Our old blog was with b2Evolution and that was cumbersome and hard for some bloggers to use and navigate. So; we have changed to the latest version of WordPress. You will notice some changes as we try different templates; but the contents will continue to be full of design and decorating information.
Let us know what you think about the change.
Home Design Sense has just posted our NEW eBook Store at: Self-Improvement eBook Store
Here You Will Find eBooks About: self-improvement, eliminate stress, debt consolidation, gardening, relationships, diets, food, feng shui (99 pages), hypnosis and much more.
Why have we posted information about self-improvement?
Because we are a home design and decorating organization that believes you should have a Healthy Life to have a Healthy Home.
Please review the site and if you mention seeing this blog page we will give you 1 FREE eBOOK – YOUR CHOICE (of equal or lesser value) WITH EACH eBOOK PURCHASED. But you must mention this blog!
A complete home staging business kit. Think this is not a good time for home staging? Think again! The homes on the market have to be sold. The ones that are move-in-ready will sell before the others. Get in on it now!
This kit contains the how-to stage information (40pgs), forms, ad samples, gift certificate samples, photos for the ads, a FREE Customer Service MP3, Free Feng Shui Ebook, email assistance for the business and more. Sorry – it doesn’t include a car or office.
Check it out at:
Home Staging Complete Business Kit
Home Design Sense has posted a FREE Decorating Tips Ebook. NO SIGN-UPS…just go to the site and click to download instantly. Tell your friends! This ebook contains lots of tricks and tips for your home decorating. Download Now!
Our NEW FORUM is attracting more attention. Your can post your decorating and design questions and see what others are talking about. GO THERE NOW and get your project questions answered – or help someone with theirs.
Is your home in dire need of a makeover? Or are you just looking to make a little change here and there just to keep your house looking fresh? Well here is the tips and advice you’ve been looking for:
• A lick of paint goes a long way. It might be a bit messy but re-painting is the easiest way to make any room look like new. It’s quick and it doesn’t take a lot of effort. The most difficult part about it is probably choosing the right colour or colours if you want to make a statement.
• New furniture. This might seem like a no-brainer but it’s often one of the last things people think of. Something as simple as a new dining set can make a big difference to the aspect of your dining room. Whether you get your new pieces from a big store or from a small shabby chic shop make sure they represent who you are and that they’re in line with the rest of the house. You don’t want to look like you’re trying too hard.
• Stock up on curtains. This is one of the least expensive ways of making a room look like new. You’ll have friends over and they won’t know what you’ve done to your room they’ll just know you’ve done something. This is something easy, cheap and low key and a great way to bring out your personality into your home. If you’re fun and quirky go for a crazy print and if you’re a romantic go for classic florals, if you’re more into the clean look then the best choice for you is pretty white curtains. Whichever you choose, the most important thing is to make sure it goes with the rest of the room. If your dining sets are monochrome and plain then a busy print will go well with that if not then I’d say don’t risk it.
Hope this helps you a little big and that it’s given you an idea of what you might want to do with your home. Remember, a little change goes a long way!
Ideally, your bedroom should be one of the calmest and most relaxing rooms in your home. Unfortunately, instead of being a relaxing and comforting retreat, many people’s bedrooms become cluttered, crowded and overused living spaces. If your bedroom isn’t providing you with the serene and peaceful atmosphere that you crave, here are a few tips to simplify and streamline your bedroom area.
Assessing Your Space
Before giving your bedroom an overhaul, take the time to really look at your bedroom. Pay special attention to how you are currently utilizing the space. If you’re like many people, you might find that you’re actually using your bedroom space in a very inefficient fashion. Take careful measurements of all the walls and closet areas, paying special attention to architectural details such as window and door positions. It can be quite helpful to sketch the layout of the room onto graph paper, which will make it easier to plan furniture moves without actually lugging heavy furniture around the room. Once you’ve got a good idea of what you have to work with, you’ll be better prepared to make some enhancements.
