Kitchen design is one of the most talked about trends in home decor and interior design today.

Getting the best combination of both function and style can be difficult when you know you don't want to sacrifice on either front.

One of the most popular trends in the world of decor today has been the modern design. With its crisp edges and beautifully contrasting colors, this is one of the best looking themes around.

Luckily, the open look provides you with plenty of space as well. If you are looking to take your kitchen this direction, here are a few basics for you to follow.

Colors

Modern is typically defined with a balanced contrast of light and darker colors throughout and the kitchen is no exception.

If you utilize dark cabinets an a dark floor, consider going for a lighter backsplash and wall colors to create the evened out look that modern kitchens are known for.

If you go for the all white look, the colors of your appliances and countertops can successfully bring this look together.

Stainless Steel

One of the biggest features in any modern kitchen is the use of stainless steel. From the fixtures to modern bar stools and tools throughout the space, stainless steel is one of the best ways to create a wonderful modern look.

While the kitchen, sink, oven, and dishwasher are usually the go to spots for stainless steel, this material doesn't have to be limited to these fixtures.

Another great place to introduce this shiny metal is on your countertop. Helping to create a seamless and fluid look throughout the kitchen, this durable and high quality surface is sure to wow your guests and provide you with an outstanding, functional design.

Flat Cabinets

One of the best and most subtle ways to create the modern kitchen effect is with the design of your cabinetry and drawers.

Gone are the fancy, slim, and sleek knobs on each and every door in the kitchen. if you really want to pull off the modern look now, the flat panel, frameless front will help to create this beautiful effect.

As far as the drawer and cabinet knobs are concerned, these pull out spots can now be built into the underside panel of the piece itself to finish the seamless look throughout the kitchen.

Islands

One of the best ways to help pull off the modern kitchen design is with an island. Whether it is big or small, this is an essential piece to successfully making this design work for your space.

Additional features to this design can include a beautiful waterfall countertop which can be pulled off beautifully with the use of granite or marble.

As far as function is concerned with your island, you can take it up a notch with the introduction of integrated appliances. With pull out microwaves, mini fridges, and more being built into spots resembling classic drawers, you can create more space for yourself while adding a fun and exciting touch.

No matter how long we have lived in our home, we all arrive at a time where we want to do some upgrades and make a few changes to the overall look of the place, specifically the living room.

Unfortunately, this can sometimes cost an arm and a leg to do exactly what we want with the room, making it a little easier said than done.

Luckily, there are plenty of ways you can take your living to the next level with some simple upgrades without breaking the bank.

Fresh Change of Color

One of the best ways to update a room and bring new life to it is with a total color change.

Whether you repaint the walls, add in some new throw pillows and blankets, or simply add an exciting area rug in the middle of the room, introducing a new color to your living room is a great and affordable way to give your room a quality facelift.

Even if you paint three walls a more neutral color and leave one as an accent wall with a brighter and more exciting color, you can instantly open up the space and bring a fresh new look to it.

Lighting Fixtures

One of the best ways to create an entirely new feel to your living room is with the introduction of light.

Whether you are able to get more natural light into a space or have to utilize more artificial options, extra light is a great way to really open up a room and give it a great new look.

If you really want to add some character and flair to the room, instead of using classic floor or table lamps, investing in a trendy hanging light is a great way to add both a unique design element as well as a functional piece.

Patterns

Another outstanding way to add a new look to a room is with the use of multiple different patterns throughout the space.

Whether it is a colorful and exciting area rug, or mixing and matching different patterns with your throw pillows on your sofa or lounge chairs, there are a wide variety of ways you can introduce patterns into your room and you can find simple pieces like these at thrift shops or consignment stores.

Searching for yard sales and estate sales are other great routes to find these kinds of pieces for your living room.

Wall Art

One of the most overlooked ways you can upgrade a room without breaking the bank is the with the use of wall art.

Whether you are using your own photos you have taken or having a canvas painting handed down by your family, these are great pieces to take up space and add some character to the area.

Be sure to check out places like thrift shops and estate sales as well to score some great deals on pieces like these.

