Myia’s Renovations and Realty

Groshan Fabiola our expert of the day, writes:

Everyone wants a home that is comfortable, beautiful and practical. Although designing and decorating your home may sound like an easy task, it can be challenging. Fortunately, hiring the services of a professional interior decorator can help. If you live in the Bay Area, an interior designer in San Francisco can provide you with valuable inspiration and ideas.

You Don’t Have To Do It Alone

There is no need to spend all of your valuable time and experience frustration trying to plan your dream home alone. As the saying goes “two heads are better than one” and you will appreciate this statement even more after hiring a professional interior decorator. San Francisco and other large cities offer many reliable choices so you never have to tackle the daunting task yourself.

Don’t seek the help of friends or family who always roll their eyes at the mere suggestion of your new “decorating project.” Enlist the help of a professional interior designer; this knowledgeable and experienced individual can take care of every detail from drafting the initial plans to overseeing contractors to complete the project. An interior decorator can also motivate you and turn your decorating challenge into an exciting venture!

Gain New Decorating Ideas

A keen eye for detail and coordinating various colors, textures and styles is essential for any professional interior decorator. San Francisco and other large cities contain many knowledgeable individuals who can show you a whole new world of decorating options you may have never considered. An experienced interior designer has a wealth of new ideas that can help you transform one room, a few rooms or even your entire home.

An interior designer can expand your decorating possibilities by showing you unique combinations for your walls, flooring, furniture and accessories. A professional can show you how to change the appearance of your room by using removable wallpaper cutouts or by hanging wallpaper in bookshelves. They may choose a vibrant red for your walls to provide a bold backdrop to your silver accessories. An experienced interior designer will also teach you tricks like placing pieces of matching furniture in various rooms to create a more unified look.

Advantages of Hiring an Interior Decorator

Decorating becomes a much more pleasant and stress-free experience when you enlist the assistance of a professional interior designer. An experienced interior decorator will work closely with you to help you create a unique vision that reflects your lifestyle, personality and budget. A professional will take note of many different factors such as the size, light sources, location and function when designing or decorating any space.

This individual can also save you time and money and help you achieve decorating goals you never dreamed possible.

Here are just a few of the reasons to hire a professional interior decorator:

Flexible – An interior decorator can take care of every detail for you or incorporate your own design ideas & suggestions into the decorating plans

Convenient – You can save valuable time and frustration by hiring an interior decorator to design your home, source & purchase items and oversee contractors

Cost Effective – An interior decorator will work within your budget to provide cost effective decorating solutions that represent great value

Added Value – You can increase the monetary value of your home by hiring an interior decorator to design or update your home with inviting and visually appealing décor

Emotional Investment – You should consider the services of an interior decorator as an important investment that will enhance your emotional well being

Motivating – A professional interior decorator will motivate you, show you new ideas and help you transform your surroundings and maximize your living space

If you are looking for a great interior decorator San Francisco please visit this links. You can find one of the best interior designer San Francisco at http://www.MintHomeDecor.com

West Coast Flooring Center our expert of the day, writes:

Along with the vitality and liveliness children bring in to a home, they also bring great energy. Often times, children’s energy can lead to broken vases, stained carpeting and scratched flooring. Parents often times feel that they must sacrifice their designer taste and style to transform their home into a ‘jungle gym’ full of child proof appliances and cheap furnishings.

Decorating your home to accommodate children doesn’t have to mean giving up rich fabrics and decorator hues for a collection of cartoon characters and primary colors. There are plenty of functional home décor materials to fit your taste and the wear and tear of a busy family lifestyle.

Creating a Kid Friendly Color Palette

Before you start decorating your kitchen or family room, consider how often you and your children use that particular space. If the room is a high traffic area, consider using neutral, organic colors like taupe, light browns and greens. These neutral colors camouflage dirt and the everyday deterioration of your active lifestyle. If these organic hues seem dull, incorporate bright shades by adding colorful home accessories like throw pillows and area rugs. A few accent colors are quick, simple, low maintenance ways to liven up even the dullest room.

