Daily Decorating Tips | decorating ideas delivered fresh to you daily

What Is Ambient Lighting

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Kelley Taylor

As the layer of general overall lighting, the ambient layer creates the relatively uniform lighting of the space. Think of it as anything you can flip on with the wall switch. Whether it’s a chandelier, overhead lights, pendants, sconces, etc. ambient lighting is generally the lighting we all refer to when we say, “Go turn on the lights.” It tends to establish the mood or atmosphere, and is used to navigate any space and give basic visual recognition.

The ambient layer can include uniform downlighting, indirect lighting (using uplighting and wallwashing techniques), but can also be the decorative lighting for the room.

Source: Bellacor

Categories: decorating terminology, decorating tips, layers, lighting | Tags: ambient, Bellacor, design, lighting, lights, types of lighting | Leave a comment

Four Layers of Lighting for Effective Design

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Kelley Taylor

Use the layered approach, which incorporates four layers of lighting, for effective design; the ambient layer, the task layer, the focal layer, and the decorative layer.

Source: Bellacor

Categories: decorating tips, layers, lighting | Tags: Bellacor, decorating, design, layers, lighting | Leave a comment

How To Scale Down a Large Room

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Kelley Taylor

Have an oversized room? Hang a series of prints grouped together. They absorb and minimize the space visually.

Categories: decorating tips, minimize, oversized, paintings, pictures, prints, proportion, scale | Tags: minimize, oversized, paintings, pictures, prints, proportion, scale, visually | Leave a comment

How To Visually Raise a Low Ceiling

Posted on April 2, 2011 by Kelley Taylor

To heighten a room visually, hang a large print with vertical lines to bring the eye up, or, paint ceiling and walls the same color (preferably a lighter color) to minimize the eye stopping where ceiling and wall meet.

Categories: ceilings, decorating tips, paint, paintings, pictures, prints, small spaces, walls | Tags: ceilings, paint, paintings, pictures, prints, walls | Leave a comment

How To Expand a Small Space

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Kelley Taylor

A large painting with a faraway horizon creates an illusion of adding more space. Use this trick for a small bathroom a short hallway or any place you might need a window with a view.

Source: Grandin Road

Categories: decorating tips, paintings, pictures, prints, proportion, scale, small spaces | Tags: Grandin Road, paintings, pictures, prints, proportion, scale, small spaces, visual | Leave a comment

How To Try Out Your Paint Color without Painting

Posted on June 2, 2009 by Kelley Taylor

Country Living Magazine developed an online color preview system you can try out your paint colors without every having to dip a brush! Country Living Paintbrush allows you to choose a sample room setting then play around with switching up the paint colors from a broad spectrum of name brand paints like Benjamin Moore – Color Preview, Color Classics, and Historical Colors; Benjamin Moore Canada – Designer Classics; Sherwin Williams – Color System; and Valspar – Ultra Premium.

How it works

Pick a room type from the drop-down menu, then click on the image.
Pick the area of the room you want to paint.
Click on a paint swatch. Click on a different one. And a different one after that. You get the idea.
Print out a copy for yourself or email your painted room to a friend.

Visit: Country Living Paintbrush

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Categories: color, decorating tips, paint | Tags: Benjamin Moore, Benjamin Moore Canada, color, Country Living, Country Living Magazine, Country Living Paintbrush, How To, magazines, paint, painting, Paints, Sherwin Williams, Valspar | Leave a comment

How To Liven Any Room

Posted on June 1, 2009 by Kelley Taylor

Just add life!

It’s true, adding a living plant – or a good fake one – adds character to a room and says “someone lives here!” Freshly cut flowers are another alternative that adds warmth and character to a room.

Green is a neutral color that goes with anything and there are fabulous faux flowers, ferns, and foliage to fit any budget or space.

How to choose

Do you have a green thumb? Live greenery is for you. If you can remember to water the plants once a week, trim the dead leaves, and rotate in direct sunlight having a real plant is particularly good for your environment.

If you’d like to skip the hassle, buy faux plants, flowers, and foliage. It’s actually a wonderful way to make green choices for the environment since you are buying something manufactured and shipped once. This is also a good option for those with allergies.

Also see: Top 10 Indoor Plants (Source: iVillage.com)

Shop:

Categories: accessories, decorating tips, elements, plants and botanicals | Tags: accessories, botanicals, decorating elements, fake, faux, ferns, flowers, foliage, fresh cut flowers, green, greenery, live, living, plastic, silk | Leave a comment

Term for the Day: Decorative Lighting

Posted on May 8, 2009 by Kelley Taylor

Decorative lighting includes any fixture selected to enhance the design of any space, adding the decorative touches called for by the architecture or interior design style, period, or motif. Usually it adds to the general illumination. In many designs, the decorative lighting will actually be the ambient lighting for a room.

Lighting fixtures for the decorative layer can include chandeliers, pendants and sconces. Generally, the decorative layer is not sufficient for task lighting, unless it is a directional fixture, and usually reduces contrast instead of increasing it.

Source: Bellacor

Categories: decorating tips, layers, lighting | Tags: chandeliers, fixtures, lamps, lighting, lights, pendants, sconces | Leave a comment

Term for the Day: Focal Lighting

Posted on May 7, 2009 by Kelley Taylor

Focal lighting is used to focus attention on features such as signage or artwork. Generally limited to accent lighting and similar effects, the focal layer is used to highlight items on display. It also creates drama with a greater contrast of light levels between the focal and ambient layers.

The most typical type of focal lighting is track lighting, frequently used because of its adjustability and flexibility. Uplights are also considered focal lighting because they highlight plants and other items on display.

Source: Bellacor

Categories: decorating tips, layers, lighting | Tags: accent lighting, Bellacor, lighting, lights, track lighting, uplights | Leave a comment

Term for the Day: Task Lighting

Posted on May 6, 2009 by Kelley Taylor

Task lighting is the specific lighting provided for any task or workspace. Generally limited to lighting focused onto horizontal work surfaces, task lighting can also help to create drama and exciting lighting contrasts in a room.

Lighting choices for the task layer may include a variety of fixture styles, such as downlights, undercabinet lights, lamps and pendant fixtures.

Source: Bellacor