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Interior Designer

Saturday, January 1st, 2011

As a professional London Interior Designer, I meet with clients all the time who simply crave more originality and personality in their interior spaces. It is such a delight for the interior designer to be able to transform a house into a home by judicious use of lighting, stencils, photo frames, rugs and frames, to name just a few. Each of the different classes of accessories allows the professional interior designer to lean into a certain style, emotion or personality framework in order to create stunning results. In this article, I will draw on my experience in London’s design community to suggest a few great options if you’re looking to spruce up your home this winter with some interior designer magic.

LIGHTING. If there are nooks and crannies that just don’t get enough light, interior designers may recommend low-voltage illumination to make your interiors look larger and more welcoming. This can also boost your mood – perfect for the gloomy and overcast London skies that are all too common this time of year. Some professional interior designers will recommend theatrical lighting moods, so that you can flip between settings to choose either relaxed, or atmospheric and edgy, or task-orientated, all according to your needs.

COLOUR. The hue of the lighting system can substantially impact the overall look of a room. Incandescent filaments are now being phased out across the European Union, and London interior designers are having to rely instead on compact fluorescents or halogens to create custom effects.

SCONCES. Wall-mounted sconces slide over lightbulbs to give a gentle fuzzy glow to a room. Interior designers sometimes combine glass outer sheaths with paper diffusers to create unique effects and soften the overall feel.

ARTWORK. Art is great, but well-lit artwork is even better – and interior designers are often specially-trained in how to perfectly illuminate choice pieces of art. Recessed lighting can be a great solution for both photographs and paintings. For sculptures, some interior designers love to use spotlights or feature lighting for more of a museum showcase feel.

INTERIOR DESIGNERS DO OUTSIDE, TOO! Exterior lighting is a great way to make a fabulous first impression for evening dinner guests or invitees to a luxury London soiree at your designer home. Exterior lighting solutions can even cast light indoors, as well … some interior designers like to be really creative and hide exterior lights in bushes or under trees to create natural diffusion before the light trickles in through the windows and makes fabulous patterns on the ceiling or wall.

This bring to an end my mini-series on how London interior designers use accessories, styles and history to create astonishing results.

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Perforations and Glass

Friday, December 31st, 2010

Professional interior designers are expertly trained in the use of lighting features to create breathtaking results. In this four-part series which I call “Colour Me Brightly: Understanding Light in Interior Design,” I draw on my experience in London’s interior design community to explain this fascinating subject. This second article talks about how to create patterns using illuminated materials.

Any perforated textile, when lit from the back or from the inside, will speckle adjacent forms with pattern, from point strips and pirouettes to constellations and dazzling laser specks. The professional interior designer can use the trim of a window covering to create fabulous banding across a shiny floor covering in the London summer. Some interior design firms love to use ornamental metal lanterns to paint fiery asteroids on walls and furniture, while light projected through a sculpted screen can create magnificent abstract outlines in expressive contemporary interior design schemes. A factory-inspired metal stairwell with perforated treads – of the type often reinterpreted for ultra-modern interior design schemes – can throw tiny checkmarks of light onto local furniture when exposed to a bright London sky in springtime. A fabulous option with a wooden staircase would require the interior designer to specify a grit-washed tread, to deliberately throw stunning shadows from the rail onto the adjacent wall. Abstract wire-mesh sculptures by local London artists can engender powerful interior design emotions, with the pattern even becoming more important than the object itself! Interior designers can expressively use perspective to distort the pattern from complete realism, when lit front-on, to Baconesque abstract enchantment when illuminated at an acute angle. The same effect can be created by using mirrors to refocus natural light from bay windows in some of the more luxurious London residences.

Glass is another popular tool for patterns. A frosted glass table can be lit from above with a halogen downlighter to cast intricate outlines of reflected light onto the ceiling, and the interior designer can even use positioning to cause refracted light to splash abstract patterns onto the floor underneath the table. I have seen some London Interior Design consultancies deliberately illuminate trophy-style glassware on display shelves from the front so that the etching on the glass throws deep shadows that recapitulate a core design theme.

