Posted by jenny in Interior Design on the 7th of September 2010
If you think dirt can make a man look masculine, you’ll be surprised that this is absolutely untrue when it comes to decorating his place of comfort- the bedroom.
Men can be still be in Vogue without losing their masculinity. And the catch? Nothing! Just plain and easy-to-follow steps in making a man’s bedroom appealing.
Forget about the usual bright-coloured and over-the-top wall paper designs, pillows, and bed linens. Throw away the idea of having an elaborate interior design and flamboyant fixtures. Instead, make way for bold and yet simple motif that will completely radiate manliness in every corner of the room.
Brave Hues
Let’s begin with colours and shades that create a mannish appeal. Always consider hues that are neutral and can bring in an ambience of vigour and authority. Consider painting your walls in a series of block shapes using a combination of black, grey, and white. Then be a little braver than that by adding shades of green, violet, and blue. Doing this will make for a powerful, yet attractive atmosphere. It is highly recommended that you combine only two colours, but you can add more as long as they still look confident and not soft. If a tanned skin looks manly, so is a room that has mocha and brown hues.
Wallpapers
Similar to colours, wallpapers should be simple and yet prominent. Think of your wall designs as a companion that tells a lot about your own traits. For a less overpowering effect, cover just one wall with wallpaper. Some modern wallpaper are made of prints from old movies or football’s best moments. Make the designs the reflection of your personality.
Bed sheets and blankets
Spruce up your bed not with excessive pillows and multicoloured bed sheets or blankets. Choose plain white comforters, if you may. Another option is to have striped pillow cases or cushions. Make sure the stripes have dark shades. It’s a rule of thumb to match the hues of your walls with that of your bed. Always pick something from the colours of your wall and use it again for your bed sheets and blankets.
Carpet and Flooring
When it comes to your carpet and flooring, always choose the colours that bring out your adventurous streak in a modern style. It’s always safe to pick neutral colours and dark shades. Teak and walnut for your wood flooring create a “macho” effect. If you want to become more daring, put some animal prints on them.
Window Treatments
Keep window treatments as simple as possible. The Controliss wood blind collection has an assortment of wood blinds that will go well in masculine bedrooms.
Tags: colours, design, home, style, wood blinds
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Posted by jenny in Interior Design on the 6th of September 2010
A house without windows can make even large rooms claustrophobic. Windows that provide ugly views are equally depressing. What if your house is afflicted with this unfortunate characteristic? There’s no need to worry. We’ve come up with several solutions, from the artistic to the downright quirky, to those who find themselves in this quandary.
Mirrors
Mirrors mounted on opposite walls will bounce light off the surface, creating a feeling of depth and adding more dimension to your room. Two wall framed mirrors can mimic windows when you join these two together at the sides. How about adding window hardware like curtain rods and window blinds on top of the mirrors? You can also add a fabric valance on top of this suits you. If you want to add more interest, look for mirrors that have interesting shapes, like hexagonal mirrors or rounded ones.
Paintings
Adding a painting with a scenic view will effectively improve your blank wall. Choose paintings with natural views to create an illusion of a window with a good view. The best part about this is that you can change your views. With real windows, you are stuck with the same views everyday.
Metal Wall Hangings
Interesting metal wall hangings can add depth into whatever light you have in a room. A combination of metal and mirrors will work well and create interest than a boring wall. Look for sculptures made of metal or wall art made of mirrors and your guests will forget that you don’t have windows. These works of art may even break the ice as they are great conversation pieces.
Wall Murals
Wall murals can provide you and your guests something beautiful to look at. Murals can considerably improve your room’s appearance because it opens up the space. If you have an artistic hand, creating your own mural can help you inject more of your personality in a room and give you space to express yourself.
Faux Windows
Two Japanese engineers came up with the solution. They’ve hung window blinds on a blank wall and added an electroluminescent sheet underneath to give an illusion of a window underneath. You can then control the amount of light the same way that you would for traditional blinds.
Isn’t that cool? Some people might still think this strategy is quite depressing. Although we’d think that venetian blinds in a cheery colour like Satin Sun Flash would do the trick.
Tags: blinds, design, room, windows
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Posted by jenny in Home Automation on the 4th of September 2010
We’ve blogged about how the automated home can be rather expensive or impractical, but the team at Controliss couldn’t help but think about the possibilities of a home full of gadgets, James Bond-style. That’s why if you’re a gadget freak, here’s the definitive guide to your ultimate dream home:
Solar Roofing
Word’s out the solar roofing has become more efficient. Solar roof tiles now claim to be able to provide about 8 to 20% more solar energy than last year’s crystalline silicon panels. For example, 30 tiles with 14-inch exposure areas can generate about 860 kilowatts per hour after 6 hours of solar exposure. Not only that, curved solar roofing are now available so your roof can be as suave and sexy as James Bond.
Keyless Door Locks
Nothing is as uncool as fumbling around with your keys after a night out in the pub. While it would be cooler to have a microchip implanted in your brain that controls your doors the moment you think about opening your door, that kind of technology is not available yet. Fortunately, keyless door locks are now available which allow you to open your door when you say “Open Sesame” and silently pressing the key fob.
Gadget Sofa
Let’s face it; it’s hard to find a cushy sofa that satisfies the gadget lover. Yet, this doesn’t keep you from spending endless hours on it. With the gadget sofa, you can spend your whole life without moving. The intelligent sofa has two LCD screens inside each armrest that could pop out and fold back nicely when they are not used. It also has an iPod and iPhone dock and hidden speakers with a subwoofer.
