Modern Home Decorating

Those of us who work in the home construction and design industry tend to forget how many little things there are that go into the creation of a new home or a redesign. There are design elements that have to be decided upon, from the big picture such as the overall architectural style of the home, down to the simplest things such as the type of kitchen hardware or the balusters for the staircase or deck. Recently in helping some new friends with their home project I was reminded how much there is to take into consideration in even just one area as basic as staircase design.

“Who would have known when we began designing our dream house just how many little details we would have to decide on? Did you know we spent an entire week just looking at balusters, banisters, treads and newels? I had no idea what any of these even were before we started all of this except that my grandmother used to let us slide down the banister at her home when we were very small. But growing up in a California ranch style house all on one level, stairs were somewhat novel to me. I really had no idea of everything that goes into putting together a staircase – there is practically a new language to be learned! What exactly did we want? What kind of treads? Iron balusters? Wooden newels? It was all overwhelming.” And after listening to them for a bit longer, I understood what they meant, even I felt exhausted just from their recounting all that they’d been going through before coming to see me.

So after reminding them that this process was something they had dreamed about for years and it was something they were supposed to be enjoying as much as possible and having fun with it, they relaxed a bit and listened to my suggestions of how to proceed encouraging them to consider three easy tips that anyone taking on a home project, big or small can use.

Concentrate on one area at a time Whether you’re starting from the very beginning with having to determine what style of architecture you want for your home or deciding on a particular element, such as my area of focus, staircase design, concentrate on that one area and work through the possibilities. With staircase design, this might mean first learning about all the different things you’ll even need to decide about. What exactly is a newel or a balustrade? Then you can get a bit more specific – what types of treads are characteristic for the architectural style we’ve chosen? Would iron balusters compliment the area of the home the staircase will lead to and from? Although you will be thinking about and focusing on one area in particular, thinking contextually about how this one area fits in with the rest of the home will not only help you to make good decisions, but will also help you uncover other questions to be addressed. The key though is to note those down and come back to them. Remember, one area at a time to keep from going into overwhelm.

Search out pictures of what you like and even what you don’t – This is a great way to help your through your decision making process. Head to the library or a bookstore and spend some time going through magazines and books until you find something that you really like. It’s again important to keep your focus narrow look only at staircases and their elements in one sitting – don’t let yourself get distracted by chandeliers you like. If you see something you want to come back to, make a note of it so you won’t forget. Looking at particular elements in use is another option. Grab your digital camera and go look at buildings that might have iron balusters if you’re considering them or the particular type of handrails you loved the sample of but would like to see in an actual home setting. Oftentimes, vendors or builders can help you with referrals of where their work or products can be seen. Gather up all of your pictures to not only help you to solidify your vision, but to help to explain what you really want to your architects and home designers as well as examples of what you absolutely do not want so that they really can get a visual sense of your style.

Remember your budget, but make decisions that you can live with for the years to come Sometimes your budget as well as home size will decide from the get go for you if certain elements are not to be considered. For example, that grand balcony and sweeping staircase you saw in that Mediterranean estate on your honeymoon simply won’t work or be cost effective if you’re building a 1600 square foot 3 bedroom, 2 bath home. You’ll not only use up too much of your floor space if you go that direction, but lots of your budget as well. But that’s not to say that with a little creativity and inspiration that you can’t capture the same feel of what you loved about it and bring it to your home. The large antique hand-carved iron scroll work you admired can be emulated with today’s iron or aluminum balusters and accent pieces scaled to fit your particular staircase and home. And with the ability to shop online now for virtually any product for your home, you will also be able to find options to fit within your budget. The important thing is to capture the essence of the design style you like, even if initially it seems out of reach, so that you will enjoy living with your choices for years to come and ideally stay within your budget.

Although these three tips may seem to oversimplify the process you are sitting in the middle of or are about to embark upon, by applying them over and over to all of your different home design decisions, particularly those you aren’t sure of, you’ll be able to focus your energy one step at a time and break down what might at times seem a daunting task. Your home is important and should reflect your style and desires. The project at hand may take time and energy, but the end result should and will be one you love and treasure for years to come, from the kitchen hardware to the iron balusters, if you just relax and take it step by step and enjoy the process as much as possible.

