Bathroom design has long been the province of stark practicality, of white and primary colors, sterile lines and not so much an aesthetic but as a puzzle piece: getting the requisite appliances and storage into a small space can sometimes be too much of a chore because most of it is but dictated by plumbing and ventilation. Bathrooms, since time immemorial, have arguably showed less personality than any other room at home. But not this bathroom design from Bandini.

As a room that everyone uses at least once a day, and one that we spend a lot of time in, it would sure be nice to have a theme, or a strong design vision that will unify everything that is inside the bathroom. And to this measure, Bandini has been successful in implementing a bathroom design that is very sleek and modern. To have curves but absolutely not dictated by plumbing - and to have everything look like it’s not even a bathroom at all - this is quite a feat.

I also like how every furniture was utilized so that it functions to store things and keep them out of sight, while providing a very nice facade. A much smaller area compared to other rooms from the rest of the house, space in the bathroom can be a kind of a premium - one must have the correct solutions like purchasing the right storage cabinets, the right sinks, and Bandini’s bathroom vanity is an overall perfect package.

With avant-garde bathroom designs like this, options are starting to become available. The bulky and stark medicine cabinets of the past are giving way to exciting, curvilinear vanity furniture in funky and fresh colors. No longer is black to be considered the height of bathroom daring when warm tangerines, funky limes and deep crimson reds are all making belated showings.

The most noticeable thing about this quiet revolution is what it isn’t: it is furniture that, while intended for the bathroom, could be used in any room in the house. It isn’t the usual staggering array of taps, or the bevelling of a bath edge, or ever so slightly not as square as the rest tiling. It is allowing people to customize a room they spend a lot of time in and impact personality and warmth, rather than trying to mask sterility and tweak utilitarianism.

//All images from Bandini.

If you have ever used artificial dividers in the room and often get frustrated because it’s not exactly style and design-friendly, then you might want to consider using shoji screens. It’s a great way of diving a room, or cordoning off a section of the house - it’s stylish, inexpensive (compared to installing or building actual walls), and adds character to your home. This home interior decor will surely stand out and brighten an otherwise dull interior.

Cherry Blossom Shoji Screen, Double Cross Bamboo Tree Shoji Screen

Shoji screens are traditionally from Japan. These have been part of the Japanese architecture for many centuries. Usually a stand-alone divider or a sliding door, it is made up of a wooden frame, with translucent sheets of paper for the window panes. The dividers can usually be folded and open to two halves of a door, or four halves for bigger ones. Modern shoji screens have painted designs on them, like the famous cherry blossom or bamboo tree (as seen above). Sometimes they also use painted fabric for more colorful designs, instead of the traditional paper. They also feature other prominent cultural scenes or icons, like the geisha and the kabuki (below).

Geisha Shoji Screen, Kabuki Shoji Screen

If you want some Asian-inspired design in your house, then a shoji screen will be a practical choice, as it is not only about design but about function as well. It can serve as a home interior decor or an imperative screen or door to cover up a section of the room or even divide it. Asian-inspired homes are usually particular about the maximum use of minimal space, and shoji screens are, more often than not, a must.

Wooden Shutter Screen, Bamboo Leaf Room Divider

And because these home interior decors are now widely used all over the world, variations of the shoji screens are also available, like the ones above. The wooden shutters are very sturdy and command a presence in the room, while the woven screen on the latter divider looks very sophisticated and intricate at the same time. Both are very reminiscent of Asian design.

Lady Generals Divider

I, for one, use this screen in my home. It is a very lovely piece. It is meticulously hand-painted and hand-lacquered. The wood is very durable, as it has been in my family for more than twenty years now. If you’re looking for nice home interior decors, I would highly recommend the use of shoji screens. You are not only giving your house an Asian feel to it, you’ll also be making an investment on good furniture.

//All images except the header are from OrientalFurniture.com. More shoji screens are available on the site for sale. The title header photo is from tokimusasa.

