Home Decoration Ideas

Till now, it’s almost 90 hours past from 5.12 14:28. it’s a terrible moment, all chinese won’t forget!

i was doing my job on internet that moment, suddenly, a QQ news message jumped out: 7.8 (degree) earthquake accurd in Wenchuan Sichuan!  i was really afraid and suprise and worried, because my hometown is Leshan, Sichuan! my parents and all family are in Sichuan! i was checking the map while i calling home, my mom’s sellphone, my dad’s sellphone, but all no receive. after i found it’s more than 400 KM from Wenchuan to my home, i got first breath. but my young sisters were in Chengdu, some in college and some just having their first job. i didn’t know if they could take care of themself.  i can only pray…

after 10 minutes my father call back to me. he said they were ok, just scared by the 5 minutes terrible shake, he hold my mom and hidden in the corner.  luckily, after 5 minuts, it stopped, they have change run to the open street! And they tell me all the family men are all no injured.   Thank godness!

but the people live in more northen area are not so lucky. till now, more than 19000 lives lost, it said, there are about 50000 people will die in this terrible disaster.

except this, everything after the quake is warm us. The center government action at first time, only 1 hour and half after the quake, are prime minister started flying to disaster area, be with all the people! then, CCTV-1 start speacial living broadcasting 24 hours* 3 days, tracing the progress of all disater area. whole country people can watch TV and get the latest news from Sichuan.

Although my family and friends are all right, but i can stop myself turn off my TV and not to think about Sichuan. because in disaster, Chinese are all in one!

many move scence from locale, click here you can see.

http://news.cctv.com/special/C21344/06/index.shtml

Now, for the typing technology improving, we can DIY a lot of wall stiker. the stikers are easy to make, easy to stike, and easy to change.

first, choose your favourate photograph or pattern, AI file is better, they can be enlarge as you want.  then type them on PVC stickers,  an advertise shop or type shop may help you.

after getting them, do as follow:

1. clean the wall.

2. cut the pattern to smaller parts which are easier to stike.

3. Tears up the backpage carefully and stike the pattern to the wall.

4. scrape the stiker several time until you think it’s fixed.

5.  Tears up the former page.

now your wall is much better than before!

the TV programme SPACE EXCHANGE is very popular in China. Two team will remold the old house with an professional desighner, time is 48 hours, decorating amount is RMB8000. through these picturse, you can see the modern China interior desigh level and people’s living condition.

 20070907  Living room exchange

Blue Team

before

after

Red team

before

how do you think?

It’s only 170 days before olympic game start. Let’s forsee the new venues in Beijing.

Venue: National Stadium;

Location: Olympic Green;

Total land surface: 258,000 sq m;

Seats: 91,000;

Competitions: Athletics, Football;

Post-Games use: The Stadium is to stage sports events at national and international levels, as well as cultural and entertaining activities;

Groundbreaking date: Dec. 2003;

Designer: Herzog & DeMeuron (Swiss) and China Architecture Design Institute;

The “Water Cube”

Venue: National Aquatics Center;

Location: Olympic Green;

Total land surface: 79,532 sq m;

Seats: 6,000 permanent and 11,000 temporary;

Competitions: Swimming, Diving, Synchronized Swimming;

Groundbreaking date: December 24, 2003;

Completion date: January 28, 2007;

Venue: National Indoor Stadium

Location: Olympic Green

Total land surface: 80,900 sq m

Competitions: Artistic Gymnastics, Trampolines, and Handball;

Post-Games use: The venue, one of the best sports facilities in Beijing, can be used for sports competition, cultural and entertaining purposes, and will serve as a multi-functional exercise center for local residents.

Groundbreaking date: May 28, 2005

Tonal scheme

A tonal scheme or monochromatic scheme means you use just one colour but in varying tones. If you choose everything in the same tone and colour your scheme will look bland.

The key with this look is to use texture and pattern to alleviate the potential boredom of using one colour.

Some Suggestions

On the wheel, look at the segment showing just one colour. On the outside are the pale tones, which graduate into the middling tones and on into the deeper tones in the centre.
Choose three tints and shades of the same colour and use it throughout the room set.
Use the deepest nearest the floor and the lightest on the ceiling, this gives the illusion of space. If you try it the other way round the room seems to shrink.

