Lighting should come from a variety of sources. Having table lamps, rustic chandeliers, and candlelight are a great way to alter the mood in a room as well as making it flexible and practical for eating, reading, relaxing. Of course adding accessories are another way to add a touch of country style. Using faded florals in soft and natural colors on slipcovers, curtains, cushions and throws all help make an interior feel welcoming and comfortable. Choosing items that are easy to clean and have nothing that is too precious are all ways to help create that cozy, relaxed lifestyle that many of us seek in these modern times.

There are 2 types of undermats for different types of rugs. One is for rug on carpet and the other is for rug on solid surfaces such as hardwood, tile and laminate. Both are available at most hardware stores but be sure to read the label to ensure you are buying the correct one for your situation.

Other solutions include velcro for rugs on carpet. We tried this on our round area rug with great success but had to pay special attention to the edges to ensure the rug didn’t curl up.

For hard wood flooring you can get a special tape made for this purpose. This time, pay close attention to the corners. It will eventually leave marks but you can remove it with products such as goo gone.

1.  Spray your chandelier with a mix of vinegar, water and rubbing alcohol. You will need 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water or 50/50 if the crystals are particularly dirty. Then add from 3 tablespoons up to a quarter cup of rubbing alcohol. You may need to spray the chandelier 2 or 3 times before the drips run clear but it is still much faster than cleaning each and every crystal individually.

2.  When cleaning chandeliers with a spray, such as that explained above, make sure you protect the furniture and rugs that are underneath them. Use a plastic tarp with a cotton sheet on top of it. That way the plastic protects the floor and furniture from getting wet getting whilst the fabric stops the water from running anywhere by absorbing it.

3. To clean crystals individually and obviate the need for tarps mix 2/3 of a glass of white vinegar with 4 tablespoons of ammonia. Totally immerse each individual crystal piece in the liquid. hang them up to drip dry. You may want to place a cloth under the chandelier to catch the drips. Another suggestion is to suspend an big unverted golf umbrella under it until the drips have stopped.

Whether you’re looking to install traditional chandeliers or to simply decorate the snug you’ll save both time and money by doing some planning ahead both for ideas and for product sourcing. 

If it’s the first time you’ve attempted some diy you would probably be better to focus on one room or area of the house at a time. But, keep other areas of your home in mind, if relevant. If you’re working on the hallway, for example, you need to consider the colors of the rooms that lead off it, in order to make a smooth transition through your house.

If you’re working on the outside focus on one aspect at a time but draw up an overall plan before you start. When you build a new patio, for example, it pays to know what sort of outdoor house lighting you’re planning to install before you make your final choice of materials.

You can easily find out the likely cost of your diy projects by researching materials prices and getting estimates online.

The advantage of replacing now is that I could probably buy one at a good discount onsale but then it would sit all winter unused. In the end I decided to wait until next Spring so I’m off to drain the pool and close up for the season.

One of the most popular pieces of furniture for a kids room is the bunk bed. It’s great for sleepovers and for when you have other guests in the house. Once older you can cater to your child’s changing needs by separating the beds into 2 separate twins and either keep them in the same room or move one to another room or to storage.

There are numberous options for decorating the walls of your kid’s bedrrom including, murals, decals or fun pictures or posters. i particularly like the splanets and starts that you stick to the ceiling and walls and which light up once the lights are turned off. A glow-in-the-dark solar system is an inexpensive way to create some fun kids décor but you may want to go for the moreinidvidual aproach and have a custom mural created. This is, obviously, a more expensive option, but will allow your child to have more imput on the outcome of their room’s decoration.

This is especailly important as kids get older and they want more of a say to even to help. Allowing this or letting them choose their own furniture will enhance the time they spend in their room doing their homework or playing computer games, for example.

Nowadays, kid’s bedrooms are big business just like the children’s birthday party market. An entire industry has been built around designing furniture, murals, rugs, wallpaper, bedding etc that is specifically targeted to children.

There is so much choice out there that it can be difficult to choose a theme for a bedroom and then there’s the situation when your child wants something different from yourself. For example, my son’s favorite soccer team play in red shirts and, consequently, he wants his room to be red. I’m not keen because red is an exiciting color and I want my son’s room to be a place of calm and relaxation. however, we may compromise by painting the alcove, around his desk and workspace, in red.

I’m not keen on a lot of stimulation in kid’s room. Getting homework done or settling down to sleep is harder when they can switch on their favorite TV programs or they’re trying to get to the next level on their latest game.

Some kids almost live in their rooms, only coming down for food. IF everything they want is in their room you will see less of them and not know what they’re up to. It wil be harder to monitor their use of the internet. In this busy world, I think there’s a huge adavantage to making a child’s bedroom a place of refuge, to think, read, do homework and sleep.

Typical modern kid’s bedrooms have state of the art gadgets that were previously only found in the living room. There are TVs, DVD players, games systems and computers. Nowadays sending a child to their bedroom as a punishment is not veyr effective.

Designing kid’s bedrooms covers color co-ordination, themes and efficient storage systems etc. And you need to keep on top of it because, of course, as children grow up, their tastes develop and change. Just when you’ve got used to the circus animal theme, complete with hand painted stencils, your child has become a teenager and wants something more grown up. So you need to stay on the ball.