In a world of green technology, it’s nice to see this Soft Refrigerator as one of the more innovative kitchen designs aimed at saving energy. Designed by Qingxiang Ou, Jingchang Chen, Wenmin Li, Lei Zhang, Rui Qi, Lu Song, Peng Zhou, Xiaoyan Deng, Haifeng Liu, and Longfei Li from China, this refrigerator is portable and can be folded easily.

When other layers are not in used, it can be folded. This in turn reduces the size of the refrigerator, thus reducing the energy consumed as well. For me, this is a great kitchen design; oftentimes we take for granted how we use our refrigerators - either it’s too crammed with a lot of things, that the ref is working double time to produce cool ventilation, or there isn’t much content in it, making you consume so much energy for nothing.

Futuristic, and yet energy sustaining, I really hope that this Soft Refrigerator comes into wide production. Green technology is becoming a big part of our lives during the last few years, and we should really pay attention to it. As we reach the day and age of an even more modern lifestyle, it’s important that we care about our future, too, by doing what we can to help the earth’s life be better as it grows older with us.

I think it’s good, too, that green technology is extending beyond computers and moving towards the home and, in particular, the kitchen. A lot of us can benefit from this really cool kitchen design, and what’s more, we’re going to help save our environment, too!

//Source and images from designboom.com.

Have you ever felt like your normal calendars aren’t enough, and that they need to be more functional? Do you ever get tired of having to get out your daily planner to jot things down? Well, this innovative home decorating project will help you get a move on by making your decision-making and schedule-planning more feasible through your own wall calendars!

Let’s face it, calendars are very important part of our daily lives. It’s not just there to let us know what day it is, but to allow us to plan ahead for our tasks and errands, as well as make us remember things on certain days or months.

A lot of calendars usually don’t allow for some note taking - just a casual red circle on an important day or a big X over a corresponding box. Now there’s a way for you to customize your own calendar without sacrificing the aesthetics of your home, and this is through two different styles of wall calendars.

First off is the Chalkboard Calendar, as seen on Martha Stewart Living. This calendar is flexible enough that you can jot down notes on each particular day, as the boxes are big enough to accommodate several tasks. What’s more, come next month, you just erase everything, and presto - you’re ready to begin writing again!

Below are the instructions for this home decorating project:

Start with a base coat of store-bought black chalkboard paint, then mix in varying amounts of white chalkboard paint for lighter squares.

Tools and Materials
Black chalkboard paint
White chalkboard paint
Pencil
Measuring Tape
Painters’ Tape
Make Custom Color Chalkboard Paint

Wall Calendar How-To
We chose 4 shades of paint to make our calendar. You can use as few as 2 shades for a checkerboard pattern.

1. Paint entire wall with store-bought black chalkboard paint; let dry for 1 to 2 hours.
2. Mark the perimeter of the calendar with a pencil (to accommodate 8-inch squares, ours measured 48 inches high by 56 inches across).
3. Using painters’ tape, mark off the B squares according to the diagram below.

4. Make B paint by mixing 4 parts black chalkboard paint with 1 part homemade white chalkboard paint. Paint B squares. Remove tape. Let dry about an hour.

5. Repeat process for C and D squares using the proportions pictured above.

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Another home decorating project for a wall calendar is to use a corkboard. If you don’t want to use paint and are wary of chalk dust in the house, then the design below is for you. It’s also functional, as you get to tack things onto the board, and covering the corkboard with a fabric or wallpaper is just lovely, so it can go together with the room.

The instructions came from Cottage Living, and were designed by Jessica Thuston and Erynn Hedrick:

1. First, apply a layer of cork to the bare wall with linoleum paste, and then cover the cork with raffia wallpaper. Textured paper is key—it hides holes left from pushpins.

2. begin your grid with eight lengths of grosgrain ribbon placed vertically, securing each end with a nailhead pushpin. The dimensions of your wall will determine the size of your calendar. Remember to allow for the month and days at the top. Space the columns evenly; we used a standard 8 1/2- by 11-inch piece of paper as a guide.

