This Static Spot is open for sponsor

Click Here to Sponsor MCT Eric Post in Full Page

Afrikaans Afrikaans Albanian Albanian Amharic Amharic Arabic Arabic Armenian Armenian Azerbaijani Azerbaijani Basque Basque Belarusian Belarusian Bengali Bengali Bosnian Bosnian Bulgarian Bulgarian Catalan Catalan Cebuano Cebuano Chichewa Chichewa Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional) Corsican Corsican Croatian Croatian Czech Czech Danish Danish Dutch Dutch English English Esperanto Esperanto Estonian Estonian Filipino Filipino Finnish Finnish French French Frisian Frisian Galician Galician Georgian Georgian German German Greek Greek Gujarati Gujarati Haitian Creole Haitian Creole Hausa Hausa Hawaiian Hawaiian Hebrew Hebrew Hindi Hindi Hmong Hmong Hungarian Hungarian Icelandic Icelandic Igbo Igbo Indonesian Indonesian Irish Irish Italian Italian Japanese Japanese Javanese Javanese Kannada Kannada Kazakh Kazakh Khmer Khmer Korean Korean Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kyrgyz Kyrgyz Lao Lao Latin Latin Latvian Latvian Lithuanian Lithuanian Luxembourgish Luxembourgish Macedonian Macedonian Malagasy Malagasy Malay Malay Malayalam Malayalam Maltese Maltese Maori Maori Marathi Marathi Mongolian Mongolian Myanmar (Burmese) Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Nepali Norwegian Norwegian Pashto Pashto Persian Persian Polish Polish Portuguese Portuguese Punjabi Punjabi Romanian Romanian Russian Russian Samoan Samoan Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic Serbian Serbian Sesotho Sesotho Shona Shona Sindhi Sindhi Sinhala Sinhala Slovak Slovak Slovenian Slovenian Somali Somali Spanish Spanish Sundanese Sundanese Swahili Swahili Swedish Swedish Tajik Tajik Tamil Tamil Telugu Telugu Thai Thai Turkish Turkish Ukrainian Ukrainian Urdu Urdu Uzbek Uzbek Vietnamese Vietnamese Welsh Welsh Xhosa Xhosa Yiddish Yiddish Yoruba Yoruba Zulu Zulu

 

 

Article Navigation

Back To Main Page

 

Click Here for more articles
Google
Lights, Camera, Action . . . Design?!?
by: ARA
(ARA) - “Reality” shows have saturated television programming, especially in the area of home and garden design. You can “trade spaces” with a neighbor, enlist a professional to recreate a high-end designer room on a budget or secretly call in a design team to remake a room as a surprise for a loved one. This makes for compelling television watching . . . especially when the transformed spaces and the shocked reactions of the room makeover “victims” are revealed. But these reality shows are not real. They do little to showcase the benefits of working with professional interior designers who can help you “trade spaces,” “change rooms” or “design on a dime,” but better.

Although some design show hosts have a formal education and professional background in interior design, many do not. The professional design talent would be the first to tell you that the magical world of television, with its strategic editing and instant gratification, is far different from the real world of interior design where good results require careful planning, patience and expectations.

Although a design show’s budget may be $500 to $1,000, that amount doesn’t include the cost of hiring and using professional labor. These shows have designers and multiple contractors on staff who make sure the inexpensive supplies are translated into aesthetically pleasing (although not necessarily functional, practical or safe) furniture, accessories, window treatments and wallcoverings.

After watching episodes of these shows, some viewers may mistakenly believe that any home improvement project can be accomplished within a very limited price range and a smidgen of time, creating unrealistic expectations that can only lead to disappointment. Disillusionment will turn into delight, however, if you take the time to find and hire the right professional interior designer who can develop a design solution and practical budget specific to your needs.

Qualified interior designers can make a huge impact when it comes to home renovation and remodeling. Designers are creative problem solvers who can analyze lifestyles and needs, optimize traffic flow, organize and effectively use available spaces, select color palettes, and interpret personal preferences. And unlike most of the design reality shows, professional designers listen and adhere to their clients’ needs and preferences before recommending a design course to take.

If you are an avid “do-it-yourselfer,” a designer can set a cohesive renovation plan so you can tackle your own project efficiently, realistically and on budget. When a job is more complicated, a designer can assemble a team of specialists, provide access to a variety of resources that you might not be familiar with and seamlessly manage your entire project from beginning to end. Designers can be consulted for their skills and expertise at any level of need or any size or scope of project. You’ll find that the collaboration between homeowner and designer leads to tremendous results, which will exceed expectations. Best of all, you’ll be surprised at how little designer fees add to the overall renovation budget, especially when you factor in eliminating the risk of costly mistakes.

