Read Patio Decorating - Ten Simple Patio Decorating Ideas extra

Patio Decorating - Ten Simple Patio Decorating Ideas

Decorating Ideas

Decorating Ideas

When Mother Nature begins to warm, thoughts of outdoor entertaining, including B-B-Qs, poolside parties, lunch (or brunch) on the patio, tend to get us thinking of decorating ideas, specifically deck or patio decorating ideas. Decorating doesn't have to be an expensive endeavor to spruce up an outdoor patio; a few simple changes can do the trick without breaking the bank.

With a plethora of decorating magazines on the stands, interior/exterior decorating websites and design blogs, it's easy to want more than what the budget will allow. So it is always a good idea, as you formulate decorating ideas for a patio, to determine what your budget can afford.

As you assess the outdoor area in need of a makeover create a list of things that need attention. For example, is the patio furniture looking a bit tattered? Are decorative plants healthy and thriving? What patio decor items could be added or replaced? Maybe a coat of fresh paint to outside walls or a trellis with climbing vines to make an unattractive area more appealing.

Reviewing visual resources such as garden and patio magazines and interior design websites can help generate ideas; use photos to assemble a theme or style suited to your desired effect.

If you, a friend or a family member, have a talent for crafty work, do-it-yourself (DYI) instructions are readily available for almost every type of patio, or deck, decorating project such as an in-ground pond or water fountain, a stone path or a mosaic tile table top. The options are endless. It helps to have a general plan before you begin to keep the entire project manageable.

Here, then, are ten simple and affordable patio decorating ideas to freshen or change an outdoor entertaining area:

1) Repaint or refinish outdoor furniture; consider a new color for a big change.

2) Hand painted canvas cushion pillow covers for outdoor furniture; use colors and designs to match or complement a theme.

3) Place larger potted plants of various sizes placed in unusual containers around the perimeter of patio area. Search out chipped pottery pieces at garden stores for marked down prices; a chip or two can be easily hidden or camouflaged.

4) Group furniture together creating one or more cozy/intimate spaces.

5) Consider making or purchasing a hand painted canvas rug; these are great for outdoor patios or decks and many artists will offer a wide choice of different designs with custom color options.

6) Add decorative lighting using unusual items; add garden lanterns or string twinkle lights around a tree or under the eaves of a garden umbrella.

7) Hand paint small to medium tera cota planters; transplant smaller flowers, herbs or leafy plants and use as table decorations.

8) Make or purchase tablecloths; oilcloth is a great choice for casual outdoor tables, providing easy maintenance and available in a variety of colors and designs.

9) Wall art adds a designer touch to a patio and can be anything, from sculpture, to driftwood, to hand painted canvas wall decor. Use larger pieces on expansive outdoor wall areas or hang in smaller groups of three.

10) Statues, waterfalls, ponds all add an interesting focal point to a patio. Their size should be in balance with the size of patio or entertaining area. Look for an unique piece or create your own.

Generating and planning patio decorating can be a fun, creative process. New patio decor can be an extension of the interior of your home or something uniquely different creating an oasis for you, your family and your invited guests. Break down each aspect of patio decorating ideas into small steps so as not to overwhelm yourself. Then get ready to plan the party!

Want to see canvas design ideas for patio decorating? Author has an entire web site with painted canvas designs as well as canvas wall decor and canvas pillow cushions to help generate lots of patio decorating ideas.

Study Feng Shui Your Living Room much more

Feng Shui Your Living Room

Family Rooms

Family Rooms

The ideal entrance to your living room should open from a foyer. When the front door opens directly into the living room, a buffer is needed to slow down the fast flowing energy from the entrance to your home.

You should choose colors for your living room that are beneficial to your Kua number and direction or that suit your overall harmony. I recently did a Feng Shui for a lady who was a West person that had a green sofa and love seat in her home. If she would have read this book or consulted with me before buying the sofa she would have known that green is the worst color for her to use. Her whole living room was green. She immediately went out and bought gold covers and saw an improvement with her life soon after. Her business improved tremendously. Place green plants around the room, but balance them with other things. Your furniture should be spacious, uncluttered and pleasing to the eye. Paintings should be warm and inviting. Never have cactus in your home. Cactus is the worst kind of plant you can have in your home. They are very unlucky. Try to keep a nice bouquet of fresh flowers near the entrance to the house. People feel immediately at ease when they see fresh flowers. This is the reason you always see fresh flowers in restaurants or in the lobbies of hotels. Your living room should be fresh and have a feeling of being lived in. So many families have family rooms they use instead of their living rooms, saving the living room for special occasions. Rooms in your home that are unused accumulate stagnant energy and detract from an otherwise balanced home.

Live in this room! That's how it got its name!

Fireplaces, regardless of the room where they are found, should never be left uncovered. A screen or glass should cover the opening. Open fireplaces leak out good ch'i energy and take away all of your money.

Want to learn more about Feng Shui? [http://www.myfengshuilife.com]

Examine Family Photo Ideas a lot more

Decorating Ideas For Family Room

Taking time from your busy schedule to bond with your kids is important. Among the ways you can interact with your kids is through arts and craft activities. It allows the children to stretch their imaginations and creativity. There are a number of family photo albums ideas that you can undertake with your children. You can make your own calendar by the use of a scanner and digital camera. It is a suitable project for the whole family as the calendar will be used for the entire year. Go through the photo albums and choose the ones which have every member present. A picture of your family near a Christmas tree can be ideal for December. Any picture of you on vacation can as well be ideal for august or July.

When you have chosen the photos for each of the months, start constructing the calendar. You can format or resize them and finally print them if they are already in the computer's hard drive. You can also use a digital photo album. Use a hole-puncher for making the holes at the top for joining them together. You can use a thin wire available from hardware stores. Ensure that you bend the wire to avoid having jagged-edged pages.

Another idea is to tell stories using your family pictures. When you take a look at images you are mostly prompted to remember events and places. You can relive an event with your children through the picture stories, which is great fun for you and the family. An image story can be of when you first brought the family dog home. You can put the pictures in order from the first photograph taken at the shelter to the shot where your son is holding the puppy. Its better that you decide on how long the story will go: with the number of shots to use. Come up with suitable captions for each shot. You wouldn't want to write on the snap so it's important that you write the captions on paper. After finishing the story you can put them in a digital photo album.

Another superb pictures idea is to make a family tree. You don't have to track everyone in your generation. The best idea is to make a tree of three generations of the family. Let the children design the tree. It is not supposed to be perfect but should contain branches enough for every family member. The kids should be on the lowest branches then the parents followed by the grandparents. You can place a shot where everyone in the tree is represented at the bottom.

You can also design picture greeting cards. You can come up with themes for the cards together with your kids. Afterward, you can decide to dress up as clowns or as Santa with his elves for Christmas. Be creative and experiment on different card motifs. Ask each one of your children for ideas.

There are amazing photo albums ideas you can utilize for you and your family. You can place the pictures in a digital photo album and have them rotate in a slide show.

Family Photo Ideas

Decorating Ideas For Family Room

Read Living Room Decorating For Small Spaces far more

Living Room Decorating For Small Spaces

Decorating Ideas For Family Room

Many Americans are downsizing their homes due to the bad economy. This presents new design challenges to people who may not be used to living in small spaces. "Where am I going to put all my stuff?" is at the forefront of many people's minds. Living room decorating for small spaces is all about making use of every nook and cranny of the home to make the most of the available square footage.

Traditionally, homes are made up of bedrooms, bathrooms, dining rooms, kitchens, and living rooms. People may be inclined to decorate these spaces for their original purposes, but think outside the box and determine which spaces do not get much use. If you are a person who eats their dinner in the living room then a dining room is probably unnecessary most days out of the year. In this case, you can move the home office out of the living room and into the dining room. Get rid of anything in the living room that you can to maximize the use of the space.

