Sometimes when the seasons change and the weather gets brighter, it becomes a lot more obvious that certain spaces are just dark all of the time, regardless of how bright it is outside. This could be because they’re at an awkward angle, or because they don’t have large enough windows, but it’s often caused, or at least made worse, by interior design choices. However, it’s also possible to solve or mask the issue by making small changes to the way you’ve decorated a room, that will trick the eye into thinking that it’s seeing more light than it actually is. If you’re trying to make a dark room brighter, here are some easy tricks that will help.

Light Sources

Whilst the obvious solution is to get a really bright light for the space, that won’t actually work as well as filling the space with lots of different light sources.  One bright light can cast harsh shadows and doesn’t create the same ambience as sunlight does. A better solution is to augment the light with accent lights, which will create a warm glow that adds depth and allows you to adjust the lighting.

Paint Colours

You’ll want to go for pale colours, but that doesn’t mean that you have to stick to whites and creams. You can also add cool, bright colours like blues, yellows and pinks, which will add contrast whilst still seeming bright and sunny. In terms of colours you should keep away from, greys and darker tones will not reflect as much light and so won’t have as great an effect.

Furniture

You’ll want to get furniture that comes in cool, pale shades- colours that reflect light back to create the illusion of a well lit space. It’s also worth considering furniture with a glossy finish, because those will reflect the most light back and work best in a dark space. We’ve got some great options available on our site that will allow you to create a brighter space without sacrificing anything in the way of style.

Add Contrast

Don’t go for an all-white space! Darker contrast tones help to make the light shades seem lighter, and the contrast is what draws the eye. Otherwise, you run the risk of creating a space that feels impersonal and unforgiving.

Declutter

There’s no point in getting the right furniture, pairing it with the best colour, and then ruining your hard work with lots of clutter. Clean spaces reflect more light and are generally more calming, and clutter can make a space feel cramped and shadowy. We’d recommend getting some hidden storage that could help your room to feel clear and bright.

Images courtesy of @housewifeshome

We’ve seen a lot of home décor pics. In fact, the best part of our week is looking through our tags to see what you’ve tagged us in, so we feel pretty confident in saying that by now, we’re kind of experts. Whilst there’s no right way to take a photo of your home, here are a few things to keep in mind for the best result.

1. Your Subject

The first question is always ‘what do you want in your photo?’ – and our advice is this; pick the spaces that feel special to you.  People will always be more interested in seeing the things you feel passionate about than things you don’t, plus it gives you more to talk about if you do end up uploading the image to social media.

2. Lighting

In most ways, this is exactly like taking a selfie- you want to find the lighting that best flatters your subject, and go from there. Unfortunately, you can’t move the room around to get the best angle, so your best bet is to just introduce as much natural light into the space as possible- this will produce clean, crisp images. Look how clean and perfect this image from @ck_homestyle is!

3. Angles

This is where you should start getting creative; finding an interesting angle to capture your space from can help you to stand out in a sea of the same shots. If you’re struggling to think of a great angle, try using a mirror or shooting from farther back, like this shot from @houseproject_36!

4. Staging The Shot

A great tactic that sees a lot of use is adding in extra bits of décor for visual interest. The key thing is to make sure the added bits mesh well with the image; if they’re completely out of place they’ll distract from the image itself. Take this image from @bestlife_style_  for example; she’s added a mug of tea and a book, which add to the image without looking out of place.

 5. Filters

Try to avoid filtering your images too much; your space was designed to be viewed without a filter, so adding something in just makes the image look alien. Filters are also designed to smooth imperfections, so they can take the texture out of your images and make them look fuzzy.

Of course, if that final shot happens to include any of our beds, please tag us! We’d love to see the spaces you’ve put together with our beds, and we’d especially love to repost them to our feed!

Cover pic courtesy of @inside_number_five_

We’re starting a new series for this blog! Every few weeks we’ll cover a topic related to design or to sleep, in a segment we’re calling Arista Explains.  Today we’re covering one of the most basic parts of interior design; picking out colours.

