Sheers and panels

Our house renovation is almost complete, and now, it's time to think about how to dress our windows!

Personally, I like decorating room by room, so thinking beforehand on what curtains to use for all the rooms in our house is quite the challenge for me.

I have an idea of how I want my curtains to look like - a neutral colour in a natural material that I won't get bored of over time. I'm not really into patterns, as I like the flexibility of plains where it can go with any theme.

But the thing that has left me scratching my head is on how to layer day with night curtains. You see, houses here are so close together, that day curtains are a must - it keeps sunlight in, but gives us the privacy we need during the day.

I was thinking of going for sheers and pair them with panels - but I really can't find much inspiration out there. Here are a few photos of rooms that have dressed up their windows with both sheer and panels that I will refer to as inspiration.

Velvet & Linen

This is from Brooke Giannetti, I love the use of this gauzy sheer fabric, layered with linen panels for night curtains. Gorgeous.

Phoebe Howard

Phoebe Howard

Phoebe Howard

Phoebe Howard mentions in her blog to stay away from polyester when you use sheers, and she likes using double poles to pair sheer curtains with panels. Aren't the three photos above just beautiful?

The photos of the room below uses double poles with sheer curtains and panels. The room is just beautiful, so I thought I'd just put in all three for your viewing pleasure. :-)

The sheers bring that elegant and romantic touch to the room. I love the use of natural textures of linen, sisal, antique chairs and console. 

You can better see the double poles used here in this photo. I love the stripe on these chairs. 

Source unknown! Let me know if you know who the designer is!

The below room has a modern touch to the interiors as well as the sheers used. You can't really see it, but the sheers to filter in light and maintain privacy is hung as blinds and pulled all the way down to the floor. This is a gorgeous room.

via Eclectic Revisited

The below is one of my favourite photos of sitting rooms - you can't really see the curtains, but they have also used sheers and panels here.

via Mark D Sikes

A beautiful dining area uses sheers and panels here too. I love the ornate chandelier.

House Beautiful

Well, I guess I'll be referring to these photos when I'm making choices for my windows! Have a great week ahead!

So my style is...?

The best thing about having a new home is the ideas and inspiration we can find online as we dream of how the home will be decorated.

Even though renovation has not even started yet, there are days when I'm dreaming away of what my living room would look like.

If I were to define what style I would go for, I don't think I can put my finger on it.

It's a mixture of beachy decor made of blues, greens and greys...

Velvet & Linen

I am also inspired by the use of simple lines and natural materials, and darker, accent colours like the vases in this room...

via Mark D. Sikes

I love neutral-themed rooms too...

Curated Style

My Notting Hill

And some modern elements to spice it up a little bit!

Cote de Texas

I think I will use a mixture of all the features I love in each of the photos above to decorate my living room!

Have a wonderful day! 

bedrooms sheets

When it comes to choosing bed sheets, without a doubt, I would always go for plain sheets - preferably white, for that matter.

I always feel plain sheets will never tire me and I can always dress up the bed with throw pillows and quilts of different colours, patterns and textures. I also prefer soothing rooms that I can retreat to at the end of the day - that means soft and cool colours like white, blues, and light greys.

Here I'll show you my favourite dressed beds and what I love about them.

Better Homes and Gardens

The photo above has to be one of my favourite bedrooms - it looks so luxurious and sophisticated.  Bed sheets have a subtle pattern, and dressed with a frilly skirt and textured quilt. Beautiful.

via Conspicuous Style

I love whites and beiges. This bed has textured pillows and a lovely elegant pattern on the skirting. Gorgeous.

via The Pink Pagoda

If you have lovely wallpaper and patterned rugs, its best to keep your sheets plain white like the photo above. The olive green borders is a simple pattern yet pretty.

Source unknown

The photo above has to be another of my favourite rooms. Beautiful plain white sheets matched with a textured beige coverlet and grey throw.

Elle Decor

A white room - the pretty details of the headboard bring visual interest to the plain white bedsheets.

Source unknown

Plain white sheets paired with patterned throw pillows and a plain blue square pillow and blue throws. I love the casual elegance of this room.

 If you like more patterns on your sheets, here are some that I find pretty...

Ruemag

The photo above was one of the inspiration photos my sister and I referred to when we were doing the makeover of her room. We love the colours used - grey-blues, white and beiges. Notice that they also use white sheets, but dressed it up with a textured, patterned quilt and throw pillows.

via Create Girl

I love this blue and the simple pattern of these sheets. They dressed it up with a white textured throw and a plain throw pillow for that pop of colour.

via The Lennoxx

I find stripes are pretty too - this coastal themed room uses blue stripes with white sheets and a cute pillow with a starfish pattern.

If you don't mind bold colours and patterns, this zigzag pattern looks great, too. Notice how everything else is kept white and simple - except for the cool aqua blue nightstand. 

Urban Outfitters

So how would you dress up your bed? Plain and simple? Or bold and bright?

red nook

I wrote about breakfast nooks the other day. So we've decided that we can't afford to have one in the house, for now.

But it still has not deterred me from finding beautiful pictures of breakfast nooks on Pinterest!.

I'm loving this one right now.

Source unknown! Pls let me know if you can find the source

I've never been a fan of red, but this crimson looks so pretty. I'm loving the exposed wood beam, the raw plaster walls, the linen table cloth with the red stripes. And floral pillows matched with striped pillows look great, too.

