Blythebook

Milan Design Week showcases some of the world’s most innovative designers and this year, there have been some exciting new trends in furniture developing. To most people, furniture may epitomise the everyday and the ordinary. But to contemporary furniture designers, it is a chance to re-imagine the way we see our homes.

Sustainable design has played a big part at this year’s fair, with many designs exploring the nature of eco-friendly materials or experimenting with the idea of recycling and reusing.

The show ranges from the beautiful to the bizarre and the comical to the minimal. Through an exploration of material, colour, form and function, the designers take everyday objects and add their own twist, whilst still designing a functional piece of furniture. Here are some of the best sustainable designers from Milan Design Week 2013…

Gu Chair by Yuhang

Image by Inhabitat

Yuhang is a design collective based in China who apply traditional paper making techniques to furniture design. Their work is a fusion of craft and contemporary design, characterised by the blend of the minimalist wood with an organic paper shape.

At this year’s Milan Design Week, they unveiled their Gu Chair (pictured) which is constructed from bamboo paper pulp. As the design is from a fast growing, renewable source, the Gu Chair raises questions about the environmental impact of mass produced furniture.

In an age of mass-production there is a growing trend in ‘craft’ and the desire to reconnect with traditional production methods – I think the Gu chair does just that!

Rag Chair by Droog

Image by Inhabitat

 Continuing the environmental trend is this year’s offering from another Chinese design collective, Droog. The design embraces the three ‘R’s in sustainable design: Recycle, Reduce and Reuse.

The bound layers of rag are an interpretation on this idea. The design is notable in the way it transforms something as flimsy as a piece of rag into a sturdy, functional chair – and undoubtedly a comfortable one too, and practical design is always a plus in my book!

 Box-o-rama by Event Architecture

Image by Inhabitat

This funky Box-o-rama takes furniture design in a more modernist direction and represents a growing trend in geometry.

Event Architecture designs everything from large scale outdoor projects to furniture for the home. Their design style places emphasis on re-usability through the use of connecting panels, which can be taken apart and constructed into something else, like giant tetris.

As a result, the designs are flexible and sustainable, through their ability to adapt.

Geometric design can be quite cold or dry but Event Architecture’s offering contains lots of little design details that give this piece of furniture real character. The dynamic layout of the rectangles gives the impression that they are pushing up against each other and I love the contrasting detail that turns the spaces into frames, proudly displaying whatever you choose to store there.

Image by Inhabitat

Wireflow by Arik Levy

The beautiful lighting designs by Arik Levy are like 2D line drawings suspended in the air. Their design is simple and yet it’s startlingly effective. Composed of thin rods and wires, the 3D forms hold eco-friendly LED lights.

The structure is rigid and yet because the wires are so thin, it looks like it could almost unravel in the air, creating a very fluid, yet geometric, design. It’s like a sketchbook doodle that has jumped off the page and strung itself up to your ceiling!

This is an example of another geometric style, which has been given a personality through twisting the modernist style.

Image by Inhabitat

Table by Piet Hein Eek

Piet Hein Eek is Dutch furniture designer with an interest in materials above all else. His table design at Milan Design Week was a study into the material of wood; constructed from layers of scrap wood, the piece draws attention to the textures and colours that make up the timber.

The Dutch designer’s show displayed every chair he had ever made with the somewhat daring headline, “Most of the chairs on display didn’t become successful”. This statement works as a lesson in creativity, as well as insight into the importance Piet Hein Eek places on process.

Image by Inhabitat

Fish Restaurant by Droog

This is another offering from Droog, but a slightly more unusual design this time. Their eye-catching Fish Restaurant is a comical touch to the design show. However, it is intricate and very beautifully designed: the perfect addition to any fish bowl!

Droog have explored environmental issues in a number of their designs, but this approach is more light-hearted. The design cleverly contrasts our modern lifestyle with nature.   

Milan Design Week goes green…

This has been just a few of the highlights in sustainable design from this year’s show, but there is so much more to see. The 2013 Milan Design Week has been an exciting combination of craft, modernist, traditional and comical design; showcasing the creativity and imagination of the worlds’ most innovative designers.

Which sustainable designers caught your eye this year?

