Home Decoration

Completely make over your bedroom without changing colors, fabrics, or furniture! You can do it all with lighting.

Bedside Basics
When lighting a bedroom, you want to create an atmosphere of quiet relaxation, while providing bright spots for reading and other activities. Develop a combination of general and task lighting based on these examples, and remember that dimmer controls let you vary the light to suit different moods and tasks.

Swing-arm or other bedside fixtures cast a peaceful light and illuminate bedtime tasks. If you want to add mood lighting without making the room too bright, supplement your bedside light with soft sources such as a fireplace or candles. A dimmer switch can also give you more control over the room’s brightness.

When your bed is the focal point in the room, create drama with recessed downlights near the head of the bed. Separate controls allow snoozing and reading simultaneously on opposite sides of the bed. Table lamps elsewhere in the room will help make the space usefully bright.

Active people love a room awash in a bright, warm Active people love a room awash in a bright, warm glow. This design combines an overhead fixture, which casts a wide beam of downward light, and uplight fixtures that illuminate shady corners. By wiring the overhead light and the uplights separately, you can have some or all of them on at one time.

Highlight the View
To show off attractive artwork, wall-hung collections, or areas of interest other than the bed, consider lighting that highlights those areas. These track fixtures, for instance, are easy to adjust, creating dimension with shadow. Be sure to install additional sources of ambient lighting to boost the room’s overall function.

Avoid unflattering and distracting shadows at your dressing table with lights on each side or one light directly above the table. Side fixtures should have shades that direct light either up or down at a 45-degree angle from the wall.

Types of Light
Knowing the different kinds of light will help you choose and arrange fixtures wisely.

Ambient Lighting
The most basic and practical form of illumination, ambient lights mimic the qualities of natural lighting. Often directed from a central, overhead fixture, they create light that surrounds you uniformly. It’s best to control this type of light with a dimmer switch, which allows you to adjust the light according to time of day or task.

Most bedrooms start with one ambient light source, which is a good beginning, but you’ll need other types of lighting to create dramatic highlights around the bedroom. One drawback to ambient lighting is that it often creates shadows in front of you, as you work or read with the ambient light source at your back.

Task Lighting
Intended to illuminate a task or a specific area, this bright light is generally work-oriented (reading, paying bills, needle-crafting). To generate task lighting, choose a fixture with a shade that focuses the light onto one spot. If the shade is open at the top as well as the bottom, it can supplement the ambient lighting.

Accent Lighting
If you get a headache from your task lighting, your ambient light is probably too dim and causing an uncomfortable contrast. Remedy this by increasing the wattage of the bulb in your ambient light, installing more lighting, or covering your work surface with a light-color covering to reflect the task light rather than absorb it.

Used to create drama, this light type also is known as point-source lighting because it focuses attention on something important. It does not have room-illuminating qualities, so it should be combined with ambient and perhaps task lighting. Select a fixture with a strong beam of light that can be directed onto a focal point such as art or a vase of flowers.

Kinetic Lighting
Kinetic means motion, and this kind of light flickers and dances to create drama and interest. It can come from candles, mirror balls, or lava lamps, for instance, but the hypnotic quality of candlelight or a wood fire is more conducive to a bedroom than a strobe light would be. Just be sure to place candles on a nonflammable surface and in a place where they won’t be knocked over.

The Right Height for Lights
Don’t underestimate the proper placement of task lighting. It can save you eyestrain, headaches, and accidentally pairing blue socks with black pants. Here are some preferred placement measurements for different task lights. (Adjust them accordingly if you’re a great deal taller or shorter than the average person.)

Abide by this general rule: The diameter of the beam spread out of the bottom of the shade for reading and writing should be about 16 inches.

For a dressing table, have 2 lights 36 inches apart (on either side of the mirror you use) and about 15 inches above the base of the table.
Similarly, for lighting a dresser whose top is used for grooming, place 2 lights 36 inches apart (again, on either side of your mirror). Assuming the dresser reaches your waist, the lights should rise 22 inches from the dresser top.

