Studio Apartment Decor on a Budget

With small-space living becoming all the more common in urban areas today, and with youngsters increasingly ditching the traditional BHKs for space-efficient studio apartments, the issue of proper decor in such studio flats becomes pertinent. People tend to picture their dream home as being a spacious, laid-out huge house with enough nooks and corners to put in everything that the heart desires. However, with Indian decorators coming up with innovative notions about styling up a studio flat, especially with architects in Bangalore fast transforming the IT hub to the youth capital of the country, there exist today a myriad of options which would help you glam up the one-room living space you call home.

With that in mind, here are some of the most pocket-friendly tips for studio apartment decor.

Create Subsections of Your Room
Even though your initial instinct might be to treat it as one open room, the use of dividers, curtains or rugs to separate the bed from the kitchen table and the like, means you compartmentalize and thus maximise your space according to the utility. Including furniture that can serve multiple purposes also helps conserve space and looks nifty.

Uniform Colour Palettes
Painting walls of a smaller space in different colours more often than not tend to break up the flow. A uniform colour palette keeps the space consistent, and does not make it feel too busy. A dash of creativity with two colours could spark up the interiors, but playing with too many colours might well come across as chaotic.

Buying the Right Furniture
While furniture pieces that are too big will definitely cramp up the rest of the apartment, opting for furniture that is too small would give the illusion of your room being smaller than it actually is. Choosing the right furniture is the key to successful studio apartment decor. There are a wide variety of pieces that offer folding or extra storage to provide compactness, which would be perfect for a one-room flat.

The urban Indian youth is increasingly finding its cozy graces in studio apartments. Architects in Bangalore, Pune, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata have over the recent years come up with quite a few layouts and styles to suit the new-found taste. If done properly, studio apartment decor can help you discover new space, give your apartment a classic look and keep you comfortable even in one room.

Choosing the right decor for your restaurant walls

A lot of importance is given on the decor of the restaurant these days, as just great food isn't enough to attract customers. Restaurants must ensure that their decor game is on point if they're to attract the younger crowds. A Design consultant directory, gives an extensive list of the kind of designs you can choose for your restaurant's walls. Let us look at some of those ideas.

1. Theme:
First, you must establish a theme for your restaurant. Most great restaurants these days have a particular theme, like the Chilli's chain of restaurants has their set of colors and decor. First of all, that must be figured out and something unique and quirky must be chosen to stand out.

Your decor will depend on the kind of crowd you are aiming to serve. A luxury restaurant will not have cheap plastic tables and chairs. Sit with a designer.

2. Minimal:
Minimal is the game these days and you must play it smartly. Nothing in your restaurant should look over the top. Even extravagant should look aesthetic. The restaurants that decorate with expensive furniture and many antique pieces balance it out by monochromatic walls, dark colors, dim lighting, etc. It is all about having a balance. Every aspect of the decor should be in harmony, if you are going for bright walls, try to choose decoration items that compliment them, don't go for yellow walls and yellow tables, which just hurt the eyes.

3. Space:
Decorate, use show pieces but don't get carried away. There should be enough space in your restaurant for people to move about and your servers to serve. Space is a very important element of decoration and you should make sure that the ceiling is high, the tables are apart, and the walls are not overcrowded. Try to bring as much natural light as possible into the space, during the day. Nobody prefers a dark, shady place at 10 am.

4. Details:
You are spending so much money on furniture and decor, that you can easily forget the cutlery. Find glasses, spoons, baskets that are different, and go with your theme.

Try to make your restaurant look breezy and inviting. It should create a unique ambience. It’s a great idea to invest in an experienced interior designer, from a good design consultants directory to give your imaginations regarding your food joint the perfect expression.

