Hectare Interiors – Page 2 – Interior Design With Style

Design Ideas for Teenagers’ Bedrooms

Up to now, your son or daughter might still be sharing their bedroom with you or their other siblings. Inevitably, the time comes when they need to have their own bedroom.

If you are looking for the best interior design ideas for your teenage boys and girls, you may want to keep reading this article.

Growing teenage boys or girls have their own unique traits and personalities. It is important to keep these in mind when designing or decorating their bedroom for them.

There are some useful tips that you can follow to decorate your teenager’s first bedroom. These simple and helpful tips should not be difficult to follow and soon, your teenager can enjoy having their own room for the first time.

Colourful Design

Choosing the right colours for your teen’s first bedroom is important. Most teenagers usually love colourful designs. You can combine different colours that are suitable for the bedroom. Girl often favor pinks and yellows while boys pick browns and blues.

You can also combine colours but do this accordingly. Pick colours that complement each other and style your way around this colour scheme. Pick other decorations and furniture with this colour scheme in mind.

Sturdy Storage

Teenagers need to learn how to store their items properly and securely; clothing, shoes, books and other items. To encourage this practice, put some beautiful drawers and reliable storage spaces in their bedrooms.

There are several types of designs that you can use for creating beautiful drawers. Make sure that the drawers can be cleaned easily in order to maintain their quality for many years to come.

Setup a Comfortable Table and Chair Set

This is another important thing that you should consider inside your teens’ bedrooms. Most teenagers usually need to have proper table and seating to encourage them to study and perhaps even be creative with crafts. It is very important for you to add comfortable table and chair set.

The seating should be made from high quality materials that can offer comfortable experience for your children. Choose a table and chair set that is made of strong materials.

Install Proper Lighting

Lighting becomes another important thing that you have to consider. There are several types of lighting systems that are available on the market these days. You can choose the best lighting that is suitable for your children’s needs.

Look for lighting that is sufficient even during night time. Also consider bedside lamps and study lamps that you can put in their study table.

Pictures and Artwork on the Walls

A simple way to beautify the room and make it truly your children’s own is to put up their favorite pictures or art. These pictures should contain some attractive images, motivational quotes, famous artists, and many other beautiful objects that they consider to be personal inspirations. Growing children will love any of these beautiful pictures in their bedrooms especially if you let them choose.

Decorating your teens’ bedrooms should never have to be a difficult task to do. You can also discuss with your children about their favorite designs or styles. They will be very happy when they have chance for decorating their own bedrooms.

If you don’t have a lot of knowledge in this design industry, you can also hire the best interior designer that is available around you. Most reliable designers are ready to provide the best advice and suggestion for you, so you can create the best interior design for your teens’ bedrooms

Liven Up the Living Room with These Design Ideas

24 Apr

admin 0 Comment Living Room

Need to give your living room a new look but have no idea where to start? Below are some factors to consider before you settle on a design style.

Choose your Style

If you do not have a design idea for your living room, you can get inspiration from interior design blogs, magazines or websites. Generally interior design ideas can be categorised into two main ideas: modern and contemporary.

Contemporary designs are trendy and are in style at any current moment while modern designs have a specific geometrical, clean-lined style.

Contemporary designed living rooms are quiet, welcoming and peaceful and allow you to go bold using unique and individual furniture.

Modern designs focus on function and use minimal accessories. Modern designs use neutral colours, minimal textures and polished finishes. When properly planned a modern style can enhance a sense of calmness and simplicity to your living room.

Get Rid of Clutter

Get rid of all the messy and unwanted items in the living room. You can sell all the items and furniture that you do not need in a yard sale and use the extra money to help you redecorate your room.

Coordinate the colours, make sure that the colour scheme that you settle for is in harmony. Work on matching your furniture with these colours. Whether you settle for bright or restful colours, make sure they complement each other.

Organise a Focal Point

This is most often the fireplace. If you have an ugly fireplace, you can replace it with something more elegant like a black cast iron wood-burning stove. If you don’t have a fire place, you can create a mock up by adding a timber fire surround and painting black where the fire would go.

Display your Collection

Nice carpets, furniture and walls only announce that you are a person of great taste. You need to give some life to your living room by adding personalised items such as your painting or artwork collection, a couch blanket that was probably a gift from your mother or a flower vase that you got from one of your friends.

Display your collection and treasures but be careful not to overdo it and make your living room look like a junk yard.

Level of Activity in the Living Room

If you have too many activities taking place in this room, you can choose a design that can ensure that those activities will be carried out comfortably. With high levels of activities, it means that the traffic is also high. Choose a style that will arrange the traffic flow efficiently.

If you wish to reduce the traffic flow to this room, you can remove things like the computer and take it to another room or use other rooms to carry out any other activity that you think will reduce traffic. For high traffic efficiency, make sure that you leave room behind the sofas so people do not always have to walk in the middle of the room.

