Three montages – three projects:
1. Apartment of a father and son in Budapest
2. Silent shelter of a business woman
3. Kitchen in a bachelor flat
My project 3.
Archives
The interior designer
Why should I call an interior designer? – Generally this is the first question occurring related to this job.
Because I can save significant cost. How so?
A good interior designer not only provides “some kind of look and feel” for the flat, but after careful planning, implements the most excellent interior based on the exact needs of the owner and the characteristics of the apartment. Removes most of the burden from the owners during the process. Organizes measurements, negotiations with experts, helps at searching the proper materials and controlling the works and so on. Problems encountering are also solved by the interior designer instead of kidnapping the owners time, of course with continuous negotiations.
According to my experience, owners usually calls for an interior designer too late, only when they realize they cannot cope alone with realizing their dreams. By that time, they have invested lots of time and money – sometimes in vain – in an activity, which has no satisfying result for them. Structural works, sometime tiling is done already which is hard or sometimes impossible to change. In ideal case, the interior designer is involved the process at the planning phase and the result will be formed common with the architect, the implementers and the owner as well.
Please visit my web page. If you think I can help you, don’t hesitate to contact me.
www.classicinteriors.hu
Basement
The basement is usually an unused space. With clever transformation, we can increase the value of our estate implementing comfortable and useful living space from it. Some aspects should be considered anyhow:
Most simple mode of usage that needs the less transformation efforts is moving the garage, wine cellar or store here. If we need much more, it can be playing room, guest room, workroom, DIY workshop, laundry room, gym, etc. In case of greater area, more of them can be realized simultaneously.
Since great part of the basement are located underground, the isolation should be excellent. Not only the temperature is the main issue, but the soil moisture protection. Let it be done by experienced professionals. Second important issue is light. Let’s implement more windows to provide natural light. Parallel we may need a great amount of artificial lighting. Probably the ceiling height is lower then the average, so the most practical solutions are spot and LED lights. Heating appliances should be planned at the very beginning of the project. In case of more separate rooms, the heating appliances should be placed properly. The stairs leading to the basement should be as safety as any other stairs in the house. For flooring, let’s choose materials that can bear the mist well. Walls and ceiling should have been painted with light colours and low furniture has to be applied to increase the sense of space.
If you have a reasonable space in the basement waiting for be transformed, but you don’t know how to use it the most advantageous way? Ask for help from an interior designer for planning and arranging.
Water tower as home
Special and cosy apartment can be conjured also in a water tower
Level-offset
Don’t be afraid to furnish level-offset spaces
Orangery
A cleverly designed orangery built to the house will be usable all over the, which increases the value of the house also.
Firstly the purpose of the additional „room” has to be decided. It can be useful for anything else beside keeping and wintering plants: reading nook, playroom, additional dining room or living room. It is practical to build in a French door in its garden side for opening it up with the garden in good weather, this way creating an airy but covered outdoor seating place.
The building can be ordered from professional companies, which deliver it in the desired size, color and material after on-site survey. The frame can be made of metal or wood. The first one is the most common because it needs less care and sturdier. Any other color can be chosen beside the classic white, which matches to the house. The advantage of green is fading into the garden view. Black gives a more characteristic look, and also a beloved color for a long time. As far as possible, the roof should be made of the same glassed framework as the walls. Not only for the sake of a more uniform and beautiful appearance, but also for the plants to get more light.
It’s practical to choose a kind of tile or hardwood covering for the floor. These don’t warp by moisture which is important because of the plants kept here. If carpet is preferred, let’s choose one made of coir or sisal. They are nature-looking and easy cleanable. It’s worth to lay a smaller carpet on the tiled floor in winter for improving comfort.
The cooling-heating question has to be solved during the building phase for the sake of all-year usage. Floor heating is the simplest way. If the frame is put on a lower parapet wall, long but narrow radiators can be placed also which will be almost invisible. The proper shading is a must against sunshine and over-warming. Roll-up or roman blinds are the best fitted solutions. They highlight the beauty of the structure with their simple and clear lines. An UV-proof fabric should be chosen for it which looks good with the furnishing also. Don’t forget the roof! It’s practical to make more glass panels openable for the better ventilation.
Attention should be paid to the problems linked to the room’s special features while furnishing, e.g. moisture and strong sunshine. That’s why garden furniture with metal or bamboo frame are good solutions which are more resistant than upholstered indoor furniture. Lighting is important if the room will be used in the evenings also. Let’s treat the orangery as an ordinary room and use floor lamp, chandelier, table lamp and wall scone. The frame commonly suits for hanging a chandelier but it should be discussed with the professional when ordering.
This room is transparent on all sides because of the glass walls. So, pay attention to safety by proper locks and alarm system. During the holidays, it will be a spectacularly decorated room to enjoy from the garden.
