The African Decor Influence: How African Decor Inspires Other Style Trends


April 7th, 2009

African decor continues to fuel patterns, styles and designs of interior fashion throughout the world. Year after year the continent of African continues as one of the world’s largest resources of new home decor ideas.

The exotic design motifs has the benefit of complimenting almost any room atmosphere or environment. Multitudes of designers use it to create rooms of spice, excitement and pizzazz to a relaxing room filled with tranquility, peace and calm. The only limit to your mood? Your imagination.

You can confidently use it as the dominant theme for a room ,or as a bold accent piece to add excitement to a dull space. African home decor celebrates its appeal by adapting to large mansion-like rooms to a cramped single apartment. Whatever your bank account, there’s a unique accent piece just right for you.

For instance, In days gone by African art sat idly in stuffy museums throughout the world. Now more people find they can give a cultural lift to their home, office, or apartment – without adding a sense or feel of stuffiness.

The visual impact of Africa themed decor continues slowly impacting more home interiors each day. As a result, African home accessories continue growing toward more mainstream home designers and interior decorators. Many use the colors, textures, patterns and designs to create their own styles and moods.

You’ll often find the African inspired styles reflected in more contemporary design choices. More elements continue to expand and cross into other interior styles, cultures, and themes as a result. Whether it’s the fabrics, the materials, or the hand-made craftsmanship, African interior design tastefully mixes creativity with centuries of culture and history.

The quiet spiritual connection to the continent remains a popular theme of people who favor African decor more and more. “The style quietly grows on you “, said one converted shopper and collector. That’s the feeling of a growing number of people across the globe.

Most of the craftsmen and women who fashion African decor view their skills and talents one-way. They see it not just as a commercial endeavor or idle hobby of leisure, but as a spiritual endeavor and life’s mission or purpose. Because of this commitment they patiently work to fashion the wooden sculpture, the figurine, weave the colorful basket or any other piece to reflect their pride and mastery to the world.

The rich culture of Africa home accents comes from proud generations of people. These working people take the spirit of nature contained in the wood, clay, stone, metal and other natural materials. Next they give back by chiseling, crafting , and polishing beauty from the piece of wood, clay, stone, metal or other natural material they’ve taken.

It’s predicted more will grow to appreciate and use the exotic interior themes and elements to enhance a space or room in their home. More interior designers will continue to receive inspiration and adapt many of the patterns, designs and textures to the growing consumer demand of African decor.

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Choosing the best sofa fabrics for home decoration


September 19th, 2008

Choosing sofa fabrics for decorating your home may be really confusing. There is a great variety available on the market, these days. The price range is also different. You would be easily confused on the kind of fabrics you need to choose with such a wide variety of fabrics and prices.

However, with a little research and patience on your part, you can easily choose the best for your home decoration without having to spend a fortune.

Here are certain questions that you must ask yourself prior to actually purchasing certain stuff.

• Is the fabric apt for my lifestyle?
• What kind of wear would my upholstery get?
• Would I be using this stuff in the family room?
• Will this stuff be O.K. with the small children and pets at my home?
• Is this stuff suitable for the living room that I would use only occasionally?
• Where will I be placing the upholstery?
• Would the fabric color fade with the sunlight?
• Can the fabric resist soil, abrasion and soil?
• How would the color of the upholstery look like with my room’s lighting?
• What care should I give to the fabric?

There are two main things that you need to keep in mind when opting for a particular fabric for decorating your home.

• Fibre content
• Weave of the fabric

Remember that the method of finishing and coloring can affect the durability of the fabric. With a little knowledge about the fabric construction and fiber construction methods, you can easily make choice that would meet the specific requirements of your family.

The fibers can be classified into three major categories. Each fiber has distinct characteristics.

• Cellulosic Fibers
These are obtained from plants such as rayon, cotton and linen.

• Protein fibers
These are of animal origin and include wool and silk.

• Manmade polymers
These are obtained from petrochemicals such as polyester, nylon, and olefin.
Some of the fibers can be used alone or blended with two or more than two material that would be apt for your sofa.

Here is an information on different fabrics available for sofa decoration:

• Cotton
It is a natural fiber that can be dyed and printed well. This fiber can be used in different applications. It is very strong and durable.

• Linen
This is sunlight resistant.

• Rayon
It can be used in blends

• Wool
It is a durable fiber.

• Silk
It is strong and very durable.

• Nylon
It can resist to abrasion, stretching and wrinkling.

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