Assessing Your Needs
Although you might wish you had a spacious bedroom that you could transform into a serene retreat, it’s important to give some thought as to how you really need to use the space. For example, although experts usually advise against putting desks and computer equipment in the bedroom, sometimes you might not have a different option. Think about how you’re currently using your bedroom space, as well as how you want to use it in the future. If you really don’t have any other office space options in your room, it might be necessary to leave your desk and computer in the bedroom. In order to minimize the disruptive influence of your computer equipment, try separating your work area from your sleeping area with a folding screen or a full height bookcase.
It’s also important to think about other things you’d like to do in the bedroom. For example, you’ll need good lighting if you regularly read in your bedroom. If you enjoy listening to music to relax, you’ll want to make sure to have a good sound system. Although many people find the sound and sight of a television to be jarring and distracting in the bedroom, you might personally enjoy watching an occasional television show while in bed. Making accommodations for the bedroom features you really want and enjoy while eliminating clutter and other distractions are the main keys to creating a relaxing bedroom environment.
Choose the Right Colors
The colors you use in your bedroom are certainly a personal choice. However, some color choices such as vivid red, orange and yellow tend to add too much energy and visual excitement to the bedroom. If you’d like to add a more relaxing look to the room, cool and neutral shades often work best. Once you’ve used relaxing colors for the primary areas of the room such as the walls and floor, you can spice things up a bit visually with a few accessories in bold shades if desired. The end result will be a relaxing bedroom that still has plenty of style.
Home decor specialist, Theresa Hill , is a regular writer for Metal-Wall-Art.com, and she offers many ideas on how to design your favorite rooms with horse metal wall sculptures and metal decor.
I watch the design and decorating shows on TV and find there are many that are the same or spin-offs of the same. There are several garden or kitchen crashing shows. Why not come up with a new show instead of all these spin-offs? No imagination I guess.
The one show I like is Holmes on Homes. He deals with the real projects and problems of the homeowners and actually shows how it get done. And done correctly. You can learn a lot by watching an dit will help when having your own home remodeled.
The only issue I have with the show is that you never find out who the offending contractor is and what if anything happens to them. Too bad. It would be nice to see them and know who they are so no one else gets caught in their web.
John
If you have guests coming for Easter, start planning now for decorating the room so that it is both functional and festive. The ideas below will get you started on creating a space that works for both your office and your guests.
Crisp Colors
The easiest and most effective way to spruce up the room for guests and the Easter holiday is to infuse some fun, spring colors into the mix. There are the usual pastels that will help to get you in the spirit of things, but there are also brighter colors that you may want to use instead. A cheerful yellow combined with a brilliant white is a beautiful way to bring out the colors of spring while also maintaining a sense of style and class. Teal blue paired with a chocolate brown is also another color combination that will work well in both an office and guest room setting. Remember that the key to decorating for Easter is also to make the space look as natural as possible. While a pastel can transition into late spring and early summer, a bold, bunny print fabric will go quickly out of season.
Plants
Forget vases of fresh cut flowers when it comes to decorating your home office/guest room. The flowers will quickly fade, your busy lifestyle will take over, and the vase will never get refilled. Instead, decorate by adding a potted plant or arrangement to your desk, the bedside table or wherever there is a flat, smooth, wide surface. You can make the basket or container festive by adding a seasonal bow or floral pick. A quick trip to the craft store will yield a great many results for such floral decorations.
Curtains
While the majority of the fabric should be a solid or lightly patterned neutral, the curtains are one easy area that you can spruce up with a decorative curtain. You may opt to keep your heavy, light-blocking curtains, but replace the sheer curtain beneath with a handmade Easter one. A cute Easter fabric can be cut to length and width, hemmed, and folded down to create a simple pocket curtain. Slide the curtain rod through the pocket and you will be ready to go. Change the curtains as the seasons or holidays change, but be sure to store them away so that they can be used the following year.
Finding ways to decorate the multi-use space can be especially challenging when you are in the middle of working or preparing for guests. If you start thinking ahead about easy ways that you can make a big difference in your room’s decor, you will find that decorating becomes a breeze. Your room will look festive and you will not have to spend days trying to get it ready for guests.
