Thursday, June 14, 2007

Marble Floors And How To Maintain Them

For honed marble used as traffic surfaces, care should be taken to prevent accumulations of liquids or other materials that result in safety hazards and staining. Regular daily mopping should be performed. Floor marble is any honed finish that is used as a traffic surface. These surfaces should be mopped and scrubbed in a manner that will not leave a hazardous slippery film.

Again, wet with hot, clean water and then lightly sprinkle an abrasive cleaner (i.e, chlorine bleaching type household scouring cleanser) over the wet stone, or put 1-2 handfuls into a pail of 2-3 gallons of hot clean water.
Using a scrubbing motion, mop the marble surfaces with this solution (or with hot clean water if you are sprinkling the cleaner directly on the stone). Rinse with clean hot water and dry with mop or cloths. Power scrubbers can also be used for the procedure.

Often it is also desirable to protect special interior areas and to enhance the coloration of Honed marble in areas where a polished finish is not practical. In such cases sealers may be applied after the marble has been cleaned. This minimizes maintenance and prevents staining - especially around toilets and urinals in restrooms or in food preparation areas and busy building entrances.

Sealers should only be applied to clean interior marble. Always follow the manufacturer's directions for proper application. Terrazzo sealers are excellent for this purpose. So are silicone based stone sealers.

In all cases sealers should be made of a clear, hard finish type suitable for traffic surfaces and definitely non-yellowing. Do not use soft finish waxes, paste wax or resins. These coatings can collect dirt and grit. Some acrylic-base liquid floor waxes can be used in place of permanent sealers, but may give limited life.

The products for the maintenance of Honed Marble and all other stone is available from http://www.marblemasteruk.com/shop

Sunday, June 10, 2007

The Magic of Color

Deciding what colors to use when decorating your house can be a real challenge. Do you want a soothing atmosphere, vibrant or warm and cozy? The choice does not have to be complicated if you understand the workings of the theory of color. As many colors as there are out there all come from one of the colors of the rainbow: red, yellow, orange, green, blue, indigo, violet and black and white. These colors are divided up into two categories:

Primary Colors: red, yellow and blue. They are called primary because they are pure and no two colors were mixed to create the color. Secondary Colors: orange, green, and violet. They are called secondary because they are mixed from two of the primary colors.

There are also two types of colors within the color wheel:

Harmonious Colors: Colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. Blues, green, blue-green and aqua all lay next to each other and work well together in any room to create a comfortable harmonious atmosphere. Contrasting Colors: Colors, which are on the opposite side of the color wheel. Red-green or blue-orange contrast each other but will complement each other and will create a vibrant intense atmosphere.

Colors can have a powerful effect on the feel of a room. These are two of the moods created by certain colors:

Cool Colors: The right hand side of the color wheel is made up of such colors as greens and blues. These colors will create a cool calm mood. They will also make a room look smaller so avoid using too much in smaller rooms Warm Colors: The left-hand side is made up of reds, oranges and yellows. These colors will create a warm, cozy and bright mood. The closer the color you chose is to a primary color the brighter it will be so mix the bright with some softer shades.

There are other factors to take into consideration when choosing colors:

Pastel Colors: Pure colors that are muted by a white color. Subtle Colors: Pure colors darkened by mixing gray or black Neutrals: Colors that do not contrast and can mix well with most colors. Examples are white, creams, beige and browns. They are often considered earth colors. Tones: The tone describes the lightness or darkness of the color. It is best to use a variety of tones in a room rather than just light and dark.

Colors can make all the difference in the look and the feel of a room. You don’t always need to renovate, maybe you just need to color, so experiment and have fun.

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Home Floor Plan Designing for your future Home

Designing Your Own Dream Home for the New Home Builder: What is your dream home? Do you have an idea of what it will look like? Defining a dream home is very difficult, especially if you have a spouse or significant other that has tastes different than your own. Although you might be able to agree on a floor plan, do you both agree on what the purposes for each of the rooms? My solution to this matter is simple. Brain storm together. Make it fun! After all it’s your dream that you are talking about. Privately each of you collect floor plan ideas from other sources, and prioritize what you like. List the top 10 bedroom floor plans, bathroom floor plans, kitchen floor plans and of course the floor plan layout styles. You can do this by researching these topics: Log Home Floor Plans, Model Home Floor Plans (which, by the way, utilize small spaces very efficiently), Kitchen Floor Plans, Apartment Floor Plans (another very good space effective plan), and various architectural floor plans. Collect your "top ten" sources from each of these plans and then select your top ten out of those. You will have a very comprehensible top ten list to discuss with your spouse or significant other. Keep in mind that you can make any room the size you desire from these plans, but it’s the concept and ideas of the plans that you should be collecting.

You both then get together with your top ten lists and discuss why you really like the plans you choose. Make it fun! Make it a party if you want with friends and family, but you need to remember to be open minded and “listen” to the each other since you both have your own pro’s and con’s with each of the plans. Surprising enough, eventually you will agree on a top ten between you. In fact you probably will have extremely similar plans picked out! I did this with my wife and found that in a few hours we agreed completely on our dream home! This was the hardest part! (This method also works in determining baby names and other life critical significant other issues.)

Factors to Consider: Probably the hardest factor to consider is financing availability and budget. You need to review your own current budget and evaluate how the new budget will affect your current life style. If you check your credit report and it is not what was anticipated, you might have to adjust your budget or take the necessary steps to clean it up. Since I am not a financial specialist, I would ask you to consult with the credit personnel at your local bank. Once your credit is cleaned up as much as possible, apply for a loan. Apply for the maximum amount you can get. Find out what the monthly payments would be and see if that works in your budget. Make sure your monthly payments do not affect your ability to landscape and buy some interior design items and new furniture. A common mistake most people make is that they put everything in their home but leave out the funds and budget for interior design and landscaping. Always have available financing reserved for future emergencies. Do not put everything in your home and become house poor.

Location of your new dream home is also a factor. Does the neighborhood have houses similar to your style? Is there a variety of home styles? Do research on what type of neighborhood it is. Are there neighborhood, city or county ordinances that might affect your lifestyle? Make a list of all the pro’s and con’s of each of your choices of sites, narrow it down to your top 3 to 5 and seriously think about all the factors that might influence your decision. You don't always want the perfect size or shaped lot if there are ordinances that will effect how you use it. Be careful.

Make sure you have no surprises. Ask your real estate agent for a list of permits necessary to build your dream home on the lot you chose. If they will not provide this, then go to your city and county and get the list. Make sure your construction contactor provides all of these permits in their contract with you.

Local codes can also surprise a lot of dream home builders. Ask the architect that does the signed blue print on your floor plans to research local codes that may or may not affect your floor plan and dream home design. Homework pays. You can save yourself a lot of money and time if you do your homework up front.

If you like this article, you may find other articles written by Robert Kempe at http://www.homedesignf loorplans.com

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Have You Taken These Measures for Storm Protection?

There's a good chance that if you live near the east coast, you more than likely have been through a hurricane, if not at least a very severe storm. These can be significant in size and devastating, or mild, however knowing how to protect your home and your family from these storms is extremely important.

You'll want to devise a family plan in case devastation from a hurricane occurs. A good idea is to assign a certain task to each person to prepare your home for the storm. After that you'll want to pick a spot that everybody can meet safely when the bad weather occurs.

You'll also want make up an emergency kit for the time following the storm, in which you'll keep at the spot you chose as the families safety spot. Keep water, matches, any medications that people might need regularly or even aspirin or painkillers, flashlights, and batteries. A radio would be a good idea to keep as well, battery operated of course.

If you have to get out of town, you'll want to have a plan for that as well, knowing your towns escape routes, and how your town approaches evacuation.

Keeping enough food and water for these times is crucial if you live in an area that's constantly hit by hurricanes. The best way to prepare for a storm is to prepare your home, to ensure as little damage is done as possible.

One of the crucial elements of this is to install hurricane windows in your home. Hurricane proof windows are windows that seal tightly so that no air comes in through the windows. When air enters your home during a hurricane, the home then becomes pressurized, which in effect shatters windows in opposing side of the home, or worse blows the roof off the top of the home. Not a good scenario.

So providing this storm protection to your home, can significantly increase the chances that your home survives and you and your family are safe. However, having all of these other protective measures in place is essential as well, since mother nature has no surefire defenses.

A couple other things that you'll want to keep in mind is your gas tank of your car, in which you should never let fall below the halfway mark, and your family pets. Keeping them behind is sometimes inevitable, and there's a good chance that they will survive, but if possible, please take steps to be sure that you can bring them along in the event of an evacuation.

Selecting The Right Kitchen Table Design

The right choice of a kitchen table is important to your kitchen design because the kitchen serves as the central meeting place of most homes. Your children do their homework at the kitchen table. Family and friends gather for dinner and parties around the kitchen table.

