As always, the easiest and most dramatic way to change a room is through the magic of paint. With a theme room, you should choose colors that your child associates with their favorite theme. For example, if you were creating a Tinkerbell room, you would choose shades of green or purple. A room based on Lightening McQueen could be red and black. Use your imagination, and don’t stop at simply painting the walls. You can add a racing stripe complete with center line as a border along the walls, or paint the floor dark grey and draw a race track around the room. The possibilities are endless! If you don’t wish to paint the floor, consider adding a kids area rug. You can often find large area rugs that replicate a roadway, and are great fun for kids to push their car around on.

With furniture, it’s simple to turn a regular piece into a themed work of art. Paint a set of bunk beds fire engine red. Add an old rubber hose painted black as an accent along the top of the bunk for your ‘fire hose’. If you are good with tools, consider cutting out a fire truck from plywood and painting it. Put your artwork up along the top of the bunk as a bed rail. Your child’s bed will be transformed from plain to fantastic with little more than a bucket of paint, some wood, and your own effort.

Wall murals are popular in theme rooms, but they can be time consuming to do on your own and expensive if you hire someone to come in and create one for you. For a real wall mural display at less than half the price, purchase large self-adhesive stickers that you can put together as a mural. There are many different theme stickers you can buy, including word art and character replications. It will really add that themed touch to your room.

Less expensive additions you can add to your child’s room include themed sheets, curtains, pillows, posters, and borders. You can buy light switch covers, wall outlets covers, laundry hampers, and even clocks in a variety of characters and themes. The accessories really take your room to that extra level, and your child will be thrilled with all of the new and special additions.

Yes, Extreme Home Makeover can set the bar fairly high when it comes to beautiful kid’s rooms, but you can give your child the gift of a beautiful sanctuary by simply doing it yourself and being creative with how you spend your budget. The payback will be the thrill you see on your child’s face for years to come.

Bunk beds are a great space saver! Pottery Barn Kids sells this bunk bed as part of the Pink Katie Bedroom collection.

1. Look under furniture for extra storage space; a good under-bed organizer can help keep toys, shoes and other kids’ stuff hidden from view and better-organized. You might also consider a trundle or kid-sized bed with built-in drawers. Efficient storage is the most important key to keeping a small bedroom neat.
2. Go vertical; when floor space is limited, one of the easiest ways to maximize space utilization is to use every inch of vertical space. When shopping for kids’ bedroom furniture, look for bookcases, armoires, hutches and other furniture pieces that are tall and use the least square footage. A bunk bed really takes advantage of vertical space, giving you a place to display stuffed animals, etc. even if the bedroom isn’t shared; this also helps out when your kids have sleepovers.
3. Create an illusion of more space by painting stripes on the walls; vertical stripes give the room a sense of greater height while horizontal stripes will make the room seem wider. Mount full length curtains close to ceiling height to further augment the sense of greater height.
4. Look for “combo” furniture pieces such as an armoire with drawers and space for hanging clothes to free up closet space. If you install the right closet organizers and shelving, you might want to consider removing the closet doors to help open up your child’s smaller bedroom. This option gives you greater flexibility in terms of furniture layout.
5. A corner bookcase or display shelf unit can be a great way to utilize diagonal nooks and crannies in your smaller-sized kids’ bedroom.
6. Don’t place tall furniture near windows; this only blocks the natural light. Do place a low bookcase or, better yet, a chair or bench near the window; this adds both seating and storage below the windowsill.
7. While it may seem counter-intuitive, an oversized kids’ chair will help make the bedroom seem larger, taking advantage of scale and tricking the eye into perceiving the room as larger.
8. When it comes to wall art, try to focus on one wall in your kids’ bedroom; this will create a visual focal point without clutter and visual distraction. Try to reduce the number and amount of collections of kids’ decorative accessories; you can switch collections now seasonally or as your child’s interests change over time. This reduces visual clutter if you can get your child to agree to not displaying every collection at once!
9. A well-lit bedroom will seem more open and spacious than a dark room; augment the ceiling light fixture with a bedside table lamp, desk lamp, etc. to provide plenty of ambient and task lighting in your child’s bedroom. Use a layered window treatment, using a blind or shade to provide adequate privacy when needed and sheer curtains for a decorative touch that still lets in plenty of natural light when the shade or blind is raised.
10. Keep it simple; more than anything a small kids’ bedroom will suffer greatly if you try to overdo a theme, use too many colors and cram in just plain too much stuff. The trick to decorating any small space is to keep things simple and not over-decorate!

Similar to a traditional family room and oftentimes connected to the kitchen and eating areas, the great room in many modern homes is the most popular gathering place in the house. A great room is where the family spends time in the evening and on weekends, when it’s raining outside, where we get together to play board games, watch television and movies on DVD and entertain friends.

The great room should be a comfortable space to spend time. It is not generally a formal room, so the décor will often be casual and inviting. A fireplace or entertainment center makes the focal point in most great room layouts. Arrange seating to take best advantage of your focal point, with a large coffee table and small end tables with table lamps to set down drinks, books and other items.

Perhaps no room gets more regular use than the modern Great Room, which typically combines family room, eating area and kitchen into a single living space.

Since it is the centra living space, the theme of a great room should be in keeping with the overall style of your home, in this case modern. Photo by Related Midwest.

Great Room Design Elements and Themes

Use a consistent theme in your great room design. A more eclectic style works too. Photo by Posh Living, LLC

You need to pick a theme for your great Room. You wouldn’t write a story without a plot, and basically, when we decorate, we are telling a story about who lives there. Are you a nature lover, does your family love sports, are you very traditional, or do you like a very minimal room?

Once you have a theme, it’s a lot easier to pick and choose the elements in the room to create that feeling, and can save you a lot of money in mistakes when things don’t quite go together. An area for board games or cards is easily accommodated by adding a game table several chairs and some task lighting. Place a floor lamp to add ambient lighting.

Some great rooms will incorporate a window seat to take advantage of the natural light provided by large windows. You can place a bench, loveseat or settee beside the window if your great room does not have a built in window seat. Add a soft cushion or pillows to make this a comfortable reading place. An end table with lamp makes a good addition to any reading area.

The large space in your great room makes it an ideal place for tall house plants. Up lighting can add drama and color at night. You might also consider a writing desk to make space for your bill-paying center.

Great Room Color Scheme Considerations

Elegant and taseful, this great room design makes great use of warm tones contrasted by green walls. Photo by iStockPhoto.

Once you decide how you want to use the space in your great room, its time to pick a color palette. If you can see another room from your great room, its best to pull a color from the adjoining room into your great room décor to help the rooms flow together.

Theme is also an important element in color selection. A natural theme may incorporate earthy tones, while a nautical theme would incorporate blues and yellows. Focus on the largest area, usually the walls first. Painting is a quick way to transform your great room. Try painting several patches with variations of the colors and tones you think you like on just one wall and let it dry to be sure which one you like best before painting the entire room.

Faux finishes like sponge painting and ragging can add texture, giving your great room a rich feeling, and are very easy to learn. Decorative trim such as crown molding, a chair rail and upgraded baseboards will go a long way to making your great room more visually appealing and unique.

Window treatments are a critical piece of your great room decor. One issue to consider in a great room will typically be the sliding glass doors. With kids and dogs running in and out, you may want to forgo expensive vertical blinds. Under all that heavy use, the vanes start falling out and get permanently bent after being shut in the door a few hundred times and the whole treatment needs replacing soon thereafter.

Window Treatments, Furnishings and Accessories

Open beams and skylights give this great room a light and open feeling. Photo by QuintanaRoo.

Roll-up imitation wood blinds are an option, or if budget allows, real wood blinds work well. Fabric panels made from twin flat sheets are inexpensive, and if you don’t sew, you could use iron-on hem tape. Inexpensive wood dowels can be used as rods, and you can glue something decorative onto the end of the rod for finials.

Once your walls and windows squared away, its time to select furniture, which can be expensive. There are ways to make the most of your existing pieces, and looking for less expensive alternatives. Slipcovers can give an old, worn-out sofa a new look. Look for sales or check local consignment shops to find your best deals on furniture if your budget is tight.

Blanket throws can be cut from a yard of polar fleece fabric, which doesn’t fray, so no sewing is required; just cut some fringe and it’s ready to throw on the couch. Another budget-minded option is paint. Paint mismatched furniture all the same color or apply a faux finish to make things match, adding wood molding to create a shared theme for the pieces.

Lighting and Accessories for the Great Room

A view from above; this rustic great room feels warm and inviting. Photo by longmountainlodge.

Lighting is always important in the great room since so many different activities go on. Can lights or track lighting in the ceiling help provide overall ambient lighting, while pendant lamps or other hanging lamps add nice accent lighting. Floor and table lamps can be used to provide task lights in appropriate areas of the room.

Lastly, the fun is in accessorizing and really pulling together the theme for your great room. Start by selecting a few key items that you really like and then add items that complement these core accessories. Find inexpensive candles and put them in a nice bowl filled with stones or potpourri.

The great room will serve any family well, providing an inviting place to hang out indoors if you take the time to make it comfortable and inviting with these design and decorating ideas.

In cooler climates carpet is favored for its warmth and is used widely for anywhere that requires bright color and pattern, combined with a luxuriant quality. Carpet once was a luxury only for the better off, but with the invention of synthetic materials, carpets nowadays can be one of the cheapest and most practical flooring materials available.

Although the thought of laying carpet yourself may seem time consuming and difficult, if you really are interested, I have taught myself that it is entirely do-able for the do-it-yourselfer. If possible, find a friend with at least some experience to help you the first time. Choose a room that is relatively simple in shape and not too big for your first attempt!

If you dare to try it yourself, read on. If not, it is still worth understanding what is involved so that you’re prepared when you hire a pro to install new carpeting in your home.

Determining What Type of Carpet to Install

Before you get to the procedure for laying your carpet, it is important to determine what type of carpet you are working with. You have the choice of either woven-backed carpet or rubber-backed carpet. They each not only produce different results but also require a difference in the method to lay them correctly.

Woven-backed carpets are laid over a rubber or felt underpad which helps to even out irregularities in the subfloor and also makes the carpet feel softer and more substantial. Rubber feels softer underfoot but felt is more resilient and thus a good choice for an uneven floor or a carpet that needs stitching together. The drawback of woven-backed carpet is that it needs to be stretched carefully over gripper strips to fit the room. This could be difficult for the amateur who has never laid a carpet before so it should only be attempted if you have laid carpet in your home before.

Rubber-backed carpet is a cheaper than woven-backed carpet. It has a rubber backing bonded to the carpet so does not require a second underpad. The main advantage of rubber-backed carpet is that it does not need to be stretched over gripper strips so even the amateur can use the opportunity to practice their skills.

What You’ll Need to Lay Carpet

Many of the materials you’ll need to lay your carpet you should find you already will have.  The remaining materials you should easily be able to rent from a hardware store.

• Gripper strips
• Sharp utility knife or carpet shears
• Measuring tape
• Knee kicker
• Carpet stretcher
• Seam cutter, iron and tape
• Double-sided tape or liquid adhesive

Preparing the Space for New Carpet

I am writing these steps assuming that you are working in a fresh and clean space. If you aren’t, I’ll quickly state the obvious when it comes to removing an old carpet.

1. Give the old carpet a good vacuum before removing it to lessen the dust that will lift from it. You can then use a sharp utility knife to cut the carpet into manageable strips to make it easier to remove. Throw it all out!
2. Sometimes people are tempted to keep existing underpad but in the majority of cases they are worn beyond redemption so it’s best to get a fresh start to save on unnecessary extra work later. Lastly, strip all the old gripper strips from the perimeter of the room. Give the floor a good sweep out and take the opportunity to fasten any loose, noisy floorboards.
3. With the space cleared you can begin with the important preparation steps:
4. If you are working with a woven-backed carpet you need to begin by nailing gripper strips around the perimeter of the room, using a spacer to set them slightly away from the skirting (baseboard).
5. Go on to install the underpad, trimmed to butt up against the gripper strips. Tape pieces together as necessary, then staple the underpad to the floor at intervals.
6. If you are working with foam-backed carpet, firstly you need to put down a paper or cloth underpad on the floor the keep the foam from sticking to the floor. Tape it at the joins and staple it in place.
7. Put double-sided adhesive tape all around the perimeter of the room.

Basic Steps to Laying Your Own Carpet

1. Laying the Carpet: First step is the carpet needs to be laid out. Unroll the carpet and position it so it laps up the room walls about 4 to 6 inches. You can trim the edges roughly with a sharp utility knife and make cuts at external corners so that tongues of carpet will fit around them. Think ahead about where you want seams to go before you start cutting your carpet. This is where having assistance from a friend who’s done carpet-laying before is a huge advantage!
2. Seaming the Carpet: If the room is large you may need another piece of carpet to fill it. Overlap the extra piece on the seam where the pieces will join. Cut through the pieces with your utility knife so the pieces will match exactly. Lay adhesive seaming tape where the pieces bond and then apply pressure from a wallpaper seam roller to ensure a good bond.
3. Attaching the Carpet: Next the carpet needs to be attached. With a foam-backed carpet you needs to butt the edge of the carpet up against the longest straight wall in the room. Peel the backing paper off the tape and bed the edge into place. With a woven-backed carpet, press one edge of the carpet  onto the gripper strips using the ‘knee-kick’ tool to ensure that the angled teeth grip the carpet backing securely. Take the ‘toothed’ end of the knee-kicker and position it about 3” from the wall.  Push the padded end of the tool forcefully with your knee to drive the carpet over the tacks on the gripper strips. Cut off the excess carpet along the edge by running a sharp utility knife along the angle between the gripper strip and the skirting.
4. Stretching the Carpet: Now the carpet needs to be unrolled across the room. With foam-backed carpet, work the carpet across the floor to the opposite wall to ensure it is lying flat then trim that edge against the skirting and tape it down too. With woven-backed carpet there is an extra but essential step. First use the blade of the bolster to tuck the trimmed edge of the carpet into the angle between the carpet strip and skirting. After the carpet is attached to the gripper strips of two adjacent walls, you need to begin the stretching process. A carpet stretching tool makes this job very easy.  One end of the carpet stretcher is laid against the wall that the carpet is already attached to, and the other is set approximately 6” from the opposite wall. Grip the carpet in the ‘teeth’ of the tool and push the activation lever which will stretch the carpet to the opposite wall. Continue trimming the edges with your utility knife, tucking the cut edges into the perimeter gaps of the walls.
5. Finishing Up: Make release cuts at the internal and external corners. At the door frame and similar obstacles, trim the carpet to follow the contours of the obstacle as closely as possible and press it onto the gripper strips of adhesive strip.

Here are a couple of videos you may want to watch if you are considering trying to install carpet yourself:

Are you an expert carpet installer or do-it-yourselfer with experience? If so, please add your comments and advice for others to read!

Designing your own window treatments will save money and let you show off your own creativity!