Determine a focal point and design the rest of the room around it. Depending on the home, this could be a fireplace, a large window with a view, or even the television. When you have a focus then you know where to place the furniture and accessories. This creates a flow within the room that is important for the overall aesthetic and practical use of the space.

Consider creating a room within the room. If there is no other place in the home to create a workspace, then make a designated area in the living room to serve this purpose. Use a small rug to define the area, and use vertical space for storage. For example, hang floating shelves above a small desk and place boxes of paper, writing utensils, and other office supplies on them.

Creating a sense of unity through similar or complimentary colors pulls everything together. In a small space this is a simple way to create the illusion of spaciousness. The use of mirrors is another way to trick the eye into thinking a room is bigger than it actually is because it captures and reflects light.

Living rooms are a place for family and friends to gather. Make use of all the available space in a small room to make it comfortable, functional, and a reflection of your personal style. Living room decorating for small spaces is a challenge, but these ideas and tips make it easier for anyone downsize.

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Read Great Bedroom Decorating Ideas additional

Great Bedroom Decorating Ideas

Decorating Ideas

Bedroom decorating is a costly affair. Wall decorations bought in stores and embellishments on table tops are usually expensive. The price of decorating a bedroom increases quickly. There is no need to go into a debt to purchase the items for bedroom decorating. There is no need to live with empty walls and night stands either. This article discusses some of the simple and cheap decorating ideas for a bedroom. For a very low cost, trendy bedroom decorations can be made in several ways. Use these ideas to make a start on decorating your bedroom. Creative abilities are not a necessary condition for developing incredible bedroom decorating ideas.

There are a lot of natural ways of decorating your bedroom. For example, you can use natural gifts like wonderful looking sea shells, glass, pine cones etc. Using these items can result in a brilliant texture to the bedroom decoration.

Another good bedroom decorating idea is hanging of art works on the walls. Art works made by contemporary professionals are usually costly. Instead of that you can make your kids draw paintings. Children can come up with great imaginative ideas. Their works tend to be quite natural, very expressive and extremely innocent. Paintings created by children can be used to decorate bedroom walls. They can be framed for a professional look. Another advantage is that the paintings created by children can be cherished for a long time and preserved as sweet memories of childhood.

Fabrics with amazing patterns are a good idea for bedroom decorating. Put a frame after mounting the fabric and this will be a good idea for creating an attractive look on the bedroom walls.

A lot of decorating ideas for the bedroom can be obtained by photos that are framed and embellished. Ordinary picture frames made of wood can also serve this purpose. For obtaining textures rich in color, painting can be done. Tiny shells, beads, pebbles and buttons can be attached to the picture frames or paintings for added style in decoration.

There are ways by which you can create art works that will appear as if a professional artist has created them. This can be used to your advantage as professional art works are costly. A simple way of creating art work is to take a wooden framed canvas and paint the sides in dark colors. Draw a painting and let the paint dry fully. Mount this piece of canvas on the bedroom walls. This will serve as an exquisite bedroom decorating idea.

Find out more useful information on http://www.decoratingideasbedroom.com/

Study What Every Parent Needs to Know about Decorating Kids' Room a lot more

So, you've just moved in. You have dozens of boxes to deal with. Yet, your kids need their bedroom steady so that they can have a good night sleep.

All you need to do is focus on your kids' bedroom. The rest comes last.

o The Bed

Do you use the one that you brought from your old house or buy a new one? If you use the old one, you should find a way to match it with the paintings. This means you repaint. But if you use a new one, buy it only after you decide colors you will be using in the room so they will perfectly match.

o The Bedding

If your kids have some heros they adore (boys) or some cartoon characters they love (girls), why don't you get some themed beddings. They would love it and mostly, it matches your kids' preference of colors.

o The Walls

Will you paint them or use some wallpapers? Or combination of both? Whichever, choose the easiest one to do. Ask your kids to also make the decision which colors they prefer to have inside the room.

o Other furniture

It depends on the function of the room. Is it simply a place to sleep or also to study and play? If it's simply to sleep in, no need to worry about the other furniture. The more space, the better. Yet, if you plan it to be an all-in-one room, you need to go get some other stuff or simply use your old furniture. If you plan to buy, invite your kids to come along with you. With your guide, let them choose those they prefer. If possible--and if you plan to get new ones--get a set. Not only is it cheaper, it also helps you in the decorations.

Involving your kids (big ones) can either help you or even add some troubles. Make your kids promise to just help and not give you headaches over the process.

Decorating Ideas For Family Room

David W Richards is a happy father of two boys. He has a big interest in home decorating and parenting. So, he shares all he knows about it to everyone who wish to find out how to deal with their home or parenting issue.

There are also some other stuff that he writes about, such as Job Property [http://jobproperty.com], Property Thief [http://propertythief.com] and Forex PDF [http://forexpdf.com].

What Every Parent Needs to Know about Decorating Kids' Room

Read Home Decorating Ideas - 5 Effective Strategies extra

Decorating Ideas For Family Room

Decorating your home can seem overwhelming at first, but if you take the time to develop a plan of attack, you will be surprised at how fun it can be. Keep these five tips in mind as you develop your own unique home decorating strategy:

1. Create a thematic consistency. Choosing different themes for each room is fine, but you need the themes to at least flow together to a certain degree. This does not mean every room has to be the same color or match exactly. Consistency means carrying a part of each room into another. One great way to ensure consistency is to choose an overall theme and then break it down into various smaller themes. For instance, if you choose a modern overall theme for your home, you will want to select furnishings for each room that are also modern. You wouldn't want to furnish one room with antiques and another with futuristic pieces.

2. If you are shopping for decorations and you absolutely love a particular item, buy it! This does not mean that you should become a spend thrift. It means that if you are shopping and you see an interesting, unique item that you really like but are still unsure where it might fit in your home, go ahead and get it. You will eventually find a place for it, and you would be extremely disappointed if you lose out on the opportunity to buy it by not acting.

3. Search for inspiration in things outside of the home that you love. If your hobby is hiking, observe the colors and textures you encounter while you are out hiking. Incorporate the things from your favorite activity into your home decorating.

4. Keep an inspiration folder. Browse the internet, magazines, and books, and make copies of interesting pages, jotting down notes of things you like about rooms that you see. Put them all into a folder and when you get stuck or need inspiration, go through the folder to find ideas. You may find things you forgot about, and seeing something again may spark creative inspiration.

5. Take your time and have fun. Do not try to rush your home decorating. I know you want to reach the finish line, but if you don't take your time, you will not be happy with the final results. Be realistic with a time line and don't give up or get upset if it takes a while.

Overall, just remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Don't take decorating too seriously! It is an adventure, and ultimately your space should reflect you and the things you like. I hope these five tips have been helpful to you as you create a beautiful space for yourself while having a great time doing it!

Great home decorating ideas [http://www.housedecoratingideas.net/home-decorating-styles.html] can save you a lot of time and energy as you decorate your house. For more inspiration and tips on decorating on a budget, visit my blog: [http://www.housedecoratingideas.net]

Home Decorating Ideas - 5 Effective Strategies

Read Give Your Family Room Coastal Cottage Style extra

Coastal cottage decor is chic and comfort all rolled into one. Chippy paint furniture, whimsical beach themed designs and easy to care for fabrics make this a perfect choice for the family room.

Regardless of your current decor you can get the cottage style in your family room with a few simple changes, like new flooring, accessories and slipcovers for the furniture. When redecorating, especially if you have a tight budget, you want to think about inexpensive changes that make a big impact such as wall paint and decorative accessories.

What's on your floor can add to the design theme, but if new floors aren't in the budget for your family room then work with what you have by covering them with area rugs that have a cottage style or a sisal rug if you are going for a more contemporary feel. If you are lucky enough to be able to afford new floors, you might consider light stained wood and soften it up a bit with area rugs.

