Flooring plays a significant role in beautifying the look of the house. As important is good furniture for the home, equally vital is the house flooring style. Floorings are of varied kinds. As it is said that there are two sides of every coin. Same goes for floorings too. All styles and types have their own strengths and weaknesses so gain knowledge and then according to your suitability choose the right type. Also there are differences in installation of these distinct floorings. Some are easy to install with less of hassles, while some require expertise help.

Some of the considerations that should be kept in mind while shopping are: cost of flooring, its durability and of course warranty period. Popular flooring types are wood, bamboo, fiber, tiles and hard floors. One should keep on trying out different flooring types as it gives a fresh look to your room. The specialty of hard floors lies in the fact that they look elegant, easy to handle and are very durable. But they are pretty expensive.

Among the natural segment flooring we have an exotic range like marbles, granite and slate. Marble has never been out of fashion and is available in a variety of colors. It was popular among Greeks too. Granite demands regular polishing. There are chances of falling on polished granite because it becomes too slippery. Less shade choice is available in slates and also they demand lot of effort in cleaning. Bricks can also be used for flooring. Available in different shades of red and orange they give the cool look and can be kept in stylish manners. Wood and bamboo flooring is also in. It looks classy.

Beautiful tiles available in different types, shapes and colors are the most popular types of flooring found at home. There are some tiles that absorb heat and thus give a cool look to the room. Tiles are cut in a variety of styles, which is in consistency with the contemporary times. Tiles should be chosen keeping in mind the general look of the room as in wall color and the color of furniture. Whatever flooring you choose for your sweet home, it should go in consistency with the look of the room.

Congratulations! You’ve found the perfect house or condo to purchase and you’re just finalizing the purchase agreement. From this point on, important design and decorating considerations have to be made. Here are some that you may not have thought of:

Before you sign the purchase agreement

Here’s your opportunity to negotiate for upgrades and design revisions with the builder. Hardwood flooring is an option that I highly recommend to my clients, especially in the living room and dining room, both for enjoyment and practicality. Regardless of how long you intend on living in your new home, hardwood floors add resale value when you do decide to sell.

Does the floor plan have walls that create rooms too small to be functional? Think about how each room will be used and determine whether spaces can be opened up or whether a doorway could be filled in so that furniture placement is simplified.

Ensuring that the appropriate amount of lighting is also important at this stage, especially for new condos where ceiling power boxes for lighting cannot be added post-construction. Adding pot lights in a house should also be considered at this time, especially in bathrooms, kitchens and rooms facing north or east. And don’t forget the overhead light in the shower, an option with some builders that many purchasers overlook.

At the Design Centre

First of all, come prepared for this meeting. Look at decorating magazines and cut out photos of what you like for bathroom and kitchen cabinets, backsplashes, countertops, tiles. Do you prefer warm colours (brown, beige) or cool colours (black, grey)? I always recommend to my clients that they choose a neutral palette and add colour into each room with fabric, accessories, art and paint or wall coverings.

Before you move in

Now is the time to decide what pieces of furniture are going to your new home. For this exercise, you really need a furniture layout based on your floor plan. Knowing the placement of electrical wall panels and bulkheads is very helpful. If you’re unable to sell any pieces that you decide don’t belong in your new home, check out www.furniturebank.org – a non-profit organization that distributes gently used, donated furniture to persons in need in Toronto. Your furniture will be put to good use and you receive a tax receipt for your donation.

Window treatments should be considered for each room based on privacy concerns and room darkening requirements. If possible, arrange for a site visit prior to the move-in date in order to bring the window covering supplier in for measurements. That way, installation can take place shortly after you move in. Otherwise, temporary paper coverings are available at home improvement retailers until your window shades and/or drapery treatments are ready to install. This site visit is also an ideal time to take measurements for custom closet shelving if you’ve decided to have them installed professionally. Having the closet organizers installed after you’ve moved in, but before you have to unpack, will save you time and energy.

After you move in

Most builders’ warranties for interior walls are nullified if they are painted before the first year anniversary is over. If that’s the case for you, take the year to learn about your space – how the light shines on a certain wall at different times of the day for example – so that when you do decide to paint, you’ll be able to better able to choose the right colours for your home.

The furniture is placed, the boxes are unpacked and your artwork is hung. Now you can add the final decorating touches, to transform your vision of how you want you home to look, into reality.