Tips on Choosing the Right Fan Design

Fans are of utmost necessity in any house, be it urban or rural in the contemporary times. From sultry summer heat to the setting of the autumn season and the initial beginning of winter, the fan is one such urban electronic device that everyone’s life depends on. Installing a fan in a room is easy. But getting a proper one that compliments your ceiling can be challenging. If everything in your home is perfectly matched and designed then why not get a fan that elevates the look of your perfect ceiling? An ill-matched fan can indeed turn out to make your ceiling look like a disaster. Here are a few tips to help you match your fan design with your ceiling or false ceiling:-

Modern styles: A modern fan in a modern home seems like an excellent choice for the modern man. Modern designer fans can not only keep your house cool but make it look cool as well. The internet is flooded with modern ideas for fan designs. You can visit various online interior design portals to choose the perfect one for your home.

Add a little turbo: The classic turbofan design is one of the most popular fan designs bought all over the world. If you happen to like this design, go ahead and be classy.

Classic chandelier design: If you are more into elegance, installing a fan above a chandelier seems like a great way to make your room look beautiful. Choose the chandelier in accordance and voila! You have yourself a marvelous room.

“Simply” stylish: Keeping it simple never hurt anybody. Sticking to simple standard colors and designs of fans will make your room look equally good.

Wood finish: The wooden style of items has taken over the world by the storm. Get yourself a fan with a wooden finish and cool off in luxury.

A fan is way cheaper to buy and maintain and provides a great deal of comfort helping one cool off, unlike air conditioners and coolers which are much more expensive to both buy and maintain, not to mention the high electricity bills that give you reality checks. Normally, however, while making a house or buying an apartment, an air conditioner is installed much later than a fan. Hence, choosing the right fan design that goes well with your ceiling should be a priority.

Choose paint colors to lift your mood

Have you chosen a neutral paint scheme for your next house-painting session? Well, here’s a warning – all the whites, greys and beiges can give a very dull and subdued look to your living space. The solution to this is to brighten up your space with colors and play around with patterns and textures with the help of top interior designers in Ahmedabad. Psychology says that bright colors can automatically cheer you up, encourage lively conversation and help you relax after a hard day’s work.

Therefore, let’s choose a happy color scheme and start painting!

1. Rock it with Red
Red is an intense color, and can be overwhelming if used in large amounts. It is the color of passion; therefore a harsh shade might be equal to screaming for attention. It can be used as an accent color, or in softer shades for family spaces. It creates a strong impression, boosts your adrenaline levels, and is good if you want to entertain your guests at dinner. Red looks muted and elegant in lamplight.

2. Pink is no Barbie color
Pink isn’t just a sugary-sweet color reserved for dollhouses, but can be experimented with in a number of ways. Explore the different shades of pink such as baby pink, fuchsia and dark pink and mix them up to create a modern effect. To maintain the balanced effect, you could go for Couches, cushions and accessories in different colors. Pink is a fun color, so experiment with Different prints and pillows, drapes and floral. A soft shade of baby pink can be soothing for office spaces and bedrooms as well.

3. Balance it with apricot
Apricot, or peach, is a beautiful color. It goes beautifully with delicate white and brown. Though it belongs to the warm color scheme, it balances the energy. Being a versatile color, peach goes well in the living room due to its warm and inviting qualities and is equally soothing in the bedrooms. Its more intense shade would be orange, which bursts with energy and spunk, and cheer you up instantly.

4. Bring in nature with green
Green is another mind-calming color for the thinker. Like pink, green-lovers can experiment with the different shades of green such as leaf green, yellow green, verdant green and dark green. You can experiment with green and yellow accessories to brighten up the room and help boost your mood. Green is perfect for living rooms, office spaces and bedrooms.

One should choose a color that appeals to their mind, yet stimulates their mind. There are many more colors that help you boost your mood, for which you could contact some of the top interior designers in Ahmedabad. Be it sunny, cold or rainy, these colors will make a difference to your room and state of mind.

Smart Solutions When You Don’t Have a Dining Room

  
Due to space constraints, it is perfectly okay to not have a dedicated dining room in your house. It’s nothing unnatural and in fact, you can work around it to come up with creative alternative spaces that serve as your dining area. You also have a huge benefit, where you can turn any other unoccupied space into a dining space at your convenience and change it from time to time to overcome monotony. You can check with an Ahmedabad interior designer directory for great ideas.