After having spent the time and money to renovate your kitchen why not put some thought into selecting comfortable kitchen furniture. How many people do you expect to have around the table and how much room do you have in your kitchen? Should you consider a breakfast nook, or is there enough room for a kitchen table that expands to seat the extended family at important occasions.

There are many kitchen table designs from farmhouse tables, kitchen bistro table, granite kitchen table or the breakfast nook kitchen table. Matching the right furniture to your kitchen design is an important consideration in making the look come together.

Try to create a seating space within the kitchen that can easily be used as a gathering space and an eating space, an area where family and friends can gather.

An old farmhouse table provides a look of rugged country style. It could have chairs with soft cushions to create an inviting, lived-in feeling. This type of kitchen table can be wood or painted wood with a distressed finish. Farmhouse kitchen tables can be compatible with many different kitchen design themes such as french country, tuscan kitchen, or rustic. You might also want to mix and match with other chair styles and benches for a more informal look.

A bistro style table is a small round table, with a glass top and metal legs, although some are made out of wood. The bistro look can be a rather inexpensive d飯r for your kitchen. This European look consists of a small and informal looking place, like a restaurant or tavern. For an eat-in style kitchen, creating the look of a bistro or caf頳tyle kitchen can be easy. A round bistro table with accent chairs is a must. You can use a glass topped table with iron legs or a taller pub style wooden table. Maybe a mosaic or tile topped table will suit your style better.
Added a built-in breakfast nook can be a good way to make room for a kitchen table. Breakfast nooks are becoming popular because homeowners find them to be cozy and intimate, especially in larger kitchens. The typical breakfast nook is usually set into a bump-out that sticks out beyond the outside wall of the kitchen like a mini wing. It has windows on three sides, providing close-up views of a backyard or garden. A breakfast nook can be used with most any kitchen design style. For instance by added some distressed paint a breakfast nook can also fit right in with a French, Tuscan, or rustic style kitchen.

Granite kitchen tables can be used in modern or an Italian or Tuscan country kitchen design. They have a beautiful, durable top that can be used for dining and food preparation. Some come with full-size drawers for convenient storage. Granite is a heat-resistant stone that can handle hot pans and dishes. Granite table tops are available in a variety of shades and patterns to match most interior color schemes.

James Mahoney is the author of many kitchen design articles and has a site about kitchen design ideas at Kitchen Designers Ideas.com. He also publishes a newsletter on kitchen design.

Window Design Features

Design is very important when selecting new uPVC windows for your home or office and in this article, I will run through various aspects of a window that you need to consider, in terms of the design of the window, so that it complements the rest of your building in the best way.

Obviously, a major aspect of the windows that you need to consider is the colour and also to make sure that, when the windows are installed, nothing seems "awkward" or "out of place" in terms of colour scheme. I could go through all of the technical aspects of purchasing windows that will best complement your house, but I do not need to. Most reputable window dealerships have design experts who will come out to your home and to take into consideration the precise shapes of the windows (for example) to make sure that everything will look nice when the installation is completed. There is usually no extra change for this design service so obviously, it is best to consult their expertise. If you want to see a typical range of window designs, you can see some here. If the company you are planning on purchasing a window from does not offer a designer, you can always hire your own to help you select a window that will complement your home. However, it may be rare to find a company that doesn't offer design services, due to the number and strength of competitors. The home improvement industry is very competitive so you should use that to your advantage.

One thing that you should take into consideration, however, is that apart from getting a professional designer and considering the colour scheme, you to look at the windows of the other homes in the neighbourhood to make sure that it matches their window styles and thus does not seem out of place.

If you take these two tips, the colour and the surrounding neighbourhood, as well as hire a designer, you should be able to select windows that will be aesthetically appealing without spending too much money or wasting too much time.

Mortgage Refinancing Helps You To Get Your Dream Home

Abstract: When you plan to go for a mortgage refinancing, you need to research a bit first. It is not necessary that you take the first loan you get or go straightaway to your bank for a loan. Check out all the different venues to see who is willing to give you a low interest rate. Did you know that it is possible to have a mortgage loan even if you have a bad credit history? It all depends on the kind of research you carry on in your hunt for that right mortgage lender. When you plan to go for a mortgage refinancing, you need to research a bit first. It is not necessary that you take the first loan you get or go straightaway to your bank for a loan. Check out all the different venues to see who is willing to give you a low interest rate.

There are many lenders promising wonderful interest rates and mortgage packages. Once you go there, you realize that it is only for a miniscule section of the populace. When you approach a mortgage lender, you have to be relaxed and ask plenty of questions and expect honest informative answers. A lot of lenders will have multiple mortgage packages that you can choose from. The more information you provide them about your credit history, your employment history etc., the more they are likely to come up with a package that suit your unique circumstances.

Be totally honest about the information you provide to your lender. A lot of people give false information, which will, in the end eventually resurface and cause you problems in getting the loan of your choice. You should however, be wary of giving any original documents or information to the lender. Don't forget to keep a copy of any document you give to them. Keep a deadline date for all the processing that needs to be done and stick to it. A lot of people who are first time buyers are unaware of finer details like fixed rate loans versus variable rate mortgages, private mortgage insurance or escrow payments and their relevant benefits and shortcomings.

A good lender will be in a position to explain the many differences and show the one that is most suitable to you. Did you know that it is possible to have a mortgage loan even if you have a bad credit history? It all depends on the kind of research you carry on in your hunt for that right mortgage lender. Mortgage refinancing is all about right planning. You can get the best mortgage refinancing information and calculators at mortgagerefinancing.com

Bedroom Decoration Ideas For Creating A Stylish Bedroom

Getting great bedroom decorating ideas for a bedroom remake can be challenging but there are a large number of different themes around that you can choose from and the decision you make will be based largely on your own personal taste and what budget you have available.

However other than for the two criteria stated above when decorating a bedroom you also need to think about the amount of space you have available as this will help you decide on the type and amount of furniture plus other items that you will be able to include without making the rooms space feel too cramped. It is important to remember when decorating a bedroom it should be a calm and inviting space.

So the best thing you could do first before starting to decorate your bedroom is to measure the space and then design the theme or style that suits the space and that you like the best. The more popular decorating ideas that people regularly seem to use are as follows:

1. Modern 2. Mediterranean 3. Cottage 4. Southwestern 5. Victorian 6. Shabby Chic 7. Paris Chic

Once you have chosen the style then it is important that you look at decorating ideas which will help you to achieve the final result. Say you were thinking of decorating your bedroom in a Victorian style then these are some of the bedroom decoration ideas you should be considering.

Remember the Victorian style has quite a feminine feel to it and this kind of decoration will often primarily be enjoyed by women, and therefore if you are looking to decorate the master bedroom in this style it is important that you make sure that your partner or spouse also likes this particular style.

The Victorian style is also quite showy and dramatic and the bed most typically suited this style is usually a heavy four poster made from wood or cast iron, it may well have a canopy, curtains, throw pillows and blankets along with a bedspread that has been embellished with patterns, fringes, bows and ribbons.

You also may find that you have to include for a great deal of accessorizing in order to achieve the ultimate Victorian look to your room and this will include such items as large and overstated rugs, flowering plants as well as large gold/gilt frames which surround paintings and pictures of flowers, birds, children or young women (maidens).

You would follow a similar train of thought for any other style. If you wanted a modern bedroom, you would choose simple primary colors or black, tan and white. The furniture and accessories would have clean lines which are part of the modern look - nothing frilly or girly.

A southwestern look would have colors of the southwest and use accents that are Mexican or Native American in feel. Perhaps some southwestern pottery or a Native American rug?

One good place to get bedroom decorating ideas from is magazines. Flip open any decorating magazine and find a photo of a bedroom you like. Look closely at the bedding and accessories then try to model your bedroom after the photo.

Maintaining Home Air Conditioners

Maintaining Home Air Conditioners even though you may not be a qualified HVAC technician there are several things you can do to you improve your air conditioner’s efficiency and prolong it’s life. As contractors prices increase and pay raises decrease you may not be able to have a air conditioning technician clean and check your system every year like most manufactures recommend. It is still a good idea to have a qualified service man check your refrigerant pressures and temperatures every few years to obtain maximum system efficiency. Many things done on a preventive maintenance can be done by most home owners and do not require any specialty tools or instruments.

Many people don’t realize that the furnace filter they are accustom to changing is also used for your central air system. Make sure to inspect your system air filter monthly and replace as needed. A clean air filter is just as if not more important for air conditioning than heating. You will also want to make sure most of the supply registers for you system are open. Air conditioners are sized for a specific amount of air flow so if it is restricted by closed registers problems may occur. Be sure the drain line from the indoor coil or evaporator is clear and that there are no kinks in the hose. If this line seems very dirty you can pour common house hold bleach through it to kill growing bacteria.

