Home and Garden

Five Home Decorating Tips

Filed Under: Design

They say a change is as good as a holiday. While changing your home does not make you feel like you are lying on a beach sipping Pina Colcada’s, the change will keep your home looking fresh and exciting. Here are five home decorating tips:

Number One – Lights Fittings and Bulbs

One of the easiest ways to change the look and feel of a room is by adding a new light fixture. Change both the ceiling light fixture and your table lamps to give your room a new look. Be sure that the ceiling and table fittings match each other and compliment the style of the room. Remember when changing the light fitting, and bulb, to turn the electricity off at the switch board.

Number Two – Add Cushions

Another simple way to give your home a facelift is by adding new cushions to beds, benches, couches and armchairs. Ensure that the cushions compliment the room and the colour of the chair. For example: ensure that only one of the three – room wall, chair and cushion- is brightly coloured, as too many colours compete and end up leaving the room looking uninviting and unattractive.

Number Three – Change the Curtains

Buying new curtains or simply swapping curtains from different rooms is an easy way to give the room a new look. Ensure that the curtains match the room style and design. Furthermore, change the curtain railing, rings and brackets will make the curtains appear new and crisp up the look of the room.

Number Four – Give the Room a Fresh Coat of Paint

Give the room a fresh coat of paint, this will keep the walls looking new, add a fresh layer of protection and hide the marks that have appeared over the years. When painting the inside of your home, remember to choose a colour that matches the furniture, flooring and outside colour of the home. The three best colours to paint the inside of your home are: light pink, baby blue or cream.

Number Five – Paintings and Art Work

One of the best and most cost-effective ways to decorate your home is to move the existing items around in your home. Move paintings and artwork into different rooms and watch the room transform. Other items that you can move around in the home are: clocks, glassware, candle sticks and cabinets.

Giving your home a face-lift is easier to do that you think. Use these five tips to give your home a new and fresh look and feel. Remember to change your home every 3-6 months to ensure that you never get bored again.

I am Greg Jones: a gym lover, sports nut and DIY guy. I recently decided to give my home a facelift and these are five of the decorating tips I decided to try. My wife and I bought new homeware items to go with the painting and I feel as if we are living in a completely new home. Make the change and get excited to be at home.

5 Ways To Improve A Room On A Budget

Filed Under: Design

If you’re happier when you’re out of the house than when you’re in it, then don’t despair. Brightening up your home can be fun – and if you have a small budget, remember that making some small changes needn’t cost much at all. You may not be able to completely redecorate and invest in new furniture, but a little creativity and imagination can go a long way to improving any room.

Read on to find out how.

Clear that Clutter

Before you get started, have a good look around at what can be updated and what needs to be thrown away. Surveying a room with a critical eye will reveal what you are fed up with, and what can be made new again.

Update your Sofa

As one of the main features of a sitting room, a tired and worn out sofa can let the room down badly; even more so than a man lying around watching football. A really simple way to solve this is by updating it with a throw. If you want something more permanent, you might want to consider reupholstering it, or investing in new covers. This is far cheaper than buying a new one – and if you’re good at sewing you might even be able to make the covers yourself.

Decoration

A lick of paint can make a world of difference. If you have low ceilings, paint them a light colour in contrast to the walls to add height, or vice versa to make the room appear more intimate. You could also wallpaper a single wall which will interest and focus.

Accessorise

There are so many beautiful objects to be found that will make a room sing. Scour second hand shops and online auctions for things that will brighten up your home. An artfully placed beautiful vase of flowers on a table, a pretty rug, jolly cushions, a painting or a pouffe, will enhance your room and give it character. Don’t be afraid of choosing what you like, just make sure that what you buy complements the theme of your room.

Lighting

Clever lighting is essential for creating mood and atmosphere at night, while during the day, the addition of mirrors will increase natural light if placed opposite a window. Lighting can really spark your imagination – design beautiful lampshades by sewing beads onto plain ones, or create table lamps using upturned vases. Ideally, a soft glow using various types of lighting is far easier on the eye than a central ceiling light.

Flooring

Design magazines will tell you that a neutral carpet in a light colour will make the most of your space. But they have obviously never lived with children and pets. Instead, invest in rugs to cover over a boring carpet. A textured pattern won’t give away the fact that you haven’t vacuumed, and a vibrant colour will instantly uplift a room and add an immediate focus. If you are lucky enough to have old floorboards, these can be far more practical and beautiful than any carpet. And if they’re not in a good state, painting them will cover any flaws.

Rob Rudd is a professional journalist who dabbles in DIY in his spare time.

Garage Vinyl Tile Flooring

Filed Under: Information

When thinking about garage flooring options, the main requirements are for a material that is water, flame and stain resistant, slip-proof and durable even in the semi-outdoor conditions of a garage. Vinyl garage floor tiles are a cheap and easy way to fulfil all those requirements, and they also allow the homeowner to be creative and give the garage its own personal twist. Garage vinyl flooring is not your delicate domestic vinyl, though. To be able to endure the heavy usage expected of garage use, industrial vinyl flooring that is manufacturer to be extra resilient is the best alternative.

Domestic Vinyl Flooring tiles are made of three layers: a felt or fiberglass backing that can be glued to the substrate, a vinyl filler and a texture or pattern layer which gives vinyl its looks. On top of the design layer, which is very thin, there is often a protective layer of clear acrylic sealant, which makes vinyl resistant to stains and water and can be treated to be resilient to scratches. However, this treatment is not enough for the features required of garage vinyl flooring.

Vinyl garage floor tiles don’t have a pretty design layer. Instead, they are made from a single thick sheet of polyvinyl, treated to be slip resistant and extremely durable. Garage vinyl flooring can be purchased as a sheet that can be rolled over the existing concrete floor, or interlocking tiles that are more difficult to install but often provide a better visual appeal.

Benefits of Vinyl Garage Floor Tiles

The main benefit of installing vinyl tile flooring on your garage is that is non-porous and as such it won’t be affected by anti-freeze fluids, battery acid or even road salt brought in by the car wheels. Vinyl tile flooring for garages is also designed to be easy to install, and doesn’t require glue. Instead, it is simply laid over the existing garage floor and can be removed as necessary to either replace broken tiles or to clean it using a hose. There are many different finishes available, of which anti-slip is probably the most popular one. Industrial vinyl flooring doesn’t come with a decorative layer, so the patterns available are limited, however you can buy it in many different colours.

Disadvantages of Garage Vinyl Tile

The main disadvantage of garage vinyl tile flooring is the chemicals involved to make it resilient, fire-resistant and slip-proof. Some of them, such as cadmium and lead, are known toxics and associated with a higher risk of cancer. Paraffin, also in garage vinyl tile as fire retardant, is also a known toxic and there have been accusations that the chemicals used to make PVC flexible and suitable as garage flooring have caused asthma, obesity or even insulin resistant diabetes. While this is probably not a major concern for somebody who only uses the garage to store items and vehicles, it may be an issue if you expect to spend more time there, such as those using the garage as a workshop. Research your garage vinyl tile flooring options thoroughly and look for those with an acceptable level of potential toxic chemicals even if they are marginally more expensive.