There are many factors to consider when planning a window treatment. First of all, what effect do you want to achieve? Do you want the treatment to make a statement or quietly meld into the room, leaving the spotlight for another element of the décor? Is the room formal or casual? Do you want full-length drapery panels or only a cornice or shade? What is the sun exposure? Do you need to block light or drafts?

After you weigh all these factors, let your creativity soar and watch your beautiful window take shape because whether inherently beautiful or simply practical, a window’s shape, size and position adds a definite character to the internal architecture of a room.

Treatments for Standard Windows

Whether you live in a modern home with double-glazing, a Victorian terrace with small sash windows or a country cottage, you will probably have at least one standard or smaller window. Unlike other more dramatic window shapes, it is probably more important standard windows to have some form of window treatment, particularly with the more modern types, as they do not have a lot of character of their own.

A sense of scale is important when dealing with these modest windows, although if a window is out of proportion it can be adjusted using a wider track or longer length curtains, as long as the contrast is not too excessive. Quite often these windows are positioned with radiators underneath; making blinds the best solution both practically and proportionally. Other practical elements, such as whether the windows opens inwards or outwards, also need to be taken into consideration.

Be sure to measure for the type of window blinds or shades you plan to purchase. Inside or outside mount blinds, for example, require different measurements.

Some cottages have windows set into deep alcoves, while other houses have windows set very high; in these cases it may not be necessary to curtain them at all. If you have a beautiful view, and do not need privacy, the window can be turned into a decorative feature by painting the frame in a striking color. Of all the standard windows, sashes are perhaps the best proportioned, and they easily accept most forms of curtaining, blinds and shutters.

When deciding on window treatments for standard windows, remember that simple styles produce best results. Choose from Roman blinds, roller blinds or shutters or, if you prefer curtains, opt for smaller diameter poles, rather than tracks and pelmets, with headings that are not too deep. Keep fabrics light in color and weight to maximize the amount of light that comes in the room. A single curtain caught back to one side can make a prettier alternative to a pair of curtains.

Treatments for Tall Windows

Tall windows are highly desirable. They are particularly associated with Georgian architecture, a period which is remembered for its elegant proportions and interior decoration. Many modern homes also have tall windows, running from floor to ceiling or on stairwells.

In Georgian houses, tall windows are usually found on the first floor, where the formal reception rooms were situated, and they offer superb opportunities for window treatments, ranging from classical formal arrangements to simpler, more contemporary styles. One of the great charms of tall windows is that they let in a lot of light. Curtain designs should therefore concentrate their light-giving properties and not go for over-complicated styles that cover up the beauty of the windows.

If using curtains, don’t skimp on fabric; make sure they are generous, and scoop them back with tiebacks or Italian stringing, to allow plenty of light into the room. If you live in an older property which still has the original shutters, use a simple sheer drape, or top the shutters with a single pull-up blind. If using blinds with tall windows, set them within the recess to reveal the frame.

Tall windows present special challenges. Blinds or shades with remote control can help.

Unfortunately, not all tall windows conform to the Georgian proportions, and in such cases curtaining can be problematic. For rooms with low ceilings, curtains need to be designed so that they bring the eye down and away from the top of the window. Do this by using a deep pelmet, a valance, or curtains with tiebacks set down low.

Not all tall windows are floor-length as some have radiators set against the wall beneath them. However, these windows should still be dressed with full-length curtains for the best decorative effect.

Treatments for Extra Wide Windows

Wide windows need a different approach to window dressing. If placed in a good location, picture windows can be a striking feature that needs little embellishment. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, and some form of screening is often required for privacy during the day. Even if the view is beautiful, at night this will turn into a large black hole, so some form of window covering is desirable.

Another practical consideration is insulation. Vast areas of single sheet glass are not effective in retaining heat; double glazing can help, but curtaining offers an easy solution.

Wood shutters or window blinds can create an interesting play of light and shadow in your room.

Simplicity is the key to curtaining picture windows; avoid anything fussy like swags and tails which detract from the view. A single curtain hung simply from a plain pole or pelmet and stacked back to one side avoids the look of a pair of stage curtains. Alternatively, the clean lines of Roman or roller blinds make a good option; practically, however, picture windows often incorporate hinged or sliding doors, so blinds must be able to clear the window fully.

Wide windows made from several panes of glass can be dressed successfully with a series of blinds. These add interest to the window as they can be lowered to varying levels, breaking up the monotony of a continuous horizontal line. Sill-length curtains can be used on windows that are wider than they are high, although floor-length ones tend to work better by balancing proportions.

Plain fabrics work best on wide windows. Avoid small fussy prints which simply do not work over a large area. Instead, try something bolder and more flamboyant, whether an abstract or natural design, a geometric pattern or even stripes. If your view is unpleasant and daytime screening is required, keep it simple. Use a plain voile or muslin that diffuses the light and reduces the outlook to softened blur; lace fabrics here would be just too much.

Treatments for Awkward Windows

Many houses possess at least one unusually shaped or oddly positioned window. When it comes to deciding on a treatment for these windows there are no general rules to follow as each window needs to be looked at individually. These awkward windows add character to a home, so they need to be enhanced and not just covered up with a standard solution.

Awkward-shaped windows such as bay windows require extra thought. Here a set of roman shades allows flexible light control for a large bay window.

Bow and bay windows can vary greatly in size from simple alcoves to room-sized projections embracing a whole wall. Today there are tracks available that curve to fit directly into the bay, enabling you to treat the whole window as one unit, although deep bays may need individual blinds or curtains.

Arched or Palladian windows are often beautiful features in their own right. Luckily, circular windows are often small and do not necessarily need any covering at all. The best approach for arched windows is to use a fixed heading on curtains or blinds, shaped to fit the curve of the arch.

Casement windows are found in old cottages, recessed into thick walls. They tend to be small, and often open inwards. The most practical solution in this case may be curtains set outside the recess, so as not to obstruct the opening or restrict the light.

Dormer windows project from a roof line and have sloping sides. Roman or roller blinds work best for these windows, although special hinged rods can be bought for curtains to swing clear of the glass.

Skylights re often set on an angle in the rood. Roller blinds are the best solution for these. Any curtains and blinds used will have to be adapted to fit close to the slope, using poles, cords, rings or clips.

Truth and furniture are not words commonly used in the same sentence; there is no universal truth in terms of how best to arrange your living space for comfort, balance and harmony. But understanding some fundamental principles and practical tips can help you achieve the most comfortable and visually pleasing arrangements possible in your home’s living spaces.

Read on and learn the fundamentals of home furniture arrangement and tips on how to resolve the challenges of fitting everything into place like a pro.

Furniture Arrangement Challenges

Every home and floor plan has its unique furniture-arranging challenges. Rooms may be long and narrow or with odd nooks and crannies to fill, doors may swing into the way of furnishings, walls may be set at angles, all making it seemingly impossible to fit your furniture comfortably into the right spots. But there are ways to manage all these challenges effectively.

Arranging Living Spaces for Scale, Balance and Symmetry

Scale refers to the relationship of furnishings to each other and the space you are arranging. A space that is out of scale will feel out of sorts. For example if you place a very large sofa next to a tiny coffee table, the visual effect will subconsciously seem unbalanced.

Symmetry and asymmetry are also important in achieving a balanced and pleasing arrangement; if everything is entirely symmetrical, the room may seem restful, yet may lack visual impact. On the other hand, a completely asymmetrical arrangement can be jarring to the eye.

Balancing symmetry (i.e. a matched pair of sitting chairs) with asymmetry (i.e. two lamps of different heights) assures the space feels relaxing, yet also retains visual motion and impact.

Begin with a Blank Canvas

One trick interior designers use when starting a project is to treat a space as a blank canvas, the way an artist considers a new composition. Just as a painter creates a sense of depth and motion in a painting, the interior designer can use similar methods in laying out a room.

One such method is triangulation, in which elements are placed left and right in the lower part of a composition and converge at a point above the midpoint, drawing the eye into the scene.
Triangulation may be applied in arranging a room, for instance, by placing end tables on either side of a table and hanging artwork on the wall over the sofa, creating a triangular composition with the apex above the midpoint of the arrangement. This type of arrangement creates an aesthetically pleasing, balanced “vignette” within the overall composition of the room.

Create a Focal Point

Such an arrangement also creates a natural focal point in a room that may lack an architectural focal point such as a large picture window, fireplace, etc. Determining your room’s focal point is usually the best place to begin your arrangement.

In the living room the focal point may be the fireplace or conversation area, in the family room it may be a home entertainment center and in the bedroom it is typically the bed.
If your room does not have an architectural focal point, you will want to arrange furniture in order to create one; the above example makes use of an expanse of wall space to provide a visual focal point. Other examples include using a large area rug to create a focal point, around which a comfy conversation is created with the furniture arrangement.

You should place the largest piece of furniture in a room first:

• In a family room, the entertainment center is often the primary piece of furniture;
• In a dining room or eating area, the dining table;
• In a living room, a sofa;
• In a bedroom, the bed.

Think in Totality

You want to arrange your furniture with gestalt, or the principle of totality, in mind. For example, a large space may be divided, as is common in modern homes with great room spaces; the kitchen, eating space and entertainment areas each being part of an overall space, but also each having its own form as defined by it’s respective function.

Large, rectangular spaces tend to feel less comfortable, which is why dividing such a space with square furniture arrangements is typical in many interior design schemes. Often designers plan zones within a room, creating a more intimate, informal layout and maximizing use of the space that allows for various functions such as conversation areas, dining areas, etc.

Style is another aspect to consider in totality; for the most part you want the furniture in a given room to be of similar style, unless you are purposely trying to achieve an eclectic look.

Consider the Function of the Room

Obviously the function of any given space is crucial to the arrangement of furnishings. Ask yourself these kinds of questions:

• In the living room, is seating comfortable and arranged such that people are close enough to hear each other readily? Remember that noise levels will increase substantially when you have a larger gathering.
• Is there adequate table space to set glasses and food down if you plan to serve food when entertaining in the living room?
• Is the room lighting adequate to the tasks for which you will typically use the room or do you need additional table lamps to augment the ambient light level?
• In bedrooms, is there enough room for two people to get dressed at the same time?
• In the kitchen, can more than one person prepare food without getting in the way of the other?
• In an eating area or dining room, can people walk around the table without others needing to pull in their chairs to let them pass?

The Importance of Scale in Arranging Furniture

One mistake non-designers make when choosing furniture is to buy pieces that are out of scale … either to each other and/or to the room itself. For example; an overly large coffee table paired with a small sofa, end tables that are too small beside a large sofa, a bed that fills a bedroom from wall to wall, or a dining table that leaves no room for diners to maneuver around it.
When furnishings are out of scale the room feels somehow uncomfortable and out of balance. When you find a piece that is out of scale with the rest of the furniture in your room, its best to either move it elsewhere in the house, sell or store it.

Begin with Space Planning

To help plan your space start by measuring and doing some sketches to test various concepts and arrangements on paper or by using a computer design application. Your plans should include:

1. A traffic flow chart; spaces should allow freedom of movement and openness.
2. An overall floor plan; consider how your rooms connect and what functions each space needs to serve.
3. Room sketches; create multiple sketches of each space so that you can compare various furniture arrangement possibilities.
4. An inventory of existing furniture you wish to incorporate into your arrangement; use this to complete a gap analysis and determine what additional pieces are needed.

Additional Furniture Arrangement Tips

• Leave room entrances and exits clear and allow a clear walkway at least 3 feet wide so that people can pass through the room comfortably. Consider the “view” you will have as you enter a room.
• Try moving furniture away from the walls; don’t line all your furniture up against the walls or you’ll end up with something that looks like a doctor’s office waiting room. Remember to arrange pieces around your room’s focal point.
• Placing furniture on a diagonal can add interest and motion, helping break up an otherwise monotonous room layout; an armoire, for instance, placed diagonally can help disguise an awkward corner. Placing furniture at an angle can help the room appear larger and more complex and may improve traffic flow as well.
• Try moving the sofa out away from the wall, placing a long table behind it where you can arrange accessories.
• Vary the height and vertical lines of furniture to add depth and interest to your furniture arrangement.
• Avoid placing large furnishings in front of windows, where they may block natural light; low pieces that don’t block window light may be fine under windows. A bench or small chair under a window can provide a nice place to sit and enjoy the view outside!
• It should go without saying you never want to place furniture where it will prevent a door from opening and closing; a free and unobstructed traffic pattern is essential to any good furniture arrangement.

Are you tired of looking at your old kitchen cabinets, countertops and appliances? We all want a designer kitchen but with today’s economic woes the thought of spending $50,000 or more to remodel your kitchen may seem unthinkable.

Given today’s lower home resale prices, over-investing in a high end, custom designer kitchen may not make as much sense economically as it once appeared. Making wise choices now about how much to invest in home remodeling projects will ensure the best return on investment when you decide to sell your home later.

But with retailers and contractors offering deep discounts, now may be a great time to consider giving your kitchen an economy renovation! Read on and learn how to update your kitchen on a tight budget.

Why Invest in Kitchen Remodeling?

For homeowners planning to live in an older home for the next three to five years, minor kitchen upgrades now can provide a nicer place to live and, according to experts, typically return between 90% and 105% of the amount invested in terms of a home’s resale value.

Waiting for economic recovery to begin renovation will most likely mean you’ll pay more in the long run, as the price of appliances, materials and labor go back up … and you’ll be living with an outdated kitchen in the mean time.

Start by Setting a Reasonable Budget

Once you commit to updating your kitchen, start by setting a budget. If you only have $5,000 to spend, you’ll probably be looking at a facelift; repainting, possible refinishing cabinets and replacing the faucets. Remember, done wisely, even small changes can have a big impact.

If your budget is in the $15,000 range, you might consider replacing the countertops and replacing appliances such as the range and dishwasher. If you really push the limit and are able to do some or most of the work yourself, you could even replace kitchen cabinets.
In most cases, a complete kitchen remodel will still typically require a budget of $25,000 or more if you plan to take everything down to the studs and start fresh. But, by selecting less expensive materials and appliances, experienced do-it-yourself homeowners can pull off a complete kitchen renovation by shopping around for appliances, cabinets, flooring, etc. on a modest budget.

Consider Re-facing Kitchen Cabinet

When planning a minor kitchen upgrade, one major decision is whether or not you need to replace cabinets. If the existing cabinets are still serviceable, but just need a fresh look, refinishing or painting cabinets may be an option.

Changing cabinet doors, hinges and pulls can give a kitchen a completely new look. Ask a couple of local cabinetmakers for an evaluation to see what’s possible. While you don’t have a lot of options to change your kitchen’s layout with this approach, the decision to replace cabinets is a major factor in determining the scope and cost of the project.

If you do decide that your old cabinets are beyond fixing or you want to change the layout of your kitchen, you need to recognize that your budget needs will be significantly higher and be prepared to set your budget accordingly. In fact, many people end up putting off kitchen renovation simply because they can’t or do not want to keep their existing cabinets, eliminating the option of a low-cost facelift.

