Modern Melbourne Home

Robson Rak Architects is fast becoming another Australian architecture firm that I am regularly admiring (see this previous post of another stunning Melbourne house they worked on).
This time, they collaborated on this residential renovation and extension with interior designer, Susie Cohen of Made by Cohen. This modern home is in the line up for Houses Award 2014 and was in the  Residential Design short list for Australian Interior Design Awards 2014. It is not hard to see why. Read and see more here.

Photographs by Shannon McGrath via yellowtrace.

Living Well with Traditional and Modern

Claudio Luti and Maria Castelli

I have been working with a client who has a traditional home and at present we are adding new pieces of daring modern furnishings to create a more interesting and eclectic interior. I was glad to come across this Italian home of Claudio Luti and his wife, Maria Castelli as it is a great example of what we are trying to achieve. Luti is the chairman and owner of Italian furniture company, Kartell so naturally pieces from this innovative brand are scattered throughout the home. These interiors demonstrate how taking the bold step to mix influences can be so successful and stylish.

Violet velvet Pop chairs by Piero Lissoni sit in the library

Kartell T-tables by Patricia Urquiola and a Bourgie lamp by Ferrucio Laviani are part of the mix in this living area

A Mr Impossible chair, Cindy lamp and Combak chair sit well in this traditional setting.

This desk from late 17th century is paired with Combak chairs by Patricia Urquiola and Taj lamp by Ferruccio Laviani.

Masters chairs designed by Phillipe Starck with Eugeni Quitllet



EroS chair in front of a Max table and Mobil drawers

Masters chairs and La Boheme stools are scattered throughout the garden

Photographs by Giorgio Possenti via CasaVogue

Modern Interior Decoration

Do you like redecorating your room so it looks inviting as well as relaxing? Do you want to make things more accessible and your room layout more functional? If so, you probably love interior decorating.

Interior decorating encompasses a wide area of interests: the paint on the walls and on the other surfaces of your room, wallpaper, carpet, tiles, light fixtures, furniture, and even paintings and sculptures.

It is not easy to define exactly what modern interior decorating is since it can actually take on many forms. It seems like there are new design themes and styles coming out every day. In fact, the sky's the limit when it comes to modern-day decorating. Identical designs are no longer the norm. Nowadays, your personality is reflected in your room's interiors.

To create a new look and feel to your room, you may want to try this more up-to-date form of interior decorating. Although there are different classifications to modern design, they can be used as a guide to how you can go about redecorating your place.

You can choose to go with an eclectic style of designing. This is a more common style of modern decoration. As its name implies, eclectic decorating makes use of a combination of different styles to give rise to a completely unique look. Usually, interior decorators just incorporate designs that appeal to them personally, positioning furniture and décor to their liking. You could do the same for your room.

Another decorating style is art deco. Although art deco is classified under modern designs, this style was actually inspired by the 1920s and 1930s. In this style, a lots of lines are used in angular, but elegant, ways. Colors are bright and vibrant.

You may want to go whimsical if you like bright pastel colors. As suggested by the name, this style has no set pattern. A whimsical design applied to a room often gives it a standout and fanciful look and feel.

Modern Bedroom Interior Design

If you enjoy flipping through décor magazines to keep up with the latest trend in bedroom design, you must already be aware of modem bedroom theme. Modern bedrooms are a unique way of breathing life into your bedroom. Let's take a look at some of the most important modern bedroom design elements that can help you replicate the magazine look. Color - bedrooms use only one or two solid colors to lend a smooth and sophisticated look.

The favored colors today are browns and white. The classic black and white combination, of course never goes out of style. Whether it's your modern bedroom furniture or chairs, or then maybe it's your modern vanity tables, using black or chocolate brown or the brown in different dark hues will really enhance the 'modern' appeal of your bedroom. Besides, these colors go really well with most modern bedroom furniture sets and they also manage to give your room a nice, earthy, warm feel. Pattern - Rugs and carpets are an important element in bedroom décor.

However, don't go in for ones that have fancy patterns. Instead, buy rugs or small carpets in solid colors and interesting patterns - think geometric! Rugs in different textures can also add a touch of drama to the entire space. Furniture - Keep it stark and simple. Furniture in simple and clean lines is the hallmark of modern bedroom design. The darker the shades of wood, the better the style adaptation! Enhance the overall appearance by using modern bedroom furniture in rectangular or square shapes. Avoid circular shapes! Brushed metal and real wood look is really in. Try it. Lights - Set the mood in your modern bedroom with mood reflecting lights.

