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Welcome to our Designer's Corner! This is a service at Europe by Net to give you
direct access to a designer, letting you express your decorating dilemmas or
just bounce off ideas. It's great to have the opportunity to run something
past someone who can take an objective view.
You can find advice on colour, how it can work for you and how it can change
your room. What is on the market and where to find it, plus all those
need-to-know trends.
E-mail your questions to DesignersCorner@europebynet.com.
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Q: I am looking for a lockable cabinet to store private papers in my spare (office) bedroom,
preferably one that will take 3-4 lever arch files. It will sit next to a traditional
style desk, so traditional style probably best - though the rest of the flat is modern and minimalist.
A: Trying to marry up the perfect piece of furniture with the right function
can be a difficult task. It often requires effort and patience or a little
bit of flexibility on the criteria front. You might have to compromise the
look for how well it does its job, or visa versa.
So in order to avoid compromising the look of your room, which is also used
for guests, how about looking at the problem from another angle. Instead of
seeking a lockable cabinet, which are pretty uninspiring when you look at
what is on the market, the alternative is locking your files.
A good stationer or office supplier will stock sturdy, lockable A4 files.
They come in both metal or plastic, and are designed to take suspension
files. They will ensure your documents remain confidential, leaving you free
to house the files in something with a little more style.
Now you can display or conceal your files in whatever takes your fancy.
To complement the style of your traditional desk, how about the rotating
book case (1) by Galimberti.
It is a brilliant solution to space management, taking
up only 52cm x 52cm x 92cm.
Traditional and modern can work well together as well, for a more eclectic
feel. This will help the room look less like an office too. Choose something
quite outstanding to make a feature of.
The glass book holder Albero (2) by Tonelli is quite a wacky way of
displaying books. Your files and other reading material will always be at
hand, and the glass shelves do not dominate, posing little opposition to
other pieces of furniture. It also rotates so you could turn your files
to the back when the room is being used by guests, and magazines and light
reading matter can then face the front.
If you wanted to remove your filing system from the room completely at
times, have a look at the range of drawers on wheels. The Mobil range
(3) come in some gorgeous colours, really uplifting, making for a
light hearted working atmosphere. The chunky casters enable wheeling them
about easy. You could even lock them away in a cupboard for complete work
avoidance!
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Q: I am living in an original 125 m2 Hausmanian apartment with all its original
elements, i.e. parquet floors fire places in every room with mirrors and
ceilings with ornaments.
My wife is pregnant and wants to buy a comfortable couch. She finds our
Stockelet couch by Jozef Hoffman too uncomfortable. I would like to buy a
'click-clack' or fold-out bed, which we can use latter in a guestroom. Do
you have any suggestions?
A: Firstly, congratulations on your pending parenthood!
A sofa becomes one of those invaluable pieces of furniture as far as
families are concerned, and a sofa bed is a wise option. Some sofa beds are
so stylish they would hold their own against the fantastic interior of your
apartment. As you know with your Jozeph Hoffman couch, old and new work well
together for an eclectic feel. A sofa like
Roxy
(4), is so simple it
does not over shadow the detail in the fire places, and allows you to notice
the lines of the windows. The sleek support bar becomes a head rest when it
is converted into a bed. For a really good bed, have a look at
Flashback (5), there is room for the whole family there.
If you are looking for something a little funkier that will show off that
lovely floor, look at Flirt (6). Aptly named, it is really
contemporary, with jaunty, aluminium legs and turns into a stylishly flat
bed.
If you decide not to go for a sofa bed, but still want form, function and
comfort, how about Milano (7). It is leather, the perfect wipe clean
surface. Plus imagine it in a few years time. The more the kids jump on it,
the better it will look. To continue on the "less is more" theme, the Moor
sofa (8), is traditional in its simplicity but is high on comfort.
This also comes in several sizes.
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Q: How can I use colour to create the following visual effects: make a floor area seem bigger, disguise an ugly feature so that it fades into the background and treat built-in furniture so it seems part of the room.
A:
Colour is a brilliant tool for changing the balance and feeling of space in
a room. It is so easy to take for granted what is there and use it to its
full potential. Lighter colours give a sense of space, and can be translated
in different ways, either by sanding original flooring or by pure colour in
carpeting or floor paint. If you decide to paint the floor you will still
have to sand it first, so it wouldn't hurt to leave it at the sanded stage
for a while to see if you like it, if that is a look you want. A lovely
polished floor reflects daylight beautifully.
As far as colour for floor cover, be objective about trends and dominant
colours. What will it look like in five years time? Go for something neutral
or classical that can weather several trend changes.
Alongside the treatment of the floor bear in mind other elements of the
room, for example other strong colour and pattern. A simple floor can be
altered by a detailed rug or vibrant tones from the walls. Darker walls can
give the illusion of enclosure of the floor and make it seem smaller still.
Clutter on the floor affects the flow of movement and light around the room.
Good storage is essential. The less on the floor the better the sense of
space. This includes furniture. Avoid dominant pieces that stand out in a
room. Why not go for transparent furniture - take a look at the very hip
chairs and glass top tables, like Atavola (9) by B&B Italia and Miss
B1 chairs (10) with their transparent seats and backs. If you want
furniture in the middle of the room, how about the Tris nest of coffee
tables (11), which could double up as stools, or the various shapes
of Lobacerskij occasional tables (12)?
Another clever trick is to keep all the elements in the room one colour.
Floor, walls, ceiling and furniture. It isn't as boring as it sounds. This
would help blend in the built-in furniture, giving you a blank canvas to be
inventive elsewhere in the room. A simple screen painted in the same colour
as the walls would hide the feature you are worried about and act as a room
divider if you need to screen off an area.
The key to creating an optical illusion of space is pare down the contents
of the room, use light and airy colours and maximize the amount of natural
daylight.
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Q:
I cannot seem to find a product to cope with all my bedside needs. A hospital bedside table comes nearest to it with its pigeon holes and small cupboards, drawers and storage. I would like something not so high though and I need the console to revolve on castors. I have a marked interest in the style of the piece - the room is pretty minimalist.
A:
What a tall order you are setting yourself. You are almost trying to create
a work and leisure station, with it looking good and complementing the rest
of the room. Have a look at Onda Radio Tre (13). This would hold all
sorts of items, but because it is see-through you will have to be quite
orderly. If you had the space elsewhere in the room you could echo it with the
tower storage system Onda Kart (14). This too has a lot of storage
ability and you could always have more wooden drawers instead of glass
shelves. Both of these are on casters and can quite easily be maneuvered
around the room.
Another idea is to have two pieces of furniture either side of the bed.
Between them they could share the storage requirements. The clean, simple
lines of Melodia (15) would be a good basis for something to
customize. It could be fitted onto casters and even a swing-out writing
surface added, like the Victorian gentleman's writing trays.
But if these still fall short of what you are looking for, your best bet is
getting a good carpenter to design something with cubby
holes and pull-out trays that are discreetly hidden when not in use. If you
use MDF it will reflect the minimal feel and fit in with what is already there.
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Our team at Europe by Net can help you find items to
complement what you already have or would like to have. We will source items
for you either on or off the site. Give us a brief and we will come up with
some solutions. What will complete your look? Maybe you have seen something
you like somewhere and want to recreate it. Remember you will pay less
through our site and have none of the hassle of trawling through the shops!
If you have a question or would like some suggestions from our designer,
email us at DesignersCorner@europebynet.com.
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