GUEST POST: Beauty Lies in Simplicity

Beauty Lies in Simplicity

This is a guest post contributed by Eva Stephen.

The well-known saying “Less is more” can sometimes be a wonderful guide to people looking for ideas on how to decorate or remodel their home. There’s some charm in over-stuffed rooms, full of interesting details, especially if they are exotic. However, simplicity brings beauty and grace to a home that no crowded space can match.

Positive aspects of simple solutions

If you are not a big fan of loud, shocking colours, elaborate decorations on walls and ceilings, unusual furniture and making sure no corner remains empty, you’ll enjoy the positive aspects of simple décor. Minimalistic style:

• brings out the beauty of your home’s architecture
• makes your home look more spacious and elegant
• makes it much easier to keep your house clean and tidy
• has a calming effect on the house’s inhabitants

What’s lovely about minimalistic homes owners is their love for plants. Plants are usually that lively, colourful “detail” that interrupts the sheer simplicity and brings out the house’s beauty.

 Trend Decoration Via

Colours that spell out elegance and style

When decorating walls, there are many factors to consider: the purpose of the room, how many windows it has, how big it is, how you want to feel in it. Teenagers and older people will no doubt want different things from their surroundings.

When going for a simple style in your home, you’ll want your eyes to rest on soothing colours: earthy tones, different shades of brown and cream, peach, very light green, or simply white. Different rooms can have different wall paint, to match the furniture appropriately, but they should all have a soothing effect.

Children’s room is probably the happiest, most colourful room in the house, so even when you want to keep it simple and toned down, the yellow, orange, baby blue and bright green are definitely allowed in the play room.

If you decide on the white throughout, make sure you put up some nice photos, quality paintings or similar details that will open up your home, and not make it look sterile.

In healthy surroundings, healthy body

People who lead messy, disorganized lives often don’t eat properly and have problems with their weight. It’s well known that people who pay attention to how they make and serve food are healthier.

 Jeannies Kitchen Via

You should not eat standing up, hurrying on to some other task, or plopped down on a sofa, watching TV. Food should be eaten at a tidy table in a pleasant atmosphere. Most happy events, whether private or business, are celebrated during a meal, which is why a great amount of care should be given to dining room decoration.

Many people, especially women, are very interested in how their kitchen is decorated. The bigger, more spacious and brighter it is, the easier it is to spend hours in it. Don’t clutter the kitchen with unnecessary elements, but maximize its space and potential putting only what’s necessary in it.

Shop 4 Furniture Via

Beauty and simplicity go together

Another reason to go for the minimalist style in your home is - it is less likely you’ll do a bad job decorating this way. When you clutter your home with many things, the chances are higher some of these things will not look good together. You don’t want your house to look distasteful, but you do want it to be pleasant to live in and beautiful. Keep it simple and you’ll love it.

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Thank you Eva for this lovely article

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Too much Contrast

Although I like clear lines and a minimalistic decoration in a room depending where it is and what the surroundings are, I find this one to contain too much contrast. In tropical landscapes you have plenty of light and the abundance of vegetation often needs a counterpart of simplicity. In this case though the contrast is too harsh in my opinion and the placement of the two additional colour spots increases the contrast even

This could easily be softened by different artwork above the bed such as this wall hanging and the silkcarving on the opposite wall.

The wall hanging above the bed is an art quilt made entirely of silk and handquilted with silk. The small wall hanging on the opposite wall is a silk carving, also made of silk and hand stitched with silk. Both have been painted with silk dyes and metallic pigments.

"Apsaras"
52" x 69", silk art quilt
©Petra Voegtle

You can read more about this art quilt here. There are also more detail photos to see.

 

"Apsara"
( from the Angkor's Faces series)
silk carving, 14" x 14"
©Petra Voegtle

The above silk carving has been mounted on stretcher bars and is ready to be hung with or without additional frame.

