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

Making Small Space Bigger by Joy Ofili-Yebovi

If you think, your apartment is quite small in terms of space, then here are the tricks to make it bigger than it seems.

Point 1:  Remember tiny room does not have to hold only tiny furniture. Sometimes with a small space, people avoid large furniture thinking it will dominate the room. Not true. A large sectional can often be better than a small sofa and chair.

Point 2: Combine like objects and purge. Don’t purchase any organizing supplies until you know precisely what needs to be stored.

Point 3: Use mirrors and glass to create reflections and bounce light around. Making a small space seem grand depends on maximizing light. You can do that with a glass coffee table, rather than a wood or opaque one. You can do it by tucking mirrors into corners, and by hanging art in glass frames, which create reflections.

Point 4: Ensure that window coverings don’t cut off light when they are open. Hang curtains so that when they are open, the entire pane is clear; open curtains should fall beside the window and not obscure any of it. Don’t hang curtains inside the window frame. Consider hanging curtains from the ceiling, rather than from the top of the window, which will add height (and some drama) to the space.

Point 5: Think vertically. Whether you’re hanging art or shelves or placing furniture, don’t let vertical space go to waste. Using it is practical, providing a display space for art, for example, and it also draws the eye up, making a space feel more expansive than it actually is.

Point 6: Watch your furniture scale. You can make a compact room feel much bigger by choosing a few large, bold pieces rather than several smaller ones. And keep the main furnishings in proportion to each other.

Point 7: Avoid bold patterns or overstuffed furniture with thick arms. Streamlined pieces, such as armless Parson chairs are beautiful space savers.

Point 8: Hang your flat screen TV on a flexible arm. This eliminates the need for a TV stand or entertainment unit.

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 companies in Nigeria.

 

Effect of Colours by Joy Ofili Yebovi

The colours of the rooms inside your home need to bring out your personality. Although most of us do not spend time thinking about rooms’ colours, it affects every single day of our lives.

It is important that you know the mood you want to create in your home and the colours that will help you achieve that mood. To solve this riddle, try looking into magazines, decorating books, blogs and websites for amazing ideas. Or better-still, let your fabric be your guide. In fact, this is a good approach to take if you are starting from scratch. Fabrics, carpeting, furniture and tiles are available in limited range of colours compare to paint. So choose them first and then decide on your paint colour[s] later.

Once you find something you like, endeavour to limit the numbers of colours in a room to three or four. Too many colours can make a room look busy or cluttered. Paint is fairly inexpensive and can transform a room more quickly than anything else, so you can afford to experiment a little before making your final decision.

However, you need to understand that colours behave in three basic ways, which are: active, passive, and neutral. You can easily match every room’s colours to your personal desire, taste and the purpose of the room. Light colours are expansive and airy, making rooms seem larger and brighter. Dark colours are sophisticated and warm; they give large rooms a more intimate appearance. So be conscious of this.

Now let’s find out more about colours and what they can do to a room

Blue is arguably the most popular colour in most of our wardrobes. Wear an aqua or sea blue dress for a date and its sure to make a good impression. "Blue is an extremely tranquil colour. Most office rooms and gyms are blue because of their calming effect and because they are known to encourage productivity. However, the colour can also be a little gloomy and can bring you down. Blue lowers blood pressure, calms, gives a sense of security, and suppresses appetite.

Black. Notice how most villains wear black? Black is universally denoted to be the colour of authority.This is a powerful, mysterious colour and is associated with seriousness. Also associated with sex, death and mystery. Black may make you feel depressed, or on the other hand, may make you feel secure—hiding in the darkness.

Red is often associated with anger, love and passion. It is a complicated colour and extremely dramatic. In fact, red is often associated with love — red blush or flush — but it can also have negative denominations. Nothing beats the popularity of red

Green. This is the easiest colour for the eyes to focus on for long period of time.  It soothes pain and is associated with optimism. May make one feel happy, clean and fresh. Needless to say, green has an extremely calming effect mainly because it natural. It is a very calming and refreshing colour. It has soothing properties.

Perky Orange. Orange perfectly blends the lightness of yellow and the fierceness of red. It is a fun, and active colour and bound to improve your mood on a bad day. This colour is friendly, relaxing and ambitious.

Brown:This is an organic, earthy colour.  It can make you feel cosy.

Pink: This is a youthful and feminine colour.  It is soft, serene and sensitive. This is basically a "happy" colour.

Purple: This colour is often associated with royalty.  It is a contemporary colour.

So next time, you are choosing colour for your rooms, understand the colours and know what effect you want to achieve.

 

Welcome by Joy Ofili Yebovi

Welcome to my first ever piece on this blog that I specially created for you. I am so glad to have this opportunity to reach out to you. I almost did not want to write this piece because, health wise, I have been down for about three weeks. But the thought of not fulfilling my end of this bargain motivated me to type on my laptop.

Here, I will be more personal in sharing the basic things about interiors, either homes or offices. I will also share my view about life generally and of course beyond (not that I will be writing some science fiction stuff). And if there is any question you need me to answer, I will be here waiting to rescue you from your doubts.

Before we delve into interior issues, my heart goes out to the parents of the Chibok girls who were kidnapped in Borno four weeks ago. I pray the Almighty God will comfort the parents and guide the girls back home. But personally, I think the cliche phrase “Bring Back our Girls” should be “How do we bring back our girls?” This perhaps should get us thinking in a different direction. It should get us thinking why our country cannot boast of appropriate data or records. I am not talking about the Census that roughly estimated the population of Nigeria to be 166.2 million in 2012. Neither am I talking about the ineffective routine of the National Identity Cards. I am talking about data collection that can at least show us the mug-shots of the girls that were kidnapped. We have no idea what this girls look like; they could be leaving right next to any of us.

I believe it is time our government invests, seriously, on data collection. There is nothing wrong if a nation, like Nigeria, should have active CCTV installed on our roads and borders that lead in and out of our country. There is nothing wrong if we have photos of the Chibok girls splashed in the media. I think it is time we start thinking how do we stop this kind of ugly event from repeating itself? Maybe we should be thinking about our own personal security. Are we safe?