Home Decoration

Gnats are basically household pests that are very difficult to get rid off. They cannot be simply shooed out of the house and multiply almost instantly! Sometimes, even insect sprays seem inadequate get rid of gnats. They basically look for warm and moist places inside the house where they can breed and also get food. This means, your indoor plants, garbage can, kitchen drainage pipes, are all potential breeding grounds for gnats. So if you see these small black insects flying around or settling itself in your coffee, you know where all to look for! Check out these home remedies for getting rid of gnats. If nothing works, call the professionals. 

• The most popular home remedy is the vinegar bottle trap. Fill a bottle almost till the top with vinegar and close it. Poke several holes inside the cap and place it at a strategic corner or a place where you think the gnats are breeding. Gnats are attracted to the smell of vinegar; they will climb into the bottle through the holes but won’t be able to climb out. This method is very effective and you can place many such traps in the house.
• In a bowl, mix some vinegar with a little bit of dish washer. The vinegar will attract the gnats and they will climb into the bowl. The dishwasher will cease friction and even if the gnats try to wiggle out, they will keep slipping inside.
• Look out for over-watered indoor plants, or other moist corners around the house. Disinfect them as they may have the eggs of gnats. Spray generous amounts of ‘Gnatrol’ or any such disinfectant / chemical agent that is meant exclusively for getting rid of gnats.
• Another way is to place a rotten fruit on a plate at the window sill or just outside the door. The gnats will get attracted by the smell of food and you can dispose them off in bulk by spraying a chemical agent.

Make sure your house does not have moist or damp corners, clean out the trash regularly and keep the carpets and the rugs in sunshine often to make sure there is no moisture in them to breed larvae. Place window screens to prevent gnats from entering inside. Always keep bug sprays at home to wipe them off as soon as you spot them. The more you delay, the more tough it will be for you get rid of them.

After the demolition phase, there is usually some preparatory work to be done before you can install your new kitchen. If extensive structural, electrical, plumbing, drywall or paneling work is included in your plans it should take place at this time as well.

Walls
Gouges or holes in the walls must be repaired with wall board compound, spackle, or patching plaster. Stuff larger holes with newspaper or fine wire mesh to hold the compound. If you have gaping holes or many gouges it may be necessary to replace the surface with dry wall.

Usually, installing new cabinets will call or some changes in the position of the cabinets, requiring that the walls be painted. If drywall or large patches of filler are being used to prepare the walls, a coat of sealer or primer should be applied before the color coat.

Locate and mark the wall studs on the floor and ceiling as a reference for attaching the new cabinetry.

Floors
If you plan to replace your floor, the time to prepare for it is Before installing the cabinets and permanent appliances. Ceramic tile floors are usually placed before the installation of cabinets while vinyl flooring can be laid either before or after the cabinets are in place. If the new floor will go directly on top of the existing one, it is very important to fill any areas that may have dipped, buckled or bulged, as well as any holes or gouges, and nail down protruding boards. Remove glue or paint that may have spilled. Countersink nail and screw heads that are sticking up above the surface. If the old floor is embossed or has dips and/or hollows in it, these should be filled in with cement filler using a 5 to 10-inch wide putty knife.

Water damaged floors must be repaired before laying down a new floor. You will need to remove the existing flooring to expose the damaged subfloor. Damaged portions of sub-flooring must be replaced. Should you find the entire sub floor to be too badly damaged for salvage, it will be best to lay new one. This can be laid directly on top of the existing floor.

The Order of Installation
These instructions are to be used as a guide but you should always follow the specific manufacturer’s instructions where there are deviations. Putting the kitchen together should occur in a logical sequence.

1. Primer and paint
2. Ceramic tile, vinyl or hardwood flooring
3. Wall cabinets
4. Base cabinets and islands
5. Cabinet doors, drawers and hardware
6. Plywood base for tile countertops
7. Recessed sink
8. Counter tops - wood, marble, tile
9. Surface mounted sink & fittings
10. Disposal
11. Dishwasher
12. Ice-maker connection
13. Over the range hood/vent
14. Cook top
15. Wall oven and microwave
16. Vinyl Flooring
17. Range
18. Refrigerator, freezer, trash compactor & icemaker
19. Lighting fixtures
20. Finishing touches - trim

    Note: Hardwood flooring and ceramic tile are always laid before cabinets are installed while vinyl flooring can be placed after the cabinetry is in place.

Every room needs to be decorated, keeping three things in mind:

• Harmony of all the décor ideas that are to be used in the room to create a perfect visual and aesthetic balance;
• Its functionality and uses; and
• The mood, vibrancy and energy level of the setting that you want in the room.

The style to be followed, furniture to be kept in the room, storage area and cabinet design in the room, furniture and furnishings of the room and layout and seating arrangement of the room, all are decided upon and judged according to the above said three principles. We will take examples of a room and analyze on its décor using the three basic principles of room décor stated above.

Master Bedroom With A Masculine Feel

Functionalities Decided Upon:

• Quiet retreat for complete relaxation and sleep,
• Comfortable reading area, and
• Romantic enough for couples.

Things That Can Help You To Achieve The Above:

• Window to provide natural light and proper ventilation of air,
• A pair of bedside lamps to supplement the light to allow for reading in bed,
• Bookshelves behind the headboard to keep books and family photos.
• A bench, low dresser or a hope chest at the foot of the bed not only adds the style to the bed but also is quite functional. Sprinkle rose petals on it for instant romantic makeover of the bedroom or keep a laptop computer on it to keep in touch with your office and lady love at the same time or even drop the robe or lap blanket on it while changing clothes.

Mood of The Room:

• Masculine,
• Restful,
• Modern, and
• Demure.

Accessories That Can Help You To Achieve The Above:

• Leather headboard in a dark solid color that darkens the room,
• Using simple solid neutral colors for the sedate mood, and
• Plain sisal carpet in a light color to brighten up the room a little.

To achieve harmony:

• Avoid all clutter and useless products in the room.
• Neutrals make the room look demure and restful at the same time working as the unification factor, though you can use some accents in bright colors such as red and green for dramatic touches but subdued to the level that they don’t disrupt the harmony.
• Classic furniture and contemporary furnishing work well for the room as frills make it look feminine.

We all know that all colors are made up of three primary colors - red, blue and green - in various combinations. Secondary colors are made up of mixing of these primary colors such as cyan; yellow and purple while tertiary colors are made up of mixing the secondary colors to the primary colors such as reddish orange and yellowish green. Absence of all the three colors make up an absolute black, which is almost non-existent, and the black we normally talk about is actually a tint or shade of the actual color. Similarly all these three colors mixed in equal parts would produce pure white light such as sunlight. Colors that we are talking about are actually the light particles reflected by a substance when the source absorbs the rest of it. It is actually the tints, tones, values and shades of the basic key hues that make our world so colorful to look at.

Let us see, the actual meaning of the words used above:

• Hue means Color such as red color or red hue,
• Tint means the pure color mixed with white such as tints of red means red mixed with white color to produce different kind of reds and pinks,
• Tone of a color means that the pure color is mixed with grey,
• Value of a color means the lightness and darkness of a shade achieved by the sheer or deeper application of the color,
• Key colors are the dominant colors that we have chosen for room or home décor, while
  Shade of a color means that the pure color is mixed with black.

While painting your walls and ceilings or deciding a color scheme for your home décor, it is always helpful to collect chips and swatches of your favorite colors from various sources such as fabrics, hardware stores and even cuttings that you can arrange and rearrange to decide what colors look good together. Furnishings are a wonderful way to add color and texture to your home and can be moved easily too.