By Esther Steinfeld, The Blinds Gal Your mother told you you’d be sick of those red couches within a few weeks, but did you listen? When do you ever listen? Believe it or not, colors, patterns, and textures go in and out of style, much like clothing does. It is probable that, if you purchased pricey yellow furniture at the beginning of 2009 when Pantone announced the color of the year would be Mimosa, you’re now ready to chuck it out the window. It is also possible that you inherited Grandma’s old couch with the floral pattern still covered in plastic. You hated it when you were 5, and you hate it now, but “free couch” sure sounded nice when you took it off Grandma’s...
Creating Good Luck and Prosperity Carol Rzadkiewicz Aug 20, 2009 By selecting the right colors when decorating a house, homeowners can improve their family’s luck, health, happiness, and prosperity. One principle of feng shui emphasizes the role color plays in achieving alignment and balance within an environment. According to this principle, selecting the right colors for each room in a house will result in good luck for all who dwell therein. Selecting the wrong colors, however, will have just the opposite effect and result in bad luck for all who dwell therein. The Front Door and Color Selection Before beginning color selection for individual rooms, first determine the compass...
By J. A. Young No matter what kind of wood you’ve chosen for your deck or patio, you should protect it with a coat of wood deck sealant. Most exterior wood deck finishes may be chosen according to the look you want to achieve. This article discusses various methods of applying deck finish in order to enhance it decoratively, and also to protect it for seasons to come. Whatever finish you apply, be sure that your wood has been treated with a preservative and water repellant so it will last from season to season. Even redwood and cedar should ideally be treated with water repellant for extra protection. A popular preservative for decking is pentachlorophenol, which is both odorless...
If you have mildew on the exterior of your home, don’t paint over it until you have resolved the source of the problem with mildew removal procedures. If you fail to remove mildew—and other foreign particles such as algae, dirt or soot—from your home’s surface, your subsequent paint job will deteriorate prematurely. In fact, severe mildew on paint surfaces and dirt contamination can lead to peeling within a year or two of application. However, if you do a thorough job of cleaning the dirt and mildew on the paint of your home, you may find that the home looks fresh and attractive even without painting. How did mildew get on your house in the first place? Mildew is the...
Proper application of exterior wood stains is important in protecting your wooden surfaces and making sure they withstand water and sunlight in all weather conditions. The following comprehensive Q&A’s will assist you in staining exterior floors, siding, and decks. Q. I have a brand new deck, built of pressure treated wood. My contractor said to wait until next year before I put anything on it. Should I wait? A. No! Even pressure treated wood (PTW) will be adversely affected by sunlight and water. The surface wood fibers will degrade, resulting in graying and splintering. With time more serious damage will likely occur; for instance, cracking and warping. Use an exterior...
Exposure to sun or moisture over years degrades deck stain. Your wooden deck stain is subject to weather conditions likely to turn it into an unattractive shade of grey. Decks also develop aberrations, splits and markings as they age. You can transform an ugly deck stain into an attractive one in a few simple steps: Step 1-Apply Deck Stripper Apply a generous coat of deck stripper over your deck stain. The deck stripper helps in removing the old finish and prepares the deck for cleaning. Choose an oil-based or water-based deck stripper depending on your deck stain. Step 2-Pressure-Wash the Deck Make sure that your deck is free of any dirt or debris. A gas-powered pressure washer can assist...
For a stain or scratch, my favorite solution is to move an ashtray or artwork over it and hope only the snoops will notice. However, some stains and scratches really do need a lot of work to make them less obvious if not totally disappear. If the injured surface is solid wood, experiment away. Veneer is touchier. After all, it’s just a thin layer of wood on wood – so gently does it. There are touch-up and filler kits on sale which are pretty good but don’t expect the perfection they promise. In the hands of a furniture refinisher you’d get the acclaimed results, but of course if you’re a furniture refinisher you wouldn’t need the kit. And so it goes. If you...
Wall IdeasIn 2006, my husband and I found ourselves in a strange situation where we had to move into an unfinished basement. We were left in a quandary on how to make the space into a comfortable home. I found techniques to make areas aesthetic with paint and pictures and such, but it left me with having to really use my creativity to come up with ways to make walls between each area. I wanted my little home to be nice to look at, so I didn’t want to just run sheets between each area like clothes hanging on a line to dry. I came up with a few ideas that have worked well for our home. These ideas have worked to create beauty in each room, or, at least, a nice conversation piece, and...
You constantly wake up with crusty eyes and are always coughing. You have upper respiratory problems and don’t know where all these symptoms are coming from. It’s possible you have black mold in your home.To know for sure if you have mold in your home, you must call a mold tester. Mold does not have to be visible in your home for you to have it. Mold will often reside behind your walls and underneath your flooring. Just because you can’t see mold, doesn’t mean you don’t have it. If you have had any water damage to your home in the past, you should immediately call for a consultation.Do not attempt to remove black mold yourself. Do not use bleach to clean mold. It...
The May birthstone is the beautiful green emeralds that are oh-so-rare. Whether you were born in the month of May and want to commemorate your birthdate with a room that is painted the color of a beautiful emerald or you just happen to love the bold emerald green tones the color is perfect for the home. Not only is green considered a lucky color, it is also a soothing and restful color making it a great choice for living rooms and bedrooms. Emerald Inspired Glidden Interior Paint Colors:New Grass Green from the Glidden interior paint color line is a bold fresh green tone that really looks like an emerald that is fresh out of the quarry. This green paint color is just like the May birthstone that...