A right kind of lighting scheme can serve to add a lot of zing to your life by establishing the character and style of your home in a perfect manner. Proper lighting does not necessarily mean a central fixture coupled with a few other lamps. Here are some of the tips that you can follow to illuminate your home with a right lighting scheme.

You must make provision for general lighting in every room of your home. A hanging light would offer you with more flexibility as it is available in diverse fabric, metal and paper. For reading purpose, you can opt for the tall lamps to provide you with enough light to keep your vision right. Task lighting has always been designed to light a small area. For lighting the entrance, you can use a simple task lamp available in various shapes and sizes. Make sure you do not use too jazzy lighting for your bedroom unlike that of your living room.

Follow these simple instructions and see how your well-lighted abode brings harmony in your life.

Have you ever tried using green decorating elements to spice up your bedroom? If no, then just give it a thought how soothing a feel you can give your bedroom? Not only that, by using green decoration techniques you can stay environment friendly as well. It will also serve to increase your sense of well-being and prosperity.

In the recent times, the world seems to be going green in every aspect. Starting from the diet we consume to the color of our car, ‘green’ remains to be the buzzword of all activities. Green decoration techniques mainly emphasizes on the use of organic mattress, flooring, paints, colors and clothing. Reusing the worn out stuffs by adding some junk to it, also helps you to stay green in your very own way.

By now, you must have already decided to go green to stay green forever and always.

The taste and preference of the inmates of a house reflect in the decoration of the rooms. Those who always like the grand look for their rooms and prefer the Victorian style of decoration can always opt for the antique accessories to decorate their rooms. In fact, those who have an old house should go for the antique accessories as they will complement the architectural style of the building.

But there are few other factors that you need to take care of before purchasing the antique accessories. First of all, the color of the walls should have some kind of vintage appeal in it. The flooring part is equally important to bring out the best from these accessories. The artworks, old metal photo frames, pictures, lamps and ornamental wooden furniture are included in the list of antique accessories. You can buy them from the stores or get them made-to-order according to the selected designs and patterns.

Color schemes should be chosen according to the theme of the house, if any, climatic conditions, size of the room and light that comes in the room. All of these factors play an important role. If there is any specific theme in mind, for instance, black and white with red accents, then take into consideration the type of fabric used for curtains and upholstery. Natural fabrics score over man-made fabrics for their ability to breathe, and feel cool to the touch. Man-made fabrics have the advantage of longevity and are appreciably cheaper then the natural equivalent.

Prints of fabrics such as stripes, plaids, floral or checks can be used as single or mix-and-match according to your preference. Solid colors or neutrals go well with patterns. For large rooms, choose multi-colored upholstery, bed linens and coverings, wallpaper and window curtains with a large scale print. Contrast of mid-scale and small-scale prints look good too. A word of caution here would be to play with either color or print or texture. Variants of all can lead to a chaotic feel.

Walls could be painted or even papered, as this option is once again gaining ground. The tend these days is to for in for two or three different color on the walls of a single room, but monochromatic, walls can be make to look beautiful with accents in two or three complementary or contrasting colors. The detailing of cornices or window frames can be highlighted if desired, to add interest in the room. Painting them in contrasting colors can highlight attractive architectural elements such as trims and molding. However, it shrinks the space a little bit. Painting them in the same shade as the background can hide ugly elements as well as open up the space. More on coloring your dreams tomorrow.

When your windows and doors are planned by the engineer, make sure you opt for bay window, which offer seating inside and extend out into the outdoors. Plan your doorways similarly, though look at the safety angle before using either doors, sliding or otherwise, between the outdoors and the indoors.

Furniture

Place a few furniture pieces, say a bark of wood that is polished and buffed, inside your living room, close to an open window, or keeping a coffee table that is embedded with elements like stone pebbles, colored or neutral mosaic pieces etc. This will create a synergy between the outdoors and the indoors. Planning garden furniture that fits in with the rest of your interior décor including furniture pieces would also help in creating this compact picture.

If you discuss this concept prior to construction and also with your interior designer, many niches in the walls as well as partitions can be planned to create this seamless interaction between the two. You can add to this ambience with the use of carefully selected home décor items.

Another technique is to have a small atrium created inside your home over which you fix a skylight, allowing that place to be well lit during the day. In the atrium, you can have a bunch of potted plants that you like a small rock garden, and if it’s a slightly larger space, even a bench where you can sit for sometime. One or more of the sides of the atrium can be covered with green partition screens, made of net or even transparent glass which still offers privacy to the one sitting inside. Green painted garden nets can be placed just below the skylight to cut direct light entering inside, or can be kept on one side of your entrance to your main door, allowing the garden creeper to hang on it along with other flowering trees planted close by.