Decorative accessories are important to pulling your coastal cottage style design together. Concentrate on buying pillows, wall art and knick knacks, in colors that remind you of the coast - tans, whites and blues work well with this theme. You'll be amazed at how easy and cheap it is, and what a huge difference these changes make! Be certain to include lots of sea shells in shallow bowls (you can even add in some beach sand!) as well as plants and you might even try certain chippy painted items like old newel posts or porch posts to add some punch to your family room. Additional touches like nautical themed pieces can add a unique touch.

The most important change to consider when decorating your family room with a coastal cottage style décor interior design is your wall paint. For this style the room colors make a big difference - you should consider using soft muted tans and whites either in your wall color or your accessories. Try using a paint in light colors like white, light yellow and light blue on the walls, or use a simple beach themed stencil. If you want a New England look, go for wainscoting halfway up the walls.

It's not critical that you have matching furniture but the family room should have a variety of pieces that are overstuffed and comfortable and sport fabrics that are easy to clean. Slipcovers go great with this informal cottage style. To really showcase this style, try pieces with chippy paint in white, light green or light blue.

Lighting is critical in most rooms and the family room is no exception. To match your cottage style décor, you might want to look at light fixtures in terms of both style and type. While you will be going for a cottage design, you would want to take a look at installing overhead ceiling fans in a white finish or using nautical themed hanging lights or simple chandeliers. Try clear glass lamps filled with sea shells for the side tables but try to shy away from anything which is heavy or dark lighting.

An important area that is frequently ignored when decorating your house is the wall space. Even the ugliest walls can be smashing by using decorative wall art and accessories. Try applying watercolors of the seaside or floral prints in chippy white frames to your family room walls to enhance the comfy feeling of your cottage decorating style.

Attaining a fabulous coastal cottage look in your family room can be as basic as just buying new decorative accessories or as involved as doing a total room remake. Either way, working on the details and coordinating your furniture and decorative accessories will help you coordinate a magnificent new cottage style décor look that will add comfort as well as style!

Lee Dobbins writes for DecoratingHowTo.com where you can learn about more decorating styles for your home.

Give Your Family Room Coastal Cottage Style

Family Rooms

Study Decorating Ideas - How to Position Your TV and Stereo Attractively a lot more

Choosing where to place your television and stereo system is as important as selecting the equipment itself-follow a few simple guidelines to make sure you get the best out of these home-entertainment purchases.

Almost every household has a television and sound system, from the smallest CD player with miniature speakers to large-scale televisions with stereophonic sound. Getting the best from your home-entertainment equipment depends as much on how you position the units as on the systems themselves.

Once you've decided where to site your stereo and television, you need to decide how to store and display them. Many living-room storage systems offer a module for the television, separate video or DVD recorder, and stereo; some stand-alone units are specifically designed to house them.

If your home is high-tech and modern you can make a virtue out of your viewing and listening equipment and choose it to suit the style and decoration of the room. However, for more traditionally furnished homes, the overwhelming modern style of audio-visual systems can spoil the atmosphere, so you may decide to hide the equipment away completely.

Before you buy storage for a stereo system, think about how you use it, whether there is adequate access to it - stereo systems often require access from the front and top - and where in the room you want to place it. The key to enjoying your system at its best is to position the speakers where they give the highest quality sound. This depends to a large extent on the shape of the room and the type and size of speaker - some are designed to sit on the floor, some on a shelf or mounted on a wall, and others are designed to be used with a rigid stand.

The most important aspect of television storage is to make sure it is located where you can see the screen easily. When you buy a storage unit, check that it is the right size and height to house the television and the video recorder if that is separate.

Positioning the Stereo

The operating height of the stereo is an important consideration. You should position the system either low enough so that you can kneel in front of it or high enough for you to stand comfortably while loading CDs.

Some storage units include room for speakers, but while these look neat, they probably don't give you the best sound quality. The most effective position for the speakers is on the floor or high up on a wall in a corner of the room. Here, the sound output is reflected by the corner walls and the floor or ceiling. If this is not possible, the next effective option is to position them on the floor or near the ceiling against one wall. The further the speaker is from the corner, the more the sound is reduced.

In a small room, the speakers are often so close to the seating area that it is impossible to have any background music without it interfering with the conversation. In such a case, placing the speakers off the floor - either wall-mounted or on a shelf-can help. Wherever you decide to place your speakers, it's a good idea to take time to experiment with a few arrangements to find out by trial and error which one suits you best.

Some of the more expensive speakers are supplied with detailed instructions about where they should be placed. These are the result of exhaustive listening tests by designers, so it's as well to follow them to the letter.

Carpets, curtains, even items of furniture can all affect the quality of sound from the speakers. Bare walls and floors reflect the sound, making it much clearer and bigger, while thick carpets and curtains have a muffling effect.

Positioning the TV

Your television should be easy to view from the most comfortable seats in the living room, but it shouldn't dominate the room. You can meet both of these conditions by placing it on a cart or keeping it in a cabinet or cupboard with closing doors. However you house it, do make sure that it is on a stand of some sort or placed on a surface to keep it off the floor. The recommended minimum height from the base of the set to the floor is 48in (120cm). This allows you to maintain a good seating posture while viewing. Unfortunately, some commercial stands are much lower than this, forcing you to crane your neck forward or slump in your seat in order to see the screen.

Make sure the television is positioned so that there is minimum reflection off the screen from both the window and any lighting. At the same time, though, it is a good idea to have some lighting near the television when viewing, as looking away from the screen from time to time helps to reduce the eye fatigue caused by focusing on it for a long time. This relief is most effective if you look at something of a similar brightness to save your eyes from having to readjust to different levels of light.

Decorating Ideas For Family Room
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Decorating Ideas - How to Position Your TV and Stereo Attractively

Examine Cheap Kitchen Decorating Ideas a lot more

If you're on a budget, you don't have a lot of money to spend on buying new cabinets or appliances, or laying new flooring, so why not refurbish what you've got. Keep reading for some cheap kitchen decorating ideas that won't break the bank.

Cheap kitchen decorating ideas tip #1

Painting the ceiling and walls of the kitchen can make such a difference and bring new life to a tired, drab kitchen. Decide on a new color scheme for the kitchen that will lighten and brighten it up and then go down to your local paint shop and ask for some of those little sample tins so you can get an idea of how the colors you've chosen will look on the walls.

By doing the preparation and painting yourself, you save hundreds of dollars and there's nothing like that feeling of accomplishment when you stand back at look at your handiwork.

Cheap kitchen decorating ideas tip #2

Next thing to tackle are the kitchen cabinets. Instead of buying new ones, see how you can refurbish the ones you've got. If they're painted, can you sand them back to the original wood and perhaps stain and varnish them? Or you may prefer to just give them a light sand and repaint them in a color that compliments your new wall color.

Cheap kitchen decorating ideas tip #3

How about the counter tops? Do they need replacing? You can measure them up and get some quotes for various types of counter tops and decide which will fit into your budget. You can refurbish your counter tops with new ceramic tiles, laminate or you can even get stainless steel sheeting that you can measure and stick on your counter tops yourself.

Add new knobs and pulls to your cabinets and drawers that go with the theme of your kitchen and you've made great strides in getting a new look for your kitchen at a fraction of the cost of putting in a new one.

Decorating Ideas
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Cheap Kitchen Decorating Ideas

Read Decorating the Ideal Rec Room a lot more

Decorating Ideas For Family Room

You've got the pool table, the foosball, the big screen and the bar. The guys want to add a neon sign, some college posters and be done with it. A rec room is for recreation, not decoration, right?

Wrong.

You know that even a rec room needs some panache. But with a large space, it's often hard to know where to start. Here are some ideas:

A Room Divided...