If you are not sure about what kind of orangery fits for your house or just want to furnish the present one in style, ask for help of an interior designer.
Lofted room
A well thought-out and choosy implemented loft doesn’t diminish the sense of space
Animals in our home
Having an animal means great responsibility, therefore we have to think, how will we get along with it before getting one! From the aspect of interior design, primarily cats and dogs are considered, since they can move freely in our home.
In a typical city apartment without garden connection, pets usually use all the territory. After walking, we can clean the paws of our dog, in case of wet weather we can even wash them, to prevent the floor being muddy. This is important if we want to use carpets or floor mats. Only the period of fur shedding can cause a trouble, mostly at longhair cat and dog breeds. Even this could be eliminated by frequent vacuuming the carpets and furniture upholstering and by training the pet to use its own lying place.
Having a garden connection lets our pets walking in and out freely – this makes the problem really tough. Wooden and stone flooring are easy to clean from muddy footprints and hair. Practically these should be applied in every room pets can visit. In case dogs that like to dig, or larger dogs, a smaller part of the garden should be separated, where they can play and run without harming the plants or vegetables. To protect the vegetation, we have to clean up after our pets frequently.
Important to provide an own place for pets (mostly for dogs) where they feel comfortable if we are not at home. Let’s train them to accept and use it. Their laying place should be comfortably soft, large enough and having a look not disturbing the haromony of the interior. Nowdays a lot of „design” cat and dog accessories can be purchased in pet shops, from toys to laying baskets. If we want real special, we can order built-in or tailored, classic style solution from a carpenter.
It’s recommended to keep the feeding and watering bowls and cat litter in a separate place, where guests cannot see them, e.g. in loundry room, pantry or any other hidden corner. In case of a bigger house, they can be placed in the garage or basement. It’s a question of individual approach, in which rooms can be visited by our pets, what is allowed for them in the apartment and what not, but it’s practical to train our pets in an elegant interior not to cause any damage, which is very time-consuming or costly to repair.
If you would like to modify your apartment or house to provide optimal place for your pets, or just considering having a cat or dog, ask for help from an interior designer.
Built-in attic
Building in the attic is one of the best methods for increasing the useful floor space of a house. Such a reconstruction raises not only the value of the property but very comfortable living space can be created with applying some rules.
Pay attention to the quality of insulation because it can largely affect the costs of heating-cooling in the future. Take care of the latter, because these rooms have to be more intensely heated in winter and cooled in summer. The livability of the attic depends on the proper amount of light. If it is possible, more or bigger windows should be built in. If they can be placed only on a high level, let’s choose pieces with handles on their lower part. Since sunshine can be a problem in summer, proper shading should be provided. Mostly roll-up blind or light-reflecting window-foil might be the solution but common curtains shouldn’t be neglected either because of the sloped roof! It can be just as elegant as in an ordinary living room or bedroom, with clever solutions. Attic might be darker in winter than other rooms, so the proper implementing of artificial lighting has to be attended already at the beginning of the works.
A built-in attic can be suited to several functions. In the case of a bedroom, the bed shouldn’t be placed under the skylight because it can disturb the calming rest. If the wardrobe will be here, dehumidifying is a very important task. In the case of children’s room or playroom, safety is a must, especially if there is a balcony also. It’s worth to use additional sound-proofing in the case of a movie or TV room. The proper darkening can be solved here easier. This kind of space can be good for a hobby room or home office also. Take care of placing the desks for avoiding hitting the sloping roof when standing up from the chair. A wider tabletop can be used for this.
Always ask for help of professionals for building-in an attic. Consult with an interior designer for optimizing the final furnishing and for the best usage of the space.
Montage
If someone hires an interior designer, one thing is sure: what should be the feeling entering the new flat. One is not certain in colors or furniture, just seen something somewhere which he liked. The feeling took him or her.
To express and understand this, making montages is important in interior design. But why we cannot do this ourselves? There are two ways to begin:
1. There are a lot of objects in our mind, that we would like to realize in the ready space (e.g.: fabrics, paint samples, photos of furnitures or lamps). We like one because of the color, other of the shape, a third one of the pattern. Or we just want that one or a similar. These can be attached on a A3 format cardboard sheet. We can arrange them and check how they will look like together. We can get a view of “all of things” getting in one space.
2. We would like to catch a certain style or feeling. In this case we haven’t got to use real accessories or materials. Everything is suitable that has adequate atmosphere. We can collect picture on Internet or we can cut them from newspapers. They can display a complete interior, or just one bouquet, teddy bear, book cover, etc. The goal is the MOOD.
Let’s start bravely with whatever variant. Its great fun and in addition to, a perfect tool for getting further ideas and organizing the lots of “I like this” things.