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GUEST POST: 10 most unusual Candles

We will soon experience a significant loss of light again - as it is usual for this time of the year in the northern hemisphere. So it is the time for candles gain and their wonderful warm light that soothes heart and soul. A great guest post by Lily Fox might lead you to some unusual ideas how to add a special accent to any room:

10 Most Unusual Candles

Candles have developed over the years to take many different forms. Typical candle designs include pillars, scented candles, and tealight candles, as well as more traditional candelabras and outdoor lanterns. However, it is also possible to find some more unusual candles, which take strange shapes, and imitate familiar objects. Some of the best and most unusual candles consequently include those shaped like eggs, or wads of money, and those that are made to smell like bacon or coffee. Other candles take creative approaches to projecting shadows and other patterns from their light, and make for great decorative touches around the home.

scented pillar candles

1 - Egg Candles

These candles are made to look like a boiled egg sitting in a glass container. As the candle burns down, the ‘shell’ melts away, and the wax that dribbles out is coloured yellow to resemble yolk.

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2 - Bacon Candles

For the many people that love the smell of bacon, but can’t bring themselves to eat it, bacon candles provide an unusual solution. These candles are triple scented to give them the scent of cooking bacon, and can be placed to recreate its aroma in different parts of the home. Probably not the best gift idea for vegetarians or vegans, though.

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3 - Lumen Candles

These imaginative candles by artist Adam Frank are housed in stainless steel lamps. As they burn, the candles throw distinctive silhouettes onto a back wall, with shapes including trees and plants.

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4 - Money to Burn Candles

People that have always wanted to burn a money note with a cigar, but have never had the courage - or the money to spend - can use this alternative. A candle shaped like a stack of dollar bills, the Money to Burn candles gradually melts away the artificial money.

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5 - Indian Corn Candles

Designed to look as much like real corn as possible, Indian Corn Candles are even coloured to resemble originals. Although why anyone would want to have this as a form of decoration is questionable, the candles do melt away over time to reveal different layers.

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7 - Sushi Candles

Made from beeswax, sushi candles use a fibre wick and futomaki and spam sizes to resemble different pieces of Japanese sushi. Ideal as a decorative piece, they also look unreal enough to avoid the danger of someone trying to taste them.

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8 - Cheese Candle

Another of the many candle designs that emulate food, the cheese candle, as the name suggests, looks like a block of cheese. As the wick burns down, the wax melts to leave holes, and gradually breaks down the lump.

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9 - Lego Candles

An ingenious example of using candle holders in a creative way, Lego candles involve building up wax blocks, which then use the holes in the Lego design to place tealights. Lego Candles can be arranged into different configurations, albeit always remembering to be safe in terms of balancing them out on a surface.

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10 - Cappuccino Candle

Installed within a glass cappuccino mug, this candle is designed to make its top and wick resemble a mound of foam, which gets eaten away through different coffee and chocolate layers. Scented candles that use cappuccino and other coffee aromas are also available.

 image source

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Thank you Lily for this amusing post

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Fossils in the Bedroom

No - it's not what YOU are thinking - I am talking about a painting that depicts the theme of ancient fossils i.e. ferns. It was one of those crazy ideas - hanging a painting horizontally although it was painted vertically but I thought it just made sense when you placed it above the headboard of the bed.

The image that sparked this idea was the photo of a bedroom that I felt missed a little bit of drama (I love to play the drama queen regarding interior and art). The colours in this room are very appealing though, warm and inviting.

What I also did not like was the little window just above the headboard. From the Feng Shui oriented point of view it is never a good idea to have an opening - the window - behind your back and I personally would have covered it and hung a painting instead. Whether you believe in Feng Shui or not - a window behind your back weakens your position and causes an insecure feeling:

"Why is a bed under a window considered bad feng shui?
At nighttime your body needs strong support, as well as protection, in order to do its best with the work of regenerating itself. This is the reason a good solid headboard is highly recommended in feng shui. In addition to a good headboard, you always want to have a solid wall behind your bed. When you sleep under the window, your personal energy tends to get weaker in time, as it has neither proper support, not protection.(read more)"

The original painting was painted in acrylics on rayon. I am collecting minerals, crystals and fossils. But not only that - I am also digging them up, when I find the time and the right place. It is so much fun. Currently though I am rather painting them and so it came that a couple of paintings became a series about Minerals and Fossils such as this one, called Triassic Prints II. The name comes from the imprints of fossils you can often find in rocks. Ferns are the oldest plants on our earth - I love them.

This painting was created with a special technique that is normally used with silk painting: dye resist painting. This means, that certain parts or patterns are covered/created by using a substance which is removed after painting the rest. This process has been repeated several times on this painting although this is not silk but textile paints and acrylics on cotton. The result was a kind of "printed" pattern of the ferns with many additional "ghost prints".