In the next (third) article in this series called “Colour Me Brightly!” I will reveal another secret of London’s interior design community: how to create patterns with opaque objects.

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Breathtaking Interior Designs Are Always the Goal

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

Interior designers are often asked about the origins of the profession – especially in the context of quality of life versus product. Has our modern quality of life driven our craving for high-quality design, or has design really been more of a primary impactor in defining how we enjoy wellness? In this article, I will draw on my experience in London’s prestigious interior design community to reflect on how the design process works from this perspective.

When interior designers begin engaging with a potential client, they will often ask about function. What is the desired purpose and use of the room or residence? The answer to this question has a profound impact on everything we do. If a client is desperate for luxury high-end London extravagance in the form of a damask settee, we may recommend a synthetic damask fabric instead of cotton or satin for a household that includes young kids and a pet dog. Breathtaking interior designs are always the goal, but only in the context of compatibility with our clients’ unique London lifestyles.

Interior designers will work hard to understand client requirements from the outset. Some professional London Interior Design consultancies will even have a series of highly structured interview questions that they routinely use. The interior designer will offer a free consultation at the client’s home – whether inside or outside London – to discover exactly what the client loves and hates about their current residence. Budget should be a conversation point from the very beginning. It is important to clarify whether the client prefers to be given fifteen different interior design options from which to choose, or just two or three.

One area that can be really challenging for the interior designer is when a husband and wife have different ideas about the desired outcome. This can happen regardless of whether the individuals are happily married or considering an impending separation. The interior designer sometimes gets “caught in the middle,” which can cause real tension.

In recent years, the London interior design community has seen a real upwelling in terms of social media and internet-enabled design opportunities. One of the most positive results is that would-be clients are now much better informed regarding interior design themes and concepts. Londoners read articles just like this one and start to get a sense of the interior design process even before we reach their front door or exchange our first set of emails!

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London Interior Designer

Friday, December 24th, 2010

Interior designers sometimes get asked about the hottest colour trends. And this season, we have a confession to make: white is the new black! White interior designs are hip and trendy once again, and in particular those sterile white kitchens are now all the rage. This is particularly true in London, where the dull and gloomy skies can make clients cry out for a touch of bright white interior design freshness.

When you walk into a beautiful white kitchen designed by a top London Interior Designer, what do you feel? Many of us are overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions. We feel carefree and almost as if we are floating on air. The pervasive whiteness brings to mind age-old simplicity, sanitary freshness, contemporary impact, and a roomy, playful outlook. The interior designer will use the white kitchen as a philosophy to evoke a sentiment of purity for food preparation and to empower boundless chef-inspired inspiration.

Many interior design consultancies use white as a fabulous background for the presentation of magical colours and textures. For example, one top trend today is to use deeply varnished wooden joists to contrast with sharply-defined white architectural surrounds. Colourful interior design accents really “pop out” in this context. Alternatively, the quiet pastels of a London autumn can make for a classic and sophisticated interior design scheme.

The newest London kitchens may be white today, but the true home of the white kitchen has got to be Sweden. Just like London, Stockholm has short days and long nights for much of the year. Homeowners naturally crave interior designs that maximise the amount of reflected internal light in these climates. Swedish interior designers will create themes that are inspired by the widespread use of wintertime candles and sconces.

Returning to less northern cities like London, a simple white kitchen works well with dramatic black accents. A very dark or bold interior design element, used rhythmically in the kitchen, creates balance and interest. Contrast in tone and color is the underpinning of what might otherwise be experienced as a ‘simple’ or ‘flat’ kitchen.

Is a white kitchen ‘classic’ in the sense that it can ‘fit’ into any interior design? Certainly not! Understanding design context, and especially the architecture of all the elements, the proportions of color and tone, and a true balance with the surrounding interior spaces, are essential for the presentation of a visual logic, a ‘whole’. Top London interior designers recognise this, and their efforts have made the white kitchen philosophy a real winner today.

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Understanding Light in Interior Design

Friday, December 17th, 2010

Professional interior designers are expertly trained in the use of lighting features to create breathtaking results. In this four-part series which I call “Colour Me Brightly: Understanding Light in Interior Design,” I draw on my experience in London’s interior design community to explain this fascinating subject. This fourth article concludes my series.