Estelle Page is an interior designer working with Oak furniture Superstore, who’s currently renovating the home she shares with her husband and two kids. She’s passionate about eco-friendly, sustainable design and loves that many new designers seem to be too!

We look at the choices of bedside cabinets that are available. See how different styles go in a different type of bedroom. There is also some information about what to look for when choosing a bed side cabinet.

Your bed side cabinet should be functional, as well as looking good with the rest of your bedroom furniture and decor. There are lots of different styles to choose from.

Ten of the best styles

French Style Ivory Three Drawer Chest

these are attractive bed side cabinets in white, with pretty scrolling on each of the three drawers and curved legs to give it a French look.

Pine with 3-Drawers and Bun Turned Feet

this is a classical style of bed side cabinet with little bun feet that hold the base just a few millimetres off the floor

Worlds Apart Butterflies and Flowers Bedside Table

this table has a single, pale pink drawer decorated with butterflies, perfect for a child’s room. There is also a blue version with cars pictured on it

Pine Open Bedside Cabinet with 1-Drawer

this is a budget bedside table in unvarnished pine that can be painted in any colour and has a single drawer with space underneath

High Quality Ultra Gloss Black and Walnut 3 Drawer

this is a modern and grown up style of cabinet, with dark wood and a glossy finish.

Lounge Lizard Black and Silver Embossed Metal

this has a distinctive and unique look, with curved legs and an embossed pattern. This would suit a very unique and different bedroom ddcor, such as a clinical stainless steel look.

Pine Storage Cube

this is the most basic of bedside tables, a simple box that sits on one side to form a table top, with space underneath for storing a few things.

White Narrow Chest of 6 Drawers

this is a simple design made more interesting with wicker baskets as drawers in a variety of colours

Capri Bedside Cabinet

this is a classic style with 3 drawers, which are in white and the whole unit has a wood effect top that sits on the white framework.

Verona Design Antique Finish Solid Pine KD Bedside Table

this table does not have any drawers and it is a simple table design to sit beside a bed, but may not be practical for anyone who stores a lot in their bed side cabinet.

With so many to choose from, there is sure to be something for everyone

Practical Considerations
If you are redecorating your bedroom and are looking at the latest collections of bed side cabinets for new ideas, always remember to consider the practicalities as well; there is no use in a cabinet without storage if you have a lot of things to put in it. Other than that, it is a matter of taste, as long as you have the space in your bedroom to fit the tables that you want.

AUTHOR BIO

A. Mathews is an interior designer who has chosen many bed side cabinets for many different styles and tastes. She is always keeping an eye out for the latest collections of bed side cabinets in order to get new ideas and inspiration for her designs.

Photo by: ooh_food

We love our homes and spend thousands on kitting them out to reflect our personal tastes. But when it comes to selling up, our colour and décor choices tell a story to potential buyers.

For some, the story is a happy one: a home that’s clean, filled with light and utilising a space to its best advantage. For others the décor is more of a nightmare – a poorly lit, cluttered home with little consideration for how buyers can use the space.

Creating a cohesive look throughout your home looks stylish, gives your home a clear personality and is generally just more appealing to prospective buyers. Here is my guide to creating a house style that clinches that all-important offer:

Neutral Colours

It makes sense that if you’re selling your home you should try to make it appeal to as many people as possible. So, those brightly coloured walls have got to go! Most of them anyway.

Paint your home in neutral shades of cream or magnolia throughout. Granted, it may be a little boring, but you have to account for the fact that absolutely anyone could walk into your home and sigh in relief that the first thing they won’t have to do when they move in is paint over your daughter’s bright pink bedroom walls. If a room ends up looking too bland, add a touch of character back in with one feature wall in a contrasting colour.

Complement the Architecture

If you are lucky enough to live in a period property, then you should be doing everything in your power to highlight the original features. This means that if you have an original wrought iron fire surround, for example, then you should make sure that the tiles around it are all intact and are in a style that suits the era of the property.

Buyers either want a period home or a modern one. They don’t want a home with stunning Victorian architecture in one room and a squared-off modern look in the next. Decide what your home’s personality is and stick with it.

