You need three trump cards to win this game: the audacity card, the imagination card and the budget card. If you have all three, why not lay your cards down on the table right now?

You don’t have the budget? Limit yourself to one room. Maybe two. The pleasure will be just as great.

Americans love to play this decorative game. Graceland, Elvis’s home in Memphis, is the most popular example, despite the kitsch.

The Jungle Room, with its safari atmosphere, with reddish-brown as the dominant colour and the skin of feline on the floor has made the rounds in all the magazines. The same applies to the billiard room, where the sofa, walls and ceiling share the same motif, which gives it a bland, monochrome look.

In Brussels, go to the Cook and Book restaurant with an open mind. It’s divided into nine bookstores with a decorative them specific to each one. It’s a sign that ideas abound.[……]

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Summer is the season of every whim. Buy why reserve these whims exclusively for the kitchen, the dining room or the patio? The bathroom is an ideal place for fantasy.

Let’s start with the furnishings in case you are preparing to redo the bathroom. Designers are overflowing with imagination today. Bathtubs and sinks are taking on unexpected shapes. Add some lighting and the effect becomes mind-blowing.

It’s common to see an old piece of furniture transformed into vanity. But overlapping pink plastic bench, a bright orange pail and a round sink is quite original. The wall is also transformed with a yellow, blue, pink checkerboard panel that protects from splashing. You could choose a faux finish, like on the photo or opt for cyan blue.

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The Hobbit house has inspired the imagination because of its close ties with nature: grass on the roof, wood door, stone, dry mud, branches and other materials.

Artisans have reproduced the Hobbit house which, to a certain degree, has existed for a long time, as it is thought that author J.R.R. Tolkien largely based it on Viking houses, whose best preserved prototypes are found in Iceland.

In a decorative world, designers have more or less consciously pushed the concept of the Hobbit house further. It’s as if they invited nature to penetrate inside to create a new style of decoration.

The Earth House article in Wikipedia shows an interior that will make you smile. The contours of the window are astonishing. There’s little room for angles. Everything curves, as angles are rare in nature. If you read the article, you will also see many examples of the exterior of an earth house.

[caption id="attachment_10154" align="alignleft" width="580"]Wikimedia commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike : Archi0780 Wikimedia commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike : Archi0780[/caption]

The major obstacle: interior layout can be challenging because you have to consider where to place the furniture.[……]

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Everything is white. The ceilings, the walls, the floors, the furniture, the cupboards, even the decorative cushions on the sofa. Not a trace of colour anywhere. An infinite white, an omnipresent white, an organic white washed of its entire colour.

If the residence is big, you have the impression of setting foot in a snow cathedral. Just like those winter forest scenes where the trees are bending under the snow. Everything is pure, serene, and peaceful. A long, never-ending silence.

Devotees of colour will say that it doesn’t make sense; you don’t have a completely white interior. It shows a lack of imagination and a total lack of taste. Laziness even. Living in it would be unthinkable. Colour is life. To kill the colour is to kill life.

Yet some people dare to do it. If you’ve ever visited properties along the American coasts, you may have noticed that the interior of houses along the edge of the ocean are totally white.

Are you tempted?

Salon_Blanc_Lumiere_ISTOCKPHOTO_decoration[……]

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Do you want to keep ahead of trends in decoration rather than follow them? Take a close look at the inside of bars, restaurants and clubs.

What attracts your attention is likely to be on the front page of a magazine in the near future. Bars and restaurants are often ahead of home decoration trends.

Decoration professionals admit it. They take advantage of a happy hour or a meal with plenty to drink to visually explore a bar or restaurant’s visual design.

Bar Eclairage_ISTOCKPHOTO_decoration

Invited to a reception in Old Montreal, a couple of professional decorators tell us about having been stricken by black wallpaper combined with a series of mirrors. You can imagine the rest. They used the same look in the entrance of their home. The black wallpaper and mirrors became the centrepiece of the entire interior decor, to the extent that the adjacent rooms fit with the entrance.

Because it’s an apartment, the two decoration pros used their genius to make sure that the entrance isn’t too dark.[……]

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We often hear that you have to enjoy the moment. But given the ice-cold winter that has lasted since December—until February 13 at least—it’s really tempting just to close your eyes and imagine the soft spring sun shining down. Especially if you’re feeling down.

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The best remedy according to many health experts: action! We start looking for something to brighten up our day. In our houses, we change the décor to give it a spring air.

Spring evokes many images and comforts: snowdrop, daffodil, tender green shoots, buds, soft heat, and murmur of melting snow brooks. In his poem Spring Victor Hugo said: “It seems like everything is laughing, and that the green trees are happy to be together and recite verses…”

To deal with this endless winter, find out what brings a smile to your face and makes you and your loved ones happy.

Here are few ideas:[……]

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[caption id="attachment_728" align="alignright" width="406"]Shaker_Chaises_Wikipedia_Richard Taylor_Inusite Wikipedia (Richard Taylor)[/caption]

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Shaker furniture is a stark and austere interior that is almost off-putting: brown table and chairs, white wall and wood floors, white basin to wash in, a broom leaning against the wall and a lone ball of wool for a patchwork blanket. The only thing missing is a cat to play with the ball of wool.

Yet Shaker craftsmen are recognized as masters of design among our Southern neighbours. Reputable cabinetmakers attempt to recreate works exposed in various museums. Pieces from the period are worth a fortune.

It’s true that compared to contemporary design highlighted by glass and steel, the Shaker style is a poor child. Simple and minimalist, it’s a perfect example of voluntary simplicity. At least that’s our impression. But take a closer look and the impression already seems more fitting. [……]

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