All interior design enthusiasts know the 1950s and 60s gave birth to one of the most loved designs. Designers and architects have started to include technology in their designs and the result was an interesting trend with elements everyone loves. Today, homeowners want to incorporate mid-century modern features into their homes to achieve an elegant and unconventional result. Mid-century modern elements are perfect for kitchens because they create rooms with a sense of personality, style, and organisation. Here is how to include them in your design, if you are looking for a remodel. Build an open floor plan kitchen Modern kitchens are efficient, so you need to tear down all unnecessary walls and maximise your space. A mid-century kitchen is perfect for a small apartment because it provides both a kitchen and a dining area. The first step a kitchen remodel implies is taking down the walls that create visual barriers. Install open-shelving Wesley Ward, Head of Marketing at Hausera told us that based on their 2019 consumer survey, “The top three ideal styles for kitchens and bathrooms are: Modern (with a 51% majority vote), Contemporary, and Traditional.” Minimalistic details are essential to designing a modern space so build tall ceilings, wall cabinets, open space, and open shelving. If you have stores you should remove them and replace them with opening shelves. Don’t rush A modern kitchen isn’t built overnight. You can buy the first mid-century modern furniture set you find on the market, and install it the next day, but it will not provide an authentic feeling. The fun part of the process is when you browse through the items multiple stores offer to find the perfect elements. When you choose this style, you should keep in mind that it may take time to complete the project. The second step when remodelling the kitchen is to choose the wallpaper or paint and to build space-efficient cabinets. Use only natural materials Modern design uses steel and natural materials. Why is wood a key element for modern design? Because it’s timeless and creates a simple and authentic vibe. Mid-century design is unimaginable with wood elements so shop for real wood furniture. Decide if you prefer mid-tones or dark shades, or mix them to create warmth. Add some retro vibes To add a pop of style to your kitchen, you can choose some retro lighting fixtures. Interior design registered a comeback of retro lighting fixtures, so you can easily find a model that fits the rest of the house. Install an armed pedant light above the countertop to transform it into a dining table. Feel free to be creative when you choose kitchen items because modern spaces encourage experimentation.   Use colours Modern design promotes bold colours so don’t be afraid to use them. A bright colour can make the difference in the kitchen, so get creative and try hues like gold, yellow, deep blue, orange, and any other bright shade you find interesting. Sometimes using contrasting colours, you enrich the design of the kitchen and make it look more welcoming.

After a long, hard day at work, all we want to do is unwind and kick back with a cold one, and man caves are the perfect place for that. There, you can have your friends over, play some games, and simply relax and enjoy. If your basement happens to be under-utilized as it’s usually the case, it’s high time you gave it a purpose. Not really sure where to start? Take a look at our guide for designing the coolest man cave, step by step. Prepare the floors Preparing your floors is the first step towards setting up your man cave. Because basements are prone to moisture, you need to make sure to waterproof your floors before you lay laminate, tiles, or some other type of flooring onto your basement floors. The right underlayment will act as a moisture barrier for the basement and will slightly level the flooring and reduce the transmission of noise. You might want to consider having your basement floors carpeted, especially if you’re turning it into a home theater or a recording studio. The carpet will absorb the sound and, unlike the uncarpeted floors, won’t distort the sound. Seal and waterproof your walls and ceiling Your basement walls are another part of your future man cave that needs to be sealed and waterproofed, especially if there are cracks in the wall. This will help prevent water from seeping into the basement and eventually flooding it. Also, check the pipes that are running through the ceiling to ensure they’re not leaking. It’s recommended that you insulate the pipes as well as make sure the wiring is in good condition. You can use paint to hide all the plumbing pipes and wires and make them blend with the surroundings, or you can finish your basement ceiling by installing drop ceilings or drywall on your ceiling. Choose a theme After everything’s all set, you can move onto choosing the theme for your man cave. This is the part everybody loves because it allows them to express their creativity and design a room that reflects their interests. If you’re someone who’s interested in sports, displaying various sports memorabilia such as basketball jerseys is a great way to showcase your passion. Similarly, if you’re a passionate gamer and can play video games for hours on end, a big screen TV and your favorite consoles will turn your basement into a game zone. Choose a theme that captures your personality, and equip it with everything that will cater to your needs. Go with comfortable furnishings When it comes to choosing the furnishings for your basement man cave, the first thing to look for is the seating. This will be the place where you can hang with your buddies, watch movies, play games, and unwind after a long day of