Pre-manufactured, modular kitchen cabinet systems can also help save money versus hiring a custom cabinet maker. Once you have decided new cabinets are a requirement, spending the time to do your homework and evaluate all your options will really impact your bottom line budget and how realistic the project will be relative to your budget constraints.

Affordable Kitchen Countertops

Surfaces take a real beating in the demanding kitchen environment, making natural stone the most popular choice when it comes to kitchen countertops. Granite is the toughest stone for kitchen surfaces, with marble being softer and somewhat less stain-resistant.
Limestone, slate, soapstone, and sandstone are softer, but can also cost less. However, unless you are remodeling a very small kitchen, natural stone countertops can really inflate the overall project budget, typically costing between $40 and $100 per square foot, installed.

Engineered stone is another option, typically made by combining crushed quartz with polymer resins to create a durable and attractive and nonporous surface. While it may save money versus high end granite or marble, engineered stone doesn’t really save a whole lot at between $45 and $90 per square foot, installed.

Ceramic tile is a great choice for the economy kitchen remodeling project; available in an almost endless range of colors, patterns, and styles, it can be installed by most experienced do-it-yourselfers. And, at $10 to $30 per square foot, installed, ceramic tile is a real cost-saver, especially in a kitchen with lots of countertop area!

Laminate is also a cost-effective option and is relatively easy to install, but typically scratches, stains and shows wear more than ceramic tile. Laminate (or post-formed) countertops run $10 to $30 per square foot, installed, so cost is typically about the same as for ceramic tile.

Kitchen Appliance Replacement Options

After cabinets and countertops, the most costly investment in most kitchen renovations will be appliances. But there are ways to keep the cost down when selecting and installing major appliances.

For instance, while every gourmet chef would love to have double ovens, a basic single gas oven, especially with an integrated range top, is one way to really keep the lid on your appliance budget. How much are you willing to sacrifice in order to complete your kitchen renovation within your budget constraints? And how often do you cook big meals that require dual ovens, convection, etc? Asking yourself these questions as you plan your kitchen project and then prioritizing needs can really help you make the best trade-offs and choices.

Tests show that there is relatively little difference in reliability between high end brands and models as compared to less expensive ones. You may not get all the bells and whistles or appliances with the designer/commercial kitchen look, but shop around for appliances and you can find some great deals these days! Also, ask about low or no-interest financing or delayed payment plans that could reduce your initial outlay, leaving more funds for other aspects of your kitchen project.

While you don’t want to skimp so much that you end up hating your oven, range, dishwasher or refrigerator, you also don’t want to over-invest in kitchen investments; it won’t add enough resale value to justify buying the most expensive models and unless cooking is really a passion, you probably won’t find yourself wishing you had paid more in the long run!

Saving Money on Kitchen Sinks and Faucets

From a performance standpoint, both functionally and in terms of durability, there is little difference between the various brands and price points available these days. Really, what you pay for when buying a high end sink or faucet will be style and uniqueness of design.

Stainless steel remains the most popular choices in kitchen sinks. But, there is not much difference between lower gauge and the thicker, more costly higher gauge models; most will resist dents, stains, scratches, and heat about the same. A basic stainless faucet will match your stainless sink nicely and costs far less than brushed nickel or other finishes.

Another great value if you don’t want the metallic look is an enameled cast-iron sink. The Kohler Smart Divide kitchen sink has a lower lip between the dual bowls, making it easy to wash large items.

Bowls in kitchen sink models range from 6 to 12 inches deep. A deeper bowl helps reduce splashing, but one that is too deep forces you to bend over more. Also, if you select an under-mounted kitchen sink, remember the drop-in will lower it by another inch-and-a-half.

The choice is clear when selecting a sink and faucet; you can keep your budget down by selecting basic, functional models made with quality materials and avoiding the designer models made with higher cost finishes. Really, if you spend $500 on your faucet, it will make almost no difference in terms of your home’s resale value than a basic stainless steel model!

Affordable Kitchen Flooring Options

When it comes to affordable flooring, the good news is that less expensive materials can often a better choice for the rigors of kitchen wear and tear than more costly materials!

Solid wood flooring is known for natural warmth and may be a great choice in high-end designer kitchens, but it is costly to install, can discolor, is easily dented and wears quickly. And, at $7 to $12 per square foot, installed, it is not the most economical choice.

Engineered wood or bamboo flooring is easier to install than solid wood since it is typically nailed, stapled or glued in place, or else floated, without fasteners. However, it can dent and show stains and spills more than other flooring materials. At $5 to $10 per square foot, installed, it is an economical choice; if you install it yourself you can save even more.

Ceramic tile is typically resistant to wear, moisture, scratches, dents, and stains. However, since it is very flooring hard surface, you should be prepared for dishes to break if dropped! Labor intensive to lay and grout; prices range from $8 to $15 per square foot, making ceramic tile a less economic choice for kitchen flooring.

Plastic laminate flooring may be one of the most affordable options; it can be floated without using glue or fasteners and wears better than most wood flooring products, resisting dents, scratches and UV fading. While it can’t be refinished and may be damaged by some types of liquid spills, at $4 to $8 per square foot, installed, plastic laminate flooring looks great and helps keep the budget in line.

Vinyl flooring is stain and UV fade-resistant, easy to install and long wearing. Today’s vinyl flooring products can reasonably imitate the look of stone or other natural materials, although a vinyl floor is not likely to help your new kitchen win designer awards. But, at Price $3 to $7 per square foot, installed, it is an affordable kitchen flooring option worth considering.

While linoleum is available in many styles and colors today, it is not as long wearing as the plastic laminate products and will run you $4 to $9 per square foot, installed.

Summary: Making Smart Kitchen renovation Choices

While many people are choosing not to make home renovations in the current economic situation and given the current decline in home resale prices, remember that everything is cyclical. For homeowners willing to accept some risk in the short term, having a new kitchen they enjoy and adding long term value to their home still makes a lot of sense.

Everything is a buyer’s market right now, so smart homeowners will strike while the iron is hot, getting a great deal on the new kitchen of their dreams by making wise decisions, setting and sticking to a reasonable budget and knowing they are making a long term investment in their home!

Learn how to lay your own terracotta tiles and give your home interior the rustic look of Tuscany.

Unglazed and softer than other types of tile, terracotta is made from extruded or hand-formed clay. It comes available in a number of shapes and sizes, from small hexagons to large squares.

The colors range from dusky ochres to oranges through to reds. Part of the charm of terracotta is precisely this color variation, within each tile and from tile to tile, as well as the textural variations of the surface.

Adhesive for Terracotta Tiles

Larger and heavier than ceramic tiles, terracotta tiles need a thicker adhesive bed, especially if the tiles are handmade and vary in thickness, or if they have bowed during manufacture. The method described here can be used for other types of tile such as quarry or slate, the thick adhesive bed being used to absorb any difference in tile thickness.

Although a sand-and-cement mix can be used for many heavy tiles, it is not really suitable for terracotta tiles. Because they are very porous, they may react with the cement to cause efflorescence - when the soluble salts come to the surface as a white stain.

Use a thick-bed adhesive, which can be applied at any thickness from 5mm to 2.3cm (¼ to 1in). Thick-bed adhesive can be happily used on an uneven floor base and dries very quickly, in some cases enabling tiling and grouting to be carried out on the same day.

Laying Terracotta Tiles

1. Start in the furthest corner, having located the center point and adjusted it, and having marked up a grid which will help to keep you straight.
2. Mix up the tile adhesive according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Some types of thick-bed adhesive are simply poured onto the floor and spread out to an even level with an appropriate type of spreader, and then the tiles are laid straight onto it. Other types of adhesive require the back of the tile to be buttered with adhesive as well. Handmade tiles may vary slightly in size and thickness, so apply more adhesive to the backs of thinner tiles and allow a wide gap, approximately 12mm (½in), between the tiles. Any variations in size will be taken up within the joints.
3. Use a spirit level, check regularly that the tiles you have laid are level, and certainly after each grid block.
4. Once the central area of the floor is finished, fill the border.

Cutting Terracotta Tiles

1. The easiest way to cut terracotta tiles is with an angle grinder fitted with a stone-cutting wheel.
2. Cut a groove into the tile to two thirds of the tile’s depth and then snap it in two.
3. The cutter will, if required, cut or grind through the whole thickness of the tile - useful for cutting awkward shapes out of a tile to go round pipes and other obstructions.

Sealing Terracotta Tiles

1. Terracotta and quarry tiles are very porous and must be sealed before you add grouting in order to provide a hard-wearing and easy-to-clean surface.
2. Ensure the surfaces of the tiles are free from dust and any traces of tile adhesive.
3. Brush one coat of boiled linseed oil over the tiles with a brush or short-haired paint roller. It is important to apply an even coat to avoid the risk of streaking. The oil will soak into the tile, the surface losing its gloss 2-10 minutes after application. If it appears more matt in less time than that, apply the oil more liberally.
4. Allow the sealer to dry and then grout. A second coat of sealer should be applied after grouting.

Grouting Terracotta Tiles

1. Grout terracotta tiles with a grout that is suitable for wide joints; porous tiles are grouted using a pointing method rather than by simply spreading the grout over the surface as you would for ceramic tiles.
2. Fill the joints using a pointing trowel, and avoid spilling any of the grout onto the surface of the tiles.
3. Finish the grout by making it slightly concave; bend a round metal pipe into a convenient shape and use that.
4. Some times of handmade tiles benefit from ‘slurry grouting’ - a technique which fills in all the pits and dents to create an antiqued appearance.
5. Mix up the grout to a creamy consistency and grout as you would with ceramic tiles, ensuring that the grout fills all the crevices.
6. Clean the excess grout off the surface with a damp sponge.

Finishing and Care of Your Terracotta Tile Floor

1. Apply a second coat of seal once the grout has thoroughly dried, using oil more sparingly than before as the tiles will be less porous. Any excess oil that does not soak in after 20 minutes should be cleaned from the surface of the tile.
2. After the oil has had time to soak into the tiles fully, which usually takes a few hours or overnight, the tiles can be waxed.
3. Use a propriety floor wax and wax the floor twice. The new floor should then be waxed once a week for the following month in order to build up a smooth and hard-wearing surface, yet mellow surface.

Learn to install your own ceramic floor tiles. Grouting is the final step.

Ceramic floor tiles are made from a dust-pressed clay that is fired at high temperatures. Fully vitrified ceramic tiles are the most waterproof of all tiles, making them perfect for the wettest areas such as bathrooms. Ceramic floor tiles are not glazed; glazed tiles are normally too slippery unless the glaze has a roughened surface.

They may have decorative patterns or little studs on the surface for textural variation and slip resistance. Oxides, added during the manufacturing process, give these tiles the widest range of colors of any unglazed tile. including plain white.

Ceramic tiles are thinner than quarry or terracotta tile and their uniform thickness enables trouble-free installation. They can, if you prefer, be polished to give a more glamorous look.

What You’ll Need

• For any ceramic tiling job, large or small, the materials you require are the same:
• A notched adhesive spreader
• Tile spacers
• Grout plus a flexible spreader
• Tape measure
• Tile cutter, saw, and file
• Pencil or felt tip pen
• Sponges or cloths for wiping

Laying Ceramic Floor Tiles

1. Before you begin, it is essential you set out the tiles in the room to check you won’t have any problems. Then you can begin laying:
2. Mix up the tile adhesive according to the manufacturer’s instructions. You can add any special additives for greater flexibility if you are covering a wood floor. Tile adhesive has a limited pot life, about 20 minutes, so do not mix up more than you will realistically be able to use in your time available.
3. Lay your first tile in the corner furthest from the door. In order accurately to position this tile, dry-lay a line of tiles from the centre line, and then draw a line at right angles to the centre line along the far edge of the whole tile at right angles to your guideline. Providing this line is parallel to the centre line the last tile you dry-laid is your ‘first tile’.
4. Only spread the adhesive over an area of approximately 1sq m (1sq yd) at a time. Using the recommended side of a notched spreader or trowel, apply the adhesive to the correct depth, normally approximately 3mm (⅛in). Depending on the adhesive being used, it may be necessary to butter the back of the tile with adhesive as well.
5. Press the tile into position with a slight twisting motion. It is important to bed the tile into the adhesive without any air gaps. For neat and even joints, usually 6-12mm (¼-½in.), use plastic spaces between the tiles.
6. Continue laying the tiles in the first marked square, checking the tiles are level with a spirit level and straight edge. You need to work fast, as you have a very limited amount of time to reposition any tiles that are incorrectly laid. If any adhesive gets on the surface of a tile clean it off immediately with a damp cloth; ensure too that the joints are adhesive-free.
7. When the first grid box has been laid, apply adhesive to the second and continue laying tiles along the far wall. Then complete the second row of squares and continue laying the tiles in rows of boxes, working towards the door. Allow the tile adhesive to dry thoroughly before walking on the tiles. Conventional adhesives usually need at least 24 hours although fast-setting adhesives can take only a few hours.

It will probably be necessary to cut tiles around the edges of the room to fit; if you lay the tiles on the diagonal, you will need to cut at least one in every two tiles. Ceramic tiles can be cut using a tile-cutting jig.

To determine where to cut a border tile:

1. Place a whole tile over the last laid whole tile.
2. To allow for a grout, place a tile on its side between this tile and the wall and place another tile up against it.
3. Mark the middle tile with a soft pencil where the tile above it ends.
4. Place the tile in the jig and cut along the marked line.
5. Butter the back of the cut tile and press into position. Continue until all the border tiles have been laid, leaving the four corners until last in order to cut them accurately.

Grouting Ceramic Tile

When all the tiles have been laid and the adhesive is dry, fill the tile joints with a tile grout suitable for floors. Conventional grout is a powder mixed with water according to the manufacturer’s instructions. It is available in colors ranging from off-white to dark grey. For tiles laid over wood floors, remember to mix in a flexible additive.

For food-preparation areas an epoxy grout is a good idea because it is extremely hard and easily cleaned. Epoxy grout consists of two components that are mixed together, and then a powder filler is added to bulk it out.

1. Pour the grout onto the surface and spread it into the joints with the aid of a rubber squeegee, working on small areas at a time.
2. After 15 minutes, clean any excess grout off the surface with a damp cloth.
3. Once the grout has hardened sufficiently, polish the tiles with a clean, dry cloth.

Learning to install a tile floor is not that hard for the do-it-yourselfer. Getting the layout right is probably the most challenging part.

Of all the hard-surface flooring materials available, tile, whether ceramic or natural stone, is one of the most popular in the modern home.

Tile is most commonly used in kitchens and bathrooms, where ease of cleaning is at a premium, but you could also use tile in the entry and, especially in warmer climates, tile may be used throughout the home.

Due to a range of manufacturing processes floor tiles offer a wide range of practical hard-wearing products suitable for domestic situations.

The ranges of colors and textures available, ease of cleaning as well as the ease of which the do-it-yourselfer can install them with, tiles are a very practical option when considering a hard-flooring material for your home décor design.

