Archive for October, 2009
How To Make Old Pillows From Aunt Sally Trendy And Usable Instead Of Old And Antique?
So your Aunt Sally has just given you a few decorative pillows.
But there is one problem – they were decorative in the 1960s and still smell like the 1960s.
Do not throw these decorative pillows away! Think about how much you would spend at Pier 1 for decorative pillows that are almost exactly what you want but not quite.
Here is your chance to completely re-design your Aunt Sally’s decorative pillows and make them suitable for this century.
Let’s say you want decorative pillows for your living room love seat and the bed in the guest room. Go to a fabric store with colors in mind. For example if your living room is browns and beiges you could look for a mint or light green pattern.
If your guest room is colorful and where all the hand-me-downs ended up you could really have a lot of fun picking out fabric for the decorative pillows in your guest bedroom.
If you need to give the pillows a good washing before you start recovering them you have a few options. You can take them to a dry cleaner or the cheap way would be to throw them in the bathtub, rinse them off and throw them in the dryer.
Gas Or Electric For The Dream Oven
Electric oven versus gas oven is the topic of frequent debate between people who dabble in cooking.
Natural gas ovens are what restaurant chefs go crazy over, but cooks like the evenness in temperature with the electric ovens.
If you are in the market for a new oven and cannot decide whether to purchase a gas oven or an electric oven here are a few pros and cons for each.
Electric ovens control heat better, keeping a more even temperature, and they broil better too. Some people claim that they have a more dependable baking time as well.
They are also easier to clean since many are self-cleaning and are often times cheaper to run. The fans used in electric ovens help keep the temperature balanced throughout the interior. However, many people agree that it is slower to heat up and cool down.
Gas ovens heat up faster and cool down quicker than electric ovens. Bakers swear by it because it delivers higher loaves and softer cakes due to the water that is expelled as a by-product.
Art Deco Or Traditional Style For A Welcoming Home
When deciding how to furnish your home you may wonder whether to decorate with a taste towards art deco or you may find yourself being drawn by the traditional style.
Both styles have their own way of making a space feel like home.
Choose accessories that match your tastes and find furnishings that make your space welcoming.
If you like things sleek and streamlined, you may appreciate the Art Deco style.
If you find that you tend towards a more subtle feel for your home, you may like the traditional style of decorating better. If you’re wondering what the differences are, here are a few tips to help you find the look you are looking for.
Art Deco began sometime post World War I and it brings together fabric, and fashion with sleek, modern touches and geometric shapes. Art Deco is streamlined and often uses velour and other smooth pieces to pull it all together.
The traditional style of home decoration is classic and understated, with soft, matching furniture, and tones from its English and French roots. Traditional decorations are often quiet, the kind of style you would see in a showroom.
How To Correctly And Appropriately Use Stencils To Re-Design Rooms In Your Home?
Stenciling on walls has become quite the trend lately.
People are stenciling in dining rooms, living rooms, hallways, bathrooms, bedrooms and home offices.
Stenciling is usually done in the form of words such as “dream” “live” “love” and “laugh” although oftentimes people are stenciling complete phrases like the serenity prayer, The Irish Blessing, among many others.
People are also opting to stencil designs in their homes. The benefit to stenciling a design is it can literally change the look of the entire room without paint, wallpaper or new furniture. Stenciling is very inexpensive as well.
You can stencil yourself or you can have someone stencil for you. To save money you may want to take it upon yourself however personally I do not want to be responsible for stenciling a word across the wall in my dining room.
Things to keep in mind when you are deciding where you want to put a stencil are, is this somewhere you think you will want this stencil for some time? For example, if you put stencils next to a structure in your home that is immobile you will most likely be happy with its placement.
A Smart Electricity Bill Is A Great Help In Any Home
The debate whether LED lights or conventional light bulbs are best choice for a home has been argued back and forth.
Conventional light bulbs are what most people use to light their homes but the push towards being green has resulted in people moving towards LED lighting. [Lighting Techniques]
What is the difference between LED lights and conventional light bulbs and which is more efficient?
When purchasing light bulbs, bear in mind the different lighting lifespan, their consumption of electricity, their luminescence and brightness, and their individual costs.
Light bulbs, such as incandescent bulbs are what most people use in their homes. They are relatively inexpensive when you consider the cost per bulb; however, their lifespan is fairly short between changes.
Since you will have to change them frequently they are not considered environmentally friendly. Their brightness varies but for the most part incandescent lights have a soft glow that casts light all around the room.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs burn more efficiently and last longer than the standard incandescent lights. The prices for compact fluorescent is often double that of an incandescent and because they last longer, they are actually less expensive than the typical incandescent bulbs in the long run.
