Where to put it.....?

I'm so glad that many of you are reading my posts but most especially that it's helping you to see that all that I am sharing, you too can achieve great interior in your own homes. Thanks for the comments you leave after my posts as they are giving me a direction when considering what topic to cover next in my posts.

For this post though, based on what someone has requested, I would like to cover Closets/Wardrobes or Storage ideas...and how it relates to the bedroom we covered in the last post. A bedroom should be a haven from life's chaos, a place to relax and unwind. But it's hard to feel serene when looking at piles of dirty clothes, or searching through an overstuffed closet. Here are some helpful suggestions to stash in style
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Walk in closets

This is defiantly my recommended method of storage in the bedroom if you happen to live in a house big enough (and can I please say that if you are building your own house, include closet space in the design of the house for the rooms but most especially the master bedroom). Why go to all that trouble of building if you don't. It's a necessary indulgence, if you ask me.



A room dedicated to be your closet which stems off the bedroom. Some even link to the bathroom too for a good flow

senzafine-closet-walk-in closetstorageideas.net

www.design-decor-staging.com

Open Storage

Aside from the closet itself, bedrooms can employ the use of cabinets and cabinet accessories both for furnishing decor and function. A bedroom should be functional and free of mess. The best way to keep this maintained is by having sufficient and even ample storage.

There are many options for cabinets and accessories specifically for the bedroom. Aside from the closet, cabinets can be used to decor and furnish any type of bedroom, like the example below, the shelving is surrounding the bed. Not only is this practical, but it is also a great design feature.

Box it

Another great thing you can try are bay windows in your bedroom, it's a no-brainer to include room for a window seat which can also act as storage under the seats (removable tops) and also a side shelving like the images below.

Bedroom Storage Cabinets

Fitted

Unfortunately, the majority will not be able to have a walk-in closets as shown above, but the next best thing is fitted wardrobes. They can be incorporated into your room and have them looking as part of the design of the room and not just boring functional wardrobe doors, as shown below. Get them to match your chest of drawers and side tables etc.

*Notice how all the storage units in all the images below match/coordinate, thus creating a design scheme for the rooms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would also recommend that you try to have the height of your fitted wardrobes as high as you can. Preferable from floor to ceiling. This will help create the effect that it is built into the walls and not just a free-standing unit.

I hoped this has helped shed more light on what you can do. Truly, good design can be achieved if you just take time to sit down and plan what needs to done and what simple things you can do to make a change in your rooms. Don't forget that you can holla at me anytime and as always I look forward to your feedback on this or other posts.

Please remember to join and become a member if you are enjoying this blog. (It's on the top right beside the this post). Help spread the word to by sharing on you Facebook or Twitter pages at the bottom of this post.

Wonderful.... Beauty Sleep!

Don't you just love when you walk into a room and get that feeling of....wow, I wanna sleep here!

My next favourite place in the house has got to be the bedroom! This space, is your inner sanctum, where you can just be you, your space, your zone to chill and totally be you.

If you think about it, it's the one room that you spend the longest stretch of time in at once (sleeping), so why not make it scrumptious and deliciously comfortable. Getting a good night's sleep can be difficult if your bedroom isn't designed for, well, sleep! So with this post I would again like to show or should I say highlight and give you suggestions as to how you can improve your bedrooms interior from dull to Fabulous!

Tips

1.      Neutral paint colours in medium values are your best choice for creating a room that lulls you to sleep. If you usually lean toward bold colours, use your living areas to showcase the brightest hues and choose toned-down versions of your favourites for accents in the bedroom.



Designed by Baylor Anne Bone

2. Another key to restfulness is a simple furniture layout, with the bed placed alongside a window, not directly beside it. This arrangement allows you to enjoy the view, but also be able to turn away from it if natural light is too bright.

3. Keep the bedroom spacious, regardless of the actual room size. Don't fill out the space wit unnecessary accessories and don't let the room become overly decorated with fussy windows treatments or a plethora of busy patterns.


4. Tap into your sense of touch when choosing fabrics and bedding. Go for soft, plush and luxurious textures like high Cotton count sheets, leather and silks to create a formal, yet comfortable look. Remember high tread count sheets are a most for a hotel-like sleeping experience.

5.  For a finishing touch, add splashes of colour using accessories i.e. cushions/vases/chunky picture frames, but remember to not overdo it as it still has to be restful. Keep it subtle but bold enough just to make the room pop. This can also help to add an element of luxury to the room.