What are your favorite ways to upgrade your room on a budget? Be sure to let us know in the comments.

No matter what room you are putting together, accessories and decorations are one of the most important things to focus on.

Wall space is crucial to bringing a room together, and the amount of items and what you use will complete the overall look you are going for.

The proper use of wall art is a great way to add some flair to your room and really put your own personal touch on it.

If you are an art lover, here are some tips on how to work wall art into your home decor no matter what room you are designing.

Why You Should Use Wall Art

If your room feeling unfinished or lacking some much needed texture?

One of the best ways to accomplish both of these tasks is by introducing some exciting new wall art to your space.

By utilizing these pieces as a focal point for your room, you have a great design to work the rest of your room's style off of as the art simply ties everything together.

This is also a great way to add texture and feel to a room that doesn't have too much variety going on with it.

Properly Using Space

If you have a lot of blank space on your walls, you may be wondering how exactly you can fill it properly.

This is where some fun and creative wall art can come into play and really help you make it your own.

One of the best ways to incorporate wall art into the space is by creating some sort of collage with a variety of different paintings and photographs.

By utilizing different sizes and shapes of frames with photos and paintings that can either feature a similar color palette or incorporate a variety of colors, you can fill the space and bring some excitement and style to the room.

How to Use Color

When selecting the artwork for your walls, one of the most important things to thing about is the color of the art itself.

Whether you are using traditional canvas paintings or simply a variety of different framed photos, there are several choices you have to make when selecting the perfect art.

If you are using traditional paintings or even a combination of paintings and photographs, this is a great way to incorporate color and pick a similar shade a popular base that is found throughout each piece of art. Whether it is a light blue or a natural green, these colors found in each piece can give you a great color base to match off of with the rest of your room.

If you are using only framed photographs, this is the perfect place to incorporate a cool looking black and white collage of photos with similar frames.

With black and white matching any of your other decor, it opens up your options for what you utilize throughout the rest of the room.

Do you use wall art in your home? What are your favorite ways to use it? Let us know in the comments!

Decorating with traditional style can be a great way to make your home feel warmer and more comfortable.

From more casual colors and standard designed furniture, there are a plethora of different elements that factor into the creation of a high quality traditionally styled space.

Accessories are always one of the most important pieces to any room, and a floor lamp is one of the best items you can incorporate to whatever area you are designing.

For a traditional style, a Tiffany Lamp is a great addition no matter what the rest of your traditional decoration is.

Victorian Floor Lamps

If you are a fan of traditional Victorian theme, this one of a kind "Ambrose" Victorian floor lamp is one of the best products of its kind available on the market today.

Standing 5-feet-6-inches tall, this wonderful lamp features a beautiful yellow shade that is complimented with wonderful aesthetically pleasing touches of purple, blue, and red.

Another great Victorian style lamp is this simple blue and green floor model that provides you with some excellent color additions to your space to help really brighten things up.

This fantastic lamp stands just over five feet tall and is a foot and a half wide so it won't take up to much space wherever you use it, but it will provide you with all the efficiency and size you need out of a top of the line floor lamp.

Torchiere Floor Lamps

If you are looking for a floor lamp that has a little bit more uniqueness and flair, this outstanding Torchiere floor lamp is the perfect option for whatever space you are designing.

This beautiful piece features a wonderful iron base and stand that comes in a beautiful twisted design all the way to the top to give it an elegant touch.

The shade on this piece features top of the line copper-foiled stained glass and floral designs of purple, green, white, and tan. A perfect addition to your room to add some color no matter that the theme is.

Chadrick Floor Lamps

For the modern designed home owner, the Chadrick Mission Floor Lamp is the ideal accessory to give you both plenty of extra light and add to your already modern theme.

Standing 5-feet-3-inches tall, this fantastic lamp features a very aesthetically pleasing geometrically shaped shade perched on top of a high quality bronze stand.

This beige shade features top of the line stained glass formed into a wonderful squared design that is the perfect match for modern style.