Harmonious scheme

A harmonious colour is one that sits next to another on the colour wheel or very close to it for example, red is near rust, which is near terracotta.

It’s very easy to create a balanced, unified scheme that is pleasing to the eye using harmonious colours.

Some Suggestions

Choose colours of similar densities for a balanced look so one doesn’t overpower another.
Pick three or four colours that all stem from the same primary colour.
Make the scheme bolder by going for a deeper more intense shade.
If one of your harmonious colours happens also to be a primary colour the effect will be more striking, for example, red and hot pink or red and orange.

Complementary colour scheme

Complementary colours are ones that are opposite to one another on the colour wheel. These colours are naturally made to ‘go’ with one another - think of the red and green of an apple, or the purple and yellow of an iris.

They tend to be bolder and more dramatic than harmonious schemes.

Some Suggestions

Choose your first colour and look directly at the colour opposite. That is your second colour.
Decide which of the two colours you want to feature more. If you use them both in equal amounts, they will fight for attention and cancel each other out.
If you’re nervous about using dramatic colours in reality, try introducing a complementary scheme in the form of a throw or accessory before you go ahead with an actual paint colour.
You can use a third colour - preferably in a different tone from the other two but don’t have more than three colours.
Balance the scheme by introducing some neutral colours as well such as cream or white.
Pairing one dark and one light tone of each of your two colours can work well. Experiment with it in both combinations, for example, try a light soft grey with a vibrant deep pink. Then try it the other way around - put together a deep slate charcoal grey with a sugared almond pink.

Victorian (1837 to 1901)

Queen Victoria’s reign was a time of great change in the home. Mass production meant more goods were available to buy. The newly emerging middle classes took immense pride in their homes which they saw as a reflection of status.

Style

• eclectic mix of styles
• excessive ornamentation
• plump, heavily upholstered furniture
• flowers, birds, animals are portrayed realistically rather than the stylised versions of art nouveau

Get the look

• Lay patterned carpets with a faded grandeur, leaving a border of polished floorboards. Floorcloths, a canvas painted with oils and many layers of linseed oil, can be used for less grand rooms.
• Tiles - for areas with heavy traffic, such as halls and kitchens, the best flooring is encaustic tiles (where the pattern is baked on in a kiln). Victorian ones are usually highly patterned. Many original floors still exist today but very good reproduction tiles are also available.
• Rich dark colours such as ruby reds and forest greens are typical. The Victorian colour palette was quite limited because chemical processes were still developing. Purple and blue came in by the middle of the century. Most of the leading paint companies now produce good heritage ranges.
• From the 1840s, wallpaper went into mass production. Paper from the skirting board up to the dado rail. Look for flock, damask or water silk papers featuring large blowsy flowers or other recurrent motifs of the time such as birds and animals. A William Morris design would be perfect.
• Furniture - should literally be overstuffed. Look for plump armchairs with button backs, easy chairs, pouffes and ottomans. Crowd the room with furniture.
• Fabrics - highly patterned. Use velvet and damask for the winter and exchange with muslin, cottons and chintz for the summer.
• Paint - the Victorians liked their paint effects. Try faux marbling, stencilling, and stippling surfaces, borders and wood.
• Woodwork - stain it dark. If your skirting boards have been ripped out, replace them with new ones. Victorian skirting boards were particularly deep, about 30cm high and 4cm thick.
• Fireplaces - ornate and ostentatious and mostly cast iron, although wood can also be used. Fabric is draped rather dangerously from the mantelshelf.
• Mouldings - made from papier maché and stuck on rather than being an integral part of the wall. You can buy them from DIY stores and specialist suppliers. Large ceiling roses are essential but for other decorative mouldings (corbels, cornices, etc) any style goes from Gothic gargoyles to rococo scrolls and feathers to classical urns and swags. Paint them the same shade as, or one tone darker than, the ceiling.
• Runners suit a Victorian hallway and stairs. Look for ones in plain colours such as red or green or with a contrasting stripe. Paint or stain the outside treads a dark brown.
• Opt for brass, cast iron, pewter and tin light fittings. If you’re hunting for original pieces, look for the lozenge-shaped mark topped with a crown that was stamped on most Victorian designs from 1842 to 1883.
• Have a roll top bath with claw feet. Buy one new or find an original at a salvage yard.
• Cover every available surface with ornaments and particularly stuffed animals in glass domes. Place pairs of porcelain dogs at either end of the crowded mantelpiece.
• Fill your fireplace with dried flowers.