Linear light patterns can focus on either the horizontal or the vertical metrics of a room. A given wall-light technique can create an immersing halo effect, if the interior designer uses concentrated super-bright light at high level that gradually fades out towards the base. Some London Interior Design consultancies specialise in choosing continuous sources, such as a miniature tungsten rack for a soft light or overlapping fluorescents for a cooler light. This is an effect that works very well in contemporary interior designs, where light can be concealed between the wall and the ceiling in a crevice in order to take the place of the traditional cornice.

The best method of illumination for interior designers to use when creating patterns will depend on the interior, and also on the direction of windows (natural light in London can be very seasonal). A smoothly plastered wall can jump into existence with a dappled arc wave from closed-offset down-lighters but if the interior design feature lies in the texture and in the structure or hue of the wall, then a more uniform spray of light will emphasise the wall’s best perspectives. A splashback tile solution at the rear of a shower or bath is a good interior design choice for the arc wave effect, as is a Venetian blind in a London kitchen. A wood-panelled hall or study is often a compelling interior design feature, and accordingly it would be better lit with an even light that does not detract from the feel of the wood.

Shifting from instant to instant and from a London dawn to a dappled full seasonal moonrise, the impacts of illumination and shadow are phenomena we almost disregard. But London’s top interior designers know that patterns of light can actually transform our emotions with respect to the interior forms that engulf us. By bringing to life walls, floors and ceilings with light-focused interior designs, pattern-making is yet another realm of illumination that can brighten our spaces and enhance our quality of life.

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Student Interior Designers

Friday, December 10th, 2010

In their training, student interior designers often learn about the history of their profession. This can be a really important way to give context to their subsequent careers. In this article, I will draw on my experience as an interior designer and educator to discuss the history of this exciting field.

The earliest professional interior designers were based in London – the British had become intrigued by Egyptian techniques of decorating household objects and wanted the same for themselves. London families became desperate to employ an interior designer to create magical spaces and accessorise their interiors. As interior designers came to be recognised as professionals, they increasingly found a need to draw on history to create fabulous results. This was particularly true when creating designs for historic London mansions or listed buildings – they saw historical reflections as a way of preserving the past while also looking to the future.

THE ANCIENT ROMANS

In Ancient Rome, citizens demanded comfort, luxury and wealth. These elements are still important in the work of interior designers across the world today. The lavish decorations, tapestries and iconic stonework today remain as timeless and popular in London as in Tokyo or Sydney. The Ancient Romans adored bespoke furniture and loved quality textiles and expensive fabrics.

MONASTIC TIMES

After the collapse of Roman rule, the church assumed power and largely discouraged the most creative interior designers. Opulent interiors were taken out and interior designers were instructed to install quiet and simple oak panels with dark lines and sharp edges. This influence was felt throughout Europe – from London all the way to Florence.

RENAISSANCE AND REVIVAL

The Renaissance saw the emergence of professional French or French-inspired interior designers. It was a new age of elegance and sophistication, which saw the rebuilding of the London Interior Designer community and a fresh take on creative and beautiful living spaces. A “palatial” feel was rediscovered, and interior designers began to take advantage of new transport axes going through London to the continent and to the Americas in order to rediscover their profession and herald the next generation of design.

This brings to an end my article on how the work of interior designers has changed over the ages. In my next article, I’ll reflect on how interior designers use interior fashions for great effect.

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Interior Design

Saturday, October 9th, 2010

Interior design is all about making the best use of the space you have to produce rooms that are both beautiful and functional. It is more than just decorating your walls and painting your ceilings, it involves using your creative skills to make careful use of colour, light, touch, sound, and even smell in order to convey an aesthetically pleasing and appropriate “mood” in a room.

Any particular mood you want to create will also have a direct relation to the purpose of the space. For example, a room that is used predominantly for relaxing in will possibly not suit loud colours and bright lights as opposed to a bathroom or kitchen which may benefit from being well lit. Of course there are no hard and fast rules either, it all comes down to what you like and what you feel comfortable with.