Dragonfly Floor Lamp

If you are after a traditional Tiffany lamp to add a real pop of color to any room in your home, you can't go wrong with this one of a kind "Flying Dragonfly" floor lamp.

At just over five feet tall, this piece is the perfect size for any space and features a beautifully designed lamp shade with a dragonfly that possesses a blue body and grey wings.

If you are wanting to add some great new design to your home, look no further than any of these fantastic options.

On the surface, no two decorating themes could seem further apart than modern and traditional decor.

With the laid back, reserved, and comfortable elements of traditional decorating and the low profile, sleek, and sharper edged trends of modern style, these two don't seem like they could ever coexist in the same space.

If you balance things correctly and combine the right pieces though, you can make this combination work beautifully and create one of the coolest looking rooms in your entire home.

Unequal Share

When it comes to combining these two different design themes, one of the biggest keys is not finding a 50/50 even balance between the two.

If you are going to be combining these two styles, you should select one as your dominant theme and introduce the other one as an accent or accessory style.

You can adequately pull off this mix by finding more of a 70/30 or 80/20 combination of the two.

Warming Up the Room

Typically, modern decor gives off a much colder vibe and these spaces are not usually as comfortable and inviting as other themes are.

Do you have a black modern couch or chair as the focal point in your living room?

You can add some warmth to the room by introducing natural wood floors, a coffee table, or a more traditional lamp fixture.

Adding just a few of these elements along with some splashes of color to change things up can add some warmth to the space and make the room feel much more comfortable.

Minimalism Is Your Friend

When it comes to decorating on a modern style, usually the more minimalistic the room is, the better.

If you are combining modern and traditional styles in your home, this idea couldn't be more spot on.

By simply having a few items from each theme, you won't overpower the room one way or the other and can successfully balance out the two coexisting ideas.

If you have a modern sofa in your living room, consider a traditional table with an outstanding and unique tiffany lamp on it.

This introduction of two polar opposite design ideas brings a healthy balance and exciting look to the space, no matter how big it is.

The fewer items you can use and just focus on necessity, the better your design will be in the long run.

Covering Space Correctly

One of the most popular design elements in any room today is through the use of an area rug.

Whether it is the living room, bedroom, or just a runner that connects one room to another and guides you into the dining room, an area rug is one of the best ways to introduce a different style into a room.

With standard modern furniture, using a large traditional area rug is one of the best ways you can balance the look.

Follow a few of these tips and tricks and you can easily combine these two elements.

No matter what room you are designing, there are a plethora of different elements available at your disposal.

One of the most useful and versatile ones today is the use of a mirror.

In addition to being a very functional piece, mirrors are a great design element that can really open up some space and add some personality to a room.

What Mirrors Can Do

If you find yourself in a smaller room in your home or in an apartment, a mirror is one of the best pieces you have available to make it feel much larger than it actually is.

By hanging one or two of these pieces on the wall, the reflection of space and light creates an optical illusion that makes the space feel much bigger.

Mirrors are also a great way to add more natural light to an area that make be slightly dimmer.

By placing one of these in your entry way or across the room from a smaller window, it will reflect the light in the room, automatically doubling the feel of the amount of light that is present.

Where To Use Mirrors

The question isn't really "where should you use a mirror," but rather "where shouldn't you use a mirror?"

The great answer to this question is nowhere.

From the dining room, living room, kitchen, even behind your bedroom dresser, the possibilities are endless for where you can place this piece and how it can improve the overall look of your place.

What Kinds of Mirrors to Use

Another great aspect of using mirrors as functional design pieces in your home is that there is no limit to what shape or size of mirror you can use in any space.

Do you have a long hallway that branches off into the different bedrooms and guest bathrooms in your home?

A long narrow mirror that is hung horizontally down the hallway is an outstanding aesthetic feature to hang up that can also make the hallway feel wider than it actually is.

Does your bedroom feel a little empty?

A tall mirror standing seven or eight feet high is a great piece to stick over in an empty corner.

Not only adding class, this element can fill up some space and add a unique design feature of the reflecting furniture throughout the area.

Wanting to take up some space on a blank wall but can't afford to drop a couple hundred dollars on a monster mirror?

