas and this article highlights some particularly exciting options.

Today’s bathrooms are multi-purpose and have multiple personalities in keeping with the vibrant idea of modern living space. From functional and practical rooms to calming, tranquil oases in a sea of modern stress, our bathrooms must be able to morph with our requirements of them and one fabulously simple way of achieving this goal is via lighting. Of course, simple dimmer switches have, in the past been one of the main ways in which the bathroom can shift from well lit practical morning ‘getting ready’ rooms to chilled out evening ‘winding down’ spaces. Dimmer options on vanity lights are also effective mechanisms to assist this transition.

One fun and modern lighting solution is provided by colour-changing LED shower head lighting, whereby the flow of water from the shower head takes on a specific colour in response to the temperature of the water – blue is cold, green lukewarm and red is nice and hot! Why this may seem a little gimmicky it is certainly not without an element of fun and would be received as such by the littler members of the family.

LED lighting is not restricted to the shower head, of course, representing an efficient and wonderfully flexible way of lighting a bathroom. Colours can be introduced according to taste, yielding sensational results in the ambience department. Stainless steel LED floor lights can look sensational when they break up a sleek, grey slate tiled floor or wooden slatted floor and the array of surface mounting ceiling downlights on the market is staggering. Adjustable and dimmable LED wall-mounted lights can provide flexible lighting that can adapt to the different ways in which you use your bathroom and whether you choose chrome, brushed steel, elegant black or fresh white you can add your own sense of style to boot.

In addition to the modern lighting options, given enough ceiling height a more elaborate low hanging light fitting like a chandelier, equipped with dimming options can be unparalleled in the drive for evening mood lighting.

Open Plan Living vs. Separate Rooms

If there has been one trend in home renovation Leicestershire and indeed in home design in general that has stood out over the last 20 years then it is the shift aware from conventional room divisions to open plan living spaces. There is, of course also the in-between option of a little bit of open-plan space such as a kitchen/diner, with separate living room and bedrooms and even a partially open-plan kitchen/dining space that is more about good flow between rooms than a complete abandonment of division.

It stands to reason that as the typical family dynamic has become more fluid and less traditional, then so has the layout of the average family’s living space. The barriers between male and female division of labour have continued to be dismantled and there are increasingly blurred lines between housework (especially cooking) and leisure time. As cooking and smoothie-making, juicing and other areas of food preparation have become de riguer and somewhat social activities and cooking has evolved into an often shared activity then the role of the kitchen has also evolved. With working roles also ever-evolving, families now spend more time together than ever before and what better solution to this trend than open plan living?

The benefits of fully opening one’s living space are numerous, but the decision can involve quite drastic building work and before taking the plunge it is wise to consider the pros and cons.

The open plan kitchen/diner is ideal for those who like to revel in the glory of the mealtime, those for whom a dinner is not microwaved and consumed over 10 minutes on a tray in front of the TV. The open plan living space is also conducive to minimalist design and enables watchful parents to keep an eye on their children while preparing dinner. For the stir crazy among us it can be especially liberating not to sit in a room and feel like the walls are closing in and open planned space can certainly feel less claustrophobic.

However, with too much open plan space, privacy can become an issue, especially as those children become teenagers and while of course it is possible to retreat to the bedroom this can bring its own worries on occasion! Those with sensitive noses can be put off by the aromas that spread from the kitchen in an open plan ground floor and while this can be partially remedied with odour-neutralising candles, it would be less of an issue in a kitchen shut off from the rest of the ground floor. Even the cons can become pros, however as few could deny the pleasure in the warm waft of freshly baked bread spreading throughout the house. Another drawback of open plan living is that there are obviously less walls throughout the ground floor. Fewer walls equal less wall space to hang art, shelving and cabinets.

While it is possible that the decision to embrace open plan living could be taken out of your hands by circumstance, if you are thinking of renovating a closed room type house and plumping for the open plan option, hopefully this article will have given you some idea as to where your allegiances lie.

Which Kitchen Worktop?

Why go upmarket
Should I go for Granite, Corian, wood or quartz? It is one of the biggest dilemmas when designing your new kitchen, given that changing your worktop is not a habitual event and plenty of time will be spent using it for years to come. Increasingly people are setting aside a larger portion of their budget for surfaces once considered an extravagant outlay. One of the main attractions of higher end surfaces such as granite and quartz is that they are relatively indestructible and render that awful water-lifting that plagued laminate and scratching that affected stainless steel worktops a thing of the past.

Pricing
Using laminate (cheap), wood (medium) and granite (expensive) as an example, you might be able to make an instant decision according to budget. Laminate comes in at around £20 per metre, wood at around £70 per metre and granite anywhere in excess of £220 per metre. These are rough guide prices and there is plenty of variation on the market. For the purpose of this article laminate shall be treated as a budget choice and is recommended only if the other options are prohibitively expensive.

Wood
Wooden surfaces look the business and are a far cheaper option than quartz or granite, so what’s the catch? Well, given several coats of Danish Oil, months apart and care when it comes to leaving water marks then wooden surfaces can maintain their appearance, by and large, for many years. There is no getting away from the fact that more care is required than with quartz or granite, however.

Mineral/Acrylic blend Solid Surface Material
A synthetic material made up of a blend of minerals and acrylic of this ilk lends itself to kitchen worktops as it is seamless, stain resistant and can be moulded into the most awkward of shapes and spaces and there are over 100 colour choices. However, such surfaces are not as heat resistant as granite or quartz and more susceptible to scratching although marks can be simply sanded out. It is also a more expensive option.

Quartz
Quartz worktops are as strong as granite but also benefit from increased flexibility, which makes them easier to install, although they are even heavier than granite, so professional installation is mandatory. Quartz is not indestructible, but it is stain resistant and because of the colour choices available seams can be hidden well.

Granite
Quarried from the earth in large chunks, granite worktops are increasingly popular and will not discolour over time. They do need to be sealed year after year as they are naturally porous. The appearance of granite worktops is not uniform, as it is natural although they are immensely durable and should last several lifetimes! In terms of price granite is comparable to quartz although because it is not made to measure you will usually end up paying more and installation must be done by professionals such as kitchen refurbishment Leicester.

In summary, while granite remains the worktop du jour, quartz is gaining ground and the mineral/acrylic blend surface has its place when flexibility is a must. In reality either quartz or granite will, given that they are installed satisfactorily be winners – adding to the value of your house to boot – but should you not mind taking a little extra care, the aesthetics of a good wooden worktop could win you over, especially considering the potential savings.

← Previous 1 … 13 14 15 … 17 Next →