Using professional interior designers can be convenient but costly and without careful planning doing it yourself can be a long and tiresome process but the good news is that with a little forethought you can revamp your home with minimal fuss and expense and the results can be even more rewarding.

How to get started

Start with one room first and ask yourself the following questions:

-What is the space going to be used for, what will be its purpose? For example, is it for relaxing, working, sleeping, entertaining, playing and so on

-What is the size and shape of the space you want to transform and what can you realistically do with it? For example, the existing position of a fireplace or doors and windows etc. what can be changed and what cannot

-What would be the ideal mood of the room in relation to its purpose? For this you would need to consider the colours you want to use, the availability of natural lighting and whether you need to artificially create light, the fabrics and furnishings, the sounds, the focal piece and the finishing touches

Finding your style

The first two are relatively simple to answer but if you are looking for inspiration on how to create the right mood and aren’t sure of your own style then browse through the plethora of magazines available or visit showrooms and identify what kind of colours and fabrics, patterns, lighting and furnishings attract you. Take note when you visit family and friends, look for things that inspire or motivate you, find out what appeals to you, where your eye is drawn, what you like and what you don’t.

You could ask yourself some simple questions too. What is the seating arrangement in the room? What furnishings are there? What is the focal point of the room? What colours and patterns are used and how are they mixed? How does the room actually make you feel? Use your imagination and expand on the ideas that appeal to you, the goal is to create your own space in which you feel totally comfortable, that reflects your taste and individual style.

Remember to consider any practical and safety issues. It may sound obvious but you might not want a light coloured plush pile carpet in your kitchen or a highly polished and slippery floor in your bathroom. Think about what the room is going to be used for and imagine what would be the implications of a particular furnishing or colour etc.

Identify what your focal point will be. Focal points can be anything from an attractive window or fireplace to an ornamental centre piece or even a vase of flowers and mirrors can give an effective illusion of space in any room. Once you have an idea of what you want the room to be like, you can start thinking about what you need to do to create the right mood.

How to create the right mood

To create the right mood you need to consider the colours you want to use as well as the lighting and together these can help create the atmosphere of the room. A children’s play area for example, would ideally have a lot of natural light and be bright and sunny in its d�cor whereas a room that is used for evening entertainment may need to have subtle colours or dimmed lighting.

Consider other senses too. What natural sounds can you hear already? Are the birds singing or do you hear traffic? Do you want to add other sounds like water flowing from a small fountain or music for example? Can you smell the countryside or the city? Fragrant flowers, scented candles and incense or bowls of pot pourri can contribute different smells to a room. What about finishing touches? Careful positioning of plants, paintings, and ornamental pieces can all help create the right mood for you.

The end result

With a little planning and creative use of colour, lighting, furnishings and finishing touches the end result can be extremely rewarding as you transform your space into a home that is both functional and beautiful and that cleverly reflects your own individual style. You never know, you may even inspire someone else to create their own dream home.

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Christmas

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

When you are hosting the Christmas meal, whether it is aloof for your actual ancestors or for a ample amphitheater of ancestors and friends, you no agnosticism absorb a lot of time planning your card and authoritative abiding the meal itself is activity to be aloof perfect. If you appetite to use abundant Christmas table settings, it pays to absorb a little bit of time planning your table as well. This planning will accomplish your Christmas meal go smoother and accomplish your table decorating activity added enjoyable.First things first: do a quick account of the table decorations you already accept on duke afore you hit the shops. You may already accept a tablecloth and napkins that will assignment for your Christmas table décor, or you may accept a appropriate centerpiece you can body your architecture around. Chances are you accept a lot added things you can use for your Christmas table than you realize, so analysis things out – your overstressed Christmastime coffer antithesis will acknowledge you for it.

Next, adjudge on a appearance for your Christmas table settings. Do you appetite to accept a academic meal? Do you appetite things archetypal and casual? Are you planning a ancestors appearance Christmas feast? The affectionate of meal you appetite to host will adviser your design, and don’t balloon to agency in your bedfellow account afore you achieve on the absolute architecture style. The affectionate of table that works for the developed ups may not be so kid friendly, so accept your décor accordingly.