There are some colour schemes that always work well- neutrals and cream tones are never difficult to put together and to make look good, but if you want to push the envelope a little, you need a working understanding of colour theory. Colour theory works by analysing the colour wheel, which you’ll have seen loads of in art classes at school. You can use the wheel to find colour combinations that work well together by using three different methods.

Triadic colour palettes are three colours evenly spaced on the wheel, like orange, purple and blue, which create a high contrast, bright palette.

Complementary colours are opposite on the wheel, like blue and orange or red and green, and are great high-contrast accent colours.

Analogous colours sit next to each other on the wheel and complement each other well- these are great for creating whole spaces and are really soothing when placed next to each other.

Whilst triadic and complementary colours do work, they can be really difficult to balance correctly, so they’re probably not ideal for a beginner. Analogous colours, however, are super easy to use and to do well, so they’re a really good bet for someone who’s just starting out in interiors.

A lot of the rooms you’ve seen and loved on our Instagram use this theory really well- take for example this space, from @at_home_with_clo, who uses a salmon pink and a forest green, complementary colours, to add contrast to her space. The reason this looks so soft and glamorous, rather than being overwhelming, is that she’s very careful to balance things out with a warm, neutral cream shade.

Another amazing example is this room from @dougs.digs- they’ve gone for a warm brown colour scheme, and they’ve been careful to use lots of different complementary tones. What this does is stop the room from feeling flat by adding visual interest and texture.

When you put it all into words, it can sometimes sound way more complicated than it actually is; the truth is that you’re probably already doing this subconsciously, so if this feels daunting, choose to see it more as a troubleshooting tool. Colour theory is an amazing way of figuring out why a space isn’t working well for you, and figuring out what to add or subtract, but don’t let it stifle your creativity or force you into an interior design box.

We’ve reached May Bank Holiday, which means that summer is just around the corner. It might just be because the weather is miserable, but we’re starting to look forward to sunny days ahead, and, more importantly, summery interiors. So, whilst we wait for the sunshine to come back, we’re taking a look at the trends we think will define this summer.

Eco- friendly living

Every day we become more conscious of the impact we’re having on our planet, and we adjust our ways of living accordingly, so it’s no surprise that we’re expecting to see more eco-conscious materials and fewer plastic items. Instead, people will opt for things that can bio-degrade naturally over a period of time.

Flexible Spaces

The world might be returning to some degree of normalcy, but people don’t seem to be flooding back into office spaces. Instead, we’re opting for home spaces that work for both our business and personal lives, with lots of people choosing to invest in dividers or other ways to section a space.

 Luxury Living

This might seem like something that doesn’t really count as a trend, but a year spent indoors has convinced people to splash out a little on their surroundings, so we’re seeing a shift towards comfort and style over utilitarianism.

 Japandi

Japandi is a fairly new idea- a combination of both Scandi and Japanese decorating styles, mixing pared-back Scandi style with ornamental Japanese touches for a beautiful minimalist finish.

 Nature

We’ve discussed bringing the outside in before on this blog, but it bears repeating that it’s been one of the biggest trends of lockdown; plants can make enclosed spaces feel more natural, and they’ve been proven to purify the air and make you feel calmer.

DIY Décor

No doubt you’ll have seen some amazing DIY decorating over social media in the past year- and chances are you’ve probably seen some less successful versions. Lots of elements we’re seeing take over now are a result of these transformations; things like DIY Panelling, murals and painted furniture.

Image courtesy of @at_home_with_chlo

In all our time writing this blog, it’s a miracle we’ve never covered the one topic we’re most qualified to talk about; neutrals. We’re big fans of a clean, neutral colour palette, and if you’re following us, the chances are that you are too, so we couldn’t pass up the chance to talk about why neutrals are such a great interior design option.

