Glamour

Feb18

Glamour style is very fashionable since a couple of years. It is a feminine trend which has classic style marks also.
Basic colors are neutral: black, white, beige and grey. Light reflecting surfaces break the monotony of them. Glimmer is reached by using metallic (golden, silver, rose gold, chrome), glass/crystal/mirror and high gloss surfaces. This can be involved into the interior with lamps, small furniture, picture frames, mirrors etc.
Stacking of fabrics and creating luxurious softness are typical. Characteristics of the Baroque, the Classicism and the Rococo are recognizable, but the furniture bring back the classic lines and decorations in a simple way (e.g. cabriole leg, buttoned back, drawer pulls). Seats are fully upholstered, just like the bed. The total effect is elegant but inviting. The amount of cushions on the sofa, in the armchairs and on the bed suggests the biggest comfort. Velvet, fur and satin-like fabrics are perfect to this style.
Design is accented beside the functionality in the lighting. Chandeliers are placed even in the smallest rooms. Glass pendants reflect light. Lamp shades made of light transmittance fabric can be used for the more mysterious and subdued effect. Candles have important role because the romantic overtone is connected to the style.
Neutral base can be broken with some dashes of colors. Then the subdued but not obviously pastel colors appear, first of all blues, purples and pinks. Although the used colors can be warm hues only but the whole effect is marked by some kind of coolness, maybe just because of the quantity of glimmer.
The modern twist is represented mostly by artworks. Pictures on the wall, statues and other decoration objects are commonly contemporary pieces. Their colors and glamour integrate them to the interior.
The place can be popped up with a few but determining patterns, if it shouldn’t be reached (only) with colors. Damask pattern, the eternal classic, provides a good result here also. Geometric patterns fit for glamour style too (e.g. chevron, trellis, orderly stripes).
Since the style has a lot of modernized classic marks, therefore original antique pieces are not fit in these surroundings. They are not mixed with shiny-glimmering brand-new elegance but rival with them which cause an embarrassing outcome.
Ask for help of an interior designer for creating glamour style in your home.

Different handles

Sep12

Use different handles/knobs on the lower and upper kitchen cabinets or doors and drawers – the effect will be more stirring

TV2 interview

Oct11

My interview by interior design series “Szépítők” of TV2 can be seen on this link. It starts right after the short introduction.
https://tv2.hu/musoraink/szepitok/245440_csokkentheto-a-lakashitel-osszege.html

American country

Jul17

The American country style has several faces: farmhouses with shaker origins, seaside bungalows, Victorian houses of the south states, mountain log houses etc. They have common characteristics by which we can evoke their mood.
Usually the kitchen is in the same open area with the dining table and the living room, separated by a kitchen island. Spaces are wide and open, the ceiling is high. Visible beams and fireplaces are frequent accessories. In the case of a multi-story house, bedrooms and bathrooms are at the first/second floor, communal area, guest bathroom and home office are at the ground level. The house has a garage or car parking, front- and backyard garden and a porch.
Natural materials are the base of furnishing: hardwood floor, painted walls, wooden and wicker furniture, cotton and burlap fabrics, sisal and rag rugs, animal leathers. Ornaments, accessories are frequently antique pieces in original conditions. They can be metal-ware (e.g. trade sign, milk-can), hand-made products (carved box, bedspread) and treasures of nature (shells, driftwood).
Using the national-flag-motif and its colors (red, blue, white) as decorating elements is also a characteristic of the style. It provides high contrasts softened by browns and beiges. Black is a common additional color. Also, the flag is the base of the striped and star patterns. Unique, hand-made, often inherited objects have role. E.g. patchwork and quilted blankets and cushions are typical.
Ladder-back Windsor chairs, rocking-chairs, shiplap covered walls, sofas with soft cushions, reused objects, feeling of nature deepen the country mood.
Ask for help of an interior designer creating a cozy country style.

