Freshome.com - Interior Design & Architecture Inspiration Newsletter

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• How Spring Window Treatments can Brighten your Interiors
• Colorful Home with a Charming Rustic Spirit
• Personal Portraits Made From Each User’s Tweets
• Minimalist Apartment Design in Stockholm with Unique Details
• Two Terrace Houses Turned into One: Paddington x2 House
• Clever Bike Rack Concept: Park 10 Bicycles Instead of a Single Car

How Spring Window Treatments can Brighten your Interiors Posted: 27 Apr 2011 05:50 AM PDT After months of closing your window treatments to keep the cold winter out, it's now time to transition to beautiful spring inspired window treatments to let in the sun and springtime views. For some homes, winter meant heavy fabrics and textiles on the windows, while spring should signal a time for lighter colors and lighter weight fabrics. From sheers to textiles that enable you to open the windows, rather than cover them are ideal. If you're trying to brighten your interiors, here are tips to bring spring window treatments into your home. Springtime means brightening colors: Once the winter has ended, brighten your space with warm tans, blues, greens and yellows to evoke a renewal for your interiors. While many people think you have to stick with the same window treatments year around, the contrary is actually true. Dark and heavy fabrics will actually make you feel warmer inside your home, and springtime is about letting in cool breezes and refreshing views. Opt for colorful Roman shades, modern valances, and light colored blinds to help out. While you're at it, consider matching couch throw pillows and area rugs to match the window treatments color. This will make the space feel instantly inviting and renewed for spring! Leave the fabric behind: While many people enjoy fabric, there is a large population who prefers to remove it and enjoy treatmentless windows, or even shutters or blinds. Especially if you have gorgeous vistas to look it, white plantation shutters, vertical or even light wood blinds make for uninterrupted views. Many varieties are available for unique decorative styles, from modern and clean lined treatments to traditional treatments with ornate cornice headers to make your windows look clean and not bare. If you opt for no fabric, ensure that your windows are clean and inviting for guest to enjoy the views. Using multiple treatments on your windows: If your windows feel bare and you prefer a well dressed window, consider layers of color, texture and pattern to complete your springtime window. If glare is a problem in your home from bright sunlight, or reflective water views, opt for sheers, or even window films that can obscure light. Window treatments that span from the ceiling to the floor will elongate your walls, and make the room appear larger. By layering window treatments you can add versatility to your windows. For many homes that are still experiencing winter-like conditions. Layering decorative window treatments over lighter fabrics will help keep out cooler air, while still bringing in sunny views. For wall treatment ideas, look online on home design blogs, window treatment manufacturers and other inspirational resources. Know your home: While you may fall in love with the dreamiest window treatment in a home decor magazine, think of your own home's views and sun exposure before choosing window treatments. Much of your home's heat gain and loss is through the windows. If your home receives heavy sun exposure, have the appropriate treatments to filter out the light. While you may love valances, remember they only adorn the top of your windows, and your home may need sheers, or light fabric shades to assist with keeping out sunlight. Know your home so that you won't regret your decision later! Window treatments for your spring home can be inviting and inspiring! Spring colors, fabrics and textures are what give your home a lift of light and airiness for a renewed spring home. If you are having challenges in finding a window treatment for your home, hire an interior designer, or visit the window treatment area of your local home improvement store. You will be surprised how helpful they can be! Get started on updating your window treatments for your spring home today! Freshome reader's do you keep the same treatments throughout the year, or do you change out for the new season? Ready for more amazing design ideas? Check below ! 10 Ways to Cure Winter Blues with Decorative Spring Colors 5 Window Treatments Ideas to Implement in your Home How to Save Time Spring Cleaning your Home How to Select the Right Window Curtains Fake Window – Bright Blind 10 Ideas for Sprucing up your Front Entry for Spring Click here to connect with Freshome on or on

Colorful Home with a Charming Rustic Spirit Posted: 27 Apr 2011 03:33 AM PDT Rustic homes have an indefinable charm. For today we would like to showcase this two-level colorful house rehabilitated by Joaquin Diaz while respecting the traditional features of the initial building. According to Delikatissen, the first floor houses the common areas, a small bathroom and an apartment designed for guests who come visit. The bedrooms are on the top floor, around a common living room. Wood finishes such as wooden floors, beams and pillars connect the spaces. But the life of this project is given by its colorful decorations: Andy Warhol posters, playful pillows, original furniture items and beautiful flower arrangements- they all contribute to a vivid and fresh atmosphere.   Ready for more amazing design ideas? Check below ! A Beautiful and Inspiring Home Family Design Vivid Apartment with Charming Colorful Interiors Rustic Chest of Drawers Resembling a Stack of Firewood Beautiful Little Girls Bedroom with a Fairy-tale Ambiance Interesting Colorful Locker, Milan 2010 Original and Colorful Approach to the Classic Bench: “Pylon” Click here to connect with Freshome on or on