For bedside reading lamps, the bottom of the shade should be 20 inches above the level of your bed. If your night table is extremely tall or short, you may need to choose lamps to compensate.

At a desk, work lamps should be 15 inches above the desk’s surface, whether they are mounted on the wall or sitting on the desk.

Advice on planning the perfect master suite.

Architects and designers create spaces following a basic design rule: Take advantage of your room’s good points. Use these ideas to help make the most of your space.

1. Plan for the bed. Provide a blank wall suitable for a bed and oriented toward the best view the room provides. Allow a wall 14 to 15 feet wide if you’ll have a king-size bed flanked by side tables. Placing the headboard against an interior wall frees up exterior walls for ample windows.
2. Make the most of rooflines. Placing a master bedroom on a new upper level creates a private getaway, but it can create challenges when designing rooflines and integrating the space to maximize the impact. One alternative is to expose angular ceilings for added design interest. In this house, for example, careful planning gave the master suite four dramatic bisecting gables.
3. Control sunlight. Give adequate thought to managing daylight at different times of day and year. Movable daylight controls, such as draperies and shutters, provide flexibility, but you can also take advantage of awnings and deep eaves that shade windows.
4. Build it in. The architect regularly looks for opportunities to design custom built-ins. It’s efficient storage space and eliminates the need to bump out into the room with furniture. Many people prefer built-ins to furniture as it gives a room an all-of-a-piece look.
5. Define spaces with storage. Use storage to separate spaces within a master suite. Try a configuration composed of a bedroom and a bath separated by a short hall fitted with two closets.

Bedroom Lighting

Bedside Basics
When lighting a bedroom, you want to create an atmosphere of quiet relaxation, while providing bright spots for reading and other activities. Develop a combination of general and task lighting based on these examples, and remember that dimmer controls let you vary the light to suit different moods and tasks.

Swing-arm or other bedside fixtures cast a peaceful light and illuminate bedtime tasks. If you want to add mood lighting without making the room too bright, supplement your bedside light with soft sources such as a fireplace or candles. A dimmer switch can also give you more control over the room’s brightness.

When your bed is the focal point in the room, create drama with recessed downlights near the head of the bed. Separate controls allow snoozing and reading simultaneously on opposite sides of the bed. Table lamps elsewhere in the room will help make the space usefully bright.

Active people love a room awash in a bright, warm glow. This design combines an overhead fixture, which casts a wide beam of downward light, and uplight fixtures that illuminate shady corners. By wiring the overhead light and the uplights separately, you can have some or all of them on at one time.

Draperies
Whether your look is formal or casual, contemporary or traditional, use draperies or curtains to accentuate your decorating scheme.

Normally lined, pleated, and floor-length, drapery panels often attach by hooks to a traverse rod. A cord mechanism that hangs behind either the left or right panel draws both of the panels open and closed.

Because of the way a traverse rod works, drapery panels don’t always retract as compactly as curtain panels do, so if a window has minimal wall space around it, you may want to consider curtains or another type of treatment.

Before you purchase draperies, check their stackback, the technical term for the width of a window treatment when fully retracted. Very wide windows require more fabric, resulting in a wider stackback. In this case you’ll need to increase the length of the traverse rod to keep the stacked fabric from covering the window glass when the drapes are fully open.

Because draperies are typically pleated and more tailored in appearance, they generally lend a more traditional look to a decorating scheme. However, newer pleating styles can offer a more updated and casual look for contemporary interiors. Look for fan pleats attached to simple rods with clips and rings.

Fabric selections can dress a drapery panel either up or down. Velvet, damask, and silk generally require a more traditional or formal room, while linen and cotton fabrics offer a more casual look.

Curtains
Curtains are typically lightweight, unlined, and suspended from a rod by simple tabs, rings, or a rod-pocket casing. Most can be drawn back by hand to create a simple, casual-looking window treatment.

Basic curtain panels are easy to make and install. They may cover the full length of the window or reach from ceiling to floor. Lining the panels and adding decorative accessories and top treatments can make curtains look as elegant as any drapery panel.