Go for flexible lighting fixtures. Use bright light during the night and dreamy romantic, subtle light during the night to set the mood for some fun and 'games!' Again, light fixtures should be in clean lines, simple designs and should match the color combination of the room. Accessories - Less is more! That's the mantra of modern bedroom décor. Keep the accessories to the bear minimum and maintain the silhouette. Mattress, bedroom chairs, bedroom curtains, and bedroom embellishments should all combine together to enhance the look and appeal of the room while working hard to create a elegant, sophisticated, yet comfortable atmosphere in the room. Experiment with tall glass vases and single flower (Artificial or real).

You can also use a single photo frame with an eye catching modern art painting or print. Avoid ornate or frilly stuff in your modern bedroom at all costs. Finally, the idea is to maximize the available space and modern bedroom theme aims to do just that. That's why in trend bedrooms have closets inside the room space rather than as a separate area. Besides this, having a specific space for each item such as shoes, clothes, cosmetics, books, etc to make the room look more organized is part of the bedroom decorating style. Use these modern bedroom tips to breathe life into your old bedroom and feel the difference!

Modern Hotel Interior Design

The moment you step into a hotel you get a feel how the place is going to be and how much you are going to love being there. And this feeling might be quite different from what you got by seeing the hotel from outside or in a photograph. It is the way in which the interiors are drawn that gives you positive or negative vibrations about a place. And hotels are no exception to this rule.

Have you ever felt like coming back to a hotel just because it makes you feel at home? If your answer is yes, then you know what makes it so special. It could be that special sight from the balcony of your favorite room, like a sunrise or a river crossing. Otherwise, it could be just a cozy and secure feeling evoked by its subtle decor. Whichever be the reason, it is all associated with something within the room or about the room. And when it comes to a hotel room, the only factor that helps the guests to judge the quality and character of the hotel is the way in which its interiors are designed. This is because guests stay only for a day or two and all they get to know is what they see and feel. If you are a hotel owner you would have experienced it. No matter how dedicated your services are, you won't be able to keep the guests coming back if you have a shabbily maintained interior.

The interior designing service for a hotel is not just limited to what you see within the doors of your hotel rooms. It covers the entire hotel including its lobby and lawn. The designers are responsible for developing a unique theme for the hotel through unique styles and decors. They should synchronize the designs and patterns in every material used within the hotel. This includes walls, drapes, furniture, cushions, towels, paintings, show lamps, fans, flowers, carpets, table clothes, phones, clocks and washroom accessories. Every object used inside and outside of the room should be customized to suit the overall theme of the hotel's interior.

The interior designing for hotels requires more skill and expertise than designing a home. Hotel interiors are subject to frequent alterations and renovations. Hence, while planning the designs, a designer should anticipate and make provision for future replacements or enhancements without much difficulty.

Three important things that are vital for any kind of hotel interior designing are good lighting, proper spacing, and unquestionable tidiness. Lighting should be a soothing blend of natural and artificial illumination. Spacing and neatness offers more comfort and homeliness.

The best interior designs need not be the most expensive ones. They can be termed as best for the mere reason that people love it and they feel comfortable and contented by their looks and aesthetic appeal. Generally, people like simple and natural looking interiors rather than flashy or gaudy ones because uncomplicated and sober settings encourage a reclining sensation.

Modern Homes Interior Decorating Ideas

The selection of home decorating style is entirely a personal decision, as well as being very important because it will recreate the atmosphere and comfort that we are seeking to be at our home.

The interior design of modern houses is a great inspiration for those who are planning to potentiate the comfort of space to enjoy their stay to the end of the day.

The modern home interior designs are characterized by having clean areas, with few details and vivid colors but that in turn plays a lot with textures. Most people prefer minimalist style for this type of decoration.

How to Decorate Modern Homes

Choose colors

If you want to choose colors in a palette, you will need to learn and to read a color chart of paint, that way it will be easier to choose and combine the colors with which you want to paint the walls.

If you are one of those people who felt that all white walls are cold and sterile, it is well that you combine with pastel colors and maybe you can compare with other furniture colors.

Materials and accessories for decoration

Often the word clean has minimalist deal with the decoration of the house and also electronic accessories such as stereos or televisions, as they have to bring in space.

On the other hand, there can be granite floors or linoleum, if you have any other option but avoid similar that can choose to use cover with rugs or blankets.

Also in the kitchen decor e.g., interior modernity has come hand in hand with stainless steel or chrome. These materials can also be used in faucets or pipes of the bathrooms.

Modern furniture

In the interior of modern homes, the choice of furniture is a very important issue. One option is to get chairs, sofas and tables of sleek and clean (i.e., sober colors and designs that create a feeling of more space), something bold yet sophisticated.

