Home Interior Design – Connecting Little Rock

Archive for September, 2009

If you talk about interior design, it sure is a complicated profession, many people thinks architecture is an interior designing and many confuse it with decorating, but this is something different, interior design courses will provide a profession in which you plan and organize the interior structure rather than furnishing or refinishing available interior space. It involves delivering interior environment that is practical (functional) and pleasing, interior design seems simple but there is lot more in interior design.

In past few years, there is constant increase in popularity of interior designing as a profession. Now there is licensed design professionals who are qualified by degree, experience and work. There are even organizations who are developing awareness of interior design and with their constant dedication, this profession is now at where we see it.

Interior design courses are now offering widely online, in universities and in colleges and they teach the process, principal, necessary understanding, knowledge and experience to be successful as an interior designer. If you view from consumer point of view, this all give benefits to consumer end.

Decision making process is the key in the interior designing, take a example of home designing, we eat, sleep, entertain, wash and work in home, there is no readymade design, people lives differently, so while making decision, designer make sense in relationship between home, family, owner and lifestyle.

The basic principles of good interior design are natural, the more close it will be to the nature, the more it will be practical and pleasant, “examine the universe it will teach you how to live”. Interior Designing is an art, art of making life easier by giving environment, it involve the shaping the space, walls and surface. Dedicated skills when combine with artistic waves of mind, transform “imagination into design”.

In the ever accepting world of the throwaway society it’s nice to be able to find a manufacturer like Rational Kitchens whose policy is to manufacture a cabinet that will last at least 25 years. I also supply Miele appliances that have the rational of thought. They manufacture appliances to last more than 20 years. They back this up by keeping spare parts for all models of any appliance for 20 years. It is sometimes hard educating the potential customers that visit my kitchen studio, The Kitchen Store, Sheffield, and Yorkshire that my kitchens will last in excess of 20 years. They sometimes have a cynical approach due to the fact that all kitchen shops are claiming the same. it soon becomes apparent when I start to dismantle one of my displays to show the build quality of the cabinets, after all its all about the cabinet, hinges and drawer runners, not the fancy door that any kitchen manufacturer can put on a carcase to make it look a million dollars.

Rational really are the innovators when it comes to new features. They are constantly striving to better the already fantastic storage solution available and making the kitchen more agronomical than before. With new new ideas, comes new technology and Rational Kitchens are always investing in the new ideas and technology. It’s just a shame that after a year all the competitors have copied the new ideas. And once they have been around for a while, each and every manufacturer did in fact do this first.

I have made a web site to showcase just what is on offer from The Kitchen Store and Rational Kitchens. Please have a look and let me know what you think. Rational Kitchens Please visit my website. The new Atmos and Logic Book matched Oak & Walnut kitchens are absolutely beautiful. The grain runs seamlessly throughout the whole kitchen. If you was to have an island, the grain runs right round, it is amazing to see. It is hand crafted and I’m sure the man who makes this model is very very patient indeed.

They have lots of ranges available. The new Tio range has been developed more for the developer, apartment builder. It’s the same quality as the main luxury range; the difference is a cheaper door and not a lot of variations of cabinets available. They do not produce special sizes like they do in the luxury range. In the luxury range we can design to our hearts content. The options are just endless. We have produced some truly beautiful kitchens. Every single one of my customers over the last eight and a half has been over the moon with the kitchen. And more so as time has gone on. They are realising as the years go by that they really made the right choice in choosing Eddie Grant and a Rational Kitchen.

We are now supplying the whole of the UK. We are mostly supplying Sheffield, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire & Yorkshire. We are supplying London, Manchester, Birmingham and all major cities throughout the UK. We are even supplying kitchens to the likes of Doncaster, Rotherham, Chesterfield and many little villages in Derbyshire, such as Castleton, Barlow. If you need any more information please feel free to get in touch through the web site. Kindest regards Eddie Grant

Grow a beautiful garden the water wise way

Saving water and enjoying the beauty and environmental benefits of plants are not only possible, but easy says the American Association of Nurserymen (AAN). “Water Wise” gardening is built on some basic, commonsense principles:

Planning

Planning a water wise garden or landscape is as easy and fun-as planning any type of garden. Talk to the professionals at your local center/landscape firm to see which plants will do well in your area. You may be surprised to find that some very beautiful, colorful plants are low on water consumption-and they may fit into your landscape perfectly.

