Budgeting for Your Home Improvements by Joy Ofili-Yebovi

It is important not to confuse the word “budget” with “savings”. While savings is the money you are willing to set aside, budget is the amount you are happy to spend to redesign your home, giving it a better look. However, it is important that you have a clear idea of how much you are willing to spend before approaching your designer. Remember added-value home improvements designed and supervised by a professional come with a price tag. This simply means, you are going to be paying your designer for his or her expertise, which is the ability to source for reasonable suppliers of furniture, fabrics and accessories; and the time he or she will save you from having to organize and supervise builders, painters, joiners, plumbers and etcetera.

Once you have decided the sum you wish to invest in home improvements, it often helps to check the feasibility of that budget by allocating portions of it to different areas of what you need to be done. For a simple living room refurbishment, you might allocate the budget into seven areas, which include floor covering, wall covering, curtains, furniture, light fittings, accessories and designer’s fee.

Here is a useful tip, allocate the budget to different areas in terms of percentages rather than cash. We all think money is still worth what it used to be worth in the “good old days”; it is not. Even the rich complain about the price of butter. So, by allocating percentages to your project, you are better able to see what you can afford and willing to spend on each area of the redecoration. If you want to have an elaborate curtain treatment, you may have to reduce your budget for the floor covering, or vice versa. This method will also help you to prioritize your decoration requirements. By being honest with your interior designer about your design priorities and your budget, you are more likely to receive a design and service that will surprise and delight you. Trust me, you will.

Joy Ofili-Yebovi is a furnishing and design expert. She is the founder and managing director of Simplinteriors and Décor, one of the leading office and home furnishing company in Nigeria. If you need assistance with furnishing or redesigning your home and office, then call Joy Ofili-Yebovi on +234 803 201 7258 or email:info@simplinteriors.com. You can also visit the company’s website: www.simplinteriors.com.

 

 

Decorating your Living Room by Joy Ofili-Yebovi

Your living room is the most popular place in your house. This is where you entertainment guests. It is also where you and your family come to relax after a tiresome day  to enjoy  television programs together. In most cases this room is on the main level of a home and welcomes quite some activities. This is why it is necessary to decorate this area to create a welcoming atmosphere for your guests and your family.

When planning a living room design, the most important factor to note is the purpose of the room. When designing it, you must remember that it is an area where you will likely spend a lot of your time, so you must like the style of decoration. The magic touch that will bring your living room to the near perfect state is hidden in accessories.  

An interior without accessories lacks personality and a sense of individuality. Walls and floor coverings, furniture and window blinds provide the body of a room. However, it comes to life when its personal stamp is added through accessories. Clever use of accessories can make beautiful, fine furniture come alive or give a low-budget interior excitement and sparkle.

Accessorizing a room can make or break all of important previous efforts. So you have to be extremely careful when adding accessories to your living room. Besides adding life and interest to a room, accessories can help balance visual weight, colors and textures. It can  help provide the style and design where necessary.

For a grand style living room, selecting and arranging accessories is one of those skills that must set in. That is why most decorators will readily agree that while furniture selection and arrangement are of great importance, they probably spend just as much time choosing and arranging accessories to ensure the perfect results. But sometimes, it is quite a task because one will have to mix new accessories with previously owned or selected items, heirlooms, collections and keepsakes. This usually is more difficult than starting from scratch and selecting each accessory based entirely on its contribution to the total scheme. However, it is achievable with the help of decorators and your home will express the friendly atmosphere you intend to create for yourself, family and guests.

Joy Ofili-Yebovi is a furnishing expert. She is the founder and managing director of Simplinteriors and Décor, one of the leading office and home furnishing company in Nigeria. If you need assistance with furnishing in your home and office, then call Joy Ofili-Yebovi on +234 803 201 7258  or mail:info@simplinteriors.com. you can also visit the company’s website:www.simplinteriors.com

Making Your Kitchen Space Bigger by Joy Ofili-Yebovi

The kitchen is an important part of every home. It is also an important part of a woman who enjoys experimenting with amazing dishes for the family. But when you are not fortunate to have a kitchen with a plasma and proper ventilation, it might be dreadful each time you know you have to cook your meals in the matchbox kitchen. But not to worry, there are ways you can make your small kitchen appear big without breaking down any wall. Here are few tips:

Tip 1: Install to-the-ceiling cabinets. Install light-coloured cabinet, open shelves and glass-front doors will help to lighten a space. Too many cabinets, especially made of dark materials, will give the impression that the room is much smaller than it is.

Tip 2: Increase accessibility and capacity. You can do this by adding pullout shelves, rotating inserts and tilt-out bins.

Tip 3: Use cork and magnetic boards.  If new or more cabinets aren’t in your future or your budget, remember that canisters on the counter take up valuable space. So cast your eye up to see where you can hang utensils, pots and pans on previously unused space.

Tip 4: Buy wire shelves. These wire shelves are a must in a small space and in the kitchen they can almost double a cupboard’s capacity. So use them.

Tip 5: Use the inside of cupboard doors. If covered with magnetic paint, they can accommodate papers and notes that might get knocked off a fridge in a small space.

Tip 6: Fill a cleaning caddy with supplies that can be stored in the kitchen, but transported around the house. This eliminates the need for cleaning supplies in multiple rooms, like the basement and bathroom, saving space in each.

Joy Ofili-Yebovi is a furnishing expert. She is the founder and managing director of Simplinteriors and Décor, one of the leading office and home furnishing company in Nigeria. If you need assitstance with furnishing in your home and office, then call Joy Ofili-Yebovi on +234 803 201 7258  or mail:info@simplinteriors.com. you can also visit her website:www.simplinteriors.com