Home Decor Ideas

We’re calling it now: 2019 will be the year of the plant. What started as a semi-hipster trend in interior design has become a full-on movement. Bringing the outside in has tons of benefits, of course, from mood boosting to cleaner air. But let’s face it: not everyone is famous for their green thumb. If you love the idea of a more natural way of decorating but can’t keep a plant alive to, well, save your life, don’t worry. Plants aren’t the only way to bring the outside in and we predict a move to more natural decor throughout the year.

If you’re positive you’ll kill your snake plant and you’ve assassinated your last batch of succulents, try these ideas instead.

Opt for natural materials

Wicker and rattan furniture pieces aren’t just for patios. Image: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

Hey, leaves aren’t the only way to bring in natural decor. There are plenty of non-living natural materials that can warm up your home without the whole watering and sunlight side of things. Natural materials like wicker are perfect for airy accent furniture, while breezy linen is ideal for textiles. Even leather and faux leather can be considered a natural material and can make a great contrast to lighter colors and materials.

Use color

Use green paint for a fresh take. Image: ImageFlow/Shutterstock

The good news? No one has ever forgotten to water a green wall. Why not use color to bring the outside in? It can easily brighten up a room and you won’t have to have a housesitter take care of it when you go on vacation. Look specifically for colors that can be found in nature, like vibrant greens or cool, brilliant ocean blues. Choose an accent wall so you get the same pop of color you’d enjoy from a plant. Or use color in your decor accents, like throw pillows or vases.

Try faux animal touches

Animal print stands in for plants. Image: Artazum/Shutterstock

When you think “natural decor,” your mind usually goes to plants and trees. But don’t forget that animal print and textures can be just as natural as houseplants. A faux hide rug can bring in texture and a pop of color, while a fur throw or blanket makes a room look cozy and natural at the same time. Or go for an unexpected touch like a snake-etched ottoman or an antelope print accent rug and let your animal instincts rule.

Frame with windows

Utilize windows to show off your home’s natural beauty. Image: Breadmaker/Shutterstock

Don’t assume that you’re limited to the interior of your home when decorating and designing. Your landscape can become part of the design (and you don’t even have to hand-water it). While you might not be able to move windows to get the prettiest picture, you can spruce up your yard. Try planting a window box to add some color that peeks through the window. Or get rid of heavy blinds that obscure the view of your favorite tree. Utilize the outdoors as a low-maintenance, high-impact design element.

Rethink transitional spaces

Use transitional spaces for added light. Image: sirtravelalot/Shutterstock

The spaces that bridge the gap between inside and outside can become some of your greatest allies in organic design. Think of restyling your front foyer, back deck or even unused sunroom so you bring a little more of the outside in. A gazebo or roof extension makes it so you can access your grill all year long, while a glass door with a screen keeps the front of your home bright and breezy. You can even repurpose an unused sunroom as a bright playroom with access to the backyard.

Use natural patterns

Palm print wallpaper doesn’t need to be watered. Image: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

So you’re a hopeless gardener; you can still bring plants into your daily decor. Decorating with plant prints is en vogue and gives you all the same peaceful, happy feelings as live plants. Palm-printed throw pillows, a leafy rug or even a bold, floral wallpaper in a small space (think powder room) can give your home a greenhouse vibe without all of the upkeep.

Think interior windows

Glass cabinets let light stream through. Image: Breadmaker/Shutterstock

The idea behind interior windows is to allow more light to pass through your home. Interior windows can be found anywhere from a French door leading to the living room to glass-front cabinets in your kitchen. Glass half walls and partitions can also be used to preserve light and give your home more character. And you can use your interior windows as a nod to gardening. Tuck a few faux plants or flowers behind the doors or strategically place your windows so they frame some of your home’s nature-loving elements.

Get artsy

Plant prints lend a natural vibe. Image: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

Art prints are a cheap way to bring color and texture into a space. An entire wall of different leaf prints or a gallery of floral shots is a surefire way to bring a pop of greenery into your home. You can find floral prints via online photography sites, at thrift stores or you can make your own. Teamed up with some cool vintage frames, you’ll never have to feel second-best to your green-thumbed sister again.