Amy Letitia
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/from-kitchen-hardware-to-iron-balusters-three-simple-tips-for-designing-your-dream-home-64141.html

With respect water fountains there are really four distinct types or styles too choose from and this makes for a good basis to start your search. Within this article we will briefly look at the styles and give you some idea of how you can use them to picture which will look best inside of your home.

Classic Water Fountains

The first of the styles we will touch upon is the classical design water fountains. These draw their design and detailing from the Greek or Roman cultures and many of the modern day water fountains still have elements of these details in them. Today the water fountains have been modernised and made into more contemporary pieces which has brought together the classic Roman design elements together into one water fountain. These are probably one of the most common styles and there will be extensive collections available from all of the top retailers.

Asian Water Fountain Designs

This design style is probably the most common amongst all of the water fountains and as such there are lots of different elements which include the likes of Feng Shui, Koi and Zen fountain styles. The Asian styling will fit into almost any room and there is inspiration gathered from across the East from almost all of the different regions. There is extensive use of lots of different materials to bring a wide and varied selection of water fountains which integrate superbly into the western interior design and will compliment any home or office superbly well.

European Designs

The European design styles really get their inspiration from the late 18 to early 19th century and bring a touch of elegance and almost an antique quality to the water fountains design. Like most if not all of the styles this type of fountain will fit into almost any genre of home. There are lots of different indoor and outdoor themes to choose from so making the all important decision can be a problem. When you are looking to buy water fountains the European designs will give inspiration and create the wow factor whether you look to have them in the home or in the garden.

Modern Designs

Many people who like contemporary living will be drawn to the modern designs, not only do these water fountains make use of the cutting edge in terms of the looks but they also make use of the newest materials. It is easy to spot the modern designs as they are shaped with hard angles and can be made comparable with modern buildings and architecture in terms of design flare. If you are into modern chic living and want to add a touch of style and elegance to your home then the modern design water fountains are most certainly the ones for you.

Chris Courtis
http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/water-fountains-choose-the-style-to-suite-your-home-677058.html

Kakoschke gone into the field of home staging with the goal of getting a guaranteed job at $31.45 per hour, it’s safe to say things would have worked out much differently for her.

This Staging Diva Graduate and founder of Hunter Lake Home Staging and Design says of this, her second chance career, “I made more money in the first 10 months in my own staging business than I used to make in a whole year working for the government as a Contract Manager. And now I work half the hours that I used to!”

What Laura understood when she got into this field and some aspiring home stagers don’t, is that a promised job for $31.45 an hour is actually a complete devaluation of her talents. Laura did her research before signing up for a training program and learned that home stagers can actually earn between $250 and $700 for just a two-hour consultation. She realized what she needed were the skills to promote her services and market her own business so she could be in control of her own employment.

It certainly worked out for her. In her first 10 months as a home stager, Laura landed so many of her own projects that she ended up staging 12 vacant properties. When you consider that staging a vacant home can earn a stager anywhere from $3,000 to $10,000 profit per house (even if they don’t use their own inventory), having 12 of these in less than a full first year of a new business is significant.

The largest of Laura’s projects was a $2.5 million vacant estate home which she furnished from top to bottom. “This was an intense experience,” says Laura, “but an awesome opportunity to put my home staging training into practice.”

One of her recent projects saw Laura staging a house that had been sitting on the market for four months. Before Hunter Lake Home Staging and Design came in, the real estate agent was skeptical about staging. Her thinking completely changed after Laura finished staging the property. With new furniture and accessories, the house sold in only four days. “The change in the decor was like night and day,” says Laura, “and we didn’t even have to paint or replace brass fixtures.”

This mother of three children loves the freedom that comes along with being her own boss. “I can work my own hours, set my schedule, be at home to teach (home school) in the mornings and work my staging business in the afternoons,” reports Laura. “My three boys get a first-hand look at running a business. I hope that the courage I found to follow my dream will inspire them to follow theirs, and to know that anything is possible.”

Like many Staging Diva students, Laura approached her home staging career with the attitude that she wanted to finally use her natural talents to earn a living without having to spend 4 years in an interior design program.

“I’m 39 and if it weren’t for the opportunities available to a stager, I would have had to return for several years of post-secondary training and then work long hours for low pay for a design firm to fulfill my dream of decorating. This would never have happened,” says this mom with a degree in literature. “Staging Diva Training gave me the business tools and confidence to follow my lifelong passion for design.”