Is a functional room. You may be fortunate enough to have a basement with rooms; most, however, are large, unwieldy spaces. Decide what activities belong in your rec room, then use furniture, screens, and shelving to divide it accordingly. For example, you can create a media center with a television, games, and seating, separating it from the rest of the room with a sectional. Bookshelves, either ceiling height or much shorter, can be used to set off a reading nook. Screens can hide a sewing or crafts area, hiding the mess so you don't feel obligated to put a project away every night. And using area rugs also creates natural divisions for larger items, like pool tables.

Organize, organize, organize!

Just about everything in a rec room has the potential to be a decorating disaster. Game pieces, Legos, video games, puzzles, and craft supplies strewn about, combined with last night's snacks, make for an unpleasant space. Provide shelving, hooks, baskets, trash bins in every area, so that picking up is simple. Avoid over-organizing, however. Rec rooms are informal by nature; don't give yourself fits if every DVD isn't in alphabetical order; just shelving should be enough.

Personalize!

Even if your spouse calls the rec room his "man cave," it should reflect every member of the family. Is your son a basketball fan? Frame some team posters and jerseys? Does your daughter love science fiction? Celebrate her interest with movie posters, model space ships hanging from the ceiling tiles, and a shelf of memorabilia. Do you love quilting? Decorate the crafts area with a bold quilt-block mural. You could also choose accessories based on common family activities such as travel or music. Bring it all together with unique lighting accents. Spell your family's name or favorite slogan with decorative letter lighting, or set off the media area with marquee lights. Whichever theme you choose, making your rec room a family space will ensure it becomes a place to gather and make memories for happy years to come.

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Decorating the Ideal Rec Room

Read Nursery Decorating Ideas extra

When we first found out we were expecting, we starting surfing the internet for baby nursery decorating ideas. We knew we were going to find out the gender at our 20-week ultrasound appointment, and once we knew he was a boy, we were even more excited to get started on the baby's room. For color ideas, we wanted to go with something blue or green, but ended up settling on a shade of aqua that we both really liked. The great thing about the color we chose is that it really is gender neutral, so that if we ever had a baby girl in the future (which we did!) we could easily convert the room to a baby girl's room using the same wall color.

So choosing a color palette was the first step for us, but we actually did that once we had found a crib bedding set that we liked. I shopped around online for baby boy bedding sets that were not too bold, but also not too bland. Once we found the bedding set we liked, we took it to our local paint shop to pick out the aqua paint for the walls. We got an idea to do bead board on the bottom half of the walls in the nursery by watching an episode of Oprah. The bead board she was highlighting on the show was actually a self-adhesive wall paper! We went to the website she mentioned as the retailer, and purchased enough bead board wall paper for our small nursery. My husband then built a custom chair rail molding which he placed at the top of the bead board wall paper which came up to about waist height. It really made the nursery start to come together.

Another great nursery decorating idea I came up with was a bubble mirror above the changing table. I developed this idea by looking at the crib bedding pattern and pulling out an element - the circles which looked like bubbles since it was a fish theme - and then found a circle mirror set online. It came with six circle mirrors of different sizes which we mounted on the wall above the changing table. It's actually my favorite thing in the nursery since it is unique.

Decorating your baby's nursery is one of the most fun home decorating projects you will be tasked with completing. There are so many resources online that make it easy. Have fun with it!

Decorating Ideas

To find the best Nursery Decorating Ideas immediately visit http://hubpages.com/hub/Baby-nursery-decorating-ideas

Nursery Decorating Ideas

Decorating Ideas

Read How to Choose the Right Living Room Carpet additional

How to Choose the Right Living Room Carpet

Family Rooms

When choosing carpet for your living room, the standard questions apply, such as: What will you use this room for most? How much foot traffic will the carpet endure?

If you're carpeting a living room, not a family room or den, it's likely that you will reserve this room for more formal occasions, and the foot traffic probably won't be as heavy as in some other rooms of your home.

If that is the case, you can focus your attention primarily on choosing the carpet you want for this room based on color, style and quality. Sound like fun? It can be if you know what to look for when you begin shopping.

Consider Color, Light and Space When Choosing your Living Room Carpet

Choosing color and style for your new carpet is a personal choice, and there are many options for you to consider. A lot depends on where you're beginning with your room. It's true that color, light and space all have a specific influence on your room's ambiance.

Coordinating Your Décor and Your Carpet

Assessing your personal circumstances will make the choice easier. Are you starting from scratch with your carpet and furnishings, or do you have furnishings and draperies you want to coordinate with your new carpet?

If you are building a new home, you might decide to shop for your furniture before choosing your carpet. Then, you can have a better idea of which carpet will complement your décor best. If you're remodeling your room, you may have furnishings and draperies you will continue to use with the new carpet.

Either way, an important thing to remember is that you can highlight your carpet, or you can highlight your décor and allow the carpet to become an elegant backdrop.

The Effects of Lighting

Light has an enormous effect on the way your carpet looks in your home. So even if you choose a great color at the store, it may look vastly different in your home.

Always remember that the lighting in the carpet showroom is very different from the lighting in your home. The best solution is to obtain samples to take home with you, if at all possible.

Having samples at home will give you the opportunity to look at the carpet during different times of the day and in different types of light - natural sunlight, under lamps, and under overhead lighting.

Choosing Your Color

How big is your living room? What kind of atmosphere do you want to create? These are important questions to ask yourself as you choose the color of your carpet.

Lighter colors tend to make rooms feel larger
Darker colors make rooms appear smaller
Light colors reflect light
Dark colors absorb light
Warm colors - reds, yellows, orange tones - tend to stimulate
Cool colors - greens and blues - convey a more calm feeling

This doesn't mean you are limited in any way with your color choice; it's just a consideration. You may prefer a cozy feeling for your room, or you may prefer that your room appears large and open.

It's all a matter of choice, and it's up to you to choose exactly what you want. You get to decide on the ambiance you want to create and then go for it!

Quality and Your Budget

Most everyone would love to buy the highest-quality carpet for their homes, but if you are on a budget, there are some things you should consider.

When you're choosing carpet for your living room, the traffic should be lighter than in your den or family room, so you don't have to purchase the most expensive carpet you can find. You can balance your budget and choose the higher grades for the areas in your home that will take the heaviest use.

Pay Attention to Carpet Performance Ratings

All residential carpet is rated to help you choose the carpet that best suits your needs. These ratings result from thorough carpet performance testing. So check the labels as you shop.

Here's how it works:

The scale goes from 1 to 5, with 5 being the carpet that maintains its new appearance best after rigorous industry-standard testing. Naturally, a carpet with this kind of rating would be a perfect choice for high-traffic areas in your home.

A rating of 4.0 or above is outstanding. This carpet is also great for high-traffic areas.
Ratings of 2.5 to 4.0 are expected to offer normal durability and can be used practically anywhere in your home. With proper maintenance and care, this carpet should perform well for you.
Carpets with ratings of 2.5 and below should only be considered for use in rooms of your home with very light to moderate traffic to get the best results.

You should use the ratings guide not as a steadfast guarantee, but as a general guide for helping you choose which carpet might be best suitable for your specific rooms. Every family has its own particular lifestyle and practices, but these ratings can help you with your initial purchase.

Other carpet characteristics to consider when choosing the carpet that will work best for you:

Density - performance and comfort improve with higher density
Face weight - the more ounces in each square yard, the better
Twist - higher twist counts aid in resistance to matting and crushing

If you remember these important points, you can feel more confident in making your choice. The main thing to remember is that it's your living room, and you can decorate in the color and style you will enjoy most. Choose the highest quality carpet you can afford, put proper maintenance in place, and you should enjoy your new carpet for years to come.

DirectBuy has a spectacular collection of brand-name carpet at wholesale prices direct from the manufacturers and their authorized suppliers. A one-stop shop for all your home remodeling, decorating, and building needs, DirectBuy has virtually everything – including the kitchen sink – for in and around your home.