Group together plants that require the same amount of water. Plant trees and shrubs to provide shade to cool buildings, air conditioning units, patios, decks, and other landscape features.  Shelter container plants by moving them to shady areas. Spike or aerate lawns to insure maximum water penetration. Control weeds which compete with useful plants for water.

Soil Improvement

Soil improvement is another easy and beneficial step in building a water wise garden. Soil that is well prepared at the time of planting influences the plant’s initial development and yields the best results. And plants placed in the proper soil will be healthier, often needing less water.

Soil characteristics include texture, structure, depth, and nutrients. To find out more about your soil content, test your soil with the following garden products: Accugrow Soil Test Kit or the Sunleaves Three-Way Meter.  

Wise Irrigation

Efficient irrigation is a critical part of water wise gardening. Your irrigation system can be simple, such as a hand-held hose, or elaborate, such as an in-ground sprinkler system. Consider a drip water conservation system, which can save up to 60% of water used by sprinkler irrigation. Whatever you choose, make sure you plan your watering to get best results.

Deep, infrequent watering, promotes root growth and is the wisest use of water and encourages strong rooting. This provides greater tolerance to dry spells.  Water early in the day, and on less windy days, to reduce evaporation loss. The ideal time is from dawn to 9:00 a.m.   Turn off sprinklers before water is wasted as runoff into gutters and streets.

Mulching

Mulching is always a benefit to your garden and can help prevent soil erosion and evaporation, conserving the water that is available and keeping your plants healthy and strong.

Maintenance

Maintaining your water wise garden means learning how to water all over again. You may find that watering less means having more time to sit back and enjoy your garden. Generally, plants should be watered less often and for a long period of time. Drip, soaker, or deep root watering promotes healthy plants and less water use.

Water Wise Gardening Tips

Follow these handy watering tips from AAN, and you’ll soon be started on your own environmentally sound garden or landscape.  For garden products mentioned in this article, please visit http://www.spray-n-growgardening.com

Interior design consultancies understand the richness of light in all its forms. In London, lighting is crucial to interior design consultancies that need to create stunning results. In this, the sixth article in my series which I call “DeLIGHTed by Design,” I continue to draw on my experience working with some of London’s Top Interior Design Consultancies to explain this exciting area.

Six main lighting tools are considered foundational by established interior design consultancies. These are down-lighters, up-lighters, wall-washers, decorative lighting, colour and control. Many London interior design consultancies will preferentially think of these mostly in terms of mood and results – from daring highlights to soft textures – instead of as hardware and installations.

Down-lighters are often set back into a false ceiling, although some interior design consultancies will prefer to install them on walls. These units will direct light downwards, and can be focused by the design team as necessary, perhaps to illuminate the floor or a favourite contoured bookcase. Most interior design consultancies recognise that this type of light is very sharp and will generate somewhat intense shadows, which can be a refreshing contrast to the occasionally dreary London weather. The most popular units are always available in narrow beam designs, which are best for highlighting certain features. Interior design consultancies will sometimes opt for a wide beam model instead. One nice technique that I have seen used in a few London residences is to create an array of shimmering ceiling lights with wide-beam downlighters. This is appropriate when the interior design consultancy wishes to create a more general, ambient light, but with a fabulous designer feel.

