Home Access Control

How Master The Provencal Home Look

To master the Provencal home look is all about using colours, textures and patterns taken from the French country side. To see the beautiful country side of Provence without actually visiting you can google the word “Provence” and look at the images. You will see a lot of yellow, greens, purples and golds which are the colour schemes you need to be looking at. You can get some beautiful fabrics with these colour schemes and Provencal designs for tablecloths, curtains and throws.

With regards to furniture you need to use as much natural wood items as possible and iron accessories. Wooden furniture with iron handles look the part. You can get some old furniture and do it up yourself by stripping down the paint to show the natural wood and then adding iron or metal knobs.

Seating should be comfortable in natural colours with bright coloured flower patterns on cushions. Living room accessories which will set off this look include picture frames made of natural materials; wicker baskets and candle stick holders make a nice touch. Fresh flowers are also a strong feature of a Provencal home so make sure you always have fresh flowers on display. As well as looking fabulous they will also make the rooms smell beautiful.

Now for the most important room in a Provencal home, the kitchen! This room should have a lovely aroma of herbs as you walk into it. Accessories in the kitchen should be brightly coloured and all handmade. French dishware comes in lots of different unique patterns and colours which will set the room off perfectly. Provencal tablecloths will make your dinning or kitchen table look really authentic. Some of the tablecloths on the market today are coated with Teflon which is a plastic coating which means any spillages are simply wiped away.

To sum up this look is really all about bringing the outside indoors. The look is charming, romantic, and very elegant. Comfy and casual are other words which spring to mind. If you really want to get a feel for what you should be creating, take a trip to Provence in the Spring time and see the beautiful spring flowers which form the country scenery.

Floor Lamp Lighting Tips

Floor lamps can act in a variety of different ways within a room, as they are very functional lighting applications. Recently floor lamps are being lumped into the “task lighting” category because these lamps are often used for a particular function, which inevitably leads to a reduction in the overall lighting demands within a household. With that being said, a floor lamp is an excellent way to reduce energy costs within a house. By turning off overhead lights and turning on the floor lamp, energy usage is decreased and the house becomes just a little more “green”.

Majority of floor lamps are the traditional 3-way socket and need a 3-way light bulb as well. There are also models that will use incandescent bulbs, fluorescent bulbs or halogen bulbs as well depending on what part of the house the light will be used in. With the idea of task lighting and “going green” in mind, a low-voltage light bulb is often used. With the use of these low-voltage light bulbs there can be up to a 40 percent saving in light energy used within the house.

The standard floor lamp is composed of two parts, excluding the light bulb of choice. The lamp base and the lampshade are the two main parts of a floor lamp and these are held together by a harp and finial. The style of the base will often come in a number of different styles depending on where in the house the lamp is to be incorporated. In order to choose the right floor lamp for a particular room it is important to first analyze the carpet color, wall color or color of other furniture already found in the room. The floor lamp base can sometimes be adjustable in height, which may also affect where it can be placed within the room as well.

The lampshade is the other functional piece of the floor lamp that needs to be taken into consideration when incorporating a floor lamp into the home décor. Like the base, it comes in a variety of different styles, shapes, colors, sizes and is composed of a number of different materials. Again, like the base, the type of shade should depend on the décor of the room in which the lamp will be placed. Unlike the base, there are some functional considerations as well. This has to do mostly with the amount of light the shade is going to let through. Is the lampshade going to shade eyes completely from the light bulb, is it going to let through and illuminate the room upward, or is the floor lamp going to be used as a reading lamp and illuminate the room downward for optimal reading? For things such as task lighting where the floor lamp will be used for only reading, it may be advised to have the shade point the light downward instead of lighting the entire room by pointing upward. With this task in mind, the translucency of the shade is not as important as if the light was going to be used to light the entire room.

Choosing the right floor lamp is dependent on a number of factors. Most importantly, it needs to be determined the main function of the lamp before the lamp is picked out. Task lighting is something that has recently come about and floor lamps are some of the best tools that can be used to reduce energy costs in this regard. A floor lamp can act in a variety of ways and is always a positive addition to a room, whether it is for reading or just to add a new flare to an old room.

