Why is it that dingy basement laundry room designs are the norm?

Ever since families started doing their own laundry in their own home instead of taking it out to commercial laundries, laundry day chores have been relegated to out of the way places like the basement or the garage. I think that good laundry room designs would at least require that the laundry center in the home would be placed close to where the laundry is produced! The last time I did laundry none of it came from the garage!

Laundry coordinators in every home (you know who you are) have been lugging piles of laundry to the basement or the garage for decades and I think it is time to start planning for laundry room designs that are user friendly for the entire family. The average North American family does anywhere from 7-10 loads of laundry a week so it is a chore that takes up considerable time in family life. It is time to take a look at sensible laundry room designs.

Let’s face it if you have to do laundry, you will want it to be as pleasant a chore as possible. At the very least good planning should remove some of the unpleasantness that currently goes along with laundry day. Read the rest of this entry »

When we think of traditional living room design we often associate it with large houses, manors, hotels and palaces. Traditional living room design has existed for a long time because of the formal and graceful effect it brings to the home.

1. Lighting is essential in creating the mood of your traditionally designed living room. Make sure to use the right lighting fixtures to help you set the desired ambiance. Traditional living room design calls for soft lighting to give the room a dramatic feel.

2. The use of correct color pallet and fabrics to help accentuate and illuminate the room is also essential. Use sheen fabrics for your sofa and chair upholstery. Emphasize your living room’s color scheme by using repeated colors and patterns on drapes and upholsteries. However, do not overdo by just sticking on one pattern all over the room. Make sure your design is elegant and not redundant.

3. Expose your sofa’s legs by using tailored or customized sofa skirts to give your living room a more traditional ambiance. Use upholstered wooden chairs to match and arrange them accordingly without breaking the symmetry of the design.

4. Wall coloring is also important. Choose colors that will help accentuate the design. Avoid bold or dark colors for your walls if you want to maintain the open feel of the room. Traditional living room design calls for classic elegance, so keep the colors in tune to keep the ambiance in tact.

5. Choose furniture pieces that will complement each other. Avoid clashing textures, colors and loud designs. The furniture itself is part of the traditional living room design style, so there’s no need to exaggerate on the choice of material. Buy furniture that comes in twos or threes to meet the symmetrical style of the design. These could be the wall lighting, sofa set, armchairs and other smaller pieces.

When you opt for the traditional living room design, you should always remember the above mentioned aspects. Keeping the room open, cool and airy is important especially in daytime. Lighting sets the mood at night time and furniture enhances the design without overpowering the style.