Home Improvement Information

Home Improvement Information

Clear Wax Candles vs. Gel Candles

In the last five years a new type of clear candle has emerged - freestanding resin-based (aka clear wax) candles. Using a base of mineral oil, the candle uses a patented resin as the stabilizer, creating a candle that outshines both traditional paraffin and gel candles.

Breaking the Mold - Creative Boys Bedrooms

Decorating boys bedrooms with licensed characters and themes is an easy but expensive option. While most children do have a preferred character or theme that they would enjoy having in their rooms, there are more affordable ways to achieve a similar desired result.

The Smart Way To Look At Home Improvements

What home improvements really pay off when the time comes to sell your house?That's an important question for any homeowner contemplating moving or remodeling. And the only possible answer is a somewhat complicated one.

Remodeling Your Home: How Much Is Too Much?

The classic way for homeowners to increase the value of their house is by remodeling existing rooms or adding on to its current plan.Some choose to build recreation rooms and studies while others add new appliances, fixtures and cabinets to enliven rooms and make their home more attractive to future buyers.

New Trends in Design & Comfortable Living

For the past several years I have seen the emergence of a new trend called 'Lifestyling'. Lifestyling encompasses many elements on gracious living, extravagant and memorable entertaining, architecture, home design, and tips on where to live comfortably in spaces large and small, with less effort or clutter than you can imagine.

How To Give Your Home More Space

Have you been wondering how to free up space in your home? Do you live in a dorm or an efficiency where every inch of space counts?Maybe you're tired of trying to come up with ideas on how to reduce the clutter? Or don't know where to start?If you don't know where to start and feel like you're backed into a corner then maybe this is your solution to the problem.Let me introduce you to the top-to-bottom-strategy.

Change The Style Of Your Interior With A Minimum Of Costs

The style of your interior depends for a great part on the decoration on the walls. Using the right picture on the right place can make your room look bigger.

Tearing Down the House

Last year, we bought this big ol' 1887 house. We are just now coming to grips with the magnitude of the "upgrades" planned.

Art and Design

Maybe you've faced it before - a new house with an empty room or two. This room is just crying out for some furniture.

Warm Up the Night! Patio Heaters and Fire Pits

In some areas right now, the weather is ideal for sitting outside in the evening -- the bugs have gone and the sky is clear -- but the nights are chilly. Don't let the cool evenings send you inside -- extend your outdoor living season by heating your deck or patio.

Rodent Proofing Your Home

It's that time of year where rats and mice are apt to enter our homes. Lets talk a bit about their abilities and senses first.

Ten Things You May Not Know About Selecting Hardwood Flooring

1) Red Oak is not the only choiceIf you want your home to look like everyone else's, this is a great choice. If you want your home to be unique try hickory, cherry, walnut, white oak, maple or many others.

How To Select Scraped//Distressed Hardwood Flooring

Hand-scraped and Distressed hardwood floors are becoming a popular choice in today's upscale homes and commercial buildings. These floors are a newer trend but are rooted in history.

Make a Grand Entrance of Your Front Door

You may find it difficult to believe that the days will start getting longer in the Northern Hemisphere in just four short weeks. You can find yourself this time of year coming home on dreary days, or welcoming evening visitors in the dark.

Seeing the Light

Lighting"Light has illuminated the path of humanity" - While Einstein was probably referring to one of his mind-blowing theories, lighting has also revolutionized the home. Before incandescent and fluorescent lighting, most activities stopped after dusk.

Tips for Choosing Log Furniture

If you just love that rustic look, and are finally ready to finally buy log furniture for your home, there are a number of "rules of thumb" that can help you in making good choices.Begin by considering the overall style of your home.

Design Elements

A well-decorated room can still lack personality. To give your room a personality, choose from among these basic design elements, modify them to suit your tastes and implement them in a way which is just right for you.

Using Colors in Your Room

Colors play an important part in your Home Decor process. Colors are what give life and personality to your room.

Operation Closet

When the wife comes to you one fine day and says, "dear, I think we need a new closet for the bedroom", the heart surges in joy. Immediate thoughts of grabbing the coat and rushing off on a mission to the nearest DIY center enters the mind before realization dawns that first must come a shower and then work.

So Youve Decided to Finish Your Basement!

When a family decides to finish a basement space, there are so many factors to consider it can seem overwhelming. What does your family want to achieve within the new basement? Are you looking for a play area, a family room, a work-out room, home theatre, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, wet bar, etc? Do you have the square footage required to accomplish what you want? How do you get started and how long will it take? How much will it cost and is it worth the money? What if there is a huge beam in the center of you basement? Do you have to have a building permit? Do you have to remove the items you currently have stored in your basement?If these questions make your head swim, try this approach: look for the right team of design/build consultants to navigate you through these waters.