Touchscreen Walls and Surfaces
Hollywood’s touchscreen surfaces may be just around the corner because of the invention of a thin polymer film that can be applied to plastic, wood, or glass. This film can detect up to 16 touches at the same time. Think about all your walls magically transforming into a television or wallpaper that can change according to your mood. How about connecting with your friends in social media sites on your wall?
Remote-Controlled Window Blinds
Now this technology is within your reach. Imagine how cool it is to have your window blinds go swoosh whenever you press a single button in the remote control. You can have light enter the room by tilting the slats of Controliss venetian blinds or completely blocked out such as our superb collection of blackout shades.
With all these cool gadgets in your room, you can act and feel like James Bond. With Controliss remote-controlled blinds, the futuristic home is now within your reach.
Tags: blinds, controliss, gadget, home, remote
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Posted by jenny in Wooden Blinds on the 2nd of September 2010
If you’re feeling like you’re in outer space whenever you’re inside your kitchen, you’re not alone. Most kitchen appliances have this cold, futuristic look that it’s hard to create a homely atmosphere. To balance out the starkness of your modern kitchen appliances with the nature-inspired finish and discreet elegant style of Scandinavian interior design.
Interior designers love the simple lines and charming details of an eighteenth century Swedish country home. It has a touch of Nordic classic style but made from down-to-earth local materials. The look is very distinct but with restrained detailing. The Scandinavian style gives you just a tinge of the traditional mixed in with minimalistic lines.
Scandinavian Colour Palettes and Finishes
If you’re won over and would like to incorporate Scandinavian home design into your kitchen, you can work on a palette that is cool, like pale blue-grey, blue-green, or grey-green. These colours can be painted on your walls and then for the ultimate Swedish look, paint your kitchen cabinets the same colour in a darker, more solid shade. If you find these colours too cold for your kitchen, stick with pale ochre or a yellow on the creamy side. However, stay clear from pastel colours because Scandinavian colours are deep and luminous.
Painted Wood Finishes
Aside from the colours, Scandinavian interior design’s distinct characteristics are matte painted finishes. Paint your walls and then use a stronger tone of the main colour on your doors wooden and wooden mouldings. The finish should be soft so choose eggshell as paint.
Although Scandinavian design uses wood, it is often painted. Wood can be incorporated as panelling or as flooring. Any kind of wood can be used as long as they are on the pale side. Scandinavian design does not use wood in dark finishes.
Tiled Surfaces
Tiles will look great on the floors and also on stove tops and the splash board. Create a chequered pattern with the tiles or add decorative panels in a plain background. If your dining area is also near the kitchen, separate the two areas with different floorings. Use carpeting that use natural materials, such as coir, sisal, or seagrass in the eating area. These can create interesting floor coverings plus they can withstand food spills better than any other material.
Scandinavian Accessories
Scandinavian lighting should exude an earthy feel. Go for dull metals instead of crystal or glass. Modern lighting such as pendant lights or recessed lights goes well in this design style. Aside from the lighting, window treatments should also echo the simple natural lines of Scandinavian home design. Speaking of nature-inspired accessories, wooden blinds are perfect in a Scandinavian-style kitchen because it softens the hard mainstreamed appearance of most kitchen surfaces.
Our collection of Basswood wooden blinds will definitely satisfy your need for Scandinavian-style windows, because they are real wooden blinds in a painted finish. What’s more, they are operated through infrared remote control. Now that’s what we call the fusion of the traditional and the modern that characterises Scandinavian design.
Tags: blinds, design, interior design, Scandinavian, style, windows, wood, wooden
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Posted by jenny in Window Blinds on the 1st of September 2010
Just as layers are never out of style in fashion, layering window treatments will always be a design classic. Layering window treatments do need an expert eye in order for it to work. Just as you wouldn’t pair summer shorts with a heavy winter coat, you wouldn’t dream of matching a heavy velvet curtain with metallic venetian blinds. That’s why we at Controliss have put together a few basic tips on how to layer your window treatments for the ultimate fashionable home look.
The ultimate layered effect in window treatment is not only chic, it can also add another UV protection layer to your home. Most of the UV protection could be incorporated in the kind of glass you choose for your windows. If you have an older home, you could have your windows protected with a UV-protective film.
Before these innovative UV protection layers, sheers were used as the first layer in window treatments. Sheers allow light to trickle in and act as a barrier against harsh ultraviolet rays that may damage your interiors. It also makes for a good privacy screen. However, if your window showcases amazing views, sheers may ruin them. That’s why with UV treatments in the glass, you can have roman shades and long curtains as second and third layers. If you think that it’s too much, roman shades can do the job as well.
Here are a few more multi-layer window treatments that always come up in interior design magazines:
- Roller blinds with fabric valance or cornice. This design layering classic will never go out of style. Our roller blinds collection gives you amazing choices in different colours and prints. You’ll love the different textures of our roller blinds. Fabric valances or cornices spruce up the roller blinds and even hide the hardware of remote-controlled blinds.
- Bamboo blinds with curtain panels. You’ll be doing our environment some good if you choose the eco-friendly bamboo blinds. Bamboo grows fast and so you don’t need to worry about contributing to damage to the environment. Bamboo has a unique grain texture that is highlighted with the addition of curtain panels. Curtain panels also balances out the simplicity of the bamboo blinds, giving it a touch of class.
- Wood Blinds with a Top or Long Treatment. If you like the richness of real wood, we have a fabulous collection of wood blinds in different grains and shades. If you want to achieve a more casual atmosphere, neutralise the formal feel of wood blinds with top window treatments. Long window treatments, such as sheer curtains will soften the masculine lines of wood blinds.
Now that you’re well-versed in layering window treatments, check out our complete line of remote-controlled blinds and unleash your imagination.
Tags: blinds, layering, light, textures, uv, windows
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