…So I am about to design and decorate a bedroom for a 20-year old Alex as her birthday present! It’s an attic room with one slanted wall, one big window, and pink walls with the slanted one in violet. Pink is a tricky color though, and Alex wants to avoid the room becoming too sweet and teenagey – after all, a young woman is to live there!
I have started the design process by finding some inspirations, which I will later present to Alex to find out her preferences. There are two styles I want to suggest: romantic and modern, and an extra twist with statement wallpaper.
First – the more romantic look with a wrought iron bed. A natural choice with pink, it enhances its feminine style and is very relaxing. Conducive to dreaming and planning, should create a good atmosphere for the whole day!
Feminine pink bedroomPink blush bedroom by A Gift-Wrapped LifeShades of pink bedroom by Country Living
Now to more modern look. Stylish and simple, if slightly darker due to complementing with black rather than only white.
Modern pink and black bedroom from KiaC StylebookPink flower bedroom from PhotobucketBlack n Pink bedroom from Elisabeth85
Finally, here are some ideas for enlivening the look with a statement wallpaper on one wall:
Hot Pink Damask from Direct WallpaperMilly Black Pink Silver by Direct WallpaperLydia Floral Feature Pink White 13948 by Direct Wallpaper
I will let you know what Alex prefers when she lets me know 🙂
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…No wiec wlasnie zabieram sie za zaprojektowanie i udekorowanie sypialni 20-letniej Oli – jako prezent urodzinowy! Jest to pokoj na poddaszu z duzym oknem, a sciany sa koloru rozowego z kontrastowa fioletowa sciana kolankowa pod skosem. Intrygujace to zadanie – stworzyc ‘rozowy’ pokoj dla mlodej kobiety, starajac sie by byl jak najmniej dziecinny i nie przeslodzony.
Postanowilam rozpoczac od zrozumienia preferencji Oli, wiec zamierzam pokazac jej kilka propozycji by zrozumiec jej styl. W poscie pokazuje moje propozycje, czyli dwa style: romantyczny z kutym lozkiem – jasniejszy, oraz nowoczesny – z ciemniejszymi dodatkami. Jako urozmaicenie proponuje rowniez oblozyc jedna sciane zdobna tapeta w rozu, ale jeszcze chetniej – w ciemnym dopelniajacym kolorze, typu grafit.
Dam Wam znac od razu gdy dowiem sie co Ola preferuje 🙂
“I’ve noticed that you prefer white recently” wrote my Mum through IM a few days ago. Do I? I guess I do. Although I’m ashamed to admit it, it took me some time to acknowledge white as a color. I’ve always loved bold colors (even though my red bedroom was giving me headaches during my uni years). With time, however, perhaps the more interiors I’ve seen, the more I’ve learned how colors dramatically influence how we perceive everything around us.
White is a great background to both statement pieces of art, and bold color accents. If you want to display a treasured painting, a gorgeous chair or any other item – what better background than white?? (unless the item is white 🙂 )
White works for everyone. It makes interiors seem timeless, elegant, fresh. It’s exactly why we call it the blank canvas – everyone can imagine themselves in the space, even if to decide what other colors to use. It’s easy on our imagination, bluntly speaking.
White works with every style. Normally we’d think – minimalist. But think also – modern; think shabby chic; French country, Scandinavian, etc, etc. Even think retro! (as a background to graphic designs)
But most importantly,white = space. They are almost synonyms. It will always create this feeling of spaciuosness, so desired in small places.
And yet, surprisingly, white seems to be used more in big spaces rather than small flats. I’ve realized it when looking through my inspirations collections to choose images for today’s post. All the post-industrial, ex-school buldings, lofts, barn conversions and quite a number of old big mansions boast the white interiors. So why not small flats? (And yes I know I admit my kitchen is green and my bathroom orange! I’m not saying everything needs to be white 🙂 )
Anyway here are some not-so-big-or-expensive places that I hope will inspire everyone to the gorgeous white…
…workspaces at home
Desire to Inspire - White workspaceDesign Sponge - customized workspace
…calm and relaxing bedrooms
Kikette's white bedroomDecor pad's glamour bedroom with mirrored end tablesMelanie Acevedo's simple and light bedroomCharlie's design diary's simple white bedroom
…and chic and spacious living rooms
Styleroom's white living roomI like design's living roomSteven Shadley's gallery-style living room from KatiedidFreshhome's minimalist living room with fireplace
So? I’m sure you have at least one white room. Will you look at it differently now?