If the room you are decorating is considered an ‘adult only’ space, splurge and experiment with rich decorator hues and color palettes. Creating an ‘adult only’ room allows you to have at least one area that you can decorate exactly how you want, without the possibility of your hard work being at risk.

To learn more about the latest family friendly home improvement materials that will complement all color palettes, visit www.westcoastflooring.com.

Installing Long-Lasting Floors

When selecting carpet flooring for your home, opt for darker colors. Dark carpeting disguises grape juice and mud stains better than light carpeting. Save the lighter colors for adult zones like the bedroom or home office.

If you’re in the market for hardwood flooring, select something more durable that can withstand roller skates and soccer cleats. Bamboo flooring has proven to be a more durable alternative than oak or laminate flooring. Bamboo also accepts a large variety of stains, making it a versatile flooring option that can be blended to match almost any interior color palette. All wood flooring will eventually scratch, but bamboo can easily be refinished, unlike laminate flooring.

Extend the life of your carpets and hardwood flooring by investing in wool area rugs that have been treated to resist stains. Hooked wool rugs are great for high traffic areas where kids walk, play and eat because they offer easy spot clean up and very little maintenance. You can find durable rugs in all sorts of stylish patterns and colors and they can be moved around to designate areas. Toss one in the kids’ play room, or underneath the coffee table to preserve your home floors.

Visit www.westcoastflooring.com to find more durable flooring options for your home.

Incorporating Durable Fabrics

Though dining room chairs upholstered in silk may look great now, they will not look as attractive after a few meals with the kids. Instead of purchasing couches and chairs upholstered in high maintenance materials, like silk, select durable fabrics such as cotton and ultra-suede that can withstand daily activity. Consider the fancier fabrics, such as chenille and crinkled velvet, for accent pillows and throws. Velvet and chenille have a more formal feel and are more durable than silk.

Couples don’t have to surrender their style when they have children. There are plenty of attractive and substantial home décor solutions for the busy family lifestyle. Transforming your home into something more stylish and family friendly is simple when you invest in the right home décor materials.

This article is provided by West Coast Flooring Center , one of the largest flooring stores in Southern California , offering flooring services with a wide variety of quality flooring options and other home improvement services.

West Coast Flooring is currently offering weekly, limited-time specials to represent a different home improvement product or service that would work best in the kitchen, family room, bathroom and foyer. Find the latest West Coast Flooring offers for your spring home improvement projects today.

Build WriteWell our expert of the day, writes:

Kitchen Remodels: Kitchen Remodeling Dollar Amount For New KitchensKitchen Remodeling Lesson Three: Dollar InvestmentKitchen Remodels: Kitchen Remodeling Dollar Amount
Everyone looking to remodel a kitchen has the important question to consider - “How much does a new kitchen cost?”
Guess what? There is an answer! And your Answer - How much does a new car cost?
Amazingly the investment for a new car is very close to the investment for new kitchen cabinets. As there is a wide range in car selections and car quality, so is the range and selection for new kitchen cabinets. A basic little Geo Metro, Ford Escort, Saturn, and a small car like my first car (Toyota Corolla) all differ greatly in price from a top of the line SUV shall we say Hummer, Jeep, or Bigfoot himself.
To get the right price on the right vehicle usually doing your homework and understanding your investment is in your best interest. This is the case with new cabinets, in almost the exact same manner and price range. Going with used cabinets offers the same type of problems as buying a used car does to the purchaser.
Know what goes into each task when you talk to kitchen designers or remodel contractors. By taking time to understand the kitchen planning you will be able to control the cost of the new kitchen.
You are still reading! You are doing better than 6 out of seven readers! You love knowledge and I know you are on your way to Kitchen Remodeling Success! Keep up the diligence!
Remodeling your own kitchen in this manner will seem scary at first. As you put together your planning information box, all at once things will fall into place. If you like putting together 5,000 piece jig saw puzzles you may not like this task as the jig saw puzzle will only be around 100 pieces. It still will be a challenge to most of us, and understanding the kitchen design will not be easy until we can look at the jigsaw puzzles box cover and see the big picture.
“Let me see the cover,” my sister would say to my brother who were both big into jigsaw puzzles. Although I did not have this skill, they both would fight over the box cover and by looking at the cover they could clearly see where each puzzle piece was to be placed.
Read the cover to your new kitchen carefully. Analyze your existing kitchen. Then - choose the right hardware, material, products, and appliances for your kitchen’s needs.
Plan a kitchen layout that suits your lifestyle. Include the kitchen dollar investment that is right for you - by doing your homework and taking time to understand the kitchen remodeling process.
 
