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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Home Lighting






Decoration of your home is never completed until and unless you have proper lighting arrangements. This is a vital step for illuminating your home’s beauty. To adorn the interiors of any house, selecting the right fixtures is a must. However, the feel and requirement of the individual room acts as one of the major deciding factors. As far as your home decoration is concerned, lights play a very important role in this. One can even think of decorative light fixtures and lamp shades. Some of these light effects can simply make you feel relaxed while sitting in a comfortable armchair. There is another favorite lighting option that simply enhances your home decoration. You can select various mood and dinner lightings. Numerous designs and shapes are available in the market. You can just pick the right one, which suits your modern home decor and of course your budget.

Lighting can make all the difference between mundane and dramatic. Even the simplest architecture takes on a magnificent appearance with properly placed lighting fixtures. 

The choices of lighting fixtures available for us today are unlimited and comes in an array of styles with different functions which is why is important for us to have a basic understanding on what type of lighting fixture serves a specific purpose. The right lighting fixtures can work wonders for your home. Useful not only for illuminating certain tasks, the right lighting can also serve to accentuate your home’s style. If carefully chosen and properly installed, light fixtures can add beauty and drama both indoors and outdoors. Likewise, the right type of lighting can boost safety and comfort in and around your residence.

Lighting design goes far beyond choosing appealing fixtures and plugging them in. At its most basic, lighting design involves employing different light levels that work together to highlight unique features of each room and address specific illumination requirements. Understanding the fundamentals of lighting is the key in selecting home lighting fixtures.

Light fixtures are not just for use indoors. Specially designed lighting fixtures can also enhance the exterior of your property by illuminating paths and brightening doorways, simultaneously preventing accidents and deterring intruders. Exterior light fixtures can both brighten and beautify your garden, pond, deck, fountain, trees, shrubs, and driveways.

Using the correct lighting fixtures and bulbs throughout your home is a skill that can help you enjoy the time spent at home even more. That's because home lighting can be useful for two intended purposes, the first being function, and the second being mood.

With that in mind, consider each room in your home and what it is mainly used for. What are the activities that often go on in that room? How much light will be usually needed for those activities? Are there any points of interest in the room that you would really like to draw attention to?

Asking these questions can help you lay out your home lighting design so that it fits both form and function. Most lighting fixtures that you choose for your design will most likely fall into one of three categories, general lighting, task lighting, and accent lighting.

General lighting is perhaps the kind of lighting that most people are familiar with. It's very simply the most prominent lighting source in the room, very often an overhead fixture. These general types of lighting fixtures can be very simple or very ornate, but their first and foremost job is to provide sufficient lighting for the occupants of the room to be able to move around safely.

The next type of home lighting that we want to consider is called task lighting, and this is an area where many home lighting designs are found to be insufficient. The purpose of task lighting is to help illuminate a specific area for a certain kind of task that will be performed there. For instance, if there is a reading area in a room, it would be very appropriate to have either a floor lamp or a table lamp positioned very close to the seating arrangement with the correct bulb wattage to ensure that a person will be able to read comfortably not only for a few minutes, but even for a prolonged period of time.

Finally, consider also accent lighting. This kind of lighting fixture is not meant to provide illumination for activities in a specific room, as much as it is meant to focus attention on a particular feature or area of the room that you wish to highlight or set a mood for. A good example of accent lighting is when lights are focused on a painting on a wall. These lights don't really contribute that much to the overall light level of the room, but they do bring attention to the painting instead, which is what they are designed to do.

Take control of your energy bill by reducing your consumption of electricity by dimming lights to 80% and make sure lights are turned OFF when a room is no longer occupied and may also use the automated timer to schedule certain lights to turn ON/OFF anytime throughout the day or night. 

Make your home sparkle with a proper lighting design and lighting control system. 

Monday, August 3, 2009

Wall Paintings / Pictures






Wall painting is a very innovative way to make your house look gorgeous. Wall papers have become backdated, wall painting is the new in-thing. It is cheap and also easy to change as compared to wall papers. We shall discuss some wall painting ideas that will light up your room. 

Family photos hung on walls can be boring or they can tell an interesting story if they’re surrounded by personalized lettering transfers. And family photos aren’t the only images that can benefit from unique lettering art. For a distinctive look, surround the frame of a breathtaking image with inspiring lettering that complements a room’s décor. Or create descriptive transfer lettering labels and position them below a grouping of pictures, similar to the way museums display their works of art.