Personal Portraits Made From Each User’s Tweets Posted: 27 Apr 2011 02:26 AM PDT Freshome readers, we know most of you out there enjoy a good photo of yourself hung on the wall for everyone to see and admire (if that’s not true, we are looking forward to your comments below!). But we are curious what your stand is on this unusual idea. Kunst Buzz is an art studio based in Amsterdam with a specialty for the combination of graphic design with social media monitoring techniques. They recently thought of creating portraits of Twitter users using their Tweets and so a business was born. The printed posters are processed at the user’s request and are  available in blue, pink, red and black and the cost for a 80×120 poster(the largest size) is 295 Euros. The firm also launched a contest on Twitter, where users can Tweer about the product and simply win a poster. Twitter fans, what do you think- would you like to have you tweets framed? Ready for more amazing design ideas? Check below ! Drilling Thousands of Screws for Unusual 3D Mural Portraits Clutter Free Working Environment : StudioDesk Creative Advertising Prints for Dutch Book Week: Written Portraits Incredible Seating Unit Made of 5000 Metrocards by Steve Shaheen USB Sofa, A Couch With a Different Type of Storage Space Enjoy the Music in an Innovative Manner with the Sound Carpet Click here to connect with Freshome on or on

Minimalist Apartment Design in Stockholm with Unique Details Posted: 27 Apr 2011 12:21 AM PDT Welcome to an amazing Swedish apartment displaying nothing but stylish design arrangements in all of its four rooms. With a total area of 110 square meters, this lovely crib is located in central Stockholm, in a peaceful and coveted neighborhood. The living room is the core of the apartment and features a clean interior design with minimalist arrangements. Large windows, a welcoming rustic fireplace, a built in bookcase covering an entire wall, white-pigmented oak floors and white walls are just a few of the features of this Scandinavian home. The kitchen offers good storage facilities and a dining area for numerous guests. Contrasting the soberness of the rest of the apartment, the children’s’ room is colorful and vivid, but just as charming. How do you find this Scandinavian crib? Ready for more amazing design ideas? Check below ! Modern Interior Design- Apartment in Stockholm Amazing Penthouse Apartment for Sale in Stockholm, Sweden Impressive Apartment in Stockholm Bringing Together Old and New Flat Renovations: Swedish Minimalist Apartment Proves Modern Contemporary Design in Central Goteborg Warm and Natural Interiors Created by K2LD Architects, Laced With Wood Click here to connect with Freshome on or on

Two Terrace Houses Turned into One: Paddington x2 House Posted: 26 Apr 2011 09:37 AM PDT Paddington x2 House is a complex project implemented by MCK Architects and consisting of turning two terrace houses in Sydney, Australia into a single living space. Here is more information on this architectural conversion from the designers: “Via research and investigation we arrived at a concept of retaining and refurbishing the terraces, maintaining all characteristics and feature to the external skin while hollowing out the insides to allow the new program of contemporary family home. Being a heritage conservation area, the design is respectful and sympathetic with it's context, while still engaging and challenging in some ways our understanding and perceptions of what heritage actually is and how we are to move forward as architects and 21st century people living in a city, and within a a culture, that is complex and multi-layered, with a need to act responsibly and sustainably for the environment. Our clients were of the same opinion and passionately believe that all aspects of our culture and tradition can co-exist in a 2010 world without any compromise or loss, it just takes intelligent affirmative action." What do you think of the results?  (Photos by: Willem Rethmeier) Ready for more amazing design ideas? Check below ! Charming Victorian Makeover with a Welcoming Interior Design Mind Blowing 19th Century Terrace House in Sydney Practical Advertising: Houses Turned into Billboards for Free Mortgage Shigeru Ban’s Metal Shutter Houses Revamping God's home into your own: Holy home in the UK Green Design: Synagogue Turned Into a Modern Penthouse Click here to connect with Freshome on or on

Clever Bike Rack Concept: Park 10 Bicycles Instead of a Single Car Posted: 26 Apr 2011 07:16 AM PDT London firm Cyclehoop came up with an original idea to promote the use of bicycles over vehicles. This ingenious project was commissioned for the London Festival of Architecture and consists of car-shaped bike racks painted in vivid colors. The concept behind this initiative is that ten bicycles take up the space of one car, which is why people should reconsider the role of the two-wheel vehicles. The racks are portable and each fits perfectly in parking spaces especially designed for cars. Easy to assemble, the unusual objects are also equipped with a bicycle pump. According to Inhabitat, it only took a few minutes for the colorful racks to be filled with bycicles, once Cyclehoop installed them for the Festival of Architecture. Are you a biking fan, or would you much rather take your car out for a ride in order to move from one part of the city to another? Ready for more amazing design ideas? Check below ! Display Your Bike on the Wall as if it Were a Precious Trophy For Greener Cities: Urban Bike Hangers by MANIFESTO Park Your Bicycle Indoors and Enjoy Its Chair Function: The Bike Desk Most Practical and Creative Bike Storage Idea Gear Stick Coat Rack Write a Bike, the Ultimate Way to Personalize a Bicycle Click here to connect with Freshome on or on

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