Home Tree Atlas: Home Decor Ideas and Mood Boards

Wrestling With Your Ironing Board: Ideas on How To Store It and Hide It

Ironing boards can be quite a hassle, having to wrestle them open then close them up again – then shove them out of the way. Plus they can be a bit of an eye sore. So here are some ironing board storage ideas that can make your life just a little bit easier:

Fit a hook, rack, or ironing board hanger on a wall (7) or on the inside of a closet (just like in picture (2)) or cabinet
It is big pain to have to unfold and fold up an ironing board. Some ways to get around this hassle is to fit a fold up ironing board in a draw so you can just pull it out (1).
Or how about fitting an ironing board to a wall so that it simply flips down, and latches back up
You can also get racks that hang over your door, not just to store the ironing board (9), but so it can fold down for you to use while it is still attached to the door – just like in picture (8).
You can hang up a tall canvas piece, framed painting, or framed mirror. Hang this up using hinges so that you can open it out (sideways) and hide the ironing board behind it.
A wall cabinet can be fitted to a wall to store your iron, ironing board, and cleaning products. You can always fit the ironing board so it flips out ready for use – just like the cabinets in pictures (5) and (6)
Or how about a creating a built in storage unit – just like the one in picture (4)
Another creative idea is to fit an ironing board to a cart. Your ironing board becomes portable, and you have storage space under it (3)

Here are some other posts to get more storage and laundry room ideas from:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9

May 28, 2016 in Laundry Room, Storage

The Simple Guide: Home Lighting Design Basics

Lighting plays such an important role in home design. It can turn an ordinary room into a designer looking one. Lighting can change how a room feels, making it look more spacious or making it feel cozy and relaxing. This post goes over lighting design basics, from the different types of lighting you’ll have in a home and design tips to safety and security lighting ideas.

The 3 Types of Home Lighting

There are three types of lighting you can add to a room (or your garden):

Ambient Lighting is general lighting in a room. This is usually in the form of ceiling and wall lights.
Task Lighting. If you have a specific task that needs to be done in a room, then you’ll want to have lights dedicated to the area. For kitchen lighting design you could have lights specifically for the countertops, the sink, or cooker. In the living room you might need a floor lamp near the couch for reading, or reading wall lamps in the bedroom. And in the bathroom you’ll have specific lights around the vanity and mirror. Outdoors you’ll want to have lights by the front door, leading up the drive way, and by any steps and stairs for safety.
Accent Lighting is for highlighting decor pieces or design features in a room. If you have a painting on a wall, or even just a nice texture, a ceiling light can be point down onto it. If you have a recess in the wall, then a little light can be fitted inside of it to display a decor piece. Shelving lighting is another form of accent lighting. And outdoors you can put lights under trees or bushes, or add lights to a pond to highlight these areas.

Creating Balance

You’ll want to avoid just using one type of light fixture to light up the whole room. For example, a room that is just lit up with ceiling lights can be a bit dull. By using different light fixtures you create different lighting effects and layers, resulting in a well designed space.

So mix and match using ceiling lights along with wall lamps, or floor and table lamps. There are also other ideas such as cove lighting and pendant lights that I go over below.

Different Types of Light Fixtures

Here is a quick list of a few light fixtures and terms:

Recessed Lights: This is the go to choice when adding lights to a modern room. Recessed lights are fitted inside of your ceiling, so that all of the fittings are hidden out of sight. You are then left with a clean, minimalist, and modern look in the room – just like the living rooms in pictures (3) and (4).
Pendant Lights: Pendant lights hang down from the ceiling and help bring light closer down to surfaces. These are ideal for kitchen islands, countertops, dining tables, and for desks in home offices.
Cove Lighting is when you install a false ceiling, and hidden away are some lights. These lights then softly bounce light off of the ceiling and walls and into the room – just like in the bedroom in picture (5) or the living room in picture (3).
A Door Jamb is a little fitting you can fit on the inside of your closet or cabinet doors. And when you open the door a light will automatically come on.

Vanity Bathroom Lighting Design

There is one particular area in the house that needs special attention when it comes to lighting, and that is the bathroom vanity. If you were to just use ceiling lights over your mirror, you’ll end up with harsh shadows on your face – making it harder to groom.