Next you will want to turn the power off to the out door unit or condenser at the breaker and remove all grass and shrubs growing with in 8-10 inches of the coil that surrounds the air conditioner. Use a garden hose to soak down the coil surface area making sure not to use so much pressure that you damage the coil fins. Apply a condenser coil cleaner product that comes in a aerosol spray can or mixable concentrate and let soak for 3-5 minutes. Remove the units top and flush coil clean with a garden hose preferably from the inside out. Oil the condenser fan motor with 4-5 drops of a light weight oil, provided the motor has oiling ports. Reassemble and restore power to the air conditioner. Set your thermostat to cool and below room temperature. After letting in run for 5-10 minutes check the discharge temperature at one of the supply registers closest to the indoor air handler. A quick rule of thumb is that you should have a 15 to 20 degree difference in supply air temperature and room air temperature. So if it is 76 degrees in the house your supply air temperature should be around 56 to 61 degrees.

If the temperature difference is less than 15 degrees you may have to have a air conditioning technician check the refrigerant levels. Coil Cleaner and other HVAC maintenance products can be purchased online at www.mainsupplies.com Information provided by Terry Manlick at HVAC Maintenance & Supplies at www.mainsupplies.com

How To Bring Desert Landscaping Into Your Garden

If you have a desert landscape there are many things that you can still do to transform it into something you can be proud of. Make sure you research about flowers and plants to see what can survive in the conditions that you are faced with.

Not everyone has the pleasure of having great land for their landscaping project and therefore it can be a lot harder for them. It could be that your land is like a desert where the plant growth is very rare and there is hardly any green grass. When the land is not looking very promising, it can be hard to imagine it looking good at all. The good news for people with land like this is that there are actually things that can be done in order to make it look better.

What Can You Do For Your Desert Landscaping Project To Make It Look Better?

To start with you will need to do quite a bit of planning. Because the land is not the best and the climate may be difficult, it does need a lot of thought. You need to have some idea on what look you want to achieve too and then see if it is at all possible to achieve this.

To get some inspiration and ideas try searching around on the internet and look in magazines. The hardest thing you will be faced with is coming up with a design that will suit your landscape. However, because the land is more awkward you should not let it stop you from finding a great design to transform your garden completely. You will need to bear in mind about what space is available and also you need to consider your budget too.
Adding Extra Rocks and Other Features to Your Landscaping Project?

Your desert landscape may have big boulders or rocks scattered everywhere so you may want to replace them with something else. You may want to try using colored rocks which give out a bit of extra charm and they can look extremely good too. They can come in many different shapes and sizes to give a great combination. In order to help soften the rocks up, you can always add original desert plants around them.

You may not be aware of this but it is actually possible to have a garden in a desert landscape. You will need to do research on what plants and flowers will survive and grow in the climate you are in though. To make the garden look impressive it is a good idea to put the lower plants at the front and the higher ones at the back.
With the desert being quite dry and hot, a water feature would also come in quite handy and it tends to look extremely classy as well as adding charm. It is a fun and creative way to make your desert landscape look completely different to how it was before.

So, if you have a desert landscape that needs something doing to it, use a bit of creativity and do some research in order to transform it. Do not let the climate and heat stop you from enjoying your landscape as it can be overlooked.

Decorating Ideas in All the Rooms of Your Home

How to find ideas for decorating a kitchen. Staying within the budget. Planning the projects and saving money on labor

When you own an old house, there is always something to do to it, and usually very little money to do it with. My old house needed a great deal of work, such as repairs, new plumbing and some redecorating. But with a budget, I had to decide where to start and picked the most needy project of all, the kitchen. I new it needed a change, but I didn't know where to begin to redecorate it, so I had to get some ideas, fast.

My first stop was the library. I found a number of books on interior design, and they also had a lot of magazines that gave me wonderful ideas for redecorating my kitchen. One of the best things they did was to show the before and after pictures so I could see that these ideas actually worked. These books and magazines had complete instructions so that even a novice like me could complete the jobs they illustrated. With the detailed instructions, it looked easy to do.

There were a lot of books and magazines, so I had a hard time finding which ideas I wanted to use. I had a couple of limitations that led me to eliminate one or two of the ideas. My main limitation was my budget, of course. I could not afford to spend too much money on the kitchen alone since I was planning on renovating my entire house over the course of time, so I had to budget room by room. And since I was planning on doing as much of the work as possible by myself, I had to make sure that the jobs I would take on were within my scope of expertise. One of the most expensive costs of renovating is labor, so I was trying to avoid hiring any contractors. I had a last consideration that perhaps many people do not think about: I wanted my kitchen to be extremely efficient as well as pretty to look at.

It is important to identify the most important features that you want in a room before you start to renovate. If you have a clear vision, it makes it easier to pick out plans and projects that work for you. I bought the materials and started working, evenings and weekends, and was finished in less than one month. Keeping my eye on the magazine ideas, I was able to recreate them in my own kitchen and create an entirely new room.

Believe me, if I could do it, so can you. If you too have an old kitchen that needs updating with new ideas, check out all of the decorating magazines and books (don't forget the Internet!) and you will come up with some great ideas for a new look.

Kinds of Japanese Decorating

The ancient roots of Japanese flower arranging. Various kinds of japanese flower arranging. Elements in flower arranging.

Japanese flower arranging or ikebana, is rapidly becoming more and more popular all over the world. Flower arranging is an art form, and doesn't just take the arrangement of flowers into account, but the entire structure, such as vase, placement and form. In the west, we merely place the flowers in a vase, and strive for a balanced look, but Japanese flower arranging is structured along lines that represent the important elements of life: heaven, earth, humans.

These three representational symbols are found in many expressions of Eastern culture and Japanese flower arranging is one of the prettiest forms. Each of the components, such as the stem, the leaf or the flower is viewed as representing a symbol of this holistic view, and the vase also becomes an important component. Ikebana is an ancient art that probably began in Buddhist temples in Japan in the sixth century as a form of offering. The flowers and branches of a plant would be placed in such a way as to point to the heavens, illustrating the faith of the person making the offering.

Original ikebana flower arrangements were simple and almost crude in their design, but through the centuries the art was improved upon and became more sophisticated. A new form of the art of flower arranging, called rikka, emerged in the fifteenth century and become the precursor of the stylized flower arranging practiced in Japan still today. "Rikka" seeks to capture the wonders of nature in a single flower arrangement. Flowers are placed in such a way that they represent a mythical mountain called Mount Sumeru that is a symbol of our universe, and each piece in a rikka arrangement is a part of that universe. For example, white chrysanthemums represent water and pine branches represent stone. Although these exact representations are no longer respected, in prior times rikka was used extensively in ceremonial decorating.

In the late nineteenth century, another form of ikebana became popular in Japan and carried over to Western cultures. This is called moribana and in it the garden artist seeks to create a garden world in miniature. Terrariums and bonsai were popular outgrowths of this art form in the west.

Though Japanese flower arranging is very popular in modern society, it has ancient roots that it are important to remember. You may see beautiful Japanese style flower arrangements in both formal decorating schemes as well as casual arrangements in a stylish home.

Ideas From Interior Decorating Magazine

Getting ideas for home decorating. Using magazines for lots of different ideas. Finding the right one for your tastes.

How in the world do you find the right decorating scheme for your home? Everywhere you turn, there are different and new ideas that you can use, but which one will work for you? Each room in your home presents a different challenge, and it is really difficult to focus on the right look for each one. Interior design magazines were made to order for your dilemma.

Of course, with the vast array of interior design magazines that are available, you now are faced with which one to use for your own purposes. You can find so many of them in big home decorating or improvement stores such as Home Depot or Design Expo, but you also see them on the racks at your local supermarket or department stores like Target and Walmart. You may even see them at a larger 7-11, that's how popular they have become.

There are many benefits to using these types of decorator magazines. First of all, they are pretty inexpensive, so you can get a lot of ideas for little cost. Secondly, these ideas are original; magazine editors strive to have the latest looks in their magazines and they know they have to appeal to a wide audience of both younger and older home or apartment owners who are looking to decorate economically.

These kinds of magazines will offer ideas that are trendy and usually show the latest ideas in upgrades, new kitchen ideas and gadgets, as well the latest appliances and furniture styles.

You usually can tell by the cover of the magazine which market it is going to appeal to. Modern designs that may appeal to younger audiences and apartment dwellers will feature sleeker, more modern looking covers. Traditional design will be reflected in a cover article that is all about the tried and true favorites, whether it is Victorian design, country charm or classic elegance. Choosing such a magazine will assure that you will get ideas to suit your taste.

The newest "old" trend is cottage or shabby chic, and there are many magazines that are devoted to this trend. If you are looking for a way to decorate inexpensively, or to incorporate antique pieces into your design scheme, you will find plenty of ideas here.

These publications are well written and have loads of ideas for everyone who is interested either in changing their style or learning about decorating styles so they can decide how to decorate. So many of them not only have the decorating ideas you need, but also have the how-to's on how to achieve each idea. Just browse through the racks and buy a few, and you will come up with dozens of ideas to inspire you.

Deck Out Your Home With Spooky Halloween Decoration

If you enjoy Halloween, make the most of the holiday by decorating your home. Be inspired by your neighbors and shop around for spooky ideas.