For those who love filling their homes with living things, the year’s plant trend is a no-brainer. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy and breezy for everyone. If you love the idea of a more organic aesthetic but can’t stand the idea of filling your house with live plants, natural decor is the next best thing. Bringing the outside in doesn’t have to mean making your own suburban jungle. Just find a few key pieces that look right at home.

The post 8 Non-Plant Ideas for Bringing the Outside In appeared first on Freshome.com.

If you love to read – or you just love books, whether you actually read them or not – consider creating a home library. Most people who don’t have a home library think that they don’t have enough space. But, by thinking creatively, you can find enough room to house your own books.

You don’t need thousands – or even hundreds – of books, and you don’t need wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor space. Below are some options for finding space to create a library that meets your needs and design aesthetic.

In the dining room

These bookshelves are the dining room’s focal point. Image: Dit26978/Getty Images

Not one, but two interior designers recommend creating a library in your dining room. “Change up the way you think about your home,” says Carolina V. Gentry of Pulp Design Studios. “You don’t have to have a formal dining room if you don’t use it, so make it a library.”

Formal dining rooms tend to have a lot of wall space. Image: psdphotography/Getty Images

Interior designer Bethany Adams agrees. “Add shelving to your dining room and keep all of your books there,” she says. “Dining rooms tend to have a lot of unused wall space, and filling them with books creates a beautiful, almost wallpaper-like effect.”

What’s better than a good book and a good glass of wine? Image: Orundongel/Getty Images

In the kitchen

Keep cookbooks handy, yet out of the way. Image: Joe Schmeizer/Getty Images

If you have cookbooks, Adams recommends taking the doors off of a kitchen cabinet and painting the inside.  “If you keep your cookbooks there, they’ll be within easy reach and look great.” she says. “Just be sure never to store your books in a room that gets a lot of humidity like the basement or a bathroom – that environment is not friendly to your tomes.”

These shelves also provide pops of color in this white kitchen. Image: ShutterWorx/Getty Images

In the bedroom

Consider framing your bed with bookshelves. Image: urfinguss/Getty Images

How often do you fall asleep while reading? You might as well put your library in one of your bedrooms. If you have a second bedroom that you only need to use a few times a year, Gentry recommends investing in a fold-out loveseat or sofa so you can turn this room into a library. “Be sure to create a cozy mood, and use comfy seating,” she says. Gentry also recommends filling a focal wall with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves to create a library feel.

The bedroom is usually the most comfortable place to read. Image: ExperienceInteriors/Getty Images

Josie Abate at Ambience Express agrees and adds, “Built-in shelving can accommodate any size space so you can easily squeeze a home library in any room of the home, whether it be a bedroom or a corner of your living room.” She suggests adding a bench under a window with shelving around it for the perfect place to curl up with a good book.

This is a great idea for a blank bedroom wall. Image: Paulo De Santis/Eye/Em/Getty Images

In the home office

An office wall is an ideal place for a library. Image: Eoneren/Getty Images

If you have a home office, donate one of the walls to create a floor-to-ceiling library. If you’re worried about the space you might lose, remember that you can also put most of your office equipment on the shelves.

There’s plenty of shelf space in this home office. Image: EyeEm/Getty Images

Around the entertainment center

This area is stylish and functional. Image: Romy Tesei/Getty Images

“Often, people store their books in the closets of ordinary entertainment centers, according to Katy Brut, interior design consultant at NY Furniture Outlets. She says it’s important to decide if you want to display your books to everyone, perhaps next to photos and souvenirs, or if you would rather keep your collection private. This will determine if you should get open or closed bookshelves. If you don’t have a lot of floor space around your entertainment center, consider mounting slimline bookshelves.

Creative wall-mounted shelves

Who says libraries must have square shelves? Image: Ralwel/Getty Images

If you don’t want traditional rows of bookshelves, consider this type of shelving, which doesn’t take up a lot of visual space, and can also double as artwork.

In the attic

An attic library also provides solitude. Image: onurdongel/Getty Images.

If you have a finished attic, it’s another ideal location for a library. You can carve space out of your walls, so you won’t have to take up any floor space.

