TRANSFORMATION makes the CHANGES

TRANSFORMATION……………..#HAND-IT-OVER#

Transformation is a complete or major change in someone or something's appearance, form, etc.

Transformation is a desire which everybody deems fit in his or her live, we all want change in our lives. The only thing that is constant in life is “Change”, we clamor for a new government not necessarily because we are fed up of the former, it is the nature of us humans to change our style. We change make ups in order to wear the best looks, we desire the latest cars, visits modern tourists centres. Change is endless, it is a continuous and daily activity.

This day <May><29th><2015> marks the handing over from one ruling administration to another in Nigeria, where would you like to start having the transformation?

Lounge OR dining OR bedroom OR kitchen OR laundry OR bathroom OR office OR reading room?

Regardless of size, shape or cost, that change is possible!

Snap and Upload any part of your house or office you need CHANGE. Tag and follow us on Instagram, Twitter (#HAND-IT-OVER#), You just might win a wall treatment makeover for the space.

Get inspired through this modern designs.

DECORATION 102 - Hiring a designer or doing it yourself

Once you've figured out what you want your home to look like, the big question is: Should you decorate it yourself or hire a professional? Or both?

Interior decorators and designers as we know them today barely existed before the 20th century. Before that it was taken for granted that you decorated your home yourself, unless you were Marie Antoinette or somebody with a similar pedigree.

Old habits die hard. Some people still think you need to live in a palace to hire a decorator, or are fearful of the cost (whether real or perceived). For others it’s not so much a question of money, but of ceding control and having the concern that the results might not reflect their tastes. Some dive into the collaborative process without hesitation, while others have confidence in their tastes and skill and prefer to decorate their homes themselves. 

Which camp do you fall into? Here are some things to think about to help you decide. 

Advantages of Decorating Your Home Yourself

Obviously, decorating your home yourself means you won’t have to pay someone else to do it. The results will truly reflect your personal taste, and you’ll be able to take full credit for them. If you've gone through the process before and were pleased with the results, there’s no reason not to do it again.

Whether the DIY route will work for you will depend on your strengths. If you know what you like and you know what makes you tick, you’ll love everything you choose. You can also do the project in stages, as funds allow, and you won’t face the challenge of trying to convey your likes and dislikes to a stranger.

Disadvantages of Decorating Your Home Yourself

You could mess up. And you’ll either need to live with that error for years to come or pay a large sum of money to make it go away.

Do you have the ability to visualize? Are you a creative type? If you’re not, then you need some help,because it is expensive, and you don’t want to make any mistakes.

Baker Furnitur

The DIY route won’t necessarily save you money. Decorating can be a time-consuming proposition with a steep learning curve and a huge number of decisions that need to be made. What’s your time worth? Will that outlay of time justify the fees you’ll be saving? If you make a mistake and something has to be redone, will you forfeit your savings?

In America a large percentage of home furnishings are sold to the trade only at wholesale designer showrooms. So what you’ll see in stores is only a fraction of the merchandise that’s available. While some showrooms permit public access, you’ll still need to buy through a designer.

Tom Stringer Design PartnersSa

Advantages of Hiring an Interior Designer

Hiring an interior designer will give you access to a large selection of to-the-trade-only furnishings, fabrics and wall coverings that otherwise you’d probably never see, and the services of workrooms and tradespeople that the designer has cultivated relationships with over the years. You can potentially end up with a beautiful home tailored to your tastes and lifestyle, and furnished with pieces chosen by an expert for their beauty, quality and durability. 

Kepler Desig

If you have the budget, that’s the way you should go, designers can save you money.

Sven

There’s a sense of accomplishment that comes with decorating your home yourself that you might not feel if you pay someone to do the work for you. A good designer will involve you in the process, however, and make you feel like you played a major role in the outcome.

Working With a Pro and Doing It Yourself
If you like the idea of working with a decorator or an interior designer, but not the cost or loss of participation, there are alternative working arrangements you could consider.