Here are some ideas which you can use when you do not have a dining room:
- A folding table
Whether it is a folding table that is wall mounted or one that you store away, a folding table serves all purposes and can even be used at other times for things other than dining. Invest and folding chairs too and you’re sorted.

- Your favourite window
Choose a favourite window that gives you a good view of the outside and lets a lot of light come in during the day time. Use a wooden plank or bar against it and install lights overhead for the evenings and nights. Very efficient, this tales up very little space. You can add colourful chairs too.

- A pull out table
You can also select a pull out table which will come out from one of your kitchen drawers. Folding chairs and a table cloth will help you get the complete dining experience too. Customise the area with ambient lighting and it will be perfect for dinner.  Ahmedabad interior designer directory can help you with all queries and demands regarding furniture concerns.

- A banquette
A banquette installed in the kitchen adorned with some pillows and cushions can also help you turn your kitchen into a dining area.

What is essential to remember is that you shouldn’t make the space seem more cluttered while trying to have alternate dining solutions. Some extra household chairs or folding chairs and any table can help you urn an ordinary space into a dining space. Movable and compact, add some candles and you will be set for the perfect dining experience even without a specific room for the purpose. 

5 Ways Rhythm Engages Your Eye

Rhythm creates the right mood and brings a space to life - if implemented correctly. It is a key design principle that encourages your eye to move around the room in a systematic, organized manner. Successful designs are those that keep the eye interested and allow you to take in every aspect of the interior design. When used correctly, it brings a sense of variety and helps unify all the elements of interior design.

Rhythm is essentially based on these five principles – repetition, gradation, transition, contrast and radiation.

Here’s how rhythm can bring a sense of calm to your interiors:
Repetition
Repetition is based on similar lines, shapes, forms, textures or patterns throughout the design. The room gains a clear sense of stability and also gives a cohesive effect to the room. The eye follows a continuous movement due to the use of repeated architectural structures. You can also get the same effect by using same sized and similar styled frames on the wall. Using the same style and colour can help achieve a lovely gentle rhythm too.

Gradation
With gradation, the size of the same object in the room is made to change from small to large or colour from dark to light. This creates a subtle rhythm that is soothing to the eye and draws enough attention too. It also gives an overall sophisticated look to the entire space.

Transition
Transition is a great way to create rhythm in any interior design. It subtly leads the eye in a gentle and cautious manner. The flow of eye movement is uninterrupted and the eye is lead through the room in an inviting manner.

Contrast
When a shape or a colour directly opposes each other, it creates a contrast. Contrast is another way to create a sense of rhythm in an interior design. For example, red and green colors act as opposites and are a great way to introduce contrast in a room. Not only can contrast be created with colors, but also with styles. Rooms with a traditional architecture can be adorned with modern paintings and can create an interesting rhythmic contrast.

Radiation
For creating rhythm with radiation, you will need to place the design elements in such a way that they are balanced and repeated around a centrepiece. A circular table with chairs around it could form a perfect centrepiece.

Finally, creating rhythm adds interest to your interior design. Creating rhythmic patterns and using contrasts for emphasizing and sometimes interrupting the pattern to set a particular element apart is a great way to control how the eye moves through the room. The emphasis makes the eye pause for a while and appreciate. Always remember that whatever method you use – do not overdo it, or it can lead to discordance and chaos in the design rather than creating a cohesive rhythmic effect.

If you are looking for house designs in India, you can browse through a lot of ideas on IDprop, where experienced interior designers have shared their advice.

How do I know which architect is best for me?

An architect transforms simple building ideas into feasible plans and makes them functional enough for people to live happy lives. Apart from this, it is also important that the building looks refreshingly new, modern and appeals to the young eye. Well, along with all these factors, an architect also needs to include safety and economic value too.

Finding an architect could be easy – but finding the best architect is a challenge. Architecture is a very diverse field, and there are varied styles employed by architects in their designs. It is hence important to select an architect whose approach and style matches your requirements.