Lovely!

wednesday

Is it only just Wednesday? The middle of the week is usually the busiest day of the week, so let's just enjoy this morning with some beautiful photos of dreamy bedrooms with vaulted, wood-beamed ceilings. Enjoy! 

I love the vibrant colours of the wood, contrasting with blue sheets and grey linens on the sofa. 

A neutral and feminine bedroom with bleached wood beams. Lovely.

Plaster walls, lovely view and blues and chalky greys. Swoon.

Rustic beamed ceilings and plaster walls. Its all about being simple and beautiful. 

I don't really see the point of that hanging frame above the bed - but whatever works. White and greys make a beautiful and serene bedroom. Look at all the lovely textures from the throw, the stool at the dresser, the linen sheets. Love.

Isn't the blue quilt adorable? I love this room. Note the white ceiling gives a great contrast to the wooden beams. Beautiful.

All photos are taken from El Mueble.


Happy Wednesday!

beautiful interiors

I've been a little uninspired lately - could be due to things happening at home. Our son was hospitalised for a few days due to an ongoing fever. But all is fine now. We were rather worried it was dengue, but thank goodness it was not.

So I thought I would roam the world wide web to look for beautiful interiors to update here on this blog. Today's post will be photos from Kelly Harmon Interiors & Design.

Her work is simply gorgeous - see for yourself.

I love how everything is so simple and somewhat 'unfinished'. Like it was unintentionally beautiful.

I love that dramatic bed. Again simple and beautiful - plaster walls, a frameless door, unfinished wood floor, the patina on the plaster frame of the french door, and a touch of elegance of the chaise lounge.

More beamed and vaulted ceilings. I adore the built-in bookcase with the blue walls. An elegant contrast to the other neutral hues of the room.

A touch of detail in the glass chandelier in this bathroom and everything else is left simple and basic. I love the limestone bath and the distressed window.

White and blues used in this clean and uncluttered children's room.

Kelly mentions that her colour palette is 'no-colour' - being inspired from natural sunlight and the outdoors. I love that concept.

The grey stripe matches the grey shutters of the window. I'm in love with all the patina.

A beautiful light and airy guest room.

For more photos, visit Kelly Harmon Designs .

Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday.

A study in natural materials

Remember when I wrote that post that one day I would have an awesome study that was kinda industrial and masculine-looking?

Now I think I wouldn't mind having a girly study area like this one, too.

via Roses and Rust

I absolutely love that burlap-covered board leaning against that wall! So natural and effortlessly pretty. I'm in love with the curves of the unfinished wood desk and chair, too. Oh, and the grooves on that wooden lamp. And those thick linen curtains and matchstick blinds.

I love the use of natural materials in decorating - its so authentic and naturally makes you feel at home.

sofa guide

I received a request from a reader to write a post on sofas. Which was good timing because I had recently visited Macy, a store here in Malaysia selling sofas at affordable prices and nice sofa designs. A store like this is hard to find here - sofas are either pretty but expensive or cheap but not-so-pretty. Click here to view their website.

Here's a list of my personal preferences on looking for a sofa - those gathered from my obsession of collecting photos of beautiful rooms :-)

1. Shape
I like sofas with clean lines, no bulkiness and simplicity. Like the sofas featured in this room:

Image source Velvet & Linen

 This has to be my all-time favourite living room. I love the streamlined shape of the sofas. I'm also in love with the colour palette.


2. 3-seater or 2-seater?
While you can get value for your money when you purchase a set of sofas, I find that its nice to mix and match. If your budget allows, opt for a 3-seater with several wingback chairs in complementing colours and patterns.

Image source

This room has a 3-seater in a solid statement colour and four 1-seaters in complementing neutral colours.

3. Colour and Pattern
For your main sofa (usually the 3-seater), I would prefer a solid neutral colour with no patterns. That way, you can accessorize with pretty throw pillows. You can also mix and match with other chairs in the room.

Image source

A pretty turquoise sofa dressed up with bold patterned throw pillows.

One of Phoebe Howard's rooms. A neutral-coloured sofa dressed up with blue-gray and yellow throw pillows:

Image source

Patterns are also great in hiding stains and dirts. I'm not a floral-fabric kind of gal, but if you do like them, keep the pattern on your main sofa only.

Stripes are also making a comeback these days. But make sure your other seating doesn't go overboard with too many stripes.

Image source

4. Material
I've recently become a fan of slipcovered sofas. I find that they are practical and convenient for families with children - they can be slipped off to wash and slipped back on. And, it could be an option for people who like their sofas white so you can easily put them in the wash every time they get dirty (though this might mean you'll need several sets of slipcovers!).

Linen is a popular material for slipcovers at the moment - if you like that crumpled, casual look. Just remember that linen must be prewashed before you get them made into slipcovers as they do tend to shrink.

Image source

More slipcovers:

house beautiful

Leather is also a good material that ages well. I'm not a big fan, but here is a photo of a pair of leather armchairs. I really like that fabric on that table, too.

Image source

5. What about L-shaped sofas?
Yeah, what about it? L-shaped sofas are quite popular here in Malaysia - I think mostly for it being able to accommodate more people on it and its practicality for falling asleep in front of the TV :-)

You can consider this if you have a big family. Here's a nice one.

contemporary living room design

Do share with me your personal preferences in getting a sofa! I'm sure there are more aspects that I have not covered! Love hearing from you!