Debra Gould
http://www.articlesbase.com/entrepreneurship-articles/mother-of-three-finds-freedom-flexibility-and-success-in-less-than-one-year-as-a-home-stager-676943.html

its just that I want to play around with some home design ideas with my house for a small addition, & I need some kind of basic program to use. Thanks!

I know they can be hard to find. I think Lowes has one on their website, I used it for a kitchen once, but it takes some patience. I have always done my design ideas in The Sims 2, because it is much more user friendly and quick. I never really get around to playing the actual game though. The only problem with this is sometimes the location of things isn’t exactly where you want it, but it’s a good way to get the idea of what you want to do.

Sometimes life goes by so quickly that certain people do not take time to find out what they truly love. Instead, they just follow the crowd.

Take a moment to think of your home. Does it truly reflect you “as a whole” or do you just have little spurts of your design style within the room? For example, do you love the way your living room looks as an entire design, or just a few items within the room?

Here’s a tip that most people find surprising:

when decorating your home, consider looking at your desired lifestyle not necessarily your current lifestyle.

Perhaps you want to travel, but do not currently have the money to travel – well DESIGN your room to nourish your dream. For example, you can frame and display pictures of places that you wish to visit.

Perhaps you live in a hi-rise apartment building in the city, but love the countryside; well transform your rooms as your escape to your peaceful countryside. You may even want to add a rooster as an accessory (um, not a “real one” for your neighbors may not appreciate it) to enhance your country house “home”.

Here are 3 unconventional places that can guide you to find your TRUE CURRENT design style:

Your photo album

You may have had a great time in the 90s, but do you want your rooms to still look like the same decade. Look at your photo albums and then view your home. Has your hair style changed and your home style remained the same? It may be time to upgrade to your current style.

Your closet

Peek-a-boo, does your room reflect you? Look within your closet – do you have clothes that you love to wear or that you feel you have to wear. Go for the former and dress your home how you want to wear it. Choose items for your home that you love to have, not that you have to display.

Your favorite fun TV shows

Favorite TV shows are a good guide to your personal style. Now this doesn’t mean that if The Simpsons are one of your top fun favorite TV shows that you should decorate your rooms in a whimsical way, but it reflects that you LAUGH the most and HAVE FUN the most when viewing this show. So show your FUN side within your home (sarcastic humor, conservative humor, silly humor, slapstick humor, etc.) with color, patterns, artwork, and hobbies displayed within your room.

Decorate your room to reflect what would make YOU smile when you walk within your room. Don’t worry about naming your design “style”, concentrate on what makes you feel happy within a room.

© 2007 Ada’s Interior Design, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Website: www.adasdecoratingsolutions.com

Ada Gonzalez
http://www.articlesbase.com/interior-design-articles/3-weird-ways-to-discover-your-design-style-677085.html

As corporate retrenchment continues rapidly and the Internet makes telecommuting ever more productive and more entrepreneurs are discovering the benefits of running businesses out of their homes. If someone is looking to get out of the rat race and spend more time with family and friends and live a more balanced life then a home-based business may be just right choice.

Personal freedom:
If someone does not want to stay much hours traffic to and from work every day, the most exciting part of starting a home-based business. Suddenly, one has extra hours in the day to regain control of the personal life.

There are no bosses, no dress code, no set work schedule and no office politics to trick. All one need is personal drive, discipline and time-management skills. It is a simple principle like the harder one works, the more money one can make. The earning potential is directly proportional to the performance, so just work harder and produce more.

One can also save money by not commuting and preparing lunch at home. With so many corporations and industries in a slump, starting own home-based enterprise means one can create own income-producing opportunities. Good job prospects are scarce and promotional opportunities within major companies are also decreasing.

Less risk:
Running a business from home takes less startup cash than a freestanding business, or even a franchise location. Once the business is up and running, it is cheaper and easier to maintain than a separate business location.

There are a number of tax advantages to having home and office under one roof. One can deduct a part of home’s operating and depreciation expenses on the insurance, utilities and expenses for household maintenance. This is especially important for parents of school-age kids. One can see the kids off to school and on most days be home when they arrive later in the day.

It is a little less stressful to juggle the demands of work and family when one can stay home to care for a sick child and generally set own schedule. Being own boss gives the chance to wear a lot of hats like sales director, marketing professional, strategist, business development manager and many more.

