Interior Design Ideas » Decoration

Nature Aquariums and Aquascaping Inspiration

HD Staff — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:16:45 +0000

Essentially, the craft of aquascaping is landscape gardening underwater, involving the creation of aquatic plant, driftwood and rock arrangements, including cavework. Whilst an aquascape would typically house fish alongside the plants, it is also appropriate to use simply plants and rockwork, or other hardscape alone. The aquatic works of art adhere to a collection of distinct looks and rules, such as the Dutch garden-like style, and the Japanese-inspired Iwagumi and nature styles that we see in this library of wonderful work.

These dreamlike underwater landscapes come to us courtesy of Takashi Amano, one of the most influential people in the field of freshwater aquascaping, and his firm, Aqua Design Amano.

Mr Amano introduced the Japanese nature style during the 1980s, where a planted aquarium would aim to mimic a naturally growing scene and is influenced by Japanese gardening concept Wabi Sabi. The implementation of schools of fish is also favored in this genre, to obtain a gentle balance of life and nature.

The green living creations reach a peak of perfection, and usually only last up to 6 months before the original creative vision is lost altogether and rescaping is needed. In these images we find dramatic scenes inspired by grassy fields, mountains, forest streams and oceans, with asymmetrical hardscapes structured in driftwood and rock.

Enjoy this video that shows how Takashi’s nature aquarium was made:

Some of the most beautiful Aquascapes ever designed:

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Vinyl Wall Decals

HD Staff — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:13:31 +0000

Vinyl wall decals are still flooding the interiors market in bright new forms, like these examples from Etsy shop Empire City Studios, so liven up plain walls with a decal or two, or three! You can keep your selection abstract by choosing something like the circular spirograph patterns for a quicker and cheaper personality injection than wallpaper, or try a cubist arrangement for a budget splash of modern art. For more specific zoning, you could add an air of café cool over your dining table or breakfast bar with a hot coffee cup symbol, it’s a great way to add a quick burst of character to a boring corner.

Grander pieces of vinyl wall art such as trees look great in just about any room, imagine a delicate spray of branch blossom blowing over a crib, or a graceful bough swaying over your sofa; add a flock of colorful birds to your branches and you can span your room with an impressive feature. Try to choose decals that completely contrast with your paint color for maximum impact in large areas.

Strategically ‘sprout’ elements from behind your things.

Work silhouettes around your furniture for a look that flows.

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Decorative Ribbon Wrapping

HD Staff — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:31:54 +0000

Here is probably a neat little trick you could use as an excuse for being late with your gifts this season. :) Check out these fancy ribbon wraps from Ribbonesia.

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Kids Wall Stickers

HD Staff — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:07:38 +0000

These fun wall stickers from Not On The Highstreet have brightened up our day, and we think they might do the same for your kids room too!

Personalize your little ones play and sleeping areas with their favorite theme, without the need for time consuming painting or costly wallpaper. In a shared room situation, emblazoning your children’s names above, or on, toy chests and beds provides individuality, and establishing clear zones may help to avoid sibling squabbles. Using stickers to add color and fun to key pieces of furniture could even make an old wardrobe, or plain crafting table, into a child friendly piece. Fill a plain wall with a special nursery rhyme, or highlight a cherished item with a sweet spray of flowers.

Get creative by allowing sticky characters to interact with elements of the room, make a headboard into a perch under a line of cute birds, or balance creatures above door fames, skirting boards and light switches. Try making your own artwork by applying them to card stock and framing, and let matching elements loose on the surrounding wall for a ‘picture come to life’ effect. Wipe clean stickers that emulate note pads are perfect for a teen’s room, they can jot down homework notes, or doodle love notes, and simply wipe clean for next week!

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Retro Poster Prints

HD Staff — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:02:43 +0000

Recent sojourns took us to this neat Etsy shop, ReStyle, which has a fantastic range of fresh poster art prints for us to adorn our walls with. Creator of the posters, Jan Skácelik, of Olomouc, Czech Republic, uses clean lines and layouts, showing a clear background in Graphic Design and Illustration. Along with an unexplained adoration of pugs, Jan Skácelik, or ‘Handz’ as Etsy customers might know him, has a love of Scandinavian design, mid century modern. A number of his posters celebrate vintage imagery, including a rich collection by Stig Lindberg, Cathrineholm, Marianne Westman, Gustavsberg porcelain, and many more for us to feast our eyes on.

Browsing through the gallery you will find humorous letterpress inspired prints, sweet messages hidden in eye charts, and slick retro iconography. Many of the prints have extra color options to allow you to match, or clash, the art print with your decor. With so many fun options of typography and punchy background colors to choose from, we think this collection is a sure hit no matter what you want your artwork to say about your home.

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Stunning Quilling Designs By Yulia Brodskaya

HD Staff — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:55:42 +0000

We here are kind of blown away seeing what this artist can do with paper. Russian born, UK settled illustration wizard Yulia Brodskaya’s portfolio should leave no doubt as to the power of paper as a medium for expression. Her expertise in quilling(the art form that uses paper to create decorative designs) is probably only bested by her sense of typography, both of which she uses to good effect in spelling out messages in her work.

Yulia’s skills are not going unnoticed in the creative industry. She has produced artwork for several leading brands including the likes of New Scientist, Nokia, Dairy Milk, Hermes, WIRED to name a few.