If you’ve ever seen the backstage of a fashion show or a theater production, you would of seen those mirrors that have lights all around it. This creates even lighting on the face.

To recreate this in your bathroom you really only need 3 lights. One horizontal light attached to the wall above the mirror, and one vertical light on each side of the mirror.

Safety and Security Lighting

Here are some areas around the house that could require specific lights for added safety:

If you have any steps or stairs outdoors either in the garden or leading up to your front door, these areas would need lighting
The same applies to outdoor landscape pathways
Having a light on the front door not only deters intruders, but also makes it easier for you to see your keys when coming in at night
When driving out at night you’ll want to be able to clearly see the front of the garage, the driveway, and any pedestrians on the sidewalk, or cars on the road
If you have kids, they might get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. There are portable battery powered night light lanterns that they can take along with them to the bathroom. Or there are motion sensor stick on lights you could stick to the bathroom walls.

For more ideas and for some photos on outdoor security lighting, have a look at my post here: Home Style and Safety with Outdoor Security Lighting.

How To Make a Room Look Larger Through Lighting

To make a small room look bigger, you are going to want to make sure the entire space is well lit. This means making sure that light reaches all of the corners in the room. Recessed lighting is the way to go for its modern and clean look.

Home Design 101: How To Make a Room Look Bigger [coming soon]

How To Make a Room Feel Cozy and Relaxing Through Lighting

Here are some steps to take if you’d rather create a more relaxing and cozy space:

Avoid using the ceiling lights (you can put them on a dimmer switch to have full control of them)
Instead use fixtures that bring the light closer to the ground – such as table and floor lamps, or even string lights
The ultimate way to create relaxing lighting is to use candles. You can always put candles inside of a lantern for added protection. Or how about filling a bowl with water and add tea lights which will float. You can also get battery powered candles that mimic the real thing. There are ones that are remote controlled and will even flicker to mimic a candle.

Have a look at my lighting page to find ideas specific for each room in the house, and outdoor lighting ideas

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

May 28, 2016 in Lighting, Online Interior Design Course

7 Ways on How To Make a Room Feel Cozy and Relaxing

I have written a long post on the many different ways you can make a room look bigger. This post is going to do the exact opposite – it is going to show you how to make a space feel cozy, secluded, and relaxing. You might want to do this because you have a small room, and instead of trying to make it look bigger you can embrace the size and make it truly feel like a cozy place. Or you are doing this because you just want to create a more relaxing room. Either way, the ideas in this post will help you transform your room into a cozy relaxing space.

1/ Relaxing Colors

If you want to create a cozy room, then you’ll want to paint the walls a nice dark color (such as navy, rose, or a dark grey). Not only will this make the room feel cozy, but it will also make it look more luxurious. Darker colors make a room feel secluded, relaxing and cozy. While light colors make a room feel bright, spacious, and livelier.

If you only want to create a relaxing room at night, then an alternative is to paint the walls white. When night comes you can turn on a modern mood lamp (get yours here) that will paint the walls in a relaxing color.

2/ How To Create Cozy and Relaxing Lighting

Avoid using ceiling lights when you want to create cozy lighting in a room at night. You can hook your ceiling lights up to a dimmer switch or how about using table and floor lamps instead. For a more whimsical look, hang up some string lights or use LED string lights wrapped in lace.

The ultimate way to create relaxing lighting is to use candles. To reduce the fire hazard, put your candles inside of a lantern. Or use a large glass bowl filled with water and have fairy lights float in it.

3/ Ways to Soften the Space

The more fabric you can add to your room, the softer and more relaxing it will feel. Some ways to do this include:

Bring natural light in during the day but have privacy at the same time by using sheers or lace curtains.
Hang up a tapestry on the walls (or frame a piece of fabric)
Create a canopy by hanging fabric down from the ceiling
Layer area rugs

4/ Ways to Bring in Natural Materials

You can bring warmth and color into a room by using natural materials. Add wooden pieces either by having wooden furniture pieces or decor items (wooden planters, wooden storage containers, wooden picture frames, etc.).

Bring in shades of green into the room by having potted plants. You can even create a curtain of plants by hanging pots of plants down from the ceiling.

5/ How To Hide Things Away

You don’t want to have a messy space if you’re trying to create a cozy room. So you’ll want to hide everything out of the way, and be left with just the pieces that create a relaxing environment.