While many people would not consider trying to install their own tile flooring, the steps are actually quite easy to learn and aside from a tile cutter or wet saw to cut tiles, even the tools needed are fairly minimal. As with any home project it is essential to spend a little time and care on setting things out before you start to tile your floor if you are to prevent problems.

Measuring the Floor Space to be Tiled

Ordering the right amount of material is vital to ensure that there is sufficient to finish the job neatly as well as to compensate for inevitable wastage from mistakes and breakages. Take your time; double-check measurements and sums; and you will probably save both time and money.

It is always worth taking an accurate plan of your room to your supplier, who will know the best way to save material – particularly in awkwardly shaped rooms. However, rooms with square or rectangular walls without any interruptions along them are easy to measure. To calculate the area, simply measure the width and depth of the room and multiply one figure by the other; this is the number of square feet or meters to be covered.

Most areas have various obstacles: built-in cupboards, chimney breasts and alcoves. In order to include these in your estimate:

1. First measure the width and depth of the unobstructed rectangle forming the room’s central part, and calculate that area.
2. Then measure the width and depth of every recess and add these together to calculate the total area occupied by these recesses.
3. Finally add this first figure to calculate the actual area of floor space to be covered in square feet or meters.

Estimating Tile Flooring Materials

Estimate how many of your tiles are required per square foot or meter and multiply that number by the number of square feet or meters in the room. Remember that you will have to cut tiles to fit at the edges. Estimate the number of extra tiles you will need by allowing enough to tile one additional strip along half the walls and then add a few more in case of breakages.

With larger, more expensive tiles it may be worth calculating if off-cuts can be used to prevent waste. Your final figure will have to be rounded up; tiles are supplied in boxes so you will probably have tiles left over.

Ask your supplier if unused materials can be returned for a refund; typically you will want to over-estimate so that you don’t have to order additional materials or make multiple trips to the home improvement center or supplier. On the other hand, you don’t want to end up with too much material left over other than a few tiles you might want to keep on hand in case repairs are needed down the road.

Planning Your Floor Tile Layout

It is essential to spend time on carefully laying things out before you start to tile the floor if you are to prevent problems. Tiles must not be allowed to go out of square, otherwise they will simply not fit together, and you must avoid ending up with an annoying little thin strip of tiles against the last wall.

The process for setting out your tiles is slightly different depending on the shape and style of the room. We will set it out in three sections: A regular room, an irregular room and how to set tiles with a border.

Laying out Tile for in a Regular-Shaped Room

1. Measure along the two opposite shortest walls to find the midpoint of each and join these two marks together with a chalk line. Measure and mark 1 yard (36”) or 1 meter (39”) along this center line on each side of the middle point. Measure 1 yard (36”) or 1 meter (39”) from the center point at an estimated 90-degree angle. Measure the two diagonal lines between the marks on either side of the middle point and the 90-degree marks top and bottom, and adjust the latter’s position until these two diagonals both measure 1.415m (55¾ in).
2. You now have an angle of 90 degrees at the top and bottom. A straight line from these points to the middle of the center line will meet the center line at 90 degrees. The diagonals can serve as guidelines for laying tiles diagonally at 45 degrees to the walls.
3. Use the chalk line to join the midpoint of the center line with the 90-degree mark and extend this line across the full width of the room to mark the shorter center line.
4. From these two lines, dry-lay a line of tiles up to each edge of the room to check that you will not be left with a thin strip of tiles at any point. If this happens, adjust the center lines by half a tile’s width to leave a decent border of tiles.
5. To ensure that all the tiles are laid without going out of square, it is best to divide up the entire floor into a series of boxes of approx 1 sq m (1 sq yd), starting from the two center lines. The exact size of the ‘boxes’ will obviously be determined by the size of your chosen tiles.
6. When laying ceramic or quarry tiles remember to allow for the grout: about 6mm (¼in) for the smaller tiles and up to 10mm (⅜in) for larger tiles.

Laying out Tile for in an Irregular-Shaped Room

The principle for setting out an irregular room is the same as for a regular room except that you work from the longest and straightest wall. Adjust the position of the center line so that a series of whole tiles can run from it to the longest wall. If the room is very out of square the final line of tiles (opposite the long, straight wall) will be cut at an angle and will vary considerably in their final size, but visually this is acceptable.

If the room is only slightly out of square you may find that you end up with a thin sliver of tiles that gradually diminish as the room narrows. If this is the case, you should adjust the center line by half a tile, so that you are basically working with half-tiles at the edge.

In rooms that are very irregular and have no obvious long wall, where to start to tile is really a matter of personal judgement. It is important to identify a feature in the room (a door, for instance) and align the tiles so that they run parallel to it.

If the room has a dominant feature, such as a range of kitchen units that are set out in a U-shape, run the center line through the ‘U’ to bisect it. Provided the center lines are at 90-degrees to each other, the tiles will always be square.

Laying Out Flooring Tiles with a Border

It is necessary to measure from the walls to establish the grid, but adjust the final position of the grid so that there is space for a border all the way around the room.

Either adjust the grid so that there are whole tiles laying against the border on two of the walls, or center the grid right in the middle of the room and cut all the tiles against the border all the way around the room, provided the cut tiles do not end up being too narrow.

Tile the center area first and finish by tiling the border. Tiles that are laid diagonally should be finished with a border that runs parallel to the walls.

No matter what, always dry-lay your tiles out first to check that your layout is going to work and that your cuts are on the mark where needed to fit odd shapes and spaces as needed.

It has been a little over a year now since we developed the current RafterTales home improvement and decorating blog, we have posted almost 400 articles during that time. Looking back at the content we have published, it is fun to look back and see which articles have been most popular with our readers; it seems most of the hot topics relate to home decorating and interior design.

Probably this is not all that surprising since we all want to make our homes more appealing, comfortable and a reflection of our own tastes and lifestyles. And not all of us have the skills, time or inclination to take on projects like major renovation or remodeling projects. But owning a home can be stressful and entails hidden costs and unforeseen problems that you will want to consider if you are considering purchasing a home or moving up to a larger, more expensive dwelling! While decorating is more fun than maintenance, I want to share with you a few of my own 2008 experiences with home maintenance and repairs.

Is Your Home an Investment or Primarily a Roof Over Your Head?

The last year of turmoil in the housing and financial markets has certainly caused many people to re-examine the benefits and reasons to own a home. For one thing, the rapid downturn in average home prices and crippled home lending institutions has made home ownership a trap for many people. It is a harsh reminder that residential real estate is not always a liquid investment vehicle. We bought our first home in 1994, at the end of the last significant U.S. real estate downturn.

By 2000 our humble 1970s California ranch home had more than doubled in value and we were able to sell it in less than 30 days, reinvesting our windfall equity gain in a brand new home. What fun it was to design and specify flooring, kitchen appliances, paint and interior design details and watch our new home being framed and built from the ground up!
In 2005 we made the decision to leave California and move north to Oregon. We were able to sell our larger, upgraded California home in 2005 for almost twice what we had paid only 5 years previously and it took only 4 days to sell! What a difference 5 years makes; homes in California are now selling for an average of 30% less than only a year ago … assuming you can even sell a home at all in the midst of the current credit crisis.

While it seems counter-intuitive to what many of our generation has viewed as the single greatest investment we might make in our lifetimes (to own a home and live the American Dream), if you look at the facts of history, home appreciation averages about 3% annually over the long haul, while stocks typically return closer to 10% per year over a very long time frame. The last 10 to 15 years of 10% and higher appreciation in home prices may turn out to look like a complete anomaly in a historical perspective.

Leaky Roof? Broken Heater? Keeping your home in tip top shape often involved unexpected repair expenses. Photo by A guy with A camera.

Plan for Unexpected Home Repair Costs

When we moved to Oregon in 2005 we bought a home that was less than two years old. Unlike moving into a brand new home, where things like landscaping, window coverings and the like are needed; our thought process was that we could just move in since the previous owners had already taken care of those things. And that plan worked perfectly; we just moved into the like-new home without having to invest much in decorating, landscaping and the like.

But, like so many aspects of 2008, our now-five-year-old home had a few unpleasant, and costly, experiences in store! Having decided to move to Oregon, undoubtedly, we live in a “wet state”. That means that the roof, exterior siding, doors and windows take a real beating.

In March, heavy rain and wind storms caused leaks in two of our home’s French doors, both of which have a southwesterly exposure and are placed nearly on top of one another; one in our master bedroom on the top floor and the other in our Great Room just below. Unfortunately, the doors the builder installed were not up to the constant rain and moisture during an extended storm began to cause leaks in the ceiling on both the main floor and in our daylight basement below.

The good news is that homeowner’s insurance covered the cost of repairing the damage. The bad news is that the builder went bankrupt and we had to cover the cost of replacing the French doors with sliders that could withstand the wind and rain. That was almost a $10,000 set back for which we really had not planned. Our homeowner’s insurance covered the cost of sheetrock repair and repainting, which came to another $7,500.

Do Home Repair Problems Come Three at at Time?

It took from March until September for all these repairs to be completed and we thought our home was ready for this winter; we did HVAC maintenance, cleaned roof gutters, had the roof inspected and other preparations for winter were all complete.

Then, two weeks before Christmas, Portland was hit by the worst snow storms in 40 years, with temperatures getting down into the teens. While opening the garage door one cold morning, one of the torsion springs snapped, leaving both our cars trapped inside the garage with the 600-pound two-car carriage garage door unable to open. You’d think that a garage door spring would last more than 5 years, but it turns out that on average these springs (which cost about $20 each) are good for about 10,000 cycles.

Now I’m handy enough with tools and have completed many projects over the years with help from friends, from landscaping to replacing doors, texturing and painting walls, etc. But I have no idea how to disassemble and install new torsion springs on a garage door so we had to call a company in to perform the repairs. Turns out the bearings and rollers also needed repair, so the total bill came to almost $700. Merry Christmas!

Well the snow finally melted as the storms driving down from the northeast have given way to the predominately southwesterly storm patterns. Since Christmas it has rained almost every day, which is typical for the Portland, Oregon metro area this time of year. So anyway, last night (New Year’s Day) my wife and I were in bed. The wind and rain were heavy and we woke up to discover a leak in the ceiling in our master bedroom. Happy New Year! I’ll update the site as things unfold with this latest mishap. If bad things really do happen three at a time, then hopefully we will not have major home repairs for 2009 … but I’m not holding my breath.

Looking Ahead to 2009 on RafterTales

Anyway, I don’t mean to dwell on the pitfalls of home ownership and unforeseen repair issues too much, but merely to share my own experience with others who may not yet have faced the unexpected costs and periodic problems that come with home ownership. Be prepared and plan for these types of things. Be sure to perform regular maintenance on your home’s roof, doors and windows, HVAC system, etc.

In 2009, we will focus more on preventative maintenance to help avoid problems in the first place. We will also focus on what to do when the roof leaks, the garage door breaks or the water heater stops working. We’ll also continue to write about home decorating and home improvement of course, but in the New Year, as we all look to cut costs and weather out the current economic storm, we’ll try and give you more information and tips on home maintenance as well. Happy New Year to you and we wish you all the best in your home ownership journey.

Light is a key component to a room as it can effect and change the appearance of it, so a centre piece to any room is the window. Therefore, it should look as good as the rest of the room, blinds can do just this.

Blinds are very common in both traditional and modern homes and come in a range of colors and styles designed for all types of windows whether they be large, small or sliding glass doors.

Most commonly used for sliding glass doors or tall windows, the vertical blind is highly beneficial. They are fairly inexpensive and come in a wide range of styles and colors to fit with any theme.

They are easily managed and cared for because they are made up of vinyl vanes. They are fitted using an easy to attach bracket so installation is quick and simple, the vinyl vanes can also be cut to fit the size of a window perfectly.

However, the true benefit of vertical blinds is that they allow superior light control.

Unlike other blinds, the vertical blind opens horizontally as oppose to opening vertically. When fully open they let in a lot of light which is great for making a room feel light and airy. When the blind is closed it blocks out light which can make a room feel cosy at night. They also tilt to adjust the amount of light you desire in a room.

The vertical blind is a great addition to a large or small room!

Source: Blinds

White and red make bold accent colors for any Christmas tree.

It is a thrilling moment when the Christmas tree is set up, for it is the centerpiece of the home Christmas celebration. Yet, every year life seems to become more and more hectic, time begins to run out on the countdown to Christmas and you may not have given any thought as to how you intend to dress and display your Christmas tree.

Never fear, our Christmas tree decoration guide covers all the necessary considerations from choosing the type of tree you want, to fresh decorating ideas and reminders of how to look after it.

Selecting Your Christmas Tree

Finding the Perfect Christmas Tree begins a quest for some of us. Others prefer a simpler approach. You may already have an artificial tree in which case you don’t need to consider this point. If you are a traditionalist and prefer a live tree, there are several options for you to choose from. If you have the time, you might want to plan ahead a visit a specialist grower or tree farm to select and cut your own special tree.

Christmas tree growers typically offer you to choose from several species of Christmas tree in a huge variety of sizes from 2ft to 10- 12ft. You will also be able to stand back and inspect the tree’s shape, form and color before making your final choice.
If you don’t have time for this, you will probably have to buy a tree from a high street shop or street seller. To help you with your decision, check out our detailed Christmas Tree Guide to find out about the different types of Christmas tree.

Caring For Your Christmas Tree

Remember to water the tree if at all possible. It was once a living thing and its sap will only nourish it for a short time. Many Christmas tree outlets sell purpose-made tree stands, which hold water, where the tree trunk can be clamped between “teeth” by standing on a pedal or lever.

Candy canes are always a favorite, tasty and inexpensive feature on a family Christmas tree.

Container Options for Your Christmas Tree

Toddlers are fascinated by the lights and glittering decorations as well as animals, so it is as well to consider how the tree is contained. You don’t have to be boring. We’ve got some imaginative ideas to help you mask the inevitable soil- or stone-filled bucket with something other than a last minute piece of crêpe paper.

• Seasonal colored cloth - Drape a large tall basket with seasonal red and white thick colored cloth in a swaged fashion and knot it on the side; a very effective look that only takes minutes to achieve.
• Jute hessian - Use jute hessian to cover an old bucket. The lovely earthy color and natural fibers combine wonderfully with the tassel from a curtain tie-back that also can be found made in jute. Twist a long narrow strip of hessian around the top of the bucket or use anything in the same color, such as a clothes line made from natural fibers or a short piece of rope would be just as attractive.
• White and gold paper - On any suitable tree container, even an old coal holder, wrap good-quality, thick white paper to cover the surface. Pretty it up with a wide, wire-edged white and gold ribbon tied in an attractive bow.
• Terracotta - Use a sizeable garden urn made from plastic but with a convincing terracotta finish. Make sure it’s large enough to disguise whatever packing you need to use to anchor the tree.
• Enamel tin - An old enameled bread tin, painted in sage green and white, is perfect for a smaller tree. A checkered effect looks great in a contemporary setting.

