Janice was up against 5 other finalists – Bernadine Pretorius, Faraaz Mahomed, Ashley-Shé Regal, Nadia de Barros and Melanie Engel – who were each selected as the best design in their fragrance category.
These top designs have been recreated on a life-size scale for display at the Glade Sensorium, which can be viewed by the public in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban during a countrywide road show taking place from December 2012 to March 2013.
Janice was awarded R20 000 cash for her entry titled “Contemporary Closet” based on Glade’s Clean Linen fragrance. In addition to this AMERICAN shutters awarded her R2000 for the inclusion of our shutters in her design. “Fragrance is a key influence on design as it is the first thing you will notice when you walk into a room.  So, it is important that the décor and the objects in the room enhance the fragrance and bring it to life,” says Janice.

Wanting to bring to life the appreciation for linen, Janice designed a closet where the clothing was not hidden away, but part of the décor, while fabrics hanging on the walls brought texture and depth to this concept.  “This closet is not just about getting dressed, but is a space that allows a person to unwind by taking time to get ready,” she explains.  Using natural colours with pastels and accents of blue, the closet invites relaxation, with a sitting area on one side for reflection and contemplation and the other side geared for the pampering process.

The public is invited to view these 6 rooms, indulge in a feast of design, décor and fragrance, and experience the creativity that fragrance unleashes, at the Glade Inspirational Fragrances Sensorium:

• Melrose Arch, Johannesburg:  5 December – 13 December 2012
• Pavillion, KZN: 16 January – 20 January 2013
• Canal Walk, Cape Town: 30 January – 3 February 2013
• Homemakers Expo, Johannesburg: 28 February – 3 March 2013

These inspirations are primarily heartfelt responses to how we interpret what we see and feel. The head only gets involved when we start to run the numbers or consider the practicalities.

Furnishings and finishes that meet both the requirements of head and heart are décor gems, just as precious and as hard to come by. AMERICAN shutters’ Decowood range of shutters is one such gem; pretty and practical, stylish and strong, eco-friendly and pocket-friendly, this popular range ticks all the boxes.

Pretty and practical because, while they come in a wide range of finishes and colours, a choice of three louvre widths (63,89 and 114mm), three tilt rod options (traditional, off-set and secret tilt) and can be made in custom shapes such as triangles or to fit unusual angled openings, they are also; easy to clean, sun-, fade-, peel-, crack- and chip resistant.

Stylish and strong because, while they are elegant and easy-to-use and additional options such as ring-pulls and bolts and a range of frame options are available, they are engineered to provide an intense level of durability and structural integrity.

Eco-friendly and pocket friendly because, their manufacture has a minimal cost on the environment, and their purchase and installation is a cost-effective and stylish solution to any home.

Decowood shutters are manufactured locally from an advanced wood composite. The wood composite is engineered to precise design specifications using individual wood fibres sourced from sustainable forests. Engineered wood products are used in a variety of applications from home construction to commercial buildings and industrial products.

“Although most AMERICAN shutters’ wooden products are manufactured from raw material sourced from sustainable plantations, what makes our Decowood range so eco-friendly is the fact that the wood composite production involves very little waste with up to 95% of a tree utilised opposed to the only 68% utilised to manufacture solid wood products,” says Stephen Palmer, managing director of AMERICAN shutters.

Seldom do the head and heart agree, but with Decowood shutters, there is simply no argument from either.

However, you don’t need any artistic ability to appreciate the calm, clean lines of silk white Decowood shutters and Privacy blinds in this bright, light beach home. Framing the view from each window, whether overlooking the beach or pool area, Decowood shutters allow homeowners control over the amount of light and fresh sea breezes entering the home.

By combining white, soft neutral shades and cool turquoise, Elma has created the ideal calm beach home in Big Bay, Cape Town. Colourful paintings, Erma’s acrylic creations, adorn the walls and give the space unique personality.

Eco-friendly Decowood shutters with a central tilt rod were installed in the lounge while Decowood shutters with a secret tilt rod were installed in the main bedroom. Privacy blinds in silk white were installed in the other bedrooms.

