ART

Christmas is one of those holidays that seem to be filled with shine and wonder. Many shop owners seek to hire a professional painter to decorate their store windows. After all, large scenes showcasing Christmas themes, like the famous Santa Claus with the reindeers, look very festive.  

Take a look at those custom made display windows, hand painted by Elena Manousaridou, an artist living and working in Greece. 

DO IT YOURSELF

Typically, the interior walls of a house are decorated with painting, landscape photography, embroidery etc. However, a very personal choice is the arrangement of family photos, either old or recent, around the walls of the house. First you need to collect the material, searching for old photos of you family. You might even discover rare photos depicting a historic event, old buildings, folk costumes and other interesting documents. Apart from searching your own archive a good idea is to ask your relatives to search their own.

ADVICE

Reader’s question

“I am thinking of painting the walls of my daughter’s bedroom light blue. Could you suggest me a color scheme based on a light blue tone for girl’s bedroom?”

Our advice

Light blue tone, is one of the most cheerful tones, suitable for youngsters and kids. Moreover, blue symbolizes sky, water and youth while it can create a stress-free and fresh atmosphere.

However, blue tones are associated with boy’s world. Little boys, right from infancy, learn that there is only one appropriate color for their sex. The blue seems to be for everything, for clothing, for home decoration, for crafts. In a similar way girls love to adore pink and to use it in almost every situation.

Thankfully today color choices based on sex are considered outdated and clichés. On the other hand there are plenty of times, that the kid will reproduces those stereotypes. Think for example to suggest pink color as a dominant color for a boy’s room. How do you think the boy would react? It is more than certain that he would reject immediately the option clamming that pink is for girls. However, kid’s behavior is not irrational at all. Their taste and ideas are socially constructed and influenced by television heroes, toys, fairy-tails and other stereotypes. 

But let’s deal with the particular question. If you have decided to use a light blue tone to paint the girl’s bedroom walls, what other colors you could use in order to match and enrich your choice? 

Before examining a few color schemes you have to understand what professional designers call dominant color, secondary color and details' color. Dominant color is applied to large surfaces like walls and ceilings. Secondary color is less prevailing than the dominant but it has a central role in the color scheme. For example, we can paint with the dominant color the three of the four walls and with the secondary the fourth wall. Or we can create strips using the dominant and secondary colors. Secondary color can also be used in curtains, rugs and linens. Detail's color usually adds a pinch of playfulness and intensity to the overal scheme. It is used to highlight architectural elements and several decorative details, such as linens, lighting fixtures, rug, frames, wall decoration etc.

See further ideas on Home and appartment renovation in Greece. 

Interesting color schemes based on light blue for girl's bedroom. 

• Pick for the three of the four walls a light blue tone. For the last wall pick a soft sand tone. Moreover, you can create strips using these colors in one or two prominent walls. To make the scheme more vivid you need to add a third color that makes a strong statement. So, for the details pick a bold apricot's orange. 

DESIGN

The bathroom became an essential private space in the house, a relaxing retreat and occupants spend more and more time in it.

Mirrors are an important element in bathroom design as they can reflect both natural and artificial light and create illusion of a larger space when strategically placed.