Top tips for your bathroom

Tiles

Lighter coloured tiles will reflect the natural and artificial light. White and cream are perfect and if you use light coloured grout the room will appear bigger and more seamless.

Larger tiles will also make the bathroom appear more spacious. Laying wall tiles vertically will make the space seem higher while laying them horizontally will make the space feel wider.

Using a single colour throughout the bathroom will create a more seamless look. Consider tiling to the ceiling and matching the ceiling colour with the tile colour.

Shower

Shower screens and frames can divide a bathroom, blocking light and making the space appear smaller. Clear glass as opposed to wire or opaque glass will open up the space as will frameless or semi-frameless glass.

Cabinetry

Chunky cabinetry can look bulky and clunky in a bathroom. Minimalist cabinetry with recessed basins will look take up less space. Wall hung cabinets will provide storage for towels while the void underneath will give the illusion of more floor space.

Consider recessing a shaving cabinet into the wall for a seamless look to the walls. This will provide more storage for toiletries while the mirror will reflect light and give the illusion of more space.

Windows

Curtains and blinds can block the natural light and appear chunky on the walls. If you are renovating, remove any bulky, dark curtain rods and consider frosting the windows or installing minimal, light coloured roller blinds.

Fixtures

Simple, sleek accessories will create a minimalist look. Changing chunky plastic handles and knobs for simple chrome or stainless steel accessories will look much more contemporary and clean.

Lighting

Recessed lighting will streamline your ceiling and designing lighting over or beside mirrors will reflect light throughout the room and ensure it doesn’t cast shadows.

These are some simple tips for maximising light and space in your bathroom. If you are building a new home or renovating a bathroom and would like advice, ideas or inspiration, speak to the designers at Windemere Interiors.

Design Inspirations from Windemere - Classic Style

Charming Children's Bedrooms

Children love having their own bedroom. A special space that's just for them dressed just the way they like it.

To start, choose a theme for the room in conjunction with your child. Perhaps your little girl loves fairies, so you could choose a enchanted fairy garden theme or your little boy may be mad about racing cars and a race track theme would suit.

A neutral colour for your walls will still suit your child as they grow older. Whites, creams and taupes are fantastic canvases for the space, and will make the room feel bigger and more open. Leave the dressing up and colouring of the space with to your furniture, furnishings, decoration and artwork.

Soft furnishings can be custom made for a reasonable price and everything from the bedspreads to lampshades to curtains can be themed. Even wallpaper can be custom made. You can just as easily customised your soft furnishings though by choosing a simple colour palette such as pink and white or blue and green and use that as a basis for your sheets, wall furnishings and pillowcases.

Brighten up the walls with artwork such as framed pictures, canvases or perhaps wall decals. A very special idea is to frame your children's artwork or have it printed onto a canvas.

Don't forget storage when considering your layout. Specific places for toys, books and games are essential to keep the room tidy at the end of the day. Consider built in storage such as shelves or storage boxes that can be put away under beds. Toy chests are also great and can double as display space for soft toys or a table for those all important tea parties.

If you are redecorating your child's room and need some inspiration or direction on customising furnishings and decorations, speak to the team at Windemere Interiors today.

Choosing Paint Colours

The colours within your home play an integral role in its look and feel. A serene palette of cream and caramel will create a calm and subdued country retreat feel, while a fluorescent white with injections of burnt orange will create a zany retro feel.

Kirsten Fowle from Windemere Interiors recommends using a neutral colour scheme throughout the home to create a sense of consistency and flow and inject colour and personality through furnishings and artwork. “Using a neutral colour such as cream, white or taupe will tie the home together and give you a great canvas to work with,” said Kirsten, “the neutral colour will also lighten the room and give a sense of space, and won’t compete with your furnishings and artwork for impact. Add your personality with brightly coloured cushions, stylish furniture and your favourite canvases and photos.”

Kirsten also advises against painting every room with a different colour scheme, which was a popular trend in the 90s, as this interrupts the sense of flow throughout the home. Instead, she recommends features walls if you still want to have multiple colours. “If you would like to have a feature wall, ensure that the colour is at least 3 or 4 shades darker than the rest of the walls to make sure it stands out, and it’s best that all the feature colours from the walls throughout the home are from the same colour family,” said Kirsten.