Christmas Tree Decorations

Once you have the Christmas tree lights untangled, tested and placed on the tree, it’s time to focus on the decorating elements. In part this always depends on your existing store of ornaments, but you can also mix things up with different garland, ribbons, a new tree topper, homemade ornaments, etc.

Christmas decorations are now big business and it’s no longer a seasonal trade; some Christmas shops stay open all year round. So there’s every opportunity to build up a treasured collection of glittery baubles and other trinkets. Once you’ve amassed many different tree decorations, you can play it two ways.

Either mix and match baubles, stuffed and embroidered shapes, beaded decorations for an eclectic, global look. Alternatively, choose a theme each year and use just part of your collection. A single color could be a starting point, or you might choose a particular shape or motif as the basis for a decorating theme.

Baubles, beading and tinsel are only the starting point for a collection of Christmas decorations. More and more ornaments come onto the market each year, allowing you to add to your treasure chest of decorations. Look out for unusual wooden figures, paper ornaments and other novel decorations at Christmas craft markets and fairs: a great many are made in Eastern Europe, though some come from as far away as Sri Lanka, India and Japan.

XMAS Tree Decorating Themes

Today’s Christmas tree can be dressed in so many ways. Some like to hang a diverse assortment of ornaments, glass balls, jolly Santa Claus figures, felt mice, and yards of colored lights, all collected over the years.

Others prefer to restrict their decorations to a particular theme, embellishing the tree with only white paper doves, shiny foil fans, or beach-gathered shells; these trees are especially elegant and sophisticated even when the ornaments are simple paper cutouts.

The purists may forgo any adornment at all. To them, the sweet spicy scent of the pine boughs and their velvety green beauty are adornment enough. However you choose to decorate it, the Christmas tree is a wonder and delight to look forward to every year. Here are some ideas:

An all gold or silver tree is elegant. Here pewter is used to give a warm sheen to the Christmas tree and setting.

• Traditional Tree - A traditional-style Christmas tree can take plenty of decorations, but resist the urge to overdo things or you will conceal the shape and color of the tree itself. Think along the lines of baubles in three different sizes but the same shade of rich scarlet. Supplement them with tiny white crackers, fairy lights and the occasional discreet sparkle of gold.
• Bows - For an elegant, festive and very subtle look simply tie shimmering ribbons in large double bows. A very effective look on a smaller Douglas fir tree in a country setting.
• Gold and Silver - Gold and silver can make a shimmering spectacle beautifully suited in modernist styled surroundings. Adorn the tree in plenty of fairy lights to set of the sparkle of the ornaments. Look for gigantic silver and glass ornaments such as silver stars, glass globes and crystal icicles. Match it evenly with anything gold like large golden pears and golden baubles.
• Natural Ornaments - Nature is a limitless source of Christmas ornaments: Thistles, yarrow, ram’s horns, spiral tops, lotus pods, shells, dried leaves and cane fruit can be sprayed gold or silver and transformed into lusty sculptures. You can make natural-looking decorations also wrapping hops and honey suckle vines into small circular shapes. Be inspired by your kitchen too! Dry cut oranges, lemons or pink ruby grapefruit in an oven for 1 ½ hours at 250degree Fahrenheit. You can also cook some cookies and hang them on ribbon for a tasty treat on Christmas day.

Last year’s story Make Your Own Christmas Wreath was so popular we decided to bring you some more creative Christmas wreath ideas. Through the ages wreaths have been symbols of peace, victory, and celebration. What better time is there than the Christmas season to preserve this tradition through the making and displaying of a holiday wreath?

The Typical Christmas Wreath

The typical Christmas wreath is made of sweet-smelling balsam evergreen branches in a circle bedecked with a big bright red ribbon tied in a bountiful bow, however, the essence of a wreath is in its shape, not the materials. Therefore, what makes a wreath for Christmas can be concocted of any materials that relate in some way, no matter how remote, to the joyful Christmas season.

The most obvious materials are those colored green and red but certainly not limited to these. Cone-and-nut wreaths and dried-flower wreaths are both popular variations. Miniature toys of any color and shape can be placed on a wreath to relate it to Christmas and also evoke the fun and anticipation of the season.

With our suggestions and a dash of your own imagination, you can make a striking, fun and unique wreath this Christmas; a creation to brighten your home throughout the holidays.

Classic Evergreen Christmas Wreaths

Red bow and evergreen boughs make for an elegant, classic Christmas Wreath.

The evergreen Christmas wreath is the most traditional of all Christmas wreath designs and the most popular evergreen for this wreath is the balsam fir. This short-needle, compact branch is sturdy, long-lasting, and exudes a delightful woodsy fragrance, adding a dimension to a wreath not available with most other evergreens. It can be combined with fruits, berries or other accessories but for the most classic Christmas version keep it sparsely adorned.

1. Start by snipping the branches to five- to eight-inch long cuttings.
2. Gathering three or four branches at a time, place them one on top of each other on a wire wreath ring then wrap the wire very tightly around the grouped bottom ends of the branches. You may want to use florist tape for extra hold.
3. Twist the wire to hold the branches tight and then cut off the spool with the wire cutter.
4. Simply continue your way around the ring with groupings of evergreen cuttings so that the new bunch partially overlap the previous bunch.
5. Make sure you arrange the cuttings so that the center of the wreath remains an uncluttered space. Your want your wreath to be big enough to accommodate your evergreen. Do this by angling the branches outward as you go around the ring and trim any wayward branches to keep it symmetrical.

Being the most classic Christmas wreath it doesn’t need lots of embellishment to reflect the holiday season. If you want to stick with a traditional look, a large red satiny bow is essential. If the wreath is hanging outdoors you can heap some fresh snow amongst the boughs. Other options are a simple ring of wild rose hips in circling the center ring or some cones and small bunches of berries.

Change the look more by substituting the materials. Try elegant mountain laurel or if your lucky to live in moist terrain, some beautiful American holly.

Cone and Nut Christmas Wreaths

Unlike evergreen wreaths that can dry out in a season, cone-and-nut wreaths can last generations in a family and become part of your annual Christmas decorating finishing touches.

You can collect your own fallen cones and nuts from the woods or orchards but make sure you treat them properly first. Swirl them in a bucket of water to remove any dirt and sand then lay them on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 200-degrees Fahrenheit to melt the resin and pitch and kill any insects hidden inside. Next, it is advisable to alter the shape of the cones by breaking them in half to make rosettes, this is easier to work with and more attractive.

Putting this wreath together is fairly simple. You can use several different foundations but they need to be sturdy enough to support the weight, a circle of plywood or metal wreath mould is best.

1. Plan your design out first and then attach the cones with either an electric glue gun, or by twisting sections of wire around the cone and the wire wreath mold, twisting it closed on the underside.
2. Give decorative interest to your wreath by varying the nuts you use for textures: almonds, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, walnuts and pecans give textures and also a spectrum of browns.
3. You can opt to add a dash of color by gluing in red yarrow and white statice or a central ring of artificial crab apples and leaves. The ultimate Christmas wreath accessory is a large, draping red ribbon.

The Grapevine Wreath is another classic wreath, made with vines and accented with berries, ribbon, sprigs, etc.

Grapevine Christmas Wreaths

Grapevine wreaths put striking texture on your front door and there is an abundance of materials for them lying around after the late fall time of year.

Out in the country you will find plenty of non-poisonous vines, without leaves and grapes, climbing tree trunks along streams and other water sources.

Don a pair of gloves and cut them free with pruning shears. On the day you want to make your wreath, soak them in water for a couple of hours and they will be much more pliant to work with.

The construction of the wreath itself is really easy:

1. Take your first strip of vine and form it into a circle by hooking on end under the vine so that it holds by its own pressure.
2. Continue weaving strips in and out of the circle until you achieve the thickness you want.
3. Once the base is finished you can add whatever you like.

Orange-colored bittersweet berries make an appealing combination, they can be inserted into the grapevine at various intervals. You could choose to wire a bouquet of dried flowers to the wreath. More in tune with the season use a plaid ribbon wrapped around the wreath then tie it in a big bow in the corner with a large sprig of holly. Add candy canes, miniature toys, wrapped candies or other Christmas tree ornaments as you please.

Gift Box Christmas Wreaths

Brightly wrapped gifts are an integral part of Christmas, so nothing could be more natural than to make a wreath of gift boxes in miniature. It may be a bit time consuming to make but your children can join in, and best of all, the end result will last for many enjoyable years.

1. Start with a substantial piece of cardboard (about fourteen inches in diameter and a five- inch center hole) and draw a wreath shape on it.
2. After cutting this out, cover it with some colored tissue paper of your choice to hide the cardboard.
3. Prepare some miniature gift boxes by simply using corrugated cardboard to construct boxes in varying sizes then covering them in fun and interesting Christmas wrapping paper or colored foil.

The whole wreath is pulled together nicely when you glue everything down on the wreath base. A great touch is to begin by gluing or stapling flowers or leaves to the base. Once they are in place you just need to glue the gift boxes on top of these. Group them in different sizes and cover as much of the base as you can. The final touch is to glue any miniature toys, figurines, acorns, candy or ornaments anywhere you wish. At last your gift box wreath is ready to dazzle!

A beachcomber wreath like this is fun and easy to put together if you live near the sea.

Nautical Wreath

If you live near the beach you can make an unusual outdoor wreath with sea shells, driftwood, starfish and other beach-found items you think will go together and tell a Christmas tale about your trips to the beach. Drill holes and use twine or floral wire to put together a wreath of the sea.

The natural looks of your nautical wreath will work great against weathered wood siding and you can leave it up all winter since it won’t seem to "Christmasy". Dress your nautical wreath up with some colorful fish or bird ornaments and ribbon in colors of the sea.

Once you have prepared your walls for faux finishing as described in part 1, you can begin the fun part of the project; transforming your bare wall into whatever look you want. Mottled faux wall finishes are typically the easiest for beginners to try.

There are many faux painting techniques used to give walls the mottled look of leather or suede, parchment, Italian plaster and many others. Typically these looks are achieved by brushing, dabbing or swirling layers of color over a basecoat color.

The mottled look can be subtle, with different hues of the base color being applied to add depth and giving your wall color a nice variation in intensity and shading. Or, you can achieve contrast for a bolder look by applying a light color basecoat with dark glaze layered over it or a dark basecoat color with lighter color glazing.

Blending and swirling the edges of the glaze can soften the mottling and is where the real artistic touch comes into play. Glaze can be applied using rags, sponges, brushes or even a feather duster, depending on the look you want to achieve.

Experiment with Your Faux Finish First

A seasoned faux painting artist always begins by painting small sample boards to perfect a given finish before starting on the walls. This ensures the technique will be consistent and repeatable and that the client agrees with the finished look before seeing it on the walls! And the less experience you have, the more important this step will be!

You really don’t want to paint an entire room only to find that it looks amateurish and needs to be completely redone; this is the fear that keeps most people from trying faux painting in the first place.

Start by painting on practice boards to experiment and perfect the mottled finish you want to achieve. Then go ahead and mask off the baseboard, window casings, etc. on one wall and try your technique out, starting with one wall or section of the wall if you are faux painting a large wall or the entire room.

How to Get an Even Faux Finish

Regardless what tools and technique you choose, the most difficult part of creating a mottled faux finish is getting a consistent, even look. One way to move quickly and keep a good rhythm is to have a partner. Working together, one person can apply the glaze while the other one does the blending and mottling. This also helps since 2 sets of eyes may see problems that one person working along would miss.

Fortunately, glaze takes quite a while to set up, so you have time to do your blending and if you make mistakes you can simply wipe it off and start over again. Here are some tips on working with glaze when doing a mottled faux wall finish:

• It’s best to work on smaller sections of say 3 or 4 square feet at a time than to try doing an entire wall at once which lets the glaze dry and makes it harder to blend, swirl and smooth the mottled look you’re going for.
• Try to make each section irregular in shape rather than rectangles or squares; this way any overlaps in the glaze will be less obvious to the eye.
• Try not to “overlap” glaze onto sections you have already done since the overlapped area will have more glaze than the rest of the wall; these overlaps will be obvious when the wall is completed and the glaze dries.
• While working step back every so often and look at the whole wall. Check that the blending and mottling are smooth and without too much obvious overlapping between the sections you’ve completed.
• Take your time and don’t be afraid to wipe off sections you aren’t happy with and redo them. This is not a job you want to rush; remember you are an artist and like any artist, some mistakes are inevitable. Fortunately, glaze, like clay, remains soft long enough that you can usually fix your mistakes.

Color Washing Faux Finish Technique

One simple technique you can use to achieve a mottled look is color washing, which blends different colors. Typically three colors or hues of one color are used, with a base coat of white or another neutral tone, a mid tone glaze color over it and finally accented with a deep tone glaze color. You can reverse the sequence if you want a darker overall color, using the deep tone over a darker basecoat color and mid tone and highlight accent colors.

The mottling can vary from the subtle look of “clouds” to a heavily variegated texture, depending on the contrast in your base and accent glazes as well as the blending tool and blending strokes you make. A brush or rag is typically used to blend the accent glaze but, again, experimenting is the only way to decide what blending tool and strokes to use in order to get the look you want.

Here are the steps to create a simple color wash textured finish:

1. Start by painting the wall with your base color, using an eggshell, satin or semi-gloss enamel paint. Let it dry before you begin the glazing steps below.
2. Mix your basecoat of glaze using about 4 parts glaze to 1 part paint; a gallon of glaze mixed with 1 quart of paint should be enough to cover about 400 square feet. Check with your paint center for the exact mixture recommended by whichever paint brand you’re using.
3. If you want a more transparent look add more glaze to the mixture; using less glaze will give a more opaque look. Use a stir stick to blend the paint and glaze together completely. Pour the basecoat glaze/paint mixture into a paint tray.
4. Next, using a separate bucket, mix your accent paint color with glaze; the same ratio applies but you can experiment on your practice boards to get the look you want; in some cases you might want to use more or less glaze in the accents than in the basecoat. The accent glaze mixture will stay in the bucket since you’ll be using your chosen blending tool (brush or cloth is usually best for color washing) to apply and blend it for whatever mottled look you want.
5. Use a roller to apply the base glaze color to the wall in an irregular shaped section that is about 3 to 4 feet in area, starting on one corner of the room. Apply the base glaze evenly over the section.
6. While the base glaze coat is still wet, use a cloth or brush to blot the accent glaze color over the base.
7. Use your blending tool to blend the accent glaze coat into the basecoat glaze, using small and large criss-cross, overlapping motions, letting the brush strokes show through as needed to achieve your desired look. This is where it is important to follow the same technique you used on your practice board in order to get the same look on the wall!
8. Rinse or wipe off your blending tool frequently so that you don’t get a build up of glaze; this helps keep your finish even and consistent.
9. Keep repeating the process one section at a time until the entire wall is completed. Take care to “cut in” around the edges and corners of the wall and areas where you have masked off window trim or other things you aren’t painting. Cutting in smoothly is another part of color washing that takes practice!

