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How to Pick a Theme for Home Designs

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Photo by Jason Briscoe on Unsplash

Trying to decide on a theme for your home? Whether it’s antique, modern or contemporary, coming up with a theme can make for a beautiful aspect to your home. Besides, a theme is the perfect way to bring together individual elements.

 

Coming up with a theme may be the hardest part of a home renovation because a theme is where the entire process will be aimed at. Finding the supplies you need is no longer that hard as there are several shops now providing home improvement supplies.

 

Below is a guide to applying a couple of basic principles of design to help bring your theme together.

 

  1. Choosing A Theme

 

Of course, the first step is to pick a theme. You may already have one in mind based on a pattern or interest. Or, you may have no idea where to start. Try this:

 

  • Write down a list of your favourite interests, in order of importance.
  • Look online at themed rooms and list some of the themes that appeal to you.
  • Look for décor items and make a list of the ones that jump out at you.

 

By creating these lists, you may see patterns emerging. For example, your biggest interest could be country style and you find that you favour country home styles. You may even find that paintings of horses and fields stand out and you love a country feel. If you don’t notice a consistent pattern, pick a theme from the lists that seems to stick out the most.

 

  1. Design By The Room

 

Once you have a theme or two, you can decide how much you want that theme to rule. Do you want the theme to run throughout your home, or just in a single room? Or, maybe you want a different theme for each room?

 

As a rule of thumb, try not to overload your home with too many themes. Rather have a few neutral rooms to give themes a rest.

 

As for bathrooms, you can check out the showers of Trading Depot to match an elegant theme. You can choose to mix the modern bathroom parts with bathroom accessories that match your chosen theme. You can also just focus the theme on the walls, the floor, the door, and even the windows, among others. Bathroom parts are a lot more efficient and convenient these days and they easily blend well with almost any theme a homeowner chooses.

 

  1. Using Themed Décor

 

Now, let’s get down to specifics. The first thing to do is get a couple of décor elements that display the theme you’ve settled on. You don’t need to buy a bunch of new things, just find a couple of visual focal points, such as a decorative item or wall art.

 

But, if you’ve decided to base your theme on a strong and well-established interest, you may have plenty of décor items lying around. Gather them together and decide what you want to display. Aim to intersperse items throughout the room in a way that is balanced.

 

  1. Be Subtle With Décor

 

If you’re not a big fan of collections or large pieces of art, there are plenty of other ways you can incorporate a theme in a more subtle and elegant way through these tips:

 

  • Order customised prints that detail a certain theme. Place them on pillows as accents.
  • Use a few small, more natural elements to place on tables or windowsills.
  • Don’t forget the lighting is a good way to accent a theme.
  • Consider textured accents.
  • Repurpose items to help camouflage the décor.
  • Window and upholstery treatments are a great way to add subtleness to a theme.

 

  1. Don’t Forget Practicality

 

You may have to think about features that add comfort to your home. When the weather is too cold, you will appreciate that you didn’t forget that underfloor heating installation by Trading Depot in your home renovation plan.

 

Using these tips, you can effortlessly create the perfect theme for your home designs.

Monday Stumble Linky

 

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post

Keeping Well

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It’s not been the best of time for me health wise, after catching the kid’s sickness bug I seem to have been knocked off my feet, almost literally!

It’s made me think a lot about my illness and how it’s progressing. I don’t like it, and I don’t like my family seeing me like it either.

This is not my usual state of mind. I probably get on a lot of people’s nerves but I’m really a ‘cup half full’ type of person. It’s strange really when my life hasn’t really strolled along the easy path, it’s definitely been a slow mountain climb with lots of crumbling rocks on the way.

Maybe that’s why I’m a positive thinking person. If I focus on the negative then I’d probably be a very depressed person right now. That doesn’t mean that I’ve never suffered depression, I have quite a few times, but these days I am well aware of the warning signs and I know the best ways to keep it at bay.

So, what have I been up to this week?

Well, I’ve got a new hobby! I have always been interested in papercraft but I’ve never been the arty type. I’ve decided that I’ll give it a go though and I’m making some cards. I’m using my favourite resource, Pinterest, to get some inspiration and I’ve been buying some bits and pieces to get me started. Okay, I know you don’t absolutely need a die cutter for starters, but I couldn’t resist treating myself to one.

Here’s my first attempt.

 

I’ve even ordered myself a cabinet to keep my bits and pieces in. With this and my crochet I’m going to be keeping very busy.

Talking about crochet, here is my latest creation.

 

The request for these keep coming so I can see myself making more. I’m also working on a big blanket with a CAL (crochet along) but that’s a year long project. I am loving it already though and can’t wait for the finished product. I can’t decide whether I prefer big projects or little ones. Last night I spent about an hour crocheting this jammy dodger tape measure cover.

 

I think now you may be able to see how I cope with my illness…I occupy my brain and my hands 🙂

 

Debs Random Writings

Word of The Week – Sun

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Ok it may have disappeared right now, but my word of the week this week is SUN!

We spent the entire bank holiday weekend stuck indoors with the curtains drawn, blocking out the sun and the neighbours having fun in their gardens. We were sick! It just kept coming as one after another we were knocked out by a sickness bug.

We knew the sun was out there though and it made us feel even more miserable.

The kids went back to school on Tuesday, and then it was into the garden when they came home. Making the most of the sunshine.

I was still ill but I had to go to the GP. The surgery is only at the end of our street and I felt so poorly as I got into my wheelchair to go, wishing I didn’t have to. But, once I was outside and I breathed in the fresh air and soaked up some sunshine, it made me feel better, like a skin absorbed tonic.