Interior Design And Home Decorating Lighting Tips

For bathroom lighting tips, you actually will be in a position to test out different home improvement magazines and web sites. You can purchase many interesting and creative concepts with many lighting tips. Home design stores may provide you really lighting pointers, which is able to be really useful particularly when you really are also planning to make a bathroom makeover.

A ceiling fixture that lights the whole room is a must. You also need task lighting over your kitchen sink and in your major figure area. If your table is in the kitchen, a dropped fixture over the table is appropriate. Employ a dimmer switch on that fixture hence that you really is in a position to regulate the mood. Trace lighting that will be able to be directed at a butcher block island or a breakfast bar is handy.

Much of the lighting during a space is really contributed by light reflected from a surface. Footamberts (fL) measure the amount of light reflected from a surface. If you really want to purchase very technical, (fL= fc x % reflectance). As an example, if 100fc reach a wall or table that is painted with a 40% reflective surface, then 40fL may reflect from that surface.

The kitchen is a place where brilliant, functional lighting is a necessity. Under cabinet lights are also a good option to provide good visibility for food preparation; poor lighting during this area can even increase the danger of injury while cutting food. Consider installing up lights above the cabinets to supply gentle illumination for the ceiling area – this is also a good way to highlight artwork or detail pieces love contrasting ceiling and wall paint colors, or crown molding. An excellent overhead chandelier or ceiling light fixture is going to give for the room’s general lighting wishes. If you suffer a kitchen office or PC area, include a functional desk lamp.

Task lighting can be as simple because a desk lamp or end table lamp. This sort of lighting is most regularly used for reading, but is as well useful for other projects that require the ability to determine detail. It is very recommended that each seating position during a room have its own task lighting, but this isn’t always possible. Place lamps on bedside tables and finish tables; you can also place sofa table behind the couch and place a lamp there because well. Floor lamps are an alternative choice, and can figure well behind chairs that are angled into a corner. Finally, recessed lighting is able to give further light where other options are also unavailable.

The author highly recommends now a Interior Design Products for your lighting wants. To view additional info on this subject, try Trend Funnel’s Home Decoration Pointers Newsletter.

Top Ten Ways To Save Money Rehabbing A House

Rehabbing a house can be a very expensive task that can easily get out of hand and over budget. Today more and more people are looking for ways to save money remodeling their home. I’d like to share some of my insight and experience on ways to save money when doing a rehab property or flip piece of real estate.

Here is my list of the top 10 ways to save money Rehabbing / Remodeling a house.