Staging Your Home

You don’t need to hire a professional house stager to rearrange your home; you can just as easily move all the furniture around yourself. There are just a few things to remember as you’re doing it. One: de-clutter, two: regroup and three: transform.

• De-clutter

De-clutter your furniture and fittings and put anything in storage that doesn’t serve an immediate purpose for the room. A good way to remember what should or shouldn’t be in your house is to think of it in terms of how a holiday home is presented. If you hired a villa, would you expect to see an old sewing machine in the corner of the living room? No, you wouldn’t. So put yours in the attic before viewings.

• Regroup

Regroup all of the remaining furniture into zones, where the furniture is set in such a way as to point out to the viewer exactly what the area is used for. For example, a breakfast nook should contain only stools to sit on and maybe a coffee machine nearby; this place is for breakfast and breakfast only. The fact that you may do a lot of work on your laptop here is not apparent to viewers because the laptop and associated wires are tidied away before they arrive.

Once you’ve pared your home down to the bare minimum, you’ll often find a particular theme stands out amongst what’s left. Maybe your dining table was so covered in clutter before you never noticed it was the exact same shade of teak as your bedroom cabinets, but these are the cohesive elements buyers love. They show they’re not just buying a bunch of mismatched rooms, they’re buying a home.

• Transform

The junk room or box room or whatever you may call that room with no purpose needs to be transformed into a proper room with a discernible function or you may never get that sale. If people go into your spare room and all they see is cardboard boxes, they’re going to think that there’s something wrong with the room – that it’s too cold to settle in there, for example, or those boxes are hiding damp. Don’t give viewers the opportunity to let their imaginations wander.

Buy a gorgeous dining table and show them that that junk room is actually a wonderful family-oriented space!

Focal Points

To create a house style that’s magazine-ready, you should consider buying some art in similar styles to dot around the walls of your house, to create focal points and pull the look together once and for all.

Whether your taste is for abstract art or traditional portraiture, it’s worth investing in some art to hang on your walls because you’ll likely keep them for your next home too. Stick to the same colour family throughout and obviously don’t choose an oil portrait in one room and a modern metal sculpture next door!

What else can people on the housing market do to create a cohesive look that attracts buyers? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Estelle Page is a UK interior designer with a passion for all things crafty and eco-friendly. She loves to help clients create a cohesive look that ‘flows’ throughout the entire home.

Living and working in the city can be great – lots of places to go out, the hustle and bustle of being in the centre of things – but there can be drawbacks too, and the size of flats and apartments is a common one for many people who sacrifice living space in favour of lower prices and better locations.

But just because you only have a small living space, doesn’t mean that you have to think small when it comes to decorating your home; you can still be creative with your space and make practical choices at the same time.

Tables

Tables are a great place to start. They’re a necessity for most people – especially in living rooms and other areas where you spend a lot of time (everyone needs somewhere to put their cup of tea / coffee in the mornings!) and there are some types of tables that were specifically designed with small spaces in mind;

Storage coffee table

Coffee tables with storage compartments mean you can rid your room of the clutter which has a tendency to build up (and still have somewhere to put your drink) alternatively – or even as well as – you could opt for a nest of tables. Nests of tables (or stacking tables) offer more options than a single side table would – you can use just the main table and take the other two or three smaller ones out when needed for guests to use or to create different segments of your room.

Seating

It may not be physically possible for you to decorate your lounge with a three piece suite, but there are other options when it comes to seating arrangements.

Modular sofa

For example, a 2 or 3 seater sofa bed will give you a place to sit as well as somewhere for guests to sleep, which is especially important if you don’t have a spare bedroom. Alternatively, modular furniture is a great choice as it means that you can pick and choose what your sitting area will look like (and what will fit into it) by selecting different sections and creating your own, custom corner sofa / l-shaped sofa. Another great idea to maximise seating AND storage is a storage footstool / ottoman. These are great for having an extra place to sit and to store clutter when you have guests over.

Storage Footstool

Illusion

As any interior designer will tell you, illusion is your friend. There are many ways you can give your small space the appearance of a larger area, the easiest and perhaps most popular ‘trick’ is to use mirrors.

