Real Estate Blog

The trend today is for really large, spacious rooms with high ceilings and wood flooring. These are wonderful living spaces if you enjoy bigger rooms. The problem is they tend to be rather cold and disconnected.

Most of us want a cozy, homey atmosphere. Here are a few secrets you can use to make your bigger space, cozy. When you consider paint, think darker colors. One of the reasons the darker, richer tones are more popular today is because they bring warmth to a space that feels a bit chilly.

Lighter colors reflect light and make spaces seem bigger, so using earth tone colors or taupe will make your bigger space seem smaller and then more cozy. If the ceilings are really high and you would like them to appear lower, paint the ceiling with the darker color. Less lighting in the room will make it feel smaller because it is darker.

Buy plants that are large, and other accessories that you can add that are also large in size. Stay away from a small size because this will only have the affect of seeming more cluttered.  Read more...

Are you thinking about changing your home’s look with a more modern, chic interior design? You’ve come to the right article! Going contemporary is not at all expensive. Utilizing more trendy home items can be cost-effective too, especially if you visit budget-friendly retail outlets like dollar stores, garage sales, thrift or secondhand shops and other discount establishments. You can also apply some DIY creative methods to add decors to your modern interiors.

Changing the color is a must. If your old theme has the dark shade or floral print of a cottage-like home, alter it to the modern colors of contrasting shades, rich tones, bright colors or a combination. The color can dramatically transform not just the interiors of your home, but the ambiance as well. Modern homes have the sophisticated feel of city living compared to the simplicity of the rural life or the nature feel of the countryside. Use colors to express your change to the modern style.  Read more...

Are you ready to have a living room makeover? You may have had the same living room look way too long; you may be gearing towards change, an upgraded version of your old home; or you may have a new favorite color. These are good reasons to finally get a new paint, brush and over-alls and start your painting project for a brand new living room.

The first thing to do is to cover all holes on the wall. You might have hung photos or artworks so this caused small openings in the wall. Make sure there’s no space to peep in.

The second thing is to make sure all the furniture and floor are well covered. If you can move out some furnishings, the better as it will give you more space to move around.

Once you finish your pre-paint tasks, you are now ready to change the color of your living room. If you’re going to re-paint with a lighter shade, apply a primer first. Use a good quality paint that can have good results in just one or two coats. One helpful idea to make the task easier is to use only one color for both the walls and ceiling. This technique is called al fresco.  Read more...

For an easy touch of class for any room in your home or office, use a chandelier table lamp. These lamps can be placed over tables or on mantles, end tables or coffee tables. Since they can be quiet costly to purchase, consider making your own and adding your own touch to it with this step by step guide.

You are going to need the following items. A lamp, an ordinary cost effective lampshade, crystal beads, small shells, glass beads or plastic beads, some fishing line, hot glue, a hot glue gun and scissors.

1.)Getting the lampshade ready.

In order to be able to remove the center frame from the lampshade, you are going to have to take out the paper shade. You will not need the circular piece so discard it.

2.) How to prepare the bead lines.

String the bead using the fishing line. In front and behind the bead tie a double knot. Then, put some hot glue on the knots using the glue gun to secure the knots. Place the beads close together to keep the fishing line almost invisible. Two inches of the fishing line should be left empty at the ends.  Read more...

One of the easiest ways to beautify, revitalize and upgrade your home is to decorate with area rugs. Elements of a room can be tied together; add much-needed warmth to the feel and look of floor tiles, stone or concrete; protect carpets and hardwood flooring; create a focal point and add a dramatic aspect with color and design to every room. Area rugs are completely mobile and can be moved from room to room, to a new house and can be changed with the seasons. Inevitably, area rugs provide great interest to the home decorator.

When choosing your rug the color should be the most important element to help you make the decision. A bright colored rug featuring a dramatic design can give the room a new look instantly. If a room has bright colors then tone it down with accessories in earth tones.

If you have patterns on the wallpaper, the curtains, or the cushions you want to make sure that the pattern on the rug matches. A light color gives the room a spacious look and feel while a dark color makes the room look and feel warm. Dark colors are great for those high traffic areas where you have children and pets.  Read more...