Shaker (c.1747 to 1900)

A religious sect founded in England in the late 1700s, the Shakers believed in common ownership of property and communal living. Persecuted for their beliefs, they emigrated to America where they led lives of abstinence and celibacy.

The Shakers believed that every object in the home should have a function and that decoration was unnecessary. ‘Whatever is fashioned, let it be plain and simple and for the good’ and ‘Beauty rests on utility’ are two of their favourite sayings. But because they also believed that the quality of their work was a testament to God, each item they made was painstakingly honed to perfection.

Style

• open plan
• simple, uncluttered
• limited colour palette of red, blue, yellow and blue-green
• handcrafted wooden furniture
• natural materials
• storage
• hand within a heart motif - it meant ‘hands to work and hearts to God’

Get the look

• Colour palette - keep the walls neutral. Bare white plaster is best if your walls are good enough. Stick to the Shaker colour palette: red, light and dark blue, warm yellow, and a blue-green. The Shakers used natural plant dyes and clays to make their paints and dye their fabrics. The paint should be matt rather than gloss and, for real authenticity, use casein or milk paints; some of them are still being made from the original recipes.
• Furniture - is key to the look. Cherrywood and maple were the most used woods. Choose simple shapes such as ladder back chairs with woven-tape seats in one of the colours of the palette. Use a simple trestle table for dining. Sofas and padded seats were comforts the Shakers did without. However, as not many of us are prepared to live so austerely, cover your sofa with a fabric in keeping with the colour scheme.
• Storage - everything should have its place. A typical look is peg rails hung all round the room at head height. The Shakers hung chairs off these, as well as mirrors and tools - basically, anything that could go up, went up. This kept the rooms neat and tidy plus it was easy to sweep underneath.
• Wardrobes - wardrobes and chests of drawers can take up whole walls. All the handles should line up.
• Fabrics - choose natural fabrics such as wool, cotton and silk. The Shakers made their own. A discreet check or denim is also suitable and ginghams can be used for curtains.
• Flooring - the floor should be bare boards but can be varnished.
• Woodwork - this should be left plain or given an orangey stain with varnish.
• Lighting - look for plain candlesticks and sconces, particularly in tin.
• Boxes - oval-shaped boxes in three different sizes, with a beautiful swallowtail and copper pin construction, are one of the quintessential Shaker looks.
• Have a clear out - the Shakers didn’t believe in clutter or unnecessary objects. However, small details such as beeswax candles, lavender sachets and wooden toys can add to the overall look.

Scandinavian country

 (17th to late 19th century)

The Scandanavian country style suits the Nordic climate. Interiors let in as much light as possible during long, dark winters, while readily-available wood is used for warmth.

You can mix both looks in one room if you’re careful; a streamlined sofa can sit comfortably alongside a gingham check curtain. Look at the room sets next time you go to IKEA and see how it’s done.

Style

• rustic, farmhouse, peasant
• light, bright whitewashed rooms
• simple painted furniture with folk art stencils
• bleached wood floors
• unfussy window treatments

Get the look

• Flooring - floors should be bare floorboards. The wider the planks the better. Choose roughly chopped boards for that peasant look. You could paint them off-white with a whitewash, or use a lye treatment, where lye is applied to the floorboards to draw out the yellow of the pine, and then is oiled to a milky white finish.
• Patchwork - add striped or rag rugs and patchwork quilts for the beds.
• Furniture - paint wooden furniture in faded primary colours. Add simple stencils in contrasting colours of hearts and roses. Make seat pads out of checked fabric.
• Beds - furniture shapes should be plain and simple. Cot beds and day beds are typical.
• Walls - walls should be plain white and preferably of bare plaster or painted tongue and groove.
• Fabrics - choose small gingham checks, sprigged florals in bright colours.
• Curtains - hang plain muslin instead of curtains or hang simple curtains from a wooden curtain pole.
• Lighting - choose plain wall sconces in tin, brass or dull gold.