New Kitchens 101: Free Kitchen Lessons
Kitchen Guide To Kitchen PlanningRemodeling Electrical Kitchens and BathsKitchen Cabinet Computer LayoutsKitchen Countertop SelectionKitchen Design Kitchen Layout Kitchen TrianglesKitchen Layout Dangerous Kitchens Kitchen SafetyKitchen Remodeling - Saving MoneyKitchen Cabinet Kinds, Sizes, and Installing HeightsKitchen Guide to Kitchen PlanningKitchens: A New Concept
New Kitchens 101: Free Kitchen Lessons
 
 

Don VanPelt our expert of the day, writes:

Why is it that a bunk bed is so popular with kids? Remember when you were little how exciting it was to climb onto the top bunk in your friend’s bedroom? Only to wonder why you didn’t have a similar set-up?

The first sight of a set of bunk beds to a child is the equivalent of seeing a roomful of wrapped presents on Christmas Day. It’s a place to play, and a space to call their own. Because of the popularity of bunk beds, with demand comes variety. Yes, bunk beds now have themes. Want a castle for your little kings or a dollhouse for your little princess? Of course, traditional styles and themes are still widely available.

Besides the obvious attention factor, bunk beds do serve a purpose. With space in most households at a premium, being able to put one bed on top of another is simple genius. Drawers on the bottom add functionality and a place to store kids’ valuables. How about a separate drawer for each kid? What doesn’t make a kid feel more important than a small box that he or she “owns”. Talk about the ultimate in floor space conservation. Two beds stacked on top of one another, and a toy chest underneath them both. Can’t get that race track set laid out on the floor because there isn’t enough space? Now you know how.

How fun are bunk beds? Just ask a kid, even a kid who doesn’t have any. Just hang a sheet, or curtain over the bottom bunk and you have an instant fort, instant solitude, cut-off from the outside world, alone, with just your thoughts as a kid.

Since many bunk beds are built with kids in mind, they are constructed to take the abuse of a kid. Bunk beds are safer now than they’ve ever been; most are designed to hold up to all the jumping, kicking, pushing and pulling that kids have to offer. Plus with all the safety precautions available for bunk beds now, parents don’t have to worry. Just make sure that your children use the ladder for climbing onto the top bunk. The temptation to leap in a single bound is an eye-widening adventure for some little ones, especially the boys.

Kids’ bunk beds are a great space-saving solution. You don’t even need to have two kids to have a bunk bed either. Sometimes the extra bunk will come in handy for those occasional friend sleepovers.

Yes, the market for kids’ bunk beds is huge. But are they just for kids? Dorm rooms that house college students are primarily stacked with bunk beds, as well as boot camp military-style housing. But what about grown ups? Don’t most couples want to sleep in the same bed? (50% of you don’t answer this!) So why would we as grown ups want one? Well, to decorate our spare bedrooms as guest bedrooms. Home décor is a very, very big market, and most people want the inside of their houses to shine with pride.

So send the kids to bed in style, who knows maybe they’ll even want to go to bed. Combine that with the obvious allure and you have the ingredients for a parent-kid, win-win solution.

Andy West our expert of the day, writes:

The trend of culturally inspired decorating has become more and more popular. People use influences from all over the world to decorate their homes. Over time, Asian and Spanish inspirations have evolved to become two of the most popular decorating trends in the world; however, new cultural influences are beginning to pop up everywhere. One of these trends is Moroccan home decor.

The Moroccan style is derived from Hispanic-Moorish style influences. It has appeared as a new trend in design and decoration and has become popular in cities in France, the United Kingdom and the United States. The popularity of Moroccan home décor has increased due in part by the renovations of Riads in Marrakech, a city in west-central Morocco based in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains. A Riad is a traditional Moroccan house that accentuates an interior garden. Moroccan home décor is unique in the fact that it brings together influences from Africa, Hispanic nations and Europe.