There are many ways to enhance a photo grouping with decorative lettering. Why just display framed pictures of your child’s first steps when you can highlight the pictures of this memorable event by adding words and quotes on the wall or even famous inspirational messages by well-known individuals? Your creativity will be the envy of the other mothers on the block. Some might even pay you to create the same effect on their walls! But only you can decide whether or not you tell them about letter transfers and how easy they are to apply to any photo wall or grouping, or anywhere for that matter.

When it comes to interior wall painting ideas for a home game room you should get a little creative, especially if you have a dedicated theme to the room. And it doesn't need to be difficult to look great, it can be done easily and look amazing at the same time. All you need to do is be creative, think outside the box and set aside some free time to get the job done.

Hanging Art Pieces together Working horizontally, as on a sofa wall or a hall entrance, prints grouped in odd numbers are visually balanced, giving volume without crowding. 

Even Numbers Art Arranging Large spaces – Tightly group an even number of pictures to balance a large space, such as a high wall in a room with vaulted ceilings. 

Small spaces – Tightly group an even number of pictures in a small space, such as a galley kitchen or a tight stair landing, to give a window effect. Enhance the effect by using light colors and slender frames. 

In both cases, the trick to evenly numbered collections is tight grouping so that pieces appear as one statement rather than a series of small comments.
   
If you have a selection of pictures that are similar in subject matter, size and framing, consider a symmetrical grouping to create a mirror-image balance. 

Symmetrical collections are often used to create the popular gallery effects, above large pieces of furniture, such as sofas and above mantles. 
 
If you have a selection of dissimilar pictures with at least one common element, such as subject matter, use an asymmetrical grouping for a more organic balance. 

When hanging two larger pictures together, try lowering one and raising the other, so the top and bottom don’t match. 

Group larger and smaller pieces, to create interest and energy. For example, hang a large focal piece, such as a garden scene, with two smaller pieces, such as gardening tools or seed packets. 

Combine horizontal and vertical pieces in the same grouping. Hang a tall architectural print with two panoramic skyline photos. 

The next wall painting idea is that you need to picture what color of wall you want in your house. If you for instance want a house that has a dramatic side to it, opt for contrasting colors. It is very important to remember the rules of paint when you decide to try out wall painting. 

Wall Texture / Wall Graphics





The key to great wall ideas is to choose the right combination of color, light and texture, taking into account the complex effect of these variables. Adding texture to walls can give a room richness and depth. One suggestion which is simple but gives great visual impact is plaster, trowelled or stucco. Stucco swirls are not easily achieved by the non-professional, but the effect is a dream on expanses of wall and a perfect backdrop to sophisticated texture and color. 

Textures on walls can be obtained from natural materials like stone. Stone-clad walls are making a come-back but instead of a single texture, marry varied textures. One way is the combination of polished, rough and grooved granite. The grains of a pebblewash finish contrast with the smooth furniture surfaces to add unusual definition to the room.

Plain colors may look dull and boring for sometime. You can create focal points in your home and make it look attractive and interesting by the use of patterns and textures, while maintaining the harmony and synchronization in your home décor. There are unlimited choices of textures and patterns for you to brood upon and choosing them and arranging them in an inviting manner, is not so easy a task, as it may seem at the first instance. Textures and patterns play an important role in determining the style of decorating the home.

Your environment limits your choices while every individual may have different preferences too. However, here are a few key points to keep in mind while selecting the right texture and pattern or their combinations for your home that you can use to create illusions of seemingly changed proportion of rooms, climatic conditions and overall mood of the room.

Drawing Room Wall Color






To decorate drawing room color is a dominant item. To make the look of drawing room larger than it is use light and bright colors as before said. Light green, cream, white, light sky blue and pink as light as light sky blue are the colors which will create a feeling of living. So, always keep in mind the relaxation of eyes and mental comfort-ness while you are painting your drawing room.

Color plays a dominant role in decorating a room. Light color makes the room look larger and spacious. For small rooms, use light colors such as white or cream as they are most obvious choices for wall. The room would look smaller if there are stronger colors. However, you can use warm colors for one wall or some areas of the room. Thus color should be selected carefully. 