Light Up Your Life With Feng Shui

Feng Shui (pronounced Foong Shway or Fung Shoy) is the ancient Chinese art of luck management, which works by maximising the flow of energy (known as 'Chi') in your environment. Every object, inanimate or living, possesses its own energy field and also has an affect on the flow of Chi in your environment.

10 Tips for Working With a Contractor

This is the year you're going all out. You're going to build a deck, add a porch, erect a gazebo or lay a patio.

Lighting up Your Life

You are visiting a friend that has just had a beautiful kitchen remodel done. It is a lovely kitchen with stunning granite countertops and a sharp looking tile backsplash.

There Is Always Something To Improve Or Innovate For Comfort

In this fast moving world of the 21st century, we are always forced to do everything in a rush, even eating and sleeping. The normal words of today are "hurry", "rush", "fast", "quick" and "immediately.

Make Your Hardwood Floors Shine

You have just installed hardwood flooring in your home. Now what? How do you keep your hardwood floors clean and shiny? Read the following Q&A in which two hardwood floor owners are asking just that.

The Benifits of Home Ventilation

The purpose of a home ventilation system is to maintain a healthy living environment by supplying fresh air to your home while at the same time removing stale and polluted air. Home ventilation also helps to maintain proper humidity levels of 30 to 50 percent.

In The Mood

Creating a Designer Home With LightingTraditionally, spring is the time when many of us think about redecorating or remodelling a room in our home and we begin skimming through glossy magazines, or visiting showrooms for ideas. The results always look stunning, but how do you replicate 'that' look in your own home when your rooms are probably a fraction of the size of those featured in home interior publications? Even if you had the time, energy and resources to purchase exactly the same products that appear in a beautifully prepared photograph or showroom, somehow they never seem to look the same in your own home.

Hydronic vs Forced Air Heating and Cooling

Hydronic, or hot water, heating has been standard for years in many parts of the U.S.

Wood Panels and Humidity

Coping with wood movementAll wood workers need to be aware of wood movement when building furniture projects. Failure to consider this important factor can cause wood panels to crack or split.

Complete Home Rehab In 10 Days

This report is about taking a house and restoring it to an aesthetically pleasing dwelling that has reclaimed it's functional utility. In effect, it is the anti-aging medication for bricks and mortar.

Country Home Accessories

Country home décor is the most sought after home interior and it's no wonder since country décor invites a casual friendly lifestyle.Make sure you carefully study the specific style, and color scheme then carefully coordinate the colors of each element of your country décor.

From Toss Out to Sensational Keeper - Lamp Re-Make

When the old lamp from my children's room was turning decidedly "trash-worthy", a grand idea formed and kept me from tossing it out. Originally, it had been such a darling lamp - it had magically transformed the room into spinning stars and moons at bedtime.

Home Sweet Home

All of us live in houses but how many of us know how to make it a real 'HOME'.You may have a very small house with a few rooms: not much to boast about? However, if you follow some very simple and practical steps you can make your house (big or small) a real home?and thus, a better place to live in?Read On:1.

Hand Stripping Furniture

Directions for HAND Stripping.Work with plenty of ventilation, safety goggles or glases, and skin protection.

Remodeling Your Kitchen

Remodeling a kitchen is one of the best investments a homeowner can make. For most homeowners it is the most important room in the house.

More Resources

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Poster, Print or Painting - Where Are You Going To Put It?
If you are redesigning or decorating a room, or house, care has to be taken where your piece of art is to be displayed. Even if you have bought a picture on impulse there are a few tips that will not only enhance the picture but its surroundings.

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Choosing The Right Window
When you have reached the decision to purchase new windows for your home, be sure you choose the right windows to suit your needs. Determine the reason why you are replacing your windows.

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Are Your Ducts Making You Sick?
If you have a heating or cooling systems that uses air ducts, you could have a problem.There are many duct systems that are poorly designed and installed that have the ability to bring pollutants into your home.

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Light Up Your Life
A house or any particular room can be carefully planned, well thought out and perfectly executed but without the proper lighting it never really comes to life. A perfect example is a tile back splash in a kitchen.

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Warm Up the Night! Patio Heaters and Fire Pits
In some areas right now, the weather is ideal for sitting outside in the evening -- the bugs have gone and the sky is clear -- but the nights are chilly. Don't let the cool evenings send you inside -- extend your outdoor living season by heating your deck or patio.

