sound – The Interiors Addict

Home happiness: 5 design elements that affect it

With Australians spending more time than ever in their homes, it is interesting to consider the impact our interior has on our wellbeing and how it makes us feel. The subtleties of interior design often impact upon our happiness in ways we don’t understand. From colour combinations to squeaky floorboards, The Design Paddock share five interior design elements that influence the happiness of our homes.

“It is generally accepted that Australians spend 90 percent of their time indoors. This
is an enormous portion of time so it’s imperative to consider the impact the built
environment can have on our wellbeing,” says Millie Alison, co-founder of The Design
Paddock.

Lighting

“Don’t underestimate the impact that lighting can have on your mood, emotions and
wellbeing,” says co-founder Katrina Garrett.

Lighting in a room can either provide illumination for the entirety of a space or it can highlight specific elements. Having different lighting styles such as ceiling lights, wall lights and table lamps allow you to be able to alter the lighting to shift the mood. Flooding a room with natural light can instantly lift the mood, allowing a connection
to the outside. During the evening however, we also need darkness to create a cosy
environment with softer light – candles and dimmable lights are a great way to create
this calming ambience.

2. Colour psychology

The colour palette you select for your home should have a positive psychological
and emotional effect upon you. Colour choices in soft, neutral, warm
tones are not only timeless but also calming and relaxing, particularly when used in
living or bedroom spaces. White is such a popular choice for people as it often feels
‘safe’, but people need to be mindful of how much white they use as it has the
potential to make a space feel cold and clinical.

Colour palettes for homes have the ability to energise or make you anxious. It can soothe or motivate – depending on the colours and combinations. Red and oranges can stimulate, while blue hues are calming. We suggest using the same colours, tones and textures in connecting areas, such as hallways and stairways to give the home a sense of continuity.

3. Sound

Is there anything more annoying than squeaky doors and cupboards,
or creaky floorboards? These sounds can agitate, and a simple spray of a lubricant
can fix this daily annoyance. If footsteps on the hardwood floor are disruptive at night,
put down a runner with an underlay. On the other hand, music in the home can have a positive impact on those in the space. Music can be incorporated throughout the home discreetly by installing speakers in the ceiling of your living areas both inside and out. This can create a lovely ambience when entertaining.

4. Textures

Textures and finishes can offer both tangible and visual experiences which can be
associated with a variety of feelings and it is important to create a balance between
the two. Mixing up patterns in loose furnishings such as cushions, throws and rugs
in the same colour palette, varying textures and layering with different shapes to make the space interesting but not visually overwhelming. The best rooms are those that are restrained and not too over decorated.

Incorporating texture can elevate the overall spatial experience and ignite the senses without you even knowing it. Texture works in a similar way to colour, rough textures are more likely to make a space feel intimate and grounded whilst the smoother bring a sleek and more luxurious vibe. We like to balance the two by incorporating different materials, different weaves and different levels of softness such as a leather to create a more seamless space.

5. Express your personality

Ultimately the interior of your home should be a reflection of your story and the people living within it. Following trends won’t necessarily bring you happiness
in your home and sometimes the things we think we want don’t actually make us feel at home. When you create spaces in your home with things you love, that’s a gateway
towards a happy home.

–The Design Paddock is a unique interior design and decorating company that revamps interior landscapes for people in the bush and beyond.

Millie and Katrina from The Design Paddock

Imagery: Sheri McMahon Photography

Improve your home with these 5 budget-friendly tips

With people isolated in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, there has undoubtably been an increased awareness and desire to improve how our home space looks and feels. Bearing in…

Is Bang & Olufsen’s good looking Beolit 15 speaker worth $699?

As with all things audio, we hand over to our resident former consumer technology journalist Damian Francis, otherwise known as Mr Interiors Addict…

Let’s play a straight card on this one. The Beoplay Beolit 15 by Bang & Olufsen needs to be bloody good. Really, really, bloody good. That may sound a bit harsh to just lay down the law like you would to a young child who has just thrown his Messina ice cream all over the pavement, but it is important that boundaries are laid down early.

