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Dear Lovely Readers,

The holidays are upon us.  A time to be with family and spread that holiday cheer. Which is exactly what I am doing.  I have to excuse myself for being away from my blog here for a while - but my dad had a serious emergency heart procedure last week, so things have been hectic, crazy and stressful.  I flew in a couple of days after the procedure and my sister and I are taking good care of him.  His recovery is going well, thank goodness - he gave us quite a scare.  But he pulled through the operation like a champ.  I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present than that.

In that spirit, I would like to wish you all a happy and especially healthy holiday season - Be safe and be merry!

And I leave you with a few holiday related links for your enjoyment:

- extravagant designer Christmas trees - created to raise money for a children's cancer charity.
- amazing gift wrapping!
- wonderfully decorated Christmas home.
- another wonderfully decorated Christmas home.
- more Christmas decor inspiration - black, white and metallic rustic scheme.
- very sweet Christmas decor ideas and mini tree decor craft project to try.
- Christmas tree mobile - non traditional, DIY, could be really stunning!
- great design books - potential Christmas presents ;)
- outdoor Christmas decor ideas.
- best online advent calendar.

All the best and see you all in the New Year!!

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I was looking through interior designer Sergey Makhno's portfolio and came across two images from the same project that I thought would make a fun game!

Remember those spot the differences game?  Well, here's an interior design one. Look at these two images and post the number of differences you see in the comments. I will do the same.  Oh one thing, let's leave out the couch and floor colour ... its hard to tell wether the colour difference is due to simultaneous contrast, so let's just assume it's the same couch and the same floor, ok?

images via Sergey Makhno

This is a great example of how playing with finishings, furnishings and colour can make a room look and feel so different.

Which image do you prefer? I like the first one best ;)

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Most interior designers would tell you with confidence that the lighter a ceiling is, the taller a room will appear.  Intuitively it make sense and if you take a look at some images or notice the rooms you visit, you will soon see there is some truth to this.  But as a fan of scientific research, I like to back these ideas with some actual support.  So here it is folks, this week's Research Findings Fridays is about the factors that influence perceived room height:

D. Oberfeld, H. Hecht & M. Gamer (2010). Surface Lightness Influences Perceived Room Height. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, vol. 63, no. 10, pp. 1999-2011.

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Indeed they found that observers perceived room height to be taller when ceilings were lighter.  That effect was significantly strengthened when walls were lighter too - an effect they did not anticipate.

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Floor colour and room brightness did not have a significant impact on perceived room height, which actually came as a surprise to me.  I would have assumed that a room with dark floors and light walls/ceiling would appear taller than a room with a light floor and light walls/ceiling - like the contrast would matter somewhat. Actually, the experiment shows that the brightness contrast between the walls and ceilings is not a significant factor in perceptions of a taller space.

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Instead the effect is additive and not dependant on contrast at all - something else that kind of surprised me.  So the lighter yours walls and ceilings are generally, the taller your room will look.  To explain further or more dramatically, a room with black walls a white ceiling will still appear less tall than a room with white walls and a white ceiling.

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Moral of the story? If you want to maximize the perceived height of a space, keep your colours on the light side - all around and up high - and choose whatever type of floor your heart desires.

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Happy weekend to all!

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Temporary wall decor solutions are in high demand especially for renters or those who value a certain amount of flexibility that allows for changing up an interior look when the mood strikes. Get inspired with these products and ideas:

# 1. Temporary wallpapers with neat designs that are repositionable and self adhesive. These can be found at Tempaper.

# 2.  Temporary tile tattoos can provide a great instant makeover for any tiled surface, like in bathrooms and kitchens. These are available at 2Jane.

# 3. Temporary decals are great too.  They can make quite an impact without covering too much surface. Be careful not to get too cheesy with this option. The ones shown here are from Blik.

# 4. Temporary Murals can be really awesome too. Some places even custom make them from your own images. Find these ones at Easy Wallz.

via SmallRooms

# 5. Here's an idea! Stick or hang some dried flowers in a vertical fashion for a romantic effect.

images via 1, 2, 3.

# 6. Show off your polaroids.

images via 1, 2, 3, 4.

# 7. Get creative with picture frames.



... Or you could just throw caution to the wind and go wild!

 image via

Any temporary wall decor ideas or products you'd like to add to the mix?



Tschüs!

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 - by me -

I'm happy to be back - back online and back in Berlin! Quite a lot has happened lately. Main thing is I temporarily moved to Berlin (from Frankfurt). I'm so happy to be here, in this city I just love so much. If you're here too, let's meet up for some Gluehwine :)

So I was just stopping in to say "Hello" and stay tuned for upcoming posts...

bis bald!

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The first day of December. The holidays are fast approaching, and so is the new year.  You can feel it in the air. People seem to be bustling about as opposed to just walking around. Every one seems busy, with lots of things to do and plan.  I am among them.

Photo by Stellan Herner via Bonytt

Which is why I would like to let those who follow here know that I will be away from my blog until about Tuesday next week.  See you on Facebook or Twitter and wishing you all well 'till then.


xoxo,

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