The result is a serene beach home, an escape from the busy city life and a space where Elma can explore her creativity while enjoying sea, sun and sand.

If you are interested in Elma’s art, you’re welcome to contact her on +27 082 3363 306.

Paarl, part of the Western Cape’s top wine producing region, is known for its beautiful vineyards, landscape views, breathtakingly old farm houses, stylishly renovated estate homes and hot, dry summer months.

These Decowood shutters, in a timelessly cool shade of Silk White, allow the estate owners to control the light and deflect the sun when it’s hot. Shutters are also effective insulators and will help keep the home cool in summer and warm in winter.

The bathroom shutters are split shutters, also known as café style shutters. This is a popular choice for bathrooms as they allow one to open the top section and enjoy the view, while protecting one’s privacy.

If you’d like to see how AMERICAN shutters and blinds could improve your view, contact us for a consultation on 0860 748 8837 or email info@americanshutters.co.za

We researched colour therapy, formally known as chromotherapy, and how colours could be used to create a happy and harmonious home…

Ravishing red

Red is a powerful colour that demands attention. It’s known to increase enthusiasm, stimulate energy and inspire confidence. However, red has also been found to increase blood pressure, pulse rate and respiration. Use red in your home sparingly and preferably in spaces where you want to inspire action and confidence, like a home gym for example.

Memorable yellow

Yellow in a room helps stimulate the mind, encourages communication and activates one’s memory. Apparently this fresh colour symbolises hope and yellow ribbons were worn as a sign of hope years ago when women waited from their men to come home from war. Consider adding yellow to your home office to help stimulate creative thinking and communication.

Blue healing

Did you know that blue is one of the most popular colours? Amazingly, research conducted American Civil War General Augustus Pleasonton, published in ‘The Influence Of The Blue Ray Of The Sunlight And Of The Blue Color Of The Sky’ in 1876, found that the colour blue helped boost human healing and improve the growth of crops and livestock.

Blue is a cool and calming colour that represents trustworthiness, dependability and commitment. Bring blue accents into the bedroom to create tranquil space.

Soul soothing green

Green reflects the natural environment and is said to help alleviate anxiety and depression. Research shows that people who work in a green environment experience fewer stomach-aches. Interestingly, green has also been found to improve reading ability. Add green to your home office, reading nook or your children’s bedrooms.

Peaceful pink

Pink represents femininity and is associated with gentleness, softness and calm. While pink is a popular colour for little girls’ bedrooms, studies have found that exposure to pink can calm one’s nerves. So consider adding soft or dusty pink accents to areas of your home where you would like to encourage calm like a reading nook, pray or meditation room.

Creatively purple

Purple was once associated with royalty, when Tyrian purple was only affordable to the elites of the Classical Era. Today everyone can benefit from this uplifting colour, which encourages creativity. For a healthy dose of inspiration, add purple accents to your art studio, sewing or craft room.

Appetising Orange

Orange is the party colour! It’s said to stimulate activity and appetite while encouraging socialising. Add orange accents to areas where you usually entertain, like the dining room, kitchen and/or patio.

So now that we’ve covered some colour basics, what shade would you love to add to your home?

Sources: Wikipedia, Red (About.com and Sensational Color), Yellow (About.com, and Sensational Color), Blue (Sensational Color and Wikipedia), Green (About.com and Sensational Color), Purple (About.com and Sensational Color), Pink (Catalogs.com, Empower Yourself with Color and Wikipedia ) and Orange (Empower Yourself with Color and Sensational Color).

Turn your home’s outdoor space into an enticing retreat, a place to spend an afternoon reading, snoozing in a hammock or sipping cocktails in the late afternoon sunshine.

Start by considering ways to increase privacy, improve shelter and the insulation of your ‘outdoor room.’ If you have a patio or veranda, you could erect a pergola, flat or sloped roof and enclose the space with Security shutters or Select shutters.

Made from 100% recyclable powder-coated aluminium, Security shutters include stainless steel locks, screws and fittings, and anodised aluminium tracks and hinges for anti-corrosion. Our Selectwood shutters, with their rich woody aroma and warm colour, can be customised to meet your exact requirement as either interior or exterior shutters.

