Interior Decorating | Home Decoration Pro

Home Decoration Pro; Virtual Bedroom Decor Ideas Review

How to plan painting that next room can be easy and exciting if you know how to see the results before you even start. Digital is here, so put it to use when planning for that bedroom makeover project, or submit the results to your decorator and know it’s going to be perfect when the job is finished. There’s a well known company offering a virtual design system you’re going to want to know about, and I reveal the details. If you can’t save yourself some time with this system and come up with some great ideas, you’re not even trying. I’ve evaluated the reviews of this particular paint company’s products, but the results are mixed. Their virtual interior paint system however is definitely more than useful, and it’s an up to date web system anyone can use successfully. Here’s how it works: Take digital pictures of each bedroom wall (or any room you’re interested in re-styling) including the ceiling, download to your computer (don’t forget the file name), go to the web site, submit, choose your colors, and you’re on your way to an exciting new bedroom decor.

Who’s the company and what’s the plan? Be patient and learn a little about what I’ve found, and lets not forget the furnishing details for your new décor theme. Nearly all décor themes you ever see will include floral arrangements and greenery to help set an inviting tone.

Comfy & Plush With Added Life

If you have time and money to buy and replace flower arrangements weekly, no one has allergies, and you have people to maintain your house plants while on vacation, go ahead. Otherwise, you will be money ahead using today’s computer designed, realistic silk plants, silk flower arrangements and dried natural arrangements from a reputable company that guarantees your satisfaction.

I invested over an hour registering, reading and watching the tips, taking pictures of our bedroom, “masking” and “painting” with this company’s virtual system. My rating of the system? To be fair, I give the company an over all rating of 7 out of 10, but my experience was about a 5 since I wasn’t able to get the masking system to work. I’m assuming it’s my error, but the ease of use rating is a 6 on my rating scale. The registration is not long, but a bit irritating when in a hurry. The short video tools for using the system are a must, but short and to the point. The video is a bit fast in some areas, but you can keep replaying each step until you retain the info.

The color scheme system works well when planning the colors you’re going to use, and once you pick your primary, three other matching accent colors are offered. This is a great help, and the color shade adjustments work well if you want to tweak them for your style. Overall a great system providing you can overcome the masking step problem. You can even create your own “workbook” and come back to it when needed.

The well known paint company that provides the virtual system is top rated on Consumers Reports. However after reading a dozen reviews by users don’t let Consumers make your decision. Be very careful in choosing your paint brand, and by all means:

Experiment with paint samples on your walls before you purchase your paint.

Do NOT buy 5 gallon containers in this market as paint is getting old.

Do NOT use commercial thinners without carefully experimenting.

Some paints will be ruined if you use a certain commercial thinner according to a review on Consumers Reports who learned the hard way. (See their top rated paint reviews).

To summarize, that new painting project can be a lot of fun planning with the virtual system, as well as effective. Follow the easy steps and you can see how your new room will look (or very close). Next, purchase samples of the paint colors you found in the sheen you want. If you’re doing the project yourself I recommend going to the store and previewing the appropriate color strips to decide which paint samples to try. Don’t be too conservative with this step, as too many paint samples are better than not enough. Save yourself an extra trip to the store. Now try your colors on the surfaces and and let them dry over night. How does it look in the various light sources? Happy with the colors AND the paint performance? If you don’t like the paint’s attributes choose a different brand. Use the color strips from the first source to help you find the right choice, but do some research before you choose.

Be sure to read our previous post about color trends if you don’t know where to start, and don’t miss the tip about skipping the masking step! These tips are in the same post: Exciting Grays Take Over Beige.

See a quick video of the system.

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My Best, Billy Goldmark Silky Flower Store

Home Decoration Pro; Carnival “Breeze” Ship Tropical Decor

Ok, so lets do something a little different today and take a cruise while we’re discussing décor trends (yes, on a cruise ship). We’ll be reviewing the exciting new decor of the yet to cruise Carnival Cruise Ship “Breeze” (maiden voyage, June, 2012). If you’re planning that special relaxing tropical retreat at home or in your specialized business, this will help get those design juices flowing in the right direction. Take a sneak peak and enjoy a sampling of cruise ship pictures and historical background to see what all the excitement is about. Put on your life preserver and here we go! Well that may not be necessary. We’re not cruising on the Titanic.

The biggest problem I see with all of the Carnival Cruise line décor until now is little or no relaxing themes that include plant life or natural flora to promote the vacation aura. Fortunately, on the Breeze I found evidence the designers realized the need for it in their new tropical theme where it’s displayed perfectly. “Created by Germany-based Partner Ship Design, this striking new tropical design theme will be carried out in the ship’s public spaces, as well as staterooms which will offer a combination of bright colors and soothing pastel hues, with iconic images of palm trees and other island-inspired elements adorning hallway corridors,” as mentioned by Cruise Planners.

Previous Carnival Cruise ships have been designed by Joe Farcus since the early 1990’s and his décor themes seemed to have no limits. Bright, glitzy colors, and nothing left unconsidered in flashy designs is what “Carnival” has been all about. Some people prefer all the flashiness and casino style designs of the Las Vegas strip, but it was time to design another theme for clientele who considered all Carnival ships having strictly a party boat atmosphere. You can find the flashy casino theme on the Las Vegas strip whenever you’re ready to go, and you can depart when ready, however I haven’t noticed Las Vegas floating around the Caribbean lately.

