What comprises a good interior design?

The way we design our homes speaks a lot about our tastes, preferences and even our personalities. This is the major reason why people nowadays take a keen interest when it comes to designing their homes. Right from choosing as big as the furniture for the home to small things like décor accessories, people now take a keen interest in everything.

The interior designs we choose for our home should not just be pleasant to look at but also should be comfortable and soothing for the home owner. We live in a fast paced world where we are constantly being bombarded with different types of information like what we should wear, what should we eat and what should we buy. But seldom, we pay attention to the design of our homes or rarely do we give a thought to how we should design our homes and what should be the perfect interior design for our home. The interior designs that we choose for our homes can have an effect on our creativity, moods and energy levels. So it only makes sense to have the right interior designs for our homes.

There are some simple ways by which we can spruce up our homes by going for the right interior designs. Here are a few points that need to be focussed on.

Harmony

It is very essential that all rooms in your home have a strong sense of co-ordination and harmony to them. Any amount of disharmony will only make the room look disturbed.

Focus points

Every room should have focus point. This is the main foundation of any interior design. The focus point should be such that it easily draws attention and stands out from the rest of the accessories. A focus point can be anything like an art display, family portraits or an architectural wall piece.

Visual balance

Visual balance is another pillar of a good interior design. Visual balance implies balancing the room’s visual weight and effortlessly spreading it out to other areas of the room.

These are some of the basic fundamentals of a good interior design.

Take the right steps when designing your bathroom

Bathroom Fittings

There are many reasons why people like to redesign their bathroom. For some, it may be a welcome change form the old, full appearance of the bathroom. Some others may have moved into a new home and want their bathroom to have a completely new look. While for some, the prospect of attractive returns upon selling their property lures them into bathroom remodelling. It is a fact that bathroom redesigning gives the best investment return compared to any other type of home remodelling. People are now experimenting with bold designs and themes for their bathrooms as they want this space to look entirely unique and special. There are many ways by which you can alter the appearance of your bathroom.

The first step when taking up a bathroom remodelling task would be to get the right bathroom fittings. Bathroom fittings are the heart and soul of your bathroom. Bathroom fittings include sanitary ware, cabinets and countertops. Though getting the right bathroom fittings may not comprise the entire redecoration procedure, it is no doubt an integral part of remodelling. To make your bathroom look lavish, you can replace the cabinets with new ones apart from changing the counter tops to granite.

Once you are done replacing the bathroom fittings, you should start looking for the right tiles for your bathroom. The selection of appropriate tiles would entirely depend on your family members and also your needs and requirements. If you have a job, then you surely would not have time to clean up the tiles everyday. In this case, you would like to have tiles that are anti-stain and scratch free. You can also co-ordinate the colour of your tiles with the walls and get a paint that completely compliments the flooring.

Why vitrified tiles are a good option?



Vitrified Tiles



Though many home-owners like to have hardwood flooring for their homes, they forget that it is not strong enough and cannot withstand high traffic. Though hardwood flooring looks elegant, it is quite delicate and requires a lot of maintenance to keep its appearance intact. For those who are looking for attractive alternative to hardwood flooring, vitrified tiles is a good option. Vitrified tiles not just look attractive and pleasing but also are stronger compared to hardwood flooring. They are much tougher than most other flooring options. With vitrified tiles, you can give your home a modern, new look that is hard to miss.

Vitrified tiles are manufactured essentially with the vitrification process which involves mixing 40 % clay and 60 % silica. This combination of clay and silica is termed perfect to form vitrified tiles. 

As a result of the process of vitrification, the end product is hard and non-porous. Being hard and non-porous, vitrified tiles easily score over other tiles like marble tiles and other stone tiles. Stone tiles and some of the marble tiles are porous and can get spoilt easily if there is much of water retention. 

Advantages 

Another good thing about vitrified tiles is that they hardly require any maintenance. Vitrified tiles are a perfect option in places which experience a lot of traffic as they are designed to be non-abrasive. Another unique advantage vitrified tiles have over hardwood and other types of flooring is that the designs for vitrified tiles are printed with soluble salts and can easily penetrate the surface of the tile to about 3 mm. This implies that vitrified tiles have their designs which are entrenched at a depth of almost 30% of the tile’s thickness.  With so many advantages, you surely cannot miss on having vitrified tiles for your home. 

Tiles for commercial establishments

When it comes to choosing the flooring for commercial spaces like malls and restaurants, you have to be careful that you choose the right type of flooring as the flooring meant for residential spaces would not suit commercial establishments. Places like malls and shopping centres have to cope up with heavy footfall throughout the day and at the same time maintain a safe and comfortable environment for the patrons. Hence, the requirements for commercial flooring are completely different from that of regular flooring. Here are a few considerations before your look for commercial flooring.

Commercial Flooring

Illusion of space

When looking for tiles for commercial spaces, look for those that can create an illusion of space. Most malls and shopping centres have tiles in greys and beiges as these are supposed to be most neutral of all colours. While looking for tiles for commercial establishments, the most neutral shade is chosen. However, times are changing and more and more innovative designs are coming into picture. These innovative designs for floor tiles are now being taken as an integral part of the floor design process. Opting for carpet tiles for commercial flooring gives you a chance to create flooring that is truly unique, custom-made to suit the area’s colour, taste and mood.

Durability

When looking for tiles for commercial spaces, remember that it is practically not possible to replace the tiles every few years. Hence, for commercial spaces, you need tiles that are extremely durable and have a long shelf life. Places like shopping malls will be exposed to heavy customer traffic and thus the tiles should be able to withstand the load and should be resistant against damage. Apart from damage, tiles for commercial spaces should be resistant to general wear and tear. For commercial spaces, you can opt for carpet tiles that have a dense loop pile construction which can be used along with vinyl flooring. Remember that when it comes to durability, hardwood flooring is the last option you should consider as it is not known for durability.