One of the great things about Moroccan home décor is the fact that most of the pieces are handcrafted. These items are not factory produced. They are individually crafted to make sure they are made of the utmost quality. From handcrafted tables and lamps to unique quilts and rugs, these Moroccan treasures add a touch of culture and historical ambiance to any room.

Some of the most classic pieces of Moroccan home decor would be the various types of hand-woven rugs. These Moroccan style rugs are commonly known as handmade kilims and come in many different designs and colors. Traditional kilims are handmade by women from the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. To make these kilims, the women use a variety of stitches and different arrangements of triangles, rectangles and other shapes to make the design. Most kilims come in the traditional black and red Moroccan colors, however there are kilims that come in different colors. A nice aspect of a kilim is that it can be used as an area rug, but it can also be hung on the wall to decorate any room.

To go along with the handmade kilims, Moroccan style furniture is another great feature to add. Moroccan style furniture is not your typical furniture. It is not plain wood stained to match other pieces in the room with a few fixtures. Typical Moroccan home décor is accentuated with bold colors and intricate designs. From ottomans and nightstands, to tables and mirrors, it is difficult to find two designs alike due to the unique and elaborate way the furniture is shaped.

While there are so many aspects to Moroccan themed decorating, it is worth discussing the many Moroccan ceramic pieces that are handcrafted. The ceramic accent pieces, available to accompany any other Moroccan style piece of furniture or rug, have an interesting antique look. The crafters often use metals and mirrors to draw attention to the shape and design of the ceramic piece. Again, bold colors and intricate designs are used making it difficult to find two pieces alike. These ceramic designs can be used as vases, watering pots, jewelry boxes and jars.

Whether you’re an interior designer or want to liven up an otherwise plain room, using Moroccan home décor can be relatively easy because there is no bad decision when it comes to choosing authentic Moroccan pieces. Using a decorative rug or ceramic fixture can easily brighten a boring room. This is why Moroccan style decorating has become so popular in the United States and many other countries.

zhanghousheng our expert of the day, writes:

Shandong Luoyan black pottery workshop was set-up in 1997 by Ms.LuoYan,the vice chmaiman of the Black pottery Research Institution to develop and develop and design new black pottery articles.

Ms. Luo Yan graduated form the China Crafts Dwpartment of China Central Academy of Fine Art.For many years she has been collecting the materials about blackpottery-manufacturing and has been doing some research on the Longshan Culture.her works and products have been exhibited at China Art Galley,Tianjin Art Museum,Shanghai Hanguang China Museum and Shandong Art Gallery.And many of her works were honored to be presend to the foreign guests and collected by some forign museum and collector.Luoyan Pottery are made from the special clay deposited at the lower reaches of the Yellow River. There are over 10 processes involved to make a pottery, all of which are 100% handmade. The whole process will take around one month and some of them will take several months.

Luoyan Black Pottery products are vigorous in carving, classical and graceful in design. They look glistening black. When under different light and from different angles, their color change into black, purple, grey and blue, sparkling. A light knock will produce a pleasant sound. The product has pronounced national characteristics,and as well as it adds something form modern art in decoration,polishing,and coloring.

The old-line contents and techniques, graceful designs, 100% hand-made process make the Black Pottery unique and elegant. It is a very good choice for gift and collection.

Besides the designs in our catalogue, we still have many other kinds of designs. Customization is available, we are able to create black pottery in accordance with your requests and designs as well. Our main products r as follows:all kinds of black Pottery crafts,home accents,antique pottery and porcelain,interior decoration,Flower holde,vase,stem cup,pen holder,jar,pot,bowl,etc…As a symbol of fortune and elegance, Black Pottery was appreciated by nobles, government officials, and scholars in China at times dating back thousands of years. Throughout the dynasties, this craft has developed from a simple household item to a kind of superb, elegant, and precious art form. Due to our products carefully selected materials, using a fine brown sediment from the Yellow River, and by hand shaping, carving, and burnishing, the artists accomplish an art form rich in metallic luster and details.