Here’s how you can select the right architect for your project:

Research well

Before you select or buy any product, research is very important. It’s all the more important if your options are plenty. If you are looking for an architect, define your purpose first. Make sure that if you are looking for building a house or a remodel; try to look at architects that specialize in residential designs.

Check out the portfolio

It’s always a good idea to look at the previous work done by the architect. This gives you a better idea of what you can expect. You can check whether his style and final finish is in accordance with what you are planning. The internet has emerged as a very good source for such kind of research. There are many architects and designers who have their digital profiles on the internet. They also place their best or most recent work up there. You can save a lot of time browsing through the work they have showcased on their digital profiles and create a short list within a few clicks – rather than interviewing each one individually.

Understand the cost

When it comes to hiring architects, fees matter. Some architects bill on a monthly basis and some after the project is over. Almost every architect will draw up a contract before the work begins. Check whether the architect does renovations or new constructions. Find out all the cost factors before the contract is signed.

Referrals and reviews

Referrals and reviews are a great way to get to know the architect you are considering for hire. Again one good place to check this out is – online. Check out some of the most popular architect networks online or take a look at the architect’s digital portfolio. You will get a fair idea about what his/her previous clients have to say. You can also ask the architect for referrals.

Finally, remember that if you hire the right architect, you will see the results in the form of a beautiful home built or remodeled exactly how you had imagined it to be!

If you are looking for an Architecture Design Firm for your next project, you can simply browse through over a hundred profiles on our social commerce website for Architects and Interior Designers – IDprop!

Designing the Perfect Home Office for your Client

    
With starting home businesses, it’s important to create a space that motivates you to work and handle clients. It’s not enough to have a laptop and files strewn over your bedroom desk and call it an office. Creating an office space needs planning, and that can start from an unused bedroom. To do this, you use your creativity with your interior designer to create something that blends workflow and ergonomics. Your office should fit in with the rest of your home décor, yet represent the brand you’re trying to create.

1. Space and layout
Plan ahead on the layout of your office, according to availability of office space.  You can go for L-shaped units as that looks good in any office space and creates space for your computer, printer, and paper storage, stationary and “to-be-filled” bins. It’s a good idea to have many outlets in the rooms, to avoid the tangles of extension cords and unnecessary power strips. Remember that your home office will have many devices to plug in – laptop, cellphone, headset, telephone, printer and more. Cut down on clutter and go for wall space to store your stationary essentials.

2. Lighting
Lighting is one of the important components of a home office. A single overhead fixture or a table lamp will only add to your problems. You’ll need focused lighting for your work space, and relaxed light for quieter moments. Therefore, you go chandeliers, sculptural console lamps, hanging light units, tracking lights, mirrors and tall floor lamps. You could also look for deep-toned or highly wallpaper for surrounding the desk.

3. Seating
Your home office should be a welcoming space, and this can be achieved by comfortable seating. A sturdy desk chair is a must, and concentrate on the wall behind your desk. Keep a plush leather sofa or guest chairs to entertain your clients. They are also perfect for a casual business discussion or enjoy some relaxation time after strategy sessions or a serious meeting. If space allows, you can also have a small round table for impromptu meetings or enjoy tea together after your work hours.

4. Flooring
The rule is to have lighter floor colors if your room is done up in darker tones. You have interior wood paneling such as walnut dark wood flooring and cherry hardwood flooring. You could also try oak hardwood flooring or heart pine flooring over carpets, which are difficult to keep clean.

5. The overall look
Your home office should reflect your personal style, with family portraits, baby photographs, bookshelves and favorite collectibles. Allow for privacy, and close the door off to the rest of the household. Make your room soundproof to minimize outsides noise and echoes in your office. A private entryway to your office is also recommended, to keep a professional space. You can also have a giant whiteboard to jot down ideas to be discussed.

Designing a client’s home office, therefore, requires before function and relaxation. Look for a good interior designer who would tell you what goes best with the specifications of your room. From there, choose the best upholstery and lighting to create your professional space with a personal touch.

How can interior designers use IDprop to increase their client base?

