zaterdag 26 februari 2011

We have to start somewhere, Don't we?

Tadaaaa!
As promised, some pictures of the inspiration piece for our new apartment. I found this fabric in Curacao a couple of weeks ago. From the moment I saw it I was sure that this is exactly what I was looking for. A beautiful fabric with the most fabulous colors and designs. Exactly the colors that I had in my head. I bought a piece to make a large decoration pillow out of it. Seeing that the fabric is very busy, I opted to make just one pillow. This pillow will then be the center of the design of the whole apartment. 
*click on pictures to enlarge







The colors include: Dark orange, Aqua, Brown, Beige........and so on (depends on your eyes really). 
Now don't be scared. This does not mean that the whole apartment will be filled with these colors or that the walls will be aqua and orange. I will take these colors into account when buying furniture and decoration pieces. The color of the walls will, most probably, be neutral.

P.s. Thanks for the very nice e-mail! That's exactly what I wanted to achieve with this blog...

zondag 20 februari 2011

Gone to the beach.....

Dear Blog Readers: Miss me much? I’m back! (with a “BEACHY” guest room make-over)

First of all: I am sooo sorry that I haven’t posted anything for the last 6 weeks. But try getting your Masters at RSM Erasmus University, keeping your social life on track AND posting on your blog –all at the same time: IMPOSSIBLE. Fortunately for you, I have been able to gather some very exciting things in my head;)

Here comes the first:

I just returned from Curacao from a 5 week vacation (LOVE). So of course, I took on an interior design project! This time it was a guest room in my parents' house. My sister and I drove from one furniture store to the next, one fabric store to the other….and so on. It was a great experience. I love finding great interior pieces in Curacao.

Warning: this room is not finished yet. The TV still needs to be attached to the wall in front of the bed, the wall-pieces still need to be hung, white shelves still need to be put in place, a big mirror with a dark brown frame will be put on top of the dresser.




The inspiration piece: Dark Brown. Baby Blue. White.

As stated in earlier posts, the way I personally decorate is: I need to have an inspirational piece to start with. It can be anything, -a piece of fabric, a painting, a vase…
In this case the starting point was this beautiful, and at the same time fun, wall art. My sister bought it at Target Home last year. This piece inspired us to work with Dark Brown, Baby Blue, Beige and White.





Wall color: Satin white (which is an off-white color)

It was important to keep the room light and airy. Because the room is relatively small and cozy, it gave us the liberty to paint the walls a light color. I also took the color of the flooring into consideration: Dark brown tiles look great with a contrasting light color on the walls.


Woodwork: Ice White
The woodwork in this room (including the bathroom) was dark brown. In order to give the room a clean fresh look we let them paint all the woodwork an ice white color. We also changed the doorknobs (my hobby;)) to give the bathroom a more sophisticated look. 
















Bed: Black

We opted for a “sofa-style” bed. Since this is a guest room, the bed can always be used as a sofa. About the color: A really important tip is that you always need to have something black in a room. It has something to do with the absorbency of the light with which I will not bother you right now. Just put something black in your room! Trust me. Also, we thought the contrast between the black of the bed and the white of the walls would make the bed stand out more.


Accessories: Baby Blue, Dark Brown, Neutral


It is of utmost importance to decide on what you will put in the room or not (no overkill). 
Since the theme is “Beach”, we opted to include more pieces that are related to the beach.
Pillows: We decided to buy two contrasting fabrics to make pillow cases (brown, blue).
Curtains: beige (white would have been too cold).  Notice how the carpet is exactly the same color as the candle in the lantern? I LOVE THAT COLOR (my own bedroom wall is that same color).



































It was nice showing you this and I hope it has inspired you to beautify the rooms in your home one by one! Stay tuned for the “inspiration-starting point-piece” for my new apartment in Curacao! And YES, I found it on the island! So excited!