Bright Ideas: New Year Wall Art

A fun way to display New Year's resolutions is to make some artwork! This New York subway-inspired wall art makes your new year goals highly-visible to you throughout the year while being fun yet stylish. You can do this yourself on Photoshop: Simply create a template that's the size of the output you want. (This one in the photo is approximately 24" x 36", which is rather large.) Have it mounted onto a canvas frame like this, a service available at photo specialty stores or in Gallery 7 Digital Studio at Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

Have a happy and prosperous New Year!

Decorating Kids' Rooms: Organization and Inspiration

Decorating Kids' Rooms: Organization and Inspiration
From Pebblez.com Decorating Articles




The most important things to consider when designing a room for a child are organization, and stimulation. Trying to keep a child's room neat and organized is an almost impossible task and you should take any advantage you can to help with this process. By designing the room in such a way that messes are automatically funneled into their proper place, you can avoid extra work. On the other hand, you don't want your child living in a blank, stark space, with little or no stimulation. This room is the child's home, and it will influence their minds as they grow. It should be interesting enough to keep the child's mind active and imaginative.

One important point to note is that you should always get the help of your child when designing a space for them. Children are often difficult to interpret; even they themselves don't always understand why they behave one way or another. If you make an assumption about their tastes, you may be wrong, which can lead to feelings getting hurt. Working with the child should be a bonding experience. By listening to their ideas, you will learn more about them, and create a better relationship between you.

You should start by building a base of organization into the room. In this way, no matter how you decorate, the room will be naturally set up to avoid clutter. If you organize first, your decoration can fit easily into the structure you create. You also will want to get the organization done first, otherwise you and the child may become tired by the end and not put as much effort into that.

Organization is about making it as easy as possible for a child to keep a room clean by themselves. A great way to do this is to divide the child's room and possessions into different categories. These should be very broad categories that will be easy for your kid to remember. These can consist of action figures, books, games, electronics, or cards. It really depends on your child's possessions. Try and stay below 5 to 7 categories, as more then that will confuse the child

Buying two or three large plastic contains in bright colors, and then labeling them with big letters, will make certain that the child knows where the different toys belong. This will make it much easier for them to maintain cleanliness themselves. You can explain to them that if they just keep putting the toys back in these two or three bins, they will have an easier time finding them when they want to play again. It won’t click at first, but over time the idea can sink in. This is a great way to encourage organizational habits in the child at a young age.

Certain items wont fit easily into any categories. These may be special dolls, favorite toys, or fragile items. These can be placed on shelves or in special drawers. This makes the child appreciate these items more, and helps to keep them safe.

In order to make a child more excited about organizing the room, you can turn it into a game. Race with the child, and see who can get all of the toys in the bins first. Clap excitedly every time they get a toy right, and help them when they get a toy wrong. If you play the game with them occasionally, it may become second nature to them to simply put things back in their bins.

Once you have the structure in place, you can get together with your child and decorate. Use your imagination, and your child's feed back, to decide how best to fill the area. Make sure to listen carefully to the child, and incorporate as many of their ideas into the process as you can. You will need to turn down a few that will cause problems, but for the most part it should be their decision how to go forward.

One way to decorate is to cover your bins in bright wrapping paper. This can make it seem like they are opening a gift every time they go for their toys. You can also use construction paper to line the bins, and let the children create their own decoration by drawing on it. Every few months you can take the paper down, save it, and put more up for them to draw on.

Children's toys are great decorations too. You can set up mock scenes of battles with toy soldiers, or set dolls up around a tea party. Model ships can be hung from the ceiling using thin wire. Stuffed animals can be hidden in a mock jungle, built using construction paper and wooden craft sticks.

Themes are a way to tie the look of the child's room together. A theme can consist of any interest that a child has, space, mermaids, pirates, or even mutant mongooses. Use construction paper to cut out figures or scenes, and tape them to the wall using double sided tape. Styrofoam balls can become planets hanging from ceiling, and glass beads can be bubbles under the water. Talk to your child about their interests, then wander around a craft store and explore the different materials you can use to create the rooms feel.

The most important thing is that the child feels like they belong in the room. Keeping the room organized will keep down the clutter, and help keep the child’s thinking clear. Decorating the room based on the child’s imagination will inspire them. Using both of these tactics will help to positively influence your child in their developmental years.

Window Treatments for Philippine Homes

In the Philippines, where the weather is hot and humid most of the year, windows are super essential. They give a home a warm glow, and are crucial in letting in natural light. Plus, they're a much needed feature for ventilation.

Windows are more than just basic architectural features, though. From the outside, they are a "window" into the home; from the inside, windows are an important interior design feature. They can benefit from a variety of window treatments. However, in the Philippines, there are certain window treatments that are particularly fitting for our climate and culture. Here are a few, which you can try out in your own home.


1. Cloth curtains. There are several kinds of cloth curtains. These can either make your windows look soft or heavy, depending on the treatment you choose.

• Ruffled: These types of curtains are very popular in Western-style decorating. They give windows a very feminine, frilly look. Sometimes, they can get overdone, especially when you don't have a trained eye in interior design. But with the right fabric and materials, ruffled curtains can actually be classy. The only drawback to these curtains is that they can be very warm for our climate here in the Philippines. 
• Sheer: These sheer curtains can really bring in a lot of light while obscuring views from the outside. They are ideal for our summery climate. However, they don't allow for much privacy. 
• Tab and tie curtains: Tab and tie curtains have become quite popular lately. These types of curtains involve simply running a long piece of fabric across a curtain rod. You can see the rod, which makes it also a decorative feature. These can make great additions to great rooms, living rooms and any room with tall windows, as they give off an illusion of height, and add a certain formality to the room. Ties are less formal, and look good in bedrooms, kitchens or breakfast nooks. 