Mirror

Placing a mirror opposite a large window will increases the amount of light in a room, while hanging one at the end of a room will give the illusion of length. Feature walls are also a great way to open up a room. Why not try creating a feature wall with a large mirror (or several smaller mirrors) to add further depth to the illusion of space in your small room.

Colour

Light and neutral colours will help give the illusion of space, if you think white or beige is too dull, try using muted pastel shades to give your rooms a splash of life. Whatever you do, you don’t have to give in to your small space. Brighten it up with the right colours, furniture, and accessories, and you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes.

I found dots looking very stylish and inspiring in interiors.

Look at my findings.

Huge Black Dots

White Dots on Red Carpet

Hallway in black small dots on white background

Girlish Style

Colorful Dots

Curtains in dots

Random circles

Inspiring interior

Cute Bedroom

Home Office

Colorful Kids Room in circles

Living room with wall stickers

Photo by: ooh_food

Dining rooms are funny old places – most of the time they sit around unused and unloved because we tend to see eating at the dining table as a weirdly formal experience. Why is it that most people would rather sit and eat their meals in the kitchen or in front of the TV when they have a lovely dining room to enjoy? Could it be because they haven’t bothered to make the space their own by creating an inviting atmosphere?

If you’re guilty of neglecting your dining room, read on for some interior design tips to help inspire you to make the most out of this space. Here are my top dining room interiors trends for 2013…

Natural Textures

The big design expos including Maison & Objet and Milan Design Week featured many rustic, organic textures in tableware and interiors, so opt for these natural finishes in your dining room this season. Strip back heavily varnished wood and complement the rustic look by adorning your table with fresh flowers and foliage in glass bottles and jars.

Burlap table linens or styles featuring botanical prints will dress up your rough and ready dining furniture for special occasions.  An industrial style recycled bottle chandelier will also provide a thoroughly modern twist to complement this natural look.

Antique Brass

Antique brass is currently the de rigueur metal amongst designers this season, with Tom Dixon’s eclectic tableware collection incorporating this warm metallic hue beautifully.  Brass and copper give off a subtle gleam rather than the dazzling bling effect you get with gold and silver finishes. Investing in some brass or copper candle sticks for your dining table will bring a touch of modern elegance to your meals.

To complement the brass and copper look, try some colourful Aztec inspired printed ceramics to add a pop of colour. Here is a DIY tutorial for making your own tribal print mug with marker pens!

Image by Jenn Durfey

Monochrome

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are apparently discussing monochrome as a theme for their new baby’s nursery. Follow Kanye’s lead in your dining room and dare to unleash your dark side by painting it black. You can opt for a half-and-half black and white scheme like this or go for monochrome stripes on just one wall.

If black paint isn’t your thing then you can still achieve the monochrome look by contrasting a black dining table with white chairs, or vice versa. The look is surprisingly eye-catching and classic!  Dress your table with a striped runner and slate table settings to finish the look.

The Great Gatsby

With the eagerly awaited Baz Lurhmann film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, the roaring twenties theme is a huge trend in the interior design sphere at the moment. To achieve this look, team Art Deco inspired wallpaper with oval dining furniture and dress the space with luxury fabrics like silk and satin.

Mirrored console tables and glass service trolleys with crystal decanters will convey the gin-soaked decadence of the decade. Top this look off by installing a glamorous Art Deco inspired chandelier and put on some jazz records, for a party atmosphere that will rival one of Gatsby’s gatherings.

What other interior design trends are you loving this season? Tell us about them in the comments below.

Estelle Page is an interior designer and blogger who’s in love with the current trend for all things 1920’s!

Today we’ll look at window displays and will try to find out why they stand out. This can be very useful if you want to create interior design that will look awesome. I am sure that most of us intuitevly know what we want to see in our rooms, but when it goes to practice we are losing courage.

I googled images and in 2minutes have chosen which design were the most increadible. Let’s see what we can take to our todo lists.

1. Repeat your items: pillows, statues, photos

The items that are repeated in the design capture our attention. That’s why numerous pillows, three or more similar items look so nice. Now you can choose the item that you that can create the path of similarity.