Create six rows for your grid with seven lengths of additional grosgrain ribbon, securing intersection points with nailhead pushpins. Again, we used the 8 1/2- by 11-inch piece of paper to keep the blocks uniform.

3. Adhere labels with self-fastening strips to simplify adjusting the calendar each month. Download printable large numbers, days of the week, and months below to label your calendar. We suggest printing them on heavy ivory cardstock.)

Done!
Now it’s time to fill up the calendar—the large blocks make it easy to post notes for multiple appointments or reminders and also pin up party invitations. We used the blank wall space on one side for photos and on the other, empty picture frames designated for “notes to write” and “gifts to buy.”

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I think these ideas are absolutely genius! I would love to try it in my own home sometime.

//Source and images are from Martha Stewart and Cottage Living. Photography for Cottage Living is by Robbie Caponetto.

The moment I saw the works of furniture designer Draga Obradovic, I instantly fell in love. A blend of graffiti, art, and a very individualistic style, there is no doubt that Obradovic has put a lot of herself into her works.

Obradovic studied Painting in the Academia Di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy. She graduated in 1988 and initially started out in the field of fashion. She first worked as a model, but then further interests in the rigors of design led her to become a fashion designer for women’s collections. Over the years she tried to pair together her love for painting and her unique outlook on style, and she would later on achieve this when she would delve into textile design.

Textile design offered her infinite possibilities: she refined her painting skills while trying out different fabrics, and through this process have found out which colors, styles and textiles go together. This eventually led Obradovic to become a furniture designer, which opened even more doors for her. In 2006, she came up with a collection of unique pieces, with paintings and words on the furniture fabric. It was one of the most refreshing and adorable collections I’ve seen to date.

I love Draga Obradovic’s style because it’s very unusual to see paintings and a semblance of graffiti art on furniture - and love it at the same time. Most of the time, such style would turn me off, but I was surprised at the Serbian-born furniture designer’s skill at choosing colors that would look good together, as well as how smooth and seamless the paintings will look on the fabric.

I also admire Obradovic’s career path. From starting out into something totally different a job like being a model, she has worked hard to be where she is at now, and everything is paying off. Most of all I love how she took a lot from every career she has chosen and integrated it with her passion for painting and art, and now she is creating beautiful things.

//Images from DragaObradovic.com.

Bathroom tile designs these days have become more and more interesting as many people become aware that it increases the impact of a well-designed bathroom. Various lifestyle TV shows and magazines that feature the “dream bathroom” have added to this perception, and as we move along the modern age, many have become conscious of developing their own style, letting it permeate throughout their home.

I browsed the internet for interesting bathrooms and have found these three, quirky and fun designs that have surely caught the attention of many. They are very daring and alive, and what’s more, two of these have been absolute “do-it-yourself” projects!

First off is this stunning blue-themed bathroom from Splatgirl, found via Apartment Therapy. The blue pebble tiles just jump right out - one of the most interesting bathroom tile designs that I’ve ever seen.

According to Splatgirl:

“As far as bathrooms go, it was done very inexpensively and incorporates some ideas that I think are useful and fun whether one is on a budget or not. (I think I spent about 3K total on the room.)

From the $48 sconces that look super high-end to the shower that I tiled in basic 4 1/4″ white ceramic and blue glass gobs purchased in bulk to the marine vinyl used as partitions instead of expensive tempered glass panels, I think it’s a testament to what you can do with a limited budget and some creativity (and a lot of hard work!).”

Look how perfect the tiles go together with the rest of the bathroom! And it looks so expensive for something bought cheaply and done by yourself. This design is a great inspiration, should you ever think of redesigning your own. With a little creativity and imagination, one could go far (and one could have lots of fun!)

