Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Why Red is The Best Colour For Kitchen But, Not for Bathroom!

Why Red is The Best Colour For Kitchen But, Not for Bathroom! 

Planning to decorate a bathroom using the colour red? Do think twice, as every colour has different properties and evokes a distinct response in most people. Every room in a home serves a purpose, and certain colours work to enhance that effect. A living room, for example, is a place where family gathers and spends time together, or a place for relaxation. Using shades of pastel lemon cream and summery colours works best for this room, as these add joy and brightness to an atmosphere.





Similarly, a den or a study, seem charmingly cosy, with chocolate brown and green, earthy colours. Red as a colour denotes aggression, passion and volatility. It is the colour of the planet Mars, which astrologically represents action and violence in life. This colour stands for primordial energy and can be best described as the bubbling cauldron simmering inside a volcano. Is it any wonder, that fire is red in colour? One just cannot argue with Nature. Signal lights are terribly misleading, as red encourages movement and green signifies peace or settling down. Ideally red should have meant “go” and green used to indicate “stop”.

Red evokes fiery feelings and gets one’s adrenaline all charged up; just the opposite of inducing ease and languor. This is exactly why red will not suit a bathroom decor. Today, the humble washroom or toilet, has metamorphosed into an indulgent space, to relax, groom and release pent-up stress. This is not possible with red as the main colour in the decorating theme of a bathroom. In a bathroom, red shades will dominate the area and give it a simmering look, which will raise your mental temperatures, rather than soothing stressed nerves.

Red symbolizes heat and bathrooms provide relaxation through water. Bathrooms, in fact, are all about water, so in effect red will nullify the calming effect that a bathroom can provide. Light, creamy and pastel shades with an undertone of blue are perfect for a bathroom. Blue is calming and induces the brain to move onto slow and long wave patterns, giving one a languid feeling. Try and do up the bathroom in neutral or soft cooling shades to create a spa like ambience in the room.

Red is an ideal colour for a kitchen, as it gives one a healthy appetite and promotes proper digestion. It is perceived to get the taste buds activated and revs up the gastric juices. Many popular restaurants sport dominant red motifs and incorporate this colour into their decor themes. This is not a coincidence, but a calculated effort by restaurant owners to encourage patrons to eat more and feel buoyant. Red can be understood as a highly charged hue.

It is said to increase metabolic rate and hasten digestion. Alternate healing practitioners often prescribe clients suffering from sluggish and lethargic dispositions, to wear red more often. This colour has the power to make them more active and also stimulates appetite.

In some cultures, such as Chinese, red stands for highly auspicious events and is said to bring in good luck and prosperity. This stimulating colour, is perfect for any kitchen, as it will promote a cheery atmosphere, and makes food seem more appetizing. Besides, red is also the colour of Christmas and never fails to make us smile with glee at the thought of the festival. Children especially, enjoy bright red designs, and it can be an excellent mood enhancer and stimulating for their growth.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Top Bathroom Furniture to Improve Your Bathroom Looks


There are numerous that any otherwise dull looking bathroom can be enhanced to provide a rustic and welcoming appearance. One of the best ways is by using the right kind of bathroom furniture. There are various types of furniture pieces to get for your home including medicine cabinets, recessed cabinets, corner shelving, wall cabinets, vanity cabinets, linen closets among others. With the right choice of cabinets and other bathroom furniture pieces, it is possible to enhance the appearance of your bathroom. The size, design, existing décor and even your given budget will determine the kind of bathroom furniture to get. 

Frame-less Vanity furniture offer a contemporary and modern finishing desirable for the modern kind of bathroom. These in many cases include heavy duty hinges and cabinet boxes that are both easily adjustable and hidden. If this is not an option for you, you can get the face framed cabinets. If you are looking for bathroom furniture to provide an official and traditional look combination, this is what to look for. When it comes to cabinet counter tops, there are numerous styles and designs to choose from including the solid surfaced, composite, laminates, wood, ceramic tiled. If money is not a problem for you, getting stone will provide a durable and beautiful finish. Ceramic tiling is quite popular and such provides a beautiful, easy to clean and durable surface and such exist in numerous textures, sizes and colors. If you want something that will be heat resistant, concrete will do just fine.



 
How to maintain bathroom furniture for durable use?
Generally, bathrooms are susceptible towet and humid conditions. These conditions can be damaging especially to furniture made from natural wood. To reduce the damaging effects, here are some care and maintenance tips for your bathroom furniture;

  1. Regular clean the furniture surfaced. If the furniture is made from any unpolished wood install is in any area where they will be the least moisture exposure and regularly wipe any moisture. To enhance durability of such furniture, properly ventilate the bathroom to get rid of moisture and any other kind of wetness.

  1. On other types of furniture, clean depending on the material and occasional treat to remove stains and mildew. Stainless steel surfaced furniture is easy to clean and remove stains. Use warm soapy water and a rug to clean the furniture ensuring that each and every piece gets thorough cleaning. Dry and polish.

