Who knows maybe you’re also guilty of the crimes I’m going to mention below – you could either correct it or leave it, but the following thoughts could definitely help you put an end to the fears in accessorizing your homes.   As a duly licensed interior designer these are the standards I stand by, of which I have learned over the years from my previous works, projects, as well as lessons learned from the experts of the trade.  I practice these principles which have been proven to be logical and practical.  I hope the following views will help you in its simplicity and feasibility.   Here are my designing Dos and Don’ts:

• When hanging a chandelier in the dining room do suspend it between 70cm and 85cm above the table.  Remember, the chandelier is supposed to light the dining table and not the ceiling.

• Don’t hang a chandelier in the living room if your ceiling is not high enough for a tall person not to hit their head.

• When you want a chandelier in a living room don’t hang it in the middle of the room – this will make your living room look off balanced. Instead always do anchor the chandelier directly over the center of a coffee table.  Not only that it will balance the living area but also avoiding someone to hit their heads.

• Don’t put a candle or a candelabrum beside a table lamp, it’s redundant – the logic is that they’re both supposed to be light source, so putting them together is excessive – besides when you light the candles the shades might catch flames.

• Do place lamps on both sides of a sofa (on each end table) keep them similar in design, shade color, height and of visual volume.  Should the accent tables are of different heights put a coffee table book under the lamp with a lower end table so that it will still look balanced.

• Don’t place a floor lamp in a corner by itself or it will definitely look lonely.  Anchor it beside an accent chair, a bed without a night table or a sofa with an accent table.

• Do face the lampshade closures (the line where joints meet) away from you or your visitors and do get rid of the plastic cover.

• Don’t use crystal base lamps or glass base lamps on top of a glass top table – it will give you the illusion that the lamps vanishes to the table.  Since you paid much for them you may want them to be visible right?

• Do hang mirrors in a vertical manner, not horizontal, unless specifically designed for that manner.  Once suspended on the wall the reflection of any conventional height, an individual should not be severed in any way in the reflections.

• Do make sure that when you hang a frame it should be anchored with furniture under it – unless the frames are in groupings or intended to be hanged independently.  There should be at least a distance of 4” to 8” only between the furniture and the frame.

• Don’t push it if the frame looks awkward under let’s say a console table or the back of the sofa – that would only mean that it’s not the right size for that wall.  The center of the painting should be within the eye level of a person which is 1.5 meter for Asians and around 1.65 for Caucasians.

• Do make use of groupings when framing to create an impact for your focal point.  Try using different pieces such as sculptural wall decors, wall sconces, mirrors, wall clocks, paintings and any other wall hangings.

• Don’t hang paintings or art works at the back of your sofa in an arched manner unless the sofa has arched backing or it’s camelback. This same rule applies to your bed unless your headboard is also domed.  When framing it doesn’t always compute to go along with the outline of the furniture.  A more contemporary approached convenes for a more streamlined look.

• Do make sure that the design, color and concept of the framing of your artworks blends together and they have an updated look.  For me, an ugly framing devalues the painting or the artwork.

• Don’t use plastic or artificial plants and flowers.  They do not actually add much to the aesthetics of your homes.  They don’t just look so bogus – but they also accumulate dust and breed mites.  There are a lot of indoor plants that bears flowers and needs little maintenance anyways so why not go with that? Nothing could really replace the real thing. When I was in the U.S. using plastic plants and flowers was considered an interior designer’s disaster on HGTV.

• Do use books to accessorize; it helps in warming up the feel of a room.  It’s also one way of showing your collections of books.

• Don’t use plastic doilies… or maybe even any other doilies unless your motif is Victorian or you’re going for the grandma look.

• Do use arm caps on your sofas to avoid soiling.

• Don’t float an area rug in the middle of a room.  Your furniture pieces such as the sofa and the coffee table and the end tables should be anchored on the area rug.

• Do avoid placing rugs in angled position.  It’s such a cliché and they look awkward unless of course the room is designed or intended to be angled.

• Don’t put wall decors on top of a doorway.  It’s out of place and out of sight.  Remember there are only a few people who are that tall to appreciate the décor that high.

• Do avoid those bathroom rug set that was a trend since time immemorial – the one that looks like a thick carpet that wraps around the seat cover of your water closet and cover of the tank with the matching foot rug.  It’s not just that it looks bad but I personally think that these rugs are also breeding grounds for bacteria as well.

• Don’t put candle holders or candles inside a curio cabinet, bookcase or an étagère – it’s illogical to put them there when you can’t light them in there.

• When displaying candelabrum or candle holders do put real candles on them but make sure to burn the tip of the wick to make it look realistic.

Some of the subjects mentioned above may seem stern, but I believe that in its simplicity and practicality.  I believe that the suggestion could make a difference in how you distinguish excellence.   This may just be a part of my dos and don’ts – so watch out for more in the future!  Remember always take pleasure in beautifying your homes!

USE PVC WINDOWS – PVC windows from my experience so far is still the best type of windows. Since every corner and edges of the windows are fusion welded, each side have PU Foam and the glass edges have weather strips – that would mean that the water from the rain won’t be able to leak inside the house. The quality of installation varies depending on the supplier; always check the profile of the company where you’re getting your windows, getting the wrong supplier it could be very costly. .

INSULATE – Insulate everything from your roofing, to gaps on the windows, doors and other framing members. Make sure that all the gaps are sealed with caulking to help prevent water and air leaks. Insulation for the roofing greatly reduces the heat that sets inside the house. This helps a lot in conserving energy and avoiding financial drain especially when your use the air conditioner or heater often.