Read Family-Friendly Ideas For Decorating a Large Bedroom far more

Family-Friendly Ideas For Decorating a Large Bedroom

Decorating Ideas For Family Room

A bedroom is often a place of solace for many as people use it for a place of rest, play and relaxing. Families use their bedrooms for a variety of purposes, especially when they have extra space available. Decorating a large bedroom is good project for homeowners to invest in because there are many design and furnishing options available. Large bedrooms are spacious and inviting and can be a special place that has a unique personal design touch that highlights the personality or interests of the people that use it.

Room makeovers are very popular these days, thanks to a number of popular shows and websites that feature a regular dose of interior design ideas that families can use to transform their living space. Large bedroom spaces are a decorators dream because they have a lot of room to implement style accents and room changes. Decorators, like artists, have a big, open space in which to create and arrange the objects in space to create an attractive scene or theme.

Families can start with the color scheme they want to use as a backdrop for their furniture and home furnishings. Kids like to help with arranging their rooms and can help pick put the color they want to use. Let the kids add a nice theme accent for a sport or activity they like, such as a music symbol or a basketball. A nice painting or a design painted directly on the wall that reflects their personal style or interest is a perfect way to accentuate the room.

In addition, families can also add many creative accents to their children's bedroom spaces, such as a beautiful canopy in a girl's room or sports décor for boy's space. Parents can also add accompanying furniture in the bedroom to go along with the designated theme, such as a nice loft bed set or special chair designs. The bedroom set, seating and additional room furnishings can all be arranged together to create a tailor-made bedroom design.

A master bedroom is no exception for plentiful design options to take advantage of the extra space available. Some choose to put in a comfortable soft chair and small table for reading as well as exercise equipment to do their daily routine in the comfort of their own bedroom. Another advantage to a large master bedroom is the space available for a king or queen size bed with attractive accessories in a formal, country or contemporary style.

There are many family-friendly ways to enhance home décor in bedroom space that really make the room stand out and reflect the personal style of the person or persons using it. Decorating a large bedroom is especially helpful because families can use larger furniture and more accessories to highlight the space. Parents and children can have a bedroom that is relaxing, inviting and tailor-made for their comfort and pleasure.

For more information on another nice addition to many homes, check out a Air Freshener Dispenser, or click on the following link: http://www.air-freshener-dispenser.net.

Read through Leather Sofas For the Family Room more

If you have a family room and you are thinking about getting leather sofas then don't hesitate at all. Leather is a great choice of material for furniture. It has grown very popular over the years and still growing. This is one thing that you know will be great and only improve over time. Leather comes in a few grades which are all great except for the bonded leather. This is the cheapest and poorest of quality, you should avoid this type even though they really don't use this type of leather to make furniture. Leather sofas are durable, they look wonderful and they clean easily. It is a great choice if you have kids or even pets.

If you have children, clean up time will be much easier. You can simply wipe off any dirt or liquids stains without a problem. If you have the finished type leather there shouldn't be a problem with cleaning it up. I wouldn't recommend unfinished or suede looking sofas for children. This type of leather is more delicate and much harder to clean. Leather with finishing is ideal for kids and pets because they don't require extra care.

You don't have to worry paying so much money because if you take your time and shop on a budget you should be able to find something on sale that is affordable for you. Yes, you will run into very expensive ones but don't let that intimidate you because you will find something you love at a fair price. Sometimes leather sofas are highly priced because it might be high grade quality or even the styles of the sofas are either new or very fancy.

The most basic sofas will still make a room luxurious as long as you know how to pick the right colors and set a nice theme. The most popular leather sofas that we see in average people's homes are the genuine leather black or brown sectional sofas. This is America's favorite. They provide comfort and make your home look very modern and stylish.

Leather sofas are dust proof and should last you at least until your kids have grown up. This is a great choice for any room in any home. You will be a leather fan and once you go leather you wouldn't look back. If many people are getting them these days you know they must be great.

Family Rooms

You can get classic leather furniture that offers luxury as well as brown leather furniture.

Leather Sofas For the Family Room

Family Rooms

Study Brighten Up Your Walls with Decorating Ideas extra

If you have recently moved home or if you are thinking of redecorating, one of the main things that may need doing is decorating your walls. The walls are the biggest focus in any room and if they are left bare they will make the home feel bare and uninviting.

So, just how can you decorate your walls then? Well, there are plenty of decorating ideas you could try!

Decorating Ideas

There are two ways in which you can mainly decorate your walls and those are:

o Wallpaper

o Paint

Wallpaper used to be the main form of wall decoration in the past, but these days it seems a lot more modern to use paint. It is all really down to personal preference as to which form of decorating you use and both styles will create a different look overall.

Wallpaper is still available and there are quite a lot of different styles to choose from. Whether you want something smooth and simply pastel colored or whether you want something with a little more texture and a more patterned look, there will be something to suit your tastes.

Paint has also moved on and there is quite a large variety to choose from. There are a range of different makes and the prices which you can expect to pay will determine which brands you go for, but there is something to suit all budgets overall.

When it comes to choosing the colors again it is all down to personal taste but you should try and personalize it to your own tastes as much as possible.

Personalizing the Walls

In order to personalize the walls you can use things such as murals and pictures in order to suit your tastes. Murals can look really good if you take your time and use the right materials. However, done wrong and they can look tacky. So, always be careful when personalizing your walls as yes you do want them to look nice and personal to you, but you do not want them to put potential visitors off visiting you!

You can also use borders to help separate the walls and create a sophisticated and warm look to the home. Borders can look both modern and elegant and again as with wallpaper, they come in a variety of different styles and colors.

Finally, when thinking of decorating ideas for the walls, you should also think about pictures and the overall style of the room. Could you place a nice clock, picture or mirror on the wall to make it look more homely? Cover all angles and most importantly be sure that you are happy with the overall design before putting it into practice.

Decorating Ideas
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Brighten Up Your Walls with Decorating Ideas

Read Decorating Ideas and Tips for Home Interior Designs far more

Decorating Ideas For Family Room

An important aspect of home decorating is choosing home decorating fabric. When picking a theme such as Victorian, Modern or Oriental, the choice of fabric makes a difference to the overall theme. There are many kinds of home decorating fabric.

Have you ever thought about the many different furniture styles? Probably you have ever watched a program TV, where they showed people how to update an entire room of your house; let's say the living room or bedroom. You can also read everywhere about the rustic style or about the Italian designs. However, do you know really what do these styles mean? We go deep into the different styles, which are the most demanded around the globe.

By keeping furniture items to a minimum you will create extra floor space and give the room a clean, uncluttered look. Diminish "solid shapes" by choosing furniture with legs that help create a sense of space--a home decorating ideas to use over and over!

If you are creative and eclectic, then you can be specific as family gatherings, antiques, gardening, entertaining at home, and encourage the old things in general. This means you may want to include anything done at home as additional decorative accessories. Adding antique furniture, carpets as well as window curtains that largely match your personality is also a good decorating option.

The color, including whether it is warm, cool, or a neutral, will impact the feeling one has when entering the room. The process of painting a room is also time-consuming, so it is important to pick the right paint for the space and purchase quality paint that will last. Since paint is the foundation to any overall decorating ideas, it is a savvy decision to work directly with a paint specialist store. Partnering with a paint specialist store will make the daunting process of choosing paint much simpler and is a surefire way to deliver the best home interior decorating results.

HOME2 DECOR built our solid reputation one project at a time by carefully listening to our clients' needs, working within their budget and creating a breathtaking home that reflects their lifestyle. We understand your home is your sanctuary, a unique setting that should encourage, enhance and support your energy, productivity, pleasure and relaxation.