Cafe curtains cover only the lower portion of the window, allowing light and views through the top half of the window.

Panels shirred on rods at both the top and bottom are somewhat stationary and are good solutions for swinging doors and for casement windows that swing in.

 A hot tub is a large tub or small pool full of heated water and used for soaking, relaxation, hydrotherapy, reading, or meditation. Hot tubs are frequently located out-of-doors although they may be sheltered against sun, rain, wind, or snow.

There are essentially three different styles of hot tubs:
1. Simple wooden-staved soaking tubs
2. Fiberglass-reinforced plastic spas (whirlpool tubs)
3. Bathtub-sized indoor units

Hot-tub basics: The spa/hot tub market has gone entirely to free-standing spas. These units are all self-contained with tub, motors, filters, and heaters all in one unit. This allows all parts to be UL approved.

Installation: Installation is also simple an owner only needs a garden hose and power supply. Literally, you can just hose it, heat it and get in. Initial costs and operating costs are also less.

On rare occasions, a homeowner might want to install a built-in ground tub. These are much more expensive and rare. However with major remodeling jobs, you may want the additional aesthetics of a tub that is integrated into you master design.

Spa materials: The spa industry has gone with man-made materials for their spas. You’ll occasionally find plaster, tile and wood spas in older homes, but these tubs are often difficult to maintain.

The most common material is an acrylic tub with a fiberglass back. These tubs are very strong, easy to care for, insulated for heat and come in a variety of colors and styles. Centrex, a tough thermal plastic, is another material used in tubs. However, it’s not as popular because it comes in one color: white.

Acrylic tubs with ABS plastic and backed with foam or fiber is the third kind of popular tub. Its non-porous surface makes it easy to clean. And it’s also very strong.

Sizes: Hot tubs come in a variety of sizes. The most common tub holds 450 to 500 gallons of water and comfortably seats six adults. For those private moments, you can find smaller, two-person tubs that hold about 250 gallons of water, however you may want to consider a four-person tub. On average, a six-person tub will cost you $12 a month for heating. And the industry recommends you change your water every 6 months, so you’ll see a 500-gallon increase on your water bill for those two months out of the year.

Tub placement: About 90 percent of all owners install their spas outside, partly because outdoor installation and maintenance is less expensive. If you want to install your tub inside, consider adding a ventilation system to your room. The tub will increase the heat and humidity inside the room, which can cause mildew and rot. Proper ventilation fans will take away the humidity and chlorine smell.

Features: Hot tub and spa design has come a long way. Today’s models include lifestyle features like special lighting, stereo and speaker combinations and customized head rests, all features you’ll want to consider when choosing the right hot tub. Exercise swim jets are good for people with physical ailments or to soothe tired muscles at the end of a hard day. (Remember that lights and stereos will have to be hooked up to your electrical system, too, and that electricity and water don’t mix.)

Ozonator: An ozonator is a device that sprays ozone gas into spa water, an extremely effective way to kill off bacteria in the water, keep the water clearer longer than bromide or chlorine and not give off that chemical smell. (The downside is that the ozonator has to be in operation a couple of hours every day and that you must use other chemicals as well.)

Winterize first: Many unnecessary hot tub problems are caused by ineffective preparations for winter, which is why you should talk with your service professional about winterization techniques or (especially) if you shut the unit down in the colder months. Be very careful if you do; any water left inside the hot tub shell, pipes or equipment, when frozen, will expand and crack your unit. A winter cover over your regular cover will help keep your unit in shape during colder temperatures.

Check filter: In the most-abused hot tub category is the filter, which keeps your system clear of everything from hair to bacteria, and today’s models include programmable filtering functions for busy people who don’t have to the time to keep up with their system.

Wallpaper - A Tradition of Well-Dressed Rooms
Beautiful walls have long been a part of the decorative history of the home. Whether it’s the ancient artist painting hieroglyphics on cave walls, the pioneer stenciling patterns inside a cabin or a contemporary home adding the beauty and texture of wallpaper, we all share the universal urge to surround ourselves with beauty, color and style.