Up-lighters wash the ceiling with light, and the ceiling then serves as its own lighting fixture, bouncing relaxing and general illumination back into the living area. Interior design consultancies will use up-lighters to create an engaging feeling of openness and upward motion when the ceiling is painted a dark colour, in which case the reflected lumens will be low. Up-lighters in London are often either free standing or wall-mounted, usually above head-height to eliminate dazzle. One great technique that I once saw used by a well-known London interior design consultancy was to incorporate a fabulous up-lighter that was recessed into the floor as a central feature, creating drama and powerful contrast for a cove and elongated column.

In the next article in this series “DeLIGHTed by Design,” I will continue explaining how interior design consultancies rely on the six core lighting tools.

Fitted Kitchens That Fit Your Needs

Fitted kitchens are not only prime eye-candy, but they are more efficient, by being tailored to your personal needs and preferences. A kitchen in many homes is actually an extension of the living space and persons including women and children often spend long hours within its confines. Naturally, proper ambience, efficiency, and safety become primary concerns while designing a kitchen, and to suitably address these concerns, bespoke fitted kitchens are your best bet.

Are Fitted Kitchens Only for the Rich?

Many people avoid going for a fitted kitchen from a perception of enormous costs affordable only by the rich. While to a great extent this may be true, it is actually a mistaken approach created by faulty prioritization. Whatever be the range of our earnings, all of us earn and spend, and it is the pattern of our spending that defines our status and our priorities. We do not hold back on spending when it comes to the education of our children because we recognize the priority. We do not hold back from spending on medicine because to us it is necessary. We hold back spending to create a better kitchen only when we fail to recognize the need for a comfortable and efficient space, where our family members spend a large part of their time. Whether one opts for a fitted kitchen or not does not depend upon him or her being rich or poor, but whether he or she recognizes the importance of a kitchen and its influence on family health. Fitted kitchens are no less important than fitted bedrooms for both require a stress-free environment.

Best Rate in Fitted Kitchens

The best rate in fitted kitchens for you depends upon many factors including your needs, desires, availability of services etc. Consumers have learnt enough to not confine appreciation of products and services only upon the money component. It is always a matter of cost-benefit analysis to find what is best for you. In going for something major like a fitted kitchen, costs include time, money, after installation services, and material longevity. Some people go for good-looking but cheap surface materials since they like to change the looks of their kitchens ever so often. For such people longevity of surface materials is not the prime concern, but efficient design and solid plumbing as well as structures matter.

When it comes to choosing between your friendly neighborhood carpenter and plumber, and a company specialized in fitted kitchens, it is usually the bigger company that wins unless you are located in a too remote area. Bigger companies provide the best rate in fitted kitchens since they make bulk purchases from around the world and produce equipment in bulk. Bigger companies also tend to use standardized plumbing fittings, which are easier to repair or replace.

Off-the-shelf designs do provide the best rates in fitted kitchens, but one needs to be wary of the brand or the company supplying the material. With the new type of compressed wood furniture, sometimes the surface lamination peels off too quickly, and though initially costlier, natural wood surfaces provide the best rates in the long run. Since installing a fitted kitchen is usually not a regular affair, it is prudent to go for bespoke fitted kitchens, or suitable off-the-shelf kitchens that fit in with your design.

If you are looking for ways for you or your children to provide cheap presents for the extended family, or just like to give gifts that have a personal element to them, then here is a suggestion or two for you.

If you are looking to make a present for the gardener in the family or someone who has recently moved into their own home, someone in a flat or unit, or a person who can’t manage a full sized yard, or a family member who loves to cook with fresh ingredients, etc. Then why not consider giving them something from your own garden? Here I am talking about plants that you have divided off from your own garden plants.

There are many plants growing in the average garden that can be divided, or that have naturally self layered themselves. Where you could go along and take a rooted section, pot them up and with a bit of dressing up of the planting container, you could produce a really nice gift for someone you care about.

These plants include many herbs as well as perennials or shrubs and even some trees which manage to send out self-layering branches or suckers from the root system. Some perennials or bulbs will increase their size or number of bulbs over time. Chance seedlings coming up in the wrong place for you, can easily also be used. All of these provide you with an opportunity to cheaply create a wonderful present for someone else.