Firstly, they’re really easy to put together and maintain. If you’ve ever decorated a room with neutrals, you’ll know how simple it is- all you have to do is decide on warm or cool tones, and then stick within that range of colours. This makes the whole decorating process much easier, and leaves you with far more options for buying the things you need.

The beauty of neutrals is also that they’re timeless; you won’t wake up in a week or two, realise a trend has passed, and then hate the room you’ve created. Unlike cow-print this year, or the ‘millenial pink’ from two years ago, neutrals will still be beautiful and understated in five, ten or fifteen years, so you aren’t going to waste money and then fall behind. Plus, they’re really easy to do on a budget, and they’ll always look put-together and expensive.

Last, but definitely not least, neutral spaces are really calming; the muted tones mean that whilst you’re still in a beautiful space, they aren’t jarring or overwhelming. This means that it’s a great colour scheme for spaces like bedrooms, which should be as relaxing and calm as they are beautiful.

So how do you put together a good neutral room?

Like we said earlier, you’ll want to think about which variety of neutral you’re going for; warm toned or cool toned? If you’re not sure what the difference is, warm tones are colours like beiges and warm browns, whereas cooler tones are colours like greys and whites. Either can be beautiful, buy you’ll want to stick with the same colour family, or things will look muddy.

Secondly, you’ll want to stop the room from feeling flat by adding in depth; this comes with texture and lighting. For example, you might want to consider furniture that’s got visual interest; our headboards combine neutral tones with visually interesting textures and finishes so that your room doesn’t feel flat.

You’ll also want to think about storage; neutral rooms aren’t the best suited to lots of colourful clutter, so hidden storage like cabinets or ottomans are great options that allow your space to still feel put-together and easy to maintain.

If you do put together a neutral room you love, and you use one of our beds to complete the look, we want to hear about it! Post it on Instagram and tag us @arista.living, or use the hashtag #aristaliving, and you’ll be in with a chance to see your image on our grid!

Image courtesy of @sammiesvictorianhome

If you’re struggling with the idea of spending 2021 in the same space you spent much of 2020 in, you’re not alone. However, the solution doesn’t actually have to be anything as drastic as a full home makeover; there are plenty of surprisingly effective, low budget ways to make your house feel new and refreshed.

Move Things Around

It sounds like an obvious solution, but sometimes the best and least expensive home makeover comes from rolling up your sleeves and getting creative with how your space is organised. If your home is starting to feel claustrophobic, try opening up more floor space to make your home seem lighter and bigger.

Switch Up Your Lighting

There’s no denying that direct sunlight is essential for your health; Vitamin D is vital for your health and regular sunlight helps to maintain your circadian rhythm, meaning that you’ll sleep better and feel more awake. Even if you don’t have much direct sunlight, good lighting will make your home seem bigger and save you from eye strain, so focussing on changing your light fixtures or adding in supplementary ones will help.

Clear Out

Clutter is one of the things that will keep your home feeling stagnant; it’s hard to make a fresh start if you’re still falling over last year’s rubbish. Take whatever you can to be donated, bin what you can’t keep and put everything else in storage.

Make Small Changes

Sometimes just tweaking one small thing is enough to make your space feel like yours again. Some great small projects include changing your door handles, repainting cabinets or changing out tiebacks. If you’ve got a little more time on your hands and some leftover paint, putting another coat on chipped or worn paint is also a really good way of refreshing your home.

Bring Nature In

If you’re struggling with spending limited time outside, a great solution is to bring some greenery into your home to brighten it up and improve your mental health. Go for a low-maintenance succulent or dragon tree if you don’t have a green thumb, but if you do, try your hand at something which will grow big, like a money tree.

Treat Yourself

You don’t have to be redecorating to justify buying a beautiful new piece of furniture to freshen up you home. Go for somewhere where you’ll be spending a lot of time, like a new sofa, table, or even a bed. If you do go this route, you can design and order your own dream bed here.