A key part of great home interior design involves paint color and texture. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to faux finish your walls but can’t afford a professional painter. Or maybe you’re ready to hire a painter but aren’t sure what type of faux finishing techniques would work best with your décor.

The worst thing you can do is trying to faux paint without any knowledge or experience; this is a sure way to end up with walls that look unnatural, amateurish or just plain ugly! It takes true talent and years of experience to learn the techniques behind some of the more intricate faux painting methods but there are others that you can easily master yourself with a little practice and lots of patience.

You really should hire a professional unless you have some artistic skills and are willing to take the time to learn how to faux finish your walls the right way. A good place to start is by reading on to learn what types of faux paint finishes are used to create designer showcases and the methods and artistry involved.

Origins and Types of Faux Finishes

Faux means literally “fake” in French. In America in the late 1980s and early 90s, painters developed techniques to mimic natural materials such as wood grain and stone. Thus, a client who wanted marble columns or mahogany wall panels could get the look of the real thing for a fraction of the cost.

As the faux finishing art form has continued to evolve, the term now applies more holistically to a number of techniques such as color washing, glazing, subtractive sponging, rag rolling, combing, marbling and others used to simulate natural or manmade elements. These techniques can literally transform an ordinary room into a completely different environment.

The basic ingredients used to create the textures, tones and color depth you see in most faux finished walls are paint and glaze. Typically a base coat is applied first and then layers of color are applied over the base, with the glaze allowing you to blend, swirl and texture the paint to achieve the desired effects.

The range of effects that can be achieved is truly amazing, from Venetian plaster or Italian marble to subtle stripes and mottled looks, color washed walls with translucent, metallic sheens to aged old world stone masonry.

Preparing Walls for Faux Finishing

The basecoat layer will make or break the results of your faux painting project. Since most faux finishes involve applying very thin layers of glaze over the base color, imperfections will become quite apparent to the eye. Cracks, bumps and other surface imperfections will be amplified by your faux finish.

In most cases, walls must be prepared ahead of faux painting; standard drywall that has been textured with a drywall hopper will need to be smoothed or else textured to create the rough look of stucco or another desired surface before you begin painting. Prep can comprise up to 25% or more of the time and effort involved in creating a high quality faux finish so don’t underestimate the surface preparation phase.

If you are building a new home or remodeling you can avoid extra time and work by planning wall texturing (or lack thereof) accordingly. If you plan to faux finish existing walls that have already been textured with a drywall hopper, your first step unfortunately is to apply joint compound to fill imperfections, sand the walls flat and smooth and apply primer. These steps often have to be repeated several times before the walls are ready for the basecoat.

Heavily textured faux finishes can involve other types of preparation, with skip trowel, knockdown, orange peel or other hand texturing techniques being required before painting begins. These more advanced techniques are not typically recommended in most cases for beginners so you should consider hiring a contractor to prep interior walls if you intend to apply one of these kinds of texturing.

Taking time and effort to prepare your walls before attempting to faux finish them cannot be emphasized enough; a flat, solid, smooth surface is absolutely critical to the success of your faux finishing project! If you have experience with faux finishing please share your thoughts and tips by leaving us your comments below.

Today we have continued this family tradition, adding many of Christopher Radko’s ornaments and other collectibles, but those vintage tree ornaments are still my favorites. If you’re starting your own Christmas tree ornament collection follow along and learn more about vintage and antique Christmas collectibles.

Starting Your Christmas Collection

Most people who get the bug start out with tree ornaments and other Christmas collectibles handed down from grandparents and parents or else they find a collection at a tag or yard sale and so it begins; you add one or several ornaments each year and slowly the collection builds.

It could even be considered a disease when you get to the point that you have too many to even put them all on display during the holidays or, like my father, you actually begin to collect duplicates! His reasoning was that each of the kids would have one to put on their tree, something that actually makes sense in retrospect, although at the time I thought he must be insane.

But you don’t collect these Christmas collectibles to make a profit; really you either have the passion to invest your hard earned money in them or not. The joy is in displaying your Christmas collection each year and eventually passing them down to your kids and grand kids. They also make cherished Christmas gifts that can last an entire lifetime when given by one family member to another. Like the old saying goes, "buy what you love".

While you can certainly buy a special Radko or tree ornament released each year by your favorite designer, the more serious you become about collecting, the more you may begin to seek the antique/vintage tree ornaments and other Christmas collectibles.

Collecting tree ornaments and Christmas collectibles is a fun hobby that can also start generational family holiday traditions.

Vintage Glass Christmas Ornaments

Many collectors will choose a theme and try to find as many good examples from their chosen category as possible, while others prefer to collect only a couple of any one type and go very “broad” with their collections.

Glass bulb tree ornaments from the 1930s, 40s and 50s are extremely popular these days with collectors and fetch prices from as low as five, ten, or twenty dollars, all the way up to several hundred dollars for some of the rarer pieces. Striped and indented vintage glass ornaments tend to fetch higher prices than plain bulbs as you’d imagine. Smaller vintage glass ornaments tend to be more popular and fetch higher prices than the larger ones.

A number of vintage machine-blown glass ornaments that are popular with collectors today were made by in Poland under the Fantasia brand. Hand-blown glass ornaments from the 30s and 40s are rarer and more expensive than the machine-blown varieties.

Blown glass tree ornaments made in the shape of berries and pinecones, little baskets, umbrellas and many, many other figural shapes were also popular in the 30s and 40s. These glass ornaments have become very collectible, with prices depending on rarity and condition. As you would expect, many of the vintage ornaments will show wear, with paint worn off or chips in the finish being commonplace; obviously the better the condition, the more valuable a vintage collectible will tend to be.

Figural Christmas Collectibles

In addition to glass tree ornaments, Christmas bells, Santa figures and angels are all collector favorites. Musical instruments, animals and birds are also very popular. The glass bird ornaments with feet clips and tail feathers are fun tree ornaments to collect and originals date from the 1920s through the 1950s.

You’ll find a wide variety of Santa and snowmen ornaments. Fairytale figural ornaments are another great category. Angels are always popular among serious Christmas collectors. One of my dad’s favorite Christmas collections were figurines handmade by German company Koestel, which began in 1907 and still continues to make these angel figurines today with distinctive molded wax faces that are hand painted. The clothing is amazingly detailed and unlike anything else I’ve seen. In the 70s, Koestel offered literally hundreds of fairytale figures, from the Pied Piper to The Three Kings and many others, all made using the same fabrication techniques as the angels.

Some of the figurines were made to hang as tree ornaments, but the larger ones stand ten to fifteen inches tall and are displayed on a table or shelf every Christmas. Just coincidentally, my father would buy these Koestel figures on sale after the holidays every year, paying ten or twenty dollars apiece for the smaller figurines. Today, they are probably worth many times that price, due to being handmade and no longer manufactured. The collection will be handed down to my brother’s and my own kids to enjoy with their own kids for many, many years to come I hope!

Serious collectors wait all year to break out their vintage Christmas tree ornaments and other decorations!

Like the Proverbial "Kid at Christmas"

Perhaps with more anticipation than a kid dreaming of gifts under the tree, the serious Christmas collector waits all year for the holidays to roll around and they can unpack everything. While most of us buy ornaments during the holiday season or at after-holiday sales, the truly serious collector is on the lookout year round, watching eBay listings, looking through collector magazines and browsing antique shops, flea markets, estate sales and tag sales looking for new additions.

It isn’t uncommon for an avid collector to put up multiple Christmas trees, add display shelves or commandeer a table, buffet or even a whole room of the house just to make room to display the entire collection. A big part of the fun is in designing the display for a different look every year. Dad used to like to do one tree sometimes that featured only silver and crystal tree ornaments, with red ribbon and candlestick lights to give the tree an elegant and classic look.

Another approach some collectors like to take is to display only a specific portion of their collection, so that the home gets a different Christmas theme every year. Yes, it is a real obsession once you get the bug!

Specialty Christmas Collectibles

Now dad didn’t just stop with the tree ornaments. His collection also included a number of hand-carved figurines from Italian company Anri. Since 1912, four generations have perfected and handed down the Groeden Valley, Italy tradition of woodcarving and hand painting. Dad collected a complete Nativity scene set of the Anri carved pieces that makes for a dramatic display every Christmas.

Whether you prefer reindeer or snowmen, Santa Clause figurines, angels or stars, collecting Christmas specialty decorations other than tree ornaments becomes the next step in many collections. Materials range from hand carved wood to papier-mâché and a wide range of others.

My grandmother had a vintage 1920s collection of houses made with paper or cardboard, including a church, complete with steeple. The rustic hand painted Christmas “village” that made a great display under our family Christmas tree every year when I was a kid. Later, Dad was inspired by that original tree village and started collecting the popular Dickens Christmas Village, another collectors’ favorite.

Collecting Vintage Santa Claus

Vintage Santas comprise a separate category of antique Christmas collectibles. Antique Santa Figures are always popular, as evidenced by the prices they bring at antique shows and shops. You need to do your research if you decide to start collecting the rarer, more expensive pieces. Many older pieces were made using materials such as papier-mâché, little pieces of cotton batting, chenille, die-cut scraps and even twigs and grasses. Many of these pieces are now being reproduced, so you really want to know what you’re buying!

One way to tell if an item is authentic is to look for signs of normal wear and age. While many of the vintage Santas and other Christmas collectibles can be in good condition, signs of wear are normal. The reproductions are fine as long as you aren’t unknowingly paying the price an original could command.

Handing Down the Christmas Collecting Tradition

Collecting Christmas tree ornaments and decorative items is fun if you have the passion. Start with pieces you love that aren’t too expensive and add to your collection as your knowledge and interest increase over the years. You’ll have something special to display every year during the Christmas season and pass down to your kids and grand kids. It’s something the family can enjoy from one generation to the next, passing down the Christmas spirit and tradition.

If your family has some special and unique Christmas collectibles please leave your comments below and tell us what types of collectibles and ornaments you like to add to your own family collection!

Many of us will be ‘nesting’ this holiday season and that means a greater focus on seasonal decoration and getting your home ready for holiday entertaining on the cheap, so we’ve put together a few ideas on how to decorate for the holidays without spending a fortune this year on your Christmas décor.

Creating Family Holiday Traditions

If you want to save money this holiday season, start by creating family traditions that shift the Christmas focus away from material goods and gifts. If you really think about it, which Christmas decorations and gifts stand out most in your memory? Is it the most expensive ones or the ones that started long-standing family holiday events and activities?

Adding a special Christmas angel as a tree topper, some special Christmas bells to adorn the fireplace mantel and letting the kids ring the bell each night at dinnertime or making your own special Christmas greeting cards can create new family traditions you’ll cherish for years to come without racking up huge credit card charges.

While the kids may not be getting all the fun stuff they put on their Santa wish list this year, you can make the holidays more fun than ever by starting some new traditions or reviving ones from your own childhood.

One of my favorites as a child was always marking the days until Christmas on the Advent calendar and another was our annual outing to cut the tree, which always involved having lunch together at a certain family restaurant and visiting the same tree farm where we knew the owners, who always had some special events such as riding the tractor around the farm and milking the cow. For a suburban kid, these farm activities certainly created vivid lifelong memories.

Another family Christmas tradition you might like to start this year is Collecting Christmas Ornaments & Vintage Decorations.

Cozy and inviting, the old-fashioned Christmas decorating style will as popular as ever with cost-concious consumers this Christmas season.

Old-Fashioned Rustic Christmas Theme

One way to keep the cost down this Christmas is to return to the simpler times of old, when families traditionally trimmed the Christmas tree with homemade ornaments. When people had little they relied on their own handcrafted stitchery, baking and woodworking skills to adorn their homes for the winter holidays.

String popcorn and cranberries to make homemade garland, bake cookies and hang them on the tree as edible ornaments and use candlestick tree lights to give your Christmas tree a truly old-fashioned, rustic look. We always made our own ornaments from clay and painted them ourselves when I was a kid; while they may not have been as pretty as Radkos, we were always proud to point out the ones we had created to friends and guests.

Look in dollar stores for inexpensive rustic tree ornaments or rummage through your old boxes of Christmas decorations for ornaments your parents or grandparents may have handed down. Your home will feel comfortable and a little “retro” for the holidays with the old-fashioned decorating approach. This may be just what the doctor ordered during this period when comfort is what we most seek to give some holiday respite from the day-to-day news of financial crisis and hard times.

Many people have stopped using these family-heritage Christmas decorations because they don’t always blend well with the “designer” trees of more recent times, but the old-fashioned Christmas décor should be eclectic, adorning your home with homemade ornaments and sentimental family hand-me-downs in favor of expensive, ornate store-bought decorations.

If you want to give your home a country Christmas feel you’ll want to read Have Yourself a Charming Country Christmas for great ideas and examples of home crafts and decorations for the country style décor.

Modern Holiday Home Theme

Understated and elegant, the modern style of holiday decorating goes well in the living or family room with a more contemporary look.

The key to modern home holiday decorating is keep things simple and subtle. A good starting place is to forego the traditional natural Christmas tree and buy an artificial tree instead. For more ideas see our story Finding the Perfect Christmas Tree.

Your holiday decorating colors should complement the color scheme of your home interior; if you have a neutral wall color you’ll have a lot of freedom in choosing colors for your holiday decorations but if you have painted the walls with some brighter color scheme, you’ll want to use holiday decorations that accent that scheme and do not clash or compete with the room décor.

Holiday lighting can really warm the modern home interior. White lights are always a great choice for the more contemporary look, but you can also go with all red, blue or green lights on the Christmas tree to add some color.

Putting out Christmas photos from Christmases past can give the modern Christmas theme a cozier look; you can buy inexpensive photo frame ornaments and hang pictures of family members on the tree or create a family Christmas album to put out on the coffee table. This is also a great way to spark conversation and story telling when you entertain during the holidays.

You can always use a few boughs clipped from the Christmas tree to create a holiday tablescape or decorate the fireplace mantel. The scent of fresh pine needles is sure to set the holiday mood. Add some pinecones, winterberries, ribbon and a candle votive to create a simple holiday arrangement. And of course, a fresh wreath on the front door will welcome your guests into your home for holiday events.

However you decide to decorate your home this holiday season, make it your own and have fun with the project, getting everyone involved. Trimming the tree and putting out the Christmas decorations should be fun for the whole family. Have a very happy Christmas!

Or, you can get an artificial tree that can be reused for many Christmases to come and save a lot of trees from being cut while also making it easier and simpler to get ready for the holidays each year.

Whichever method you prefer, finding the right tree for your home is always a fun and sharing family experience, so we’ve put together some useful information on the many varieties of natural and artificial trees to help you find that perfect Christmas tree!

Cutting the Christmas tree remains a favorite holiday tradition in many families.

Finding a Perfect Natural Tree

Arizona Cypress - a steeple shaped tree, pale-green to gray-green color. The leaves are tiny and plentiful and lay close to the branchlet surface in a scale like arrangement and about 0.1 inches long. Bark is thin and delicate with a reddish brown color. The cones are spherical in shape and woody. The Arizona cypress has a pleasing aroma.