Photography by Stacey Van Berkel-Haines



So, with these basic tips I've given you, why don’t you try and apply them to your room(s) too. Remember, if in doubt keep it simple as it will always work best. I believe strongly that our homes should reflect us and be places where we look forward to returning to at the end of a hard day. So I therefore challenge you to not just live under a roof but build your castle, from inside out...

I hope you have enjoyed this post and please remember to leave your comments on what you thought and any questions I’ll be more that happy to answer. If you also have a topic you would like me to post on, let me know. Till the next post.

Ciao!

DO's and DON'TS

Thanks so much for the comments I got from the last post, so much so that it has inspired me to still stay on this topic of bathrooms but like it was suggested, I want to show you how to achieve this look in your own bathrooms as it really isn't impossible to do so.

Though as an interior designer myself, I would always recommend for you to seek out professional services in this instant but as this blog is about educating people in the Diaspora, I feel compelled to show you some things that will help or even to show you what to look out for when doing your own designs.

Like I said in the last post, the bathroom is one of the most important parts in a house. Guests will probably judge an entire house when they take a look at the bathroom; which is why many people in Europe etc spend hundreds of dollars remodelling and refurbishing its interiors to make their bathroom more appealing and desirable but this doesn't happen in West Africa. I've noticed this to be a perpetual problem. All most homeowners seem to care about is that they have a toilet, (some don't even have seat covers) end of story. So, I want to propel you to see the other side and hopefully start a revolution (is that too strong, lol) in the way Africans see or treat their bathrooms!


There are simple things that you can do to improve your bathroom, first let's look at the do's and don'ts to consider before you begin your bathroom renovation.

1. If you have an existing bathroom, decide whether you want to change the sanitary ware you have already i.e. bath/toilet or you feel they are in good enough condition to keep or for budget reasons you can't change them right now.

2. You bathroom layout will depend a lot on the size of your bathroom, so I suggest that you take a piece of paper and roughly draw the plan of your bathroom and then draw in where you will like the bath, toilet and wash hand basin to go. Then get a measuring tape and you measure your bathroom exactly so as to make sure your bath/shower will fit in comfortably if buying new sanitary.

Virtually every bathroom uses one of the following three basic layouts:

One-wall layout. One-wall baths have the toilet, sink, and combination shower/tub plumbing aligned along one wall, making for a relatively long, narrow bathroom.

Two-wall layout. Two-wall baths usually have the toilet and sink on one wall and the shower/tub combo (or separate shower and tub) on the other

Three-wall layout. A three-wall layout, with the toilet on one wall, sink on another, and combination shower/tub on the third, is a space-conserving solution that can put every fixture within a step of the others.
The above picture is using the two wall layout, but notice how close the toilet is to the shower. This is BAD planning!!

3. Choose a proper colour scheme that would be the basis of your bathroom design theme.  Also you should decide whether you will be using paint, wallpapers or tiles. (I would not recommend real wood for your flooring as it's a wet area and will get easily damaged. Also, I recommend keeping it neutral and just adding splashes of colour on a feature wall or using your accessories to add colour).

4. Decide on the theme for your bathroom. Will it be contemporary, Victorian or traditional....the choices are endless depending on your taste.

5. Source reliable places where you can get good quality sanitary wares, tiles, accessories etc. (Check out my where to shop page). Using good accessories i.e towel rail, cabinets, tissue holder, is a great way to elevate your bathroom from ordinary to wow factor.

6. Get good workmen that people you know have recommended as it's the difference between a great bathroom and a bad one!

  


Well, I hope this has helped in giving you a clearer insight into how you can achieve the look in your own home, as it really isn't impossible. Please feel free to leave comments as it's really spurring me on to be more dedicated to this blog as we have a lot to teach each other.

Make sure you check out my 'Where to shop' page as Rouge interiors can really help you to achieve the look you need.

Don't forget....you can contact me for full interior design services or just a consultation.

Ciao!

From functionality to Pleasure!

I got thinking about houses and what my favourite room in the house is.....it was actually harder than I thought to narrow down but it turns out to be the bathroom!

Whenever I visit someones house or even travel and stay in a hotel, the first place I'm headed to is the bathroom because for me, if that is done well, then the rest of the room/house to me, is then livable. You might be thinking, o...it's not that bit of a big deal then I would say that I beg to differ. It just then means that you never experienced a 'top notch' bathroom before as if you have, you find it very hard to use mediocre ones.

What is making a 'splash' with bathroom designs now, its seems like pretty much anything goes. I've noticed how the bathroom is not just plain old bathrooms anymore but they are now another room entirely in there own right....not being just for functionality but places where you can relax and unwind and shut yourself off from the stress of the world.....