A Mountain Retreat Is An Enjoyable Home Away From Home
Many people wish for a peaceful retreat away from the hustle of their busy lives.
A mountain cabin is the perfect place to enjoy the beauty of nature and to relax from the worries of work.
You may also want a cabin to use for the times when you go fishing or hunting or simply as a place to spend the weekend with friends and family.
When you think of a mountain retreat, the obvious choice is a log cabin. There are kits that are available for purchase that have many designs to choose from and provide the lumber and plans. Also, decorating your little hideaway is a fun way to make it your own.
Log cabins bring to mind retreats in the wilderness surrounded by forests and nature. When looking into getting a log cabin, you should take a look at the several companies that are offering plans and have everything ready for you. You just need to purchase the whole package and assemble it.
The wood used in log cabins vary but it is usually treated for termites and can withstand a lot of wear and tear. Lumber companies also treat the wood so they don’t deteriorate, and some types of wood are naturally resistant to decay.
How To Make Your Home Smell Good?
Everyone wants their home to smell good.
By having a good smelling home you want a cozy and inviting home that smells like vanilla, lavender, freshly baked pies, maybe fresh linens.
You do not want a home that smells like bacon or pets. So how do you make your house smell good for your own peace of mind and the comfort of your guests?
I have pets and that is my main concern having a house that smells like animals. I have been obsessed with a clean home for years and have been told by numerous guests, friends and family members that they cannot get over how good my house smells especially since I do have pets.
The first secret is vacuuming every day. Make sure you have a good quality vacuum and make sure you are attentive to keeping the filter or vacuum bag clean of debris. Vacuuming a 900-square foot house takes 15 mins so you should be able to fit in 15-30 minutes depending on the size of your home.
Stay attentive to your trash cans. If you are preparing dinner and use meat products such as chicken packaging take this outdoors to your trash can outside, do not keep this in your home. Also clean your trash cans with Lysol once a week.
An Indoor Greenhouse Is A Great Idea For Any Home
Whether you are in an office, an apartment or just don’t have time for an outdoor garden, consider an indoor green space.
Having plants inside your home livens up your space and cleans the air quality in a stuffy house or office.
You can bring the beauty of the outdoors in on a very small budget and you have a variety of plants to choose from.
Before purchasing plants to beautify your space, keep in mind your desire and ability to take care of them. Would you like to be as hands on as possible, do you dislike the idea of frequent watering and pruning or are you somewhere in between?
Do you want an indoor herb garden or flowering plants or just decorative leafy plants for a small space? You also have to consider the temperature in your home or office.
If you are gone constantly consider Lucky Bamboo, Rubber Plant or Snake Plant also known as Mother-In-Law’s Tongue, which don’t mind infrequent watering and can tolerate low levels of light.
Innovative Contemporary Seating
We have collated some exciting and innovative contemporary seating designs from all over which combine the unusual and creative and translate it into objects of furniture in ways not hitherto contemplated:
The Smile Chair, so called for obvious reasons, does at first glance appear as though it may reasonably topple over the minute you sat on it, until you are informed that it has three points of balance and that it was “designed to give the perception of it floating, elevating the sitter off the ground.” Made from Glass reinforced plastic, there are many color options for someone looking for an interesting conversation starter or a point in their living room.
The LumBar Stool by James Douglas is inspired by “alien landscapes of weather eroded rock formations” (think coastline rock formations formed by forces of denudation like wind and water), which typically have the lower portions more denuded and appear top heavy and precariously perched.
Using plywood as the obvious choice when so many layers upon layers are used to construct the stool, ‘mushroom’ topography effect is achieved to give contour and resemble the layered sediment look aimed for.
How To Completely Change The Look Of Your House With Just A Small Bit Of Paint?
Due to the recession and current economic status many of us that would regularly remodel our bedroom, living room, or kitchen or even entire home are not doing so this year.
In fact many of us choose to remodel once a season because we get sick of the way things are looking and we want a change as the seasons change. Well there is a way to completely change the look of your house without spending more than $25.
Repaint your baseboards! Look at your current baseboards. Walk around your house and look at all of your current baseboards. I don’t know about you but mine are white and boring. The room I am sitting in has beige walls and white baseboards. If I changed the baseboards to an olive green or maybe a burnt red it would change the entire way this room not only looks but also feels.
If you are a novice with the paint brush the trick is to putting tape between the baseboard and the wall and the baseboard and the carpet. You will need two sizes of paint brush; one small and one medium to large. You can run the medium to large paintbrush along the center of the baseboards and use the small one to touch it up near the wall and carpet.
