Designing A Great Outdoor Room

One of the things you might never know when viewing an outdoor room is all the thought and planning that goes into the space; especially when the people in the household have different needs and requirements. Think about what you would need in your own outdoor room: Does anyone require a grill or an outdoor kitchen for entertaining? What about a place to get away and enjoy the solace of nature, or a place to meditate or do yoga? Is this going to be an adult area, or will there be a need for it to be kid friendly? All legitimate questions that will need to be answered before starting your project.

Another issue that many do-it-yourselfers fail to understand is the need to coordinate the furnishings and fabrics for more than just looks. These items wear differently, and can fade or deteriorate over time. You can waste a lot of money with “do-overs” in this department. Being aware of the options on the market for different furniture pieces, as well as fabrics that will last, is a full time job. You will need to know where and how to do research, as well as where to find the best deals within your designated budget.

Another item you will need to pay attention to is the merging of styles and uses for the space. If you place an outdoor swing bed, for you and the kids to nap on, and the grill gets fired up, you will want to make sure the smoke from the grill does not blow over the bed. While not always fully within your control, you will want to find out which way the wind blows most of the time, and position the grill and bed accordingly.

The best way to make sure you have all your bases covered is to hire a professional interior designer. Yes, they do a lot of outdoor spaces as well. A designer regularly space plans and arranges the area to fit your greatest needs. They also have the expertise in furniture, fabrics and accessories that you will need as well. It’s worth every dime you spend planning ahead and choosing the right products for your outdoor space. If done right, you will be able to enjoy your new room outside for a long, long time, for anything from entertaining to relaxation. It may even become your favorite place to live.

Your Web Design is Your Shopfront – Are You Sending the Right Message?

We’ve all stopped to gaze at a shopfront display at least once. An outfit, accessory or an interesting product has caught our eye, drawing us back for a better look, which is exactly what is supposed to happen.

Retailers use their physical shopfronts to send an instant message to consumers, telling them about the purpose of the business, its brand and its unique selling proposition (USP). The shopfront has been designed to make targeted customers go in and buy – and a well-designed website does the same. A shopfront is usually the first experience a customer has of a store and what they see in the window will lead to an evaluation of whether they will go inside, or even buy. Your home page is the first online experience consumers will have of your business, and it will be evaluated in the same way.

Shopfronts tell a story that attracts potential customers inside the store, and your website design does the same. If a consumer likes the story they will read on, so to speak. But if they don’t, all it takes is a click and you’ve lost them. Think about a shopfront where you aren’t sure where the store entrance is, or the entrance is obstructed by a table or box, and relate this to your website. If a consumer likes the look of your home page, but it’s not clear where to go to find out more or place an order, it’s unlikely they will persist for too long. They will just find what they want elsewhere.

Consumers are more demanding than ever, and you only have a few seconds to grab their attention with something interesting before they will click on to another site. Creative and innovative designs are appreciated by consumers browsing the Internet. A well-designed website will encourage consumers to spend time on your site, click through to more pages and come back to check for new products and updated content. Your website design might mean the difference between someone choosing your business, or your competitor’s.

Likewise, refreshing your website design by making regular subtle changes can keep consumers interested in your site, instead of becoming bored by seeing the same elements every time they visit. These changes might be alternating graphics, a regular blog or a monthly specials page. Whatever you choose, new content will keep consumers coming back to see the changes. A website that still features the specials from six months ago will reflect very badly on your business, in the same way a shopfront displaying last season’s fashions would.

Your website design is one of the most important opportunities you will ever have to present your business in a way that highlights its difference to competitors. Successful retailers use shopfronts in the same way. Think about the Christmas decorations displayed in the David Jones and Myer stores every year – people travel just to see these decorations and the colours, designs and quality of the decorations send a powerful message to consumers about the shopping experience consumers would have, prices they will pay and the service they should expect inside.

So, like the shopfront reflecting the experience consumers will have in a store, website design offers a promise to your consumers about what they can expect from your business. Sloppy, patchy design could equal bad service and second-rate products in the minds of someone who doesn’t know the business well.

Spend a bit of time looking at your web design through the eyes of your ideal customer – and be very honest about what you see. Think about how the design flows, how easy the site is to navigate, and the quality of the site content then make the necessary changes. It could make all the difference when it comes to you making the sale, as opposed to your competitors taking the sale by default.

Design Ideas With Your First-Hand Art Coach: Exploring Your Story With Art

Many people, convinced they don’t have the “right stuff” or proper training, avoid the most exciting and enlightening option available for transforming their home and workspace – getting involved. Instead, they run to the mall, search online, or buy art from a gallery that is happy to dictate which art “should be” featured on their walls.

I do not subscribe to this line of thinking. I believe our most intriguing and captivating home and office decor is a function of personality, daring and inventiveness.

Which of these approaches to interior design have you experienced? Perhaps you hired an interior designer who took care of everything except making your personal story come alive in your space. Perhaps you have very nice artwork on the wall, yet it doesn’t speak to you in a language you understand.

Art is a topic so vast and deep, it often provides people with a challenge. First, most people are led to believe only a few “gifted” individuals have the skill to create images worthy of display. Also, many people share the perception that all artists must graduate from an approved institution in order to qualify as an artist.

If that were true, the cave paintings discovered around the world would have been dismissed as valueless. Instead, these paintings are treasured, protected and revered – how can this be? These cave dwellers surely did not attend fancy art schools in the big city. So what does this tell us about art and value?

Making art is a bit like putting a message in a bottle and sending it off into the great unknown. Even if it hangs on your wall, in your home or office, when other people view that artwork your bottle and message have essentially “been received.” That doesn’t mean they read your message word for word, comprehending exactly what your meaning was. If that were true, art would not be as interesting as it is. Whoever experiences your works of art will see the bottle and the words, yet they will translate these – your artwork – into a personal interpretation.

We bring ourselves to the art we see. We bring our stories and our experiences and our dreams and imaginations. That’s what’s so powerful about art – it doesn’t just lie there on the page or canvas or wall; instead, it awakens in the viewer some experience, feeling or thought, conveyed by color or shape or composition. The art reaches out and speaks in a language the viewer can understand. Even if the language is a stretch, even if the viewer is just starting to learn some bits and pieces of the language, some message must be conveyed to bring that art to life.

This is the beauty of working with a first-hand coach. Someone who has explored the terrain and created works of art is well-suited to assist you on your journey as you create artwork that speaks to you, excites and delights you.

Whether your desire is to paint, draw, or create sculptures of meaning, a first-hand art coach takes into consideration what you hope for your space to be and who you personally hope to be. This is when interior design and your personal transformation come together to create truly dynamic space – and opportunity for you to grow, stretch and challenge yourself.

Your home or office decor, created in tandem with your hopes and dreams, helps you to stretch to new levels of personal expression and to develop space that is a sanctuary for you. The options are quite literally endless as we each bring our unique story to life.