Making The Patio The New ‘In’ Space At Home
August 7, 2010
Almost every family likes to spend time as much time as they can outdoors on their patios during the summer months. Given that it is used so much, there is no reason why the patio shouldn’t be given as much attention when decorating as the rest of the home. There are a lot of different things that you can do to spruce up your patio and make it a more useable space. Even something as small as buying new cushions for your patio furniture can make a big difference in making your space more livable. Cushions come in a variety of shapes, patterns and colors so you will be sure to find one to suite your needs, as well as your tastes.
Start your patio project by cleaning this area thoroughly. Make sure that you dust off furniture and clean the floor. A sparkling fresh patio in itself is already a transformation.
Candles look just as pretty outdoors as they do inside. Not only do they give the surrounding a romantic atmosphere, they can also serve the purpose of keeping bugs away. Outdoor candles that are scented with citronella can be found in the lawn and garden section of many department stores.
Simple decors like candles, throw pillows, flowers and potted plants are items that you normally find inside the house but work just as well in the patio. These things contribute to the comfort and relaxing factors of the space.
If you’re up for a newer do, consider painting the patio with a different color. Neutral colors look nice for outdoor areas but earth colors work as well.
Sometimes a little paint can go a long way. Give your patio a facelift by painting the railings that go around it. You might also consider painting to door that leads to your patio to give it a fresh look. Choose colors that match your house well. Consider using neutral tones. Tan, white and cream all look nice outdoors.
Your patio will be an instant favorite space in your house. The hot summer months will be more bearable and enjoying the sights of spring will be more enjoyable. As for the cool autumn and winter months, well with the beauty of the patio, a visit occasionally is not a far-off idea. How could you resist a beautiful place?
Filed under Family & Home · Tagged with Family & Home, home decor, home decorating, interior design, outdoor decorating, patio, patio decor, patio decorating
A Completely New Glance At Country Home Dcor
June 28, 2010
As you may look over redecorating magazines, you notice page after page and photograph after photograph of bare contemporary layouts and accessories in clean and sterile looking houses. Are you ready for something more relaxed and agreeable? Certainly, you are certainly not all by yourself. A return to country home dcor is gaining ground in the united states.
Country home dcor has held its status as a well-liked designing trend through the years, because of to its eclectic style and absence of any tough regulations. It’s all about family and friends, a style where it is not only acceptable, but desired to exhibit individual collectibles and photographs. So how can you create a relaxed home with the help of country home dcor?
The most simple way to update your home utilizing country dcor is to start with a focal point. This can be a group of your favorite collectibles, a colored painting, or just anything that catches your attention. There are primitive decorative accents, folk art decorative accessories, permanent botanicals, and many more. You should then start almost all your color possibilities on this. Select complimentary colors or contrasting colors, based on the feeling you wish to create.
If you’re going to be shopping for brand new furnishings, consider level of comfort primarily and fashion secondly. Any kind of pieces of furniture may very well be evolved to country style by its setting or with vibrant throws and accent cushions. With country home dcor, it really is all about comfort and useful functionality, not the simple design and minimalism.
Add decorative accessories slowly until finally you are happy with the general design. Remember, with country home dcor there aren’t any rules. Your decorative accessories may be anything from yard sale finds to treasures that you discovered on the internet. This liberation helps make this style an ideal preference for many people entering into their first place with pretty much second hand items!
Now that you are aware of the fundamentals of this design style, why don’t you step away from the unexciting present day designs and apply a little country home decor to your home today!
Dana Burnett is a home decor retailer who enjoys sharing her home decorating ideas with the online community. You can read more of her articles and tips at NanasAtticStore.com
Filed under Family & Home · Tagged with country home decor, Family & Home, home decor, home decorating
Remodeling The Smaller Bathroom
June 18, 2010
The bathroom is usually the busiest room in any home and one that is frequently the target of a homeowner’s remodeling plans. Kitchens outstrip bathrooms slightly when it comes to remodeling popularity but only just. Undertaking a bathroom remodel is always a challenge but that challenge doubles if the bathroom you are reworking is a little on the small side. There are however some bathroom design tricks that can make even the tiniest bathroom appear (and even feel bigger) while increasing their functionality as well.
Flooring Choices – Any bathroom floor needs to be as functional and practical as it is good looking. To this end ceramic tile is often the logical choice for any bathroom however big or small it is.However by installing light, neutral colored tile on the floor of a smaller bathroom you can make even the samllest of spaces appaer bigger and brighter than they really are.
Shower Doors – Any shower, or bath and shower combination occupies quite a lot of the available space in a small bathroom. Replacing that grungy old shower curtain with clear glass shower doors serves to “visually stretch” the space. Glass shower doors also free up a whole new realm of bathroom design possibilities since there is no need to match the rest of the bathroom’s accessories with the pattern of the shower curtain.