2. Add Asymmetric Arts

Everything in our world looks beautiful if it’s symmetric, but when the symmetric is not obvious we notice it. The easiest way is to add the painting or the photo. Their image should be will the falling object or something abstract and weird. But add just several arts of such style, because too much will create a mess and a crazy look. Sometimes it is useful, but not in our case.

Asymmetry is used to accent the wall or the part of your room, so the room shouldn’t be overwhelmed with arts. Take a look at this window display look and you’ll clearly see what I mean. This store uses just two background images. We can still see the whole store and the models.

3. Use colors to fresh up the interior

Do you see how good it is to use colors in the interiors? I know that some people like minimalism and don’t accept any color except white, black and beige. It depends on the tastes and character. It is not discussed, because we are all different. But if you would like to change your room, then look at colorful items. This week I noticed that products on the sale are usually very bright. People are afraid of such items because they think it won’t suit the whole interior design of their room or they just don’t imagine how orange vase will be combined with brown table.

Get rid of thoughts that colorful vases, pillows and statues will make your room ugly. Remember just one rule: use just 1-2 colors in your room (white, black and beige are neutrals and not included here).  Of course, if you feel you are an expert, you can use more colors, but start from 1-2 and you won’t go wrong.

4. Supersize your dream

The bigger the size of our desired item the more we want it. The stores usually make huge photos, of high quality to convince you. This window display also uses big photos of the models that will definitely attract our attention.

Print the photo of your life or your dream life and hang it in the room. You will get several benefits: the inspiration when you look at what you dream to get and the good looking stylish room. How many friends use such ideas in their rooms? A lot of them just not ready experiment.

5. Surround your room with nature

Nature is relaxing and healthy. And our apartments and houses should have plants inside and outdise. We like parks, nature, so let’s bring it to our life. We usually notice eco designs and the display on the image is a great example. The wedding dress looks even more dreamy and fabulous with plants around it.

So buy plants and place them on the windows, near the chairs or near the entrance. Moreover, you can buy flower pots that will additionally give passionate and natural colors to your living. But buy those flowers that are not very gentle because you would add more daily routine to your list and you can skip this if you think in advance about the type of plants you would like to have.

6. Light up!

Darkness is sadness and light is fun and optimistic. If you don’t want to redesign the whole house changing the ceiling lightning, you can buy floor or table lamps. The story about choosing lighting would be too long, so let’s stop just saying that lighting changes the whole look of the interior a lot.

Window Display

I personally use table lamps and candles. Yes, I adore candleholders and all similar stuff. I really use the chandelier. Additionally, I save on electricity when use candles instead of bulbs. But it’s my choice. I think that families that have children can’t use candles because kids need light. But when they go to sleep you can create romance using old method for lighting.

Conclusion. You can find inspiration everywhere and today we can see how window displays can easily help our interiors. So, repeat the items, use asymmetry in the arts, add colors, enlarge your dreams, create small gardens in your rooms and light up.

I’ve read so many posts about “how to choose the perfect color”. And to tell the truth I was scared after all these readings, because all posts still didn’t give me an idea where should I start from.

I know all these designing rules and they help a bit, but not much. You still need practice and that’s it. So I won’t list all these boring things and I will try to list inspirational tactics that I would use.

Easy, but costly – hire Interior designer

If you are not an expert at all and you don’t want to bother yourself with choosing the color for your room, then interior designer would be you savor. He/she will ask about your favorable color for the room. And that’s almost done. The designer can decide the cold or warm tones would better look in your room and what brand will last long and look perfect on your walls. The expert will also advise the good specialist in painting the walls. They all know each other in this sphere: who is good and who is not.

Experimental and brave step – just choose your favorite color

For example, I like coral. I will go with this enthusiastic though to the nearest store that sells interior paintings. Then I choose the brand by the logo, or my feelings that it’s good and choose the best color I like. I take the sample bottle and paint one wall with it. If I like it, then perfect! I will go back and buy more. If I don’t really like it, I will leave one wall in this favorite color and I would say it will still fresh up my room. Next time I would choose a bit softer, darker or lighter color. I guess you should see why exactly you didn’t like your choice. But usually our intuitive choice is perfect, so don’t be afraid. You will be proud that this experiment is your own lucky step towards better interior.