The bathroom is one of the most important rooms in any home. Upgrading it either through remodeling or any other kind of improving can be such an investment and as such should be given much thought before employing. The right bathroom improvements can also enhance the general appeal of a home thus enhancing value of the home when it comes to reselling.  The choice of bathroom furniture you get for your bathroom can help enhance the bathroom appeal and décor and some drama. Sink cabinets are quite useful as such can provide storage, counter top space for bathroom faucets and the sink.




Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Top 10 Tips on How to Decorate Your Bathroom

Storage are Very Important. Clever storage

You can’t increase physical space but here are some ways to store your essentials correctly and smartly.

Use the back side of the door: Make the best use of your door as a storage accessory. You can hang towel hooks and metal disks; install removable bins and towel bars to store extra towels, shampoo and soap.

Wall it:
A wall-hung sink doesn’t provide storage. Install shallow built-in drawers in the wall. They don’t take up valuable floor space and provide space for your items.

Vertical storage:
If you don’t have enough floor space, get yourself suspended linear storage cabinets to store your stuff conveniently and smartly.


Corner time:
When the space is tight, try to add some triangular shaped shelves or put a tall rack in the corner of the bathroom for extra storage and corner shelves can be placed wherever possible.

Tilt-out bins:
You can add tilt-out bins with recessed panel doors around your tub for storage purpose.



Plywood box:
The simplest way is to put divided plywood box covered with nice coloured paper to store your things.

Additional shelves: 
Install extra brackets to hold additional shelves in the existing cabinets.

Add shutters:
The area under the sink counter should be utilised to keep supplies and toiletries that can be hidden away behind shutters.




Utilise dead space:
The area above the water closet, if it has an exposed flushing system, can be used to put up a wooden or glass shelf for reading material. Towel racks within the shower cubicle at the right height can store many towels and save storage space.

1) Look right in
A mirror cabinet is an excellent way of storing daily essentials, within easy reach. Serves two purposes with one smart design – clever we say!

2) Place it right
A steel rack that can be hung is a great shower companion for those starved for storage space. Easy to carry around, you’ll find use for it anywhere else in the bathroom.

3) Wood smart
Smart storage ideas are those that address multiple functions. A suspended drawer that can serve as a stool when closed.

Colours
If the bathroom is not spacious, then go for light tones for bathroom furniture such as wicker. Dark woods such as oak and mahagony will make the room look smaller. For those who love the cosy look, room looks smaller. For those who love the cosy look, go for the warm tones of terracotta, rosewood and cherry. Bamboo slates are very trendy and lightweight. If you’re tired of the same whites and chromes, then add a dash of colour to your bathroom by way of storage cabinets and vanities. The current hot trend is favouring colours like pink, red, lime green and blue. Add bling to your old bathroom cabinets by painting them in funky vibrant colours. You can also try metallic shades for a little bit of shimmer and shine.



If you have a Victorian style décor at home, then a darker bathroom vanity cabinet would complement the look. Details like hand painting and carved accents on your bathroom vanity can look very stylish.

4) Code red
Suspended cabinetry is the way to go if you want to clear up floor space. A punch of red will get you wide awake and going in the mornings. 

5) Green with envy
For spacious bathrooms, choose a large sized vanity instead of going for too many boxes and cabinets on the wall.

6) Rise Up
A coloured cabinet in a netural setting is just what is needed for a dash of colour that is not as overpowering as a fully coloured bathroom. Linear storage is a good choice for small bathrooms to tackle space crunch.

7) Light it
Use of interesting lights can enhance the décor of your bathroom. All lights need not be of the same style and design. Experiment and mix and match intelligently.


Anthropometrics
It doesn’t stop at finding the right looking cabinets and vanities. You also have to make sure that everything is working smoothly and is hassle free. A little planning with a measuring tape and some smart calculation will save your cabinet doors from unnecessary wear and tear, and your knees from knocking into protruding corners. Bathrooms require special attention to detail, so don’t neglect to get the extra amount of space you need to open and close your vanity cabinet doors with ease. Make sure they can even open at all, ‘Ideally the height of the top of the sink (if it is counter mounted) or the top of the counter (if the sink is under the counter) should be 33 inches.

Points to remember:

  •  It is advisable to use sliding doors for all cabinet units. Else, provide extra space for doors that swing outward.
  • Provide at least 30 inches in front of the sink for an average person to get down on the floor and into the cabinets.
  • Keep the toilet at least 14 inches away from the cabinet sides to accommodate door swing; more if you have extra wide doors.
  • If the vanity is installed along a wall near the bathroom door; make sure the door swings away from the sink.

 8) Ebony affair
Wall lights provide soft lighting that complements the elegance of the vanity.

9) Bowled oval
The mirror with its striking illuminated oval, can be slid sideways and also widens the scope for the flexible arrangements.

10) Double dose
Twin lit mirrors provide light for the cylindrical vanity in the middle.