Creating niches

Another way of bringing about a harmony between the two is when you partially cover the outdoors with long leafed trees, high hedges, or bring a few of these inside the living area in the form of large potted plants. Use a large open niche window, without the grills that faces the outdoors, while you set about a table and an option to dine indoors. You can also cover the niche with shield glass or have a green partition screen whenever it gets too sunny for comfort but during some seasons it might be a good way to spend the afternoon here. Plan to have a picket fence around your house and garden instead of a wall because a picket fence allows you to experience the outdoors.

Décor Items

Potted plants kept in the balcony and a few inside your living room is another way to bring nature indoors. For instance, hanging home accessories like large prints of different element of nature – leaves, flowers, twigs etc bring the idea home. Your kitchen window can still be done to hold a box of potted herbs that hang outside to get the sun, but are also accessible to you when cooking.

Living Room

Changing the décor of this room often adds the much required freshness. One way to do this is with slipcovers and cushion covers. Invest in a good variety and change them frequently. Assign one corner or a niche as a rotating display corner. Change the accessory on display often. For this purpose, keep two-three choices like a big sculpture, figurine and an installation of earthen pots.

Another way to change the décor is to rearrange furniture. Try and have at least two seating areas each time and make these cosy and exclusive. Rugs and table lamps can achieve this. Even a simple arm chair with a floor lamp will make the area look exclusive. Dot the room with potted plants on floor or on tables. Conceal the unsightly wires with beading. This is a small step that makes a significant change. Use inexpensive wooden beading to make elegant chair rails or moldings. Have small accessories on the centre table and change the display often.

Dining Room

Again, have colorful slipcovers for the chairs to create different looks. Here the table is the focus. Place a stunning centerpiece on the table and change it as often as you can. The centerpiece can be candelabrum with colored candles, an arrangement of fresh flowers or fruits. If there is no sideboard, then have a set of nested tables that can be used to display as well as hold essentials. Invest in a good pendant lamp. A big mirror is perfect for the wall. But so is a collage of favorite photographs.

You can enhance the décor of your living spaces with some simple elements that don’t entail a huge cost. Many houses have tired looking porticos and cemented driveways. Hang some wind chimes and pots with trailing ferns from a semi covered portico. A driveway can made interesting by having a tiered arrangement of pots or a wooden or stone sculpture. A stone bench too can create nice ambience. A polished or a painted door with an interesting knocker will be nice. Wall mounted pots along the door or terracotta wall plaques and accessories make for a bright change. Apartments can follow on similar lines with maybe grander choice of wall hangings and sculptures. For the lobby, first clear up all the clutter that usually dots the space. For wide lobby, a few chairs and a table is enough. Throw in a smart looking cotton dhurri and maybe one big accessory for the table. A table lamp will make the space look inviting. Store the mails and newspapers in a stylish magazine stand or a cane basket. Have a big mirror or a bright painting on the lobby wall. One big painting or a series of smaller thematic painting will do.

Going ahead we will look at the simple ways of improving the décor of your living room, dining room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom

In this last write up in a series of home décor hobbies we will look at a few more simple ways of improving the ambience and looks of your house.

Flower Arrangements

There are several styles in flower arrangements. Certain styles like ikebana are famous and attractive. Learning flower arrangement as a hobby is a good idea since you can create different displays for the house. Complement this hobby with other skills like the art of drying flowers, making silk flowers to make beautiful creations for the house. Framing dried flowers ad attractive leaves against suitable backdrops will make for attractive wall hangings.

Needlework

Needlework can turn out a range of elegant decor objects. Crochet, cross stitch, embroidery, and tapestry are some way to create home décor accessories. Needlework can accentuate cushion covers, table cloths, pillow and bed covers, curtains, wall hangings etc to great effect.

Carpentry

This home craft needs a fair amount of expertise before you can charming items. However, you can try simple ideas in the beginning like a stand for an attractive plate before venturing to create larger furniture pieces.

Glass Mosaic Art

A hobby that is versatile enough to create miniscule wall hangings as well as large wall murals. Glass mosaic art requires a ser of dedicated tools and workspace. You can embellish photo frames, mirrors and other such accessories with this art. Slowly, you can graduate to making backsplashes and tabletops.

Other hobbies like photography, bead work and paper Mache will also help you create stylish home décor and accessories.