Invest in two slightly smaller ones and stick them side by side on the wall.

Not only does this accomplish the similar goal you were after with the large piece, you have an even more unique looking design feature that is sure to impress any of your guests.

If you are looking for a new twist on your home decor, look no further than the introduction of mirrors into any room in your home.

While it may be considered an accessory, a rug can be utilized as a great focus piece in any room in your home.

Whether a room needs a little more excitement or you are just looking to fill some space, an area rug is one of the best additions you can have in your home.

From the living room to the bedroom, these pieces are a great way to complete any space.

Where To Use an Area Rug

The beauty of finding the right place to use an area rug in your home is that there isn't a wrong place.

From the living room, kitchen, dining room and more, the possibilities are endless for where you can use these types of fillers.

The living room is a great place to start out with this piece as you can place once underneath your couch to add some excitement.

If you really want to define the space, consider placing a larger rug under all your furniture in the living room to set it apart from everything else.

Another great design feature is to frame your furniture around a smaller rug in the middle of the room.

If you are using a rug in your dining room, this is another great way to define the space as you can place your dining table and all the surrounding chairs on top of the rug.

If you do this though, make sure all the chairs stay on the rug when you pull them out.

As far as the bedroom is concerned, an area rug looks fantastic with half of it underneath the front two legs of the bed, and the rest sticking out from the frame.

Design Tips to Follow

While the size and placement of the rug is important, the design of the rug is even more crucial to it pulling a room together or not.

One of the biggest things is to not be afraid of going for a crazy color or design.

Do you have a neutral couch in your living room with some more colorful throw pillows or blankets?

This is the perfect spot for you to lay down an equally colorful rug that matches the pillows or blanket.

This feature will help make the room stand out even more and help balance the colorful accessories on your couch.

This design element works the same way if you have a colorful table runner in your dining room or some exciting throw pillows on your bedroom.

Opting for color or a bold design is a great way to help your room stand out.

Other Rug Tips

If you feel like the rug won't work that well on your floor, there are other way to implement them into your space.

Utilizing a rug as a wall hanging is a great way to add some color to your room and help cover up a large wall that is very bare and lacking some character.

Follow some of these helpful tips and tricks and you'll be on your way to having an outstanding space no matter where it is in your home.

Storage space. No matter the size of your home, you are always looking to get more of it.

Unfortunately, you probably have too much stuff and items you probably don't know what to do with to be able to find enough room to store it all. The living room is always a popular collection spot for anything and everything imaginable, so optimizing this space is key for being organized and efficient.

If you are trying to get more storage space in your living room, here are a few tips and tricks to utilizing it to the best of its ability.

Versatile furniture

Using versatile pieces of furniture that can serve more than one purpose in a space is one of the best ways you can organize and work more space into your living room. If your furniture can double as storage space, you can easily solve a lot of your problem without having to sacrifice at all on aesthetics or overall design. Did you know your couch can be used as a storage piece? Many ottomans and even couch cushions today feature a hidden compartment below the surface, making them perfect for holding more of your possessions and decluttering your room.

A two tiered coffee table is one of the best and most natural ways to accomplish this task. While the top of the table can serve the traditional purpose of holding your mugs, plates, books and other knick knacks, the bottom shelf can store so many other things. From extra throw pillows and blankets, to your remote collection, the possibilities are endless. Consider investing in some baskets to place in this area to store magazines, vinyl records, or whatever else you may have lying around in your living room.

Shelves

In every room in your home, shelves are by far one of the best ways to create more storage space without having to take up too much room in the area. Floating shelves are becoming one of the most popular features in kitchen storage, and they can work perfectly as well in your living room. Adding these it are ideal for holding both books and magazines, as well as decorative accessories such as plants and picture frames.

Built-Ins

Floating shelves don't have to be the only shelf option in your living room. Built-ins are one of the best looking ways to create more storage out of any size room. These pieces fit right in as a core structure of your home, and can provide you with an amazing amount of space away from the usual gathering area. Whether it takes up an entire wall to accommodate your home theatre system and some decorations, or is just located in the corner to house your extensive book collection, built-ins are one of the most useful ways to hold more of your items and making the gathering area feel less cramped.