Maybe you can’t hide everything out of sight. Instead get good looking matching storage pieces. This way they will also act as decor pieces for the room. Here are some good looking storage ideas:

Wicker baskets, hampers, and trucks
Enamel or galvanized buckets
Wire baskets or glass jar.

Another way to hide things is to have a room divider. Maybe you have a home office space or gym equipment in a bedroom or living room, or laundry machines in a bathroom. All of this can be hidden away when not in use. Hanging up a curtain is one way of doing this, book shelves and folding wooden dividers are some other options. Have a look at my post here for more ideas: Ideas Mood Board: DIY Room Dividers.

6/ A Sanctuary in a Sanctuary

The whole room doesn’t need be a completely relaxing and cozy space. Instead you could carve out a little cozy nook instead. This could be a reading nook or more of a day bed – just a small secluded space where you can relax.

This nook can be created in a corner of a room, by a window, under the stairs, or built into a closet space. Or how about just hanging up a hammock. And to close yourself off from the rest of the house, hang up some curtains, or put up some book shelves, or check out the DIY room divider post I linked to above.

7/ Inspiring Place

Surround yourself with inspiring or memorable art pieces or photographs. Do this by creating a gallery wall, hanging up a collection of framed pieces. You can check out my vintage gallery wall post or my Pinterest gallery wall board to see examples and ideas on how to create your own.

Here are some other posts to get more ideas from:

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

May 28, 2016 in Decor, Online Interior Design Course

Small Garden Ideas and Designs: How To Make The Most of Your Space

If you have a small garden you can either design it so that it feels larger and more spacious than it is. Or you can take advantage of the small space and create a truly cozy and relaxing garden sanctuary. This post goes over small garden ideas that will help you create either one of those options.

Create a Clutter Free Look

If you have a small garden space, then you might want to create a very clean and modern look for the space. To do this, try and create clean lines and have specific designated bordered areas (for flowers, vegetables, seating, etc.) – take a look at the garden in picture (2) as an example. The box hedges provide neat and tidy greenery, and they are contained within the pathway. And there is a designated small patio area for the seating.

For more modern garden ideas, have a look at my post here: Style Guide: Modern Garden Design Ideas.

Here are some design tips you can take from interior design out into your garden to make the space feel more spacious:

Go for larger pieces vs. a lot of smaller pieces. This can apply to the plants and furniture. One large potted plant, vs. three. One large couch vs. 2-3 chairs. This helps create a less cluttered looking space.
When choosing materials, such as paving for the floor or materials for the walls, go with larger materials (wide wall panels, large slabs of paving, etc.). Have a look at the flooring in the gardens in pictures (3) and (6). Larger flooring slabs create a cleaner and more modern look (as there are less connecting areas).
Choose light colored materials. If you are painting your walls, go with white just like the garden in picture (7). The same applies for the flooring, pots, and furniture. Light colors make a space feel larger, while darker colors makes a space feel cozy, and secluded.

Make The Most of Your Space

You might not have a lot of floor area to work with in your garden. But don’t forget you also have vertical space to work with.

The walls of your house and the garden fences can be used to hang up pots and lights. You can also add some trellises, or how about a pergola which you can use to hang plants from and add shade to your garden.

If you have a really small space garden, then look to get folding furniture. That way you can store it if you want to the use the space for something else.

Going The Other Way

Instead of trying to make a small garden design feel more spacious and larger, why not take advantage of the small space and make it feel cozy, intimate, and relaxing. Just like the gardens in pictures (1) and (5).

Put up a pergola, and shut yourself off from the outside world. Hang plants down so they act like curtains. Hang up some relaxing lights, and add some comfy seats – and you’ve created your own secret garden sanctuary.

Lighting Up Your Garden At Night

Remember that lighting plays a big role in how your garden feels and looks at night. Even if you don’t plan on using the garden much at night, it is always nice to have a good looking garden that is well lit that you can look out over when you are indoors.

Some simple lighting ideas include:

Tabletop lighting such as lanterns, table fire pits, and candles
Modern tiki torches
String lights
Solar powered pathway lighting
Hang up wall lights on the house pointed out into the garden
If you have a pergola, then lights can be fitted into the roof of it (5)
Light up any trees, water features, ponds, or bushes you have – just like the garden in picture (4)

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

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