"Triassic Prints II"
(from the "Fossils" series)
40" x 13", acrylic on cotton

©Petra Voegtle

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Addendum:

I am extremely suspicious towards statements of people that claim to be Feng Shui EXPERTISES but of course there is a lot of truth in this 1000 years of knowlege - actually "the history of feng shui covers 3,500+ years before the invention of the magnetic compass. It originated in Chinese astronomy dating back to 3500 BC." Briefly said "The goal of feng shui as practiced today is to situate the human built environment on spots with good qi. The "perfect spot" is a location and an axis in time."(Wikipedia) Therefore I have added a few interesting links about Feng Shui:

How Interior Designers Can Work with Feng Shui Specialists
Feng Shui Diaries - Esoteric Feng Shui 
Qimancy - The Art and Science of Feng Shui

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GUEST POST: Fashion-Forward IKAT Area Rug Designs

Erica Cottrill from Home Infatuation send me this info about a company who is the leader in luxury rug design. I was immediately entranced by their wonderful patterns and textures:

Fashion-Forward IKAT Area Rug Designs Going Strong this Season

IKAT -- rugs with a tribal design motif inspired by age-old Central Asian textiles -- continue to go strong this season. Patterns are over-scaled, offering flexible interpretations of traditional designs, compelling textures with lush rich colors and intricate patterns. IKAT designs are also versatile - they offer contemporary interpretations of traditional color palettes and can work in modern environments.

"IKAT follows fashion, as the colorful tribal print trend which is chic on runways has inspired the textile industry," notes Kami Kalaty of Kalaty Rug Corp. "Our customers who want to re-energize their decor have loved these exotic rugs for their great rooms and bedrooms."

Kalaty.com is a leader in luxury rug design and uses eco-friendly practices. It is a family-owned company the was founded a century ago and which enjoys a strong long term reputation based on inventories, service and incredible quality and offers easy online tools such as IPad apps. For more information, visit www.kalaty.com or call 212-683-7222.

(all images from the company's website)
 Thank you Erica!

I have added some more images of rugs which I absolutely love. I think there is no need to mention how much the colour and pattern of a rug can change a room when chosen in the right manner.
Sometimes a rug can even be the center piece of a room and the remaining interior is just designed around it:

And if these beautiful delicate patterns are not enough Kalaty also produces a bunch of very modern and abstract rugs which are no less beautiful and impressive:

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FINDS: Exotic Gourd Lamps by Calabarte

I think it is time to show you another of my FINDS on the internet. You may have seen this already but I am sure you will be enchanted and seduced by these the same way as I was when I saw these images for the first time.

I was immediately struck by the magic of the shadow patterns these lamps create on a wall as I am also a big fan of all Moroccan handcrafts, especially the ancient brass lamps which also live through the pattern they create on ceilings, walls and floors.

"Artist Przemek Krawczynski from Poland can turn an ordinary gourd into a wonderful, stunningly beautiful table or wall lamp. There aren’t any analogues and never will, because all this is manual and very tedious work. Przemek dries gourds and then lignified gourds decorates with various ornaments. Przhemek’s works are known under the brand Calabarte. Carved patterns, ornaments, holes and figured the track, colored rhinestones add to pumpkin-chandelier an elegant and exotic look. Light from such exotic lamps will surely give any room an extra special atmosphere." (read more...)

But the gourd lamps of the artist do not only live through the light and shadows they are also very fine pieces of art, intricately carved from Senegalese gourds.

In his own words Przemek says: "The pattern of the lamp is structure of symetric, crossing branching as from the perforated layer through three basic outer forms to the deeper light carvings.
White surfaces are deeper layer of wood which allow some light to pass through it. Although the thickness of gourd mostly don’t exceed 4mm (more is on the top and bottom) the carved patterns in that places create structure of three different depth. Each one shines with different intensity. That carvings were definitely the most demanding part of work. The supporting stem is finished with brown jeweller waxed cording.
Also the part of the cord between base and switcher is weaved by thin cording in the same type.
The base is carved in wood and finished with natural italian oil."

Enough said - here are some images which show wonderfully how the lamps look like in natural daylight and how they magically transform everything that's hit by the lightbeams in the dark:

(all images with courtsey of the artist)

If you are eager to see even more of these beautiful images please check Przemek's Facebook page.

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