Launching home-based can be an opportunity to give birth to passions and hobbies and create a money-generating outlet for the unique and creative talents.

Basics for planning a home office:
Setting up a small home office is not just a matter of lugging office equipment into a room and plugging it in. Home office space is first and foremost a working space. The most important element of home office design is the infrastructure.

Commercial office facilities were originally designed to be office spaces. They have sufficient power, lighting and ventilation for office workspaces built into their design. This will maybe not be the case with house to use as a home office. It is advice able to locate home office in the site that has the best power, lighting and ventilation for office use.

Basic things for office:
Setting up a home office means that increase in power use that location. Even a small laser printer will consume 300 to 400 watts of electricity. Now think of the other office equipment to install in home office.

Get at first a PC, a monitor, a laser printer, a fax machine, a scanner and a phone. Step one of home office design is assessing power needs. Add up the wattage of office equipment. One must cut down on power needs by combining some of the office equipment needs.

Instead of having a separate printer, fax, copier and scanner, one multifunction machine that performed all these functions is better. Before even passing thought to the aesthetics of home office design, plug in all equipment and try to use it, as a normal working day.

If one experiences electrical danger signs, such as breakers popping or lights dimming when various pieces of equipment are operating, have an electrician check circuitry and see if any simple rewiring can be completed.

Better lighting for home office:
When choosing the lighting for home office, assess the needs first by sitting in proposed workspace and determining how much lighting one need to work efficiently and where the light should be placed.

An office with insufficient lighting is not only useless but can lead to all kinds of health problems from headaches through neck and shoulder pain. Many people overlook the importance of ventilation in office design, but equipment needs it. The more office equipment operating, the more heat will be generated and excessive heat can damage office equipment such as PCs.

Allan Wilson
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/advantages-of-a-great-home-office-setup-106106.html

Five practical areas to discuss with your designer or to keep in mind when plan shopping for your new home project. Here they are:

Roofline-The steeper the roof the more the cost in most cases. If you have noticed lately, there are allot of new home developments where the roof of the home is quite high and large. This is usually because the home itself is a smaller square footage and the roof makes it look bigger. Always remember that the roof area equates to more sheets of plywood, more shingles and more labor. Gable roofs are less expensive than hip or cottage roofs. I suggest a 6/12 roof slope or less to keep the roof cost on budget. You might want to discuss this with your designer.

Windows/doors-This is a crucial part of design. Let’s look at a few things that effect overall cost. Obviously the amount of windows, size of the windows, whether they open or not, as well as rounded top glass will effect your budget. The average home usually has 12-15 windows. Opening or venting windows cost more than a fixed or picture window. Rounded glass can cost as much as double the cost of an average window so use them sparingly. Wood windows usually cost more than conventional vinyl (PVC) windows. A door example is a double French exterior door is more expensive than a standard patio door.

Wall heights-The trend in the new home building industry today is to design and build with 9 foot walls and ceilings. This gives a home larger feel vs. a traditional 8′ wall height. This will affect the cost of the finished home as there is more wall area for drywall, siding, etc. In a 1500 square foot home or less, I would recommend 9′ ceilings to take advantage of the space. Two story walls, referred to as balloon framing, really adds to the cost of framing.

Vaulted ceilings-This is a raised ceiling in the home, usually going to a peak. It is a great idea to integrate into the design if you want the cost of standard 8 foot high walls with the higher vaulted ceilings giving the perception of a lager space. There are typically two types of vaulted trusses used in a new home design. The first on is the Scissor truss vault which gives a gentler raised ceiling and is less expensive, and the second is a cathedral vault which typically is a full height vault with a ridge beam. You see these allot in a Chalet style cabin. (steeper vault)

Foundation-A full concrete foundation (8 foot basement) in most cases will cost more than a crawlspace or slab foundation. If you don’t have allot of storage designed into the home, a full foundation may be required and is also a great re-sale feature. A sloped lot may accommodate a day-lite or walkout basement option as well. Basement development, as well as extra space over a garage, are the least expensive ways to add square feet to a home.

So if you are about to get plans designed for your new home or just looking for a plan online, keep this five points in mind. Your wallet will thank you.

Larry Clark
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/building-a-new-home5-key-issues-to-consider-at-the-design-stage-38164.html