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Plants And Fish That Bring Life To Victorian Homes

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If you own a Victorian style home, you likely want a decor that matches the period design of your home. When it comes to decorations that bring life to a home, you may wonder what clashes with the time period your home represents, and what matches. Aquariums are a classic addition to Victorian homes and match the upholstery just as much today. Wisteria and jasmine, classic climbing plant life, are also classic imagery around Victorian homes both new and old.

Cradle graves for interior design

Cradle graves, a name for potted or container-held plants, are a classic staple of Victorian design. Victorian design reached many points across the world, and in colonial America in particular, cradle graves were said to be especially numerous around Victorian styled homes. The fact that these plants are meant for planters means they’re easy to add to the interior of your home, brightening up rooms and adding new colors with a variety of different plant life.

Add vines and climbing plants to the exterior

If you’re thinking about the outside of your home, climbing plants like spreading wisteria are classic Victorian design elements. Wisteria tends to support itself with the walls and fences of Victorian homes and can be a great way to cover an otherwise bland side of your home’s exterior. Another popular vine that can match a Victorian home’s exterior is jasmine. A combination of the two can bring colorful purples and standout whites to a garden around your home.

Aquariums and Victorian design

If you’re more interested in the wildlife you can bring into your home, know that aquariums and Victorian homes have a long and storied history. Many Victorian homes had and have elaborate aquariums to show off exotic fish and aquatic pets. William Alford Lloyd was the first professional aquarist and popularized the idea of aquariums in Victorian homes across England. To him, oysters, lobsters, and exotic fish were all worthy additions to a Victorian home.

Victorian homes are rich with history, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be bustling with a variety of living things as well. Vines and climbing plants like wisteria and jasmine are classic additions to any Victorian home. Aquariums are also an idea that Victorian era noblemen made their own, and match the storied design of these homes.  And cradle graves, or potted plants, have been used to add color to Victorian home interiors for more than two centuries now.

How To Find The Perfect Gift For Senior Family & Friends

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Seniors are a discerning bunch; they have often lived rich lives, developed a wide range of hobbies, and probably have all the equipment they need at home and in the garage. This can make gift buying a challenge. How to ensure you don’t succumb to the typical present of perfume or socks this year? By thinking a little out of the box and getting them something they never expected – including art, fitness and experience based gifts!

Art is the Gift that Never Fades

The effect on art on the human psyche has long been studied, with recent studies showing that both contemplating and creating art, can help put us into a mindful mood, lower stress, and make us feel more positive. Imagine the face on your parent or grandparent when they realize that you have bought them a gift that will engross and entertain them for many years to come. Art has a wonderful ability to adapt to our frame of mind, and keen art lovers know that the way we view particular paintings or sculptures changes as time goes by.

Keeping them Fighting Fit

Doctors are constantly warning us of the dangers of the sedentary lifestyle; in seniors, it is particularly important to stay active, since strengthening muscles and bones will help them avoid falls and fractures, and a bit of daily cardio will ensure they keep obesity at bay. One cool gift mature persons love is a fitness tracker, which will indicate how many steps they have taken on a given day, and also track their heart rate and other statistics. Most trackers are lightweight and come in a number of colors, so finding the right model for your loved one will be easy.

Giving an Experience

Find out what items on your friend or family member’s bucket list they have yet to achieve. While buying them a ticket to the Maldives might be a little more than you bargained for, they may list down experiences that you can make possible – for instance, a soothing massage at a luxury spa, a lovely meal at a romantic restaurant, or a night at a hotel they have always dreamed of staying at. Another gift mature people love, is entertainment – tickets to the opera, perhaps, or to a classical music concert. Do they love a band they haven’t seen perform in ages? (e.g. the Rolling Stones or similar)? Nothing is quite as fun as watching one’s favorite band perform!

Gifts for seniors can be so much more exciting than unimaginable gifts such as ties, socks, or grooming products. Would you like to receive any of these gifts? Probably not. Give the mature person in your life something that will ignite their imagination or improve their health. If you can, surprise them with an experience that will provide them with a wonderful memory for many years to come.

Ways to Modernize Your Victorian Home 

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The best part about older, traditional homes is their character. The aged interior and exterior characteristics often date the rooms and inspire a lovely sense of nostalgia. Victorian homes, especially, are known for their unique features, including complex and decorative interior trims, steep pitch roofing and asymmetrical architectural details. Still, there’s no reason why your Victorian home has to remain fixed in the 1850’s. Instead, there are many simple ways to modernize your old Victorian in a way that brings your rooms into the 21st century. Your new “Modern Victorian” home will look fantastic, emphasizing both the Victorian-era characteristics and some chic, contemporary designs, too.

