Thursday, April 12, 2007


Art Deco Interior Design


Art Deco Interior Design was very popular during the late 1920’s and early 30’s. The name itself comes from Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes. This was an exhibition held in Paris in 1925. The origins of this mode of interior design are embedded in a reaction to the flowing motifs and fussiness of Art Nouveau. Emphasis in this type of interior design is placed on style of furniture and other objects used in the room for decoration.
In most cases Art Deco Interior Design enthusiasts rejected the traditional modes of decoration and interior design. Instead of using traditional materials for building and decoration these decorators decided to use more unusual materials such as marble and ebony. A room that was decorated using Art Deco usually consisted of clean lines and geometric shapes.The furniture that was used in Art Deco Interior Design was very unique in the world of design. In most cases it was made from rare woods and veneers. It was of the highest possible standard and in most cases was only purchases by those who were extremely wealthy and who could afford to have such rare materials in their possession.To achieve an Art Deco Interior Design look sometimes furniture had to be changed somewhat or altered in someway. Therefore a process known as Lacquering was created. Besides for unusual and expensive woods some Art Deco designers used such materials as forged iron and chrome-plated steel to create their unique look.Several designers have created their decorating industries because of their love for and desire of Art Deco Interior Design. Some of the most famous and popular Art Deco designers come from Paris, France, as this is where the Art Deco movement began. In the early 1900’s a man by the name of Jacques-Emile Ruhlman was one of the largest Art Deco designing industries in the world. His first exhibition was held in 1913 where he made his name well known for his unusual furniture designs. The Art Deco Interior Design industry has been haled as one of the most influential of the 20th Century. Designers in this time era were able to create some of the most innovative and striking pieces of furniture ever created.For those of you who are interested in creating an Art Deco Interior Design look in your own homes there are several ways to find out more information. There have been endless books written on the topic. You could find one of these is your look bookstore or library. As well you can find endless resources on the Internet. If trying to create an Art Deco look in your home it is always a good idea to start by looking at pictures to see if this is the look that you would like to create for yourself. Looking at various pictures and styles will give you a better idea of what you need to do to create this look.



How To Quickly And Easily Create A Living Room Furniture Layout?




If you planning to buy new furniture for your living room, then most probably you have already thought about the furniture layout
in your mind or else you have probably thought of repeating the same old layout with only the new furniture pieces. In this article I will show you a simple method to create the most efficient layout for your living room.
Before we begin there are a few points that need to be considered. A living room is always a transition space. This means that entrances to all other rooms are located in living room. Other bedrooms, dining room, kitchen etc. are accessed through living room, that's why a sufficient "circulation space" for family members is a must.
So here is what you can do to create the most efficient layout for a living room.
1) Take a plane white paper. A4 size is also enough.
2) Draw a sketch plan of your living room on this paper. While drawing this plan it is important to show the following things in it:
a) Entrance door b) Entrance doors to other rooms c) Window positions d) Minor column projections (if any) e) Swing of the doors (inside or outside the living room) f) Presence of staircase g) Fireplace (if any)
3) Take a pencil and draw lines starting from entrance door to all other doors and window positions. This is the natural travel lines for any person using the living room. If the room is empty without any furniture these are the lines any person would follow to reach other point in the living room.
4) Now start placing the furniture units like 3 seat sofa, single/double seat sofa, coffee table, end tables lampshades, bookshelves, TV unit, etc.. Depending upon your budget you can go for any number of these units.
While placing these units it will always be seen that the furniture obstructs the pencil travel lines drawn in the third step. But that's OK for now. Now make as may combinations and arrangements of the furniture units as possible. Think out of the box while doing this. Try to do something different.
Remember if you try you will easily come up with at lest 10 layout for that same living room. You will be amazed at how many combinations are possible. Also imagine the furniture pieces you already have or can you replace that table in the bedroom with the one in the living room.
How about keeping it vertical rather that horizontal in the plan. Whatever you do keep one thing in mind. Always keep the human movement "unobstructed". People passing through the living room in other rooms must be able to pass without cutting vision if you are talking to other person in the living room.
That's why those pencil lines have been drawn. After you have drawn the furniture pieces on the living room plan, modify the travel lines. Now these lines will be around the furniture, especially at corners. The travel lines will now take the shape of the furniture at the edges.
After this short exercise you will have probably 5 different layouts on paper with. Select the one in which you see the following points of interest.
a)Travel line lengths are shortest.
b)Travel lines do not pass trough the furniture.
Apart from the efficiency there is another factor called as visual balance while designing a furniture layout. Finally does it look good to YOU. Are you comfortable with the final layout. The visual balance is achieved by making the most use of all walls of the living room with decorating elements such as paintings, color schemes, etc.
So if you follow a system from the beginning you will be definitely be able to create a beautiful living room in the shortest possible time. I hope this article has helped you to find more creative ways of doing this job more efficiently.
Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya
Shrinivas Vaidya is the webmaster of http://www.livingroomdatabase.com Visit today to get more free tips on
Living Room Furniture to decorate a beautiful and charming living room of your wildest dreams.