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The next bathroom tile design looks very calm and peaceful yet simple and elegant:

Also found via Apartment Therapy, this is Allyson and Jim’s bathroom. They were remodeling their house and wanted their bathroom to look beautiful, despite its being small. As a result, they used “the penny round tiles in celadon from Ann Sacks for the walls and floors…The color is really soothing and vintagey next to all the bright white porcelain.”

And I think they were very successful. Despite the very toned down colors, it looks very sophisticated. Again, the use of unconventional tiles are a great thing to see. It’s just another indication that bathroom tile design is something that people pay attention to, else, there wouldn’t be a lot of stores that will sell such varying selection of patterns.

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The last design is the bathroom at The Partridge’s Nest suite at The Roxbury Hotel. Credit goes to Gregory Henderson for the photo:

This one looks very retro, with its smattering of the colors red, yellow, black, blue, and white. This uses just normal tiles but are combined in random ways to emit a funky style. The overall effect for the whole room is very groovy and iconic.

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There are a lot of bathroom tile designs out there that will surely be borne out of sheer curiosity and experimentation, just like how one would like to design his or her own bedroom. Most of us overlook the bathroom and just settle for the classic pristine style, not knowing how much fun there is to discover once you decide to do away with your old tiles.

Yes it can be pretty daunting at first since we’re dealing with tiles here, but as I’ve mentioned earlier, more and more people are becoming increasingly aware that fun tiles can make a difference. The bathroom is one of the most personal spaces inside our homes, and we should be able to do what we want with it.

//All photos are by their original owners as mentioned above.

One of the things to brighten up your room is a nice wall mural. While others might choose to use wallpapers in their houses, wall murals are very affordable and much easier to install. For home interior designs that can be done in no time, this is a nice way of adding personality to your home.

One such service that offers digital printing and customization of wall murals is My Digital Prints. They offer several sizes: 4″ x 7″ for $149, 8″ x 8″ for $249, 12″ x 8″ for $299 and 16″ x 8″ for $399.

Below are some of the prints that they’ve done so far. Surprisingly it looks very high-quality. It’s very rare to see home interior designs like these that can blend in well together with the existing furniture in the house:

Fom a doodled sketch to a detailed photograph - My Digital Prints will help you amplify your designs. You will not lose clarity or sharpness, and they also offer color-proofing services.

Wall murals are great in creating a dramatic impact on your surroundings. This home interior design can surely transform and brighten up your home depending on whatever design you choose.

//All images are from My Digital Prints.

Here’s one kitchen design idea that I haven’t seen yet: Exploration Placemats from Lekker Unique Home Furnishings.

For those who dream of traveling the world but haven’t gotten to it yet, or if you are simply in love with different cities, whether you’ve been there or not - these world dinner maps are a great way to spice up your kitchen during meal time.

Entertaining as much as they are educational, these placemats, or placemaps as Lekker would like to call them, are a nice addition to your table if you’re looking for a kitchen design idea that is ingenious and inexpensive.

The dimensions are 11.8″ x 15.7″, and it comes in two different sets - in a pad of 50 (disposable) paper placemats or in a set 4 laminated placemats.

I find placemats very useful in the kitchen because it serves two purposes for me: one is that it gives color and design to the table and make eating interesting. The other is that it also helps me keep the table clean - any food spots or stains from the plate is easily caught by the placemat, therefore giving me an easier time in cleaning up.

Another thing I’ve discovered is that placemats, depending on the material from which they are made, provide an extra grip to your plates and other utensils. So if you have kids, or are having a party, placemats are a good way to help keep your plates on place.

There are many kitchen design ideas out there that are sure to make meal times interesting. As for these exploration placemats, it’s a great way of recalling your travels while having dinner with friends or family. Cities like London, Tokyo, and New York are just some of the great eating destinations in the world, and having them right in your kitchen will surely whet up anyone’s appetite!

//Images are from Lekker Unique Home Furnishings and Plastica.