Last but not least, afore you hit the shops, admeasurement your table. Even if you don’t charge to aces up a fresh tablecloth, the abstracts will appear in accessible back blockage out centerpieces and accessories. If you do charge a fresh tablecloth or a table agent and you are activity to be abacus the blade to the table to board added guests, don’t balloon to admeasurement with the blade IN the table. Sounds obvious, but it gets bodies every time.

Christmas Table Settings – Account in Action

Put these Christmas table ambience account into activity on your table – the accepted capacity assignment for any appearance of design; about-face up the colors, prints and textures to bout your tastes:

• Place cards for anniversary bedfellow will accomplish your aggregation feel at home. Decorate the abode cards with Christmas images and address the names in Christmas colors (gold and argent Sharpies or acrylic pens assignment great). Or use simple bottle ornaments as your abode cards and use a brownish acrylic pen to personalize one for anniversary guest.

• Instead of a acceptable centerpiece, ample a bottle basin with annular ball Christmas ornaments. If your table is long, try application three or four bowls bottomward the centermost of the table.

• Turn accustomed candlesticks into Christmas candlesticks by attached a bow in Christmas colors about the candle. You can use several of these about the table as adornment on their own or absorb one or two into addition centerpiece.

• Christmas decorating generally uses accustomed elements, so accomplish use of melancholia favorites like poinsettias, ache cones, cranberries, and holly on your table. These things can all be acclimated to accomplish abundant centerpieces – for instance, blanket some holly about the abject of colonnade candles or body a band featuring ache cones, poinsettia flowers and cranberries.

• Plate chargers in Christmas colors add a blow of attractiveness to your Christmas table settings, and they attending abnormally abundant on white tablecloths.

Your Christmas Table Tips

Remember that ambience a abundant anniversary table is added about your spirit and the affection you appetite to allotment with your ancestors and guests than defective to use accurate items. Even simple, accidental tables can say “Christmas” with a few able additions.

What is your must-have for your Christmas table? Do you ample a basin with ache cones and holly leaves? Stuff a boutonniere with trimmings from your Christmas tree? Allotment your Christmas table decorating account actuality by abrogation a comment.

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Design in Livingroom

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

People are always confused about living room designs for small rooms. They want their room to look elegant as well as spacious. This is possible with the help of . You can change the look of your room by using some of the following tips. plays a very important role in case of room decoration. People often avoid using dark colors in case of small spaces. But, one can go for contrasting colors for a small living room. You can make a focal wall with a darker shade or play with colors making a unique design on it while keeping the other walls lighter in color. Do not try to decorate every wall of your house making it look like some circus or a colorful house in the fairy tale stories! You can also use your own unique and make the color scheme look more attractive and eye catching. is a not a major issue in case of living room designs for small spaces. Many  have different types of flooring which can give your room a different look. However, you can give a glamorous look to your room by choosing a contrasting color scheme between the flooring and the walls. This will make your room look more exciting and full of life. Your flooring will become a distinctive and unique feature of your room in contrast with your wall color scheme. But do keep in mind that if you want to keep the flooring in contrast color, keep all the walls of same color.Did you know that the right kind of lights can make your room look bigger? It is indeed true that lighting in the right direction and the right way can make your room look more spacious especially, if it is focused on the darker wall color. Use different l a wall sconce which has a light colored glass or a wall fixture which is focusing its light in the upward direction. Place lamp shades which complement the look and color scheme of the room. Placing a dull colored lamp in the room which has a bright color scheme will spoil the look of the room. Try to use dramatic n the living room designs for small spaces as it will make your room look more bright and expressive.People have the misconception that placing smaller pieces of  in the room will make the room look bigger. But, that is not always true. In fact, one should use large pieces of furniture in the room to make it look spacious rather that cramming the room with several small pieces. Try to use furniture which can also give you storage facility so that you can put away the unnecessary and unwanted stuff making your room look much neater. Use furniture which is multipurpose like a couch bed or a table that can be used as a dining table. Sofas and chairs without arms will make the room look more spacious. You can also change the display of your furniture frequently giving your room a different look. You can as well consult a professional interior decorator for that.

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