If you have a balcony, consider installing a Markilux 930 swing awning. The unique pivoting mechanism allows you to pivot the awning to a pre-set pitch anywhere from 5° to 80° to increase privacy or shelter your balcony.
Once you’ve created a sheltered outdoor space, start adding comfortable garden furniture and work on creating a view that will transport you and your family into a nature reserve, an English country garden or a tropical getaway.

No matter what the size of a garden, one can create a view that seems endless by camouflaging boundary walls and layering plants. To start, paint boundary walls in dark neutral shade like a dark green. Dark colours recede creating a sense of depth and once you’ve planted a few shrubs in front of the walls, they ‘disappear’ into the background. Plant trees or large shrubs a few metres from the wall with medium height shrubs placed in-between. Fill the rest of garden beds with smaller low growing plants and flowers.

To create a beautiful garden in a small patio or on a balcony, use a variety of potted plants, accessories and a dash of creativity. You don’t have to shy away from large plants in order to make the most of a small outdoor space – potted trees and shrubs help anchor a space, shelter it from the wind and improve privacy. Place the largest potted plants at the very edge of your patio or balcony with smaller potted plants placed in front to create a sense of depth. Choose dark coloured pots or repaint exciting pots in a dark shade. Just as dark shades help walls recede, they will help create a sense of depth in small container gardens.

For inspiration, watch the video below to see how one couple turned their narrow balcony into a tranquil Zen garden. It’s incredible!

Plants help improve air quality and like shutters; help insulate a space from noise. A beautiful garden and a sheltered patio or balcony will transform an outdoor space into a peaceful sanctuary, even if you live in the middle of a city!

Our precision-engineered Interior Roller Screens are available in a choice of 180 fabrics and colours. Built to last, the covers/fascias are manufactured from durable aluminium and are available in a choice of colours to complement your home décor. We have a variety of fascias / cover systems for our Roller Screens, some of which are fully enclosed, available in square or rounded shapes which conceal the fabric roll for a clean modern finish.

Fabric choices include our own Classic series, the popular SheerWeave and Mermet fabrics, all of which comply with the international NFPA 701 standards governing fire retardant and flame propagation standards for textiles. Enjoy the view while keeping harmful UV rays out or ensure complete light block-out. Our fabrics range from 0% and 12% in transparency and we offer a unique total Blockout system.

Urban living poses many challenges for homeowners who aspire to create wholesome retreats within the midst of busy cities. Fortunately, poor indoor air quality doesn’t have to be a challenge, thanks to our Interior Roller Screens made with GREENGUARD® certified fabrics which are designed to filter the air. GREENGUARD® is an international environmental institute dedicated to reducing chemical exposure while improving indoor air quality.

Our Interior Roller Screens are easily installed as either face-fixed or top-hung with sturdy steel installation brackets. The Roller Screens can either have a manual chain operation or motorised operation. Our motorised Roller Screens use a SOMFY motor which is recognised worldwide as the leading brand in automation products and comes with a 5-year warranty.

Rollease™ Spring Assisted clutch or the Rollease™ Galaxy 400 clutch reduces lifting force requirements of a heavy manual Interior Roller Screen to a mere 2,5kgs. Manual Roller Screen chains can be located on either the left or the right hand side of the screen and are available in custom lengths, colours and elegant stainless steel finishes.

So if you’re looking for a streamlined and sophisticated way to dress windows, roll over a new leaf with our Interior Roller Screens. Contact one of our AMERICAN shutters’ sales consultants by calling 0860 748 8837 or email info@americanshutters.co.za.

For the latest home décor tips and trends, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. To find AMERICAN shutters or blinds for your home, visit our online showroom or contact us to request a quote online.

Shutters, with their ability to improve insulation, allow light in or deflect it as required, are ideal for integrating outdoor and indoor spaces. A perfect example can be seen in a recent AMERICAN shutters’ installation in Newlands.

Decowood shutters were installed along a sunny north-facing side of the home. Opening up onto a gorgeous pool area and garden, the shutters allow the homeowners to transform their indoor living room into a sheltered patio by simply opening their bi-fold Decowood shutters. The integration of indoors and outdoors is seamless and because silk white shutters complement any colour scheme, the look of the living space could be adapted to reflect changing seasons or trends.