INSTALL STORM WINDOWS AND STORM DOOR. There are advantages and disadvantages in Installing storm windows and storm doors. The disadvantage of course is the additional cost it would add up to your total budget but one thing is for sure, it helps a lot in improving your home’s energy efficiency so in the long run you would be saving more.

CLEAN YOUR DRAINAGE AND YOUR GUTTERS. Clean out any leaves and trash that has accumulated there. Let water flow through the gutters to ascertain whether or not you need lengthening on your pipes to keep the water away from your groundwork. WEATHER STRIPPING helps in a major way to avert air leakage in trouble areas, such as doors, and windows. Every doorway and windows that leads outside the house should be sealed with weather tripping. There are different widths of weather-stripping available it ranges from ¼ of an inch to ¾ inch or more.

USE ELASTOMERIC PAINT. It’s a fact that masonry expands and cracks as the temperature or the weather changes. Can you imagine the moisture and other damaging elements that could penetrate in those cracks? Elastomeric Paints are practical when used on these types of concrete when temperature changes are typical. According to Ray Heck of GE Sealants and Adhesives elastomeric coating systems are flexible and waterproof, but they can easily be maintained by pressure washing to remove dust, dirt or other contaminates.

USE MARINE PLYWOOD. One of technologies best gift to mankind! Use it as much as possible to all of your cabinetry. It really does not warp when submerged in water for several hours of flood. Initially using marine plywood instead of the ordinary plywood wood be more expensive, but in the long run more economical because it’s waterproofed and last a lot longer that any ordinary plywood. There are many things you can do to weatherproof your home. Weatherproofing your home is basically an issue of taking care of the small details. Once you’ve done what you think you can do rest assured that you can just sit back and relax knowing you’re in a safe and comfortable house— and reducing unforeseen costs at the same time. Weatherproofing Your Home Although no one could really tell that your house would be 100% weatherproofed, I believe the tips below could at least help in weatherproofing your homes and avoiding untoward financial drain with your energy expenses.

There was a time when rich families lived in mansions with sprawling front yards and gardens in posh metro subdivisions.  Now many of these families are moving closer to the city center and getting the best of the high-rise units money can buy.  I guess I can call it trading up.  The Pinoy lifestyle has changed and it’s no longer practical for people to live in mansions.  The luxury of space is losing ts value to the more urgent, necessary luxury of time.

Gone are the days of having spacious condo units that are wide and spacious – unless of course you pay more millions to have more space.  Normally, condo units being sold in the market nowadays have spaces where you could barely move; or spaces that you can’t use standard sized furniture pieces, or sometimes you get more space but the shape is so irregular that you can’t seem to make use of the given space.  I have personally encountered several problematic condos wherein the Master Bedroom cannot even fit a Queen Size Bed; a post in the middle of the bedroom, or simply lack of space and the list goes on…  But how do you really solve problematic condos???  Here are some simple solutions that could help in making your stay in your condos worthwhile.

• Plan well your space.  Make sure that the traffic flow is easy through the furniture layout.  Make sure that the pieces are all proportion with each other.
• Maximize your space… Have as much storage space as you can by having built-in cabinets that are from floor to ceiling; putting drawers under the beds; choose furniture pieces that have storage spaces as well – like, for the end tables and coffee tables.
• If your problem with your condo unit is the low ceiling, just paint the ceiling the same color as the walls to give you an illusion of a higher wall.
• If your living room area cannot accommodate a standard size sofa set – don’t push it.  Do not hesitate to have your sofa set custom built to suit the size that you need.
• Install mirrored walls.  If you don’t like mirrored walls, put over sized framed mirrors on the walls or put floor mirrors parallel to a wall where there’s a dining set or a living room set.  This will automatically give you bigger space – but of course that would be just for illusion.  Mirrors would give you the feeling of vastness – of course, it will just reflect the ambiance you have created.
• If your condo unit has an open layout, wherein upon entering can see the kitchen dining and the living area, it’s better to install hardwood flooring all throughout the space up to your kitchen.  This will give you a very warm, elegant and a unified “look”, just make sure to clean the kitchen floor after using for maintenance.
• Dress up your windows.  Even a small space needs dressing up, so it may not look like the poor cousins of your neighbours.  You can use side drapes, roman shades, wooden blinds – I don’t use vertical blinds for residential condos because personally I think vertical blinds are better if used for the offices.
• Accessorize!  Do not be afraid to used over sized accessories when decorating your small condo.  Using over sized or normal sized accessories would give you the illusion that all the furniture pieces you have used are of standard sizes.
• Don’t be afraid of color.  For condo units with limited space, color may be the saving grace of your unit when designing.  Just choose your favorite color, and then add the complementary colors of your choice of color in about 50% 25% 25% ratio.  When you have achieved the balance of colors of your preference you can adjust the additional colors with your accessories like throw pillows, vases, books, curtains. et al.,

Designing your condo may be a tough undertaking, but you will surely get your fulfilment upon the completion of your condo. So good luck in building your dream condo living!

I’m so excited that I could be able to share with you guys my thoughts, ideas and trends on interior design, arts and architecture.  This is my initial post for this blog… I will post once in a while, topics about anything and everything on arts, design and architecture.  I hope you enjoy and learn from my blog!!! CIAO!!!