Halloween doesn't get everyone's vote, but it does get our family's. How much you enjoy it depends on how you view the holiday: for us it is a great excuse to have fun together and get a chance to dress up, and is therefore a firm favorite in our home. One of the things we enjoy most is getting the decorations out: from large spiders to eerie ghosts, everything is an excuse to have fun. There is only rule when it comes to Halloween decorating: anything goes so long as it's spooky or scary, so big hairy spiders get their day!

There are of course various levels of decorating, from a simple carved-out pumpkin in the window to a fully decked out haunted mansion. I love taking a drive around town on Halloween to see what other people have done: it is always a treat to see a home where Halloween decorating has been taken to a fine art! Some decors can be quite intricate and normally pretty suburban front yards metamorphose for the night into the most unbelievably spooky arrangements. I have seen yards transformed into realistic cemeteries, complete with fog machine, special lighting, sound effects and spider webs galore. A well decorated home is usually a good indication that the owners have stocked up on tasty treats, and should be well worth a visit when you take your children trick or treating.

Some people like to carry the decorating theme on indoors, and don't stop with straightforward schemes either, turning their homes into fully-fledged haunted houses. These folks go into a lot of trouble decorating their homes, and must really enjoy the process to go to such length. For them it is about dazzling the trick or treaters that may venture in. These days, however, parents rarely let their progeny enter a stranger's home: it only take a handful of bad apples to spoil the fun of the holiday, so it hardly seems worth the risk.

Nowadays you can find just about anything you could wish for to have some serious fun decorating your home for Halloween. The only limits are your imagination and budget. Shop locally for stylish trinkets and unusual objects, or expand your search to the Internet. The web gives you worldwide access to weird and wonderful things that you would never even have thought off, as well as the bare essentials: no matter what you are looking for, it is available online somewhere.

Nursery Decorating: Styles and Design Ideas

When you are ready to start a family you will need to think about decorating the little one's room. From choosing the color scheme to assembling furniture there are many things to consider. Browsing online should provide you with plenty of inspiration to get the job done well.

You may one day decide to have a baby. This is a big decision, but in my mind the toughest decision relates to picking the right time to do so. It is not just about the body clock: you need to be at that place in your life where both your relationship and career are firmly grounded. You do not want to wait too long for this to happen though, as you will want to be around to see your child grow up! This exciting process starts with getting ready for baby's arrival, and kitting out the nursery.

Have you thought of what goes into the decorating of a baby's room? You have probably started to play around with a few ideas if you are about to have a baby. Decorating the nursery is a wonderful and exciting experience in itself, and an integral part of getting ready to become of parent. First of all you get to pick the color scheme, and paint the room in a color that you have chosen. This obviously depends on your taste but also on whether you're having a boy or a girl. A lot of couples traditionally veer towards decorating the baby's room with shades of blue if they're expecting a boy and tend to choose pinks if it's a girl. There's actually no rule about this and I personally don't subscribe to this point of view. When we were expecting our baby girl I wanted to create a stimulating environment for her, with a lot of interesting colors. I wanted my little girl to be able to peek at a wonderful rainbow of colors from her cot as visual stimulation is an important part of infant development.

While we are on the subject of cots and cribs, this was definitely the most challenging part of the process for me. My mother had bought us a wonderful oak sleigh crib as a gift. It looked absolutely stunning once carried upstairs and assembled. The carrying upstairs bit, though, was a project in itself. The thing was extremely heavy, and of course this is a job for dad. Suffice to say that I now understand how tough it must be to be a mover!

Don't be afraid to look around for inspiration for decorating your baby's room. Have a good browse before you settle on a scheme. The web is a great place to start fishing for ideas.

Planning and Preparing Your Landscaping Design

You can make your lawn into that refuge that you want and need. All you need to do is plan and prepare the landscaping design so that you will be ready to carry out your plan.

I am sure that you have many different landscaping ideas that are inside your mind and heart. This is the best way to find the right landscaping design for your particular yard, because it assures your satisfaction. You, too, can make your lawn into that relaxing and tranquil spot that you deserve and need. You don't have to be a professional landscaper to make your lawn look great. All you need is some time and energy, as well as creativity, to make your lawn into the oasis that you desire.

Plan Your Landscaping Design Planning and preparation are the most important parts of landscaping design. You first need to lay it all out on paper. This will allow you to see exactly what you need and how it will work space-wise. Take the time to plan your landscaping design carefully so that you will be properly prepared. Keep trees and buildings in mind when you plan your landscaping design, so that you will not have problems once you start doing the work. Make them fit into your landscaping design now so that you will have a cohesive plan in mind.

Landscaping Ideas From Everywhere There are many different ways that you can find landscaping ideas. Gardening magazines, stores, or books is one way that you can find some ideas. Online pictures and websites can also help, as well as driving around and looking at other people's landscaping designs. This will help you to get your own imagination and creativity jump-started.

Evaluate the Landscaping Area Keep the dimensions of the area and where the area is located in mind when you are determining your landscaping plan. Does the area receive lots of sun or is it shady? This is a very important determination to ensure that you choose the right plants for your area. You also need to see if there are any drainage problems and evaluate how you are going to keep the area watered. All of these considerations are very important to make sure that your landscaping will thrive and not die.

Adding Layers to Your Landscaping You will find that there is a great variety of materials that are available to use to create artificial walls and borders for your landscaping. You will find that this can help to add texture and interest to an otherwise flat landscape and can help increase the visual beauty of your lawn. You can use many different things, including stones, rocks, lumber, railroad ties, or even cement blocks in your lawn. Some of these items can even be transplanted from other areas of your lawn. Use these materials creatively to help turn your lawn into the refuge that you want.

Taking Care of Your New Landscape No matter what materials you base your landscaping design around, you will want to make sure that you understand how to care for and maintain the landscaping. If you are using live landscaping materials, then you need to determine how to feed and water them so that they will thrive. You don't want to waste the effort and time that you spent planting by not taking proper care of your plants or you will have a dead, brown landscape instead of one that thrives. Keep your landscape looking neat and trim by weeding and trimming it as necessary. If your landscaping design is centered around rocks and lumber, then you still will need to maintain it by keeping it clean and neat so that it will last for many years.

With some imagination, creativity, and a lot of time and effort, you will find that you lawn landscaping will give you a great deal of pride and relaxation. Doesn't that sound great?

Landscaping Can Become Your Canvas

Landscaping your yard is a great outlet for your creativity skills. By using your lawn as a canvas, you can create a beautiful picture.

Landscaping your yard has often been compared to painting a beautiful picture. If you are an artist, then your teacher has probably told you that a good painting should have a focal point and the rest of the details should make the painting even more interesting and beautiful. In landscaping and gardening, this works in much the same way. You are creating a picture around a focal point to help make a cohesive, beautiful landscape that you can enjoy.

The lawn is a very important part of the landscaping design. Open, green lawn space is always beautiful and relaxing. It makes even a small space look larger and more open. If you plant trees here and there or plant flowers here and there, then the lawn quickly becomes less open and more cluttered and choppy. It is hard for the eye to concentrate on any one part of the landscape, which makes it seem more busy and cluttered. A small group of flowers or a tree or two is fine, but it is when you begin planting without taking into consideration how everything looks as a whole that you begin running into problems.

Consider the size of your lawn to make sure that you do not choose trees that may overpower your lawn. A tree should have good shape, with interesting fruit, flowers, bark, or leaves to draw your interest. A poplar tree is a good choice because it grows quickly, but it does have some drawbacks. It drops its leaves early in the season, which means that it sits there barren and ugly for quite a while. You need to take that into consideration before choosing poplar trees for your landscaping design. A catalpa is a lovely choice as well. It has broad leaves, beautiful flowers, and it has seed pods that stay on the tree for quite a while during the winter. Other trees that you may want to consider include an ash for its brightly colored berries, a tulip tree for its beautiful blossoms, a white birch tree for its interesting bark, and a copper beech tree for the beautiful leaves.

Where the tree is going to be located should be a major consideration in where you decide to place the tree. If you are locating the tree in an area that is moist and low, then you may want to consider a willow. Mixing different trees close together will not look quite right either. For example, a neat and tidy juniper tree would look very out of place when placed next to a chestnut tree that spreads. You must keep the features of the trees in mind to make sure that they are proportionally right together.

You will want to avoid planting evergreens near your home or in the front yard. Evergreens block the sun from getting to your home and yard and this can make your yard seem dark and gloomy if there are quite a few of them. You will find that you house looks more alive and it will be healthier if there is some sunlight allowed into it.
Just as trees are carefully considered due to certain things that you like, you should choose your shrubs in much the same way. In a group of shrubs, you will want to choose some that bloom early and some that bloom late, as well as some who color during the fall. You also want to take into consideration those that have beautiful bark or fruit. This will help you to have color in your landscaping all year around.

