Tag: tips

At KLD, we believe that the most vital aspects of design are in the details. We love including wall art in our designs and especially admire the expressive freedom that accompanies typography pieces.

The use of typography as décor became increasingly popular in recent years, with the introduction of gallery walls. However, these creative prints also look great standing on their own, for a more minimal approach.

Whether it be a pop of optimism to brighten up a room, or a quote from a favourite artist, typography prints allow your personality to shine in a fun and sophisticated way.

A bright pink and orange framed print creates a nice contrast to the muted kitchen wall of our London residence,

A great alternative to hanging a poster is to lean it against a wall, creating a tranquil atmosphere paired with potted greenery and your favourite trinkets! We loved this travel print paired with the dark green hues at our South Circular Road Residence.

Here, the warm tones of the room are reflected in the ode to John Lennon, and the composition of the print next to the layered shelves makes for an interesting focal point.

The minimal aesthetic of this dining room is captured perfectly by the Andy Warhol print, reminiscent of  modernity and simplicity, while remaining playful in the print’s off-center layout.

Prints don’t only come in frames – try a fabric print to bring an airy and relaxing element of surprise to your home. And we can’t exclude how beautiful the dusty pink tones look in this interior!

Craving more design tips? Check out some more inspiration!

Christmas is the perfect time to go to town and lavishly decorate your home with glittering, colourful decor. Over the years, there has been a shift from traditional Christmas colours of red and green, and today, Christmas decorations are available in a range of themes with an abundance of variety available. It also doesn’t just stop at the Christmas tree, we’re decorating every room in the house.

So, with no space going untouched of a little Christmas cheer, we searched through the wealth of fabulously festive ideas to share a few of our favourite ideas for you to replicate this Christmas season.

Mantle-piece Magic

Elevate a simple fireplace to a spectacular feature with lashings of fresh greenery and stacked candles for an opulent and atmospheric touch to Christmas. A base of greenery piled with fruits, dried flowers (hydrangeas, ivy and eucalyptus are a particular favourites of ours) and an array of candles in different sizes will create something really spectacular.

A Festive Front Door

With swarms of guests, family and friends visiting this Christmas, the front door is especially pertinent for setting the decorative tone. As the first impression of your festive frills, there is so much you can do – whether it be a beautiful fresh wreath, an outdoor tree with twinkling lights or perhaps even wrapping your front door with extra large ribbon to create a giant Christmas gift?! The options are endless. We love this simple yet rich scene for how the gorgeous grey door provides the perfect backdrop for seasonal and snowy green.

Garland Greenery

Everyday items around your home can be beautifully adorned with large garlands of greenery, acorns, baubles, strings of decor and of course a few fairy lights.

A Show-Stopping Staircase

As the focal point in so many homes and hallways, the staircase lends itself perfectly to creating a dramatic seasonal display. You could use a garland, fresh greenery, leaves, lights, baubles, paper snowflakes, honeycomb pompoms, or like this clever creation – a mix of all of the above.

Washi Wrapping

There is nothing quite like the joy of giving at Christmas, and its even more special when what your giving is presented perfectly. This idea of simple white paper, with mint and gold washi tape cuts, a simple white ribbon, a handwritten gift tag and an embellishment, shows just how clever you can be with your gift wrapping.

Decorated Dining

Gathering around the table to enjoy the best meal of the year with loved ones, becomes all the more special with a little attention to detail. It doesn’t have to cost the earth and it can be so effective to simply gather some fresh greenery, create a simple centrepiece, add some twinkling candles and dress the table with your favourite delph, glassware and cutlery. We love the super affordable gold cutlery from Sostrene Grene – which is the perfect place to gather some really inexpensive pieces to create a table setting that looks perfectly elegant.

The Main Event

And of course the magical Christmas tree, one of the oldest festive traditions, which for many entails one of the most exciting parts of Christmas – decorating the tree. Christmas tree decorating is a massively personal affair and will often be influenced by nostalgia and tradition. Whatever decorations you opt for, consider adding something extra like ribbon or jute, bows, festive berries, faux florals or simple acorns for just a few ideas. Consistency also goes a long way in making a tree look particularly special, so if you are buying new decorations then consider purchasing them in groups of 3 or more and layering with other repeating decorations for a beautiful finished look.

In an ideal world office spaces encourage productivity, efficiency, and general employee contentedness. For most of us these are bright airy office spaces with beautiful views, private spaces and comfortable corners (not to mention working aircon).

Obviously we don’t all have the existing architecture (or budgets) to have the dream office straight off the cuff, but that ideal office can be achieved with smaller, more creative touches!

Colour:

We all respond to colour. Its reactive, it inspires moods, calms souls, brings joy and a touch of adventure! Colour is one of the easiest ways to add creativity to your office space. A painted corner, a coloured glass screen, a dash of red in a grey space to catch the eye, it’s simple but effective.

Decals:

There is a heavy cliché behind inspirational and motivational motifs in office spaces. If they are an integral apart of your office (or you feel your employees would benefit) why not add a dash of the creative in how they are applied? Go big and bold with large letters and decals across your spaces, mix up your words, fonts, and colours to catch the readers eye and hopefully bring a smile to their face.

Structures:

Division of spaces is perhaps the greatest avenue for creativity in your work space. Replace walls with installation-like structures. These can be the jackpot for adding colour, texture, decals all rolled into one project. Use a pod design to bring a softness to an otherwise structured work space, change the angles to break up the linear monotony. Have fun and inspire others in your workspace to follow!