Now a days contemporary colors are more in demand because they have both light and bright colors and add brightness to the room. You can use light colors like versatile white which is likely to please you and you can also try brighter shades such as red and green. You can go for an option of two color schemes taking first color at the center and the second color to give sparkling effect on the first. If the location of your room is sun facing, use cool colors like ocean blue or sea green. If the location of your room is non-sun facing and you want to get warmth in winters, go for bright shades like yellow and orange to diminish the dullness.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Kids Bedroom Wall Color






Paint is the simplest and least expensive way to create an original and personal space for your child to enjoy. Kid's rooms are happy rooms. Decorating a kids room using an age-appropriate theme and favorite colors is a great way to create a memorable space for your child to call his or her own.

Children need to feel part of the family. By understanding their age level and their likes and dislikes, will help you in choosing the right colors for their room. If they are under age 5 it is probably best to choose a set of primary colors for them. 5 years and up should be old enough to help choose a color. 

Even if your child picks something you don't like, think over it and let them know how you feel and the reason why. If they understand let them decide and just do it. Believe me after they have to repaint a few times they will make sure they pick the right color. I say okay, if you paint it this color that I don't like you will have to paint the entire room yourself. And if you don't like it you will have to repaint the entire room yourself again. There is no sense arguing over a painting project.

Kid's bedrooms should be both a fun place as well as a place for kid's to relax and rest. Paint choices are various, and can make a huge impact on a room. Painting is in fact, the most affordable way to transform a room. 

Children change from year to year, so you might want to plan on re-painting every other year. Give the child something they can enjoy now, they are only young once!

Paint with bright colors, make sure the paint is washable and choose a fun, bright color. If the room is big, you can afford to go with a little darker shade if you want. If the room is small, it is best to stick to light and bright, reflective paints. Painting the ceiling a solid color other than white can be detrimental to room. Painting small designs or stars on the ceiling, however, will work in all rooms. Paint each wall a different color. Paint different colors on the top and bottom. 
To balance out the room, if you choose to paint with this design, paint the lighter color on top and the darker shade on the bottom. This is another way to paint the child's bedroom with two different colors, but has a little more "sophisticated" feel to the room.  Paint with geometrical designs. Another way to use more than one color is to paint the walls first with a solid color, and then paint geometrical shapes around the room. Large diamond shapes make nice wall designs, and with a contrasting color can make quite a statement! The best example of this I saw was in a girl's bedroom. The walls were a solid purple color, and a light green paint was used for the diamonds. The result was stunning, and everyone commented on it.

Living Room Wall Color





This is one of the best ways to give your house a modernized and a fresh look. These days’ people are learning different concepts of wall colors and by applying the same you can also give your home décor a rich feel. It plays a very vital role when it comes to transforming a dull room into a vivacious one. When it comes to trying new and impressive wall colors, most of us are not ready to implement that. You can remodel your house theme and style by adding some diverse color shade. You can select the right kind of wall color by following these tips.

One of the best ways to select the right kind of color for your house is to focus on the architecture of every room. You can add some interesting colors to the moldings, window shades, doorways etc.

There might be some rooms in your house without any features. To make that room attractive, you can simply paint that wall with some glowing colors and leave the rest. This will automatically grab the attention of the viewers.

One can try variety of different colors for the ceiling. Selecting the right color for the ceiling will give your room a larger appearance. There are thousands of color shades out there to choose from.

Choose lighter color shades for rooms that you want to make seem larger in size. Lighter colors also bring about a feeling of happiness. Light colors look great in bathrooms and in livingrooms.

Bedroom Wall Color





Bedroom is your private haven, where you can be yourself and relax after a tiring day. It is one room of the house where there is no pretension and you are totally at ease. So when planning the bedroom colors we want warmth, style, mood and comfort. But how to team all these up with the correct bedroom wall colors. 

Have your child tell you what color they are looking for the walls in their bedroom. Show them some of the shades of that color and have them pick a shade for the wall and another shade for the trim. If your child doesn't have a favorite color, you can help them find a color that works for them by asking them what their favorite animal is or what their favorite toy is. Match the color of the animal or toy to one of the color samples from the palette.

Each room in your home will take on its own personality. You will want the color of the walls to match the personality of the room. When selecting your bedroom colors, you may first want to consider the mood you want the decor to produce.

The effect of color on the mind is quite an interesting subject and the psychology of color has been widely researched and the results show that color has a profound effect on our thoughts, perceptions and interactions.