Bring Your Fireplace into the 21st Century

Fireplaces will either instantly date or modernize a space. Victorian-era fireplaces can make a room feel heavy, dark and extremely traditional, so why not renovate it to make it look a little more contemporary? By installing a wall-hanging model that’s electric or ethanol burning, you can integrate a chic, simple design that will make the space look entirely fresh. Modern fireplaces, even in a room with other Victorian elements, will give the entire ambiance of the space a renewed feel.

Install Modern Light Fixtures 

Another way to showcase the old architecture of your Victorian home in a creative, 21st century style is to install modern lighting. While not all modern light fixtures will fit with Victorian designs, something that is more mid-century modern or Scandinavian modern will do the trick. Remember to mix old with new and new with old. Mixing the styles of lighting and eras will lead to a unique final product that flows together in a contemporary fashion.

Incorporate Cutting-Edge Artwork 

A final idea for modernizing an older home like a Victorian is to incorporate some interesting, engaging, cutting-edge art pieces. Picture this: You have a classic Victorian room that’s square and lined with dark wooden trim, and you add a colorful, abstract painting to the middle of a white wall. The artwork will instantly raise the level of your home’s aesthetic and make it more intriguing, rather than classical or predictably Victorian. Just because the architecture looks one way doesn’t mean that every detail in the interior of your home has to reflect the era.

By installing a wall-mounted fireplace, hanging some modern light fixtures and incorporating cutting-edge artwork, you can revamp your Victorian home and transport its interior design into the 21st century.

Tips From Pros: Choosing The Right Awning For Your Home

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Source: unsplash.com

Providing shade for your backyard or front porch is one of the most important things during summer heats and there are several ways to do so. Planting a tree is the most cost-effective, some would even say the most elegant solution, however, it could take 15 to 20 years for a tree to fully matures and even then, it will cause a no small amount of additional maintenance on your property. As an alternative, some people decide to go with expensive wooden constructions or simple, cheap and inefficient method of using parasols. As a compromise, more and more people are turning towards the idea of awnings. Still, making a choice of the right awning for your home is not an easy one to make.

The location of the awning:

The first thing you need to consider when getting an awning is the location that it is about to take. Two most notable spots for an awning are just above the window or over your patio. The benefits of the awning in the first location are the fact that it protects the room from the direct sunlight, therefore resulting in a significant heat reduction.

Source: unsplash.com

During the summer, this helps reduce the amount of energy spent by your AC unit in order to cool down the room. On the other hand, during the winter, you might want to get as much daylight as possible, which is why the above-window awning should, almost always, be a retractable one.

As for the awning above the patio, in a situation where you have a wooden outdoor furniture, having this protection from direct sun ray exposure may protect it in the long run. In the above-discussed winter scenario, however, it is always advised to move your outdoor furniture somewhere else.

The choice of the material:

The next major choice you will have in front of you is the one of material. Apart from determining the appearance of your awning, this choice also determines the maintenance and durability of the awning in question. When it comes to the appearance, this is not a choice that can be made standalone. You need to take into consideration the layout of your home, the façade on its exterior as well as the patio it hangs above.

Source: burst.shopify.com

As far as the popular choices go, cotton, canvas, mesh and acrylic are the most popular choices. One last thing that the choice of the material determines is the price of the awning, while those determined can always get an appropriate solution from their local budget awnings Sydney retailers.

The shape and style:

While awnings are getting more and more popular solution for providing shade and covers in households, traditionally, they are most commonly used in front of stores or boutiques. This diversification of use for private households and businesses of various kinds has led to the situation where there are so many different shapes and styles of awnings. Rounded entrance canopy or gabled entrance canopy are most commonly used in hotels, traditional valances and quarter rounds is commonly used in front of stores. As for households, lateral arm or concave are styles that are used in most situations.

To retract or not to retract:

In the first section of this piece, we already went to length to address the advantages of retractable awnings, however, a lot of people prefer to go with fixed designs. Most common reasons for this are the fact that they are easier to install and much less likely to malfunction.

Source: unsplash.com

No matter how quality the installation process was, a retractable awning still functions with a help of a specific mechanism. Now, this mechanism consists of numerous moving parts, each of which might malfunction at one point. In this situation, you probably won’t be able to immediately fix a problem but would have to look for a professional aid. In other words, while retractable awning is clearly superior in many aspects, the ease of maintenance is clearly not one of them.

