Have you tried Neybers?

 We all have our ways to relax; one of mine is experimenting with design using different design apps. Several weeks ago I found Neybers.  Have you heard of it? You can spend way too many hours perfecting a design, and there are so many designs to look at.

Modern magenta, Margaret Ryall using  Neybers

What is Neybers?

Neybers is an  interior design app created by amagumo games and available on ITunes.  Users  can decorate rooms with images of thousands of real products from  international interior design brands.  There is also a social component to Neybers, allowing you to follow other people, like specific designs, and make comments.  It is a fun, easy app meant for everybody.

Using Neybers

Choose a room backgrounds/template that can be decorated by clicking to select wallpaper, paint and flooring.  Windows and doors can be added, cloned for multiples, and sized. You can even choose a scene to put behind a window!  If you change your mind mid design you can go back and adjust any of the  room template options.

Once your room background is set you import images of  furniture and accessories.   These are items from real designers and brands,  many with a modernist bent that can actually be purchased.  All information regarding designer, source etc. is available for viewing. The more creative you are, the more ways for can find to use the available items in your designs.

Added items can  be move around, sized and moved forward or back in the picture plane.  There are lots of orientation choices, and I love the fact that you can change  the perspective  of many items right in the program.  Other items have various orientations you can choose from.  All items are searchable, but you can also view them by category, colour and style/genre.

Once your dream room is created you have the option of bringing it to the next level with filters for a vintage, grayscale lighter or darker look.  Acid, bleach or vignette are also available.

You next step is publishing to the app, and if you wish, share it on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or by email or IMessage.

Perhaps one part of the design appeals to you more than another.  No problem. I Just move the viewfinder over the part you want and press the button.

And viola here's what I am publishing.  Only part and I've included the darken filter to make it a little more moody. 
After three weeks of using Neybers, here's my review of the positives and annoyances:

Positives:

There are many! Neybers: 

• is easy to use, and is a great way to pass the time if you are interested in design;
• is free to download;
• encourages  total creativity if design is your field,  don't have to consider client budgets, likes and dislikes, etc.;
• provides opportunities to work out space layouts, but not to scale;
• has a social component if you  want to participate in it;
• allows you to create and store an unlimited number of rooms with or without publishing them to the Neybers community;
• has many options for finding objects; I particularly like the colour and genre categories;
• allows you to see what others are creating, and many boards are strong in design and show creative use of available materials;
• offers  easy to manipulate stock background templates;
• presents many pieces of furniture in various orientations allowing you to place furniture in a 3D space (side orientations);
• allows manipulation of the perspective of wall art, curtains and some furniture;
• provides many choices in wood flooring in  room templates;
• lets you share your designs quickly and efficiently;
• offers new items on a continuous basis, but slowly.

Annoyances

Every app has them, and Neybers is no different.   My commentary must be tempered by the fact that I am an interior decorator and artist with a keen sense of colour and design.

This is my personal set of irritations after using the app for three weeks:

• limited sampling of furniture and accessories if you are interested in a certain style, but lots of styles are represented;
• being an accessory junkie, I'm always looking for new options: pillows, curtains and art items need more variety; 
• wall treatment choices in room background templates are very limited and consist mainly of wallpaper which I would rarely choose in real life; 
• choices for wall colours (painted look) are not subtle (mostly garish really), which usually leads me to choosing wallpaper;
• no cropping; if it had cropping abilities it would be just awesome;
• it is really difficult to put together a design with perfectly matched undertones mostly because of limited choice in wall finishes and accessories;
• the terminology for categories takes a little getting use  to, and some objects are not in the obvious place;
• there's less selection if you are interested in more traditional design;
• some of the really desirable accessories to finish a design must be purchased from Neybers by buying coins, or won by completing tasks.

 Here are several other  colourful, modernist designs I created with Neybers.  

White on white, Margaret Ryall using Neybers

Leading with orange,  Margaret Ryall, using Neybers

Go on, if you have an IPad give it a try;  it is fun.

From glam to calm and points in between

Are you someone  who loves pretty, sparkly, elegant, or glamorous in home decor?

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 Do you love to continually redecorate, change with the seasons etc. Are you someone who loves accessories?  Many people have this "refined" up to date, concept of beauty and want their living spaces to reflect that.

Believe it or not, there are also people who are equally determined not to have spaces that are perfect and new. They like more pared down, earthy, calm environments that have "real" objects in them.  Some refer to this look as zen.

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As in all things there is usually a middle road that people like to take.  I am certainly not, nor never have been, attracted to glamorous spaces, with silk, sparkle and too much excess.  Comfortable, calm and clean lined is more my vibe.


I have always found the Japanese world view/aesthetic of wabi sabi that acknowledges three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect, very freeing. Such beliefs allow you to accept the dents, scratches, wrinkles, splits, cracks and scuffs as part of the history of a piece that makes it unique and authentic.  If you want to know more about wabi sabi check out this post.

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Natural materials predominate in wabi sabi homes: paper, aged wood, linens, cottons, etc. Look for anything that celebrates the  marks of time, weather, and  the effects of loving use. In other words look for objects with history on their surfaces.

