Decor

A Cozy Getaway: Reading Nook Ideas

Your home reading space could be as simple as using a comfy chair tucked away in the corner. But here is a list of cozy and creative reading nook ideas that will show you how to take your relaxing space to another level.

Try and choose a secluded area in your home for your reading nook. This could be:

In a corner
By a window – just like the reading nook in picture (1)
Turn the space under the stairs into a reading nook (5)
In the attic
Inside a large closet that you don’t need
Why not hang up a hammock (6)
Set up a teepee for a toddler and kids reading nook
Or how about outdoors in the garden

How to Make A Cozy Reading Nook

You’ll want to make the space as cozy as possible. To do this, you’ll want to try and shut yourself off from the rest of the house. This can be done by hanging up some curtains (Ideas Mood Board: DIY Room Dividers). Or by hanging up some fabric to create a reading nook canopy around a love seat just like in picture (7). You could block off your reading nook using bookcases, or build it into a space (like a closet, or under the stairs) – just like in pictures (3) and (4).

Cozy Lighting

You’ll want to make sure your have enough lighting to be able to read comfortably without straining your eyes. This doesn’t mean you have to have your ceiling lights on, lighting up the whole space. Instead, maybe hook up the lights to a dimmer switch and use a table lamp for more relaxing lighting. You can also hang up string lights, or put tea candles in a bowl of water to create soothing ambient lighting.

Having yourself surround by bookcases of books is one way to style your reading nook. Another idea is to create a gallery wall of framed pictures and paintings.

Design Tips On How To Create A Vintage Gallery Wall

Here are some other posts to get ideas from:

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7

April 22, 2016 in Decor

Simple Yet Stylish Modern Wall Decor Ideas

When creating a modern room, you want to keep the space looking sleek, clean, and clutter free. This includes your walls. When it comes to modern wall decor ideas, this post will show you how to keep things simple yet stylish.

Gallery Wall – Use matching frames that are either black or white, with black and white art or photograph pieces
Texture – See if you add texture to your walls. This can be done by painting your walls two different shades of the same color (say grey) and using a sponge to create a marble effect or a thick brush to create a linen effect (Textured Wall Painting Ideas). Or check out the living room in modern living room in picture (2) that has the marble veneer covering the wall. Modern wall paper is also a option (A Fine Selection of Modern Wallpaper Designs).
Hang up a modern clock
Modern wall lights are another item to put up

Put up floating shelves and decorate them with plants (3) or lean framed pieces on them (5). Add a different colored backing to the shelves to create a unique design element, just like the shelves in picture (4)
Crown Molding – You can get modern crown molding with a simple sleek shape
And have a look at my post here (The Finishing Touch: Wainscoting Ideas and Designs) for an example of modern styled wainscoting.

Here are some other modern posts to get more ideas from:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6

April 18, 2016 in Decor, Modern

Creating a Wonderland: Kids Room Decor Ideas

Here is a long list of kids room decor ideas, everything from creating a LEGO planter, to using glow in the dark paint to create magical wall decor designs.

Simple and Creative Kids Room Decor Ideas

Here is a list of unique and creative ways you can decorate a kids room:

A wall map. You can always make this a bit more fun by getting a themed wall map, stick LEGO on the wall to create a map, trace the outline of a map on the wall and have the kids fill it in with finger paint.
Have a vintage style globe.
A nightlight that doubles as a plush toy, like this turtle one here.
Spruce up ordinary IKEA furniture with paint. Take the FROSTA stool as an example You could repaint the whole stool to add some color to the room. Or just dip the legs in paint.
Glue old toys to the base of a lamp to create a unique bedside lamp – just like the one in picture (6) – an ideal decor piece for a boys room
Why not make a bedside table out of LEGOS (21 Insanely Cool DIY LEGO Furniture and Home Decor Creations)
How about gluing LEGO sheets on the wall, so that you can create patterns and designs out of LEGO pieces.
In my post of 21 cool LEGO projects (link above) there are other ideas that you could use in a kids room such as building a LEGO planter, a LEGO clock, or a LEGO frame for a shelf.
If you are looking for an ambitious and cool DIY project, you could fit fiber optics into the ceiling to create a starry night sky
Or glow in the dark stick on stars work too
Here is a cheap DIY I did, where I used a sheet of plywood and a drill to create a design Drill and Plywood DIY Art Board

A Bedroom’s Feature Pieces

Don’t forget that the main focal and feature pieces in the bedroom, will really set the style of the space. So pay close attention to these pieces when decorating your kids room:

The bed sheets and pillow cases take up a lot of visual space in the bedroom. Have a look at the kids bedroom in picture (5) and see how the style of the sheets really sets the style of the whole bedroom.
Closets also have a big impact on the style and feel of the bedroom. You can easily change the look and feel them for cheap if you wanted too. Have a look at my post here for ideas DIY Challenge: Give Your Closets a Makeover – Ideas and Design Tips
And then there are the curtains, another piece that sets the style of the room. So choose colorful ones if you want a bright and lively space. Or go with a neutral color (white, grey, cream) if you want a more minimalist bedroom style.

Decorating the Walls

Here are some ways you can get creative with the walls in a kids room:

Use chalkboard paint to create a chalkboard wall
Wood paneling with vintage style stamps on them
For paint color ideas, have a look at my post here Color Schemes: Kids Room Paint Ideas
Paint the walls using glow in the dark paint to create magical designs

Here are some other posts for more ideas on decorating your kids room:

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8

April 18, 2016 in Bedroom, Decor

Design Tips for Modern Closet Doors

Here are some quick styling and design tips for modern closets and their doors:

No Handles: If you can, try and get closet doors that don’t have any handles. The best options are the doors that pop open when you push them. An alternative is to have a groove carved into the doors.

Having no handles creates a flat and sleek look in the room. The closet in picture (5) shows what I mean. And picture (4) is an example of handles that are carved into the closet door. Or check out the modern sliding closet doors in picture (2). And one way to fake it is to have the handles the same color as the doors, so they blend together – just like in picture (5).

You can still use handles. But try and find ones that are not so imposing on the overall look of the door – like the handles in pictures (1) and (3)

Built In Units: A modern closet should be a built in unit that goes from the floor to the ceiling – which you can see from all of the closets in the mood board above.

Glossy: If you want to make your bedroom feel larger, then go with doors that have a shiny and glossy surface. The light in the room will bounce off of these glossy surfaces making the room feel more spacious.

Check out this post for more closet design ideas: DIY Challenge: Give Your Closet Doors a Makeover – Ideas and Design Tips