Storage Space – Everyone has quite a lot of bathroom “stuff” and storing it effectively is crucial, especially in a smaller bathroom. There are a number of very attractive bathroom cabinet options available though these days that make storing everything a breeze while adding to the aesthetic appeal of the whole room. It is even possible to make use of previously unused space in a small bathroom with the clever addition of smaller cabinets.
Sink Options – Some people prefer to have a “display”sink in their bathroom rather than one that is hidden away in a deep counter.A pedestal sink takes up a lot of space and may not be the best choice for a bathroom with limited space but one of the many attractive counter top bathroom sinks available today provides the perfect balance between form and function.
At Aladdin Carpet and Floors they do so much more than just flooring. For great bathroom design supplies visit their virtual showroom today
Filed under Family & Home · Tagged with bathroom, bathroom remodeling, bathroom remodeling tips, bathrooms, Family & Home, home decorating, home interiors, home remodeling, interior design, Remodeling, small bathroom design
The Benefits Of Hardwood Floors
April 28, 2010
A gleaming hardwood floor is so beautiful to behold. Beyond the aesthetics, hardwood floors increase value to the home, has versatility in home decorating and has health benefits. Hardwood floors come in a variety of styles.
Let us take a closer look at this well-known and sought-after floor material to understand better the hype behind the demands for hardwood flooring. This article will cover the different types, styles and advantages including the health benefits of hardwood. You might be looking at buying a new house, so this is a timely read for you. You might already be a home-with-hardwood-flooring owner, which makes this article a stamp of approval for making the right choice. Perhaps, you’re considering renovating your home and thinking about changing your flooring, so this will help narrow down your choices. Or maybe you’re just interested with information that works best for home decorating, you’re still on the right page. You’ll never know when you can serve as design consultant to a friend or when you’ll finally put to practice all your stored home decor knowledge. Read on and learn more.
Styles of Hardwood Floor – strip wood, plank wood and parquet wood are three styles you can choose from. Strip wood flooring is mostly 1.5 inches and 2.25 inches in size, while plank wood is slightly bigger with 3 inches to 14 inches width measurements. Parquet wood floor meanwhile is nicely designed in geometric patterns.
Types of Hardwood Floor – three main types are solid, engineered and acrylic impregnated. Solid wood has measurements ranging from inches to 25/32 inches. Second, engineered wood has layers, alternating the grain. This gives more stability and a stronger hold where solid wood can’t fit in. Therefore, the engineered type is more flexible for installation. The third, acrylic impregnated is wood material injected with acrylic material, hence the name.
Hardwood is also ideal if you have children or allergy-sensitive occupants at home. Dust, dirt and bugs are trapped in carpets and ceramic tiles, which makes cleaning them more painstaking compared to cleaning hardwood. If not cleaned well, these irritants can aggravate allergies or can cause sickness especially to children.
Next is the practical benefits. Hardwood floors are very easy to maintain. A simple wash and mop, minimal scrub and polish, and some dusting can make hardwood floors look good as new.
Filed under Family & Home · Tagged with Family & Home, flooring, floors, hardwood floor, home decor, home decorating, interior design
Quick Tips On Home Decorating
April 15, 2010
If you’re looking for easy and quick fixes for your home interiors, you might get inspiration from the following home decorating ideas:
The most important thing is to create a focal point for every room. Focal point is the main feature, decoration, furnishing or spot in the room that draws attention.
What can you use as a focal point? It can actually be anything! If there’s an attractive feature in the room like a picturesque window or a beautiful fireplace, that is already a focal point in itself. If on the other hand, a room doesn’t have a main piece, you can always create one through furnishings or decorations. A colorful area rug, a vintage chandelier or an interesting painting are examples of great focal points.
Focal points are intended to draw your guests into the room and invite them to stay and enjoy the ambiance. Look for something distinctive that speaks to your personality or the interests of your family when creating your focal point.
Another easy idea to beautify a room is to coordinate prints and patterns. The right mix and match will give the room a put-together look, one that won’t ever be deemed as mistakenly decorated.
In order to coordinate properly, ensure that the background colors for the patterns or prints are the same. There should be a uniform look. Make sure too that the colors in the pattern are the same, hence its name, right? Finally, spice up the patterns by pairing with a textured or plain fabric.
Another idea is to get inspiration from the different seasons. You can incorporate a season’s color, key decors or trend.
Getting an item that can be used for the different seasons such as a reversible drapery panel is a good way to save money. You don’t have to buy new pieces every time the season changes. It’s also a good idea to invest in quality seasonal decorations such as floral fabrics for summer and spring, and dark-colored, thick fabrics for autumn and winter.