If you are looking for a shrub to use as a hedge, then you are most certainly in luck. A California privet is a great choice, as well as a buckthorn, Japan quince, Osage orange, or Van Houtte's spirea.

You also need to choose your trees and shrubs based on your climate and locality as well. This will help them to thrive and flourish in your yard and climate.

You may find that landscape gardening can be formal or very casual. A formal garden would have straight lines, while a casual garden would have more curving and bends.

A formal landscaping design may look to stiff and boring, while a casual design may look too busy or fussy. If you are making a path, then keep this in mind. A path should always lead somewhere. If not, then it is not a path. Straight paths are easier to create on your own, so keep that in mind in your landscaping design.

Paths in your garden may be created by using grass, gravel, or dirt. Grass paths are used in some very beautiful garden areas, but they may not hold up well in smaller gardens, due to their high maintenance. A gravel path is a great look, but you may not have easy access to gravel to make your path. A dirt path is easier to create. All you need to do is dig out your path with a depth of two feet. Use six inches of stone to line the patch and then pack down dirt over the stone, rounding it slightly toward the center of your path. Make sure that there are no depressions in your path or you could find that you have a problem with standing water. The stone in the pathway makes a natural drainage system to help remove the water.

You may find that a building in your home may need some d飯r help in the form of vines or flowers to help make it a cohesive part of your home. A perennial vine is a great choice, including the clematis, trumpet vine, Virginia creeper, and wisteria. These vines will grow to make them a permanent part of your landscaping design.

Imagine a house that is a natural color with gray, weathered shingles. Now include a purple wisteria in front of the home. Do you see how much beauty that this vine can add? We had a very ugly corner in my childhood home where the dining room and kitchen met. A trellis was placed in this corner where a trumpet vine made a beautiful statement. It helped brighten up a dark, ugly corner with great beauty.

An annual vine is the morning glory, wild cucumber, and moon vine. These vines work great to help cover up an ugly spot. It is sometimes necessary to use a vine to help cover up something that does not look very appealing. These annual vines are perfect for this work.

If you have an old fence, then you may want to add a hop vine. This will give your fence more of a natural look, much as it is in the forest.

If you need a plant to border a walk or to go beside your home, then you may want to consider planting some flowers. You want to keep in mind, however, that you need to keep the front yard lawn space open. Daffodils in the spring can make your yard lovely. If you add hyacinths or tulips, you will be giving your landscaping a touch of beautiful color. They do not take much effort and they will bring spring to your yard. Planting some bulbs in your front lawn can net you a beautiful display of color. This is a rule that can be broken in the open lawn space. They blend in with the whole picture, rather than taking away from the picture. You can simply drop the bulbs as you walk through the yard and plant them where they land. You should plant them in groups of four to six to help make them more appealing to the eye.

Flower gardens are great for the side or rear of the home. You don't want to have a beautiful front yard, only to have someone walk around the side and back to a dead, deserted yard. You can lay your yard out in straight, formal lines or you can choose to make it more casual. It is up to you and your personal preferences.

You need to consider all of the different colors together to make sure that they mesh and blend well. Even though this is not a huge consideration in nature, we have to keep it in mind in our yards because it is a smaller area. We need to be aware of the impact that color has upon our yard so that we can keep the yard neat and beautiful, rather than busy and cluttered. If you need to break up a large group of colors, you can use white flowers or something like mignonette, which is green in color.

This concludes our lesson in landscaping. Your grounds are the setting for your home and other buildings. Free, open lawn spaces, well-placed trees, groups of flowers that are well thought out, and shrubbery that is grouped together can make your home and landscape into the place that you are needing. By learning all of these lessons, your landscaping will help make your house into a home.

Choosing Tile Flooring

When considering the sort of flooring to put in your home, tile flooring is an increasingly popular choice due to its durability and beauty. Tile flooring is available in many different forms, sizes, shapes, and colors, which give the home decorator a variety of possibilities for patterns and looks, from rustic to elegant. From entryways to bathrooms, tile flooring can add just the right accent to your home and because of its durability, it will undoubtedly last for many years to come. But keep in mind that because installing tile usually involves using adhesives and grout, it's a fairly permanent addition to the house. To ensure that you make the right choices when purchasing tile flooring, a little education will help.

Hardness

One of the most important things to consider when purchasing your tile flooring is where the tile will be used, and to select a tile of proper hardness for where you want to place it. The Porcelain Enamel Institute has developed a standard scale for tile hardness, from zero to five, with "zero" used as a hardness suitable for wall tile and "five" primarily referring to tile suitable for commercial use. This scale is not indicative of the quality of the tile, but merely the amount and sort of traffic it can handle.

When purchasing your tile flooring, be sure to ask about the rating of the tile you're interested in, so you're not using a tile in your entryway that would be better suited for your bathtub. No one wants to have tile flooring installed just to have it crack, so make sure that you are selecting the right tile for your job.

Porosity

Just as you want to select tile flooring that will stand up to wear, you also want tiles that will hold up to the amount of moisture in the room that will be used in. If your tile is to be used in the bathroom where there will be a lot of steam, or outside where it will be subject to the elements, you should pick a tile that is nonporous so it will not be subject to water damage. Also keep in mind that some materials will need sealant in order to keep moisture out. The professional at your local flooring store will be able to answer your questions about the type of tile and sealant that you should use.

While on the subject of moisture, be sure to pick tile flooring that isn't too slick when wet. Tiles appropriate for the bathroom and other such areas will have been treated so the surface is slightly abrasive, which will prevent slipping when stepping out of the shower. Simple attention to the porosity of your tile as well as the hardness will do wonders for ensuring that you select tile flooring that is beautiful and that will last for a long time.
Please visit hppt://www.flooring-aaa.com for more Flooring articles.

Use A Modern Floor Lamp To Add Extra Personality To The Room

Modern floor lamps can be a great way to add something special to a room to help brighten it up and add personality. There are a range of styles and shapes available so look around first before deciding upon any design.

A lot of people struggle with adding features to a room after it has been decorated. They are not really sure what will best suit the room or they simply have no idea on what to get. Other people may have a bare room and they need it to be livened up a bit. Features are what help make the room look more fulfilled and give it a bit of life and personality.

Modern floor lamps can be a great way to banish any empty space by adding extra charisma to the room and making it more inviting. There is nothing better than relaxing in a nice room with a modern floor lamp brightening it up a little.

Why should you choose a Modern Floor Lamp for Your Home?

It is a great idea to use a modern floor lamp in any of your rooms because of the amount of selection there is out there. If you look on the internet or in any catalogues, you can see some of these great and sophisticated lamps that are available. They come in so many different variations and shapes which can suit everyone's needs. Some of them may seem wacky to some people but then others will absolutely love them.

It may be a wise idea to ask a few different questions when considering buying a modern floor lamp. Try considering some of these:-

What style will you want for your room (wacky, sophisticated, normal, colourful etc)? Will you get much use out of this floor lamp? Will it be worth getting one for your room? How much are you willing to spend on getting a new modern floor lamp? Where will the lamp go in the room and is there enough space to accommodate it? What are your expectations from this floor lamp? Will the lamp suit the style of the room and will it fit with the rest of the furniture? Do you need more than one of these lamps to complete the look?

By asking all of the right questions, this can help you to make the right decision when purchasing your new modern floor lamp. There is nothing worse than taking your new purchase home to find out that it doesn't fit or that it doesn't suit the style of the room. So take your time and make sure that you get the right modern floor lamp for you and your room's needs.

Guidelines For Home Electrical Projects

Homeowners often face many do-it-yourself projects and many of those projects are trial and error. However, electrical repairs and/or projects should not fall under the category of trial and error. Before beginning an electrical repair project, follow the steps below to ensure a safe, successful result.

First, confirm that you are permitted to do electrical work on your own home. The Oregon Department of Business and Consumer Services (ODBCS) indicates that homeowners do not need a permit to replace electrical devices or perform maintenance on an existing electrical installation, but a permit is required in some instances. According to the ODBCS, you need a permit to install or modify any permanent wiring or electrical device, run additional wiring, put in an electrical outlet or light fixture, install or modify low-voltage systems such as security alarms or stereo systems, install a receptacle for a garage-door opener or convert to circuit breakers. Of course, the law varies from state to state. Be sure to check with your local office to confirm whether or not you need a permit.

Secondly, off all electrical power through the circuit breaker. Flipping a switch off is not enough. The socket or appliance will remain live. Many circuit breakers have diagrams detailing with circuit is connected which breaker, but be sure to check for yourself. You can do this by using a voltage tester. Someone assisting you is also helpful and prevents the need to run back and forth to test the circuit. Always tape the circuit breaker into the off position to avoid anyone restoring power while you are working. Finally, remember that the main wires entering the electrical panel from the outside cannot be turned off. For this reason, do not touch the wires or go near them with anything made of metal. If you suspect the electrical problems are with these wires, contact the power company. Do not try to find the problem on your own.

