Design Styles, Minimalistic Interior Design

In this age of less equals more, minimalism, has found a growing population of admirers. While not everyone is ready to "let go" of their materialistic tendencies and embrace an ideology that promotes space and empty areas as desirable Interior Design elements, many do. If you're toying with the idea of simplifying your life and your Interior Design scheme, but aren't ready to sell the Chippendale yet, then Design Styles featuring Minimalistic Interior Design elements can be added to an existing decor very sparingly (pun intended).

For instance, let's consider an average home that contains: two bedrooms, two baths, a living room, a dining area, a kitchen and maybe a den. In the "average" home that is already decorated in one of the more typical Design schools, you'd have well over a hundred items of furniture inside, and usually a lot more. In a minimalist house, on the other hand, you'd have no more than twenty-five and probably less. Since the extremes between how most of us live and the minimalist ideal decor are so very far apart from one another, compromise seems a wise course of action.

In an ideal minimalist home, the living room would have a simple, flat bench, a rug and maybe a lamp. No television set, no coffee table, no chairs and no excessive materialism would be allowed in the space. In a compromised minimalist environment, however, you could winnow out some of the excess furniture and banish the clutter gathering bits. It would not, of course, be purely minimalist but it would be headed in the direction of it.

Design ideas incorporating Minimalistic Interior Design elements can be added to existing homes and incorporated into emerging decors with ease. In fact, the biggest problem with this school of decorating is working too hard at it.

Importance of an Interior Designer

It is important for a building to have a good Interior design. In an office setting, once the area isn't properly designed, people will get uncomfortable with their surrounding and once they're on that state, they don't get to perform well in their given responsibilities.

You need to have a design which would be, for example, in a classroom, conducive for learning. So, with that, you need to choose a bright-colored paint on the wall and the fixtures should also be refreshing to the eyes and the area must be filled with the latest gadgets there is.

Another example is for hospitals, the old hospitals would look creepy and gloomy and so it is a challenge for the part of an Interior Designer to have a design which will not put a patient to further distress. It should be a wall painted in happy and bright colors which signifies hope to patients, especially the ones who have serious illness.
An Interior Designer's job is also very crucial to every building since it's what's being immediately got noticed at first. People will not judge by the foundation a certain building has but the design inside it. They also need to consider the personality of the owner or how or what are the things the building owner would want the Interior design to be like. So, it is a must for every Interior Designer to sit and brainstorm with the owner otherwise the design will solely be everything that an Interior design wants and the owners wants will be overlooked.

So, if you're trying to put up a building, ensure that you have the best Interior Designer in town. There are a lot of Phoenix based Interior designs or Arizona Interior designs to choose from. All you need to is make an extensive research. Ask around and get advices from people who got themselves their personal Interior Designer. Learn from their experiences. Do not forget to ask questions so that you'll get the information that you want. Also, read from testimonials that you get to see online or at Interior designing magazines. Get enough information just before you'll start taking the plunge.

Remember that putting up a building is a serious business and so you must have a good Interior Designer – someone you could trust and someone, despite a pricey rate, will provide exceptional results.

But just before getting an Interior Designer, be sure you know what you really want, like the design, color, fixtures and more. You could not be able to get good Interior designing results if you, as the owner, don't even know what you want. It's pointless getting an Interior Designer if you'll just let him do everything. It's like a two-way street, both of you must contribute an idea otherwise you'll end up regretting the design and worst, having it refurbished anytime.

Standard Magazine...The NEW Interior Design Magazine

Standard Magazine is an Interior Design Magazine unlike any other. Flip through a couple pages of its premiere issue (September 2010), and you'll quickly see you're in for a satisfying treat.

Like many publications, Standard has well-written, interesting articles and many enchanting photographs. But in its overarching point of view, Standard Magazine is blazing its own, unique trail.

In Standard Magazine's view, sustainable homes should be simply . . . standard. All the ideas in the Magazine are green and ecologically friendly as a matter of course. This outlook gives the Magazine the freedom and license to place its emphasis elsewhere: on top-notch, inspirational, and beautiful Design.
Standard Magazine is an Interior Design Magazine created by Designer and author Kelly LaPlante, who taught the Design industry that "green is a standard, not a style." After twelve years of pioneering eco-Design in sustainable homes, LaPlante says it's "time to change the conversation and to raise the bar again."

"After more than a decade of pushing my industry toward sustainable homes," LaPlante says, "I've decided that the time has come to really treat green like a standard-and that means not making a big deal about it anymore."

The Magazine "won't be hitting you over the head with our morals," she says.

Raising the bar means that, as far as Interior Design goes, being green - using recycled materials and pieces in clever, appealing ways, for instance -- is a basic, minimum requirement. All the components -- eco-friendly paints, wallpapers, fabrics, carpets and more -- are easy to obtain and affordable - and therefore should be used, period..