From throw pillows and blankets to unique wall decorations throughout the space, there are a plethora of different ways to make each room stand out and show your personality. One of the best ways you can put your own personal touch on an area is by adding plenty of accessory lighting. If you are looking to put a different touch on your lighting, Tiffany Lamps are one of the best ways you can do it. 

Birds Double Lit Table Lamp 

The ideal combination of performance and style, this incredibly unique sculpture provides an excellent design piece to your room while also providing the extra light your need.

Featuring a base and lampshade that resembles a blooming tree, you will also see a branch jutting out to the side of the tree base. On this branch you will find two glass sculptures that resemble birds sitting on a branch and match perfectly with the lampshade.

"Lady Sculpture" Wisteria Table Lamp

Another more modern take a classic lamp, this Wisteria Table Lamp depicts a beautiful wisteria plant as the leaves are formed out of the traditional colored stained glass of a Tiffany Lamp.

The most unique thing about this piece is the stand of the lamp that acts as the stem for the plant. As the antique bronze finish curves up and around to the top of the lamp, you will clearly see the figure of a woman lying on her back on top of the lamp. This elegant touch will certainly make this one of the most talked about pieces in your home.

Parrot Accent Lamp

For the fan of birds and the tropics, look no further than this one of a kind Parrot Accent Lamp. Standing 16 inches tall, this beautiful piece is a great way to add some flair and color to any room in your home. Sitting on top of a resin forming a tree branch, a colorful parrot sits atop with the light bulb inside it.

This parrot is composed of some fantastic yellow, orange, red, blue, and green stained glass to create one of the most aesthetically pleasing Tiffany Lamps you are sure to ever come across.

Dale Tiffany Spirit Lives Table Lamp

If you are a fan of the old west, this Spirit Lives Table Lamp is the perfect addition to any room in your home. Featuring a sturdy antique bronze base, this lamp features two traditional western Native Americans created out of beautiful stained glass.

With a brilliant combination of pink, yellow, and red, these are two of the most breathtaking and versatile sculptures of their kind you will ever come across.

No matter what your overall theme is or what colors and patterns you are using, the arrangement of furniture is one of the most important aspects of successfully designing your home.

Whether it is the alignment of your couch and coffee table in the living room, the wall your bed is on in the master bedroom, or how centered the desk is in your office, there are a wide variety of elements that factor into quality interior design.

If you are designing a room in your home, we have a few tips and tricks to follow when it comes to proper arrangement to get the look you are going for.

Visualizing the Space

Before you get into the actual design of the space, one of the best things you can do is to set up the room and see the space how you want it before you actually start setting up the actual furniture and accessories.

If you are wanting to get very detailed with this process, there are several outstanding software programs that will allow you to put your room into the program and get a 3D view of the area. One of the best all around programs available on the market today is the Better Homes and Garden Arrange Your Room software. This interactive virtual software is very user-friendly and allows you to move furniture around with ease so you can get the full effect of what your space could potentially look like.

By using this kind of software, you can find the proper balance of where things should be placed in a room and can find the right blend of where larger and smaller items will go to work best in a space.

Finding the Right Balance

If you are wanting to design and arrange your room just like the professionals do, the biggest thing to focus on is balance. Properly setting up an area to where one side isn't too overloaded with furniture or accessories is one of the biggest points of emphasis for any designer. Try and distribute your furniture out as evenly as possibly so no corner feels untouched or left out of the design scheme.

Another important point for you to focus on when properly setting up your room is to make sure the entry way is not too crowded. Placing all of your larger and more important pieces away from the entry way will help the room feel much larger than it actually may be so you can get the most out of your space.

Finally, another great point to follow is to not consistently hug the walls with your furniture. While this may make the room feel a little more open at times, if you have the room to work with, consider placing the items a few feet from the wall to create a walkway behind your couch or sofa.

Follow a few of these simple tips and tricks and you will have a perfectly designed room just like any great interior designer.