Why ceramic tiles are best for your bathroom

Ceramic Tiles

When it comes to choosing tiles for your bathroom, one good option you have is that of ceramic tiles. The bathroom is a place where it is difficult to take up redesigning tasks every now and then. So for the bathroom, you want materials that are long lasting and superior in quality. That is what the best quality of ceramic tiles is. Ceramic tiles are known for their durability as they are designed to have a long shelf life. Apart from being extremely durable, ceramic tiles are resistant to moisture and dampness. As they are designed to be resistant to damp surfaces, they are an excellent option in a place like the bathroom which sees a lot of moisture.

If there are old people in the house, you may be worried about their safety when they use the bathroom. But with ceramic tiles, there is no such worry as they are safe to walk on even when they are wet. Thus, you can install them in your bathroom without worry of old people slipping on the wet surface. Another great thing about ceramic tiles is that they are extremely easy to clean. You surely do not want to waste hours everyday just cleaning and washing your bathroom. Ceramic tiles are easy to clean and low on maintenance. If you are very particular about anti-resistant tiles for your bathroom, then you can also get slip resistant ceramic tiles for your bathroom. They are widely available in the market. Ceramic tiles come in different shapes like rectangles, squares, octagons and hexagons. You can also find diamond shaped ceramic tiles for your bathroom. Apart from this, there are many other shapes you can find in ceramic tiles.

Few unique features of ceramic wall tiles




Ceramic Wall Tiles

 

When it comes to choosing wall tiles, most home-owners always prefer ceramic wall tiles because of the innumerable features they have to offer. Ceramic tiles have a lot of advantages over other wall tiles in terms of both practicality and looks. Though wall tile manufacturers constantly come up with innovative alternatives to various types of wall tiles, they find it much difficult to replicate or come up with something better compared to ceramic wall tiles. Ceramic tiles were popular in the olden days and they still continue to remain popular because of their unique features.

Features 

You must be wondering what the so-called features of ceramic wall tiles are. To begin with, ceramic wall tiles are extremely durable. Ceramic wall tiles are endowed with a long shelf life. So once you have fitted ceramic wall tiles for your home, you do not have to worry about replacing your wall tiles for a long period of time. Ceramic wall tiles are designed in a futuristic manner so that they do not lose their appeal over time and continue to look stylish and aesthetic even years after they have been installed. Another great feature about ceramic wall tiles is that they are designed to be water-proof. So they are a great tiling option in places like bathrooms and kitchens where the flooring and the walls are subjected to frequent moisture. Ceramic wall tiles will not retain moisture easily. Ceramic wall tiles are also known to be resistant to stains and marks. Thus, they are a safe option in the kitchen where the walls are prone to catching marks and stains. Another feature that makes ceramic wall tiles extremely desirable is the fact that they are easy to clean and maintain.

Getting creative with your ceramic tiles

Ceramic Tiles

You may be thinking of installing ceramic tiles for your home but must be wondering whether these tiles will add a new look to your home or just look like the conventional tiles. There are many ways you can give a artistic and a creative touch to your ceramic tiles. If you really want to play around with the design of your ceramic tiles, then one easy and affordable option you have is hand-painting them.

If you are wondering whether hand painting will do a good job for your ceramic tile, then worry not as ceramic tiles look amazingly wonderful once they have been hand-painted. Hand-painting ceramic tiles are the most popular method of decorating your ceramic tiles. Once your ceramic tiles are hand-painted, then it just not adds to the aesthetic value of your home but also greatly increases its resale value. All you need to do is put some effort to ensure you get a handsome price when you finally sell of your home. Your home may consist of different parts like the living area, stair risers, counter-tops, fountains, patios, floor accents, display windows apart from wall coverings. Having the flooring for these places will hand-painted ceramic tiles will surely add a new dimension to each of the place. When it comes to hand-painting your ceramic tiles, you can get as creative as possible and paint from anything right from abstract images, geometric shape, ancient designs, historic pictures, Egyptian hieroglyphics apart from Mayan stone carvings. 

You may be surprised to know that hand-painting ceramic tiles has developed into a full-fledged hobby for many people and people like to hone their skills into becoming professional painters in a bid to express their thoughts and imagination.

Getting right tools to clean industrial tiles

Industrial Tiles

Industrial tiles are a lot more different from the standard tiles that we see in homes and other commercial spaces. Industrial tiles or the standard tiles, you must have noticed that tiles began to lose their sheen after some time. They do not look the way they used to when they were installed. You may mop the floor several tiles with all the cleaners present in the market, but somehow the sheen does not come back completely. After certain point of time you tend to give up and let the floors remain as they are.Industrial tiles need to be maintained properly as industrial spaces go through a lot of rough activities and this may harm the tiles or permanently stain them. The first thing while purchasing tiles for industrial spaces is to see that they have a good shelf life unaffected by the regular dents and stain marks. For industrial tiles, many people prefer to go it simple and use a normal vacuum cleaner to clean the tiles. After the vacuuming, a drained mop is used to get rid of the remaining dust. But while using the wet mop, you are scared. There is a danger that that water may seep in to the tiles causing the flooring to swell.
Floor buffers
If you want to be assured of the beauty and the long lasting ability of your industrial tiles, then it makes sense to go for a floor buffer. You must have probably heard of a floor buffer earlier and chances are that you may know a few people who have already gained the benefits of installing a floor buffer. Floor buffers are quite common in markets. Floor buffers for industrial tiles might look difficult to use, but the reality is that they are quite simple to use. While using floor buffers for industrial tiles, always use a new pad every time you take up cleaning the floor. For tough surfaces, you can use cutting pads. For a wooden surface, a finishing pad will do the job well.