Interior Decorating and Home Décor

When decorating your home or office there are lots of things to consider, and not just the colours, paints, wallpaper and other wall coverings, but also the style and the décor (decorations) you want for the overall finish.

You may want to use the decorating to bring the colour to a room, with use of complimentary colour painting schemes or feature walls. And using wallpapers and wall coverings to bring contrast and keeping the rooms accessories in a neutral style. Alternatively walls and paint work could be decorated in neutral tones and the ascent focused on the styling of a room using furniture, lighting, soft furnishings, art and accessories.

As an encaustic artist I personally like to have our home decorated in subtle tones and use art to decorator the walls, this gives us the option to change the style of a room with the re-arrangement of our Art and accessories without having to fully change wall colours and so on.

Kitchen Decoration

As an example, at the end of the summer last year we re-decorated our kitchen. We are working with some green coloured (inherited) units and decided to change from a mushroom colour to a complementing green and opted for “English Mist”. This colour on the walls, which are plain lined, works well with White ceiling and woodwork and makes the kitchen a light and clean looking environment.

To compliment the plain walls we have three paintings of herbs framed and hung on the wall over the dinning table, the frames are a simple wood effect and make a great surround for the paintings which depict a rustic style terracotta pots of Thyme, Chives and Sage.

Encaustic Art

Paintings created in encaustic wax have a wonderful sheen and texture. Encaustic Artist Hazel Rayfield using hot wax to paint her unique art work, paintings are created using coloured encaustic wax and heat tools, the Art In Wax website blog has a lot of information about this art form, including videos of Hazel demonstrating how she paints using molten wax.

Decorating your home with Encaustic Art

The Art In Wax gallery has many paintings, ranging from flowers and landscapes to funky fish and fashion style artwork, suitable for many different types and styles of room. Encaustic art can be mounted and framed to great effect or display using a stand or display easel which look great as accessories on table tops or shelves.

So if you would like some Original Art for your newly decorated room, or to add a change to existing décor in your home or office, why not visit www.artinwax.co.uk. All art is original, NOT prints and are unique and individual: Shop online now for Art In Wax.

A review of Dulux Trade Ecosure Undercoat and Gloss

Following on from my last review for TradeXpress, I am doing one this time for Dulux’s Ecosure range. Specifically I am reviewing the Ecosure water-based undercoat and water-based Gloss. Ecosure is Dulux Trade paint that reduces the impact on the environment even further than their standard paints by 30%. This means even lower VOC‘s.

I have never been a big fan of water-based topcoats and have not got on well with them in the past, so was interested to see how things have changed and improved.

Dulux Ecosure Water-Based Undercoat

I have been using water-based undercoat for many years now and I love it and I use it all the time so wasn’t too surprised to see this in the Ecosure range. Preparation is the same as for any other undercoat, i.e. abrade the surface, make sure the surface is sound, clean and dry. I applied the undercoat using a synthetic brush as recommended for this type of paint, and I was pleased with the results, I was using white undercoat and going over a cream colour. Coverage was good, with good opacity, for a strong colour change a second coat is advised.

I was slightly disappointed with the drying time of 6 hours, this obviously depends on the situation you are working in but the undercoat I am use to using only takes 1-2 hours to dry, so I had to leave the undercoat to dry fully overnight. Coming back in the morning the undercoat had dried leaving a good surface to apply the Gloss too.

The coverage is around 16m² which is only slightly under the standard undercoat coverage. The smell, well being a low VOC and water-based paint the smell was low. I know a lot of people hate the smell of oil-based undercoats and Gloss so will be pleasantly surprised by this paint.

Ecosure Water-Based undercoat comes in pure brilliant white but can be colour mixed, it comes in 2.5L and 5L tins, prices are around £27 and £47 respectively and a colour mixing starts at around £30.
The datasheet for Ecosure Undercoat is 528.

Dulux Ecosure Water-Based Gloss

Like I said in my introduction, I’ve never been a big fan of water-based topcoats so was a little dubious about what this Gloss could do. I applied the Gloss over my previously prepared and Ecosure water-based undercoated surface that I had left to dry overnight.

Continue reading Dulux Trade Ecosure

Bedroom trends for 2012

When you consider how many hours we spend sleeping in our beds throughout our lives, it makes perfect sense to desire a comfortable and attractive place to rest your head. Bedroom trends will change over time, which isn’t always great news if you want to keep the décor of your boudoir the same for a number of years. However, there are some trends for 2012 that may withstand the test of time if you work them into your bedroom carefully:

Embrace natural furnishings

If this year’s trends are anything to go by, natural woods won’t be restricted to flooring but will take the form of wooden beds and other furniture, too. There is also a shift away from furniture in traditional wood designs towards natural furnishings with a modern twist. If space is a concern, you may wish to invest in wooden storage beds to maximise the space you have.

Space

Generating as much space as possible – or, at least, the illusion of space – can make a bedroom feel airy and welcoming. If you have a small bedroom, clever storage options can work miracles. Why not add storage beds to all the bedrooms in your home to make the most of the space you have? There are a wide variety of storage bed options to complement the interior design of any home, which prove that you don’t have to sacrifice style for functionality. Divan, Ottoman and cabin beds are always popular, as are TV beds that allow you to store your television out of sight when it is no longer in use.

Jewel tones

Emerald, ruby, amethyst, sapphire, topaz and turquoise are the colours to work with this year and lend a majestic feel to any bedroom. Balance these hues out with silvery greys and off-whites to complete the look.