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Add Value To Your Home With A Home Improvement Loan
Buying a home is a big and important investment for most people, and understandably property owners want to keep their home in good condition and looking great. However, carrying out home improvements can be difficult if finances are tight and this is where a home improvement loan could really help.

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Be Cool and Comfortable While Saving Money
The cost of energy is on the rise, so if you want to have better air quality and feel more comfortable, you must be prepared to pay for it. People in homes and businesses are looking for ways to save money and still remain comfortably cool.

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Duvet Covers Are Easy to Make Yourself
Duvet covers are rather versatile when you think about it. If you want something that is really different for your bedroom, you may find expense is an issue in fancy, unique, well made fabric.

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Geothermal Heat Pumps 101
It seems like about three million of you have asked me to explain how a geothermal system works. Well, maybe not three million, but it's a bunch of you and I'm honored that I have the opportunity to do it.

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Is YOUR Home A Safe Home?
Do you or one of your family members suffer from allergies, asthma, add/adhd Heart disease, cancer, or respitory problems? It could be from the toxins in your home! Did you know that there are more Toxins in your home than in the outside air? Chances are, the cleaning products And hygienic products you use are making you and your family sick.In the past 10 years, there has been a 42% increase in asthma (29% for men; 82% for women - the higher rate for women is believed to be due to women's longer exposure times to household chemicals) (Source: Center for Disease Control)So, what are some of these products, and what makes them so harmful?Lysol is a registered PESTICIDE - (think about that the next time you spray It indoors in the middle of winter with the windows and doors tightly closed)Johnon's and Johnson's baby shampoo contains formaldehyde (used for embalming).

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Where's the Care Label for my New Bedspread?
I love bedspreads, don't you? A comforter can be used for the winter months but the bedspread is brought out of the linen closet in the spring when it's warming up and the whole world is freshening and renewing itself outside. A bedspread is available in most any color, pattern or fabric and it can be one of the most expensive items you put in your bedroom.

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Tearing Down the House
Last year, we bought this big ol' 1887 house. We are just now coming to grips with the magnitude of the "upgrades" planned.

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A New Era in Bathroom Technology - Bathroom Home Improvements
Spa treatments in your own home? Sounds to good to be true?In everyday life we are all continually faced with stress, aches, pains or just plain fatigue. In response to this modern day problem, , the largest product distributor in the United States, is pleased to offer the greatest collection of computerized multi-functioning luxurious and , all in one unit for your .

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Pergo Flooring Is Perfect For The Home or Office
Pergo flooring was invented more than 75 years ago, and has since become the leader in the laminate flooring industry. Pergo has been the leader in both design and laminate technology.

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Creating Dynamic Window Coverings Without Breaking the Budget
When creating dynamic window coverings, it's important to choose carefully, because your window coverings will become the focal points of a well-decorated room. But choosing the right window treatments, at the right price, takes some thought about not only the look you're hoping to achieve, but also about the nature of the space itself.

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Building a Home Addition
Besides providing your home with more living space, a home addition can be a terrific investment. However, before embarking on such a project the homeowner should first consider several important items.

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Wholesale Vinyl Flooring Is Perfect For Wherever You Need It
Wholesale vinyl flooring is the perfect solution for people who are looking for flooring that is inexpensive, good looking, and made with high quality. Wholesale vinyl flooring is designed specifically for use in commercial, general and civil aviation applications and facilities, and it contains a hidden Tuff-Seal® interlock system and is backed by a five-year warranty.

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Save Money with a Solar Pool Heater & Cover
Heat your pool with a Solar Pool Heater and save the heat with a Solar Pool Cover. Solar pool heating systems are very simple in terms of engineering and application.

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Lighter Fluid: The Best Label and Scuff Mark Remover
The first time my husband saw me scrubbing the black heel marksoff of our kitchen floor with a toothbrush, he said, "You knowlighter fluid will take those marks right off." And it did! Noscrubbing at all, just a little lighter fluid poured on a papertowel, and the marks wiped right off.

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Is It Time For Solar Energy to Get Hot?
Solar energy has been around for quite a while and most people don't think about it much except for the ones who are already into renewable sources of energy. Environmentalists have always loved the idea of solar energy but what has kept it from going more mainstream, being more widely used and looked upon as something someone wants to spend money to install on their property? There have been improvements in the technology of solar energy, but has there been enough? Isn't the war on terror and the desire to be independent of foreign energy sources enough to persuade people to use solar energy? At what point will solar energy become the great and never ending source of energy many of envisioned many years ago?Well, I, for one, think that the time has just about come for solar energy to really take off because of one reason: it will be economically the right and smart thing to do.

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