First things first you will need to obtain a number of pots either plastic ones left over from additions to the garden population, or from someone you know, or you can go out and purchase a pot plastic/ceramic/terracotta etc., to suit your needs. If the person you are giving the plant to is not a real gardener, then you might consider getting a pot with a waterwell in the base to increase the plants’ chances of surviving.

Next, you need to begin looking for your plant material, so take a careful look around your garden at the soil level. Check out which plants are showing multiple stalks growing out of the ground. Or those sprawling plants where a branch has leaned over on to the ground and taken root along the branch, maybe one where a branch has become buried under the mulch.

Or one where there is a sucker growing from the soil a short distance from the parent plant. Another possibility is seedlings growing in the garden a distance from the parent plant material. Maybe there is a clump of plants or a big patch of bulbs where you can do some dividing.

Many of these plants benefit from being divided up or being allowed some more growing room in the particular area where you have taken away some material.

Different parts of Australia will have a differing range of plant species, which lend themselves to this form of self-propagation. If you can’t find any plants that are doing this in your own garden, why not look at a friends or neighbours garden. Or you could maybe join forces and give a joint present using plants from another family member’s garden. Or another possibility is to buy a plant in a pot that has several plants already established in it.

Divide that up before you use half in your own garden, and still have half to repot and give away. Even if you are not confident about your gardening skills you can still pick up cheap plants at the local market, school/church fair, garage sale etc. Repot them into a bigger or nicer pot for a fairly cheap present.

Another possibility is to multiplant a few different plants into a long or large round tub. This will create an instant garden on the move. Some themes you might consider here is herbs, indoor foliage, bulbs, annuals, alpine/rock, cacti/succulent or even patio gardens mixing annuals and perennials.

It is best to moisten the ground around the plant that you are going to work on well before you do the dividing, as this allows you to remove the maximum amount of root mass during the dividing process.

The first step is to divide the clump or cut away the joining branch to make the separate plant available. Then using a spade, fork or gardening trowel, dig as far out from the potential plant as practicable, because this will give you the biggest root mass possible.

Go down as far you believe you need to, (this will depend on such circumstances as size of new plant, species of original plant material, type of soil, other plant or landscaping material around the area, etc.). As gently as you can dig out the new plant. Shake off any excess soil and refill the resulting hole in the ground if necessary.

Prune back the foliage of the new plant to roughly equal size of the root mass, trying to protect some of the new foliage growth. Repot as soon as practicable, so that the roots do not dry out and die.

Another thing to consider is what sort of pot you are gong to plant into; if it is only a plastic pot then you do not need to prepare it beforehand. However if you are looking at painting it, then do this before you get digging.

When painting up pots, you will need to do some preparation work for the paint to stick properly. Plastic pots should have their surface roughened up with a bit of sandpaper. While some terracotta pots should have a primer applied to the outer surface before you paint them. Try not to get primer or paint onto the inside of the planter, because while most wont, there are still some paints which contain chemicals that may affect or contaminate the soil and plant over time.

Other possibilities for decorating up pots include simply gluing on bits and pieces including stones, tiles, buttons, sticks, shells, ornaments, ribbon, stickers and decals, etc. Other ways of decorating up a pot for the initial presentation is to wrap up just the pot (not the actual plant), using either wrapping paper, cellophane, material, a cheap teatowel or even hessian. Hold these wrappers in place with string, ribbon, bandana, scarf, etc.

Other possibilities for adding value to the potplant is to provide some growing information and name tags for the plant/s included. Other little quirks you might add include a personalised name tag, (Hi, my name is David the Diffenbachia . . . ), or a little watering indicator, miniature hand tools, small amounts of fertiliser, pot ornaments, watering can etc.

So as you can see, creating a very personal gift for just about anyone can easily be within the grasp of anyone. Why not go out into your garden and start thinking about what presents you can be preparing for Christmas this weekend.

