interiors

16
Oct
2016

Pink interiors, no thanks

pinks

Pinks for pink interiors. Image borrowed from the internet.

Pink interiors anyone? This autumn the color pink seems to be THE color in interiors. You see it everywhere (see my previous post about terrible colors for yet another image with a pink kitchen).

There are plenty of different shades of pink around. Some are more red than pink. Other are more brown than pink, or more to the lilac.

pinklilacs

Pink lilacs, spring 2016. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

I never liked pink interiors. Not now and not when I was younger and not when I was a little girl either. As a little girl I loved blue in all shades. I still do.

pinkinterior

Pink interiors in a pink livingroom. Image borrowed from the internet.

I would never feel comfortable in a pink livingroom. I would want to turn around and get out of it as soon as possible.

pinksofa

Pink interiors, pink sofa. Image borrowed from the internet.

I wouldn’t even want just one pink object around in my interiors. Pink sofa? Shudder… One pink pillow then? Maybe, but no… please.

åink

Pink interiors, pink wallpaper. Image borrowed from photowall.se.

Having a wallpaper with pink in is no better.

Pink in interiors used to be something that was used in the rooms of little girls or babies. Then it became THE color for a girls room, up to around the age of approximately 12 or so. Now the color pink has spread into all areas of living and interiors.  Kitchens, bathrooms, carpets, walls, livingrooms… Look at any magazine or website about interior design. Pink is there.

hollyhock

Hollyhock, summer 2016. Photo ©nini.tjader.2016

Will it stay? I doubt it. I can accept a pink t-shirt, and I find pink flowers in nature beautiful. Let the color pink stay in nature. Leave it out of the interiors please. I know I don’t have to use it because it is in fashion presently, but I don’t want to see it everywhere either.

pinkinteriors

Pink interiors. Image borrowed from the internet.

Baby pink in the livingroom? No thanks. Even this faded pink would make me wonder about the personality of the owner of the home. The images above are worse though.

pink

Pinkflowering bush. Photo ©nini.tjader.2016

Pink plants and flowers then? Yes please, those are nice. The above is a bush at my neighbors which get large flowers. It is by the way flowering again right now in mid October. I’ve forgotten the name of the bush.

pinkinteriors

Pink interiors, pink wall. Image borrowed from the internet.

One pale pink wall then? No thanks. It is better but… well, it is still pink.

But in nature and in flowers it is a nice color. I just don’t like pink interiors. Let it stay in the nature on flowers.

pinkpelargonia

Pink pelargonia. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

Posted by nini in decoration, Furniture and Decoration, Interior Design, Thoughts, 0 comments
14
Mar
2016

Take photos of your home

sofatable, livingroom

Sofatable in the livingroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

There are several reasons that your should to take photos of your home.

1. For insurance reasons to have a picture-record of what you have in your home.

I originally started to take photos of my homes for this very reason. To be able to prove what I owed in case of burglary and theft in my homes. At the time I started doing it digital photography was not that widespread. Pictures were still mainly produced on paper and paper-copies were the ones you saved for insurance reasons.

Take photos of everything you would want to document that you own. Plants, books, decoration items, pictures on the walls, content of drawers and cupboards and closets. Be thorough and detailed. Photograph in good light, preferably day-light so the items get the right colors.

livingroom

In the livingroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

Don’t forget to take pictures of the titles of your CDs, DVDs, records, books etc. It is much faster than writing down all the titles…

The most important with those pictures taken for insurance reasons is to keep them in a safe place and not only in the computer itself. The computer can be stolen, then with all its content and then the pictures are gone too. Make backups and store backup in a safe place. Think thefts and fire (or any other natural disaster that can strike).

kitchentable

On the kitchentable. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

2. For styling of your home.

If you want to style your home, re-arrange your furniture, build a picture-wall, get an overview of a room, there is no better way than taking pictures of your interiors.

kitchenwindows

My kitchenwindows. Photo. ©nini.tjader.2016

What you get is an overview and you can SEE the room (or the corner or the wall) in another way than you normally do by just living in the same interiors.

kitchentable

On the kitchentable. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

If you have the possibility to, get up on a ladder or a pallet to get the extra overview of items you want to re-arrange. You might realize then that there are too many things in a certain spot, or that they are arranged in an awkward way.

picturewall

Picturewall in the livingroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

Take both close-ups and overviews of your interiors. In natural light preferably. Digital cameras are good at taking pictures in quite poor light conditions, but the best is to use the natural light in those hours when it is the best. When that is, depends on how your windows are placed and which direction your windows are turned. Never take photos in full sun-light. It is very difficult to get good pictures in full sunshine as the shadows become too sharp.

livingroom

In the livingroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

You will be surprised how different your home looks on pictures compared to in real life.

3. For blogging about your home.

If you want to blog about your home and show pictures from your interiors, the rules are the same as for the styling and insurance photos. Shoot them in natural light. Zoom in or out on what is important for the blogpost. Get up high on ladder or a pallet if you want to get an overview.

pillows, bedroom

Pillows on the bed in the bedroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

One difference with blog-pictures is that you can arrange them to your liking. Remove items you don’t want to show. Move items around to get the effect you want.  Be personal. Don’t try to make your home look like in a magazine about interior design – that can be really boring. (Not the magazine the look like a magazine picture).

sofa

My 2-seater sofa in the livingroom. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

4. Other reasons to take photos of your home.

Other reasons for taking pictures of your home is to make comparisons over the years of how your home has changed. Which furniture and/or solutions or decorative items survived over the years. Which disappeared. How did your taste and style change over the years.

