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.

Separating kids’ room

Jul10

It’s not rare in a family that two children share one room, so not everybody has an own room. Commonly it is not a problem until they are 4-5 years old, even if they have different sexes. But after an age the children desire an own snug, in the case of a boy-girl couple it is more urgent to solve the separation.
If the size of the room is big enough, the separation can be solved easily with placing some wardrobes in the middle of it. Half of them with doors facing to one side, the others facing to the other side. This way both children will have enough storage space. The back of the wardrobes can be wallpapered, even with a unique wall-poster, fit to the style of the kid’s room.
In the case of a smaller room, the room separator could be a curtain, for example. Fix the curtain rod to the ceiling and choose a fabric which has weight to avoid the moving by draught. Panel curtain is perfect for this also.
Another solution is a unique partition panel, which is only one-two centimeters thick. Made of cut MDF sheets it lets the light through but separates the space visually. It is fixed to the floor and the ceiling also. The fixing can be a rail-system, this way they are rollable beside each other, with this the two areas can be united again.
If the room is really very small, let’s paint it with two colors (fifty-fifty) fit for the taste or hobby of the two children and decorate them separately. Although the room remains common, they will feel that part one of their own. If they can compound in a common color instead of the two, it’s much easier.
In the case of a high ceiling, the problem can be solved with a loft. If there is enough space for only a bunk-bed, that part can be split into two with painting the wall two-colored horizontally beside the bed. The turned/offset bunk-bed levels provide bigger separation feeling for the children.
Ask for help of an interior designer for planning the kids’ room.

Red in the bedroom

Apr19

Red is a very intensive, stimulating color, therefore in the bedroom it shouldn’t be visible from the bed in favour of calm rest

Visible beams

Mar22

Low ceiling with visible beams – not necessarily press the space

Bunk beds

Feb1

Classic style bunk beds for children’s room

Color pairs 19.

Nov4

Color pairs: red-brown

Organized desk

Sep5

Parents already bought every needed tool for their children for starting school: exercise books, pencils, scissors, chalks etc. These have to be stored in the children’s room also. Not everybody is lucky enough to have space for a separated cabinet near the desk for this purpose, so this has to be solved on the desk and the wall above it.
Let there be order and system when the child sits down to study: every tool should be found and reached easily, still there is enough free space for „work” and after it, it’s easy to put all back to their place. It’s practical to buy a desk which has some drawers, and if it has upper shelves, even more useful.
Storage boxes without lids in several sizes shall be put in every drawer to avoid disorder: these can be chocolate boxes made of metal or cardboard, small glass bowls or anything else which height fits in the drawer. Crayons, rubbers, drawing pins or every easily spreadable thing can be put in them.
We can make upper shelves for the available desk also: storage box with 2-3 drawers is perfect for this purpose. Fix a box on both side of the desk and paint it to the desired color but they can be wrapped with wallpaper also. If the created storage system is colorful, funny and playful, children are easily persuadable for using it.
Let’s make a back-plate for the desk, one side of it is painted with blackboard paint, the other is covered with cork. This way notes can be written and frequently used things can be pinned out.
Let’s fix some shelves above the desk on which storage boxes with lids and not-used school books and exercise books can be stored. If even more order is required, these can have doors also. It’s important that the child could reach them.
Place an old mug, a recycled tin can or a mason jar on the table as a pen holder. This will be a perfect place for often used scissors, pen and ruler.
Of course, desks of adults can be organized with the methods above… Ask for help of an interior designer for proper usage of the scarce learning nook!