I love books. I’m an avid reader, and over the years, my books have managed to scatter themselves all around the house, in every nook and cranny, to say the least. To compensate for my bookworm behavior, I’ve also amassed a good number of shelves over time, so that my books can have a home. I’ve recently come across some decorating ideas for book shelves, and I thought I’d share it here. For fellow design lovers and book lovers, this will surely be a nice read.

5 DIY Decorating Ideas for Your Book Shelves

1) Showcase what you love.
A good way of adding personality to your shelves is to display things that you love. It’s a great reminder of the good things in your life, as well as a testament to who you are. Your room should always look and feel like the person who lives there, and what better way for others to get to know you better than having a look at your shelves?

A browse through Flickr.com showed some really interesting people, and their shelves, too:

alisong.’s shelves (above) show an extraordinary love and fascination for sauces, while blackholepress / Lisa Roe’s shelves (below) looks fun and reminiscent with old toys and memorabilia:

2) Use works of art or great antiques.
Another decorating idea is to put your books side by side with some artworks or even antiques. It adds a special age-old feeling to your bookshelf. Literature and art have always been good friends, and it’s only natural to see them together in your room.

Take, for example, omoo / Jim, who has beautifully married such style with his bookshelves:

A stunning bust and old bottles and cans can create a good focal point in the room, as well as a conversation piece.

3) Display photos of your loved ones.
Nothing says personal more than photos of your loved ones. It adds warmth to the room, and makes your shelves more inviting to look at. Do not be daunted by choosing what frames to use. Be experimental, and use varying shapes and sizes.

Nann Nann’s shelves are a great example. On one shelf frames were utilized to stand out from the books, and on the other shelf, the photos were bare and just propped up, adorned with stones:

4) Experiment and try making your own shelves.
Speaking of being experimental, another great way to give your books a home is to create your own bookshelf. Books have always encouraged us to use our imagination, and so what better way to be imaginative than coming up with your own surprising idea of what a book shelf should look like?

Manuel Ignacio has photographed this beautiful shelf made out from a window, and I think it’s beautiful physically and metaphorically:

On the other hand, another quirky surprise is bigluketx / Big Luke’s do-it-yourself hanging bookshelf, which is refreshing to the eyes, and something you don’t see everyday:

The last tip that I’m going to share is probably one that I like best:

5) Be bold and adventurous with color.
Nothing says fun and life than a splash of color! Below are two different color schemes but same style of decorating. Christianna’s Earthly Delights made use of blue while Gazart made use of gold and sepia to bring out two distinct feel:

But probably nothing says color better than chotda / K Santos, who brought new perspective to a lot of people by arranging all her books by color, thus creating a very beautiful spectrum:

There are so many great decorating ideas are out there, the only thing you have to do is open your mind and get inspired. Don’t be afraid to try something new - and don’t be hesitant to let your personality shine through!

//All photos are by their original owners as mentioned above. Source is Flickr.com. This article was inspired by Home Decorating Guide: Shelf Decorating by Leah Hennen.

I found this refreshing furniture design by Markus Beck and Simon Macro of FreshWest. Called the Inside-Out Cabinets, the design is very hip and pop culture-ish, with its bold colors and cheeky etchings of what might be lurking inside.

The Inside-Out Cabinets are made from aluminium composite, and the silver finish is shown through the carved sketches of bottles. The furniture design comes in several colors, most notably the bright yellow (above) and black (below). It also comes in white.

I like these a lot, because FreshWest has shown a very innovative perspective when it comes to decorating your house. Furniture design doesn’t have to be boring and traditional - you can play around with colors and make them stand out in the room, giving your home more character and personality. The Inside-Out Cabinets can even make great conversation pieces with guests - it’s playful yet stylish, and very modern.

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The Welsh duo behind FreshWest was named by several magazines as one of the best up-and-coming designers in Europe, and they did not disappoint. I can’t wait to see more of their designs in the future! Their original take on form and function is interspersed by a need to factor in fun and out-of-the-box ideas that only make their products a favorite among consumers.

//Source and images are from FreshWest Design.