Buy popular colors – search by top brands

It depends on the country what color brand is most popular, so this step will be partly your own investigation. I’ve found several most used international painting brand: Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Yolo. So next is visiting the website of the manufacturer or your local store and see what colors are top sellers or trends.  You will definitely find something you like and usually most popular colors are the basic so they will look at least classical.

Buy on sales if you don’t care about the color

Sales don’t mean that the color would be awful and ugly. The stores just sell what is not popular or few bottles left that they should sell or the expiration date of the paint will come soon. Anyway the sales are a good way to relax and you should buy what they offer without bothering about the tones and brightness. If the color is dark, you can paint one smaller wall with it and you won’t recognize the room. If you don’t know what you want then sales color will be the starting point to understand at least what you DON’T like.

Watch for color visualizers

Most brands create their own portfolios of colors and real rooms that are painting in their colors. So when you look at these interiors and you find what you like, you can see the color that they used and buy it. Of course, the room won’t look 100% the same as on the image, but you can have similar effect. Before and after furniture projects often say what color they’ve taken. The most pictures I found is on Pinterest. Here is the link for Sherwin William colors. http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=sherwin%20williams%20paint&rs=ac&len=9

You can change the search to your brand: “Yolo paint” or “Behr paint”.

Search for books – color advisers

I’ve bought several books with best colors that they advise, but I was not convinced to buy any of colors. Maybe the books where not good enough, maybe I was not ready to buy the painting at that time, but I tried this step and maybe somebody from my readers will find this path the most convenient.

Now I will start writing the most incredible ideas that I have:) Watch out…crazy ideas can be useful.

What is your favorite item in the house? Take that item and buy similar color

I like my pillow so much. It looks like a part of spring on my bed. So I suggest to take your favorite item and buy the color similar to it. I know it may look crazy, but who cares:) Maybe this inspirational idea will create your ordinary room to the dream.

Paint the old item that you don’t like with the new color

This will give you visual understanding if you like the color or not. Sometimes people take samples on the square sheet. But I am not sure if this can give you the idea how the room will look like if you completely paint it in the color you took as a sample.

4 different colors for all your walls

One of the difficulties is to choose the shade of the color that you liked. You can buy 4 colors that stand together on the color wheel. I am not sure how different the walls will look like, but I think it should look incredibly cool. Imagine how great the room will be if you paint it almost in one color but in different shades. The guests won’t even notice what’s so special in the interior, but you will know why the room is so interesting. Moreover, if you would like to paint the room in one tone in the future you will definitely know what color would look the best!

Now I am scared of myself. What did I drink in the morning? I guess coffee gives funny results. Don’t drink it before choosing the right color!

Painting of you color

Nowadays the paintings shouldn’t look too complicated or fantastic. The simpler the art is – the better. So why don’t you buy the huge frame and insert the paper colored in your chosen shade. Changing the shade of your huge art will be easier than painting the wall. Oh, and if you rent the room this idea would perfectly well. You shouldn’t even hang such art. It  can stand on the floor and cover half of the wall.

I guess that’s more than enough for this post. I hope you found an inspiring sound here for your new interior. If you want to share your thoughts or interior doing – comment here or email me. Follow my blog if you welcome crazy ideas.

Kindly,

Zvezdochka

The post is devoted to new house owners and to those who want to refresh their old patios.

Our patios should be comfortable and relaxing space that is so valuable nowadays, but not all our outdoor designs are filled with such atmosphere.

So I decided to summarize all details that I think we should have in the ideal relaxing space.

Chair for reading

Ok, I am not really sure when do you rest here, but reading in the sunny day near your house is a dream for some people. So I think that cozy chair or a sofa full of pillows is a must have for such place.

Pros. You will always have the space for reading, writing a diary or planning your gorgeous life.

Cons. You should think about the coverage for your patio chair during rainy days.

Pillows for super comfort

I adore pillows. I know men can say that it’s too girlish to have a lot of pillows on the bed or sofa. But they can’t deny that pillows are really cool to have. They soften the look of any interior. They also add the sense of sensitiveness that kindly changes our mood. We can be tired after the work but when fall on those pillows and look into the sky – it’s worth tons of money.