Third, standing in water or on a damp floor could result in a life-threatening shock. If there is water on the floor, place a rubber mat on the floor to stand on. Also, be sure you are wearing dry clothes. If you are not sure if the area is safe, call a professional. One call could save you from a dangerous shock.

Fourth, remember that metal is bad and rubber is good. If you touch metal and a live wire at the same time, your body carries a current from one to the other. Running a current through your body is, obviously, not healthy nor is it pleasant experience. However, rubber is a nonconductive material and actually insulates against electricity. Use tools with rubber or plastic coated handles and wear shoes with rubber soles.

Finally, test your work once you are finished. Turn the circuit breakers on to return electrical power to the area, and use a voltage tester to check if the appropriate amount of electricity is running. The amount required varies by the size of the appliance.

Replacing Your Old Locks and Door Handle

Changing your locks may sound like a simple task, but this is true only if you know what you are doing. There are many different styles of handles on the market. The locking mechanisms on certain styles vary and each has a unique function. If you are going to change your locks, be sure to know what type works best and why. Here is some useful information on styles and basics of changing a lock. Knowing what the lock is used for is important in finding the style that best meets your security needs.

Free through Passage Handles: These handles are exactly as they sound. You will not have to worry about locks. They come in either a knob type handle style or a level style which is very popular. Before purchasing these handles, though, be sure you do not need a lock.

Privacy Door Knobs: These handles are often used in the bedroom or bathroom. You can unlock the door by either turning the knob or turning an extra switch on the inside of the door. These are great for those areas where privacy is desired most.

Security Deadbolt Lock: The single deadbolt lock is a great style lock is good for any entrance to the home, whether the front or back door. However, it is best to use this lock with doors that do not have side lights or a glass pane since entrance would be fairly easy. One would only have to break the glass and reach in to turn the knob. The double deadbolt lock can provide extra strength and security to your doors. It can be locked form the inside or the outside using a key. You can also add a chain, for example, to provide even more security.

Decorative Door Knobs, Deadbolt and Latch Set: These handles help improve your home's appearance. They are often placed on French doors. You can also use them on pantries if there is nothing hazardous inside, which should be kept from small children for instance. There are no locks on these decorative handles, but a little more security can be implemented with a decorative deadbolt and latch set. You can use these two pieces together or by themselves, depending on your needs.

You must now determine if the door handle you currently have is appropriate. To make this determination, you should first look at the latch plate. The hole may not be deep enough for a higher quality latch. Open and remove the existing latch plate, which is on the inside of your door. If it does not fit into the old hole, you will need to chisel the hole to give it a deeper depth. Also, be sure to check that the plunger for the deadbolt lines up with the hole in the frame since the lock will not provide proper security otherwise. Adding longer screws into the pre-drilled areas on the latch plate can add extra security.

Wood Furniture for Better Homes

Home decoration justifiably ranks among the top priorities for the socially active members of the society. Furniture items have, over the years, undergone a marked change of perception for their patrons. With varied change in the choices of furniture, people have the option to choose from amongst the best. And wood furniture is the top choice of the connoisseurs of exquisite furniture items. The pride in owning a priceless piece of excellent quality wooden furniture is unmatched and addictive.

The furniture made of oak, cherry, cedar, rustic pine and their ilk adds value to your dream home. In particular, Amish made furniture items are the real turn on if you love the art and craft on your furniture. The Amish handcrafted furniture is a delight to gaze and pride to possess. If you want your home to depict a picture of your true self, Amish furniture is the way to go. Made by extreme toil and sweat and requiring great skills to master the art of making marvelous pieces, Amish furniture is available at all the major furniture retailers. However, if you are looking to strike a good bargain, try to find a reputed wholesale Amish furniture dealer who can also offer extended guarantee along with attractive prices.

Hardwood is a privileged and most preferred choice. Available in varied natural colors and ranging from darkest to lightest ones, hard wood is considered as most durable among the kinds of woods used to make furniture articles. Moreover, hardwood requires least amount of care among all the other woods. Due to its sturdiness, it is long lasting and largely maintenance free.

Extreme caution is, however, required before you buy wooden furniture. This is because of the fact that a number of trick dealers have emerged in the market that will sell you fakes in the name of wooden furniture. As a general rule, heavier wood furniture ensures better quality and durability. So, the best way to check its authenticity is try to lift it. If it is genuine, you will feel considerable weight.

A thorough examination of the wooden furniture article is always called for before deciding to purchase it. Cuts, bruises, fractures, protruding nails, dents etc. can mar the otherwise beauty of the product. Gently run your hand all over the surface of the furniture to detect any kind of superfluous flaw in the finishing of the article.

However, if you find that the finished article has a minor flaw that can be easily corrected, always ask for extra discounts. Most often, the dealers will oblige to preserve their goodwill and make a new customer. Similarly, if you are looking to save some extra dollars, just ask the dealer if he is game for selling the display piece. The display pieces usually look old but actually, most of them are in perfect shape barring the odd fading. This can be easily made up by a swift coating of paint or polish. The dealers are, generally, on the look out for the buyers interested in display pieces. Obviously, these pieces are sold on a much higher discount.

Make the most of your wooden furniture and always buy cheap!

Tips To Repair A Hole In Your Wall

If you want to repair wall that has been damaged by a hole then you should follow these 5 tips that can help guide the way.

1) Figure out how big the hole is is the first step. Different size holes will require different procedures for fixing the hole in your wall. You might just need to put a little compound in your want and then sand the spot over for a clean looking finish.

If you are dealing with a bigger hole then you should fill it up with newspaper before putting the compound over it. This will make it more secure and you can save on compound.

If the hole is larger then you might need to patch it up by filing it with drywall and a flap on each side.
If you have a really big hole then you need to think of it as a whole new space to be repaired. You need to get rid of anything in the wall frame and then cut out new drywall. You can secure this down and then complete the wall.

You should take measurements of your hole and then figure out what course of action to proceed with. You want to make sure you do the right course of action depending on how big your hole is.

2. Preparation

When you have decided how to fill up the hole then you want to make sure you have everything you need. It will save you lots of time if you have the right tools and supplies to begin with. You will need to get to work fast when your compound has been be made because it dries fairly quickly. This makes it crucial to have all your tools ready to go.

When you have a big hole to fill in then you need to cut your drywall way before you get your compound going. You might also want to see that your hole is really the size that matches your procedure. If you start to work on the hole and then realize that you don't have enough newspaper, then you could have a real problem.

3. Don't Use Too Much Spackle

Since you are using lots of compound to fill in the hole then you might think that this will fix everything for you, but this is not true. You need to make sure that the compound has something to grip onto like newspaper. You want to minimize the amount that you use and make sure that you put it down very smoothly You also want to make sure it is applied very evenly.

4. Be Patient

If you are doing this in your own home then chances are you want to get on with it. You need to actually take the time to think about what you are doing before you get started. You want to make sure you sand and finish your wall properly. If you try to sand before your wall is dry it can be a mess! Make sure you clean your tools well so they don' get full of sticky compound that dries on them.

5. The Finish

Make sure you don't skip over the sanding process. There may be bumps you can't see at the time, but that will become more apparent later on!

Repair Your Porch Today

Remodeling porches can create great benefits for your home. This example from DoItYourself.com shows that you can make more of your outdoors with these fresh-as-air ideas that use paint, stain, and basic carpentry skills to spruce up a plain backyard. Mosquitoes, plus the desire to enjoy spring, summer, and fall relaxing outside, prompted the owners of an Atlanta, Georgia home to transform their back porch from a concrete slab to a screened-in showcase. The decision was simple; the solution wasn't quite so easy.

Though they knew they wanted to screen the existing back patio -- a square of concrete tucked under a roof overhang -- complications arose. The porch needed to blend in with the existing house and still withstand the local insects, high humidity, and scorching summer temperatures. The concrete slab had a slight drop for rain runoff, so the homeowners had to trim the inside of the frame to fit that slope.

Here?s a step-by-step of what they did:

1. Cut the paneling. Pre-primed 4x8-foot sheets of beadboard ceiling paneling are cut to fit.

2. Install the ceiling panels and fan. A nail gun makes quick work of installing ceiling panels and is easier than holding a panel while swinging a hammer. Before all of the paneling is installed, the ceiling is wired for a fan and light. The fan enables the homeowners to keep their porch 8 to 10 degrees cooler than the outdoors, while the light allows the porch to be used at night. One person held the fan while the other connected the wires then screwed the fan into place. The ceiling's finish trim hides the seams in the paneling.

3. Frame the porch. The 2x4 frame of the homeowners' porch was sized to fit the standard-width screens that were installed later. Crosspieces can be either nailed directly through the vertical braces or toenailed in place.

4. Attach interior paneling. A staple gun secures the interior pine-and-plywood beadboard paneling. Though the panels are level across the top, they had to be trimmed at the bottom to follow the uneven concrete floor, which slopes to accommodate rain runoff.