“If I want to be alone, some place where I can write, I can read, I can pray, I can cry, I can do whatever I want – I go to the bathroom.” – Alicia Keys -

So let me show you some bathroom designs that I found that I think bathrooms should be done and don't forget that a lot of these looks can be achieved in your very homes too so don't look at it like it's just a picture. Let them inspire you too......

Bela units Blanco Mate finish. GAMADECOR from Porcelanosa



LOUNGE Capitoné 120 cm units. NOKEN from Porcelanosa

IMAGINE units. NOKEN from Porcelanosa

Actually, let me use this opportunity to highlight this great company I've found here in West Africa. It's a company called Rouge Interiors and they are based in Accra, Ghana. They are an interiors furnishing company, so they provide most of your interior needs but the main reason I'm highlighting them is that they are the sole representative for Porcelanosa in Ghana and as we are looking at bathrooms, Porcelanosa do some of the best bathroom furnishings/sanitaries in the world. They are renowned for there outstanding quality and as you can see from some of the images above, you can agree that there products are stunning.
(If you want to find out more about them as they offer this full service so you too can have your bathroom looking like this, I will put there details on my 'where to shop' page).

Jennifer Brouwer Design

 I hope you've enjoyed taking a look at a few of these bathrooms and I hope as always it's inspired you to elevate your own bathrooms too.

Any comments or feedback, feel free to contact me and I also offer Interior design services too. Holla!

New Year....New Flavour!

Is it too late to say Happy New Year!!! (I hope not).....

I know we say it as the normal thing at the beginning of every year, but I truly mean it this year. It's weird but I feel like this year is very pivotal to those who get "moving", so taking my own advise, I am getting this blog back in full swing. Here we go....

What a better way to start off than to look at the trends for this season.

This year interior design is offering a fresh perspective on your existing homes. The new trends is helping people to see their properties through new eyes which is great as current economic conditions is not allowing people to buy new homes or even do big renovation projects on their homes, so the trends allow you to look at ways in making your old space into something new and chic for 2012.

Comfortable design, elegant style, luxurious materials and bright colours are back in favour. Chic design style and comfort themes will define interior decorating ideas in 2012. Soft home furnishings, luxurious and pleasant materials, attractive and cheerful colours, comfortable and beautiful design with interesting details will help create welcoming, unique and stylish homes/spaces.

So, before I hit you with images, I thought this colour/mood chart might help you to understand the colours that will be in focus this year.

Mood Chart

For the clean space, will be used neutral colours.
For a bright room filled with joy, use yellow, representing the sun, freedom.
For a calm space, offering a sense of relax, use a blue colour of the coldest.
Subtlety, gentleness and the element of surprise will be presented by Rose (ping) = Red White.
For grandeur and power will be use the Purple colour.
Freshness, relaxation and calm will be achieved through green colour: lime, bamboo, mint etc..

To give you some inspiration and get your designer juices going take a look at some of the interior spaces that I find inspiring and even though you may not be able to do exactly the same, you can pick certain or favourite elements that you can copy in your space. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let me just quickly interject here that our love for throw-back inspired interiors from either 30's 50's, 60's etc is set to continue through this year and it doesn't necessarily have to be the whole space but again just elements, for instance a furniture of your chosing can have that throw-back look.

Ok, let me end here for now as I could truly go on. Again, I hope these images have inspired you to look at your own living space differently and instead of making the drastic move to move house, why not look at what you can change in your home now to truly usher in 2012.

 

 

 

*Please feel free to leave comments on what you thought of this blog and any areas/topics you'd like me to cover.

LIVE Renovation part 3

Wow....I can't believe how busy things have been lately that it's taken me over a week to be able to write this new post. Without further delay, you can imagine that a lot has transpired between my last post and now so let me get you up to speed on the 'goings-on'.

We left off last with the ceilings been prepared for plaster work or P.O.P as they call it here. They have gone a long way now and everything is taking shape

So as you can see a lot of work has gone on with the reception area ceiling and let me make a slight confession here. This wasn't originally what I planned for the effect. I wanted the oval shape to be recessed in but then my work men discussed with me and they convinced me that why not have alternative effects in each area and after a bit of consideration, it made sense so we went ahead and I think you will agree the effect looks good, though keep in mind it isn't finished yet.

Equally the reception area too has had work done to this level, let's take a look.

You can see the skeleton (noggins) of the ceiling that was there originally

 

In the process of doing this, the client has also decided to do some extra work like the empty space at the front of the building is now being turned into a small meeting/store room.

Let's take a quick look at the layout to remind you how it's supposed to be.

It's the room on the left of the diagram in the bottom left corner. We will be looking at that in the next post. I hope again you have found this insightful and till the next post. Ciao!