Carving space out of the wall provides a place to store and display your books. Image: Flux Factory/Getty Images

“Is there an odd nook that never made any since to you?” asks Justin Riodan, founder of Portland-based Spade and Archer Design Agency. “Maybe a staircase where a dead space has troubled you for years.”  Those areas provide plenty of library space.

Also consider the area around your fireplace.  “Many homes have a flat blank wall with a fireplace smack dab in the middle,” Riodan says. “I love the idea of surrounding that fireplace with floor to ceiling custom shelving and filling it with books. It can take a cold contrite fireplace and make it into a literal reading room.”

Libraries don’t have to be on the floor. Image: Bulgac/Getty Images

And if you have tall ceilings, you can also take advantage of wasted space higher up. In the photo above, the homeowners created a library at the top of the room.

“To create a home library you can focus one or two walls of shelving to house all your books and an area with a comfortable chair or bench seating, preferably by a window for natural light,” Abate says. “If you have more room a desk is always a nice add on to a home library, it will become a space that can double as an office.”

Don’t forgot the empty space under your stairs. Image: archideaphoto/Getty Images

She also recommends creating a library nook under the stairs. “You would need to install custom shelving to fit the exact size of your nook,” Abate says. “You can also incorporate a bench with artwork under the stairs for the complete reading nook.”

Circular spaces

Create a fun space to relax and read books. Image: Bulgac/Getty Images2

Sometimes, it’s hard to design around and decorate circular areas. However, curving a wall of bookshelves is the perfect solution. And the windows allow plenty of natural light into the library.

Other considerations

Other nooks and crannies can provide a lot of space. Image: Hero Images/Getty Images

Don’t forget about other areas in your home that can serve as a library. According to interior designer Dawn Totty,  in addition to your attic, consider an unused hallway closet or pantry. “Depending on your ceiling height, shelves or built-ins can go as high as 12′ from floor-to-ceiling,” she says. If you use higher shelving Totty recommends a custom rail-ladder system.  “Be sure to use plenty of brackets since a large number of books can be quite heavy.”

A ladder system can help you reach books near the top. Image: Asbe/Getty Images

Totty also recommends using medium to darker stained wood finishes. “This will create a stately and traditional library look,” she says. “Add a couple of comfy leather chairs, a large area rug, and floor and table lights for task lighting.” Or, you could use dark wood on the floor. Since black is the stylish color of every year, you could paint one wall black, and make the other walls and the bookshelves white.

Your library can also be chic and luxurious. Image: Peter_visual/Getty Images

However, if you prefer a lighter and brighter feel, she offers the following advice: “Position a cozy upholstered chair or two with a wall mounted electric white fireplace, add a fun chandelier and load up your walls with painted open concept shelves for books and staging collectibles.”

The post Think You Don’t Have Space for a Home Library? Think Again appeared first on Freshome.com.

One of the popular ways to get a sleek, modern bathroom is to opt for an open design shower. As the name suggests, these showers are typically fully open to the rest of the bathroom, or at least only partially covered. Many are even simply behind clear glass partitions. This design opens up the bathroom space visually. And the lack of a shower curtain allows the bathroom to look more modern and spa-like. If this is something you’d like to try, or you’re just curious about how others incorporated the style, below are some of the best open design showers.

Fully Open Design Showers

First on the list of different open design shower types are showers that remain fully open to the rest of the bathroom. These have a few different benefits. They can be good for those with limited mobility since there is often only a lip to step over into the shower. And many designs are even flush with the floor and have a drainage system that allows water to stay in the shower area.

As mentioned above, they can also visually open up the bathroom space, making these good options for small space bathrooms. And, of course, open design showers have a luxury, modern feel to them, like something you’d find in an upscale hotel.