Be Your Own General Contractor – Being your own general contractor could save you substantial money. However, I don’t recommend this approach to many people. You really do need some knowledge of the house remodeling industry before you try to take on this large of a task. You must have good negotiation skills, a sense for the construction trades, and an eye for design. If you’re successful at being your own general contractor you could save as much as 5% to 10% on your construction project.
Buying the right piece of investment property – can save you money when you begin your remodel project. The type of house you select can be one of the best ways to save money when you invest in real estate. Buying old or out of date construction types can cost you a lot of money because of the investment necessary to bring the property up to code. Choosing a simple rectangular house with simple roof lines and standard windows compared to a complicated geometric house can save you lots of money. Choose nice siding, paint and landscaping instead of an unusual house design.
Sweat Equity – There’s no better way to save money than to role up your sleeves and put some sweat equity into the project. Home Improvement and DIY are so popular today that most home owners have tackled a project or two trying to save money. You can take those skills and apply them to your remodel construction project. Most contractors will agree to let you do certain phases of the project if you discuss them before construction begins and identify those items in the contract. If you have certain skills that you feel comfortable with then discuss them with your contractors so you can save some money. I’ll discuss some of the more popular tasks below.
Job Site Clean Up – Helping keep the site clean is one of the simplest ways I know how to save money when remodeling a house. Having a clean and orderly job site makes everyone work a little more efficient and careful. Having the sense of an organized job site will ensure your project gets finished sooner with few problems and that means less money from you. Even slight delays in the project can mean substantial interest payments and temporary housing costs.
Salvage Materials – Using salvage materials will help you save money and it’s the Green Thing to do. Today there are salvage yards that specialize in recycling building materials. Things such as doors, windows, cabinets, plumbing and electrical fixtures are all available at very discounted prices. You’ll be saving money while helping out the environment so it’s certainly an idea worth considering.
Reduced Price Products – Buying floor models, remnants and slightly damaged products is one area that I’ve seen many of our real estate rehabbed save big money. Many building material stores sell discounted projects at huge summer time yard sales. When you’re looking for fixtures make sure to consider about floor models, discontinued models and even damaged products.
Painting – Most people that consider themselves DIY’ers have no problem painting. If you paint your remodeling project inside and out you can save $2,000 to $10,000 easily. Painting your rehab house is a project the whole family can help out with. I’ve seen people that have a painting party with family and friends and paint an entire house in one weekend.
Flooring – Flooring is another project that I’ve seen customers save a substantial amount of money on. Most types of tile and wood flooring a re easy to install with very little tools. Even if you can’t install the flooring yourself check out sales for discounted materials. You can often find discontinued material and use it to tile the basement or laundry areas.
Landscaping – Doing the landscaping yourself can save thousands of dollars. It takes very little skill to do and can save you a ton of money. Bring along friend and family to help. It makes for a great group project. Chances are you’ll save money and do a better job in the process. You can easily plant your own trees, shrubs flowers to save money.
Keep It Simple – I have seen too many investors and flippers over build a rehab project and finish it exactly the way that they would want it. The problem is that no two families have the same taste. I have often driven past these homes months later to find the paint a different color, the landscaped ripped out, or even worse, everything is dead. Build the project to meet the standards of the neighborhood and make sure that everything is clean, operational, and that the home is ready to move in. NOTHING MORE. Give them a clean slate to start their new life with in the rehab home you’ve remodeled. You waste a lot of money on things that the new buyer may not like. It is better for you to save that money and offer it to the buyer as an incentive for buying or to help them with closing costs. It will end up making the deal close faster.

Doing any one of these items the next time you build a new house can save you money. The most important advice I can give you is to be speak with your builder openly about these ideas. Tell your builder you’d like to save some money by doing certain tasks yourself. Most builders will be open to this arrangement so long is it’s discussed ahead of time and properly addressed in the contract.

Tile Flooring Ideas: Giving Your Floor Personality

With advancements and innovations in home design as well as expanding creativity and style, tile flooring ideas now go beyond the bathroom and the kitchen. In the more traditional days, tiles were only used in rooms with a lot of moisture, traffic, rough and tumble. Now, you can use tiles to beautify your living room, make your bedroom more dramatic and so on. With tiles having so many different textures, colors and designs, the possibilities are also endless for tile flooring ideas.

You can go with one kind of tile when you want flooring that is durable and beautiful. You can also mix and match different materials too. Together with your imagination and creativity, you can create a flooring design that’s unique to your home and give the rooms of your house a great personality, your personality. To make sure you utilize the wide selection of tile flooring ideas, you have to know about the various kinds of tiles that you can work with to install on your floor.

First, you have porcelain tiles. These tiles are made by firing at high temperatures. They are also very dense and moisture resistant. You can purchase porcelain in a variety of shades and colors. Porcelain tiles are the most expensive though but with them you have tile flooring ideas that can mimic stone and other materials.

You also have ceramic tiles. This kind of tile is the inexpensive way to achieve the look of granite or marble floors. They can give the effect of having water on your floors that’s oh so dramatic. Another kind of tile you can use as flooring is metal tile. These are either industrial gratings or stainless steel. If you want your floor to have the look of brass, bronze or steel, this is the one to go for. You can mix and match this tile with other kinds of tiles to accent the floor and create a point of interest in the room.

One of the most traditional flooring ideas to go for is using terracotta tiles. You can get a handcrafted look for your floors with this kind of tile. You can use it in the regular square shape or get ones in octagon shapes, etc. Put a picture on your floors with mosaic tiles. You can make a pattern or lay them out randomly for a unique design. Lastly, you’ve got glass tiles. These can be used as tile flooring ideas to give a quality finished look to any room.