As a final low-cost home decor ideas, don't assume that you'll have to buy new furniture to make-over the decor in your room. Believe it or not, simply rearranging your furniture and decorative items can be enough of a change to produce a new looks which will achieve the results you want and work great for your room.

Find great home design ideas and home decorating tips for interior decorating by home2decore.com, one of the best interior decorating companies in Mumbai.

Decorating Ideas and Tips for Home Interior Designs

Decorating Ideas For Family Room

Study Home Decorating Ideas - Where to Hang Artwork far more

Do you always wonder where to hang artwork in your home or apartment? Artwork is such a wonderful addition to your home décor and should be given the utmost consideration when putting the final touches on a room. These interior decorating ideas will make the task of hanging artwork much easier.

To know how high to hang artwork, use the guideline that your wall art should be hung at eye level. It makes a difference if you are standing in a hallway or sitting on a couch in the living room. In a hallway eye level could be approximately 5-6 feet. In the living area wall art should be hung much lower on the wall. An easy way to determine where the bottom of a picture should be is to measure one hand length above the piece of furniture.

Where should artwork be placed on the wall? Artwork should be connected to the rest of the furniture in the room or linked to another piece of art by keeping them near one another.

When deciding whether to hang a small print or a larger print, a rule of thumb to use is the size of your artwork should be in proportion to the size of the furniture or the size of the wall if there is no furniture. A small sofa requires a small piece of artwork or small grouping of artwork. On the contrary, a large sofa requires a larger print or a grouping that makes a statement!

How many items should be in a grouping? Design professionals tell us that an odd number of items are more visually appealing to the eye than an even number of items. When grouping wall art, the pieces should be situated close to each other so that they form a combined unit and work as a single wall hanging.

When choosing a mat and frame, consider the decorating style of the room as well as the colors in the room. The choice of frame should reflect the style of the room while the mat is usually concerning the color. The color of the mat can bring out the smallest hint of color in the picture. Thus, you can play up a particular color with a mat even though it may not be the primary color in the picture. The color in the frame can act in a comparable way to bring out a less important color in the picture.

Decorating Ideas

To help keep your home organized, download a free copy of the ebook "The Essential Guide to Organizing Your Home". Download it free here: Organizing Tips.

Lynn Cressy has a love for decorating and shopping for home decor. She owns a home decor web site and writes articles on home decorating and organizing your home and your life.

http://www.lynnshomedecor.com/f/Opt-in_Pages.html

Home Decorating Ideas - Where to Hang Artwork

Read How to Choose a Kit Home Floor Plan much more

How to Choose a Kit Home Floor Plan

Family Rooms

Family Rooms

The best way to learn how to choose a kit home floor plan is to first identify your lifestyle requirement. Kit homes are manufactured in a large number of standard floor plans. But from those standard plans you can begin to make a number of adjustments in order create the ideal home for your needs.

Kit home floor plans begin as 3, 4 and 5 bedroom plans. Within each of these styles are a large number of variations. They are also able to be modified to fit your lifestyle. You should spend quality time determining what style will suit your present and future needs. Many of the kit homes can be expanded at a later date so choosing the floor plan which will blend with future modifications is important.

Very Personal Decision

Choosing a kit home floor plan is a very personal decision. Every family has different requirements and your goal is to meet as many of them as possible. You begin by considering the lifestyle you lead. Home floor plans are designed to suit a number of purposes.

For example, if you have children, you will want to look at floor plans that are geared towards family living. These styles usually include large family rooms with easy access to the kitchen or dining rooms. There may be a couple of bedrooms on one end of the house with another bedroom at an opposite end for privacy. The family room might very well have a sliding glass door which leads to the back veranda.

But you may also want the sliding door and plenty of outdoor living space if you enjoy entertaining. The floor plans with large kitchens and dining rooms are designed to accommodate your family and guests. You might want to extend the living room area in order to make room for additional furniture for entertaining frequent guests.

If your home is intended to serve as a vacation home, the small and simple floor plans are popular. Easy to care for, the floor plans offer basic rooms such as bedrooms, kitchen and dining room without a lot of frills.
Almost Perfect

When choosing a kit home floor plan, people often pick the one closest to meeting their needs and then begin to make adjustments. In many kit homes, it's possible to add, move or remove interior walls to expand space in particular rooms. You can increase the kitchen size, make a larger master bedroom or increase the size of the family room.

The floor plan you choose should be practical and fit your budget while also offering the style of living you prefer. Floor plans are available for single level and multi-level homes. You can create a spacious floor plan with few interior walls or have distinct rooms. You can also choose a floor plan that takes advantage of your property features. If you live on a view lot, you might want to choose a floor plan that includes a family room with picture windows located where the view is at its best.

Whatever you have in mind for your home, there is a kit floor plan that will meet your needs.

Oz Kit Homes are Australia 's premier kit home supplier. Oz Kit Homes have been providing quality kit homes for the owner-builder for over 10 years. For a free quote, visit Kit Homes.

Study Every Family Needs a Dining Room Set additional

The dining table set in a home is one of the most frequented places in a house. From meal times to homework time, snack times to projects, or family meetings, it's important to have a dining furniture set that reflects your style, is durable to stand up to the wear and tear of daily use, and is within your price range.

So if you're in the market for a dining set, here's what you should know about buying a dining table set.

Size is the first thing you should consider when buying a new set. The average size is a table with at seating for at least four. Depending on your family size, room size, and how often you plan to have company are considerations that you should make. If you plan on entertaining, consider buying a longer table or one that converts from shorter to longer by adding planks. If you have a smaller space, then consider a dinette or diner-style seating which is a nice contemporary option, as opposed to a traditional dining table.

Shape is next thing to consider if you're buying a dining set. Do you want a round table for more intimacy, a contemporary square table, a long rectangle or oval table for more entertaining? Do you want something taller like a bar or counter-height table or standard height?

Style. It will make a big design statement - do you want something contemporary for fun dinner parties; a traditional tale for large holiday dinners; or a fun, casual, and family-friendly table? Another style to consider is whether you want a table with legs, on one pedestal, or two pedestals. The chairs at your table can also make a difference in your room style, which is why buying a dining table set can save you time and money from having to run around to try to match your chairs to our dining table.

Dining sets come in dozens of different packages, 3-piece, 5-piece, 7-piece, 9-piece - which include a dining table and an even number of chairs.

Additional furniture to consider including in your dining room are buffet tables, side tables, serving islands, cabinets for china and dishes, or bars. When choosing your set, see if the same designer or manufacturer offers these items for easier matching to your dining table set.

Family Rooms

Roch Elle is an artist and writer. She covers a wide range of topics including, dining table set, dinings sets interior design, fitness & technology

Every Family Needs a Dining Room Set

Family Rooms

Understand Painting Fine Art for a Contemporary Family Room extra

Even if you don't possess a great deal of artistic talent, you can still create fine art pieces that are perfect for a contemporary family room. Adding art created by you or another family member is a great way of adding the perfect finishing touch to a room. If you've never tried painting fine art, here are some easy ideas that you can use to get those creative juices flowing.

Abstract Works of Art

Although it usually requires a bit of artistic talent to create a realistic painting, almost anyone can create an eye-catching piece of abstract art. Since abstract art pieces blend beautifully with contemporary styles of decorating, they can be the perfect addition to your contemporary family room. Although you can actually paint on almost any surface, it's often easiest to start with a purchased piece of canvas board. Start by using a pencil to lightly sketch your design onto the board. Or, practice your design first on a large piece of paper. Geometric patterns often work well as the basis for abstract works of art. Once you have a design you like, you can use either acrylic or oil artist paints to color the penciled patterns that you drew on the canvas board.

You can also use a totally freehand approach to painting the canvas. Paint the canvas a solid color and let dry. Then, using brushes, sponges and other applicators, apply different colors of paints in freehand patterns. You can even splash and splatter the canvas board with paint if you do your work in a protected area. Since there isn't a specific "right" or "wrong" way to create art, simply paint until you like your results. Then let your painted masterpiece dry, place in a frame, and display on your family room wall.