work. That means the furniture you select needs to be comfortable but also able to accommodate all of your guests. Depending on your man cave budget, you can go all out and invest in big, comfortable sofas and armchairs that appeal to the aesthetic of the room. On the other hand, you can head to a reclamation yard and use various online platforms to browse for some more affordable options. Make it fun When it comes to incorporating various sources of entertainment into your basement man cave design, the list of options is endless. A built-in bar fully equipped with bar stools and a refrigeration cabinet is a perfect way to create a cool hangout spot, while a central game table can easily become the star of the show in your man cave. A surround system will ensure the perfect atmosphere for entertaining your guests, while a dartboard and a pinball machine will just add to the vibe. Make it bright Most basements don’t have windows, and if they do, they’re usually small and don’t provide enough natural light, making the basement look dingy and drab. Also, they’re often equipped with insufficient artificial lighting because of their primary purpose as storage rooms. That’s why it’s important to introduce multiple sources of lighting – rely on the skills of a licensed electrician to install multiple lighting sockets and illuminate your man cave. Use LED bulbs for your ceiling or pendant lights, and include a floor lamp as well as sconces for accent lighting. Transforming your basement into a man cave does take some time, but think about it this way – you’ll spend the money anyway, so why not spend it on something you’ll actually enjoy? This guide will help you transform a humdrum to the ultimate getaway space for recharging batteries. So, roll up your sleeves, figure out what you want your man cave to look like, and start building!

One of the most popular trends in interior design involves mixing different styles, especially when it comes to more traditional and modern design. Obviously, there are many ways to achieve this look and approaches to take. In that respect, you can go for a more eclectic vibe, vintage-inspired or even shabby chic or minimal. The options are endless and it all depends on your personal taste and preferences. But if you need proper ideas to get you started or inspire you, keep on reading. Match the colors and materials A very popular way of mixing modern and traditional involves matching these different styles by color or material. Essentially, if you have an upholstered sofa, for instance, featuring rich and colourful patterns, you want to look into décor details, such as vases, curtains, rugs and/or cushions that feature at least one identical shade. Furthermore, you can also match the wooden or metal part of that sofa construction to a coffee table or a bookshelf made of the same material. Go with complete contrast Another interesting solution for mixing traditional and modern is on the completely opposite end of the spectrum compared to the previous one. Namely, you can disregard the matching aspect 100% and go with the absolute contrast instead. This particular way of mixing modern and traditional may seem easier at first but keep in mind that it can actually be rather tricky. After all, your goal here is to really focus on complete contrast, which means that the elements you introduce into your apartment should differ from one another greatly. This is the practice that will make the contrasting tactic ultimately successful. Don’t go overboard with furniture When you’re mixing different design styles in your apartment, and especially when you’re dealing with two rather different designs, it’s crucial that you stop yourself from filling up the space with furniture too much. A cluttered apartment without a functional layout will only look like a mess, especially with the mix of different styles. For instance, you can focus on mid century furniture, which is rather effective in its design in regards to matchups with other styles, and then introduce features and accent pieces of something more vintage-inspired through details, textures and décor. Play with accessories In case you find furniture combinations too overwhelming right from the start, the best way to go when mixing modern and traditional is concerned is to use accessories to the fullest. In that sense, you have even more creative freedom to achieve the look you want in your apartment. Curtains, cushions, rugs, tablecloths, throws, vases, bowls, figurines, picture frames, plant pots and so on are all interesting details that can effectively add a touch of personality and spruce up the vibe of your personal environment. Don’t forget about your walls Walls can be really important and sometimes even crucial for an effective and stylish mix of modern and traditional in one’s home. For starters, you can use your walls as the biggest feature of one particular design. Let’s say that you mostly have modern furniture pieces in your apartment; you can embellish your walls with traditional wallpaper patterns or darker, gothic-inspired paintwork to introduce a new style into your interior. In the same way, your elaborate, vintage-like furniture design would look even greater when surrounded by more minimal, modern wall paint in white or neutral shades. Obviously, you can always plan and visualize how you want your apartment to look beforehand and then continue with work accordingly. On the other hand, if you’re not one for planning, proceed with the design mix as you see fit, but always make it a point to take a step back, leave the area and then return to get the right feel of how everything looks. That way, you’ll know whether you should make some changes or not.