Textures:

Materials are everything for us here at KLD. We like to mix textures and tones, a lot. Luxurious with hardy, gloss with rough, marble with, well…more marble. Texture applied in small doses can add value to office spaces. Rub off the banal feel of those fiber ceiling tiles with a canopy of timber slats, frame that squeaky whiteboard with a trim of brass, break the endless carpet sea with a corridor of beautiful architectural white grey concrete.

Furniture:

Finally, furniture. Practically speaking it has to be durable and ergonomic; we have to outlast the oftentimes grueling work day in it after all. But where possible, mix it up…throw an antique day bed in a casual meeting corner, garnish a corridor with a contrasting freestanding lamp, vary the armchairs in a client waiting area. Freedom in this will distinguish your office spaces and, hopefully, inspire pride in your employees, giving them that extra little something to keep them coming back, happy to face another day!

Dark interiors were previously something people steered well clear of.

In the world of interiors and architecture we were fed a steady stream of light flooded, bright, white homes. And as such this is what the majority of us want, or believe we want. Brightness and cool colour palettes were held in the highest esteem by virtually everyone in the world of design.

But not everyone doubted the beauty of dark interior spaces, enter one Abigail Ahern who has done wonders for the world of interiors by showing us that black within the home really can be beautiful.

Abigail Aherne started a dark revolution painting everything in sight (walls, skirting, architraves, doors and windows – you name it!) in dark, moody shades.

Taking a bold step that would terrify most people, Abigail created a  home both unique and daring, but also stunningly beautiful. Her bravery was rewarded and she has led a subtle revolution in the interior design world, with more and more of us adapting to her way of thinking and without doubt being totally inspired by her work.

The reason most people fear black and other dark shades within their homes is because a) it will make the space smaller and b) it will make the space duller.

The images below will show you just how effective dark shades can be and demonstrate that when used in the right ways, dark shades can be utterly spectacular.

Afraid they will make a space smaller? Don’t be. In fact if its a really small space like a toilet under the stairs, a dark shade will have all the more impact. The effect of dark shades in smaller rooms is that they make the space feel moody and cosy in an instant.

Using a gloss paint is a great way to pick up and bounce some of the light around the space and will lead to natural highlights within the space.

Are you convinced?

Create a Water Feature

This doesn’t have to be an elaborate expensive piece. You can even get creative and make your own with garden items such as pots, watering cans, even tea pots work a treat as you may have seen on the Super Garden series!

Pondering a Pond?

If you’re going for a brand new garden design consider including a pond. Ask you garden for advice on something low maintenance that looks good. The presence of water, whether it be the trickle of water from a simple water feature or the glittering, reflective surface of a small pond, creates a wonderfully tranquil and serene feeling a garden space.

Think Tiles

I’m guessing this one doesn’t surprise you?! We love our tiles at KLD. They just add such wonderful pattern and interest to a space. These floor tiles are a fantastic pattern and the simple colour scheme allows the vibrant greens and pinks of the vegetation stand out against the beautifully tiled backdrop.

Statement Seating

Whether it be a hammock or an egg chair, statement seats will create a stand out feature that’s just dreamy to chill and unwind in on a breezy summers day. Opt for something really unique and adorn it with colourful cushions for added impact.

Garden Furniture

You dont have to necessarily fork out a small fortune on garden furniture. If its feasible you could even temporarily move your dining table out doors. Just make sure you have somewhere to store it or covers to put over it once the night dew sets in. This wooden table and bench with scattered cushions and throws has such a lovely, feel to it.

Wisteria Histeria

Lately we are obsessed with the powerful effect of wisteria. The bright mauve tone and the chilled out draping plant is the perfect statement plant for any garden. We love how it teams with the pastel blue-green window frames in this image. We’d team it with some lovely Seagrass, Fresh Rosemay or Morning Breeze from the Cuprinol range.

Fruit, fruit, fruit

Why not plant some pretty fruit trees for a picturesque garden that also allows you to become that little bit more self-sufficient. We’ve found apple, plum and pear trees all grow really well in Ireland.

Add Art

Bring vibrant colour to your garden space by incorporating some paintings or art pieces. Again, this theme has featured quite heavily on the latest series of Super Garden. You could even create a whole gallery wall in your outdoor space.

Magic Mirrors

Mirrors work wonderfully in a garden space. They reflect the colour around the space and can also make the space appear bigger. We have five of these mirrors in our Ranelagh garden. The mirror is n IKEA one which we changed up with a coat of paint. Check out our how to post here to see what we did.

Get a Green House

Budget allowing, a green house is obviously a great space to cultivate your own plants, fruit and vegetables. But it can also double up as a dining space. Being surrounded by plants and greenery means there is already a stunning backdrop full of colour and detail making this a unique and gorgeous space to entertain guests or just enjoy a semi-alfresco meal yourself.

As the evenings start to brighten and temperatures increase, we’re really feeling the sense of spring in the air and are looking to all the lovely styles for spring table setting.

With this in mind we’ve been looking to all things Spring for our table style.

Whether you’re having a family gathering for Sunday lunch or a tasty brunch for friends, we’ve found lots of gorgeous decorating ideas to share with you.

We’re loving clean, understated decor with subtle pretty details and a contemporary, elegant twist.

Flowers, yes we can take lots of those. And greenery and branches can be assembled to make for spectacular features or centerpieces.

When it comes to the specifics: our faves for spring time table settings are vintage plates, glassware, linen napkins and rustic, wild flower arrangements.

Take a peak at what we’ve been pinning for Spring table settings:

Follow Kingston Lafferty Design’s board Easter table settings on Pinterest.