5. Attach and level exterior paneling. The hardboard exterior panels are added one at a time, from the bottom up. The builders custom-cut the first one to follow the bumpy ground line. It took some practice tries to get the paint the same tone of pale yellow as the weathered version on the house. The weather-resistant exterior paint requires only a washing with soap and water to maintain its color.

6. Finish off the screen. Vinyl grids are screwed directly into the wooden frame. The screens attach to the channels in these grids, creating a stapleless installation for fiberglass or aluminum screens. Once the screens are rolled into the grid channels using a spline, excess screen is simply trimmed off. A mallet snaps the caps over the vinyl channels and locks the screens in place.

How To Decide On The Right Swimming Pool Design

Having an inground swimming pool is a great way to spend quality time with your family and friends in the privacy of your own home. Your swimming pool will provide you with hours of outdoor enjoyment and a source of regular exercise. An inground swimming pool will definitely offer you a new and exciting lifestyle, not to mention the great improvement it brings to your home aesthetics. Get started by choosing your favorite swimming pool design. At diamondwaters.co.uk you will find all the information you need.

Swimming pools come in all shapes and sizes; you just have to figure out what's the style that best fits with your garden. There are a few factors which can influence your choice of swimming pool design, such as: geographical area, weather conditions, landscape requirements and site conditions. Sometimes a certain swimming pool design is chosen because of the purpose the owner wants it to serve. For example, smaller swimming pools are usually chosen for those interested in water fitness and therapy. Others prefer a large swimming pool to use for its primary purpose: swimming. Such pools should feature a long, straight section with parallel ends. An inground swimming pool can also be designed to serve both swimming and relaxation purposes. For instance, the shorter side of an L-shaped swimming pool can serve as a relaxation and therapy area whereas the long side will be perfect for the lap swimmers.

When considering building a swimming pool you should think about the activities your family and friends would enjoy the most. Many people request to have a diving area in their swimming pool. There are several opinions on what is considered to be safe diving depth. Most experts agree however that a pool depth of 9 feet that extends to 25 feet will provide maximum safety. A large number of swimming pool users only play and splash in shallow water and hardly ever swim. For them, a minimum depth of 36 inches increasing to a maximum of 5 feet is just about right. There are also those who really enjoy a good swim and use their pool especially for the exercise. The depth of their swimming pools should be of at least 4 to 16 feet so they don't touch the bottom while swimming and can safely perform tumble turns at the pool's ends. Sometimes people who want a swimming pool for the exercise it provides don't have the necessary space to build it. The solution is a pumping system which generates a current to swim against for great exercise. Competitive swimmers need a pool length of 75 feet to get a proper work out. No matter what the purpose of your swimming pool, it will certainly make a great addition to your home.

When discussing swimming pool design, shape is certainly the most important factor. Pool shapes typically develop from rectangles, squares, circles, ovals and other non-complicated geometric figures. There are some simple shaped pools such as rectangle pools, oval pools, lap pools or L-shaped pools. If you want something a bit more sophisticated and stylish you can go for a roman or Grecian pool or discuss the option of having a custom swimming pool. Making the shape of the pool blend right into the natural landscape is usually the task of a landscape architect. The simpler the shape, the better it will fit into the setting. Sometimes a certain element of the landscape influences the shape of the swimming pool. For example, a tree that the owner is fond of may determine a bend on the side of the swimming pool. Other situations may call for an unusual shape for your inground swimming pool. Whatever the case, remember to set aside some room for easy pool access and poolside activities.

An inground swimming pool will surely be a fabulous addition to your home. You'll get to exercise and have fun with your family and friends. Remember to consult an expert when deciding upon your new swimming pool design, especially on the shape and size. The purpose which you want your pool to serve is very important when making design decisions. At diamondwaters.co.uk we are prepared to offer you the support you need in selecting your own swimming pool.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Modern Dining Room Furniture

Dining room should be a retreat away from the hustle and bustle of busy. Modern dinner table is a special place for many, where the family comes together to enjoy a meal in each other's company. Contemporary day dining room furniture promotes this aspect by bringing the family closer together.

Modern furniture is characterized by unconventional styles and designs in the way of modern art. Most design patterns from the old style furniture were discarded to make way for new furniture in unique varieties. The wood was replaced with several metals and synthetic materials and new color schemes evolved. Modern dining room furniture is lively and leaves an innate effect on guests about ones taste. Modern dining room chairs in particular lend a very attractive charm to the room and allow span for dining room decoration, be it with slipcover ties or devoid of frills. Modern dining sets have modified from wood to incorporate different materials. The new tubular metals and synthetic fibers are commonly being used owing to their durability and lightweight. Dining furniture not only provides greater comfort but also adds to the aesthetic value of the dining room and the tables are also more compact, with glass-top being the most common surface.More fashionable, ergonomically designed cushion seats have replaced the typical straight-back wooden chairs that give the perfect comfort to the modern dining room.

Besides the basic table and chairs, the dining room furniture also includes the cabinets used to store the cutlery. As the modern dining furniture lays greater emphasis on space, these are also more compact with several sections to hold everything from dinner plates and serving bowls to wine glasses and knives. Modern dining tables come in different styles, from Victorian to Italian, rustic to modern and chic to contemporary. The tabletops can be marble, glass, wood or other materials and the chair can be bought as a set, and mixed, matched. The coordinated dining chairs can come with rattan seats, upholstered in leather, fabric or rich tapestries and the wide range of dining furniture styles, designs and materials are unlimited. Taking care of the quality and durability is vital thing when purchasing dining furniture. The other considerations that have to be evaluated while looking for dining room furniture includes the kind of style, look, and material desired, dining room space and budget constraints.

People can also try many online options and also can choose the desired styles and types without leaving home. Most popular sites offer online room planner, store locators and free shipping where one can see and get a feel of the dining furniture. Whatever the dining room furniture requires from hosting large gatherings to serving intimate meals, there are many sites to satisfy ones needs. Price range of modern dining room furniture can vary greatly depending on the size and the material used and wooden dining sets are the most expensive. Get the best modern dining room furniture and furniture furnishings now at great discounted and affordable rates from the wide range of options.

Get The Charm Of The Italian Country Decorating Theme In Your Home

Decorative accessories are the icing on any decorating scheme and should help pull your Italian country decorating theme together. In keeping with the ambiance of the Tuscan countryside, you want to choose informal and elegant accessories that have a simple, country feeling. When shopping to enhance your Italian country look, you'll want to purchase decorative items like pillows, artwork and knick knacks.

Wall art is key in any room decor, but if you don't arrange it correctly it can spoil the entire look and feel. You want the center of the print to be at eye level. When hanging a variety of items in a group, it's a prudent idea to work out the configuration first by placing them on the floor and reconfiguring them until you get that perfect look. To pull together your Italian country decorating theme, try decorating with country prints in simple frames. Finding the best knick knacks to compliment your room can be fun as well as help pull the room together. To add interest to your Italian home decorating, stick with accessories that have an informal and elegant appeal. Decorating with a string of peppers hanging on the wall or providing simple pottery in decorative corners. Here is where you can really make the home design your own by acquiring accessories that reflect your personality. Consider shopping at thrift stores or yard sales for those alluring items that won't cost a lot.

To add softness plus enhance your room design, decorative pillows could be a pleasing choice. Pillows can add value most rooms, the family room, the bedroom, the den and even the kitchen. In the bedroom, match them to your interior design but buy patterns and fabrics which are different with one coordinating element. If you don't have money for new furniture for your family room or living room, decorative pillows should help give the Italian home decorating look to your old furniture. You can use pillows in the kitchen or bath by using chairs, shelving and any corner or any interesting spot. To appropriately match your home decor, go for pillows that have fringes.

Some other accessories which can help complete the feel of the Tuscan countryside include dried flowers, wrought iron candleholders, and ironstone china. Be certain the accessories you use do show a coordinating theme or color as well as work with the room design. You can't be too unique or the ambiance you are striving for might become diluted.

Decorating with old pottery, chippy painted items can add a professional style to your Italian country decorating theme. However before you go out and choose a bunch of stuff, you should have an idea of what types of pieces you would like and shop for those pieces. When picking out accessories, proportion is essential so be sure you end up with items in the sizes you need. If you decorate with these rules, you'll be able to adorn your space with pieces that work wonderul with each other.

Why Is Nylon Carpet The Best Choice?

When it is time to choose a new carpet you have many choices to choose from. There are many different styles, colors and brands. One decision you need to make is what type of material you should get. Read this article and learn about why you should choose Nylon for your next carpet.

Nylon is a great material for residential carpet for a number of different reasons. For example, nylon is a very durable material. It is harder than other materials like Olefin meaning that it will last longer and stand up to more foot traffic without crushing or being worn down. Another reason to choose Nylon is that it is affordable.