2. Blinds. There are several kinds of window blinds, too.

• Roman shades: These are made of fabric, and work by stacking up evenly when they are being opened, creating a cascading effect. They are not bumpy like typical shades or blinds. They are opened using a cord mechanism, which allows the user to adjust the height of the area that is covered. 
• Venetian blinds: These type of blinds use horizontal slats, one above another. These slats can be made of metal, plastic or wood, such as bamboo. usually referred to as wood blinds or bamboo blinds. They are suspended by strips of cloth or by cords; these enable the slats to rotate in unison. When rotated, the slats overlap with one side facing inward and then in the opposite direction in an overlapping pattern. 

In choosing window treatments, curtains or blinds, you first need to make sure that your room has a particular look or theme. It's easier to choose window treatments that way. For example: If you have a country-style room, using modern fabrics or plastic shades will not be in-line with your décor. The same applies if you have a minimalist, modern home: You don't want ruffled, romantic-looking curtains to jar the modernity of your look. It's best to consult an experience interior designer when deciding on window treatments so that you get the exact look you need for the space you're thinking about!

5 Tips for Decorating a Small Home

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Small homes are one of our specialities here at Urban Scope Designs. While small home have some pretty unique design dilemmas, they can still be functional and spacious! Today, we're sharing a few tips on how to make your small home work so that you can fit more in a small space while keeping things pretty and well-designed.


1. Go for multiple-purpose furnishings and fixtures. If you're going to get a sofa for a studio apartment, get a sofa bed. Get dining chairs that also double as your desk chairs; this way, when we have guests, we can pull all the chairs from other parts of the house and to the dining table for a unified look. Instead of a living room table, opt for a decorative chest with storage compartments.

2. Have an accent wall. Try having a different color on at least one wall in your studio. For example: Paint three walls in your living room area a nice, neutral color, and then paint the wall behind your sofa bed a bold or deep color, such as a deep mocha or a soft red. Having this sort of contrast will add depth to the room, making it feel and appear larger. The accent wall makes it feel as if the space has expanded. On this accent wall, hang a few decorative items and frames, or perhaps a large mirror with a lovely frame.

3. Use high-gloss paint on your walls. Glossy paints give a room that extra glow, and is also easier to clean than a matt finish.

4. Think vertically. This mainly concerns storage and functional decoration. Since you can't fit lots of stand-alone pieces in a small home or studio apartment, maximize the use of your walls. For example: Maximize storage in a small kitchen by installing cabinets that reach all the way to the ceiling. The tall cabinets will create an illusion of greater vertical space, which makes the space feel larger.

5. Hang some large art. Hang large photos or paintings of a cityscape or sea view view; you'll feel like you’re looking out at a large, spacious area.

Decorate your small home in a way that won't break your budget or cram your home with unnecessary stuff. Remember the "less is more" approach: Having a few, well-picked, well-designed items is classier than anything else.

Check out our interior design projects over at our website.

Decorating For The Artist Within

Decorating For The Artist Within
By Joey Lewitin

There is an artist lurking within all of us. The creative fire burns in every human, propelling us to create, to express, to shape the world around us. Even though we may be unlearned, or perhaps even unskilled, still the urge to impact our environment is so inherent that we do it without even thinking about it. Every twist of the magazines on the coffee table, every centering of a portrait, every adjustment we make is our inner self yearning to impact the world around. By making a conscious effort we can guide these impulses into a form of art that will both beautify our surroundings and strengthen our inner self.

When you decorate, the artist does not have to be buried in the dark. You can be brave; taking strength from the fact that you are good and right and what you want is good and right for you. If something sings to your insides then that is the right decision.

This does not, however, mean that you are always right. An artists concept on the inside is perfect, it is only once it has been expressed that it becomes open to fallibility's. This is fine. The only way to teach yourself what it is that you want is to experiment with what you think.

Utilize the full creativity of your mind when planning a room. Close your eyes and imagine colors. Walk along the walls of the room, touch them, feel the shape of the space within. Understand the sense of the room. Then close your eyes again and find what you want from the room. What does that look like? What would be the feel in the perfect room? Sketch out ideas and keep notes.

When you are ready, buy samples. Get as many samples as you can. Match color swatches to fabric, hold pictures of different furnishings up against different colors, try out carpets and be sure that you feel comfortable with everything.

Don't agonize; the important thing is to have fun. When you have fun your mind relaxes and works better, it pulls information from different places and creates impressions that make up your artistic insides. Listen to your instincts, and test everything.

When it is time to actually decorate, use the room as a canvas. Place items and hues into the room carefully, judging their effect on the rest of the space. If you have to, throw some things out. You can even start over. The important thing is the satisfaction you get as you apply your decor.

When you are done you may feel unsatisfied. Finish the project, and then walk away. Try not to dwell on it for a week at least. When you return you will see more clearly. Then you will be able to judge your work. Be gentle, this is not a contest. This is about you being comfortable and happy. If you aren't, change things. Even if you are, it is good to think of decorating as a constant work in progress. One day something belongs here, another it belongs somewhere else. Only you can tell where it needs to be. Experiment and have fun, and things will turn out beautiful.

Source: Pebblez.com