Balsam Fir - a medium-sized tree, it exhibits a relatively dense, dark-green, pyramidal crown with a slender spire-like tip. It has a dark-green appearance, long-lasting needles, attractive form, and pleasing fragrance.

Colorado Blue Spruce - finding increasing popularity as a Christmas tree, with a symmetrical form and attractive blue foliage. It has an excellent natural shape, requires little shearing, and needle retention is among the best for the spruces. Its popularity as an ornamental also makes blue spruce a good choice to plant as a living Christmas tree after the holiday season.

Canaan Fir - a relative new species in the Christmas tree market, it is similar to the Fraser and balsam firs in growth and appearance.

Concolor Fir (White Fir) - produces a spire-like crown with a straight trunk. Needles are small and narrow in rows, usually 1/2 to 1 1/2 inch long, pointed or notched at the tip, bluish-green. The wood of white fir is light, soft and coarse-grained, but lacks distinctive scent or odor.

Douglas Fir - not related to the true firs, the Douglas fir is one of the most popular Christmas tree varieties, especially in the Pacific Northwest. Needles are dark green or blue green, 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, soft to the touch and radiating out from the branch in all directions. They have a sweet fragrance when crushed.

Eastern Redcedar - has compact branches forming a pyramidal crown and reddish brown bark, leaves are arranged in opposing pairs along branchlets with a dark, shiny natural green color. Eastern Redcedar is usually available to choose and cut at tree farms only.

Eastern White Pine - the state tree of Maine and Michigan, it is considered the largest growing pine species in North America. The needles are soft and flexible, generally bluish-green to silver green in color, arranged in bundles of five.

Fraser Fir - a uniformly pyramid-shaped tree, the boughs were often used for pine pillows and bed stuffing and this fir grows naturally at elevations above 4,500 feet in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

Grand Fir - one of the tallest growing fir species, it is distinguished from other Pacific Northwest firs by sprays of lustrous needles in two distinct rows and needles 1 to 1 1/2 inches long with glossy dark green tops and known for its strong fragrance. Native Americans used this fir to make headdresses, decorative clothing, tea and many other uses.

Leyland Cypress - has become a valued landscape plant and one of the most sought after Christmas trees in the southeastern states. Foliage tends to be arranged in irregularly flat planes with a dark green to gray color, the shoots branch repeatedly in a mahogany color except at the tips. The trees have little aroma. These trees are usually available at choose and cut tree farms only.

Noble Fir - considered an excellent Christmas tree because of its beauty, stiff branches and because it remains green long after being cut, Noble Fir continues to grow in popularity and comprises 25% and 30% of the fresh tree market in the Pacific Northwest. It is also commonly used to make wreaths, door swags, garland, etc.

Norway Spruce - Most common in Northern Europe and transplanted in North America, the Norway Spruce has dark green needles and drooping branchlets, and a dark green crown with a triangular shape. Leaves (needles) are 4-sided (rectangular in section), is excellent, but needle retention may be poor unless the tree is cut fresh and properly watered.

Scotch Pine - widely planted for the purpose of producing Christmas trees, it is a hardy species easily adapted to many soil and climate types and is known for its dark green foliage and stiff branches, well suited for Christmas ornaments and excellent needle retention characteristics.

Virginia Pine - a staple of the Christmas tree industry in the South East, branches are stout and woody with dense foliage. Virginia pine can be commonly found at tree farms or retail lots.

White Spruce - has a nice cone-shaped crown that extends nearly to the ground, making it a great ornamental variety. Needles are 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, with blunt tips and green to bluish-green. With its light grayish-brown bark, excellent foliage color, short stiff needles, natural shape and good needle retention, the White Spruce makes a very good Christmas tree.

Finding a Perfect Artificial Tree

Traditional Unlit - often very realistic in appearance and with built in tree stands, unlit trees offer you the ability to choose the style and color of your lights or even change the lights to give your tree a different look each holiday season. And just think; no needle loss or watering to worry about! Many people are converting to the artificial tree these days with environmental issues and convenience in mind. Lower quality, inexpensive trees often use thinly shredded strips of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) resembling a bottle brush tightly twisted between two tightly twisted wires to form the branches.

Realistic - with branches created out of molded plastic, higher quality artificial trees use molded branches and needles made from Polyethylene (PE). Branches cut from a real tree are often used to create molds, giving the tree a more realistic appearance.

Prelit - the most convenient tree available, some models can have hundreds of lights, carefully arranged for that perfect look when unfolded. At the end of the holiday season, just fold the branches carefully and store it away in the shipping box.

Specialty - available in many shapes, sizes and colors, you can find a specialty tree for almost any purpose or location in your home, whether you want a large tree for the family or living room, a table top tree or topiary-shaped tree.

Flocked - white is the traditional color for Christmas tree flocking, but you can also find pink, red, gold and many other colors. Flocked artificial trees are also available unlit or prelit and in a variety of types and sizes.

Crafts are a great way for kids to feel welcome at a holiday party- it keeps them busy, entertained, and they can show off their creations to a roomful of adults. These Christmas crafts are easy to make, inexpensive, and lots of fun for everyone.

Christmas Crafts for Kids

Handprint Wreath

Supplies needed:

• A lot of green construction paper
• A piece of red construction paper or a red ribbon
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Glue
• Optional: Glitter or glitter glue

Steps:

1. Trace the child’s hand on a piece of green construction paper.
2. Cut out the handprint. Make about 10 paper hands for each wreath
3. Glue the handprints together in a wreath shape, with the wrists overlapping a little bit.
4. Glue on a red ribbon bow (or make one from red construction paper).
5. Decorate your wreath with glitter or glitter glue.

Hand and Foot Reindeer

Supplies you will need:

• Brown and tan construction paper
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Glue
• Googly eyes (or you can draw your own.)

Steps:

1. Trace around the child’s foot using brown construction paper. This will be the reindeer’s head.
2. Trace around the child’s hands using tan construction paper. These 2 pieces will be the reindeer’s antlers.
3. Glue the handprint "antlers" to the top of the reindeer. Add a bright red paper nose, a paper (or drawn) mouth, and googly eyes (or paper eyes) to the reindeer’s head. Other ideas are drawing the face with crayons or markers, or using red pom pom’s for the nose.

Candy Train Ornament

This candy train is made from a roll of hard candy (like Lifesavers), wrapped peppermint candies, a wrapped caramel, and a wrapped chocolate kiss.

Supplies:

• Hot glue gun
• A roll of hard candy (like Lifesavers)
• 4 wrapped peppermint candies
• A wrapped caramel
• A wrapped chocolate kiss
• A short length of yarn or string

Steps:

1. Using a hot glue gun, glue four wrapped peppermint candies to a roll of candy; the peppermint candies are the wheels of the train.
2. Glue a wrapped caramel to the top, at one end the train. Glue a wrapped chocolate kiss on top of that.
3. Glue a small length of string to the top of the train.

Handprint Christmas Tree

Make an adorable Christmas tree from your child’s handprints. This makes a really neat decoration to put on your child’s bedroom door, or the door to a playroom.

Supplies needed:

• A lot of green construction paper
• A piece of brown construction paper (for the tree trunk)
• A piece of yellow construction paper (for the star)
• A large piece of brown paper (or use another color)
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Glue
• Scissors
• Glue
• Glitter, glitter glue, or paper ornaments to glue on the tree

Steps:

1. Trace the child’s hand on a piece of green construction paper.
2. Cut out the handprint. Fold the wrist over.
3. Make a lot of paper hands (the number you’ll need depends on the size of your tree).
4. Draw a tree shape (long triangle shape) on a large piece of paper.
5. Cut out a small rectangle of dark brown paper (this will be the tree trunk).
6. Glue the rectangle below the tree.
7. Glue the handprints together in a tree shape, gluing the folded part of the wrist to the background. Start at the bottom of the tree. Starting with the second row, make the fingers overlap the next hand a little bit.
8. Cut out a yellow star for the top of the tree. Glue it on the tree.
9. Write a Christmas message around the tree.
10. Decorate your tree with glitter, glitter glue, or paper ornaments.
11. You can also make the tree on a triangle shape (so there is no background showing).

Snowman Necklace or Ornament

You will need:

• White Elmers Glue
• Paper clip
• Waxed paper
• Scraps of construction paper: black, and orange
• A hole punch (for cutting eyes, and buttons)
• Scissors
• Googly eyes (from a craft store) - optional
• Tiny buttons - optional
• 2 very tiny twigs (for arms)
• String or yarn (for hanging from branch, or longer to wear as a necklace)

Steps:

1. Working on waxed or parchment paper, spread 2 or 3 blobs of white glue in the shape of a snowman. Unfold a paper clip into a V-shape (to use as a hanger).
2. Cut a tiny hat from black construction paper and put it on the snowman on top of the paper clip hanger. Put the ends of the paper clip into the glue at the top of the snowman. For the snowman’s eyes, use black paper circles cut with a hole punch, or use googly eyes. Put the eyes on the snowman. Add a tiny orange (carrot-shaped) nose. Add a few paper buttons (or small real buttons) down the front of the body.
3. Let the glue dry - it will take a few days. When it dries, the glue will become transparent. When it is completely dry, peel it gently off the waxed paper.
4. String the snowman on some yarn for a cool necklace or use a shorter string to use as an ornament.

Pine Cone Christmas Tree

A easy-to-make pine cone Christmas Tree. Use it as a Christmas decoration or as a tree ornament. This is a simple craft that even young children can help make.

For each Pine Cone Christmas Tree you will need:

• A large, open pine cone (pick one that is tree-shaped and stands upright easily)
• Glitter
• A few cotton balls
• White glue (like Elmer’s)
• Dental floss and a needle
• Small beads
• A small bow or star to top off your little tree

Steps:

1. Glue a few cotton balls to the bottom of the pinecone. These look like snow and help the "tree" stand upright.
2. Put a little dab of glue at the tips of the pine cone and then sprinkle on glitter (spray glue works best and gives more, and even coverage)
3. String some small beads onto dental floss (about 1 to 1 1/2 ft or more, depending on the size of the pine cone). To string the beads easily, tie one bead securely to the string. Then give the floss to the child for stringing. Older children can use a needle to help with the stringing. When the stringing is done, tie off the last bead with a knot. Wrap the beads around the pinecone and glue them to the tree.
4. Top off your tree with a small bow or other decoration.

Pine Cone Bird Feeder

Don’t forget our feathered friends. This craft is easy, even for the smallest ones.

You will need:

• Pinecones
• String or yarn
• Peanut Butter
• Wild Birdseed mix (best if poured into large bowl)
• Plastic spoon or knife

Steps:

1. First you need to tie string or yarn to the top of the pinecone, so you can hang it from a tree branch.
2. Then, using a plastic spoon or knife, spread a thick layer of peanut butter all over the pinecone.
3. Once done, roll the pinecone in the birdseed.
4. Make sure to press hard, to get the seeds in deep and firm.
5. Now, go hang it outside as a present for the neighborhood birds.

The Studio Convertible Sofa available from ShopNBC.com

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The structure of this piece allows it to provide additional seating and sleeping space, all with the benefit of great comfort!

The mattress has a unique wrapped coil system to provide excess comfort when sitting and sleeping. It also has a design that allows the mattress to fold in a front tuck easily and give a smooth shape for sitting. Allowing it to look neat and tidy to fit in with the style of a room.

Studio convertible sofa folds out into a comfortable bed.

In addition, the sofa is built to fit perfectly against a wall and so does not have to be moved when being changed into a sleeper! Giving it versatility and allowing it to fit virtually anywhere. Furthermore, the frame also has an individualistic mechanism that allows the transformation from a seat to a bed easy and simple.

Available with the choice of red or black slipcover, this sofa is sure to change the outlook of any room and trick your house guests into believing the piece to be just a chair!

Source: ShopNBC

Holiday meals should be special, memorable occasions, a time to polish our best silverware and china dishes, get out the crystal stemware and embellish the table with candlesticks and centerpieces, fine cloth napkins and a festive tablecloth or table runner and placemats.

But what are the elements that make your tablescape warm and inviting for guests during the holiday season, setting the mood for great conversation and the enjoyment of delicious food and beverage together in the company of friends and family?

Read on for a primer on what to do and not to do when getting your dining table ready this holiday season for those special meals.

Make your holiday dining table festive and unique with these great holiday tablescape tips and ideas.

Tips on Setting Your Dining Table

For those who never went to finishing school or who don’t set a formal table on a regular basis, let’s start with a quick overview on how to set the table:

• Forks should go on the left and spoons and knives to the right of the plate.
• An easy way to remember the correct order to place utensils is that they go in the order in which you use them; so the salad fork goes on the outside left while the larger fork used to eat the main course goes on the inside left. Turn the blade of all knifes so they face toward the plate.
• Place the side plate to the left of your place setting; if you are serving a cold first course such as a salad, the side plate should be set ahead of time, while warm dishes such as soup should be delivered to the table when that course is served.
• Place the wineglass at the tip of the main-course knife. The water glass and any other glasses should be arranged in the order they will be used with the first one on the outside.
• The napkins can go under the knife and spoon or on the side plate. Alternatively, if you choose to use napkin holders or fancy folds, the napkin can go on top of the main plate for a more decorative place setting.
• A nice touch will be to create decorative name cards so that you can strategically decide ahead of time who sits where. Place cards can go at the head of each place setting or on the main serving plate. You can make your own holiday name plates by downloading a free template and use a calligraphy font or hand write the names yourself if you’re good at calligraphy.
• Finally, for an extra special touch your guests will be sure to remember, you could leave a small gift at each place setting. If you shop around in dollar discount stores you can find all kinds of small gift items such as jewelry boxes, Christmas tree ornaments, etc. Wrap them and use ribbon to give them a holiday look. Opening the gifts will make a great conversation starter when everyone sits down at the table.

Decorating Your Dining Table for Holiday Occasions

Now that we have place settings planned and ready to go, it’s time to embellish our holiday table, giving it some holiday color and style. Should you use a formal tablecloth or decorative placemats? Perhaps you’ll want to try a seasonal table runner and matching placemats?

In part the decision rests on whether you want to expose the natural beauty of your wood dining table top or conceal your less formal dining table from view. Here are a few tips on selecting linens and placemats for your holiday dining table:

• Placemats can be in plain, solid colors or patterned, woven or linen. It’s best to choose something that is heatproof to protect the table surface.
• If you use a tablecloth it should drape about six inches over each edge of the table top. Depending on the material, a heatproof protective mat under the tablecloth may be needed to protect the table surface from spills.
• Choose colors and patterns that complement your table ware; solid color linens work well with patterned China sets while a more festive pattern can really highlight white or other solid colored China.
• Although a white tablecloth is often associated with a formal table setting, for the holidays you may want something more festive such as a deep red, green or gold. A patterned table runner, tablecloth or placemats are fine as long as everything is color coordinated and the patterns don’t look too busy or cluttered.
• Placemats in solid colors like red, blue, green, gold or silver are very versatile and can be reused for non-holiday formal meals too; you can use other accents such as the centerpiece to add pattern for a more festive feeling.
• If you are using a tablecloth, take time to remove creases and wrinkles. If you don’t want to bother ironing it, you can try throwing it in your clothes dryer set to “Air” or “Fluff” setting; put a damp towel in with the tablecloth and it should come out nice and wrinkle-free!