This article was written by Theresa Hill of Metal-Wall-Art.com who specializes in creating stylish interiors with sea turtle wall decor and metal beach wall art.
What really makes a buyer actually buy your house?
The answer to this question is complicated and differs from individual to individual. Most of us like to think we’re capable of being deeper thinkers than we actually are. We like to think we’re capable of seeing beyond basic décor, furnishings and the feel of a place based on such flimsy premises – to the more fundamental shape and structure etc. But we aren’t.
This is proven by the fact that an unlived in, unfurnished house sells more cheaply, on average, than one which s occupied. This makes absolutely no fundamental sense, but is, nevertheless, a truism.
Ergo … it also makes sense for you to go the extra mile in cleaning, decorating and furnishing your home in a smart, comfortable and, above all, welcoming way, if you really want to sell it; because it will work wonders.
This needn’t be expensive. You can throw out anything old and dusty and replace it with relatively smart but cheap furniture.
Also, you don’t need to waste money. Paint and elbow grease are cheap enough and any furniture can be carefully chosen to be reusable wherever life takes you. You’ll always be able to find a place for a good sofa bed from a sofa bed sale, for example, no matter where you live.
Most of the real improvement comes down to hard work – but you’re also going to need a little objective, candid opinion from someone you can really trust to insult you! In other words, you need to ask a friend who doesn’t visit your house a great deal what he or she thinks of the place as a potential buyer after you’ve go it to state you think is ready; and really encourage him/her to give you some direct, constructive criticism.
Just try not to be offended – and act on what they tell you!
Although you might never get a chance to visit the real Blarney Stone in southwestern Ireland, your children can make their own cute version to decorate their desk. In fact, this version of the Blarney Stone is so cute that it will probably get more kisses than the real Blarney Stone does. This craft is quick and easy enough for even a young child to make, and is fun !
Materials You Will Need
To make your own cute and kissable Blarney Stone, you will need some very basic and inexpensive materials. Of course, your child can make his or her stone as simple or as elaborate as they desire. If your child is particularly creative or artistic, they might enjoy having even more embellishment materials to use.
1 – Clean, smooth medium-sized rock (river rocks work quite well)
Green acrylic paint
Artist’s brush
Fast-drying tacky craft glue
Markers, paint pens, or other colors of acrylic paint
2 – “Googly eyes”
Glitter, yarn, pipe cleaners, plastic jewels, sequins, small pom-poms and other embellishments as desired
Plastic tablecloth or other waterproof material (used to protect the table or work surface)
Small containers (to be used for acrylic paints)
Preparing the Blarney Stone
Before you start to decorate the stone, it’s very important that it is completely clean. If necessary, wash the stone and let it dry completely. Then, cover your work surface with a plastic tablecloth or other waterproof covering before you begin the Blarney Stone decorating process.
Pour some of the green acrylic paint into a small container. Using an artist’s brush, paint the entire stone green. Because the stone should be painted green on all sides, it can be helpful to paint one side of the stone and let it dry. Then, you can flip the stone over so that another section can be painted. When the entire stone has been painted green, set it aside until it is completely dry.
Decorating the Blarney Stone
Once the green paint is completely dry, you can start decorating the stone. Start by gluing the googly eyes onto the stone. You can use a marker, paint pen or other acrylic paint colors to add a nose and mouth. Or, use small pom-poms, sequins, small plastic jewels or other embellishments to create the stone’s face.
Once the face is in place, you can use other materials to add more details. Small pieces of yarn or pipe cleaner sections can be used to give the Blarney Stone a cute “hair-do.” Markers can be used to add eyebrows, freckles, ears or other details. You could also add a bit of sparkle to the stone by adding some glitter. Once your Blarney Stone is decorated the way you like it, let everything dry. You now have a cute St. Patrick’s decoration that your child can use on his or her desk as a paperweight. In fact, this stone is so cute that your child will probably want to keep him around all year long.
Jessica Ackerman from WallDecorandHomeAccents.com, has skills in decorating with large wall art and art.
When looking for the best flooring for your home, there are a few things you should take into consideration. The first is which room in your home you are tackling, as this will make a big difference to the type of flooring you select.