There are various types of paint on the market these days to create texture and interest. Metallic and pearl lustre paints create sheen and highlights on a wall, while a suede effect creates a soft textured look. Stone and river rock paints will add dimension and depth to a wall. These are all fabulous as feature walls.

If you find the task of choosing paint colours difficult, or just need some guidance or a second opinion, an interior designer can help you through the process. They can look at your plans or come out to your home and guide you through the process. Speak to the team at Windemere Interior about your options.

Fabulous Floating Floors

A rich, timber floor adds an element of warmth and depth to a room. Perfectly suited in both older style homes homes and contemporary homes, the richness and uniquesness of individual timbers add wonderful character.

Once upon a time the only option for timber flooring solid tongue and groove, an expensive option. These days however, there's a number of more economical options that can achieve the same look and feel.

Floating timber floors are the most common option. These are designed with a click in system, similar to the old tongue and groove, and are laid straight on a slab or sub floor with layer of flooring underlay.

Engineered timber flooring has the look of a solid timber floor, without the premium price tag. Made with a plywood core, the top is usually a solid hardwood layer finished with multi layer coating. The result is a hardwearing floor that is easy install.

A more budget option is laminate flooring. Hardwearing and practical for high traffic areas, they are designed to replicate the appearance of hardwood and are easy to install and maintain.

Believe it or not, there are vinyl "planks" available these days that can replicate the look of timber floors. They're not the lino of old, vinyl planks come in a multitude of timber looks and are just as hardwearing as laminate and engineered floors.

There are some wonderful timber options when it comes to floating floors. From the clean lightness of Tassie Oak to the red hues of Jarrah and the dark richness of mahogany, there is a timber and floating floor style to suit every home and budget.

If you are considering a floating floor for your home, speak to one of the designers at Windemere Interiors for inspiration or professional advice.

Breakfast Bar Wake Up!

Breakfast bars have become an essential element in today's kitchen. A relaxing spot for a casual meal or a comfy spot for family and guests to gather while meals are being prepared, there are endless options for unique breakfast bars.

There are many styles of breakfast bars to suit your family kitchen. A breakfast bar with a gabled edge will create a neat space to tuck stools under.  A shadowline will make the benchtop look like it's floating. A lowline extension can create a compact dining space and you could do away with the meals area all together.

There are many benchtop options and they can create a feature of your kitchen. Stone benchtops are hardwearing and create a classic look to the kitchen. Essa Stone, Caesarstone, granite, reconstituted stone and marble are just a few of stone materials that can be used. Other options include solid timber, glass, stainless steel and resin.

Storage can be incorporated into breakfast bars as well. Narrow cupboards can be built into the front space for glasses and cups or open shelving can be used to display wine or kitchen ornanents. The options are only limited by your imagination.

If you are building a new home or renovating a kitchen and after some inspiration or clever ideas with breakfast bar space, speak to the team at Windemere Interiors today.

Festive Cheer at the Christmas Table

Bring a little festive cheer to the table at Christmas with some easy themes:

Traditional

Rich, scarlett reds and glimmery golds will add that traditional touch to your table. A simple red runner down the table with a gold reindeer centrepiece and some gold baubles is an easy way to dress up the table.

Australiana 

Fabulous if you're planning an outdoor Christmas setting, just grab a few things from your backyard and Bob's your uncle. Rectangles of hessian make rustic placemats and old tin with cuttings of gum tree branches makes fragrant and authentic centrepieces. Napkins tied with string with a bottle brush and gum nuts tucked in adds a finishing touch.

White Christmas

It doesn't snow here, but there's no reason you can't have a white Christmas. White everything is the order here, with a white tablecloth, runner, placemats and napkins. Add a sprinkling of glitter and some shimmery white baubles to reflect the falling snow.


Retro 

Yeah baby! Trip the plastic fantastic and decorate your Christmas table in high gloss, retro plastic in bold, festive colours. A vinyl tablecloth with shiny placemats makes a super retro canvas for brighly colour plastic plates and cutlery. Add some fake plastic holly and fake flowers and you are ready to par-tay!


On a final note for 2011, everyone at Windemere Interiors would like to wish you and your family a safe and happy holiday season.