Change Your Candles

This sounds strange, but smell is one of the most perceptive emotions and really shapes how you think of and remember places. Buying new scented candles or diffusers and changing the way your home smells will help your brain to register is as new and different, without costing you any time at all.

Hi,

We have a new offer, just in time for the December and January sales! It's our brand new bundle deal.

Design your own bed and use the code WIN50 for 50% off, if that wasn't enough - you can now take advantage of our bundle deal to get a whopping 50% off a new mattress too! Please note that using this code results in 5% commission.

We believe relaxation should start at the beginning. We made our first bed in 2006, a lot has changed over the years. Todays demand due to small spaces means we demand more storage for our beds so we help customers find the perfect look, colour and size, that still meets their storage needs.
We wanted a solution that makes our customers lives easier, so after years of research and development, came the bed designer tool. The bed designer tool means that customers can have the look they want, the way they want it, without breaking the bank.

We've just launched our new mattress range! We don't want to bore you with springs and things, we just wanted to give you the same mattress in a box without the faff. Simply slide our slothometer and choose how you want to sloth. You get all the standard mattress in box but without all the faff:

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Please let us know if you would like to join our program, we would love to have you on board.

Thanks,
Arista Living

We're delighted to announce that Ergoflex has joined the AWIN network.

Ergoflex is the original UK mattress-in-a-box brand, established 2006. The Ergoflex 5G is a class-leading high density memory foam mattress, delivering optimum pressure-relieving performance and comfort. With a tried-and-trusted warranty, Ergoflex is the only mattress-in-a-box brand that has been trading longer than their guarantee period.

Join our programme to earn 5% commission on sales of the Ergoflex 5G mattress.

We look forward to working with you.

OUR BEST OFFER YET!

This is an amazing offer and our best yet!

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Please let us know how you publish this offer to your customers.

Contact us on natalie.dale@hydeandsleep.com

We offer an incredible 12% to our publishers and love building relationships.

We are so excited to announce the arrival of our new products!

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We offer 12% commission on all our products. We love to work closely with our publishers so please get in contact to let us know how

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Info:

natalie.dale@hydeandsleep.com

IS EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE OUR NEW OFFER!

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Offer is automatically applied at checkout.

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Please get in touch as we love to work closely with our publishers.

Drop us an email on; natalie.dale@hydeandsleep.com

Enjoy a compact and contemporary sofa bed with clean modern style and a practical inbuilt storage with the option of a guest bed for the night. Now only £895. Offer Ends Sunday.

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Competition alert- Feeling patriotic? You could be the lucky winner of this St George's branded Hypnos bed! To enter, simply answer our question here http://socsi.in/CHxe6 Competition closes on 19/06/16. T’s and C’s apply:http://socsi.in/ZoqbB ‪#euros #football

St George's branded Hypnos bed giveaway

Dear Affiliates,

This week at Bedeck Home, we are offering up to 70% off in the clearance sale for a limited time only. Plus, all customers will receive free shipping for life when they register for an account.

Bedeck Home Clearance Sale

We are happy to provide links, banners and exclusive promotional codes to affiliates. Please contact Stephanie at stephanie@practicology.com for more information.

Hi,

We have got a fantastic offer for the Bank Holiday Weekend, the offer is 'An extra 15% off your purchase' :

Code: SPRING14BH

Offer: Extra 15% off your purchase

Ts and Cs:

This offer entitles you to an extra 15% off your purchase . This offer cannot be used on existing orders and is not applicable on either the Cameron or Juliette Fast Track Bedsteads using Band 2 Sienna fabric, Tempur, clearance or ex-display items, or in conjunction with any other offer.

This offer is only available between the following dates:

Friday 23rd - Monday 26th May 2014

Deeplink URL - please ensure to replace '!!!id!!!' with your publisher ID.

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I hope these codes meet with your approval and can be uploaded and promoted onto your site shortly.

Thanks

Chris