Selecting Tableware for Your Holiday Table

Now, if you don’t have a set of formal tableware, you can find some great deals if you shop around; with the economy being so weak this holiday season, expect retailers to offer great sale prices even before the normal after-holiday sales. Look online at Overstock.com, Amazon or on eBay and you can really save money on luxury items such as China, formal silverware and crystal stemware.

A nice touch will be to add decorative chargers to your table setting; if you are using gold or silver as an accent color you can match your chargers to give your holiday a real designer look without spending a fortune. Chargers don’t have to be high quality or expensive to add a special accent to your holiday table!

Try to choose a color scheme and stick with 2 or 3 colors, picking up the colors you have already used to decorate your dining room. Winter colors that work well as a primary color in your holiday dining room décor include deep reds and greens. You can either choose contrasting secondary colors or use two shades of the same color to keep things simpler.

If your walls are taupe or another warm tone, then gold will make a great accent color in your holiday tablescape. On the other hand, if you have gray walls tinted with green or blue then silver makes a great accent color for accessories like candlesticks and napkin holders.

Setting a Holiday Tone in Your Dining Room

OK, so we’ve got our tableware and place setting plans in place; now it’s time to consider some holiday accents and embellishments to really give our holiday dining tablescape the right mood for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. By simply changing a few elements you can achieve a nice progression with subtle changes to your holiday tablescape:

• For Thanksgiving, you might do a simple fall centerpiece with pumpkins, gourds and fall flowers or fruits. Read our complete story on Fall Tablescapes and Floral Arrangements for lots of great ideas. Warmer accent colors help echo the changing seasons and colorful leaves outside in late November.
• As we move into December the progression moves toward winter colors and patterns. Consider a bright red poinsettia, winter berry or holly berry theme for your centerpiece with matching reds and greens for a Christmas feel.
• An elegant approach is to go with a monochromatic color scheme such as winter white, New Year’s silver, gold, Christmas red or evergreen can give your dining table a unique, classy look.
• For a unique holiday tablescape, you could try using colors such as mustard yellow paired with white to create a star theme or silver, light blue and white to create a snowflake/icicle theme.
• Lights are sure to give any tablescape a holiday feel; try working some holiday LED or rope lights on the buffet or hang elegant crystal icicles from your chandelier. A mirror over your buffet will help reflect light and color into your dining room and open it up, giving the illusion of a more spacious room.

The Holiday Dining Table Centerpiece

The one mistake a lot of people make is to overdo the centerpiece; too tall it will only hinder conversation and separate your dining guests unnaturally. A low centerpiece will accent your table without getting in the way. You can even just lay a nice holiday wreath to serve as a simple centerpiece.

Make a centerpiece using real pine boughs, flowers, pinecones, berries or whatever strikes your own fancy; change the centerpiece once after thanksgiving and again after Christmas to help set the tone for each holiday celebration you’ll be hosting.

Candlesticks and Candles for Holiday Dining

Candles are a natural element in most traditional holiday tablescapes. Whether you have a set of your grandmother’s silver candlesticks or a matched set of China candlesticks that go with your tableware, candles add warmth and ambience to the table setting.

The Kids Christmas Table

We all remember as kids how boring it was to be stuck listening to adults talk all night long during holiday dinners. But whenever there was a special table for the kids we ended up having a much more memorable holiday dinner.

If you plan to have a lot of kids during the holidays then a kids’ holiday dining table is almost a must-have just for the shear lack of space at the main dining table. You can make it fun for the kids too by dressing up a holiday table of their own.

Use an inexpensive vinyl holiday tablecloth, plastic plates and eating utensils to make things easier. Use a white paper tablecloth and set out a holiday bowl filled with crayons as a centerpiece and let them decorate the tablecloth themselves.

All of these ideas are meant to serve as though starters. Get creative and make your dining room a reflection of your family holiday traditions. Don’t be afraid to go outside the lines and make it unique to your holiday celebration. The only important thing is to have fun and spend time with friends and family while sharing great meals and holiday celebrations together!

What to do if a Water Supply Pipe Bursts

The worst case plumbing emergency is when a pipe inside your house bursts and you have a flood on your hands; especially if the pipe is in an upstairs location. This is one reason it’s important to know where your water shut of valve is located; when you have water flowing down your hallway is not the time you want to be looking all over the house for the shut off valve.

Shut off the water supply as quickly as you can; what else can I say? You’re definitely going to be calling a plumber next and then your insurance agent after that. Hopefully you’ll never have to face this worst case plumbing scenario.

What to do when the Toilet Backs Up

There is no more annoying plumbing emergency than a stopped up toilet; most clogged toilets are caused by too much toilet paper or trying to flush something other than toilet paper such as paper towels, sponges or toys. Avoid these and you will be far less likely to need to follow these tips for unclogging a toilet:

1. First try clearing the toilet with a plunger; often if you’re lucky that does the trick!
2. If you can’t unclog it with the plunger a closet auger with a corkscrew point may do the trick; since this tool is flexible and can be turned inside the trap, you may be able to get at whatever is blocking the flow of water and dislodge it.
3. Be sure you remove as much of the bad stuff from the bowl before using a closet auger. Yah, major yuck!
4. Don’t push the blockage down into the trap; you have to get it out or you could end up making matters even worse.
5. If the closet auger fails and your toilet has a cleanout plug, your next step is to get a bucket, remove the plug and auger the pipe, letting all the bad stuff drain into the bucket.
6. If that fails or your toilet doesn’t have a cleanout plug, unfortunately it’s probably time to call Joe the Plumber.

How to Keep Drains Draining

Another common homeowner’s plumbing challenge is the clogged drain. Typically this is an unavoidable hazard we all encounter, but you can help keep it to a minimum with a little regular preventive maintenance.

Almost all bathtub and shower drains have strainers to keep soap and hair from getting into the drain. Simply keep these strainers clean to help avoid clogging and avoid letting large chunks of soap, hair or other debris from getting into the drain in the first place.

Lavatory sinks should likewise have filtering screens to keep the traps from clogging; regularly cleaning the filters will help prevent clogged traps.

Don’t treat your kitchen sink like its garbage can; yes you can throw large pieces of organic material in there and grind them up but don’t! Remember that even though the garbage disposal will grind it all up, it still has to go through your sink trap, so if you avoid putting anything more than necessary into the garbage disposal you won’t have as much chance of a clogged trap AND your garbage disposal will last longer too.

When you use your garbage disposal, be sure to use plenty of water to flush all that ground-up material through the disposal and not let it sit in the trap, where it will harden and stick to the sides … the beginning of a clogged sink trap for sure! And don’t pour grease into your kitchen sink; you’re just begging to have Joe the Plumber make a house call if you do.

What to do when a Bathtub, Shower or Sink Won’t Drain

Unclogging drains and traps are another fun plumbing nightmare. If your first inclination is to reach for the chemicals, think again. Not only are those chemical drain cleaners harmful to the environment, they can also damage your plumbing drain pipes. Try following these tips instead to clear a blocked drain:

1. Pour a quart of boiling water mixed together with one cup of ammonia into the drain and let it sit for thirty minutes
2. Use wet rags to plug all openings so you have created a complete vacuum in the drain and trap; block the overflow holes and any other openings in the sink, including the drain in the second basin if the sink is a double-basin model.
3. Time to try the old plunger; fill the basin with about 2 to 3 inches of water. You can put a little petroleum jelly around the rim of the plunger to help get a tight seal.
4. Put the plunger over the drain and push down and up, using a forceful motion to clear the drain; you want to keep that seal while you are stroking the handle of the plunger up and down.
5. If the plunger doesn’t clear the drain, you’ll have to try dropping and cleaning the trap.
6. If the trap is clear and the drain is still clogged, time to try clearing the blockage in the drain with an auger, running it down the drain hole and maneuvering it around the bends to clear whatever is causing the blockage.
7. If the auger doesn’t work, its time to call Joe unfortunately; you may have a blockage beyond the trap and that means you need a professional plumber.

How to Unclog Sink Strainers and Stoppers

If a drain strainer in your kitchen or bathroom sink is clogged, you can usually solve the problem yourself. Follow these steps to unclog strainers:

1. If the strainer is secured with screws, remove those and set them aside.
2. Carefully pry the strainer up with the tip of a screwdriver without bending or misshaping it in the process.
3. Clean the strainer, removing any debris, hair, etc. and replace it and secure it.

If your sink drain has a stopper, you can clean it by following these steps:

1. Some sink stoppers can be removed simply by turning the stopper by hand until it comes loose.
2. Other models have a pivot rod that must be unscrewed using pliers; pad the pliers with a cloth so you don’t scratch the finish.
3. Once you have removed the stopper, give it a good cleaning and replace it. Cleaning stoppers periodically will help keep your drains flowing strong.

How to Prevent Frozen Pipes

As winter approaches and colder temperatures set in most plumbers see a nice increase in business; good for Joe the Plumber but not so good for Joe the Homeowner. Frozen pipes are one of the most common and costly plumbing problems many homeowners face, but here are some basic preventive steps you can take:

1. Don’t leave a garden hoses connected to an outside hose bib if you expect temperatures to drop below zero; residual water in outdoor hoses can expand and potentially break faucets.
2. Insulate outdoor faucet bibs to prevent them from freezing; look at Home Depot or Lowes for simple kits that make this a cheap, quick do-it-yourself job. Also check your outdoor faucets for leaks or drips which could lead to cracks during a freeze.
3. If you expect a cold spell with below-freezing temperatures it’s a good idea to turn off the water to your outdoor faucets and sprinkler system if your home has shut off valves inside the garage, crawl space or basement. It may be worth having these installed if you live in a colder climate and your home doesn’t already have them!
4. Consider insulating pipes in areas of your home that are not heated such as crawl spaces and the garage with heat cables controlled by a thermostat (most effective, but more costly) or heat tape (cheap but less effective).

Personally, I have the upmost respect for Joe and his plumbing brethren; plumbing repairs are never fun and, as with most crafts, they make the job seem like magic. But really a plumber can unclog any drain or pipe, install or repair pipes and plumbing fixtures with ease because he has years of experience and know how.

Major plumbing repairs and renovations are best left to the pros, but hopefully these tips will help you prevent and handle the simpler plumbing challenges that are bound to occur in any home!

But you might want to reconsider that notion. Even in this tight credit market, a home in a good neighborhood with curb appeal and that feels warm and comfortable inside will sell long before the one next door that looks warn down and neglected!

Also, it’s important to remember that real estate is a cyclical market and prices will come back, so by doing a few inexpensive improvements you’ll be able to enjoy living in your house now while you wait for the market to rebound. And if you decide to sell when things improve you’ll be a step ahead of the game by recession proofing your home. Here are a few tips to help you “recession-proof” your home:

Enhance Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Ask any Realtor and they will tell you that potential buyers pass judgment within the first minute of seeing a house. Since the first thing they will see is the exterior, it makes sense to start with your home’s curb appeal; landscaping, siding and exterior paint can make all the difference in terms of first impressions.

Landscaping is something most people can do themselves. Look on Angie’s List or Craig’s List and you can find a landscape designer to help you draw up plans that you can follow yourself.

And with so many contractors looking for work, you can negotiate much better prices than you could have 2 years ago, making this a great time to upgrade your landscaping, whether you don’t have the time and interest to do the work yourself or you just need a competent professional to put in some new hardscaping, irrigation and sprinkler system or other tasks you don’t have the skills and experience to so yourself.

Update Your Home’s Interior

Once a potential buyer has judged your home from the curb, the next thing of course is what they’ll think when they step inside. If your home feels cluttered and out-of-date or they just don’t agree with your decorating tastes, they probably won’t spend more than a few minutes looking around before moving on to the next house on their Realtor’s list.

So, once again first impressions really matter. The first things a potential buyer sees when entering your home will be the flooring, wall paint and trim work, so these are generally the best place to start. These are also great projects to do on a budget compared to making major home improvements.

Consider using neutral colors when painting walls; while you may love bright primary colors, remember that everyone’s tastes are different and it is proven that homes with neutral wall colors tend to sell better. The same goes for flooring; while you may love bright colored tile flooring or carpeting a more neutral color will appeal to a broader group of potential buyers.

If your home has standard track home baseboards and window casings you might want to consider hiring a contractor to update your trim work; crown molding, custom baseboards and window casings will give your home’s interior a much more appealing look that you’ll enjoy while you live in it and can really increase salability.

You’ll find a lot more inexpensive decorating ideas in our Budget Home Decorating Guide.

Preventive Maintenance

In hard economic times people tend to put off general repairs and maintenance. This is absolutely the worst path to take. If you can’t afford any of the other projects detailed in this article, at least be sure you take care of preventative maintenance.

Letting your leaky roof go will cost you a LOT more in the long run than having it repaired now! Cleaning roof gutters, annual inspection of the heating and air conditioning system and other normal maintenance tasks simply should not be ignored.

If you can’t do the work yourself and budget is tight you’ll just have to get creative and somehow find the funds to keep up with general maintenance on your home. Find other areas in the family budget to cut back in order to make basic home maintenance a priority.

Do One or Two Major Upgrades

Now, if you are fortunate to be well-employed and have enough “cushion” in your savings account to feel relatively comfortable your finances are sufficient to see you through the current economic slump, you might want to consider going ahead with the renovations you had planned when you originally bought your home.

Given that you may be able to negotiate a lower price with contractors right now, investing in modernizing your home is still a good long term investment and could pay a higher return than some other investments you could make.

For ideas on what projects to consider, read our complete story Top Ten Improvements to Increase Home Value. To learn more about how to save money on home improvements you might also want to read How to Save Money on Home Improvement Costs.

Stylish and super comfortable Lojo Ball chairs.

The LoJo Ball is a newly designed piece that takes the bean bag to a whole new level. It has a unique style and is a must have for all modern homes!

The LoJo Ball acts as a decorative piece when not in use and can, in addition, be used as a stool or foot rest but can also be unzipped to become a stylish, comfortable chair, a fantastic alternative to the average chair.

It is made of beans to comfort your bottom and has a simple inflatable piece to comfort your lower back. It is easy to inflate and comes equipped with a hand pump as part of the package. Ideal for watching T.V. Or reading a book.

Great for any room including the living room, family room, kids room or sitting room. It comes in a variety of styles and colors which means it fits in with virtually any decorative theme imaginable within a modern home.

Plus, the LoJo Ball is continuously developing and more and more styles and colors are becoming available giving you more choice! And if that isn’t good enough, they are said to be releasing a new outdoor design so not only will it catch the eye of your house guests but also the eye of onlookers too!!

Sure to be a must have in any home. So why not set the trend?

Source: LoJoBall