Carnival Decor on the "Miracle"

For those who love the glitzy style that’s fine, but for the rest a much more relaxing Caribbean atmosphere is what a vacation is all about. I’m elated to see this theme in the Carnival “Breeze” with its realistic trees and plant life and a tropical design the whole family is going to enjoy. This relaxing style is something anyone can incorporate into their own home or even business where warranted (restaurants, hotel lobbies, offices,etc.). Take a look at how inviting the “Plaza” and “Plaza 2″ is in the 2nd and 3rd pictures. Soft tones and lighting, uncrowded, nice gentle lines, and the use of tropical palms and greenery to add some life to this gentle environment. The result is a greatly enhanced and friendly atmosphere thanks to the understanding and thoughtfulness of Carnival’s new Germany-based Partner Ship Design Team.

Relaxing Caribbean Decor on the "Breeze"

Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to help Carnival recoup some of their invested Italian Lire for this new 14 deck, 360,000 ton ocean liner that departs on its maiden voyage June 3, 2012 (now booking according to Carnival) from Venice, Italy. Better yet, this will help you realize it’s really not all that hard to come up with a great new design for that special area using a tropical theme with a few realistic artificial trees and silk plants that are easy on the maintenance and pocket book.

Caribbean decor on the "Breeze"

In case you’d like to see a video of your chosen Carnival ship here’s a link, but most are advertisements and up to 10 minutes long. (Only a few on the first page have been previewed by us, so we can’t verify their safety). Don’t expect to find tropical designs here……just party atmosphere. Oh well, we all like a party once in awhile.

My Best, Billy Goldmark

Silky Flower Store

Home Decoration Pro; Exciting Grays Take Over Beige

If you haven’t heard, there’s a new décor color trend developing away from beige as a neutral, and toward shades of gray in offices, living rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms………let your imagination reign. Even grays in textured furniture options are getting to be widely available. Since the trend has serious momentum in that direction, and after some detailed study and analyzing I’m impressed with all I’ve found. I’ll be covering the primary aspects of what one needs to be aware of, and the essential guidance using gray tones for decorating. Needless to say, gray tones can

Living in Classic Gray

be dominant and strong, or light and airy depending on the depth and texture of the tones selected and complementary colors used. In regard to complementary colors, just about any color will work well with gray, since it’s a monochrome of black. So lets explore a little, and in case you’re planning to lay down some serious indoor wall and ceiling paint, I’ll even introduce you to a new painting tool that can “cut your painting time in half.” I thought that would get your attention!

The first thing to think about for any color scheme if you’re planning a makeover is to think about what emotions you want to evoke for that master bedroom, home office, or any space you may be planning for a new design. If it’s for a downtown office building plan you may want to go a little stronger with the darker tones if you’re looking for a powerful, but not overwhelming tone. Shiny black can be nearly intimidating, but a light monochrome will be much more comforting and easier to work with. On the other hand if it’s for a smaller bedroom at home, consider using lighter gray tones with brighter accents to help make it look cheery as well as larger. Your own tastes are what counts, so my main premise is that you can use these tones to achieve a wide range of themes that will fit your lifestyle. Don’t forget about adding differing textures in the room for added interest, comfort and sophisticated design. On another tangent, if you have a smaller room you’re working with consider using a dark gray tone at one end of the room and mid tone gray on the rest of the walls. This will give it a feeling of a larger room, and adds even more interest.

Greenery adds life to sophisticated gray dining area

If you’ve never been introduced to the 60-30-10 color scheme, it’s an important but simple concept. The difference between a nice room and a stunning living space will be determined largely on the correct use of this concept, so be sure to use it from the start. The 60 is the percentage of the dominant color you need to use; 30% is the amount of secondary color to use in the room, and the 10% is the percent of accent color to use. I’m not recommending you use a tape measure and calculator, but if you follow within reason those percentages, you will end up with a balanced aesthetically pleasing room provided you follow a couple more suggestions.

Don’t forget the greenery is my next suggestion. It always helps to liven up the living space and make it so much more inviting and interesting. Just look at the beauty the dining area image conveys with the complementary greens. You can go with live plants, or if you’re short on maintenance time never under rate all of the astonishingly realistic options available today with silk plants and silk flower arrangements.

One of the areas many often forget, or don’t plan for is the lighting effect for the room. First of all how much light will there be? How will it look with natural light versus light from fixtures? Will the lighting scheme also be changing, i.e., new window dressings or mirrors added to reflect the light? Lighting is not something to be ignored, so match the paint scheme to the different light the room will experience when choosing your colors, and accents. It’s always a good idea to have several different light sources in a room to fill shadowed areas and help add comfort and warmth. Of course the more natural light you can provide the lighter and more airy the room will feel.

Natural Materials wall sconce: another growing trend.

When it comes to accents for your space, how much “table space” or “floor space” do you have? Another trend in decorating that makes a lot of sense is a greater use of wall sconces for decorating or even additional lighting. There are plenty of options, but one I find pleasing and interesting is the use of natural materials for wall sconces. You may be able to fashion your own if you’re crafty and have the right materials at hand, or there are some beautiful ones available at reasonable prices.

One last thing is to choose carefully the sheen you want for your paint. Glossy is easy to clean, but is shiny and on the other end of the scale, egg shell is hard to clean and some brands may be removed when cleaning. My suggestion is normally to use a matte color, which goes well with natural surroundings and is not that hard to clean. Glossy may be better in younger children’s rooms “(Mommy, what color of hair do you want for your picture on the wall)?”

I mentioned there would be a tip for cutting your painting time in half, and I confess I haven’t used this new tool yet, but if you plan on any amount of indoor painting I suggest you take a look (no affiliation) at this video to see how it works. I think you’ll find it intriguing and see how you can cut your interior painting time drastically and professionally. Here’s the link if you just want to go directly to the web site for Paint Helpers. If anyone has already used this tool be sure to help the rest of us with a quick review.

My Best, Billy Goldmark Silky Flower Store