Archive for June, 2008

Kitchen Renovating

Renovating your Kitchen Can Create a Warm Family Gathering area

Selling your residence is not the only reason to think about remodeling your kitchen. Since the kitchen has become the “beating heart” of the household, it is no wonder that creating a space that’s cozy, functional, comfortable and versatile is the goal of so many homeowners.

The Kitchen Has Taken On a New Role

The man of the house might be at the oven preparing supper, while Mom is sitting at the family computer perusing her email or paying bills online.

Maybe the kids are sitting at a granite-topped island having a late-afternoon snack, or at the kitchen table doing their homework.

The hi-def TV set may be on, tuned in to a learning channel, a sporting event or a cooking show.

The whole scene might be warmed by radiant heat beneath a porcelain tile or hardwood floor, and the latest stainless ..

Source: Radiant Heat

Kitchen Design Ideas

Best Kitchen Designs

Wall Decals For Interior Decorating And Design

by Pete Roberts

Wall decals are a great way to dress up any interior decorating and design project. With an Internet search you should be able to find them on just about any theme. When searching take into account that they may be referred to as wall stickers or vinyl decals. The nice thing about them is they can easily be removed and placed elsewhere in a room.

Wall decals because they are easy to remove should be considered in a rental. Vinyl wall stickers usually do not have adhesive and cling using static. If you are a renter where your landlord will not allow you to even paint and you would like some interior decorating and design to color up a room then they may be the best solution not only that you can take them with you when you move.

If you have need some interior ..

Source: Arts

Home Interior Decorating

Home Decorating Fabrics

Interior Decorating Trend: Wallpaper Makes a Comeback

(ARA) – Since Oprah announced on her TV show that “wallpaper is back” and Time Magazine called wallpaper “hip” and the “latest passion” of interior designers, the plain painted wall seems a bit boring.

If you haven’t given your walls much thought since last agonizing over paint chips, now is the time to consider today’s new wallpaper and wall decor products. It’s like switching from traditional to high-definition TV — you won’t see walls the same way ever again. Wallpaper’s sharper image has everything to do with advanced technology incorporated into striking designs to suit the way we live today.

These are just a few of the wallcovering innovations that add a designer’s touch to your decor without breaking the bank:

Easy-Hang Wallpapers

Almost all wallpaper companies produce easy-hang “non-woven” wall coverings, which are easy to hang and remove. Installing non-woven wall coverings can be ..

Source: Interior Design

Ideas for Decorating A Home

Home Interior Decorating

Planning The Color Theme For Your Decorating Project

If you plan your room schemes so that the colors relate to those in adjacent areas, your home will have a unified and harmonious feel.

Your home is like a huge blank canvas, and just as an artist considers his canvas as a whole rather than section by section, so you need to think about the way the colors in one area relate to, and are affected by, those in the rooms that lead off it. Each room should have a distinctive character that reflects its shape, size, function, and aspect. But if every room is treated as a separate entity, the house will lack a sense of coherence.

Ideally, the progress from one space to another should not be visually jarring, but there is always a place for colorful surprises. If you plan carefully you can use color to provide visual links, and to lead the eye from room to room so that the house acquires a sense of continuity, spaciousness, and completeness, regardless of its size.

Start by walking around your house, making a note of those areas that pose potential problems. The entrance hall is important because it is where visitors gain their first impression of your home. Throw all the doors open and survey the house as though you are a stranger. Notice the way the walls of the hall, and the architraves of the doors act as frames for the rooms beyond. Go into the rooms that lead off, and look back into the hallway. Doors pose an interesting problem because when they open into a room, the color on the outside becomes part of the room.

Providing logical progressions of color is most important in open plan homes, and in any part of the house where one space leads on from another – in rooms leading off a hallway, in bedrooms with an attached bathroom, and in kitchens with a dining area, for example.

7 Fast and Easy Summer Decorating Ideas For Any Budget

Choosing The Correct Tiles For Your Application

Whatever tiles you choose, you'll find that tiled surfaces offer many decorative and practical advantages over other forms of wall and floor covering. Tiles are divided roughly into two categories:

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Creating Your Own Country Bedroom Look

Here are some decorating tips for creating your own country bedroom look:

Walls: Whether they are plastered, papered, or tongue-and-groove paneled, keep walls plain. Combining low-level, tongue-and-groove paneling with a plain painted surface above is traditional. Consider narrow, vertical tongue-and-groove paneling up to wainscoting level if funds allow, with wide, horizontal tongue-and-groove paneling above, or vice versa. The paneling can be left natural, stained, or painted in solid, matte tones.

Patterned wallpapers are unsuitable, as are chalky ice-cream pastel colors such as light pinks, blues, and mauves. Earth colors, natural dye colors, off-white, and white are ideal for the look – the latter two especially for small bedrooms. For an authentic touch, paint the woodwork – doors, architraves, baseboards, wainscoting, and picture rails – a rich color to counteract the impersonality of white or off white. Varying the density of this color from paneling to architraves, reveals, and baseboards is typical. Consider high-level stencils and friezes with simple geometric motifs or motifs based on fruit, flowers, or leaves; grapes, pomegranates, pineapples, willow and oak leaves, and tulips are all authentic.

Floors: Wide, stripped pine floorboards are ideal, but if your house doesn’t already have them, modern wood-look floor covering strips make an acceptable alternative. You can use subtle paint effects, perhaps even a stencil around the edge to mimic a rug. Hooked, crocheted, knitted, or braided rugs, and embroidered needlepoint rugs, or Berlinwork with rose motifs, look perfect and make walking barefoot comfortable. Plain or striped, inexpensive cotton, hand-woven rag rugs can work equally well. Although not strictly authentic, wall-to-wall carpets in near white or neutral tones won’t detract from the look, provided they aren’t too sumptuous or shaggy.

Windows: As the look depends on plenty of natural light, make the most of windows. Outline small windows in the same color as baseboards and picture rails; you can paint wooden window frames, reveals, and sills, or simply apply a band of color to the wall surrounding the window. White-painted internal louvers, wooden Venetian blinds, and plain, checked or striped fabric shades are fine for the look. If privacy is a problem, or the view is far from leafy and rural, hang simple white net or muslin curtains. A little swag made from patchwork fabric adds a pretty finishing touch on its own or with another window treatment.

Lighting: For practicality, have several light sources: low-level, sited near to the bed for night reading, plus wall-hung and/or ceiling-hung for general illumination. Candles in sconces, freestanding or wall-hung, add to the mood; electric lights mimicking candles are useful as well as attractive. Table lamps with simple shades in checked, striped, or plain fabrics, and earthenware bases, such as old jugs, are ideal. Victorian-style brass table and floor lamps with translucent glass shades, or plain, small contemporary lights, also suit the look.

Take all of this with a “grain of salt” – work with what you have to create your country bedroom.

Decorating Your Country Bedroom

The hallmarks of the country bedroom - natural materials, unfussy and practical furnishings, airiness, restrained but rich color schemes, and a commitment to comfort - create an environment that is perfectly conducive to rest and relaxation at any time of day.

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