Design reality shows have made the world of interior design accessible to viewers of all ages, income levels and cultures. People are learning that a well-designed space increases functionality and contributes to a family’s sense of well being. You should view these shows as a source of inspiration and entertainment, but work with a professional interior designer to create a home you can live in and enjoy for years to come.

To find out how to locate a qualified interior designer in your community, check out the American Society of Interior Designers’ free Worldwide Referral Service at www.interiors.org. To learn how to choose and work with an interior designer, go to the ASID Web site at www.asid.org.

Courtesy of ARA Content



About the author:
Courtesy of ARA Content




Circulated by Article Emporium


 


©2005 - All Rights Reserved

This Static Spot is open for sponsor

Home Improvement Information

Read Articles:


 Fix Minor Cracks Before They Require Costly Rep...

 What to Look for When Buying a Closet Organizer -

 A Guide to Antique Bird Cages -

 Start Your Next Home Improvement Project With T...

 Home Improvements That Increase Your Home’s Res...

 Making space at home

 1 in 4 homes in UK has one - The average costs ...

 Walk-in Closet Organizers -

 Kitchen and Bath Solutions

 A Nice Cozy Fireplace!

 Camps for Troubled Teens: Disciplines and Wild...

 A Look at Custom Shutters -

 Frightfully Fun Ideas for Halloween Decorating

 Granite Countertops: An Overview -

 The History of the Vacuum Cleaner: Perfection h...

 Choosing a Gas Fireplace to heat your home!

 How Stained Glass Can Add Elegance To Your Home

 Applications of 12 Volt Air Compressors -

 How to Replace a Circuit Breaker -

 Bathroom Interior Design

 The Benefits of Wood Closet Organizers -

 An In-Depth Review of Popular Air Purifiers -

 The Benefits of Bamboo Roman Shades -

 Adding A Floor Lamp to Your Home!

 The Benefits of Ceiling Fan Lights -

 Zebra Print Rug!

 A Look at Plantation Shutters -

 Custom Mini Blinds -

 The Basics of the Murphy Bed Plan -

 Should a HDMI DVD player be your next home thea...

More Article Pages 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

 

 Home Improvements – The Fun Stuff
 by: Raynor James

Planning home improvements necessarily involves addressing numerous practical matters. That doesn’t mean you should ignore the fun stuff!

The Fun Stuff

The first thing to plan for in home improvements is the practical stuff. The second thing you need to talk to family members about is the fun stuff.

Most people have colors they like and colors they don’t like. They have things that interest them and things that don’t. Get your family to talk to you about those things. Each person’s bedroom, or bedroom area, should reflect his or her taste and interests.

A boy who likes green, football, and backpacking can easily have a sage green (it “reads” as more neutral than many shades of green if re-sale of your home is a concern) room with cream woodwork, cream interior shutters, and cream ceiling. Framed football posters and wilderness scenes might be pleasant. Bedding with a rustic motif (rows of stylized pine trees?) from L.L. Bean or Plow and Hearth would work right in. Add a touch or two of a bright color like red or yellow.

Does he need a desk in his room? A chest of drawers? A bookcase? Would he enjoy having a bulletin board? Even if they’re small, most rooms need at least three lamps so that illumination is general and even. The shades are usually best in warm, neutral colors. (Light coming through green shades tends to make people look sick.) Lamp shades should be level and the seams should be toward the wall so they’re not visible. When the bottom edge of most lamp shades in a room are the same height from the floor, the room tends to look serene and cohesive.

Hanging pictures usually look best if the bottom edges of the frames are the same height from the floor and level with each other, too. There are exceptions to this and every generalization of course. A grouping of pictures can have the bottom tier follow the “rule” while all of the other pictures are higher. A picture over a fireplace often looks good higher than the other pictures in the room.

Pictures usually look best when they have a relationship to furniture or an architectural feature. Pictures centered over a chest, bed, bookcase, or fireplace are good examples. Pictures don’t tend to look good if they’re scattered willy-nilly around a room, or if they’re up near the ceiling (unless they’re part of a grouping), or if the height at which they’re hung varies wildly with no rhyme nor reason.

A girl who loves pink, the ballet, and swimming can have woodwork the same cream as her brother’s while her walls are a soft pink (a pink with a hint of yellow in it tends to go well with cream), and her art work reflects her interests. If she loves to read, make sure she has a good reading lamp near her bed, or near a comfortable chair, or both.

A cream colored dust ruffle with widely spaced pink stripes and a quilted plaid coverlet in pink, green, yellow, and blue on a cream background might look nice. Add cream fabric window shades with large pink polka dots and I’ll bet she’ll smile.

The bigger point is to simply have fun with some of your home improvements. There is no need to look exclusively at practical matters.


©2005 - All Rights Reserved

JV Blogs Visit free hit counter