Scandinavian modern

(c.1930s to present)

Also know as Swedish modern, this style emerged at the same time as modernism in the 1930s. It was interrupted by the Depression and World War II, and then finally reached its height in the 1950s.

It took the basic concept of modernism and fused it with traditional materials. The result is beautifully made furniture in organic shapes chiefly fashioned from wood, which is in abundance in Scandinavia. Its basic philosophy ‘beauty for all’ has arguably been continued into the present day with the Swedish phenomenon of IKEA.

Style

• white
• accents of colour
• blonde wood
• natural materials
• well designed, functional furniture

Get the look

• Flooring - floors should be wooden but using good quality wood with the grain showing through. This has developed into laminated floorboards.
• Colour schemes - colours are white, white and more white.
• Accessories - add dashes of colour in the form of paintings and modern art.
• Furniture - look for furniture in blonde wood in curvy, organic shapes often teamed with tubular steel and leather.
• Flowers - flowers should be in stark, architectural shapes such as lilies, orchids; or cacti.

Modernism (c.1918 to 1950)

Modernism is more a way of thinking than a style. Modernists believed that the design of an object should be based purely on its purpose - that ‘form follows function’

History

It was perhaps difficult to imagine how radical the idea of having no extra ornamentation in a room was at the beginning of the 20th century. It was a total departure from the obsession with historical revivals from neo-rococo to neo-Gothic that had not only dominated the Victorian years but for centuries before.

Modernism really took hold in Europe - where it became known as the international style - and particularly in Germany, with the Bauhaus movement, and Italy. At a comparable time, England was caught up in the fashions of art deco, art nouveau and Edwardian style. It was not until after World War I that the influence of modernism really began to be felt.

Style

• under-furnished, austere spaces
• use of tubular steel, plastic, laminated plywood, fibreglass
• abstract motifs
• bold primary colours

Get the look

• Walls - leave your walls bare concrete or painted white.
• Mouldings - there should be no obvious decorative plasterwork or mouldings, but if you live in a period house paint them white to make them disappear rather than ripping them out.
• Wallpaper - wallpaper is generally out. You could fit mirror glass to one wall.
• Floors - flooring should blend seamlessly from one room to another. Choose wall-to-wall fitted carpet in a neutral shade or, if that’s too impractical, lino or quarry tiles. It can be broken up with kelim rugs.
• Skirting - skirting boards should be very slim. Paint them the same colour as walls so that the eye doesn’t notice them.
• Light - is very important. Long banks of picture windows are typically modernist. If you don’t have those, then porthole windows are another typical feature.
• Windows - should be as plain as possible to let maximum light in. Hang simple curtains in natural fibres such as linen or a slub cotton from plain wooden poles or tracks. Otherwise hang plain white venetian blinds.
• Glass wall - install a glass block wall, either as a feature or as a dividing wall. They now come in a myriad of colours but it’s best to stick to plain or opaque glass for this look.
• Furniture - should be made from a combination of tubular steel, bent wood, and leather. Don’t allow any loose covers or comfortable upholstery. Modular seating of the type you see in office waiting rooms is perfect.
• Built-in furniture - buy or make built-in furniture such as cabinets and bookcases, but only at a low-level and not stretching up to the ceiling.
• Glass and chrome - choose other furniture such as coffee tables in glass and chrome with simple lines.
• Fireplace - the fireplace should still be the focal point of the room. Choose as simple a surround as possible. MDF is good painted white or just wood. You can leave brickwork round the fireplace exposed or add some white tiles.
• Lighting - by the 1920s everyone finally had electric light. Lighting designers borrowed techniques from industry so anything industrial looking is suitable. The angle poise is used for the first time.
• Heating - radiators are often exposed and made a feature of. There are some striking designs around from coils and springs which look like pieces of modern art.
• Plants - choose architectural plants such as cacti and succulents but only one or two.
• Accessories - ornaments are out but one or two pieces of modern art or sculpture are permissible. Go round the end of year degree shows at art colleges to pick up the names of the future.