Why? Because the Beolit 15 is a portable bluetooth speaker… that costs $699! It costs $699 because it is made by Bang & Olufsen. And while it falls under the lighthearted entry level Beoplay brand, it still has to be held up to the same standards that all Bang & Olufsen products should be held to. It’s Bang & Olufsen after all — you don’t buy and Mercedes-Benz A-class or a BMW 1 series and walk away with a smile on your face if it drives like a Toyota Yaris.

Beolit15-14JS-Me29 — B&O’s Beolit15 in Shaded Rosa

So, the question is, can a portable bluetooth speaker justify a $699 price tag? Here are some of the key takeaways from a week using the Beolit 15… and an answer to the question of value.

The look. I’m going to defer to Jen on this. She thinks it’s better looking than me. And I have it on good authority that I’m pretty good looking. Ahem. There are three colour options (natural champagne, polar blue and shaded rosa), all in muted pastels that tend to soak into the background rather than draw attention. Jen loves the gold (natural champagne) version (and all gold accessories judging by our living room). Away from design aesthetics, this is good. A speaker is meant to sound good first and foremost. If it looks good too, that’s a bonus. The full grain leather strap is a bit take it or leave it in my opinion, but lovers of accessories will likely adore the touch (as Jen does).

Set up is a breeze. The hardest thing is taking it out of the box. Once you have, plug the power cord into the neatly hidden compartment at the back and you’re in business. This will charge the battery at the same time. Connecting it to your bluetooth device is just as easy. Press the bluetooth logo button on the top and hold it down. It beeps. Then search on your device for Beolit 15 and connect. Simple. There are a number of bluetooth products I have tested in my time that can’t get this step correct. Connecting becomes a laborious, time-consuming, rage-filled activity. Not the Beolit 15. It will take a couple of minutes from opening the box to playing music.

The sound. I’ll be upfront – I don’t like wireless sound, especially over bluetooth. It can be patchy, highs are often lost and bass is overcompensated in the hope that the young types will think the quality is brilliant because the speaker is vibrating. Dr Dre has a lot to answer for. Wireless over a network is better but wired is where it is at. As far as bluetooth sound goes, this is really good. Really, really good. Good to the extent that my credit card has stopped trying to cut itself in half having heard the $699 price tag and is asking to hear just one more track. The bass is good, not overpowering. Treble is balanced well. While there is certainly a little murkiness at the very top end, it takes a while to get there and is certainly not a deal breaker. In fact, for a bluetooth speaker of this size I have never heard treble balanced so well before. It dances brilliantly with lower notes, with the Beolit 15 producing a very well balanced sound. In layman’s terms — classical music sounds classical on a Beolit 15 — you won’t feel like you’re missing anything.

And the X-factor? One could argue that the $699 price tag is the X-factor! Thankfully it’s not. There is a little X in the design, a lot in the sound quality, but the real X-factor is in the versatility. It has a built-in battery that lasts up to 24 hours from full charge. You can take this virtually anywhere. But when plugged in at home, you can add another Beolit 15 to create a (extremely expensive) stereo system with proper left and right speakers. While we haven’t tried that, it is likely to be pretty good. The bluetooth technology will also allow you to connect two devices at a time for dual control and it will remember up to eight individual devices without having to connect again.

The specs. So you want to know what you are really dealing with here (if you don’t like tech specs, skip to the next paragraph)? The Beolit 15 has 240 watts of peak power thanks to four active drivers and two passive bass radiators, driven by dual Class D amplifiers. There is more, but this probably isn’t the audience for it! I’m barely the audience for that. As far as I’m concerned, tech specs mean nothing if you don’t personally enjoy the product.

So, $699 for a bluetooth speaker. Justifiable? Yes, after a little while. But when you really give it time to listen properly, the Beolit 15 will grow on you big time and won’t look bad at all in your lounge or bedroom. I’ll take two, thanks.

You can get more information here.

Disclosure: We were gifted the Beolit 15 with no guarantee of a review, let alone a positive one. But we were so excited about its good looks and sound, we had to share!