Category Archives: Lifestyle

Decorating for Christmas

christmas1

This year I started preparing for Christmas relatively late… I am still on the stage where I look for an inspiration. I would like to do something different this time and I am planning to use a lot of natural materials and DIY decorations.

I like the informal style on the photo below- creased linen as a tablecloth, a branch suspended from the ceiling and paper star decorations in the window. I imagine my slow Christmas morning breakfast with my boys at the table set like this.

ikea christmas

Photo credit: Ikea

I also think the greenery around a chandelier like on this photo would look interesting as a holiday decoration- simple yet interesting.

ikea chrismas 2

Photo credit: Ikea

If the “white Christmas” is something you desire (but you live in Ireland where it is seldom the case), why not decorating all room in white? I really like that idea but I am afraid in my creative house it wouldn’t work 🙂

chris1

Definitely when everything is monochrome you can go more crazy with decorations and it will still work well like in this beautiful living room.

ikea christmasa

Photo credit: Ikea

I still haven’t purchased the tree I would like the living one but I am considering the environmental issues maybe the potted one would survive until spring and could be transplanted to the garden?… And what about you? Do you have bought yours already? Do you opt out for the real or the artificial one? Are you making your decorations or you prefer the store bought ones?

Thanks for reading,

Gosha

 

Interior Design Trends For 2018. Part I

If minimalism and all white interiors are not your thing, or if you struggling to keep your house tidy and perfect, I have a good news for you. The 2018 trends in interiors forecast came to save you. In this post I will present few of them that I find interesting.

Imperfection or WABI-SABI trend is embracing flaws and accepts that the house is not a museum. This traditional Japanese aesthetics includes asymmetry, roughness, simplicity and modesty. Think of organic shaped porcelain, mismatched, creased linen pillowcases, uneven wood grain furniture or burn marks on chopping boards… There’s so many ways to incorporate this trend effortlessly.

wabisabisource: Fashionlandscape.com

 Nowadays most of us live in a rush and we are surrounded by the technology but we still have a need to be closer to nature. Greenery trend respond to this need. It can be incorporated by placing live plants in the room. Green wall or few plants around the room, hanging baskets or stands on different levels will transform the interior completely, is inexpensive and you can never go wrong with it. this trend doesn’t have to be taken so literally, you can always use some printed accessories or artwork around the house.

judah-guttmann-green

Photo by Judah Guttmann on Unsplash

Millennial Pink is another big thing in 2018. This colour can be overwhelming so it’s better to use it in accessories as an accents. It looks very good when mixed with berry. You can add some texture like fake fur or fringes to give it more personalised look.

Milennial-Pink-2

Credit: Theinkformant.com

Tonal reds- this trend is apparent in fashion from which interior design often takes inspiration. Trend forecasters predict that this will be reflected in interiors in 2018. Combine different tones of red: coral, tangerine, wine. This is definitely energising combination.

tonal reds

Picture: Pinterest.com

I find the greenery trend particularly interesting it brings fresh and cosy atmosphere to any interior and I like to be surrounded by nature. Also Wabi-Sabi aesthetics appeals to me because house is for living not for show. I wonder which of the predicted trends do you like. Please leave me some comments below and follow my blog if you want to know more trends for forthcoming year.

Thank you for reading,

Gosha

Men Do Care About the Design

Decorating a house is definitely a woman’s thing. Making a house a home is in our nature since the beginning of humanity. This gives us joy and makes us proud. We like if someone appreciates our effort and men seem not to care. But don’t they really?

Man chilling out with coffee at cafe

Every time I see cute shabby chic living room with floral sofa, pink accents and white, distressed furniture I wonder how the man of the house feels in this room. I imagine him going back home after the long day at work and… Actually I cannot imagine that though I am very creative and I have rich imagination. He wants to relax on the sofa but there’s so many statement pillows so he throws them on the floor… I mean what else can he do with them? Then he wants to watch tv or read a book (yeah right, he’s tired after work) but tufted sofa is so uncomfortable, he had his favourite, comfy chair but it didn’t mach the decor… And this goes on and on…

Ladies you are not gonna like what I have to say: please consider your other half when decorating a house. I know it is not that easy but there are some things you should reconsider:

  • Fluffy fur pillows- they’re good in your daughter’s room or she-shed but not in the living room (plus they’re home for dirt, hair and allergens)
  • Floral sofas- imagine him with his male friends watching the game on it
  • Pink accents (obviously)
  • Mirrored furniture- I mean we have enough mirrors around the house plus they are hard to keep clean
  • Painted white, distressed, shabby chic furniture
  • Patterned wallpaper- especially floral, damask, fleur-de-lis
  • Too many accent pillows (they take up space and usually they will end up on the floor and you will be annoyed again)
  • All white room (men perceive colour differently most of them don’t distinguish slight tonal difference between white/ivory/cream their brain won’t be stimulated)