1. Hire a decorator by the hour to help you plan the layout and the furniture, fabric and color selections, then execute the plan yourself. Not all designers are willing to accept small assignments like this, but some will welcome it.
2. Design the project yourself but hire a pro on an hourly basis to hold your hand through the selection process, or to offer a verdict on items you’re considering.

Pottery Barn

3. Work with a virtual designer. A growing number of designers have hung their shingles on the Internet. You send them photos or a floor plan of your home, and they provide consultations for a fee, without ever meeting you (or your home) in person.

4. If there’s a furniture store you really like, see if it offers free interior decorating services. Some stores will work with you on your project without charge, although you will need to acquire the furniture from that store.

DECORATING 101 - How to start

Congratulations. You've decided to decorate your home. Now what? 

Whether you’re furnishing your first place or redoing the house you’ve owned for decades, decorating can be a challenging task, filled with costly decisions whose outcomes could haunt you for years. How do you figure out what style is right for you? Should you tackle the job yourself or hire a pro? How much should you spend? And what steps can you take to ensure you’ll be happy with the results?

In this series I’ll take you through the entire decorating process, from initial inspirations to final floor plans. We’ll talk about choosing colors, shopping for furniture, arranging furniture, where you should scrimp and where you should spend. 

But before you do any of that, look around you.
Take a critical look at your current home. What do you like about it? What do you dislike? Are your feelings prompted by the aesthetics of the decor? The comfort? The fabrics? The colors? 

Learn from that. Repeat the things you like, and don’t repeat the things you don’t like just because they’re familiar to you.

Write your list. Create a wish list Write down everything you would like to do if money were no object. Then figure out which things you can do, which things you can’t do, which things have to be done now and which things can wait. without a list it is hard to prioritize. 

Collect photos. Start collecting pictures of rooms you like. Even if you’re going to hire an interior designer, this will help him or her get a sense of your taste.

Don’t try to do this in one sitting — give yourself a few weeks or months to compile your photos, as your tastes might evolve during the course of the exercise. Something that appealed to you on Day 1 might seem trite by Day 23.

Get your better half involved. For many couples there’s often one person who’s more interested in decorating than the other. The other person might say, “Do whatever you want.” 

Do not do whatever you want. Because as soon as you start buying things, Mr. or Ms. No Opinion will suddenly have an opinion. So make him or her spend some time with you at the very beginning just looking at pictures of interiors.

Alternatively, you can each collect a file of images independently, then sit down and compare what you’ve chosen. This way your initial selections won’t be swayed by the other person. As you review your selections together, your differences and similarities will immediately become apparent.

“I don’t know what I like.” Many people find it difficult to articulate what they want. Don’t let that bother you. Let those photos you’ve collected convey that information for you. Look at the characteristics that pop up again and again: the style of furnishings, the color palettes, the patterns, the materials, the quantity of furniture in each room. Let those characteristics guide you.

Although it’s good to venture outside your comfort zone every now and then, it’s unlikely that you’ll enjoy living in a minimalist contemporary space if your natural predilection is for French country. So trust your instincts.

Take another look around. Now that you’ve started to zero in on the look you want your interior to have, make a list of all your significant pieces and figure out which items should stay and which should go. 

Keep in mind that if you love a piece of upholstered furniture but hate its fabric, it can be reupholstered. Wood pieces can be painted or stained. Objects can be repurposed. And if there’s an inherited piece that has great sentimental value but you can’t stand to look at it … well, life’s too short to live with things you don’t love.

All at once or in stages? If you have the budget to do everything at once, by all means go for it. If you want everything done at once but can’t afford that now, save your money and do it all at once later.

If you can’t afford to do it all at once and don’t care if everything is done at the same time, then you’ll be better off doing the project in phases. Complete one room before moving on to the next one, rather than doing a little bit in one room and a little bit in another.

The living room is a good place to start, as it will leave you with something you can be proud of and can share with friends — a good launching point for the other work ahead.