Realistic Works of Art

Even if you don't possess a great deal of natural artistic talent, you can still create beautiful realistic paintings for your family room. There are plenty of "how-to" painting instruction books and courses available, which are designed to teach the basics of painting. Many of these books include step-by-step instructions that you can use to create a specific painting. Simply choose one that appeals to you, gather your supplies, and you'll be on your way towards painting your own piece of fine art. If this is your first attempt at painting, it can be helpful to practice first on an inexpensive piece of paper before trying it on a piece of canvas board. But, it's important to remember that even if you don't like your first attempt, you can always cover your painting with gesso, let dry, and start over again. In fact, most of the world's great artists and masters reused their canvases, painting new works of art over older ones.

You can also use an overhead projector to help create a realistic painting. Find a design or scene that you like, place it on the bed of the projector, and reflect its image onto the wall. Trace the basic shapes onto a piece of canvas board. Then, paint the design using the original as a guide. Before you know it, you'll have a beautiful piece of fine art to frame and display in your family room.

Family Rooms

Artist/Designer, Jessica Ackerman, writes for WallDecorandHomeAccents.com and offers aspiring home designers the opportunity to decorate with huge wall vases or tropical wall sculptures.

Painting Fine Art for a Contemporary Family Room

Family Rooms

Examine Great Bedroom Decorating Ideas far more

Decorating Ideas

Bedroom decorating is a costly affair. Wall decorations bought in stores and embellishments on table tops are usually expensive. The price of decorating a bedroom increases quickly. There is no need to go into a debt to purchase the items for bedroom decorating. There is no need to live with empty walls and night stands either. This article discusses some of the simple and cheap decorating ideas for a bedroom. For a very low cost, trendy bedroom decorations can be made in several ways. Use these ideas to make a start on decorating your bedroom. Creative abilities are not a necessary condition for developing incredible bedroom decorating ideas.

There are a lot of natural ways of decorating your bedroom. For example, you can use natural gifts like wonderful looking sea shells, glass, pine cones etc. Using these items can result in a brilliant texture to the bedroom decoration.

Another good bedroom decorating idea is hanging of art works on the walls. Art works made by contemporary professionals are usually costly. Instead of that you can make your kids draw paintings. Children can come up with great imaginative ideas. Their works tend to be quite natural, very expressive and extremely innocent. Paintings created by children can be used to decorate bedroom walls. They can be framed for a professional look. Another advantage is that the paintings created by children can be cherished for a long time and preserved as sweet memories of childhood.

Fabrics with amazing patterns are a good idea for bedroom decorating. Put a frame after mounting the fabric and this will be a good idea for creating an attractive look on the bedroom walls.

A lot of decorating ideas for the bedroom can be obtained by photos that are framed and embellished. Ordinary picture frames made of wood can also serve this purpose. For obtaining textures rich in color, painting can be done. Tiny shells, beads, pebbles and buttons can be attached to the picture frames or paintings for added style in decoration.

There are ways by which you can create art works that will appear as if a professional artist has created them. This can be used to your advantage as professional art works are costly. A simple way of creating art work is to take a wooden framed canvas and paint the sides in dark colors. Draw a painting and let the paint dry fully. Mount this piece of canvas on the bedroom walls. This will serve as an exquisite bedroom decorating idea.

Find out more useful information on http://www.decoratingideasbedroom.com/

Great Bedroom Decorating Ideas

Study The Unfitted Kitchen: Why Bother? extra

If you've been involved in designing or building a new kitchen in the past 20 years, you've probably heard the terms 'unfitted kitchens' or 'kitchen workstations' or simply 'kitchen furniture'. These terms don't refer to a dinette set, but rather to a completely different way of organizing a kitchen by using a few specially designed pieces of furniture instead of installing continuous lines of cabinetry and countertops. For some people, a 'furnished' kitchen is an intriguing idea, but others might say "Why bother fixing something that ain't broke?"

Sometimes we get so caught up in accepting how things are that we don't take any time to question whether we are going in the right direction. Technology has a way of pushing us forward, but sometimes we need to take a break to discover what form of progress is the most appropriate. For example, when electricity first came to New York City, there were layers of power lines attached to all the buildings and power poles everywhere. If we look at the old pictures of Manhattan we can't believe how ugly it all was, but to most of the New Yorkers of the period, they never even noticed the chaos. It took someone with just a bit of foresight to realize that burying all the power lines underground was a better way to go.

Kitchen design that uses cabinetry has evolved into the universally accepted method to create a kitchen. But in the last 20 years, designers started to ask the question, "Is cabinetry really the 'best' way for all design situations?" To answer this question, we must first discover the reason 'Why' changing from cabinetry to something else would be beneficial. Hopefully, by illustrating how kitchen design has evolved, you will begin to discover 'Why' kitchen furniture can be a great alternative to designing kitchens with cabinetry.

In the days before electricity changed everything in our lives, family kitchens in modestly sized homes were large but simply appointed rooms. They contained a solid fuel heat source for cooking (a fireplace or a coal or wood stove) and a built-in sink, with or without running water. Everything else was a piece of furniture. The icebox was elegantly made of wood, as were the central dining/work table, cupboards, pie safes and pantries. The family kitchen was the central work/social place of the home too where family members, sometimes in the company of friends performed most domestic chores and socialized with each other.

Electricity brought many timesaving devices into the kitchen, as well as many inventions that pulled us away from the kitchen. Due to the innovations in the kitchen, fewer people were needed to prepare meals, so the kitchen lost a lot of its social importance and became a smaller, super-efficient working room. Built-in cabinetry, previously delegating only to Butler's pantries in larger homes, now became the best way to shrink the kitchen into an efficient workspace. With more leisure time, socializing was delegated to the living areas of the house, because the kitchen was too small.

Now, current planning has opened up the kitchen to incorporate the social rooms again. New homes almost always have a breakfast/family room completely in view of the kitchen. The Great Room concept is simply a large social room with a kitchen in it. Walls between the kitchen and other rooms are being torn down in older homes in the effort to create multi-task, live-in kitchens. We have actually gone full circle, in a little over 100 years, by creating a modern version of a pre-electricity social/working kitchen.

Why has this happened? There are too many reasons to list here, but they all seem to relate to time. With the development of the 2 career families and single head-of-household families, there isn't enough time in the day to dedicate a lot of it to cooking. Again, innovations (i.e., microwaves, pre-prepared and frozen foods) have allowed us to spend less time cooking during the workweek. And when we are cooking, we don't want to miss anything that is going on around us. On weekends, we may relax in the kitchen/family room by watching TV or even entertaining friends by cooking elaborate meals.

But typically, the kitchen portion of the great room still looks like and is organized like the super efficient, work-only kitchen mentioned above. It is lined with horizontal bands of cabinetry and countertops that are interrupted only by exposed hi-tech appliances. Designers promote this 'laboratory' look because it is easy to design and it truly is the only kitchen design concept that most people understand. Most kitchen layouts are created by drawing a line 2 feet out from every wall (to indicate cabinetry) and then if there is room, an island (the bigger, the better) is drawn to act as a buffer between the kitchen and family room. The room's personality is determined by the design of the backsplash, and it depends on the color uniformity of the cabinetry and appliances to hold the design theme of the room intact.

On the other hand, the family room, or the social area of the great room is designed in a completely different way. Typically, a beautiful empty room is created and then it is furnished. Instead of lining all the walls with horizontal bands of built-ins (and there are exceptions to this i.e. Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie homes) the wall spaces are interrupted with vertical elements like windows and doors or focal points such as a fireplaces. The walls of the room are separated into vertical segments instead of continuous horizontal bands. At blank wall areas and in the middle of the room, eclectic pieces of furniture create seating arrangements, while the wall-hung artwork and sculptural collectibles on display determine the room's personality. But the wall, floor and ceiling colors and textures permeate between all of these vertical elements acting as the 'glue' that holds the whole design theme together.