This post is just my opinion and shouldn’t be treated too seriously. Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t let my man to decide about everything and definitely I wouldn’t let him to pick the paint colour. There are things we are better at… but they do care about how their home looks like and they want to feel comfortable there. Also there’s so many great male architects, graphic designers, web developers- that prove their attention to detail (so let them test the sofa or bed they will consider every practical aspect). I just think they don’t want to argue over small things and they want to make us happy and surely there is little something we can do to make them feel good at home. After all love is all that matters.

love

I am curious what are your thoughts on that? Are you asking your man about their opinion? Is there something you would add to the list? Please leave me a comment below.

Thanks for reading,

Gosha

 

 

Window Display For Charity Shop

This Summer I started to volunteer for Saint Vincent de Paul charity shop in Trim. I work there as a volunteer staff but they gave me also the opportunity to do the window displays. I go there whenever I have time and there’s a need to change the exposition. This job gives me a lot of satisfaction and nurtures my creativity. I never know what I will have in store so there’s a lot of improvisation and staging. So far I have done three displays  and I had no experience with visual merchandising so I hope you will like it.

window baby

This was my first display ever- baby themed

window men

Inspiration for this window came from the large painting we wanted to show. We didn’t have space in the shop to display it properly (by the way the painting was sold very quickly). The window was supposed to show men’s clothes but I always introduce a bit of interior design.

window men2

This one was difficult as it seemed that we didn’t have too many interesting things in the shop. I usually get the men’s window which is a little bit harder but I think it went well. It’s Halloween themed but really subtle and elegant (I even heard the comment that “we’re becoming very posh now” which is a good thing).

My aim is to show that people can find really interesting and good things in charity shops and by buying them they help others and the environment. Don’t be afraid pop in and take a look and if you have things in good condition- donate.

Thank you for reading my post.

Gosha

Photos by Gosha Galuszka

What I Like About Dublin

Dublin always inspires me in terms of colours and textures. I like to have a walk in town centre and admire its unique and, very often bold, style.

dub1

I like bright coloured pubs with hanging flower baskets and red brick building facades…

dub2

Sharp, steel constructions wrapping the buildings are also very inspiring. Dublin is a place where tradition and history meets the modern architecture.

dub4

Where glass buildings reflect the clouds, so characteristic for the Irish sky…

dub5

And shapes and forms of the buildings interact with each other.  Maybe because I live on the countryside where the landscape is totally different it creates such feeling in my heart… Comment below how do you find Dublin? What do you like or dislike about it? How is Dublin to live in?

 

photographs by Gosha Galuszka

 

 

My best three tips to stay inspired

 

Sometimes as a Designer I am intimidated by the work of others. It seems like everything is already invented and there’s so many great artists out there.

Other times I struggle with a project and I feel like in a dead end… Or I know something is wrong but don’t know what. Probably most of us have been there.

Here are my tips to stay inspired and to improve your creative skills.

1.Drop everything and do something else

When I spend too much time on a project, especially renderings, I am not satisfied. I could constantly be adding some shadows, highlights and details. In such cases it is better to leave the work and do something else. You are no longer productive and there’s always something that needs to be done around the house like laundry, cooking or shopping… Why not have them checked from the list and go back to the project later. I guarantee that after a break you will look at the project with more friendly eye and you will see better the mistakes and will be able to fix them quickly.

2. Go for a walk

I’m telling you there’s lot of inspiration out there so grab your sketchbook or phone (this is so handy that phones have camera’s nowadays) and go out of your house. I live in small town in Ireland which is very inspiring.

I like to observe the nature. It seems to know exactly how to match the colours together. It creates perfect and unusual shapes and forms. The mood board on the top was created after I saw blackberries during a stroll in the forest.

I like to go to Dublin as well and have a tour. The architecture, the streets of a big city, a factory, even traffic lights inspire me. I often study window displays, graffiti and street art during my Dublin walks.

3. Step out of your comfort zone

Creativity hates routine. You need to learn, try new things.

Our brain likes to learn especially new moves, for example if you are right handed try to write with your left hand or climb the stairs backwards. This will create new synapses in your brain and will not only boost your creativity, but will help to prevent dementia as well. I tried to learn roller skating recently and have few bruises after that so maybe that wasn’t a great idea, but I challenged myself and know what is not my cup of tea.

These were my three top tips to stay inspired. I’m curious what are your inspiration tips. Please share them with me in the comments below.