As Kelly says, "Doing the right thing, and doing it beautifully, is absolutely expected of everything and everyone we feature."

Author of ?cologique (2008), LaPlante says, "Our manifesto is that Design should be captivating, timeless, built to last and, of course, produced in a way that honors people and the planet. This will be reflected in each issue, on every page." And reading through Standard's maiden issue quickly confirms that: this is an Interior Design Magazine that's packed with great ideas, superb writing (one writer used the phrase "mouth-hanging-open immobility" to describe a recent favorable impression she had), and captivating photos.

Standard's high standards extend beyond sustainable homes: no trees, for instance, are harmed in its publication. This Interior Design Magazine is primarily published online, as opposed to on paper.

Just as the underlying concept behind Standard is to focus on beautiful Design (while making sustainable homes in the process), each issue of the Magazine itself will be created as a readable, pleasurable experience.

Standard's style is also collaborative - its staff is interested in hearing tips, ideas, and feedback. Standard wants to help like-minded people find inspiration and beauty.

As columnist James Saavedra says, "We all deserve a life infused with beauty and style."

The pages of Standard exude a certain joy and, flipping through its articles, you might just start feeling rather joyful yourself. This Interior Design Magazine does not overly concern itself with decomposition of recycled materials - instead it communicates bold beauty and creativity.

There seems to be no better way to close an article about this Interior Design Magazine than to quote its writers' final sentence in announcing its entrance into the world: Welcome to the Post-Green Movement!

Inspirational Art Nouveau Interior Design Styles

The art nouveau style saw a fundamental change in Interior Design Styles. Rather then using inspiration from the past Designers began to look at the things around them to inspire some of the most wonderful furniture, lighting and patterns which make this particular style unique.

In the beginning people either loved it and embraced the Designs with open arms or loathed it and said it would never become popular-the latter being very wrong! The art nouveau style saw a revival in the 1960s and again today in the 21st century Interiors Designers are still using some of the concepts within their Interior Styles.
Famous names associated with art nouveau are Charles Renie Macintosh who introduced wonderful patterns for wall papers and fabrics. It is for these Designs he is probably most associated.

Louis Comfort Tiffany Designed and created wonderful lighting using a host of different coloured glass in table lamp shades on which the stands depicted nature and animals predominately.

Emille Galle Designed fabulous furniture, ceramics and glass wear to compliment this new Design fashion in the art nouveau style with influences from Rocco. Rene Lalique glass wear and jewellery items are highly sought after in the auction rooms, with people hoping to find these exquisite pieces to add to their collections.

These 'new' Designers believed in fine craftsmanship and quality but they also embraced and accepted mass production.

To achieve the art nouveau look in your home there are some key and fundamental 'rules' to be followed.

Floors should be parquet and stained or vanished. While Macintosh experiments with Interiors which were 'all white' typically the colour tones were muted and comprised of sage greens, browns and mustard, combined with lilac, purple and peacock blue. Walls were either painted in one of the muted tones, 'off white' or papered with patterns inspired by nature and often included birds, particularly peacocks and dragonflies.

Macintosh is world famed for his high backed chairs with black gloss lacquer. However chairs upholstered in replicas of floral fabrics with muted tones would look in keeping with the art nouveau theme.

If you could afford a genuine Tiffany lamp it would undoubtedly be the show case of the room, however this is highly unlikely for most! Reproduction Tiffany lamps are widely available in the high street or online and are essential to achieve the art nouveau look.

Ornaments were glass, the opaly and pearlescent Styles for which Lalique is famed, along with pewter and silver. Antiques shops and boot fairs are ideal places to find art nouveau ornaments which do not necessarily command a high price due to the mass production at the time. To complete the art nouveau look the room should have plenty of flowers and peacock feathers which are one of the hallmarks of this Interior Design style.

Windows contained stained glass panels, these can been found at salvage yards if you are lucky or modern reproduction would work equally as well.

How to Become a Professional Interior Designer

Passion, knowledge and skill. These are what it takes to get you on stage in the Interior design industry. The three keys to success go hand in hand in building your road to the top. First, one must have the eye for beauty and the passion to attain it. Being passionate about what you do can make you turn a warehouse into a bedroom with a blink of an eye. Passion is commonly inborn, but it doesn't mean it can never be acquired.

If you're finding it hard to fire up your desire for designing, taking inspiration from successful Designers can help you a lot. Some of our personal favorites are Kelly Hoppen, Kelly Wrestler and Karim Rashid. You may find that each have different styles, but Interior design doesn't require you to be stagnant, in fact exploring different design concepts makes you flexible and able to deal with different people with different taste.
In designing, you can take inspirations but make sure not to copy exactly how they built it as it may lead you into violating certain designing codes. That's where knowledge comes in.

