Four Ways to Love Yourself Through Your Environment

 

It is often said that your home is a reflection of your personality.  This Valentine’s Day consider a few changes in your home décor can cause a big change in your attitude and is a great way to explore and love yourself.  It gives you a chance to indulge in creativity and channelize your thoughts.  Our interiors elicit emotions like happiness, joy and peace which truly equates to loving oneself.

1.  Discover your likes and dislikes

The most important aspect of loving yourself through your environment is to learn more about your interior environment is to learn more about your likes and dislikes.  Spend time looking at pictures on the internet and in magazines and identify your interior style.  Follow your instincts and create a home that truly reflects your persona. There is no right or wrong in interior design, it is after all your home!

2.  Choose colors that help you feel motivated.

What would life be without colors?  An important aspect of your interior environment, different colors are linked with different feelings and emotions.  Pink is the color for love and promotes a feeling of comfort in uncertain times.  Decorate your home with accents of pink to feel the love.  Similarly, orange is a beautiful color to use when you want to feel younger.  Light purple is the color for spirituality and will deepen your sense of gratitude.

3.  Create a gallery wall

Happy photographs will stimulate an emotion of happiness and contentment.  Print pictures from memorable events in your life and create a gallery on a blank wall.  This will give you a reason to smile every time you look at the photos.

4.  Indulge in a cozy corner for yourself

Every now and then we all need some self-indulgence.  Create one such corner in your home where you can retreat to be with yourself.  Choose a corner in your home and place a comfortable chair, a reading light and a stack of books.  Once in a while, give yourself the liberty to cozy up in a throw with a mug of hot chocolate in your little corner.

I was fortunate to be one of 75 great authors who co-wrote the book the Art & Science of Loving Yourself First:  Cause Your Business Should Complete You Not Deplete You.

In this book, I wrote a chapter on “Supportive Space.”  To purchase a copy of the book click here:

 

 

On Sunday, April 6, 2014 I will be doing a special book signing for the Art & Science of Loving Yourself in Washington, DC.  Stay tuned for details!

 

 

 

How to Decorate a Multi-Functional Space

I have often come across people who are confused about decorating a large room in their home.  They end up buying very large furniture that does nothing to make the room feel cozier or functional.  When you have a great room, it is a good idea to make it multi-functional and take advantage of the large spac.  Without adding walls, you can make the space serve different purposes for the entire family.

Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

1.  Make a plan.

It is important to understand the function of the space around which you will be designing before you get started.  On a piece of paper, draw a rough floor plan.  Decide the areas you would like to create in your great room.  Correct placement of the furniture can help you divide the space without actually putting up walls.

2. Create conversation areas.

In your plan, chalk out areas where the family can sit together and spend time.  These can be areas to watch the television, to play video games or board games.  Use easy and comfortable furniture like sofas, ottomans, and recliners to create distinct conversational areas.  Use a day bed to visually divide the large area into two distinct functions.

3.  Create a cozy corner.

Once you have created conversational areas, also plan for a cozy corner for some quiet time.  In a corner, place a small area rug and an armchair or two.  Stack books in a book shelf behind the armchairs and install a floor lamp.  Drape a throw over the arm chair to make it appear warm and inviting.  Finally tie the cozy corner together with a small coffee table.

4.  Separating the functional areas.

Demarcating specific areas for specific functions is not difficult.  Make use of interesting area rugs to visually divide the room.  When you place furniture around an area rug, it behaves like an anchor and ties everything around it quite distinctly.  You can also make use of wooden screens to divide the room without compromising on the design aspect of the room.

5. Space to move around.

Always remember to leave adequate space to move around the furniture easily.  People navigating in the room should be able to walk with ease without bumping or having to move the furniture around.  The walkways should never be blocked with small decor like floor lamps or side tables.  As a rule of thumb, keep a three feet distance between the furniture to create easy flow.

6. Make use of circular patterns.

Finally, make use of circles.  Circles depict flow and are much easier to navigate around.  Instead of a square center table, consider using a circular one.  Choose patterns on the upholstery that have a circular pattern or curves that makes the multi-functional room easy on the eyes as well.

Here is a quick video on some other multifunctional decorating ideas.

Decorating with Pantone’s Color of the Year- Radiant Orchid

Whether you are someone who seeks inspiration from trends or someone who believes in creating their own trends, you cannot miss Pantone’s color of the year- Radiant Orchid.  A gorgeous mix of purple and pink, Radiant Orchid will require you to stretch your creative thinking abilities.  It is a charming color that is packed with energy and luxurious charm.

Here are a few ideas to introduce Radiant purple in your home decor:

1.  Splashes here and there-

If you are afraid to incorporate the color of the year in your decor, the easiest way is to introduce splashes of the color here and there.  When you “grow into” the color, you can choose to move to the next level or eliminate it all together.  Next time you visit the florist, pick a bunch of purple orchids and voila, you have just added the trending new shade into your home decor.

2.  Use as a luxurious accent-

Although Radiant orchid is a bright and vivacious color, it will be a bold decision to cover your entire room in this shade of purple.  The color can get boring very easily, therefore it is best to use it as an accent.  Radiant orchid radiates a royal feel and luxurious fabrics like velvets and damasks that incorporate this shade of purple will work well for upholstering ottomans and dining chairs.  You can also drape your armchair with a mohair throw in radiant orchid for a touch of opulence.

3.  Not so feminine-

A lot of people are afraid of the pink undertones in radiant orchid.  It is being touted as a feminine color for interiors.  But the great thing about Radiant orchid is that is can easily swing between feminine and very masculine.  Use radiant orchid in conjunction with reds, yellows, and oranges to bring out its charming, feminine side.  But the color becomes very masculine and bold when paired with glossy blacks, grays and dark browns.

4.  In the kid’s bedroom-

If there is one room in your home that can pull off a coat of radiant purple from ceiling to floor, it is the kids’ bedroom.  The color is bright and will bring energy to the room.  When painting the entire room in radiant orchid, it is important to keep the other decor muted.  White works best with radiant orchid in the kids’ room.  Remember, too much of color can be disturbing for the child.

5.  Cool off the kitchen-

Radiant orchid is a beautiful mix of blue and red.  The blue hue in the color has a cooling effect, therefore it is very well suited for use in the kitchen.  Consider using cabinets with a glossy Radiant orchid finish paired with black and white.  You can also paint an accent wall in the kitchen in this shade to add a punch.

Interested in learning how to incorporate the 2014 Color of the Year in your home?  Contact us today at interiors@kreativeways.com and we will set up a free 20 minute phone consultation!