Faux painting is a fun-to-do activity, and with a little preparation, this can be undertaken as a DIY project. Faux painting, if done by the professional contractors, can add vitality and excitement to the interiors or the exteriors of your house, but if this project is undertaken as a DIY activity, to be completed with the help of the family members; faux painting turns out to become a family activity, akin to an outing.

This shared activity will add fun and strengthen the familial bond. The following tips will not only help provide steps for a fun family activity, it will also help achieve a great, attractive faux finish for the home. So, are you ready to undertake, your first DIY faux painting exercise?

DIY TIPS

1. Always begin a DIY project with preparing a list of things that you will need in order to successfully complete the project. This will save you from the 12th hour panic, due to the unavailability of critical items.

2. Arrange all the necessary things and keep all of them at an easily accessible place.

3. This DIY faux painting project begins with preparing the surface for faux painting. Masking tapes will be required to keep the surface neat and tidy. If you are applying faux finish on the wall or on the ceiling, use rough cloth to cover the floor. This cloth will prevent the spilled paints from making marks on the floor. Plastic should be avoided. Cloths are more absorptive than plastics; hence cloths will be less messy than plastic coverings.

4. Take a sample board and faux paint it, using the faux technique you are planning to apply when creating the faux finished wall.

5. If satisfied, move to the next step or else repeat the process over and over again, until the desired result is achieved. It’s better to use the sample board to create the sample of the finish intended for the actual finished product. Sample board can also be used to mix and match the shades. Think of this sample board as the rough paper we used in school to doodle our calculations on before writing the solution on a math exam.

6. Take a base paint; using water-based latex paint is advisable to get a good faux finish. Eggshell and satin colors can be used to topcoat the surface.

7. Apply the base coat, thoroughly, on the surface. No patches or corners should be left uncoated because the base coat will be visible through glaze and any patch on the surface. Improper application of base coat will ruin the effect of faux painting.

8. Leave the base coat to dry overnight.

9. Line your tray with plastic sheets. This will save time and energy from having to wash trays when mixing the glazes for the DIY project.

10. A correct proportion of paint and glaze should be maintained when mixing glazes. The standard practice is to use a 3:1 ratio of paint to glaze.

11. Mix the glaze in small quantities. This will minimize the wastage, if the resultant mixture isn’t satisfactory. You can even try this mixture on a sample board to see if you are getting the desired effect.

We undertake a DIY project because we want to have fun during the process of creation. The end result is not necessarily the most important aspect. Keep this in mind. Have fun, enjoy the company of your family and create whatever faux finish you want to, using which ever technique you wish. In faux painting, there is no right or wrong way of doing things. There are just beautiful results.

People that ask why we should save water are probably retarded or extra terrestrials from outer space. The most precious commodity in the world is not gold, diamonds, gasoline or even love but water! Well, water is the next important thing to love! The glaciers are melting, global temperatures are rising and the holes in sky, which we call the ozone layer, are getting bigger and bigger. What this means is that our precious water is becoming extinct, day by day. Our water resources are depleting fast and the only way we can hope to have water remaining for our future generations is by saving water, today. Unless, you have someone close to the rain gods who can convince the guys to send rain throughout the year, so, we never run out of water or if someone can come up with a technology that can turn cow dung to water. That’s not going to happen, so, each of us have to start saving what’s left of the water we have, right now.
Did you know that the toilets in our homes are where the most water is used? Yes. Studies done on water conservation indicate that 27% of all household water usage is in the toilets. So, if you want to start preserving water, you can start by reducing the water wastage in your toilets. How can you cut down on your water expenses in your toilet? You can start by using some simple tips. Start by using bathroom accessories that use water optimally avoiding wastage. Fit your shower enclosure with a low volume shower. When you shower, you waste water unnecessarily when you soap or shampoo your hair, and most people don’t turn off the shower tap when they soap or shampoo. You can also use minimum flush toilets. Most times, your toilets use more water than that is necessary to flush down the waste. You can get twin-volume flushes, which can regulate the flow of water as and when you want.
Install flow restricting aerators in all the water pipes in your bathrooms. You can reduce the water wastage by using only the required amount of water. Most importantly, look for faulty pipes or leaky taps in your bathrooms. Remember, even small drops can make an ocean and your leaky taps and pipes can drain out the ocean! Start saving water now and start with your toilets first if you don’t want to end up drinking your own waste in the future!