Posts Tagged ‘home design tips’

Design Tips: Space Lift Ideas for any Home Plan

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Maintaining a new or old home exceeds adding a new room or changing the schematics of the home plan. A myriad of small fixes do wonders for giving certain rooms of the home a space-lift. Best House Floor Plans compiled a short list  of design tips:

  • Replace outdated or broken kitchen fixtures with new updated, eco-friendly appliances and products.
  • When it comes to the floors, use the refresh, repair, or replace rule. Maintaining the floors on a regular basis alleviates the changes of making any major repairs or replacements. However, if there is any damage, taking care of it now will prevent investing in a replacement– later.
  • Prior to making new furniture purchases, give the room a space-lift. There are five easy fast-fixes for renovating a room, without hiring a contractor:
  • De-clutter – Discard unused, outdated or useless furnishing accents. Relocate any objects, which belong in another room.  Discard worn out items.

Home design tip: Remove each decorative accessory. Then, examine each piece to determine if all components concur with the rest of the design scheme.  Recycle or donate any hodgepodge decorative items.

  • Dust baseboards and walls.
  • Caulk any holes, gouges or dents in the wall.
  • Paint any wall space needing a touch up or complete refreshing
  • Reorganize and reset all decorative objects, creating a sense of symmetry among decorative items.
  • Punctuate the exterior of the home with a decoratve mailbox that maintains the design scheme and the façade of your home  plan.
  • Shuffle artwork. Instead of investing in a new collection of artwork, innovate new ways to showcase framed photography and masterpieces. For additional decorative ideas, visit House Plans and More, where there are more than 17,000 house plans and project ideas to put to work.

Home Design Tips: Bedroom Themes

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Hi Best House Floor Plans!

We’ve been looking at home floor plans and determined that we don’t need a new one. We have an extra bedroom.  The space serves multiple purposes. When family visits, it becomes the designated guestroom. My husband uses the room to catch up on reading. Meanwhile, my son entertains his guests in the space. Do you have any home design tips for our extra bedroom?

Beatrice Holmes – Kansas City



Greeting BHKC!

Thanks for posing your question. You’re right, designing is not limited to obtaining a new floor plan. Based on the multiple tasks of your extra bedroom, it sounds like you’re in need of home design tips for creating a flex room.

Given all the purposes that your room currently serves, consider how this room is used today and its future functions. Then make note of how your spouse, son and guests utilize the space in terms of lighting, temperature control and electrical outlet requirements.  This will allow you to synchronize the aesthetics with the space’s functionality.

To accommodate the bedroom’s various purposes, consider your color alternatives. At Home Floor Plans and More, a succinct article details how different colors influence the mood. Try to opt for a color scheme that pleases all audiences. For instance, a canary yellow enhances a feeling of happiness. (Light, creamy yellow hues tend to elevate the mood).

In traditional bedrooms, the bed is the virtual focal point. Since the flex room quells a number of purposes, select a bed that blends in like a chameleon. Futons, pullout sofa beds, and Murphy beds make for seamless furnishing alternatives.

As for other decorative accents, remember that an oversized mirror reflects the appearance of an expansive space. Shelving features organization. Armoires divvy up space.

Finally, to minimize future design necessities, remember to create a theme transitional enough to accommodate your lifestyle, down the road.

For additional home design tips in the bedroom and around the home read:

•    Design Facts
•    Décor Facts

Be sure to post your home design tips and questions here and we’ll respond as soon as possible.

Related Articles:

Flex Rooms

The Guest Room / Office

Flex Appeal – Multi-Purpose Guest Rooms


Home Design Tips and Techniques with Curtains

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Making décor updates around the home does not necessitate hiring a contractor, adding a new room or shopping for a cool floor plan. Curtains introduce an element of drama, punctuating an interior’s features. Best Home Floor Plans went searching online for inexpensive home design tips with curtains.

On our first stop, we checked into the House Floor Plans and More. It was here, that we learned about the fundamentals of designing with curtains. Below are a few highlights of the information we gleaned from our interior design research:

Luminosity and privacy
Curtains, blinds and other window treatments should be sheer enough to ensure privacy without compromising luminosity.

Aesthetics and style
As style is a subjective issue, for obvious reasons the best home designing tip with curtains should be in congruence with the rest of the room’s décor. Organic materials, simplicity, luxury, grandiosity and eco-friendly characteristics topped the list of style alternatives.

Function
Regardless of aesthetics, it’s important to consider who uses the room and how. For instance, a home office with western sun exposure might require darker curtains or window treatments to prevent a computer glare.

At the oh, so popular HGTV, we found two easy DIYs. One of the home design tips instructed how to make the most from the remainder of curtain material. The technique is so easy that a 10-year old could pull off this design technique.

We found another home design tip to be even simpler. The concept substitutes regular drapery hardware for the hobbyist’s tools. For example, in a golf enthusiasts bedroom or den — rather then hang curtains, using a standard rod, the end-user would use a golf club in its place or whatever instrument that concurs with the room’s theme.

In the next installment of home design tips, we’ll be reviewing how to select a design theme for the bedroom. Until then, have a splendid time designing with curtains!

Related Articles

Replacing Curtain Rods Make for a Quick Decor Fix

Making Curtains Without Sewing

Curtains Make a Difference!