Organise Storage Areas

These are the areas where your books, DVDs and television. You can decide to store these items in a different room or organise them neatly in the living room. If you do decide to organise them, this means that you will have to incorporate the storage concept in your design style. Be sure to choose a design style that will complement the storage concept.

Lighting Intensity

This means your design style will depend on whether you want a bright or a not-so-bright room. Various lighting techniques include; ambient, accent, silhouette and grazing. Ambient lighting is soft and diffuses to fill a room. It creates openness, is comfortable and reduces shadows.

With accent lighting, you need to determine where to place items that need attention such as paintings, art pieces or flower arrangement.

Silhouette lighting creates interest by shining light on the wall behind the object that you want to stand out.

Grazing lighting highlights texture by passing a beam of light that runs from top to bottom.

Whichever interior design you decide to settle on, make sure it also complements your lighting concepts. You can visit websites or read blogs on interior design ideas that complement the lighting concepts that you want.

Final Thoughts

It’s easy to design your living room if you know what you want and the theme that you want to point out with the design style. With many design styles to choose from, you can narrow down to one choice by asking yourself this question: Between modern and contemporary designs, which best describes your personality?

Which Colours Boost Workplace Productivity?

18 Apr

admin 1 Comment Workplace

Interestingly, certain colours and colour schemes seem to boost productivity at work while others don’t. That means it is definitely possible to improve workplace productivity by simply changing the colour of the walls. Here’s why.

The Psychology of Colours

According to psychologists different colours make us feel different things. Some colours fill us with energy, or make us feel sad, or make us feel relaxed. And interior designers agree with them. That’s why it’s a good idea to design your workplaces at home and at the office with the right colours, otherwise you might inadvertently be hampering productivity instead of increasing it!

Here are the different colours suited for the workplace, and how they affect a person’s mood:

Blue

Blue has been found to increase productivity in workers, who produce work at higher levels. In fact, it’s also been found that wearing blue often to the workplace increases your likelihood of getting a promotion, because blue signifies loyalty.

The great thing about the colour blue is that there are lots of different shades out there that work on walls. If you’re designing an office, find a shade of blue that fits the corporate theme, and have the general work area’s walls painted with it.

White

White is another colour that’s been found to increase productivity. It makes crowded places feel more airy and spacious, and it generally fills workers with a sense of optimism. Even better, it’s a shade that goes well with most other colour and furniture schemes, so it’s used often in corporate environments.

White also denotes cleanliness and sterility, and it’s very often used in hospitals, clinics, laboratories, and other “sterile” places of work.

Yellow

Yellow is an “energetic” colour, as many consider it as a universally “happy” shade. Work-wise, it has been found to aid in concentration, which makes it suitable for areas where the work to be done is very detail-oriented, precise, and fragile.

You might want to avoid using yellow in workplaces with many people, or with very loud and annoying noises, as it also has the bad side effect of making people lose their temper in extreme cases.

Green

Ever heard of the term “green room?” It’s a real room in TV studios and movie sets where actors go to relax and focus, and the walls are painted – you guessed it – green. This is because green is the most relaxing and calming of all colours.

Knowing that, it may be best to think twice about painting a workplace’s walls green. It might actually reduce productivity by making workers feel lazy, sleepy, or sluggish. That said, it does have its place in the corporate environment – it’s the best wall colours for lounges, anterooms, and other places for rest and relaxation.

Red

If yellow is an intense colour, red is even MORE intense. Red has been found to increase heart rates, making for more energetic and enthusiastic work.

The disadvantage of red is that it can be distracting and overpowering. It’s best to use red in highlights and accents, and use other less powerful colours for the main walls.

How to Choose the Perfect Colour For the Workspace

The key to choosing the right colour is to first of all know what kind of work is going to be done in that space. After all, not all kinds of work are the same – some require focus and concentration, while others require freedom and creativity, while still others require monotony and routine.

For areas where the work being done is monotonous and routine, or in general work areas that accommodate many different types of work, blue is the best colour. It’s the perfect balance between productivity and relaxation. It is, in a way, the colour that “has something for everyone.”

For work covering long hours, green is the best colour. Its relaxing qualities make it easier for thoughts to wander and creativity to flow. Just make sure to counterbalance the soothing power of green with a stronger, advancing colour (like orange or tan) somewhere.

If you’re not sure what colour would be best for certain work areas in your home or office, ask your architect or interior designer. They’ll help you come up with the right colour schemes for the different work areas and activities.

What Goes Into Designing an Office Break Room?

17 Apr

admin 0 Comment Office

The interior design of an office is very important for any company or organisation. When considering how to design the interiors of the office, one of the major factors for consideration is the lunch room or the break room. This is a room that has been specially designed for the staff taking meals and coffee breaks.

Having a proper office lunch room will help minimise the destruction of electronics like computers from spillage of drinks. Having one also encourages socialising among employees, and thus, boosts productivity and promotes team building.