Blue-white chinas

Jul12

Antique blue-white chinas are perfect inspirations for classic interiors

Elegant decors for Halloween

Oct24

When preparing a Halloween decoration, the goal is to create it more scary. Anyhow, classic homes should be decorated in an elegant way for this feast also.
Decorate the mantelpiece, coffee table, shelves with objects which have old mood and fit for the occasion: alarm clock, antique silver and glass candle holders, paper and metal boxes in fitting colors, magnifiers, bird cage etc. Some leather- or linen-folded old books are a good base. If we don’t have these at home, we can even make some by ourselves: cut black-and-white newspapers at the required size, glue them to each other by the edges to get a ca. 2-3 cm thick „volume”. Wrap it with brown paper. Dip it into black tea and let it dry. It will be similar to an antique book without its cover. We can even burn the edges and write the title on the rootlet by a fountain pen.
Make the door wreath from e.g. black feathers which remind us to crows but look good anyway. If the door is too dark for this, then choose white, silver or golden colored pieces. Orange dried flowers and white chrysanthemums are suitable instead of feathers also.
Let’s decorate the walls with unique handmade silhouettes. Cut the profile out from black cardboard and put them on light bases into similar frames. Old black-and-white family photos and anatomical engravings are also perfect decoration elements for Halloween.
Gather old types of keys, the bigger and shabbier is better. They can be hanged on the wall in frames but the smaller can be pinned on pumpkins as decoration too. If they are individually stringed to a black ribbon, then they can be hanged interlaced to the stair-rail or the curtain rod.
Let’s paint some classic bird feeder to dark grey or black color. They will be spooky placed in group in the corner near the door.
Take out the high-heeled black boots and shoes, top-hat and hat fitting in color from the wardrobe. Stuff the shoes and place them e.g. beside the fireplace. Hats can be put even on the top of the pumpkins but they look perfect hanged from the ceiling also. We can highlight these everyday objects decorating them with light-garlands.
Ask for help of an interior designer making a classical effected Halloween decoration.

Black lines

Oct19

Highlight important details with black lines, that makes the room characteristic and elegant

Beach style

Aug1

Beach style captures the heart not only in summer, but it is popular all over the year. The reason is maybe the cheerful, airy yet elegant and sometimes contrasting color scheme and the memories of vacations.
Beach style can be created in the easiest way with two basic colors: white gives a refreshing clean and a sharp clear background for the decoration, beige/sand provides a much more calm and natural basic. The total effect is colder in the case of the first one and warmer in the case of the second. The additional colors are the same in both cases:
The brown of the natural wood (except for orange and reddish hues) appears commonly on the floor, on the beams and on furniture. It’s important that it is not a painted brown color but the wood’s own color which is protected only with a coat of lacquer, this way its pattern also remains visible.
The neutral colors (warm greys, beiges) of natural fabrics (linen, sisal, coir, hemp etc.) look good on carpet, curtains, covers of seats and on accessories like table lamp made of cord, for example.
Navy blue is a quite dark color, still it is frequently used as wall color also, not only on accessories. It anchors the space and makes the style much more „tangible”. The effect is high contrast, still calming if pairing it with white.
Brighter colors like turquoise, blue water, sunny yellow and red are commonly the colors of accessories. Of course, nothing forbids using them in larger amounts also, even on the walls, but attention should be paid to fit for the beach style. This is much easier to keep if they are paired with white.
Definitely striped is the favorite among patterns which fits perfectly for this style. The advantage of it that it can visualize more of the colors mentioned above in the same time. Patterns depicting ships and their parts, sea-animals and seaside buildings can be freely used also. Seashells and sea-glass can be collected, starfishes, corals and colored glass bubbles can be bought for decoration, but the wall can be decorated even with a steering wheel of a ship.
If you also would like to go home after work as going to holiday in all over the year, ask for help of an interior designer for creating the seaside mood.

For 4th July

Jul3

Red-white-blue interior ideas for the american Independence Day

Shabby chic

Apr27

Shabby chic is an interior design style which is very popular nowadays. It can be relatively easily realized in any home.
A shabby chic interior is feminine, light and has a little bit warn effect, despite of this, still elegant. Dominant colors are white, grey, powder blue, pink, crème, light green and beige. Furnishing is made of wood, chairs are upholstered comfortably soft, or even wicker braided. Basically it has French style characteristics. Although the overall effect is rural, yet it fits well even in an aristocratic environment. The double doored large wardrobe, the Bergére armchair and the great variety of fabrics provide the luxurious, but still muted feeling. Feels like if we spend our holiday in our country castle.
We can produce the furnishing ourselves for this style. Let’s paint the old furnitures purchased at a flea market with off-white and generate the antique feeling using some umbra brown. Another method, if the paint is burnished back at the edges, at the handles and at the bottom of the legs. This simulates the worn effect gained by the heavy years of usage. At accessories, avoid using strong colors. Flower bouquet is always an important decoration element. It can be placed in practically anything, like a watering can, a jar or old cookie box. Select pastel coloured flowers, which fit to the rural atmosphere, like lavender, roses, tulip or wild flowers. Prefer natural materials at fabrics, like cotton or linen. Use patterned material or plain weaved ones occasionally with toile pattern using only two colors. Use them brevely, combine several hues of a given color. For metallic accessories, silver or gold color is the best choice.
If you like shabby chic, but don’t know how to start, ask help from an interior designer.