So the question is, why not create a multi-task, live-in modern open-plan kitchen/family room by furnishing it rather than installing cabinetry? Why not blend the kitchen into the family room using vertical instead of horizontal design? Why must half of the room look like a sterile laboratory, while the other half of the room is filled with the personal touches that bring you comfort?

When designing with furniture, spaces must be created between each piece that allow the 3-D character (3-D in that furniture is made with at least 3 finished sides) of each piece to be appreciated. These spaces are most important as they allow the design theme of the adjacent room to continue uninterrupted into the kitchen. The spaces allow the wall, ceiling and floor coverings (the architectural finishes) to instantly meld the kitchen and family room into one homogeneous space in a way that is impossible to do with horizontally designed cabinetry. The spaces define the room's personality and allow the furniture to become more eclectic as well, emulating the same design techniques used in the design of the family room. No longer must the kitchen have just one color of wood, or one door style or one countertop material. The spaces allow all of these elements to change more readily. For a clear example, think of an open-plan log home where all the interior walls are exposed logs. A furnished kitchen allows the logs to be seen between each piece, which helps to unify the open-plan room whereas a horizontally designed cabinetry filled kitchen covers up all the logs. In an open-plan loft design where the kitchen is always seen, a furnished kitchen can blend seamlessly into the other casual seating groupings by allowing all the architectural finishes to meander between all the pieces and hold everything together.

There are a few simple design rules to consider when designing the individual pieces of furniture, but that is a topic for another time. There are even other reasons 'Why' to use furniture instead of cabinetry, such as using it to emulate a certain style or period like the pre-electricity styled kitchen. But it is in today's open-plan kitchen where furniture can make its most universal impact. Will it ever replace cabinetry? Absolutely not, but for anyone who is involved in designing a kitchen project, properly designed furniture may be the most appropriate design concept to use, one that is well worth the bother!

Family Rooms
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The Unfitted Kitchen: Why Bother?

Read through Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas Your Family Will Enjoy extra

It's that time of the year again. The yuletide season bring out the hidden calories and the best in people-definitely a good time of the year to be around in. Squeeze the most out of the holidays by taking it to your home in a most tangible way. Here are some great Christmas tree decorating ideas you and your family are sure to enjoy.

Whoever said less is more obviously did not get Santa's decorating memo for trees. As far as tinsel and ornaments are concerned, a crowded tree is a happy tree. Of course, this should not mean to just slap on any bauble and ribbon you find around the house-this year, plan your motif well and go all out.

What tree are you going for? You can use the timeless evergreen fir tree anyone can get at a Christmas tree shop; or you can also go with the more creative creations available in several specialty sites. Synthetic trees are also a good alternative if you already have one stored in your basement. As long as you get your creative juices flowing, anything is possible.

Decide on your theme and color palette before anything else. You can deck your tree and home with blue, silver and white ornaments for a cool Christmas. Go traditional in rich red velvet, lace and beads with green highlights. Find out what the children in your house like and make this a project for them. They can come up with a nature or even a North Pole inspired theme and spend the weekend planning and collecting materials for it.

Decorations do not need to be just ornamental balls and pretty wraps wound around the tree. Silk ribbons or dried herbs tied colorfully around the limbs of the tree make for an interesting look. Candles subtly glittered and mounted all over the tree lend a quaint and old world feel to your home (never light them up; they are serious fire hazards no matter how pretty you think they will look). String up miniature pictures of your family along with charms or personal baubles and drape them around the tree for an intimate and touching Christmas ambiance.

You don't need to stop with just one tree, consider putting little trees in every nook or room of the house. You can have a tree in the kitchen with spoons and forks hanging on its branches. Put one in the garage and have nuts and bolts, or key chains wrapped around the limbs. It will be sure to put a smile on the faces of passersby.

Crown the top of the main tree with a special family memento. It can be the traditional star or angel handed down by former generations; let it be one of particular significance that you can establish as a tradition to your own family for the years to come.

And lastly, play yuletide songs in your home. It's one of the best Christmas tree decorating ideas you can do. It's not tangible but it reminds us all the real meaning of Christmas and truly-you cannot put a price on that.

Decorating Ideas For Family Room

Giselle Taylor gets great tips from her trips to the Christmas tree shop. Click on this site to find excellent Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas you can use today.

Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas Your Family Will Enjoy

Understand Teenagers Bedroom Decorating Ideas - 3 Ideas You Can Use more

Teens may be one of the hardest to decorate for. Deep into their independent stage, teens often are just learning what they like and who they want to be. While some teens may be impressionable and want to copy everything about their favorite rock star, painting a mural of their star on their bedroom wall, may not be the best idea in terms of future decorating ideas. The following is a list of teens bedroom styles that might work for your home. Teenagers thoughts change everyday so give them plenty of time to make up their minds on the theme they want to go with and let them know that once you start that is the theme they will have.

1. If your teens carpet has seen better days but is still hanging in there, you can buy some affordable fabric paint and either create squares covering those not so good areas, or a full out artsy look by creating splashes of paint around the carpet giving it a far out style. Frame all artwork or posters with home made frames or simple wooden frames painted a multitude of colors. Depending on what your child may have in mind, you can even allow her to paint a mural on one wall encouraging her to express her creative side in a positive manner. If your teen is more into sewing or design work, let her create her own pillows or curtains.

2. Is the furniture looking a little old? Let your teen grab multiple colors of pray paint to create a whole new look. Whether they choose to do black, fluorescent pink, green or blue, they will not only have fun but create a whole new style for their furniture. Teen boys an often be difficult to decorate for. Allowing them to add their own flair by choosing their own comforter and pillow mix can get your teen boy more into it. Allow black for carpet, lamp shades, and other accessories as long as he doesn't want to paint the walls black.

3. The third idea for your teenagers bedroom decorating ideas is to let them pick one out on their own. Their all lots of different kids murals that will be suitable for a teenagers room.Although there are many teens bedroom styles ideas to choose from, allowing your teen to add his own feel will help you to reconnect with your child and let you keep in touch with who they are growing up to become. After all they are your teenager they will not to pick out any thing to outrageous.

Decorating Ideas
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Teenagers Bedroom Decorating Ideas - 3 Ideas You Can Use

Read Quick Home Decorating Ideas to Use Today extra

So, the in-laws are coming over and you need some quick home decorating ideas that will make your house look great in a short period of time. If you are trying to prepare your home for a surprise visit, you likely don't have a large budget to dedicate to redecoration. That's okay! With these home decorating tips, you don't need to spend a bundle.

Brighten the Outdoors

Just as when selling a home, first impressions go a long way toward pleasing your surprise guest. If the season permits, add a few flower baskets outside your door. By brightening the outdoors, you guest will feel welcome and impressed by the beauty of your home.

Freshen Up the Indoors

Now, it is time to move your attention indoors. One of the simplest home decorating ideas you can put to use is the use of accessories. Check out your bathroom, for example, and place some attractive and colorful towels on your towel racks. Place a couple of family photos in the sitting room and highlight them with some attractive candles.

Get Organized

It doesn't matter how many great home decorating ideas you put into use if you home is cluttered! Therefore, you might want to implement a few home organization tips before your guest arrives. By installing organizers in your closets, for example, you might be able to get your home a bit better organized so you can remove the clutter from your home. Remember, the less cluttered your home, the more spacious and attractive it will appear.

By following these simple home decorating tips, your home will be spruced up and ready to go - no matter how discriminating your surprise guest may be!

Decorating Ideas For Family Room
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Quick Home Decorating Ideas to Use Today