Lamps for evenings

What do you usually do in the evenings? Watching TV shows, playing games, cooking, reading are most popular doings. All these deals can be done outdoors. You can watch your favorite shows on your laptop or tablet. Games are usually also available on these devices. Cooking can also be partly done sitting outside the house, like cutting vegetables or waiting while dishes are cooking.

So the lamp is a very useful item if you want to change your evening rest. I would buy a small table lamp or something big like outdoor lamps if have enough budget for such decoration

Patio table for small stuff

If you are just starting creating your patio, then small table would be enough. You can place your home lamp (if you didn’t have the time to buy the new one) and books for comfortable reading. Oh, and of  course a cup of tea and a piece of cake:)

This small outdoor table will also be nice for morning coffees. But it can also be a perfect dining table for a couple. Some bistro sets are very cute. I like French style, when the chairs are made of iron. They look beautiful. Modern sets are very popular, but to tell the truth they don’t give me any feelings. French and vintage styles give more feelings.

Hammock for daydreaming

These hammock movements calm me down. If you have the place to hang it, then do it! They are associated with sun, sea and silent life. Do you feel you need it now?! Some of them are so wide that two people can easily lay there.

Porch swings for chatting

I guess porch swings are inviting for chatting. They move slowly, like helping you to meditate and forget daily must-does.  If the porch is long enough to lay there then you can forget about hammock. Moreover it has a roof instead of umbrella, so if you don’t want to sunbathe then this is a must-have item for your patio.

Patio umbrellas – no thoughts about rain or sunburn

If you live in the area with no rainy weather and you use patio for the evenings, then skip this tip. But usually outdoor umbrella is needed a lot. Choose cold colors that will give the cool shade. Red and orange umbrellas give visual warmth and sometimes it is not needed.

Outdoor chaise lounges for nice suntan

10minutes in the morning will inspire you for the whole day. Just don’t forget to turn on the alarm, so that you don’t miss your job or work:) Cushions are also needed here if you don’t want to massage yourself after the chaise’s traces.

Storage benches

Carrying away all textiles and reading back home will take time daily. It’s easier to drop all this stuff to the storage box or bench. You can also use this storage as a table. Just make sure the top is strong enough.

Outdoor shower for pool owners

It’s such a cool thing to take the shower outdoors. I would have it outdoors even without the pool.  I would take the shower outdoors, just for fun. But you should be definite that neighbors won’t spy on you. You shouldn’t care about this tip if you like when somebody watches you. You are like the superstar, right?

Bird instead of music from iphone

Singing birds in your yard is so romantic and 100% natural. Give them the place for fun. You can add bird baths or feeder to your patio. Bird house will be an incredibly friendly accent in your house. You drink tea with friends and birds chat near you. That would be so sweat. I saw even cottages created for birds. It’s up to you, but I guess I would buy a house for the birds on mu balcony this week.

Garden fountains for spa sense

Oh my, it’s already the 12^th product I wrote to consider while buying items to create your beautiful patio. A big list, but step-by-step plan will lead you to dream exterior.

Let’s get back to fountains. I usually notice garden fountains in spa centers, restaurants or hotels. And we like to visit such places because they are so calm and inviting. Flowing water is like a small waterfall and it’s in your yard.

Garden statues for stylish look

Suppose you don’t have statues and the patio can look good, but imagine you have angel statues or Egyptian cat or Gnomes then the mood will be completely different. Choose your style and add it for inspiration.

I would add Buddha or Roman Goddess.

Privacy screen

It is not always used to hide from somebody but it can also be used to make the private space. In small rooms we feel more privacy than in the large hall or a living room. So privacy screen will be an additional paper between you and a real life.

Get warmer with fire pit

One more piece of nature inside your yard. You already have a fountain, a bird cottage and now a fire pit. Of course, it is easy to have a patio heater but it won’t have an impressive natural fire.

Grills/BBQ for all

No comments here:) You just have it or need to buy it/renew.

Conclusion. Patio is a special dreamy place. You need to take care to make it a peaceful and warm.

Be inspired!

Kindly,

Irene