Saturday, February 21, 2009

Create a New Living Room with These Exciting Design Tips

Everyone is looking to add a little value and excitement to their home. The list of reasons why is almost as large as the different ways it can be accomplished. One of the best places to begin transforming the look of your home is by redesigning the living room. So maybe you have your own reasons why you want a new look for your living room, like say you love the look of soapstone. Just remember, it only takes a few small changes to create a whole new look.

Now that you decided to update your living room, one of the first things to understand is that this is not an easy task and will require some work on your part, especially if you plan on doing the work on your own. Draw up some basic plans which are not only unique and creative but also practical and economical. Take soapstone masonry heaters or a soapstone fireplace, for example; not only do they look great but it also emits a soft heat in the room even after the fire has gone out. Here are a few more tips to think about before you begin decorating your living room.

Figure out exactly what you want out of your living room. Are you looking for minor alterations or are you looking to change the entire outlook of the room? If your furniture is sagging or tearing, try some putting on some slip covers or even a board under the pillows. Extra padding for the much needed areas causes it to appear not as worn out. Update your old fireplace with something more new like a soapstone fireplace. Soapstone fireplaces look fantastic and are reasonably priced as well. Any pieces of which are broken should try to be fixed and if they can't try to replace them with something for a low cost. Painting the flat surfaces of older furniture is a great way to make them appear newer than they really are.

Another way to liven up your living room is set a mood or certain atmosphere with lighting to instantly change the entire feel. Try using softening light features or maybe installing light dimmers. I've also found that pieces of art or paintings are a wonderful to focus attention on a particular area of a room. Also try candles above soapstone fireplaces as a delicate way of changing not only the smell but also the feel of any room.

You always don't need major changes to create a new look for your living room. All it really takes is a little color and some creative thinking to have a living room a little cozier or maybe a touch more modern. It all depends on what suits you. Choose a style which fits both your personality and lifestyle.

Friday, February 20, 2009

How to reduce your electricity bill

If you have been bogged by the enormous electricity bills you have been getting, it is time to take some concrete steps. You can reduce your electricity bills by following very simple steps.

This article will list some simple, easy-to-do things to reduce your electricity bill.

Limited use: Start with the room you are sitting in. If you were to take a call in another room or join your family at the dining table, would you just step out of your room without any concern for the electrical appliances in the room? If you would, stop right there, and look around. Switch off all the appliances even if you would be back in five minutes. Yes, even that will help. Every drop of water constitutes to the ocean.

Another thing to take care of here is what you perceive as an electronic appliance. Would you switch off the television set, turn off the fan, but not the light bulb? Yes, you need light, but not now when you are leaving the room. Taking care of these small things will go a long way in reducing the dreaded huge electricity bills.

Smart investments: Make some smart power investments by replacing your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. These bulbs are a great power-saving investment.

Buy the Power Save gadget. The gadget helps monitor the power supply to your house and uses the minimum that is needed.

Home appliance usage: Most of us complain that the electricity bill touches the sky because of the number of electrical appliances they have at home. However, the electricity bill is not directly proportional to the number of gadgets you use but the way you use them. Let’s see how you can avoid the typical power-wasters.

• Use the washing machine only when there is a full load of clothes.
• Keep the geyser on for the minimal amount of time.
• Keep the air-conditioner at the minimum low or high temperature, just enough to keep you off the heat or the cold outside.
• Switch off the computer monitor even when you take a one-minute break. It takes just a second to switch on the monitor again!

Yeah, you have to stick to this way of life for saving power at home and for the world.

Remember, reducing your electricity bill is equivalent to saving power, thus helping the world save power for its future generations.

Make power at home with solar and wind energy to eliminate your power bill. Get our complete guide at www.earth4energy.com

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

A Few Decorating Budget Tips to Get You Started

The first thing you should remember when decorating is that there are no rules except those that you set for yourself. However, having a plan is always a good idea and will help you to keep on budget.

Below are a provided a number of tips that will help you get started.

1. Trust yourself

Remember, you will know more about what looks good for your home than you think.

2. Focal Points

Select the most important element in a room, say a fireplace, and make this the focal point. Then place furnishings and objects around it to draw a person’s eye towards it. You could, if you want, direct the person’s eye towards, say, a window, which then directs them to look outside into the garden.

3. Themes

Provide each room with a theme. You may just decide on a color, or it may be a particular style, say French Country or Italian Tuscany, for say the kitchen. Doing this will give you a starting point, and will help to guide you through the decorating stages.

4. Planning

When planning your design, work from the largest area of the room to the smallest. For instance, start with walls, windows, floors, furnishings and then finish with accessories. It is important to remember the larger the decorating surface, the more impact it will have on the finished design.


Monday, February 2, 2009

Is it Time to Refinish Your Hardwood Floor?


How do you know when the time is right to refinish your hardwood floors? Hardwood floors tend to be quite durable and the stains long lasting. There are, of course, places in high traffic areas that will begin to show signs of wear long before the floors have worn out their beauty of usefulness. With that in mind, how do you know when the time is right for refinishing?

Refinishing hardwood floors doesn’t have to be the stuff that nightmares are made of. In fact, if at all possible this is the kind of chore you should really entrust to professionals (this way someone else is responsible if something gets messed up). Another reason to entrust this to professionals is that they have access to the best of power tools for this specific job. And using the right tools is sometimes all the difference in the world. While it wouldn’t be cost effective for the average home owner to purchase these tools for a one time project, a professional floor person would often have cause to use these tools.

So what is the difference between a floor that simply needs to be cleaned and one that needs to be completely refinished? One way to do this is to go to one of the high traffic run down areas of your floor and spill a few drops of liquid onto the floor. If the liquid beads up there is still some life left in your original finish and you are not quite ready for a major overhaul. If on the other hand, the wood soaks the water right up, it is time to refinish.

One of the great things about refinishing is that you can choose to go lighter or darker than before or even to use the exact same finish. If you’re looking for a way to change the look of a room, changing the finish of your floors is definitely a way to make a large impact on a room. Keep in mind that stain samples will look different when they are on the entire floor and that different stains react differently to different hardwoods, you definitely want to choose a stain that is compatible to the hardwoods of your floors. The age of your floor also has a tremendous impact on how the stain will look when the floor is finished. A good place to try stain samples is the floorboard of a closet.

Hardwood flooring comes in many different stains and colors, the more popular stain options include stains that appear natural, light stains that don’t significantly altar the look of the wood, medium stains, which bring out a darker tint in the grain of the wood, and dark stains, which provide a rich, velvety feel to the floor.

If you haven’t something that reaches out and grabs you, you can also go to a local hardware store and have a stain custom blended for your floors. You can get really creative for these stains and have a lot of fun in the process, but remember this is your home and you have to live with the floors once they are finished.