Change displays according to the seasons. For instance, silk flower arrangements in spring/summer themes should be replaced with fall harvest pieces when summer’s over. In the same way, trade out wall displays such as floral plates for others with holiday scenes.
Filed under Family & Home · Tagged with decorating, Family & Home, home decor, home decorating, home decorating tips, home improvement, interior decorating, interior design
How To Choose An Area Rug
March 25, 2010
Area rugs are one of the most marvelous home decor elements ever created. What other furnishing provides warmth for a cold floor, give a certain mood to a room, or even act as an art object?
An area rug is a great investment so the more you buy the more you invest in a worth while product. It can be used on the floors or to hang on the wall.
Benefits you’ll notice with area rugs is that they protect wooden floors from high trafficked areas, provide a soft feel when walked upon rather than a hard surface, and of course give a room a great make-over without having to purchase many new items.
So you wonder if the area rug is more for art or for protection. The answer is both. It will give your home a great design feel as well as give you a softer cozier feel to your home.
There are a few questions you should ask yourself before purchasing an area rug. How many times a day do people go through this area and what type of lighting does the room have?
If you’re looking for an area rug which is durable than close tufting or stitching may be the type for your.
If the area rug is going to be placed somewhere that it may be used as a seating area, you want to make sure it has enough padding. A great padded area rug is a must as well in many cases if used in a highly trafficked area.
Padding is a must in many occasions. You either want the padding underneath the area rug to make it softer to the feel or even for noise muffling.
Color is the next question you need to ask yourself. If you’re looking to place an area rug in a room which is already designed, look around and choose a few colors which already exist.
Size the area where you’re looking to place the area rug before purchasing one and noticing it isn’t going to fit properly.
Filed under Family & Home · Tagged with area rugs, Family & Home, flooring, floors, home decor, home decorating, interior design, rugs
From Formal To Casual
January 25, 2010
Do you recognize this scenario? When you first styled and furnished your dining room, you went with a traditional formal look: heavy cherry wood furniture, brocaded wallpaper, chair rails, 3-level glass chandelier, sconces, prints with large gilt-edged frames, glassware and porcelain figurines in the hutch, cloth runner on the buffet, etc. The styling and appearance were right for the time and you were proud of the look of quality and elegance. Times change, however. Styles change, the needs of the family changes, grandkids come along. One day you look at the dining room and realize that it is not being utilized by the family because it is too formal and people are afraid of “messing it up.”
If you spend more on casual get-togethers, especially with children in attendance and upkeeping a formal dining area can be bothersome, then it’s time to change your dining room into a fun, hip place where the atmosphere speaks of warmth, casualness and familiarity.
The chandelier comes down and in its place goes recessed, hidden indirect lighting around the entire ceiling. The wallpaper comes off replaced by paint in brighter colors-greens, yellows, etc. The chair rails can stay but the paint color above and below the rails can be different, complementary colors. The ceiling can be painted with a color in the palette colors of the room, but changed from white.
The wall can do much in creating a positive ambiance, as well as a casual look. You can make use of small, colored frames and pretty artworks. Personalized items like photos can make the room look more welcoming.
In addition to repainting the walls a lighter shade, spice them up with adornments. Simple artworks and framed photographs will show a more personal side. A painted artwork is nice too if you want prints on the wall but would rather paint than cover with wallpaper. The advantage of paint is that it’s easier to change when a new favorite color strikes the family. Updating it to suit the changing seasons is also a good idea to be up-to-date with the design trends.
If the floor covering is wall-to wall carpet, that could be taken up and replaced by a casual style of wood flooring. A large area rug could be placed under the table (be sure to allow enough clearance all the way around the table so the chairs will still be on the rug when moved back to allow seating). The area rug colors should tie together the wall colors, the tablecloth colors, and the cherry wood color. If the carpet is to remain, an area rug can still be utilized over the carpet. You can’t change the carpet color or the nap/texture but you can compensate for the carpet color/texture by the right choice of a large area rug.
The hutch is difficult to change structurally or in color but you can change what is in it. Instead of the glassware and figurines and porcelain pieces in there now, have more casual plates, pottery glassware, your thimble collection, a collection of small dinner bells, etc. Put in there things that the family recognizes and associates with good time and good memories. Place prints that contain some of the things found in the hutch on either side of the hutch.
Filed under Family & Home · Tagged with decorating, dining room, Family & Home, home decor, home decorating, interior decorating, interior design
Decorating a Bachelor pad
December 26, 2009
Most home design publications are directed at women, but there are many men who want to decorate their homes too. These men are not looking for pastel walls or shelves full of miniatures. They want to avoid floral color schemes but they want something interesting and exciting to add character to their homes. Decorating a masculine bachelor pad can actually be a lot of fun when you get creative.