These non-glazed, hand burnished pottery pieces achieve the finest black glossiness through revived techniques developed thousands of years ago. Combined with the most delicate detailing by hand, these pieces cast no doubt that luoyan black pottery are produced by one of the finest kilns in China, if not the world.

Niall Roche our expert of the day, writes:

Your home should be somewhere for you to fully relax, and not just something that you moved into some time ago and still doesn’t feel comfortable. Regardless of its size or location, a home needs to feel like a palace! The way to do this is not to spend extortionate amounts of money on lavish works of art, but simply to decorate it how you would like, and with today’s home design boom, there are plenty of options for you to try.

As with all big projects, home decoration needs a bit of thought put into it, which includes some good research. You need to decide on a theme that you like, as all homes are centred around some sort of theme even though you may not realise. You can do this by reading through decorating magazines and books, and watching programmes about decorating on TV, and soon you will find that one style sticks out to you more than the others.

All themes are linked very closely with a colour scheme, which is the next thing that you need to consider when decorating your home. You will be aware that for example an Indian theme has many reds, dark blues and blacks, whereas a Mediterranean theme would have mainly whites, yellows and oranges. Whichever theme you choose, you need to link it with some particular colours to avoid your home looking disjointed and out of place.

Creativity is vital in the decoration process, and you need to play around with possibilities. If the house was originally built with a dining room and a huge kitchen, that doesn’t mean that you have to use the dining room for what it was intended if you plan to eat in the space you have in the kitchen. Think about what else you could use that defunct dining room for; a study perhaps, or a home library.

Ok, so you’ve decided exactly how each room is going to look and what you are going to use it for. The next step is to decide which room you are going to decorate first and what you need for it. So empty the room, as you won’t want to be climbing over furniture to paint the walls, and head down to your local DIY shop, where you can buy supplies. First you will need paint or wallpaper.

With regards to applying the paint, you will need some sort of brush, pad or roller. If you go with brushes, buy decent quality ones that don’t shed bristles. If you don’t you will end up with just the handle of a brush left, and a wall textured with all the bristles, which is why for larger walls pads or rollers are recommended, so you don’t need to worry about bad brushes. Pads and rollers also make the job much quicker, although rollers can be very messy, so anything in the room, including you, needs to be fully covered up.

But don’t jump straight in with painting the walls, make sure that you know exactly what is going to go in the room first, as you wouldn’t forgive yourself if you had just finished painting the walls, were out buying a new tin of paint, and spotted a lovely table in the furniture shop next door, that really didn’t go with the colour.

The most important thing about decorating is to make it enjoyable. Not only will the task be much less arduous, but you will also end up with a better product. So have some fun, do it with a friend, and then when you have finished a particular room, use it for a couple of days and enjoy your creation before starting on the next one.

Robert Goldsmith our expert of the day, writes:

