Planning & decorating your bathroom - An introduction

The bathroom can often be overlooked when it comes to planning and decoration, yet it is a space that is used on a daily basis by the whole family - for getting ready for the day, having a relaxing soak in the bath or perhaps an invigorating and refreshing shower. A bathroom should offer and opportunity for relaxation and tranquility, so it needs to be a private and peaceful environment for everyone to enjoy.

Planning
Careful planning and research are the key factors in creating a bathroom that's right for you. You need to consider all the options and variations that are available, so you can come up with a plan that suits your needs and requirements, as well as meeting a realistic budget you can work to. It is vital to consider who will be using the room - will it be a busy space for the whole family, or a relaxing peaceful retreat?

It is a good idea to start with a scaled plan to help you work out the exact measurements of your bathroom and hence the space you have available. It is very easy to make a plan of the room yourself using graph paper. Cut out the items (such as a bath, wash basin and so on) that you will beincluding in your bathroom in scale with the room plan you make. Many bathroom companies feature these scaled plans in their catalogues or can often help you to plan and design a bathroom that suits all your requirements. They will also help you to work our realistic spaces for the areas you are designing - for instance, it is important to allow atleast 50cm of space infront of the wash basin and adequate elbow room on either side. Make sure you note down all the permanent fixtures on your plan, such as doors, windows, radiators and plumbing points. You can then work out how the bathroom features fit and work best within the space you have, trying out different option and variation.

Inspiration: 100 Bright Ideas for Bathrooms byTamsyn Weston
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Kitchen decor ideas: Cinnamon stick picture frame

Cut the cinnamon sticks to size using sharp pruning shears - the sticks can be wider than the frame. Lay the frame face on a firm, flat surface and cover the top edge generously with glue. Lay the sticks on to the frame, pushing them tightly together, across the full width of the frame. Repeat along the bottom edge, then fit more sticks into the gaps along the sides.

You will need: cinnamon sticks, small - very sharp pruning shears, flat picture frame, strong glue.

Time needed: 30 minutes plus drying

Kitchen decor ideas

Mixing the old with the new.

Create a kitchen with old-fashioned charm and clean, modern lines.

Blending elements of traditional kitchens with modern style kitchens can give you the best of both worlds. Here, different worksurfaces are used around the kitchen - wood for food preparation and granite either side of the cooker for putting down hot dishes.

Space above the cooker has been brought into play by installing a smaller wall cupboard that won't get in the way, with extra slots either side and at the end for recipe books. Simple details like this give the kitchen more interest than a solid run of wall cupboards.

All the colour comes from the rich, yellow units. What gives this kitchen a modern twist is that everything is absolutely plain: the off-white walls do not even have a splashback, the floor is bare boards. It all adds up to a clean, spacious look that manages to be warm and welcoming at the same time.

For more decor inspiration... visit www.decordirect.co.za

Rustic windowsill pots

Cover some containers in fabric and others in paper. Cut the fabric and tear the paper to size. Wrap around the container several times, allowing extra at the top of the pot to be folded over or arranged to hide the top edge of the pot. Bind with string or copper wire and fray the top edge of the fabric.
You will need: cans or jars, plain, film fabric, thick brown paper, scissors, string or copper wire.
Time needed: 15 minutes

A sense of romance... interior decor idea.

Jewel-bright silks and pared-down sensuality

Banners of shot silk in jewel-bright pink, red and mauve are the only adornment at these elegant French windows.

The rich colours glow with even more intensity with the sunlight shining through them, and bathe the entire room in a soft sensual glow.

The mood is romantic without being over-feminine - indeed the arrangemant is almost minimal; with cooler colours and no cushions an entirely different atmosphere would be created.

The clean lines of the modern daybed are covered in plain lilac boucle wool and all the decorative detail is concentrated in the cushions - exquisite concoctions in embroidered silks, ikat weaves and painterly florals that pick up on the principle colours.

Inspiration: Thinkcolour by Tricia Guild

For more decor ideas click www.decordirect.co.za

Using chalky shades of pink in a cool, contemporary way

Softly sophisticated

With its concrete floors and bare plaster walls, this cool modern space called out for a restrained contemporary look, but it was important that it did not become cols and impersonal. Using pink in a totally modern way was an inspired move, and the sof blossom sofa led the way. The shape is low and simple, contemporary yet comfortable, yet upholstered in leather or dark wool it would have dictated a completely different mood. Here, like a classic, beautifully tailored suit in a clear unexpected colour, the effect of the pale pink is charming, immediately bringing a lightness of touch that is carried through to the flowers and other details.

Cool, calm and contemporary interior idea

Contemporary furniture need not be confined to large modern lofts, and period features don’t have to cramp your style. Mixing old and new in an interior is not only fashionable and exciting; it’s a great way to breathe life into an older house, accentuating its timeless beauty in a bold and unexpected way.

This old English manor house has strong traditional architecture that could easily have dictated a dark and old-fashioned style of decorating. Instead, well-judged use of cool, clear colour and contemporary furniture has carved out a modern and soothing space, perfectly in tune with the soft east morning light that streams through the mullioned windows. The original wood-panelled walls have been washed with a beautiful sea-green paint, which immediately makes the space feel light and modern without clashing with its traditional features and flagstone floor. Much of the floor has been covered with a rug in palest duck0egg blue so that the modern furniture sits on a clean contemporary ‘island’, with just a strip of the beautifully textured old floor visible as a contrast around the edges.

The cool colours determined the choice of furniture – tables and chairs that are comfortable but uncompromisingly modern in shape, shade and texture. The black leather armchair, a modern classic with a masculine, tailored feel, is quite unexpected – the softness of the leather contrasting with the shiny metal legs. Yet it looks absolutely right, and inhabits the room almost like a piece of sculpture. The other pieces of furniture – a wonderfully comfortable club chair in ink-green boucle wool and a large low sofa in pale ocean linen, retreat happily into the background.

There is a lot of white – on the ceiling, in the floor lamp, on the coffee table and in the voluminous linen curtains. The tall white arum lilies and alliums, fanning out into the space, perfectly suit the simple restrained elegance of this room – even the green of their stems and calyxes picks up on some of the other colours. To bring in accents of brighter colour, the curtains are edged with a bright sea-green silk cuff, and there are cushions in lime and chartreuse. These help give the room its sense of perfect balance – without them it might have felt almost too cool.

Inspiration: "thinkcolour" by Tricia Guild

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