Situational variables:

Finally, in some situations, it may not be so easy to make the right choice seeing as how there may be a number of situational variables one needs to take into consideration. For instance, you may, or may not, need some side panels or an awning that stands at a certain unorthodox angle. Furthermore, there may be a series of obstacles like tree branches you might need to either prune or work around. In any case, each of these variations will make the price of the installation a tad more expensive.

Source: unsplash.com

At the end of the day, making the choice of the right awning for your home can be incredibly difficult, yet, there is one thing you must always take into consideration – it isn’t something you’re supposed to again for quite a long time. You see, this is one of those choices that will stick with you for years and decades afterward, which is why you need to be extra cautious while making it.

 

Everyone Deserves A Little Bit Of Nordic Style By Zoe Clark

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1What comes to your mind when you think of Scandinavia? Apart from polar nights, long winters, and a penchant for technology, Europe’s far north is also famous for its stylish interior design. An expression of effortless elegance and inimitable unity of function and aesthetics, Nordic décor does away with superficial ornaments and visual noise, and it is also very simple to achieve. Everyone deserves a little bit of the Scandinavian no-nonsense vibe in their living area – and here are a few ways on how to carry out a budget-friendly home update following in the Nordic footsteps.

No carpets, please!

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Although winters in Northern Europe are known for biting winds and extremely low temperatures, carpets and rugs never gained widespread popularity among Scandinavian homeowners. To recreate the Nordic feel, pull back the carpeting and expose hardwood floors. Often coated by a matte varnish or painted white, bare floorboards in Scandinavian homes require less maintenance and are much easier to clean than lavish carpeting, so you will be hitting two boons with one simple décor tweak.

White and crisp as snow

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The dominant colour scheme in Scandinavian homes relies heavily on neutral hues. Although one would think Northerners are sick of seeing white expanses all around them, walls and furnishings in Nordic homes are often executed in white to maximize reflection of natural light during long glum winter days. Pastel tones such as beige, grey, baby blue, and light green can be used as sparing accents to break the décor monotony, but their deployment is usually limited to bed linens, cushions, tableware, or an odd accent wall. If you are looking to add an accent or two, reworking your upholstering can be the easiest and most affordable.

One with Nature

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Scandinavians are fond of nature, and they often add potted plants to their living areas as cute reminders that grim winters will eventually end, ceding the throne to verdant spring. Tiny botanical gardens in a vacant corner of the room will increase visual interest of the Nordic home, while cute cacti lined up on bookshelves or desktop, storage baskets made from natural materials, a bunch of flowers on the dining table, or a few succulents on the windowsill will help break the monochromatic look and spruce up the vibe in the room.

Clean lines and soft edges

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Even tableware in Scandinavian homes is pared down and subordinated to function rather than visual extravaganza. Nordic-inspired plates, trays, and mugs embody the straightforward, simplistic attitude of Scandinavia: no needless distractions, use of natural materials, and accent on purpose and longevity supplement the classical feel in a Scandi home. Often crafted from clay, wood, or brass, kitchen utensils and containers mimic the austerity of nature in the Nordic regions while still conveying a powerful message about simplicity and everlasting minimal style.

Let there be light

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Since Europe’s far north suffers from dire lack of natural light during winters, Nordic designers love to experiment with shapes and sizes in lamp designs. In this way, function marries form in often fascinating pieces of light art: contemporary and sophisticated, lighting fixtures in Scandinavian homes have aesthetic value and often add a note of playfulness and creativity without compromising the Nordic emphasis on purpose, colour balance, and plain décor.

A Scandinavian garden tale

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The Nordic look can be transplanted into the backyard to a highly pleasing effect. White garden furnishings, wooden benches, simplistic yard art, minimalist statues, and tables topped by large beeswax candles will help recreate the feel of a Scandinavian fairytale al fresco. You can also adorn the garden table with weatherproof fabrics in neutral hues for a Nordic-inspired outdoor makeover, and display foliage in horn-like pots, vases, and plant hangers like a true Viking.

Charming, simple, and easy to replicate, Nordic décor revolves around practicality, unity with nature, and minimalist elegance. A return to the basics and evergreen design, Scandinavian look is true eye-candy, and if executed with care, it will make you fall in love with your space like no other décor out there.

Images via Stadshem