Open showers can make a smaller bathroom look bigger. Image: Artazum/Shutterstock

An open shower fits well into the middle of a bathroom space. Image: Artazum/Shutterstock

Natural stonework can give an exotic spa feel. Image: Kalen Armstrong/Shutterstock

An open shower can show off the tile texture. Image: Kristi Blokhin/Shutterstock

A rounded door design can fit in just about anywhere. Image: KUPRYNENKO ANDRII/Shutterstock

Different floor textures can visually separate the open shower from the rest of the bathroom. Image: alexandre zveige/Shutterstock

Partially Open Design Showers

You may not be completely on board with a shower area open to the rest of the bathroom. If so, you can opt for partially open design showers. These give the best of both worlds. Most of the shower still opens to the rest of the bathroom, but part of the shower area will remain behind some type of partition. That serves the purpose of opening up the bathroom visually, but also allowing for some privacy.

The partitions themselves can also be wonderful additions to a bathroom. From partial walls to frosted glass, the partitions below add a sense of texture and style to the space.

Creative, geometric partitions can add style to a space. Image: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

Another idea is to have a minimalistic partition right next to the shower space. Image: David Papazian/Shutterstock

Frosted glass is a good way to partition off partially open showers. Image: khunkorn/Shutterstock

A partial wall can add some organization to an open bathroom design. Image: alabn/Shutterstock

An open shower can also sit farther back in its own space. Image: Rade Kovac/Shutterstock

Showers and Tubs

If you like the idea of being able to soak in a warm bath, these styles featuring open design showers and tubs are right up your alley. They blend an open shower design with a tub of some variety right into the same space.

An open design shower actually goes quite well with a soaker tub nearby. The shower and the tub are often placed right next to each other to minimize how much water is splashing about the bathroom. And the open showers help keep the space visually unimpaired so these designs can easily fit both showers and soaker tubs without anything feeling cluttered or cramped.

This style shows how well a clear glass shower goes right next to a tub. Image: alexandre zveige/Shutterstock

The open shower design can also help keep color patterns more uniform in a space, like this blue tile and gray wood texture. Image: design.at.krooogle/Shutterstock

A square tub fits well next to an open shower. Image: BondRocketImages/Shutterstock

Geometric soaker tubs add some style and class next to glass shower doors. Image: Artazum/Shutterstock

The post 15 of the Best Open Design Showers appeared first on Freshome.com.

Zillow, the online real estate company that keeps a database of nationwide sales, just published a report with insights on the best time to sell your house for the most money. If you’re thinking about listing, it’s time to take action. The best time to list your house is the first half of May. Here’s why.

It’s time to prep your house to list for the biggest profit and fastest sale. Image: Andy Dean Photography/Shutterstock

The report explains, “U.S. homes listed for sale in early May sell for $1,600 more than the average listing throughout the year.” Not only are you likely to sell for more money if you list your home in May, but you’re also likely to sell quicker. An average of six days quicker, in fact.

Zillow is quick to note that these numbers and time frames are averages. They break down the numbers further:

• In the Twin Cities area, they sell for about $4,900 more than the median local home price
• In San Jose, California, $18,900
• And in Chicago, $3,300

Other cities do better listing in early June:

• In Columbus, Ohio, $2,900 more
• In Seattle, $7,500 more

Zillow also found that Saturday is the best day to list. The report says, “Saturday listings get the largest number of views by users on Zillow within the first week of listing.” And if Saturday isn’t possible, Friday also comes in strong with “the most views after a week in 10 of the top 35 markets.” Although realtors love Tuesdays for realtor caravans, Tuesday is the worst day to list your house, with as much as a 20 percent decline in page views compared to Saturday.

List your house on a Saturday to get the most buyer interest. Image: sirtravelalot/Shutterstock

Don’t wait for winter to be over before you start to prep your house for sale. You may miss the sweet spot to get your house sold faster and for money. Here’s a quick checklist of what you can do so you don’t miss the best time to list your house:

Start prepping your house in winter for a spring sale. Image: Artazum/Shutterstock

• Start meeting with realtors to find one who’s the best fit for you
• Make a checklist of repairs and upgrades (like fresh paint and adding to your home’s curb appeal)
• Start budgeting for maintenance and repairs
• Start decluttering and de-personalizing your home
• Look into a storage unit for personal items so your home is clutter-free when you list it

The post Planning on Selling your Home? Here’s the Best Time to List Your House — and It’s Soon appeared first on Freshome.com.