Beautiful walls are decorated - never bare - and wallpaper is the perfect choice for the best-dressed walls. Plain, painted and plastered walls are no matches for the beauty, durability and personality wallpaper conveys. Whatever you want to convey, there is wallpaper to express it.

From restoring a vintage house to its original grandeur to making a stark, contemporary dwelling more comfortable, today’s wallpapers offer traditional elegance, country charm, or contemporary sophistication - whatever look you desire. And thanks to modern technology, today’s wallpapers are durable, inexpensive and easy to install.

Color Basics
A new color scheme can dramatically enhance the beauty and livability of a room. Without changing furniture, carpet or lighting, a fresh breath of color can transform an ordinary living space into a most extraordinary home.

Color is a personal choice, so always base the colors in your home on the colors you enjoy and that make you feel good. Don’t worry if the colors you choose aren’t “in,” — choose the colors that fit your personal style.

If you aren’t sure of which colors you like best or are looking for ways to use color expressively, fashion and home magazines, wallpaper retailers, decorating centers or the home of a favorite friend can all spark new ideas.

The most important fact to remember when decorating with color is that color makes a profound impact on the mood of a room and also on the people in it. Choose colors that create the feeling you want to create.

Building a Color Scheme
Most rooms design use one of the three basic color schemes:

Single color - uses one color in varying shades. This color scheme is easy to develop and creates a restful feeling in a room.

Related color - uses colors that are next to each other on the color wheel, for example, green and blue. This color scheme creates a quiet effect; light related colors are relaxing while dark related colors are elegant and formal.

Complementary color - a mix of two or three colors located across the color wheel from each other, like blue and yellow. The most dramatic effects can be achieved using this color scheme.

The Color Wheel
The color wheel is a common tool used in home decorating as it shows how colors are related. Using the color wheel, we can define the basic terms of color, which include:

• Accent Color - A contrasting hue used to add visual interest to a color scheme.
• Color Scheme - A group of colors used to create a mood or effect.
• Complementary Colors - Colors located opposite each other on the color wheel.
• Contrasting Colors - Colors that have at least three colors between them on a color wheel.
• Cool Colors - Blues, greens, purples and grays.
• Desaturated Colors - Color made less brilliant by adding white.
• Hue - A color.
• Neutral Colors - Subtle variations of black, white and gray.
• Primary Colors - Red, blue and yellow.
• Related Colors - Two colors next to one another on the color wheel.
• Saturated Colors - Bright hues; color that is not mixed with black, white or gray.
• Secondary Colors - Colors formed by mixing two primary colors together. These colors include orange, green and purple.
• Shade - A darker hue variation created by adding black or gray.
• Tint - A lighter hue variation created by adding white.
• Warm Colors - Reds, oranges, browns and yellows.

Home Décor can be quite an overwhelming task with all those measurements, planning, wall colors, ceiling colors, type, color and size of furniture, furnishing colors and patterns, size of rugs, storage areas, cabinets and so many things to keep in mind. It is an expensive task too. To make home décor easier and more manageable, it is advisable to make a time and budget schedule and decorate your home step by step. Narrow down your focus to one corner at a time and complete your home décor as a series of projects that are not too taxing on your time, energy and budget. This will also be rewarding as completion of one project will relieve you of that portion of home décor and motivate you with success and the beautiful change.