Although it is not as cheap as Olefin, which is cheap for a reason, it is much cheaper than wool carpet. Choosing Nylon over wool can save you thousands of dollars. A disadvantage of Nylon carpet used to be the fact that it could be bleached. This was because Nylon used to be only dyed after the fiber was made. Today Nylon carpet is available in a more advanced solution dyed version. This means that the color goes all the way through the fiber so it can not be bleached and will not fade in the sunlight like older Nylon carpets. Nylon carpet continues to be improved every day and with each new generation of Nylon carpet there are more reasons to choose it.

As you can see there are a number of different reasons to choose a Nylon carpet over other materials. Do the research yourself and you will see that it is the right carpet for just about any home.

Decorating Latino Style

Have you ever looked at a home decor magazine and wished your house or living room looked like that. With a little time, effort and a little elbow grease you would be surprised at how much you can do and save. Recently everyone has caught the “Latino Bug” because we all like the idea of adding some spice in our lives or even in our own living rooms. If your thinking of simply spicing up something simple such as your living room look no further than your brain. There is no reason you have to hire an interior decorator who charges thousands of dollars to do the same thing that you could do.

Here are some tips that could spice up your living room using a “Latino” theme:

1. Paint- Go to the hardware store and purchase some interior wall paint in a calid shade such as deep or maroon red, Sunrise Orange, or even Brown. Paint the room with your chosen color to create a bold look.

2. Furniture- If it is within your budget, buy new latino-esque furniture. If not, just purchase a few sofa covers in some neutral shades that complement your choice of wall paint color.

3. Flooring- If you are on a budget, look for laminated tiles using browns, reds, and coppers. If you can spare a little change to improve the look, you can puchase Mexican terra-cotta floor tiles for a more traditional look.

4. Lighting- Recessed lighting will always help create a warm and inviting look.

5. Accessories- Decorative accessories are the final touches that will surely make the difference in how all of the other elements will come together. A good source of latino-esque accessories is LatinoSpiceDecor.com. Look for accessories that will complement your flooring, wall and furniture color palette. I am especially fond of their Aztec Shot Glasses and their Diego Rivera Art Prints. They are neutral enough to fit any color palette you choose. Don’t be afraid to spruce up your walls with indigenous style wall hangings. You could also display a Marble Aztec Pyramid or even a decorative Aztec Tequila Bottle as your coffee table centerpiece.

Follow all of these tips and you are sure to end up with a living room fit for entertaining guests. You will see that the warmer tones will create a more lively and inviting look that your guests will love. The accessories and the style of flooring will surely be the topic of conversation at your next party. Who knows, you may end up hosting a salsa dance contest. Have fun decorating!

Make Your Bathroom Looks as a Brand New

There are more ways to refresh your bathroom than looking for contractors and companies offering repair services. Of course you can't expect to achieve miracles but at least you can try to fix some of the common problems which make your life harder. This article's content is perfect for those of you who don't have the money and time to make an entire new planning of the bathroom in their home. Instead it suggests you some efficient ways to get rid of the boring troubles with the mould over the walls and the bath, to keep everything clean and to prevent generating of the fungus and mold again so the space to be pleasant for the visitor.

First, let's start with some ideas how to renovate your bathroom without remodeling. It can be accomplished by a few steps. For example you might refresh the room by painting it in some new color. There is no need to change the tiles or to use the same color, the best thing to do is to choose something which will looks good in combination with the color of the tiles, for example if you have white tiles you can paint the walls in pink or light blue, or if your tiles are blue than why don't you try with yellow that will make the space looks totally renovated. Some other way to bring the change in your bathroom is to put new accessories. Change the style you are already used to and try something new and exciting. The results will undoubtedly surprise you. And of course one of the easiest ways to renew the look of your bathroom is by replacing all the towels, rugs and the shower curtains. This will save you some money and it'll definitely make a difference in your home.

But even with these little tricks made you can still encounter problems and the reason for this is the constant fight with mildew. If your bathroom is one of those which are always generating moisture and then it clings to the ceiling and the walls the reason for this is very likely to be the lack of ventilation. As you all know, you can't avoid the moisture in the bathroom but it can not cause problems if you install proper ventilation system which will absorb it. Since warm water and moisture are the perfect conditions for generating mould, fungus and other things which aren't healthy at all you have to take care for this problem as soon as it's possible. If you haven't got vent installed it would be a lot more difficult to handle with the situation but it's still possible. You just have to make sure you have ventilated very well the bathroom after you have used it, for example with opening a window. After that you have to wipe out everything in the room especially around the shower or the bath. Installing a vent might be a little bit more expensive but this is the best way to avoid the mold, so if you have the possibility, don't hesitate to do it.

Those of you who have bath and have used it for longer period of time know that sometimes the black mold over the surface become so much that you have no other choice than replacing the whole bath. Actually this isn't question of dirt collected there as it's a matter of wrong way of using the bath. Remember how often we collect the products we use for washing at the corners of the bath. There is no doubt it's the more comfortable way of using them once you are in the bath but in the same time it's the cause for collecting water at these places. It pools there and that's how the mold is generated day after day and you can't remove it by scrubbing because the mold is between the caulking. So even if it might not be as comfortable as before try to use the common places to leave your shampoos and shower gels.

And finally if you have at your disposal bigger space for the bathroom you can put some flowers there in order to bring some fresh and pleasant detail for the eye. If it's not possible then you can rely on the bright colors in which you have painted the bathroom to bring the feeling for freshness and clean surfaces.

5 Kitchen Decorating Style Trends

When looking to redecorate your kitchen you first have to decide want kind of kitchen decorating style you should go for. Certainly the choices that are now available will leave you baffled and bewildered but by remembering a few things about the kitchen the choice you make will be the right one for you. After the bathroom the kitchen is the most important room in any house and it should also be remembered that after the entrance hall to your home the kitchen has the most foot traffic occurring in it.

Below are provided a number of the more popular styles of kitchen that can be considered if you happen to be planning a remodeling or revamping of your current kitchen. It is also an idea to carry out some research as well by looking in house and home magazines, visiting kitchen showrooms, DIY stores, Kitchen Websites or even looking at your family and friends homes to see if they have a style that you like.

1. Country Style - Often called Early American or Colonial as it is designed to create a lovely quaint farm style kitchen. Often such kitchens will feature open shelves, pot racks and have the feeling of it being well lived in. Such kitchens are usually accented by the various colour schemes relating to the actual cabinetry of the units.

2. Contemporary - More and more often this style is being used because of its clean and simple lines. Often the cabinets are quite futuristic looking have no carvings or ornate features on them. With this style of kitchen the emphasis is put more on style and practical sophistication rather than beauty and that warm lived in feel.

3. Shaker - A simple and utilitarian style of kitchen that has flat panel doors, wooden countertops and brass handles (hardware).

4. French Country - Such kitchen designs based on this style are warm and inviting with lots of wood and soft colours being used. Not only do natural materials feature heavily in this style of kitchen, but you will find that the furniture used is large and rather ornate.

5. Arts and Crafts - Yet again another style of kitchen decoration which is becoming more popular because of the use of feature glass doors and natural wood tones which are finished off in a matt sheen effect. Certainly with this style of kitchen decoration there is the chance for you to be a little bit more artistic and creative in the design.
However, it is important when choosing a theme for you kitchen that you look at the designs and styles of the other rooms in your home to ensure that it fits in with the overall scheme of your home.

Is A Video Security Camera Right For You

Video security cameras are a choice that is becoming more and more accepted. The safety of your family and your home is made more secure by choosing the right security camera.

The video from a video security camera could be worth its weight in gold because you can replay it in the event of trouble. Even the most basic home or office video security system is significant so that you can see what is going on in your home or office.

The safety of your family is very important and security is an important way to achieve this. One of the first options in making your home safe is to add a video security camera, making this a very popular way to feel more secure in your home. While deciding to use a camera is a great choice, you need to be sure you pick out the right camera that suits your needs.

All electronics require proper installation and maintaince and video cameras are no different Lots of people install the cameras themselves. It is always good to consult the company you bought your video camera from before you start installing your video camera Installing a video surveillance system can only as good as the installer.
A video security camera makes video surveillance simple, manageable, and does not have to cost an arm and a leg. There are for all intents and purposes two styles of video cameras you can buy for home security. The two different types of cameras include wired and wireless.

You have to decide if hard-wired or wireless security cameras will better suit your home security needs. Wired security cameras can be placed in many places around your home, while wireless security cameras can be placed just about anywhere you would like to place it.

Wireless security cameras are becoming cheaper to produce all the time as the technology makes great strides forward. New up to date features are being added to video security cameras all the time. Both types of cameras have their advantages and disadvantages. To make sure you pick the system that will fill your needs it is wise to do a complete search on the Internet. You also may want to call the different camera companies and personally speak with a knowledgeable sales rep. The more time you take to research your video camera the better off you will be.

The benefits of having a well-designed security system will reward you in a lot of different ways. If this is your first system, consider why you want a video security and fill your needs wisely. A video security system can make you feel more secure knowing just the sign in the yard should significantly decrease trouble coming your way.