WorkLife Central, The Ashby de la Zouch headquarters of workplace consultants and interior fit-out specialist Blueprint Interiors was transformed as clients and staff gathered to celebrate the company’s 18th anniversary on Thursday 11 July. Over 75 people attended an afternoon BBQ during which each guest was presented with a commemorative biophilic planter as a momento of reaching this milestone anniversary. Founded in 2001 by Chairman Rob Day, the interior fit out business has grown to a turnover of £4m and now employs 15 designers, project managers and experienced support staff. The management team now comprises; Rob Day, Managing Director, Rachel Biddles, Creative Director, Chloe Sproston and Head of Business Development, Andrew Hobson. The re-location and million-pound investment in WorkLife Central in 2017 to create a showroom in which customers can try out and view the latest cutting edge office design products and technology has been a major catalyst of recent success. The company is also differentiating itself by championing the concept that workplace consultancy should be a precursor to design to ensure businesses make the very best of the space available and create environments which inspire and motive their workforce. Commenting, Rob Day said, “2019 has been a momentous year for many reasons. Not only are we celebrating our 18th year in business, we have been shortlisted or won four business awards and have also achieved our objective of becoming renown for workplace consultancy and design across the Midlands region. I would like to thank all the clients and staff that have assisted us on this journey and hope they enjoyed being part of our celebrations.” Some of the many prestigious projects that Blueprint Interiors has worked on across the Midlands include The MIRA Technology Institute, East Midlands Chamber of Commerce new offices, Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People and Ibstock Brick.

Properties in the UK fit into one of two categories: Traditional Construction Most houses, bungalows and low-rise flats are brick or block wall construction. They generally have a sloping roof and will either have solid or cavity walls, depending on the era they were built.  Non-traditional Construction Anything other than a brick or block wall construction is defined as ‘non-traditional’. These include metal framed, pre-cast concrete, in-situ concrete and timber framed properties. The reason they’re split into categories is so that buyers and mortgage lenders are aware of any potential risks with the property. Mortgage lenders will want to know that a property is suitable collateral for their loan. Buyers will want to be sure that they won’t have to pay too much for repairs over time and that they will be able to sell their house fast should they decide to move.  Now, let’s look in more detail at each of the constructions and what to be aware of if you’re looking at a property without much additional information.  Metal Framed There are around 140,000 metal framed houses in the UK and a number of aluminium framed ones. The majority were built after WWII when rapid re-building was required due to bomb damage. They are, however, made to look like standard houses with finishes of brick, render or imitation brick and many of them are so convincing that a specialist eye would be needed in order to confirm whether they are actually metal framed or not.  One way to find out if the house is metal framed is to look in the roof space. There will usually be unlined sheathed metal framing or metal stud framing, lined with plasterboard.  Pre-cast Concrete Around 284,000 houses in the UK have concrete panels as their main wall structure. These were built throughout the 1920s, then again in the ‘50s and ‘60s. There are two types of pre-cast concrete houses – panel and pre-cast.  Panel systems are created in a factory before being transported to a building site for construction. If they are used as external walls then they will either look like concrete, or will have brick or tile affixed to them, imitating a traditional house. Pre-cast concrete systems are concrete frames with in-fill panels. The panels will be slotted into the frame and can mostly be found in two-storey properties. In-situ Concrete Introduced during the two great wars in the UK, in-situ walling was intended to keep costs low and construction time down. However, they ended up being more costly than traditional builds. The most well-known buildings with in-situ concrete were the Wimpey homes built between the 1940s and 1970s.  Timber Framed Houses with timber frames will usually have cladding on the outside that protects the property from the elements, as well as making them look more appealing. From around 1920 to the late ‘70s approximately 108,000 timber framed houses were built in the UK. During the ‘80s brick and block constructions became more popular, until the ‘90s when timber frames made a slight come-back again. Recognising whether your property is timber framed or not depends on when it was built. Pre-WWII houses were mostly clad with timber as well as the structure being built from it. However, post-war constructions were clad with bricks that made them more traditional in appearance. There will usually be indicators somewhere within the property as to whether it is a timber frame or not and a specialist will be able to work this out. Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) More recently there has been an increased need for housing, at the same time as there is a lack of skilled workers. Therefore, the Government is now encouraging property developers to use MMC to fulfil demand. Methods such as using Aircrete blocks, thin joint systems and structural insulated panels are helping to evolve more traditional masonry and timber frame constructions.  Similarly, steel frame systems have developed, along with in-situ concrete techniques which has led to insulated concrete forms becoming a more popular choice.  The point of MMC is to find ways of reducing construction time on site, whilst increasing the number of properties built. The quality of the properties isn’t compromised and developers are able to more accurately forecast costs and turnaround.