Here are some fun pictures for comparison of my livingrooms and my bedroom.

livingroom

My livingroom in the seventies. Photo: ©nini.tjader

livingroom

My livingroom 2009-05-02. Photo: ©nini-tjader,2009

livingroom

Part of my livingroom 2016. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

bedroom

My bedroom, February 2011. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2011

bedroom

My bedroom, 2016. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2016

 

Posted by nini in bedroom, decoration, furniture, Furniture and Decoration, Interior Design, livingroom, Photography, 0 comments
23
Jun
2015

My hallway(s)

hallway

Hallways. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

I’ve got two (2) hallways. First the one you get to first when you enter the flat. Then the one that follows after it and is a combination of my workspace/office with cupboards both for office-supplies and other things (like towels, table-cloths, socks, underwear and some other things) and the connection to both the kitchen (to the left after the work-corner), the livingroom (to the right), the walk-in closet and the bathroom (see plan of flat at the bottom of the post).

Complicated to take photos of…

hallway

Hallway at entrance. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

I use a picture list to put all those small things that you normally need to dump somewhere when coming in through the door. The chair is from Ikea, as is the paper-basket and the material used for the door-curtain. To the left of the big picture are two tall mirrors. Makes the small space feel larger.

hallway

Hallway at entrance. Picasso on the wall. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

The big picture is an old poster of Picasso from the Apple “Think Different” campaign long ago. I used to work at an Apple Center then and got it from work. I painted the walls in both hallways with a dark grey color before I moved in. Originally the walls were orange… I have never liked the color orange.

hallway

Hallway, work corner, Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

And here is my work-corner.

hallway, workcorner

Hallway, work corner. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Office-chair from Ikea. Lambskin in it from MIO. Printer is an old HP color laser. iMac 24″. The picture on the wall is of me in around 1961 or such… Several Ikea cupboards all around. To the right is the kitchen.

hallway, workcorner

Hallway. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

On the way towards the livingroom there are cupboards and book-cases on both sides of the passage. I definitely have a storage problem and this is one of the areas in the flat that I use for storage. A proper work-room would be fine… but there isn’t any. Had that in my previous flat.

hallway

Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

Through the door you see the first hallway at the entrance (and the cupboard I use for hanging seasonable outdoor clothes, to its left is the door to the storage-room) and to the right the work-corner.

hallway

Hallway. Photo: ©nini.tjader.2015

This is the bookcase immediately to the right in the second hallway. After it comes the door to the bathroom and to the left the door to the walk-in closet and then the opening to the livingroom. On the wall, very old family pictures.

I really need to go through all that is in the bookcases and cupboards in the hallways and throw out what has not been touched for a long time… The CDs/DVDs to the right here have been gone through (they are all software and documents and photos), but the rest…

To better understand the layout of the flat, this is the plan of the flat:

flatplan

Plan of the flat

Posted by nini in Furniture and Decoration, hallway, Interior Design, 0 comments
06
Apr
2014

Trendy things I dislike

In fashion and in interior design everything is coming back it seems. From the past I mean… Some of the things that are trendy I find to be terribly ugly. At least in my eyes. Other apparently like them. Some examples of these below.
Images are borrowed from around the internet.

50ties femtiotal

Things or looks from the 50-ties… Shiny mahogany furniture with thin legs… Brownish. Or beige.  Those of us who grew up with this kind of furniture usually do not want to see it again. Who wants to have a home that looks like the one you grew up in? I definitely don’t for the most of it. I admit there are certain items that I like, but most of them… no thanks.

linne_lakan2

Crinkled linen sheets. They are everywhere in each and every interior design article in magazines and on the blogs too.  The above ones look almost OK, but the problem with them is: they are crinkled, and they get more and more crinkled over time. It doesn’t look fresh. It looks like you have left the bed and forgot to make it.

fiskbensparkett

Wooden floors are nice. But the fish-bone patterned parquet floors… no, I do not want to see them again. There are ways to make patterned wooden floors that are nicer. These were everywhere when I grew up. I really think the straight patterns are much nicer.

flaking

Flaking paint… no, no, no… please. Clean it up and repaint it nicely, but don’t leave it like this!

rusty

Rusty metal things for decoration… either naturally rusty or fake rusty, just looking rusty. Never in MY home.

woodwords

Words in wood (or similar) saying things like “Love”, “Home”, “Carpe Diem”, “Welcome”… Really dislike. Looks so cheap.

keepcalmandcarryon poster

Posters with words or sentences on.  Supposedly saying something clever. Some have, I admit, nice typography and layout, but having to look at some clever saying as soon as you get into a home or a room… Tiresome.

pink and black living room

Pink interiors? There are much worse examples than the above one. Wouldn’t be able to be in a pink room like that without wanting to run out again as soon as possible. The shelves and the floor and the vase are OK, but the rest is too…. pink.

pastelinterior

Pastel interiors? At least here the sofa is white and the carpet and part of the walls and curtains too. The room lacks a contrasting, stronger color. Too much pastels. Too baby-ish.

ananasThe gilded pineapple… Why does so many who write about interior design today find this a desirable object to have in ones home? I fail to see its beauty… The pineapple tower in Scotland is quite interesting though…

ginosarfatti

The Gino Sarfatti lamp for Flos. It is everywhere. Big, heavy thing… Expensive too. In a recent issue of the interior design magazine I subscribe to, it was shown about five times, in five different articles, in the same issue of the magazine. It appears just everywhere these days. Either like here in metal color, or in brass color. I don’t think it is beautiful. It is just too much.

There are more items like that. But I’ll stop here for now.

blogg100
Posted by nini in Design, Furniture and Decoration, Interior Design, 0 comments