If you still don’t have one in your office, here are some ideas for your office lunch room:

Special Features

The lunch or break room should be well designed, while you have the employees in mind. You must come up with a room that is not just there for people to take their snacks and lunch but also, to foster camaraderie and creativity. Some of the features you will want to include in the break room include potentially the following:

Games

Yes, games are not very much encouraged in the office, but there are some that can help to encourage unity and interaction. The break room should not only be designed for eating, but you can also have some billiards or foosball table, which can help to strengthen the mental ability and the bond between the employees.

TV Screen

You can also add a television to the lunch room, which will help to keep the employees updated. You can then subscribe to a channel that is related to your organisation or business. This will act as a progressive learning technique, as they are having their meals. Ensure you unsubscribe from the entertainment and sports channels, since they tend to steal the employees’ attention and working time.

Having a proper lunch room keeps electronics safe and your work-space free from mess.

Furniture

The furniture is another vital aspect of the break room, which must be highly considered. When there is a suitable set of furniture in the office, it will be more conducive to the employees. Here is a look at some of the furniture to include in a break room:

Lunch Tables

Obviously, you will want to include a lunch table that is comfortable enough. You should choose a table that is long enough to reach almost above the stomach. When it is too high or too low, the employees might not eat comfortably and can spill on their clothes. You can choose a high quality table for the room, but ensure that it is liquid proof to make it last for long.

Chairs and Couches

You must ensure that you include comfortable seats in your lunchroom. You can go for single chairs that are comfortable or you can choose the couch-bench, like those used in restaurants. The chair must go well with the table, in order to enhance the comfort. You can also include a cozy couch for relaxing, for those that are done with eating.

Décor and Color

You can also include some other special décor that will feature in the break room. Here is a look at some décor options you might want to consider:

Shelves

You can include stylish shelves, which can be a great option if the employees have a rotation of carrying snacks for others. This can be a great option to encourage sharing and corporation, as well as responsibility.

Colors

You will need to be overly keen when choosing the right color for your lunch room. Some of the recommended colors are orange and yellow. These colors are energetic and they are livelier in the break room. They also tend to be great colors that will create a friendly eating environment.

Size

When designing the break room, you will want to consider the number of employees and the rate that they go on breaks. The lunch room must be large enough to accommodate groups of the employees. It should not be too big nor too small, rather, ensure that it perfectly contains your employees. There should be a free movement within the room.

An office break room has a lot of relevance in the office, for that you will need to be overly keen when designing it.

So, how would you design your office break room? What would you include and what are the special features that you will want to add in the lunchroom?

What Goes Into Designing an Age-Friendly Home?

10 Apr

admin 0 Comment Age-Friendly Home

Growing old is inevitable. It requires you to plan ahead and get organised in order to efficiently and maturely lead your life in a safe and secure manner. Whether for yourself or for your loved ones, part of preparing for this includes choosing a home that is suitable for growing old in.

The most logical thing to do would be to buy a sprawling single-level home. Properties like these tend to be already age-friendly and if they are not, it would be easy enough to equip them and make them so. If for example you are unable to buy a single level home, there are many ways to still make it age-friendly when the need arises.

Age-friendly design involves the use of comfortable features, assistive technology and supportive design as these can promote ways to remain safely at home as you age. It is the best way of designing a lifelong home that is accessible, beautiful as well as functional. You will need to select helpful technology and functional modifications so that you can spruce up your home.

An age-friendly evolving home can help you to live your life in comfort and style. You need to organise your home in such a way so that it can meet your needs for today as well as tomorrow.

Wide and Open Hallways

As we mentioned in the beginning, it would be great to buy property that is both sprawling and single-level.

Wide and open hallways make it easy for navigation even if one should be in a wheelchair and unassisted. Hallways should remain navigable without too much hassle or inconvenience.

Handrails and Stairs

Hallways should have handrails so the elderly can walk unassisted.

Should your house have different levels and stairs are necessary, handrails on both sides ensure complete safety. Adequate lighting both on top and bottom of the stairs will also help prevent falls.

Good Lighting

All rooms and hallways in the house must have good lighting. Dark rooms and hallways can cause accidents, from minor bumps to maybe, even scary falls.

Floors and Rugs

Age-friendly design of your home should also stress on the importance of having friendly floors since slippery surfaces can be very dangerous. Floors should remain slip-resistant, which can be done by avoiding the use of area rugs. If you must, add non-skid mats under the area rugs.

If the elderly member of your family uses walkers then the best option for you is low pile carpeting as it will minimise the chances of walker getting caught on the carpet resulting in a fall.

Accessories

Apart from having adequate lighting in the home it is also very important to have bench, table and other surfaces near the entryways for putting things down. Carrying a lot of things often cause people to lose their balance when entering or exiting the home.

Also take note of even small details such as doorknobs. They should be easy on the hands since turning a doorknob can be painful and quite a chore for someone with arthritis or any other health conditions. Hence it is very important to opt for lever style hardware or illuminated rocker switches for making the life of the elderly people easier and convenient.

Are you concerned for your safety and comfort when you grow old? Or perhaps, the safety and comfort of your aging parents. If so, what age-friendly changes are you looking to make in your home?