It is common in this modern decor that used furniture of angular shapes, so you can place that you like but try not to place more because in this decoration "less is more".

Lighting tips

You can choose to place high lamps or lighting with dichroic lamps in the ceiling. It will help you if you have modern decor with large windows that contain spaces. If so, select blinds or simple woven plastic and avoids the traditional curtains.

Modern Kitchen Interior Designs

A relaxing afternoon spent dining with your family in the breakfast nook of your newly-decorated kitchen presents a beautifully vivid image of leisure and fun social activity. We need a few more of these images to fill our lives within this seemingly impersonal and highly urbanized society. Modern kitchen designs are promoting this idea of open planning to accommodate an easy and accessible social setting that will induce people to spend more time in the kitchen and enjoy the company of people that occupy their lives. The designs are set in a more interactive mode and the elements tend to be more attractive to persuade people to relax and stay.

Kitchens nowadays not only deal with food preparation but they have expanded their function into more social and interactive activities such as dining and entertaining. They have bar counters incorporated in their designs to provide extra dining space and conversation area for the people who frequent the kitchen. The styles vary from traditional tavern-like ones that reveal a more formal setting, contemporary ones with tiled top surfaces and framed glass cabinet faces beneath, to very sleek and modern ones that only have granite or similar surfaces and stainless steel tubular vertical support. The breakfast nooks are even more adventurous in their designs with amazing sculpture-like dining chairs and elegant pedestal tables. Most breakfast nooks are permanently situated near a window or a large corner of the kitchen. They either use window seats for the built-in chairs or customized seats that are attached to the walls. The loose chairs usually have matching fabric upholstery as that of the built-in seats and the table design complements the chairs so as to appear as a cohesive and unified dining area.

Modern kitchen design still has room for improvement. Newly discovered materials that are more durable and long-lasting are gaining popularity. Some of them are quite expensive yet but only because they cater to an exclusive clientele. Less costly materials that will replicate these materials will soon reach the market. As the demand for more modern materials grows, it can be expected that higher quality kitchen design materials will become for affordable for the average homeowner. Home stores and showrooms are the primary source for materials for kitchen design, but the internet is also pushing forward for a wider audience which equates to more people being able to find the products they want. Every possibility for change and enhancements is being looked into so that kitchen layouts and designs will be easier to plan, construct and achieve in the future.

Modern Restaurant Interior Designs

The first thing you love about your favorite restaurant is food. Similarly, the first thing you notice about your restaurant is the quality of its interior. Restaurant interior designing is not so comprehensive like hotel interior designing. Restaurant is a smaller place and requires fewer arrangements. However, the extent of beautification depends on the choice of the owner and the size of the business.

Having said that, the fact is restaurants require more catchy designs than hotels. Restaurants need to attract new people who might be strangers, travelers or tourists. When it comes to hotels, people give more importance to reputation and hear says. They look at the rates per day and service charges. Food becomes a secondary priority. However, this is not the case when it comes to choosing a restaurant. Most of the time, the decision to enter a restaurant is made on the spur of a moment. There is no definite reason for this decision. It is the general feeling they get by looking at the place that instantaneously encourages them to take a look inside. Another reason that stresses the role of interior designing in the working of a restaurant is the competition in this business. You go to any city or town you will find a couple of restaurants in every lane. So the chances of a person stepping inside your restaurant are more if you have maintained a unique and attractive interior. Uniqueness is the key factor that can provoke a person to choose your place over others. Your restaurant should be one of its kinds. And for that you must plan a different theme and style for your interiors.

If you are running a small restaurant, you can try and fix the place yourself. You can check out on the internet for some of the latest styles and ideas. You will be getting great tips and reading stuffs on interior designing. You can even buy materials online for embellishing your place. You can get the fabrics, menu cards and paintings designed by online artists. You can arrange things from different places and put it all together on your own. However, if you are running a grand restaurant, then you better get some help for its designing. If you are not good with decoration and designing stuffs, appoint a reputed interior designer who has considerable experience in designing hotels and restaurants before. Before selecting your designer you should check out his/her past works. You should personally visit the restaurants or hotels designed by him/her. Compare the prices offered by different designers. Discuss your needs with them while considering their inputs.

The interior of a restaurant should be designed in such a way that it reflects the essence of the city or town in which it is located. The kind of food offered in the restaurant can also influence the interior designs. For instance, if it is a restaurant offering cuisines belonging to a particular foreign country, then its interior and decor should represent the spirit of that country.