The Perfect Colour Scheme

When it came to choosing paints for our house, it was the hardest thing to do. I'm not an interior designer and nor do I have a natural eye for colour. So, I diligently read up on how to co-ordinate colours and how to use a colour wheel.

First you have to know what a colour wheel looks like. This colour wheel from Nippon Paint is possibly one of the easiest wheels to refer to.

Now, pick your favourite colour. The trick is to find other colour combinations that match your favourite colour.

Monochromatic
Chose a colour and use a shade, tint or tone of the same colour throughout the room.

Green colour scheme in a kitchen via Design Interior Ideas

A tip from designer Mark McCauley, author of Color Therapy at Home: Real Life Solutions for Adding Color to Your Life - use darker color values for the floor, medium color values for the walls and light values for the ceiling. He adds, "Any interior space replicates the outside world. The exterior environment is generally darker below our feet (the earth itself), medium-valued as you look straight ahead (buildings/trees) and lighter values skyward."

Darker floors, medium walls and light ceiling via HGTV

Triadic
Use three colurs that are even spaced around the colour wheel.

Triadic colours tend to be quite vibrant so you should choose one dominant colour and use the other two as complementing colours. Think 80-20-10. Use 80% of your the dominant colour on prominent features like your walls or sofa, 20% of complementary colour in medium sized items in the room like a floor carpet and 10% of the other complementary colour in small accessories or paintings.

Adjacent
Also known as analogous colours, uses colours that are next to each other or within a 90 degree angle in a wheel. For example, they can be different shades of green and yellow, all of which can exist harmoniously next to each other.

Analogous colours should be less vivid and bright. Nature demonstrates this best. Look into the twilight sky for blends of purple, blue and magenta colours or the blazing desert for yellow, gold and orange. A forest has light green to blue and purple within its depths.

Purple, pink and red - Source unknown

Earthy combination of green, yellow and orange - Source unknown

Complementary

Choose two colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel.

Complementary colour schemes are usually vivid, energetic and uplifting.

Turquoise and hot pink bedroom via Dutch Boy

Purple and mustard in the living room via Sabine's Blog

Now that I've learnt about the different colour combinations that work, I'm feeling a little more brave and will start with a purple, black and bronze combo in my bedroom. What do you think Hubby?

* Some images are from unknown sources. Please email me if it belongs to you and I'll happily credit you for it.

Chinese Charm

Starting on the 3rd of February, every Chinese person around the world will be celebrating Chinese New Year. This is a time when families from far and near come together to celebrate the most important event of the Lunar calendar. Celebrations begin with the reunion feast on the night of the eve of the new year and the festivity goes on for the next 15 days with visits to homes of relatives and old friends.

In the weeks before Chinese New Year, homes are spring cleaned, some re-renovated and most decorated, traditionally with red lanterns, red packets hanging from plants, plum blossom trees and a red cloth above the main door symbolizing an auspicious day.

Food is also an important part of Chinese New Year. My mother lovingly cooked for our guests every year and stocked up on various types of snacks that children happily indulged in. Chinese New Year is one of the happiest times of the year as we all waft in the spirit of giving, sharing and reminiscing.

Yes, Chinese New Year decorations and Chinese food are in my mind...

Oriental decorated terrace via Maison Boheme

Oriental-Bohemian bedroom (source unknown)

Murals or Chinese pagodas via OhDeeDoh

Blue Chinese dining room (source unknown)

Birdcage mirror via Angel at my Table

Reunion dinner in 2010 cooked by my mother-in-law

* Some images are from unknown sources. Please email me if it belongs to you and I'll happily credit you for it.

Eco Chic

My article for HomePride for the months of November and December 2010 is about decorating in environmentally friendly ways. There's so much to be said about the selection of sustainable materials and so much that we take for granted that this article simply couldn't cover it all. I hope that it does in some ways help you to make more sustainable choices when you're decorating.

Open publication - Free publishing - More sustainable

Iconic Designs Reviewed by How's House

A big shout-out to Adrian from How's House for the write-up on Iconic Designs webshop and Ferm Living wallpaper. Read all about it here:

• my-iconicdesigns.com by Adrian How
• Ferm LIVING Wallpaper Review  

If you need more convincing on why you should use wallpaper, read his article 'Why Use Wallpaper?'

Hello 2011!

Happy New Year everybody! And a belated Merry Christmas too. I hope we all had a good holiday. Ok, I'm a few days late with my greetings but there was so much to do after my holiday in Egypt so this blog had to take a back seat.

Looking back into the year 2010, we moved from our minimalist urban townhouse that my husband and I have lived in since our childless days into a larger suburban home surrounded by nature and many other families with 2.5 kids. Our kids are much happier here with more space to run free and have established friendships with neighbouring children.

2010 was also the year when I started this blog. I've never been one to enjoy writing and would prefer to sit back with a good book and sink in the story. But I needed an outlet for this insatiable curiosity for interior design, especially Scandinavian and Chinoiserie. My love for design goes all the way back to high school.  When given a book of my choice, I would ask for books on interior design. 20 years later, that pent up passion for design has finally found an escape.

Back to year 2011. The new year started with a big bang! I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and rammed into a car when the driver jam braked. Thankfully, the kids sitting at the back were safely buckled up and were uninjured. I'm very optimistic about the year 2011. Things will only go up from here on. I really believe it!

So, what's your take on the new year? From a design perspective, it has been predicted that the hue of 2011 will be honeysuckle. You're probably asking "is that a colour?" Apparently so. Honeysuckle is neither a shade that's orange, nor pink nor red. It's a blend of all three. You'd better get used to it because it will be appearing on catwalks and in homes...probably not mine though.

Barneby Gates wallpaper via The Independent

Home accessory (Cuisinart blender) via The Independent

Egypt

Hello! I'm finally back from the 9 day tour around Egypt. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and toyed with the idea of spending a few more days exploring Cairo on my own but 9 days was the most that I could be apart from my babies. 

Egypt is strategically located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Sudan is located south of Egypt, the Sahara desert is in the west and the Nile river cuts right through. The country is rich in its history, with the oldest civilization known to man that dates back 4,000 years, as it is also rich in culture. It is a melting pot of Roman influence, Arabic heritage and African beliefs...all of which were vaguely familiar to me until my visit. 

Save for the part where I left the Egypt guide book in the tour bus and losing the sleeve of a foldable umbrella that I bought from Taipei, the trip went smoothly. There's nothing more that I could wish for a holiday but a good time, sweet memories and to get back home safely.

Here are some of the eye candy (the home decor kind) that I spotted in hotels and restaurants that we patronised:

Zanzibar chest - a typical Arabic design for a chest

Close-up of the Zanzibar chest

A multitude of colourful pendant lights

Solo pendant lights hung from the beautifully painted ceiling of a restaurant

Finally, here's another kind of eye candy...cute Egyptian boys shaking like Shakira:

Tall Kitchen Cabinets

If there's anything that I would change about my kitchen, it would be the cabinets. I would make them go all the way up to the ceiling and create extra storage for those kitchen gadgets that don't come to use very often but are a must-have.

Glass cabinets via The Zhush

Open shelves via Martha Stewart

Plain white, modern and handle-less cabinets via Metropolitan Home

Uber cool matte black cabinets via Habitually Chic

Chinese inspired lacquer cabinets via Inside the Loop