Yesterday, Graham had to go to a friends funeral so I had to pick up the kids from school. I actually enjoyed the journey in my chair. It was a little cooler but still sunny and the trip turned out really good. We even stopped off for ice cream on the way home.

The sun is hidden behind some thick cloud at the moment, but I do hope it returns soon. We have some catching up to do.

How has your week been?

 

The Reading Residence

 

 

Word of the Week – Wheels

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My Word of the week this week is Wheels.

Meet Whill.

 

A lot of things have happened this week. I spent the weekend at a fabulous Retreat.

The Little Man has been having trouble at school and we have already had a meeting with the head and his teacher.

But, as you can see, I’ve already written about them. So I’ve chosen Wheels, because that’s what has dominated my thoughts since yesterday.

Naidex44 Show

Naidex44 is an exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham which features all things disability. There are all sorts of disability aids to look at and many, many wheelchairs to try.

I had an idea in my mind of what sort of wheelchair I needed. My perfect chair would have electric controls but also large wheels for manual use. It would also have a handle at the back so I could get help from my partner/carer when I needed it. It would need to be comfortable and have good suspension, and be able to manage all sorts of terrains.

Sadly, no such wheelchair exists just yet but I did get some ideas on how I could get close to it. There were a lot of motorised accessories that you could fit to a regular wheelchair. Even motorised wheels so when you were tired of pushing yourself you only had to touch the wheels to make them go on their own. Ingenious, yes!

Putting together a system like this is really costly. The power packs come in at around £2000, then you would have to buy a manual wheelchair to fit them too. Manual chairs can be cheap but to get one that suited my needs I’d probably have to spend another £1000.

There was a couple of chairs that didn’t tick all the boxes I wanted but came close. Like the Fold-a-Lite and the i-Go but neither have the large wheels for manual use. (Although they can both be pushed by a carer if needed.) These retail at around £2000-£3000.

The Whill

I fell in love with the Whill, not only did it look super cool it was the most comfortable wheelchair I have ever sat in. I tried it on the TGA Mobility test course and it was amazing. I found it incredibly easy to control and I loved the way it drove over all sorts of surfaces and small steps with ease. I didn’t feel any of the bumps, which is something that bothers me so much in wheelchairs.

The Whill doesn’t tick all my boxes because it doesn’t have a manual mode and it can’t be pushed. But suddenly those things didn’t matter when I felt the comfort and ease of control of this wheelchair. It almost doesn’t fit the word wheelchair or my conceptions of one.

The problem is the cost, at almost £4000 it’s probably one chair I will never be able to afford.

Dilemma

I hoped that by attending Naidex I would come away with my idea of the perfect wheelchair for me and set about raising the cash to get one. Now, I’m just as confused as I was before.

For now I will be sticking with my current chair. It works perfectly on flat surfaces and is great for manoeuvring, it’s fairly comfortable and has a decent battery life. But, if the battery runs out I’m stuck. It does not deal well with uneven surfaces or small obstacles/steps. It is not easy to control when on a hill, going up or down. Basically, it’s much better for use indoors than out and I’m fed up of not being able to be with my kids. I have lost count of the times I’ve had to wait behind because the terrain was not suitable for my chair.

Life on wheels is not easy sometimes.

The Reading Residence

 

A Guide To Turning Your Summer House Into A Spare Bedroom

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a brick room with wooden ceiling and furnished with two bedsImage by Man Pan on Unsplash

 

If you are thinking of buying a summer house, there are many benefits to be enjoyed, and with some careful planning, the unit can be the ideal overnight accommodation for friends and family that visit. If you already have a unit in place, you are halfway there, and with some additional furniture, this will make the ideal luxury accommodation.

 

If you would like to see some cosy wooden summer houses with a view to buying one that can be used for overnight guests, there is an excellent supplier who has an extensive range of Nordic Pine summer houses, and some of the larger units are specifically designed as independent accommodation, with bathroom and toilet facilities built in.

 

Space is The Issue

 

Obviously, the summer house has limited space, and with folding beds and other furniture, you can achieve a lot more, and a bed that folds into the wall would be the ideal arrangement. If the summer house is big enough to accommodate the double bed and still have ample space to move around, then you have a choice. To be honest, a bed that doubles as a sofa is perfect, as a single item of furniture gives you two essential features, and with some thought about the layout, you can plan the space with two guests in mind.

 

Heating & Ventilation

 

Obviously, you will need to make provisions for climate control, and a portable electric heater would likely be ample. With adequate insulation and double glazed windows, it shouldn’t require too much energy to heat such a small space, and in the summer, you can always leave the windows open, just make sure you have insect screens fitted. LPG heating is not a good idea, as the enclosed space is a health risk, and a small electric convector heater would suffice.

 

Kitchen and Bathroom Facilities

 

The larger units can be accommodated to include these essentials, and if you are not much of a DIY enthusiast, your local handyman would be happy to oblige. These are, of course, optional, and it might be easier for the guests to use the facilities in your home, which wouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience.

 

The Décor

 

With a little creativity, you can do wonders to make the place more homely, with some tasteful wall art and a few rugs to give warmth underfoot, and if you would like some interior design inspirations on how to best decorate a guest bedroom, there is an informative article. Cosiness is a must with a guest room, and soft lighting and colours will go a long way towards turning the interior into something suitable, and make sure you leave fresh towels and bed linen in a drawer, which your guests can use.

 

If you are looking at summer houses with a view to adding a guest room, there are specific summer house designs that make this a simple transformation. Buying a quality unit will ensure that the summer houses lasts for many years, and like any other structure, it will need some maintenance from time to time.

This is a collaborative post.