 I am definitely attracted to the tenets  of wabi sabi, and if you went around my home you would see subtle evidence of my interest in the marks of time, wood, and natural materials like cotton and linen.
But you would also see pristine, light, glass  and leather.  For me combining new and old  is also a statement that  probably brings more attention to the less than perfect objects and what they mean.

I find spaces that have obviously combined the up to date with the old and authentic very interesting, and I think about them as approaching wabi sabi rather than fully embracing it.

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An old door made new with yellow

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A less than perfect stool in a white bathroom

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Pristine white sofas paired with antique, simple tables and a wooden bowl.

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An updated but old space with remnants of the world outside displayed.  

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Modern art paired with a rustic bench and less than perfect but evocative pottery. 

Isn't  great interest created when you set up comparisons in your space?  

Using mirrors to solve decorating problems

Sometimes I have to remind myself of the power of mirrors to solve common decorating problems.   Here are seven  fantastic uses of mirrors that might not be on your radar.

1. To reflect light

This is one great space for a number of reasons, but the mirrors make it in my opinion.  Not only do they break up a dark wall and provide height to match the window, they reflect light in what might otherwise be a blah room.

2. To create a window in a windowless room 

There are often sections of a space that are dark and windowless.  Mirrors can give the illusion of a window and light without having to make architectural changes.  In both rooms above the mirrors also add dramatic focal points.

3. Add drama to an open space

This high ceilinged space demands a large scale treatment.  This mirror fills the bill when it comes to matching the scale of the space.  The choice of a lucite table ensures that the lines of the mirror remain dominant.

4. To replace art

 Sometimes a mirror when used well can replace art over a bed or mantle.  In this space the sculptural light is reflected in the mirror,  providing an interesting visual focus.

5. To highlight art/collections

6. To create impact 

 One of the best ways to create impact is through repetition.  Imagine the scene above if you just has three or four mirrors.

7. To balance large windows 

I love how the mirror is large scale, soft with its rounded top, and the height relates well to the window.  The gold relates to the lamps and the table which also mimics the rounded top of the mirror.

I am definitely interested in any solution that helps balance heights/scale  in a room.  One of the best things about this mirror treatment is how it relates to the window next to it and the furniture in the space.   You read the fireplace and mirrors as one unit. The fireplace alone is small and delicate.  Keeping the mirror frame lighter and gold helps it to relate to the other furnishings in the space.

Seven reasons why you should have a mirror in your home apart from the obvious.  Who knew? Are you a mirror lover?  I'm sad to say my mirror choices are purely functional.  What about yours?

Please find links to photos on my Pinterest board Mirrors.

Do you know the rule of three?

Three  is a very popular number in many aspects of life from religion to fairy tales, and it is extremely  popular and important  in all aspects of  design .  When you understand how to use the rule of three you have a powerful agent for design change in your home.  Often improvements are free because you simply have to move around what you already have.
 
 In design, using threes helps you build interest and drama, as well as  harmony, and it a very effective way to create visual movement in a room . Three works for function e.g., kitchen work triangle, furniture arrangement, sofa and two chairs.  It also is frequently used for colour and fabric schemes and groupings of accessories and vignettes.  Three can effectively establish a focal point. Here's how you can liven up your space and help improve function.

Adi Edlin

This is a wonderful graphic produced by Adi Edlin that shows the rule of 3 working twice in a vignette. First in the grouping of accessories in sections and then in the overall design of the vignette.  

 Gauthier Stacy

A simpler version  of the rule of three where you have three bottles mixed with three other objects (2 bunches of flowers and a shell ). 

VT Interiors 

Art collections always look great in groupings of 3.  This one is perfect because it totally fits the wall space and is in keeping with the graphic nature of the colour scheme. I also love the visual relief the circle provides for all the straight lines.  Circles in a grouping also move the eye effortlessly. They are great pivots.

 VT Interiors

This dramatic space  is further enhanced by the inclusion of the three arched mirrors which provide a focal point ( not an easy task in this space).  Relief from the straight lines in the rest of the room is also provided by the curves. 

Do you see three in this arrangement?  Often you get  furniture with very distinct divisions as in this settee.  Because it visually reads as two with the centre legs it provides the perfect foil for this artwork.

Pinterest

Look carefully at this vignette  because it is masterfully put together in variety and scale . First we have two windows and a mirror mimicking the windows for a total of 3, then there are three hats visible in the mirror and three objects in the vignette (bench, floral arrangement and mirror). The scale of the bench is perfect for the width of the 3 "windows' behind it and the flower arrangement works so well with the weighty bench.

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Lots of threes here: colour scheme of yellow, blue and gray; vignette of art, chair and table; and three shelves and three groupings of objects on each shelf.  There are also at least three yellow and blue objects spread throughout the vignette to move the colours around.

Perhaps you can look around your home and see places where the rule of three can be put to use  to refine  how you have arranged things. Don't overdo it ! Remember that any odd number is effective.  I particularly love five mixed with three. Have fun.....