Thomas Chippendale didn’t grow up in London (in fact he was born in Leeds in 1718), but he did move to London at the age of 31, after he had already gained recognition as a premiere furniture maker and cabinetry-focused interior designer. His work and styles influenced the London Interior Design community then, and the Chippendale aesthetic continues to extend its impact well beyond London even today.

Chippendale’s fluent, natural and sophisticated style developed after the promotion of his furniture and interior designs in “The Gentleman and the Cabinetmaker’s Director” in 1754. Chippendale continued to make iconic contributions to the field of interior design until 1790. His furniture came to be manufactured as far afield as Philadelphia in the USA.

Chippendale drew on three key interior design inspirations for this work – namely French, Asian and Goth. In the USA, Chippendale’s work was interpreted as a re-envisionment of the Queen Anne interior design style. His furniture was often heavily ornamentalised on the feet and uppers, with beautiful heritage-inspired scroll tops on taller units. Yellow Birch and Mahogany were often used, undersupport was rarely employed, and the rears of seated furniture were covered with plush fabric or otherwise left as shaped wood, perhaps as tessellated piecework with ornamental sculpting and Asia-inspired cross-strips. To round out his own personal interior design style, Chippendale would also include delightful finials and varnished shellac features.

Enthusiasts and professionals alike were very taken with Chippendale’s work, lauding him as a master London cabinetmaker and a household name of eighteenth-century furniture-focused interior design.

Harewood House is a popular Leeds tourist attraction, located about 4 hours’ drive from Central London. The famous building features a magnificent collection of Chippendale library furniture that was originally ordered during the 1760s. The interior design style reflects Chippendale’s ideals throughout and showcases his focus on both form and function.

Today, London’s interior designers are often called to reconstruct period rooms in traditional mansions or luxury residences. Often Chippendale furniture will play a major role in such interior design concepts. Chippendale-inspired furniture designs such as those of Henrietta Spencer-Churchill may also be ideal for certain settings. However, the fresh lines of many Chippendale pieces also lend themselves to contemporary interior design concepts – many interior designers will use some of the more extravagant Chippendale pieces to offset some of the more frosty and unforgiving modern furniture elements.

A kitchen renovation can make a remarkable difference to your home, make your kitchen easier to use in a functional manor and turn a drab old kitchen into the modern kitchen that you have always wanted.  Kitchen renovations are an economical alternative to getting a completely new kitchen.

Renovations are common for those on a budget and people moving into older style properties as often Victorian style kitchens often look strange when integrated with new style appliances.

A kitchen renovation can include:

Re-surfacing of cabinets
installation of new cabinet door handles
Re-surfacing  benchtop
Plastering and waterproofing
Polishing existing sink
Installation of new tap ware
Tiling and painting
Kitchen design
Plumbing for the installation of gas appliances, taps, sinks, dishwasher, etc.
Electrical work for the installation of electrical appliances, lights, , power points, etc

Renovating your kitchen can take time, especially if you are going to do the job yourself.  You should therefore ensure that you have made alternative eating arrangements, as normal kitchen usage is unlikely.  This obviously depends on whether you intend to carry out a complete renovation, or just a quick spruce up.

The cost of a kitchen renovation will depend on the state of your current kitchen, how much work is involved, the quality of the materials used and the size of your kitchen.  The cost will also vary depending on whether you will do the work yourself, or if you decide to get a professional to do the job.

If you choose a professional kitchen renovation, you should ensure that the company has a builders licence and that they use quality materials.  Some companies offer guarantees on workmanship and quality.  This will ensure that you receive a good job and a kitchen that will last.  You should confirm timescales and make sure that the price quoted is final to avoid unexpected costs.

The amount of experience of the builders, plumbers and electricians a company uses is vital to the quality and total outcome of your kitchen.  Most kitchen renovation companies have photos of kitchens they have renovated before; this will help give you an indication of what they are capable of and whether they are the right kind of company for you.