While doing the entire room at once seems to be a daunting task, making a cozy corner in the living area as the focal point of the room may be achieved by placing a coffee table, chairs around it and arranging flowers in a vase on the table. Here are some tips for step-by-step home décor:

• Choose a really attractive art piece or feature to make it the focus of attention in the room.
• Lend the dramatic touch and personality to your room by setting your focal point around the piece you have chosen.
• Every year, invest in one single but visually appealing piece of furniture.
• A fashionable sofa in attractive colors with pillows and a throw in complimentary colors can add new life to your living room.
• Improvise a long wall or an unused corner by placing an antique chest or armoire there and beautify them using a collection of displayable china, glass or pottery.
• Drawers and shelves are always needed to store linens and many other household items and can be carved out in any unused area and long-forgotten corners of the home.
• Remove the clutter that gets collected on the table and keep the items needed in drawers. A study lamp or a personal computer, a pen stand, a paperweight and a small notepad should be enough for daily use. Keep it simple and organized.
• Keep the dining room simple too. It should be friendly, warm and its furnishings should be versatile that can be style according to the occasion and changing trends.
• Try flexible dark colored furnishings that can be brightened up with using sparse modern art accessories.
• Light-finished wood can be infused with new life by adding greenery or ceramics and glass collectibles.
• Be as creative as you like in your master bedroom that makes your feel pampered, happy and relaxing. Invest in a really good bed and make it the center of attention.
• Other features of the bedroom should be rather kept muted and dress the bed with stylish linen in beautiful hues, prints and patterns and spare functional accessories.
• Do-it-yourself features such as sewing up upholstery for your home or giving a new look to an old ottoman or a table and making a stylish lampshade not only makes your home look better but also give you an artist’s satisfaction. Try them out.

Room Décor is not as easy as it seems at the first sight. You may fancy that glamorous room in the home décor magazine but you may find it almost impossible to translate into a reality because of the simple reason that the construction of your home and measurement of your rooms is entirely different. You may be renting an apartment where you cannot redo the positioning of walls, doors and windows or have a large large hall you do not seem to put to best use. Color, lines and furniture arrangement can make a huge difference to your room décor. We have identified the five most common problems that people often face while doing room décor and have come up with the possible solutions. These are:

1. Very Long Room

• The best way to deal with a very long room is to split it into two using screens and room dividers that you may use as study area, living area, dining room, personal gym or just entertainment room.
• Use warm dark colors on shorter walls to make them advance and give the room a balanced look.
• You may also define separate areas by using different area rugs.

2. Low Ceiling

• Long curtains that can be draped from above the door level and window level all the way to the floor, add height to the room.
• Paint ceiling in light cool color to make it recede and add light to the room.
• Tall accessories such as lamps look good and make room look taller too.
• You can add height to a room by installing vertical and tall cabinets or bookcases in the room.

3. Narrow Room

• Any linear arrangement on shorter walls such as placement of shelves, art pieces or rugs, will make them look wider.
• Diagonal arrangement of furniture looks better.
• You can also fool the eye by painting your longer walls in cool light colors to make them recede.

4. Tall Room

• Horizontally placed shelves, crown mouldings and art pieces cut off the height of the room.
• In such rooms, ceilings should have a warm dark color.
• You can also play the visual trick of installing the mouldings or chair rails to one half to three quarters of the way up the walls.

5. Very Big Room

• Experiment with warm and dark colors on your wall to make the room look cozier and friendlier.
• Group furniture pieces into two or more separate seating arrangements.
• Like long rooms, big rooms can also be divided into smaller areas using screens and room dividers and can be used for better purposes and will make the room look cozier too.

For budget home décor and ‘Do-it-yourself’ home décor projects, it is essential to have a toolbox that stores all the necessary items that you will need while finishing the job. Here is the checklist that you can use to arrange for tools that you will need for decorating your home:

• A step stool,
• A toolbox or caddy to store your things,
• Adhesives such as glue guns and sticks, spray adhesive can, staple gun with extra staple boxes, rubber bands, plastic twist ties, fusible interfacings, sewing needles and thread and may be starch for fabric wallpapering,
• Gardening tools (if you have a garden or lawn attached) such as lawn mower,
• Miscellaneous items such as iron and ironing board may also be needed,
• Things and Accessories to decorate home such as gold and silver touch-up pens, black and white spray paints, paint brushes and colors, sandpaper and may be buttons, ribbons, laces and fringes too,
• Things needed to hang pictures, messages and other such things such as cup hooks, thumb tacks, push pins, plastic anchors and picture wire,
  Tools to cut such as box cutter, utility scissors and good pair of scissors for fabric,
• Tools to measure such as measuring tape, yardstick, T-Square or level, and
• Woodworking tools such as a lightweight handsaw, screwdrivers of all sizes, C-clamps, nails and hammer.