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“Widze, ze ostatnio preferujesz biel“, Mama napisala do mnie na GG kilka dni temu. Coz, chyba ma racje. To prawda, dlugo mi zajelo zanim uznalam bialy za kolor. Zawsze uwielbialam mocne kolory, mimo ze ze moja czerwona sypialnia z czasow studenckich przyprawiala mnie kiedys o bol glowy. Ale z czasem, ogladajac coraz wiecej wnetrz, nauczylam sie jak wielki wplyw maja na nas kolory wszystkiego co nas otacza.
Bialy to doskonale tlo zarowno dla wyrazistych dziel sztuki, jak i mocnych akcentow kolorystycznych. Jezeli chcesz wyeksponowac ulubiony obraz czy wyjatkowy fotel – nie ma lepszego tla (no chyba ze obiekt tez jest bialy 🙂 )
Bialy pasuje wszystkim i do wszystkiego. Sprawia ze wnetrza staja sie ponadczasowe, eleganckie i swieze. Wlasnie dlatego mowimy – biala karta, czyste tlo, poczatek; kazdy moze sie w takim wnetrzu ‘zobaczyc’, nawet po to by zdecydowac na jakie kolory ten bialy wymienic. Jest to kolor przyjazny wyobrazji, ze tak powiem.
Bialy pasuje do kazdego stylu. Pierwsze skojarzenie – minimalizm. Ale takze nowoczesny, shabby chic, francuski, skandynawski, itd, itp.. nawet retro, jako kontrastowa podstawa do mocnych wzorow.
Co najwazniejsze, biel = przestrzen. To prawieze synonimy. Biel zawsze doda poczucia przestronnosci, tak potrzebnej w malych wnetrzach.
A jednak, co zadziwiajace, wydaje sie ze biel jest duzo czesniej uzywana w wielkich przestrzeniach niz malych. Zwrocilam na to uwage przegladajac moje kolekcje inspiracji, gdy wybieralam zdjecia na dzis. Wszystkie te post-industrialne, po-szkolne obiekty, lofty, i inne wielkie budynki wrecz chlubia sie biela i przestrzenia. Czemu wiec nie male mieszkania? (Tak, wiem, moja kuchnia jest zielona a mini-lazienka pomaranczowa, nigdzie nie powiedzialam ze wszystko musi byc biale ale jednak…)
Tak czy inaczej, powyzej przedstawiam kilka wnetrz ktore mam nadzieje ze Was zainspiruja – domowe biura, sypialnie i salony. Prawie kazdy z nas ma choc jeden bialy pokoj – czy spojrzysz teraz na niego inaczej?
Another three books joined my interior design-themed collection yesterday, courtesy of T.K. Maxx (read: for much less than RRP):
1. The Colour Book: Use the Healing Power of Colour to Transform Your Life – by Lori Reid
A psychological take on the power of color in interiors and how to harness it to your advantage. Also, nice intro about colors in general (colors of light vs. pigment colors, etc.) and 12 color cards for conducting a personality test. For the interested, it discusses the energy of color and its healing influence on chakras.
The Colour Book: Use the Healing Power of Colour to Transform Your Life - by Lori Reid
2. At Home With Art [Illustrated] – by Tiddy Rowan
One of my ambition is to make art a natural element of interiors. Whether paintings by famous artists, or vintage posters, art beautifies and adds soul to any space. We face numerous problems when dealing with art, though – what to choose? How much to spend? How to hang it to its best advantage? But most importantly – no one wants to live in a gallery. How then do you get to be at ease with art, and make it manifest your personal taste? I hope this book will touch upon those questions and thus enrich my knowledge of art in interiors.
At Home With Art (Illustrated) - by Tiddy Rowan
3. Home: A Practical Style Guide – by Kerryn Harper
Giving overview of 10 interior design styles and asking questions about your preferences, the book aims to establish which one suits you best. To be honest, having looked through almost all of it, I had to glance back on the inside cover to make sure this book was published in this century. To be honest, not all of the photos work with my taste (especially the French chic and Scandinavian – I personally would have seen those chapters differently), but hey, the book aims at giving an overview, and it does (do not think it covers all the possibilities, though – far from that). The narrative is better, though, and some comments / tips are certainly valuable.