Some flooring works much better in some rooms of the house than others, and the look and style of each room will also have an important part to play in which particular type of flooring you opt for.
Let’s take the kitchen as an example. In this room, you will need to opt for flooring that is fairly stain and water resistant, so wool carpet would be impractical and very hard to keep clean. A good material for this room is linoleum, which is wipe-clean and works well in most kitchens.
Of course, the kitchen design will have an impact on the type of flooring you choose. There are many different styles, colours and designs out there, so it is all about choosing something that you feel works well with the look and feel of your kitchen.
It may be that once you have decided on your new flooring, you also need to invest in some new kitchen appliances and accessories. You can find all you could need for a kitchen makeover at http://wrenkitchens.com, to create your dream room.
One of the other things to bear in mind when selecting new flooring is how it will be fitted. Some flooring types are easier to fit than others and it might be that you decide to tackle the job yourself with a spot of DIY. Sometimes it can be worth investing in the help of a professional however, to ensure that the job is done properly and you don’t end up costing yourself money in the long run.
If you’re looking for a property to rent, then one of the first things you need to decide is whether you want to rent somewhere that is furnished or not.
Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to both options. If you choose a place that is already furnished, then don’t have the added expense of buying furnishings. You may have to live with things that you don’t particularly like and the thought of using a mattress that other people have slept on may be enough to put you off.
However, you could still rent a furnished place and get yourself a new mattress. The landlord is unlikely to mind you replacing the old one – but if you discard the old one, bear in mind that you will have to leave your new one behind when you move on. Other items of furniture that may put you off are fabric sofas and armchairs that have seen better days. And a furnished place can sometimes have rather a lot of mismatched stuff in it.
With an unfurnished place, you have the opportunity to really make a place your own. It’s a blank canvas to work from and it’s easy enough to furnish a small property fairly cheaply. You can buy just the things you need to start with, and then if you decide to stay longer, you can add more homely touches. For example, there’s no need to buy a wardrobe immediately – you can make do with a clothes rail. And these are a lot easier to move to another place – if you buy a wardrobe you have to make sure you get a fairly standard size one so that it’ll be able to move to your next home with you.
As for living room furniture, you can look at retailers like Harveys Furniture store online to narrow down the price range and styles that suit you before you go shopping for real.
Of course, there are other factors to consider – a furnished flat might happen to be five minutes closer to public transport, or the unfurnished one might be on a street you like more. And if you have a lot of your own furniture already, it’s really not worth paying to store that elsewhere while you rent a furnished flat.
The best course of action is start looking for a property and see what suits you best from the options available.
A log cabin makes a fabulous getaway, whether for a Christmas break or to enjoy the summer months, and can be used for your own personal enjoyment or rented out to make some extra money when not in use.
If you have recently purchased a cabin, you are probably considering decorating options. Like any property, there are many ideas, themes and styles to choose from when it comes to decorating your cabin.
One of the most popular and recommended themes to follow when decorating a cabin is to choose a natural, countryside look. This maintains that traditional, rustic look that many people associated with cabins, especially log cabins, and is easy to create.
For a wonderfully rustic, cosy and welcoming look in your cabin, opt for materials such as wood and stone when choosing your furniture and furnishings. In the living room and kitchen, go for wooden tables and chairs alongside stone work surfaces, as opposed to plastics and metals. This will give your cabin that lovely countryside look and feel.
In the bedrooms, invest in wooden beds and wooden children’s’ beds to continue the theme. You can find a range of wooden sofa beds and other wooden bedroom furniture at Bensonsforbeds.co.uk at very reasonable prices to create this look.
For the bathroom, consider large, old fashioned sinks and baths to give your cabin that traditional feel. Exposed brickwork will look very rustic in the bathroom, and indeed throughout the house, and will create a much more welcoming and authentic look than the more modern white tiling.
Finally, consider additional extras to really finish off the countryside look and feel in your cabin, such as traditional fireplaces and paints or wallpaper in natural shades and colours or in designs reminiscent of the countryside, such as floral patterns or those featuring birds and woodland creatures.