As most of us are unaware, Interior design follows an ethical code that differs depending on which country or state you practice. So you must first know your responsibilities as a practicing Interior Designer, especially if a country requires a Professional license since you will be held liable for any damages done according to how the law subjects it.

Knowledge in Interior design is very important in practicing it because the room you design shelters people in it. This is why it is imperative to be aware of the safety standards in designing.

One must know how to balance a space user's personality when it comes to designing a room, it may also require a bit of psychology and characterizing your space users. We should always take into consideration the welfare of the users and not our own when designing.

When you become an Interior Designer, you will deal with different types of people like the client, architect, engineers, and the workers. One must also know how to deal with each type of people and treat them with equal respect. We must also know how to do the basics in construction so we can properly supervise the projects we design.

Interior design is not something we can only learn on our own, so it is still very important to enroll yourself in a good Interior designing school.

Another important thing to remember is that one must have the skill to portray the outcome of the design. 3-dimensional drawing perspectives are the client's basis of the quality of the design, especially if they're not familiar with the jargon terms used in floor plan presentations.

Aside from 3-D software's, you should still know how to do manual presentations and sketches, just in case you encounter prospective clients who want an impromptu illustration of the room. In addition to that, skill also implies how you deal with the people you encounter. It's your weapon in winning a prospective client. One must know how to do presentations properly, armed with the knowledge of your own design. We should be able to introduce them thoroughly into the different features of what we design and make sure not to miss any detail.

One must possess the three important traits in order to become a Professional Interior Designer. As Interior design does not merely create beauty, but most of all it provides comfort, builds camaraderie, and good relationships with the people you work with.

Donald Pang is the International Admissions Director of Raffles International Colleges. Start your Interior design career with Raffles! We offer Interior design courses with certification in diploma, bachelor and master degree in these Asian countries such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia, Hanoi - Vietnam, Jakarta - Indonesia, Manila - Philippines, Colombo - Sri Lanka, Phnom Penh - Cambodia, India, China, Sydney - Australia and Mongolia.

The Science and Art of Retail Interior Design

Retail Interior Designing ideas and trends

When individuals are looking for a reliable and reputed Interior Designer, the very first decision which comes to their mind is how the retail Interior Design would have a great impact on their marketing objectives. It is all about taking the right decision and selecting suitable Design, right from the storefront layout and the location of the cash counter, which would send a good message to the customers.

Retail Interior Design is all about knowing how to promote the store itself through use of proper lighting, furnishings, and finishes. The Interior Design plays an important part to pull consumers to the retail store. Most of the customers prefer to do their shopping at beautifully Designed and maintained shops and showrooms, even if they are not spending lavishly.
Acquiring a perfect place to display and stock products for sale is not sufficient enough when it comes to opening a retail store. Designing and setting up a retail store is actually a Science as well as an art, which apart from creating space and trading merchandise to customers, also requires inviting people to pay visit and actually make a purchase.

Retail Interior Design is conducive to catch the attention of potential customers, particularly the target market. This is exactly how the consumers view the retail store as a whole. For instance if it is apparel store, it should allure to the senses of the consumers who can afford and actually spend on the merchandise. If it is hardware store that aims to extend its clientele demographics from professionals to all DIY enthusiasts, it should have an Interior Design that appeals to wider and varied clients.

Once at the entrance, customers should be enticed further to explore the Interior of the store. There are different techniques on how to display and stock merchandise inside the store to make each of the products stand out and boost sales.

Retail Interior Design is not just confined to the Interior decoration of the store. Actually, it starts right from the exterior, from the billboard to merchandise presentation. The most crucial part is the external look of the edifice as it should get the notice of the passersby and allure them to explore the store even if they are not familiar with the brand's products or even if there is no sales promo or discount offer posted outside the windowpane.

When considering the retail Design, the store's concept and lighting are the most important factors that need to be taken into consideration. Consumers should find it easier to shop inside the store than attempt to shun shopping there. Most clients consider it more convivial to go shopping at a place which exhibits right visual displays. It is essential to present gleaming retail spaces that can make retail stores look larger and let customers wander around the Design.

A successful retail Interior Design integrates the rudiments of graphics, product promotion, marketing and ergonomics. It actually penetrates into the mind of people, turning them into potential consumers who spend their time inside the retail store and ultimately buy something. It plays a big role in enhancing the store's sales and thereby brings huge profits.

Teapot Creative provide a full retail Interior Design service from concept through to reality. Across both retail and commercial property we offer a wealth of experience creating Interiors from initial sketch schemes to full CAD drawings and specification. We will control projects through all phases of build and can also provide a full build service through our supply chain. We can deal with all aspects of Local Authority approval on your behalf. Design Somerset