IDprop is a one stop destination for interior designers and architects who wish to broaden their horizons and expand their businesses. It is a one of a kind social commerce platform that is especially built for interior designer professionals to network, increase their online presence and grab the latest interior design projects in town.

A time comes when you wish to look beyond the routine and explore new grounds to grow your business. IDprop offers you just the right opportunities to venture into the online world and create an unparalleled presence online.

Who can benefit from IDprop?
Interior design professionals, architects and any other company providing services in property design, building, repairs and other home improvement products can sign up to IDprop and take advantage of its services. Once a part of IDprop, you can leverage from the extensive efforts that our team puts in to ensure that each profile or member gets the deserved visibility over the internet. IDprop acts as a perfect lead generator for your interior design business.

How can IDprop help?
It’s a well known fact that real estate sales are always on the rise – the first big dream of any individual is to own a beautiful home. If they already own a home, at some time renovation or remodelling is bound to be due. Well, there is definitely some maintenance and repair work required at certain times. The first place that people look for while any kind of services is – online! People research everything before they make a decision. They checkout your online profiles, websites, social media, reviews etc. This is exactly where IDprop can help. You can create a profile and showcase your work here. It also has features for adding customer reviews from existing customers and conversations that add value to your profile. All of this adds up and increases your chances of getting hired.

How to make sure that your prospective clients can easily find you on IDprop?
Firstly, it is essential that you make your profile on IDprop as attractive as possible and then we can work towards ensuring that your prospective clients can find you easily.

All profiles have individual links that are indexed by Google. So, when people looking for your services search on Google, they can easily find you!

Here are some of the factors that influence your rankings and ways in which you can improve it with IDprop.
- Write a compelling description about your work and your business.
- Use all the relevant keywords to make it searchable.
- Ensure that you collect a lot of good reviews that reflect on your profile.
- Include images of your best as well as latest work. The more pictures you have the better it will be for your profile.
- Include plenty of detailed descriptions of your images.
- Enter your contact details and make it easy for your customers to get in touch with you.

Moreover, you can instantly talk to customers and have live conversations too. You need not have to wait for the next client interaction for discussing important issues.

Above all, interior design and architecture professionals get just the right exposure to ensure that clients can locate and contact them easily via IDprop!

How to convince your clients to approve your designs?

As most of you working in the interior designing industry would agree, the worst part of the job would have to be appealing to the clients. Well, this is how it goes. Your client comes to you with a project they want you to work on. You accept the project, study it in details and come up with a plan. Before you execute the plan, you must get it approved by the client to ensure that they are getting their money’s worth. Now, this is the part that can make or break the deal. Unless the client gives you a green signal, you cannot proceed with the plan. Instead, you will have to make changes to the plan or redo it completely till they are satisfied.

Presentation is the key
Of course, once you come up with a plan, you are expected to present it to the clients formally in the form of a presentation. Now the key to impressing your clients is in how you present the plan. You need to present your proposal in a way that makes it impossible for the client to say no – make it as interesting and eye-catching as possible. One look at it should be enough to grab the scrutinizing eyeballs of your clients. Be persuasive and clear in getting your message across.

Confidence can Work Wonders
Clients can practically smell fear. The moment they feel that you’re not too confident about your presentation, they might simply lose interest and might start picking faults to make you falter further. That is a recipe for disaster. Make sure the person presenting the proposal exudes confidence. This is your plan, your brainchild – you must be proud of it. In that case, why not let it show? Of course, don’t be overconfident, since no one likes that. Your sincerity and eagerness to please must be evident.

Be Specific
If there is one thing clients absolutely detest, it is exaggeration and beating around the bush. Get to the point and do it soon. Before you start the presentation, you must have a clear idea of how you want to steer the conversation. Present your plan in the form of crisp points – that not only makes it easier for the client to follow but also ensures that they don’t lose track in the middle. It also holds their attention for the rest of the presentation.

Keeping these basic points in mind would help you impress your clients and convince them that your proposal is perfect according to your client’s requirements.

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