The above ‘I Love You’ artwork is not Yulia’s but was created by Adolfo Correa as a tribute to her. (Thanks, Ann @ All Things Paper)

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Modern Wallpaper for Your Room Walls

HD Staff — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 15:53:53 +0000

Wallpaper can be a hassle. It’s tricky and sticky and requires serious attention to detail when installing which is why most folks who even bother, leave it to the pros to make all the magic happen. But once you overlook the stigma of old fogie wallpaper, it does help to know what you’re purchasing, the materials used to make it and to see it in context and not just as a small sample strip on a website.

This is where wallpaper maker Omexco pulls it off. Their site showcases pictures of some beautiful contemporary style rooms with modern eclectic style wallpapers. These realizations (as opposed to just sample strips) really help the customer in making a choice. (In fact we would advise other furniture makers/designers to take a leaf out of Omexco’s book and put emphasize on product realizations than the product themselves on their websites.) The fact that they are manufactured in an eco-friendly way would make any trendy snob overlook the nuances of wallpaper and open up to the amazing possibility of having interiors like this. These modern style wallpapers are well capable of making your walls the focus of any room.

Having multiple colors and patterns of wallpaper in an open space creates opulence and a rich color scheme.

This living room is ultramodern and you probably never thought the fuchsia and grey textured wallpaper would jive together in one space. Notice how the wallpaper extends from the wall across the ceiling for a futuristic feeling.

Here they created interest by applying two different patterns while keeping the colors the same. Brilliant!

This avocado green wallpaper design gives the illusion of tall grass which visually extends the height of the ceiling.

These deep reds are intensely exotic while allowing the chandelier to do all the shining.

This two-toned gray wallpaper adds graphic interest to an otherwise hollow space.

There is something organic and tribal about this wallpaper in such a modern setting. Any thoughts?

The same pattern in yellow seems to pale in comparison…

Yellow green tones and patterns compliment a modern white space gracefully.

Great design for an office, the wallpaper pattern and colors are unobtrusive.

This red and gray paisley wallpaper is modern to the max and superbly compliments the decor!

Subtle and summer beach house ready…

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Decorative magnetic panels that add personality to your furniture

HD Staff — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 18:50:19 +0000

Italian furniture company Presotto Italia is getting quite innovative with their ModulArt series of furnishing systems. They are offering magnetic decorative panels that adhere to the doors of the furniture system which allows you to redecorate it in multiple ways to suite your tastes. If this video is anything to go by, it does look quite easy too.

They also have a page set up on their site that helps you visualize how the different patterns will get mapped to the different units. And to seal the deal, they have put up some very enticing images that show off how beautiful this can be. Good stuff, Presotto.

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Karim Rashid Door Prints

HD Staff — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:01:07 +0000

A few weeks back, we gave you a tour of world renown flamboyant designer, Karim Rashid’s pad. Well this time we’re featuring a few of the funky door print designs he did for Sensunels. Going by the designs we would say he stayed true to his (multi)colors. They seem to make the most sense in work settings for the typically open space offices provide, not to mention they would do a great job keeping everyone awake! Take a look at these modern psychedelic patterns by Karim Rashid and let us know if you can actually imagine seeing any of these designs in your own home or work environment!

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Indoor Plants that Purify Air in Living Spaces

HD Staff — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:28:55 +0000

We thought this post would pertain to everyone since most of us live indoors and in major cities where the air quality outdoors has been shown to be cleaner than the air inside of our homes. With all the pollutants and gasses that rarely get to escape, our homes have become havens for walking allergens and toxic chemicals that are surely causing loads of air traffic!

In looking for new ways to maintain a pure and healthy air level at home, research by NASA and Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) have come to enlighten us with a few key plants that will not only survive indoors but give us a daily boost of endless breathable air. Now especially for the tiny lungs that we so often bring into this world, we highly recommend you take notes and start Greening your home. And with modern ways to display these lovely plants, you can have fun purifying your humble abode.

Take a look at this video in which Kamal Meattle, an entrepreneur and environmental activist, talks about some important plants that help purify the air… (If you are reading this post through email, you need to visit the following link to view the video: http://www.home-designing.com/2010/09/indoor-plants-living-room-bedroom )

Here are some images that show the indoor usages of the 3 plants mentioned in the video above.

Areca Palm

Areca Palm Tree is a great living room plant. Excellent air humidifier, removes Carbon Dioxide and toxins from the air. A recent study done by NASA gives this indoor plant an air purifying score of 8.5.

Snake Plant

Snake plant (also called Mother in law’s tongue) is an ideal bedroom plant. Even though most plants take away Oxygen at night, the Snake plant does the reverse and maintains a healthy amount of Oxygen near you while you sleep.

Money Plant

Removes formaldehydes and other volatile chemicals. Can be a good addition to just about any room.

Other Aesthetic Plants

If you plan to use plants indoors for more of their visual effect and not so much for their air purifying abilities, read on. The industry is bringing new modern and exciting ways of displaying plants. Totally cool and funky displays like these will please any crowd and provide conversational pieces at your Eco-friendly dinner parties…

Here is a neat concept. They call it the ‘Flower box’. It includes boxes that house living plants which can be hung on a wall. (Via)

These futuristic alien-like Plant pots are called Golly Pods by Tend (Via)

Hanging air plant pods by Michael McDowell

These interesting towers of plant life are called ‘nature individuelle’ by patrick nadeau via

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