Windows were dressed in our range of Privacy blinds, which offer exceptional light block-out with the first hole-free louvres and tightest louvre closure. The silk white Privacy blinds with the extra-large 63mm wide slats mirror the look of the shutters and create an attractive constancy or flow throughout the home.

If you’d like to find out how AMERICAN shutters could improve your living space, contact us for a consultation on 0860 748 8837 or email info@americanshutters.co.za.

“More and more interior decorators are recognising that fragrance is just as important as furnishings and lighting to a room’s décor to ensure that a house becomes a home. It can also serve as inspiration for the theme and style of a space,” says Glade Marketing Manager Michelle Cloete.

To enter, you will be required to design a room within a R20 000 virtual budget with the primary objective to demonstrate how fragrance adds a fourth dimension to a home. Designers are allowed to select any in-home space from a bedroom or office, to a lounge or atrium. The budget for shutters need not be deducted from your R20 000 virtual budget.

Six winning designs will be chosen and will have their design recreated on a life-size scale to form part of an exhibition called The Glade Sensorium, which will be seen by a live audience during a countrywide road show, broadcast on TV and featured in various print media. Any of the six winning entries featuring AMERICAN shutters in their designs will be awarded R 2 000. The overall winner will receive a R20 000 cash prize.

Give your entry a timeless sense of style with any of following AMERICAN shutters’ images below. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Entries close on 12 October 2012. For more information, visit www.inspirationalfragrances.co.za

Her love for design extends into her home and along with her husband Johan, they love creating signature spaces which reflect their playfulness and eclectic design influences. Their first home on a golf estate in Pretoria, featured on Top Billing and as likened to a New York loft. They have recently completed their second home, an industrial-inspired home built from four shipping containers, which also featured on Top Billing. Here’s a short preview…

We’re honoured that Sacha agreed to share her design insight and home décor tips with us. Get ready for a shot of inspiration…

Tell us what inspired you to start Once Upon A Time?

Anything different or unique always costs a fortune. When we built our previous home, a lot of time was spent looking for pieces that didn’t seem to exist. So I changed what I already had or bought new pieces and customised them. And with that the idea of Once Upon A Time was born.

How would you define your home décor style?

My style is quirky and eclectic. A lot of the items in my home have been up-cycled or repurposed.

What is your favourite room in your home and why?

Definitely the main bedroom and en suite! It has a strong Art Deco inspired look. The semi enclosed wet room is awesome, the huge shower head just amazing and there is nothing better than lying in the bath after a long day looking up at the bubble chandelier. I just love that chandelier – it makes me smile every time I look at it.

What are your top five decorating tips?

1. Wallpaper – I “puffy Heart” Wallpaper. It makes such a huge difference to any room. The possibilities are endless.
2. Paint – You can go crazy with paint, it can change the mood and feel of a room very quickly. The beauty of it is, if you don’t like it you can just paint over it.
3. Go with your heart – You must love it and live with it every day so all the more reason to have pieces that make you smile.
4. Pinterest - http://pinterest.com it’s amazing, for creating a virtual pin board/mood board for a specific room. It’s a great source of beautiful images and it’s the perfect tool for helping you figure out your own style.
5. Start with a focal point – I think knowing where to start is the most difficult part. Start with a focal piece or point and work around that, it could be a colour or favourite piece of furniture.

What’s on your current wish list?

All I want for my birthday and Christmas is a SLIDE! Yes, a slide – one that goes from our first floor entertainment area back to the ground floor so you can party upstairs and then slide back down.

Can you believe that I can’t find anybody in South Africa to make me one?! So the search continues…

When you’re not transforming old pieces of furniture, what do you love doing?

Surfing the net, trying out new places to eat, browsing antique or second hand shops or spending the weekend in Cape Town – we have an apartment there and try to go at least once a month.

What’s one thing you wouldn’t leave home without?

My Blackberry! Yes I am totally addicted. My life is on that phone.

Where can our readers find your products? I update my Facebook page regularly with new pieces for sale.