Interior Designing is all about creativity and imagination. The basic elements that we use to play around with the mood, look, personality, character and overall environment of our rooms, kitchen, bathrooms, garden, backyard, garage and home, in general, are described below:
Fluorescent and halogen lights look harsh and are too bright for coziness and warmth in the room. Use soft incandescent lights instead.
Direct the light to attract the attention to visually appealing focal point in the room such as down lighting as from lamps shades of table lamps or up-lighting for attracting the attention to the family photos and portraits on the walls.
Make use of variety of textures. Soft and fluffy pillows, cushions and throw blankets make the room look cozier while baskets and hardbound books arranged neatly in book cases make the room look more sophisticated and ethnic. Black chrome armchairs, metallic round chairs, modern irregular-shaped tables and large mirrors make the room look too formal.
For the cozy room décor, use textured furniture as sleek furniture makes the room look quite formal.
The use of more patterns makes the room appear smaller and cozier. In a small room, use patterns sparingly.
Throw rugs add instant warmth to the room and are great for those who are renting.
Dark warm-toned colors on walls, furniture or furnishings make room look smaller but cozier.

When we think of a basement, a dark, unwelcoming room usually comes to mind. Basements don’t have to be stuck with this unpleasant reputation. The look and feel of basements can be changed with a simple remodel. Having a furnished basement can add value and comfort to your home, but if you have a basement that’s in need of some dressing up, you’re likely to encounter a maze of pipes and ducts that you have to deal with first. Our basement section takes you step-by-step through on how to spice up your basement.

Basement Waterproofing - Water, Water Everywhere - But Not in Your Basement!
It can be one of the most disheartening experiences a homeowner ever faces—to walk down the stairs to the basement after a heavy rainstorm to find water, water everywhere. What can you do?

Using a quality water-proofing coating is a key strategy. However, take note: Even the best waterproofing coating may fail to stop moisture if the block walls are not in sound condition. Brush away loose mortar and broken block; remove dirt, grease, dust and other surface contaminants; wire-brush or sandblast old paint; use a quick-dry cement to patch cracks, holes and floor/wall joints.

Also, be sure to follow manufacturer’s instructions. The most frequent error customers make is failing to apply a waterproofing coating at the spread-rate specified by the manufacturer. If the coating is too thin, it will not stop moisture seepage. In cases of excessive water seepage, a second coat may be needed. During the application, the coating must be worked into the masonry pores.

Though some paint manufacturers use the terms interchangeably, water-repellent and waterproofing coatings are not the same. A water-repellent coating system is an exterior coating system for above-grade concrete or masonry. It temporarily repels water, but it is not intended to prevent the passage of moisture under hydrostatic pressure. Some repellents are film-forming; others act by filling surface pores to prevent moisture movement.

Waterproofing coating systems, on the other hand, are intended to prevent the passage of water under hydrostatic pressure. These film-forming coatings are formulated for above and/or below grade and for interior and/or exterior application.

Hydrostatic pressure may be caused by several conditions. Rain runoff flowing toward a house, high water table and faulty gutter systems are the most common causes of hydrostatic pressure on a foundation. Wind-driven rain is the most common cause of hydrostatic pressure on an exterior, above-grade wall.

Sometimes interior condensation can be mistaken for seepage due to hydrostatic pressure. To distinguish between the two, tape a piece of aluminum foil to the inside of the foundation wall. Remove the foil after several days. If the wall side of the foil is wet, seepage is the problem. If the room side is wet, condensation is the problem. (Both problems can occur at the same time.)

While a dehumidifier can solve the condensation problem, a quality waterproofing coating is needed to stop the seepage. Not all coatings are intended for waterproofing. Most acrylic latex paints, for instance, are not formulated for this job.