Even if you don’t have any runner rugs in your home, you probably come across them just about every day. Rug runners are a fixture in the flooring world, and there are many reasons to consider the use of them.

There are many situations where a floor could use a runner rug. Whether it’s for decorative purposes or protective measures, the runner rug has a clear purpose.

Runner rugs in hallways are the ideal way to make an ordinarily bland tile or wooden floor have a bit more purpose, not to mention some softness on the feet.

Staircases are another great place to consider using runner rugs. You’ve probably come across steps before that are lined with what you believe to be carpeting. In many cases, runner rugs are actually being used here.

Not only will they provide traction, making it less likely that you slip and fall, but they genuinely look good, whether they take up the entire width of the stairway or not.

Speaking of slipping, sometimes runner rugs will be used for just that purpose. Commercial buildings will often place them near entrances, especially when it rains outside.  Read more...

Contemporary or modern design is characterized by cool, neutral colors and clean lines, with a complete lack of fussy detail. However, this shouldn’t mean that your home feels like the inside of a sterile hospital operating room. When you take modern design to an extreme, you end up with a cold look, but if you add enough texture and color variety, your room will be the perfect combination of contemporary design and comfort. Consider the six elements below and think about which ones you would like to use in your modern room design. You don’t have to adopt all of them, just take those which work for you and your space.

Begin with color. Contemporary color palettes are cool and neutral; brown, cream, white, and taupe. This does not mean that your entire home needs to look like a bowl of milk. Use these colors as a basic foundation. When your room’s background is neutral, you have the entire color palette at your disposal for splashes of brighter color in accessories. For instance, if you have pale cream walls and wood flooring, a brightly colored rug can make a fabulous statement. Just make sure you don’t overdo the boldly colored accents. Remember, contemporary design is all about simplicity.  Read more...

There are dozens of television shows and magazines devoted solely to home decorating. When you decide to redecorate your home, you should have no problem finding some great ideas. Most people begin by choosing a paint color or some furniture that they love and then they design their room around those choices. This is not always the best strategy. If you want to design a room that you will enjoy for years, you should avoid a few common decorating mistakes.

In starting any decorating work, paint or color should not be number one on your list. Most folks think that painting should be done first as it can be time consuming. This is a big mistake. Color should actually be dependent on the existing pieces in the room. Choose the room’s focal point and outstanding decors and suit the color with those pieces, instead of the other way around. You will not only save more bucks, but you will save more time as well.  Read more...

Most houses have normal sized closets and with them, there is only so much creativity you can have. New houses though, are often being built with large walk in closets in the master bedroom. In fact, in some of the more expensive homes, these walk ins can be a large as a room!

People love to get the most out of their closets and that is why many companies have sprung up that specialize in custom closets. You can spend a small fortune with one of these companies if you are not careful as they can really run up the price. You can also add things to your closet like furniture if it is big enough and some people have gone as far as to make their walk in closet an office.

Master bedroom closets are being made larger and larger as builders realize women love big closets. If you watch a woman as she looks through an open house for sale, you will see that she pays most attention to the kitchen, bathrooms, and closets. If your house has a closet that is too big, you can use the space for storage or turn it into a sitting room, reading room, or some other type of room. All you have to do is install the proper lights and you will be good to go.  Read more...

Bringing in the southwest decor to your home will bring in the look and feel of the old west. The colors are bold that are used with this decor and you have several different Native American patterns that go along with this style too. Looking to do this design in your home will bring in some leather and silver to the look too.

As stated above some very bold colors lend themselves to the southwest look, a nice deep burgundy or turquoise is a perfect way to bring in the southwest. Buy some of the Native American pillows that have prints on them or some great accessories for your walls. Kachina dolls to coyote are some great ways to add to the look.

Furniture that is used with the southwest decor is to be masculine in look and can either be made from leather, or you can use covers on it that are tan. For tables and chairs in the room, try and get the wood at a darker color. Distressed wood is better to use this will give the room a used and old look that will fit in perfectly with the southwest decor. The style you want to see is the old log cabin feel.  Read more...