It can be fun to turn your place into a bachelor pad. Start your project by looking in magazines to get some ideas of what you want. Pick up a magazine that you like, not one that is all about home decorating. You’re not picking up the magazine to read, but to look at those ads in it, and see what the rooms look like. Sometimes there will be something you can see that will help decide which way you want the decorating to go.
Take a close look at the current room you are looking to re-design. Check to see if you have features in the room that you can play up with the new design or any architectural elements which make the room unique. Also are your floors covered with carpet or are they natural wood or stone? Pick one area in the room which will be the focal point and you can accent it well.
Men work different in designing a room; they will start at the bottom and work to the top. Start with an area rug that has something that shows your personality. Pick something that is comfortable and soft to walk on. Choose a color that you like. It should be solid colors that will make the room feel more masculine. Make sure if you have a pet you buy a rug that won’t show dirt as well.
Next, you should focus on your wall color. Paint is the quickest way to transform a room for girly to masculine. Choose a color that will evoke the energy you desire in your space. Choose dark blue for a calming effect or green if you love the outdoors. You could also use a bold red to provoke an energetic, passionate sensation. Avoid busy color schemes or wallpapers that will quickly become outdated.
If you add some lighter shaded curtains they will help to make the bold colors a bit softer. A nice masculine color or something that has stripes is a good choice. Make sure that the curtains go with your flooring or rug if you’ve added it to the room.
The last step is to place pictures or art on the walls to give the room a jazzier feel. Try to avoid posters as much as you can and go towards more wall decor with a theme and in a picture frame. If you feel that a poster would make the room fit your style better, than try putting them in a nice frame before hanging them on the wall. Posters will usually give the feel to others when they show up of a college boy’s dorm rather than a sophisticated bachelor pad. If you are a man into old fashioned cards or airplanes, look for pictures with these themes. You could also use a shelf or even a displace case for our collectibles you have like baseball cards, football helmets, or even model airplanes and cast iron car collectibles. Make sure at the end of this that the theme is your own personal style and you enjoy being in that area. Always design to your taste and interests rather than something you do just for the look.
Filed under Family & Home · Tagged with bachelor pad, decorating for men, Family & Home, home decor, home decorating, home decorating for men, interior design, male bedrooms, masculine decor, masculine decorating, masculine rooms, men
Bathroom Decor
December 14, 2009
As you know the bathroom may be the first room you actually see when you wake up in the morning. This may set the mood which you awake to so it should be designed to brighten your day rather than make it drab. If you are lucky enough to indulge into a whirlpool spa bath tub, you’ll never want to bathe in a regular bath tub again! Usually larger bathrooms which are shown in the master suite will have a duel counter top with two sinks which is very nice for the man and woman of the family to have their own space for their items. Many times you want the master suite bathroom to be elegant and comfortable yet contemporary rather than a child’s bathroom which may be bright and energetic.
When choosing fixtures for your bathrooms you need to avoid brass since its old and also outdated. Try going for a chrome finish which will update the style and bring you into the proper century. This also goes for the fixtures which are applied in the bathing area such as the shower head and faucet. They all should be the same make when finished a design in a bathroom.
As with any style which you design for a room the light fixtures are a great focal point among giving you that proper lighting which you need in a bathroom. You can either choose something funky for a child’s bathroom or a more modern look above your sink and vanity. Try avoiding neon lights since they aren’t too natural and will give someone whom applies their make up in this room an odd look to their skin tone. If you are able to, use as much natural light from a sunroof or windows as much as possible in a bathroom.
Roman style claw footbaths and bathtubs with elongated bases hold a classic look. More modern and high tech bathrooms have pedestal sinks and the plumbing is usually on display. If you look for a more modern look, then frosted shower doors are the ones you should go for.
No bathroom is complete without a bathroom rug. Bathroom rugs are available in any shape color, size, and style imaginable. There is a rug for every taste out there. There are contemporary round bathroom rugs and shaggy big bathroom rugs. A rug like this will allow you to update your bathroom just by changing the rug and some of the basic accessories in the bathroom. This way you don’t have to redecorate the entire room, just change the rug.
People who have various tastes and who are frequently changing and evolving their tastes should choose more neutral colors and plain styles that can be given different looks by just switching a few things around. Porcelain combinations are quite traditional and allow you redecorate very easily. There are basic faucets such as chrome and brass combinations that work best with the neutral bathroom scheme. Gooseneck and waterfall faucets are quite modern and are actually considered to be trendy. Remember that when remodeling or designing a bathroom for someone with a physical disability that the bathroom needs to be fully functional for them. If you have a high traffic bathroom, make sure that you use decorations that are much more durable and will not damage easily along with neutral colors that will not show scuff marks as easily.
Filed under Family & Home · Tagged with bathroom, bathroom decor, bathroom decorating, bathroom design, Family & Home, home decor, home decorating, interior design