subtle ways to polish your decor

This is a guest post brought to you by Eva Stephen. Thank you Eva and WELCOME!

“Following on the heels of the fashion catwalk, interior design has become more intimate and personal. No longer must everyone follow the same narrow path, using an identical and limited colour palette and choosing only one type of fabric. Rather, trends now allow for individual tastes to be satisfied, the only criteria being that the various parts of the interior décor add up to an elegant, interesting and comfortable whole.

polka dots

Enliven your neutral room with bold polka dot pattern on accent wall. Yellow is my favourite, but of course you can choose any combination you fancy. This happy tone of yellow energizes the space, but not overwhelming it because of plenty of white.

Another lovely idea, from the same house. More muted polka dot pattern in the white kitchen with bright pink accents. Beautiful!

photos from micasa

pink, blue, yellow…sofa

In the era of neutral sofas as the first and best choice to create a well styled room even without decorating skills, you find yourself coveting for a bright coloured sofa or even patterned one. Go with it! and if you wonder how to decorate the room around such a vibrant and statement piece, I’ll try to help you decide. Depending on the look you want, you may want to showcase the vivid colour of the sofa, or make it blend with the rest of the room. The colors you choose to surround the sofa are key to achieving the right design for the space.

area rug with navy stripes

there is something about those navy stripes on rugs that I can’t resist… Maybe I prefer more geometrical pattern, but stripes are timeless, don’t you think?

{home tour} style to remember

Thanks to my blogger friend Olga, I found out about this unusual home of an jewelry artist. Unusual because of the living room wall color. Most of the designers, especially trendsetters, would say that smudge wall color is big no-no as it always looks dirty and unpleasant. it’s not too pretty here, too…but it’s camouflaged by amazing furniture pieces and great color choices. The owner truly applied her knowledge of color and composition. The rest of the home is quite amazing…in strong color and pattern. Big style!

{DIY idea} houndstooth wall stencil ** {uradi sam} pepito dezen na zidu

The elegance and versatility of houndstooth pattern amazes me. I've wrote about more colourful version of houndstooth stenciled wall before, and this one is equaly great. The owner of this lovely working corner, Aimee, is right when saying it changed the space from bore...to adore. It looks completed, sophisticated and - most important - it sends creative vibe. This stencil is even easy to make at home, so why don't give it a try?

via it's overflowing

Prilagodljivost pepito šare kao i njena svevremenska elegancija me oduševljavaju. Koliko znam, nisam vidjela do sada primjenu na zidu, iako se vratila na velika vrata u sve aspekte dizajna. Veoma mi se dopada kako izgleda u radnom kutku, vizuelno ga odvajajući od ostatka prostorije, i čineći ga kompletnim, bez potrebe za dodatnim uređivanjem slikama i sl. Dezen je toliko jednostavan da se šablon može napraviti i kod kuće. Vrijedi probati, zar ne?

{perfect home no.27} Tim Lam's of Design Maze ** savršen dom br.27

 One of my favourite apartment tours is a home of Tim Lam, blogger behind Design Maze. I LOVE his sense of style and breaking all "designer rules". Combination of patterns, cheerfull colours, textures and shapes creates such a dynamic space that makes my heart goes faster. Few months ago Tim redesigned his living room, now it looks "more mature" as he said... I like it as much as the previous look. **
Jedan od meni omiljenih stanova je krajnje zanimljiv i vedar dom Tim Lama, autora bloga Design Maze. Oduševljava me njegov smisao za lijepo, i spremnost na rušenje svih "dizajnerskih pravila" (koja stvarno ne postoje). Kombinacije dezena, boja, tekstura i oblika stvorila je dinamičan prostor od kojeg meni zaigra srce. Prije nekoliko mjeseci Tim je preuredio svoj dnevni boravak i pretvorio ga u malo "zreliji" prostor...i podjednako mi se sviđa. Obavezno pogledajte više slika na blogu, kao i prvobitnu transformaciju

vintage apartment in Milan ** Milanski vintidž stan

The apartment of Lorena Masdea, architect and interior designer,  is located in a small building in Milan from the thirties of last century. Industrial warm coloured flooring, optical effects from old prints on the walls and the overall retro look is quite captivating. The focus was on adapting the interior to the lifestyle through style and color, while the renovation was reduced to a minimum. Only the bathroom is completely renovated, and with the concrete floor looks a bit minimalist.

Full of designers furniture, the space feels cohesive with the same flooring throughout that perfectly matches with predominantly white walls, accented by bold colours to define certain areas.
This apartment features some great collection of retro posters and prints as well.
 
{Stan Lorene Masdea, arhitektice i dizajnerke enterijera, nalazi se u milanskoj zgradici iz tridesetih godina prošlog vijeka. Pleni već na prvi pogled industrijskim parketom u toplim tonovima, optičkim efektima sa starih printova na zidovima kao i ukupnim retro izgledom. Fokus je bio na prilagođavanju unutrašnjosti životnom stilu kroz dekoraciju i izbor stila i boja, dok je renoviranje svedeno na minimum. Jedino je kupatilo kompletno renovirano,a zbog betonskog poda djeluje minimalistički.
Osim dizajnerskih komada namještaja s polovine XX vijeka, ono što povezuje prostorije je isti izbor parketa koji savršeno parira pretežno bijelim zidovima, tek na nekoliko mjesta akcentovanim bojama.
Odmah sa ulaza se gleda na jedinstven prostor dnevnog boravka, trpezarije i kuhinje koji kombinuje retro izgled sa industrijskim. Odatle se kroz mali hodnik prolazi do spavaće sobe, radne/gostinske sobe i do kupatila.
Ovaj stan karakteriše smjela igra boja koje definišu pojedine oblasti kao i velika kolekcija retro postera i grafika.}

retro vibe in living room ** retro dnevna soba

photo source: Elsie cake

wallpapering bathroom * tapete u kupatilu

From where I live bathrooms are usualy (almost it's a rule) covered in tiles from floor to ceiling. Not a bad option, but it would be interesting to see other solutions too. Like just painting walls in a great colour or even wallpapering it. Wouldn't it be great? Love the impact it makes in such a small room. Do you love it or not?

{ Kod nas su kupatila najčešće, kao po pravilu, prekrivena pločicama od poda do plafona. Nije to nimalo loša opcija, naprotiv...ali bi bilo zanimljivo odlučiti se i za nešto drugačije. Kao na primjer ofarbati zidove vodootpornom bojom u nekoj fenomenalnoj nijansi ili čak postaviti tapete. zar to ne bi bilo izuzetno? Meni se mnogo sviđa utisak koji tapete stvaraju u tako malom prostoru. Da li se i vama sviđa ili radije ne biste tapete imali u svom kupatilu?}

love this space... vintage & shabby kitchen / kuhinja u starom ruhu

photo source: Vanilla decor