Garden lighting makes gardens attractive and accessible long after dusk and allows gardens to be enjoyed after a hard days work when the sun has set. Lighting adds atmosphere to an evening garden, allowing access at anytime. At night your landscape can wear a different face and have a totally different look from its daytime appearance.
Beauty
Give your garden an elegant look by adding lighting to it. To enjoy your garden at night, the lighting must be just right. Beautiful glass oil lanterns will add a sparkle in daylight and a magical glow in the evening. Landscapes emerge at dark under subtle lighting to create wonderful shapes in hauntingly beautiful sculptured drama. Whether glowing with an inner light or outlined in an elegant tracery against the night sky, landscape lighting paints the beauty of natural and cultivated forms, a pool, fountains and pathways with subtle shade, shadow and colour.
Benefits
Lighting has a number of benefits including, Safety – illuminating pathways, indicating hazards, such as steps, or marking safest routes. Path lighting provides a safe walkway and adds to your home’s security. Atmosphere – The loss of daily enjoyment is solvable through garden lighting, by transforming darkened patios, decks and flower beds into a welcome fantasy of light.
Safety
Lighting steps for safety is an obvious requirement in any garden, but functionality can be coupled with decorative merit if the lighting is subtle. Safety is always the key consideration. All lighting units need to be certified as suitable for outdoor use, which generally means they must be weather proof. There is perhaps nothing more beckoning than a well lit garden path.
Different Techniques of Garden Lighting:
– Up lighting is the most commonly used technique to illuminate trees, walls and sculptures and down lighting is a mimic of natural light – the fixture is located overhead with the light shining down from above.
– Moonlighting can be achieved by placing the fixture high above the ground and to produce a broad, moonlight effect.
– Shadowing techniques require the strong shape of plants such as yucca’s, and surfaces such as a wall or lawn to create the most powerful effect.
– Spotlighting is used sparingly to pick out larger plants, trees, statues and architectural features.
– Floodlights are a broad light beam that covers large areas and can create dramatic silhouettes.
– Accent Lights are small fixtures placed close to the ground which provide a subtle source of decorative lighting almost anywhere in the garden.
– Spread lighting uses wide beam angles to light larger features such as lawn areas, flowerbeds and borders and low shrubs makes strolling around a garden in the late evening very pleasurable.
– Cross technique is used to pick out and highlight the statue, urn, gnarled tree trunk, bonsai, archway, etc.
– Silhouetting technique is often used to highlight the outline trees, palms or archways.
Garden Lighting ideas
To create a balanced and interesting atmosphere in the night time garden, use a variety of fixtures and lighting angles, placing fixtures in the foreground, middle distance and background. A really quick and easy way to add light to the garden, without wiring, is a kit that uses solar cells to collect power during the day and lights up at night. Kits are available at most discount stores and also with discount online shopping.
Up lighting, down lighting and side lighting are the three basic forms of garden lighting. Use a combination of all the three for the most pleasing result. Lighting systems come in low-voltage and standard-voltage configurations. Use standard voltage for large areas and for security, low voltage to accent individual plants.

mga1550 our expert of the day, writes:

Can you give me a good website for interior decorating of a new home. We are really into Asian themes, and bold colors.

Thomas MacIntosh our expert of the day, writes:

A creative bent of mind and an eye for detail and beauty are the inherent qualities that could help you become a professional interior decorator. Patience and good communication skills are other prerequisites. No formal training or education is required, and with people having more money, but less time to decorate their homes and offices, you are unlikely to be short of work.
First decide whether you want to work part-time or full-time and whether you want to work from home or rent an office. You could set up an attractive home-office, and advertise your services in local newspapers and magazines, as well as the Internet. Decorate your own home or office with extra care, as it would be a kind of advertisement in itself. In addition, when you start off as an interior decorator, offer to decorate some of your relatives’ or friends’ homes for free. Word-of-mouth publicity can do wonders in this profession, and you are likely to gain many assignments.
An interior decorator is hired to decorate or redecorate homes, offices, hotels, nursing homes, and wedding locales. Clients may vary from the super-rich to middle-class families. A client expects a decorator to know about space layout and planning, color coordination, lights, flooring, hardware, paints, object d’ art, furniture, fabrics, plants, and accessories.
As an interior decorator you need to carry out the following tasks:
- Meet the client to understand his/her requirements - Survey the area you have been told to decorate - Provide a rough sketch to the client about how you intend to decorate or redecorate the space - Provide an estimate of costs involved - Choose furniture, lights, hardware, upholstery, and accessories based on design aesthetics and your client’s preference - Coordinate with carpenters, metal workers, boutique owners, and artists
An interior decorator’s job is not easy. You may have to juggle ideas and costs. In addition, you may come across fussy clients who are hard to satisfy. The super-rich, for example, are known to be hard to please. On the other hand, some clients trust the interior decorator’s knowledge and skills, and they are easily satisfied.
To conclude, before embarking on a career as interior decorator, get together an impressive portfolio. It should indicate your sense of style by including samples or pictures of the colors, fabrics, lights, glass, and accessories that you employ. It does
not have to be a portfolio of projects that you have been paid for. Include letters of recommendation and client comments, if any. While working, deal tactfully with your clients. Remember it’s their space not yours that you are decorating.