Green DIY: Refurbishing vintage furnitureGreen DIY: Refurbishing vintage furniture
August 19, 2010My husband and I recently installed new floors in our home, becoming lengthy overdue and well received as they greatly improved the look of our circa 1953, 900-square foot home (the original oak flooring was, unfortunately, as well far gone to save).
The problem? Our beautiful, shiny new floors now highlight just how crappy our furniture is. The motley collection of hand-me-downs and dumpster scores that were acquired much more for function than for great looks now made our house appear like the Delta Tau Chi frat house (albeit with truly nice flooring). In truth, the only piece of new furnishings that my husband and I’ve bought is our bed, and that was over three years ago. With excellent determination and really little cash I set out to discover a way to furnish my little mid-century house that accommodates my spending budget, and that appeals to both my individual taste and my desire to be eco-friendly.
I’ve never been a fanatic for antiques, particularly, or a lot of an interior decorator, but one point I’ve always wanted is a large, solid wood dining room table. Becoming chefs by trade, my husband and I love to feed large gatherings of buddies and family in our house. Whilst we’ve usually managed somehow to accommodate everyone, we’ve had to break individuals into groups — some sitting within the kitchen, some within the living room, us standing in the counter — which is not conducive to meal-time conversation and socializing.
I found my first ‘treasure’ on craigslist: a 1940’s Duncan Phyfe-style mahogany table. The genius of this table is in the style — it has two drop leaves and two removable leaves. Folded up it takes up following to no space, and fully extended it seats 10 comfortably, solving the issue of needing to store a large table in a small house.With six chairs and a sideboard it price us a whopping $100. Whilst not it ideal condition, a little TLC brought forth it is historic beauty.
Not wanting to disturb it’s patina, I didn’t bother to sand, strip, stain or otherwise torture the table. Instead I utilized a item called Howard Restor-A-Finish which cleaned it up nicely, removing minor surface scratches and water marks. The claw feet caps are brass, and following a good soaking in a answer of salt and white vinegar (and a little elbow grease) they shined up beautifully.
table 005With my fire for vintage decor ignited I started scouring estate sales and craigslist. Together with some Goodwill chotchkies, like a 1950’s crackle glass table lamp ($6) and a stunning antique green glass vase ($2), my following “score” was in the Restore on Hillsborough Avenue. This resale shop salvages items from tear-down or restored homes with the profits going to Habitat For Humanity. Talk about a win-win situation! Additionally to furniture The Restore sells plumbing fixtures, hardware, doors, windows, cabinets, lighting fixtures along with other miscellaneous housewares. I bought an antique mahogany bedside table for $35 and the nice gentleman that functions there told me that the table had only just been dropped off that day — timing is every thing, right? He also gave me an insider’s tip: most people drop off unwanted products on Saturdays, so if you want a good selection, it’s the best day to shop.
With a little web study and perseverance, you can discover a style that suits your taste along with a price range for reasonably priced unrefurbished vintage furniture. Not into do-it-yourself projects? There are many resale stores in the Tampa Bay region, for example Sherry’s YesterDaze in Seminole Heights, that sell vintage furniture, often currently fixed up and prepared to go.
There is a profound satisfaction is this type of treasure hunting. Not just do you find yourself stumbling upon unique, affordable items that seem created just for you, but you’re performing your part to reuse perfectly functional if not beautiful furniture. If you’ve been itching to redecorate your house this may be the ideal excuse.
Source: The Daily Loaf
20 Ways to ‘Detox’ Your Home
Many of us have done a detox so that you can get rid of internal toxins from our body, but how a lot of us do anything about the poisons in our personal houses? Common household and body-care products are increasingly being found to have bad well being effects about the nervous and immune systems, on our reproductive systems and on our endocrine, cardiovascular and respiratory techniques.
The typical house consists of 500-1,000 chemicals, a lot of which we are unable to see, smell or taste. While these chemicals may be tolerated individually and in small doses, difficulties can arise when one is exposed to them in mixture or in larger doses. Everyone’s tolerance level is various depending on genetics, nutritional status and previous contacts with numerous chemical substances, but the negative effects of household toxins are often compounded by the use of other medicines especially the habitual use of alcohol, or prescription or recreational medicines.
Scituate ranch home offers up amazing views
T
he big residing room windows of this renovated ranch provide an eye-catching view: a mostly wooded 2-acre whole lot of trees that slopes, to broad marshlands beyond that feed the kayak-friendly Gulph River. Across the shallow valley are the hills of a golf course and in the distance, the blue from the Atlantic Ocean.
The residing room is really a big rectangle with hardwood floors, white crown molding, beige walls, along with a sliding door towards the deck, which has the exact same viewscape. A brick support wall for the fireplace is painted white.
The dining area is open and connects the kitchen towards the living room. The kitchen boasts cream-colored cabinets above brown-speckled countertops and new stainless steel appliances.
The bedrooms are clustered at one end from the house. The master suite also enjoys that wonderful view and has a door to a screened-in sitting region portioned off from the deck. The suite is spacious and has its own bath.
The three other bedrooms are also adequately sized, but have small closets.
The two bedrooms that face the street have outside canvas awnings over the windows that provide privacy and maintain the rooms cool on hot days.
The basement is carpeted, with large windows, adding considerable residing space. The largest basement room has that great view as well as a fireplace.
The whole lot feels overgrown, and could use some landscaping attention.
Listing broker Carolyn E. Durkin of Grand Gables Realty Group in Scituate is holding an open home from noon to 2 p.m. these days.
Source: Boston News
Wood in cabinets
Trendy wooden cabinets can transform your whole house decor and add the additional aplomb for your home. There are plenty of cabinet kinds likekitchen , bathroom, dressing, laundry, utility, storage, display and so on.
Wooden cabinets supply probably the most practical storage answer. Be it for the kitchen, bathroom or living room. Cabinets keep all the necessary things organised and safe for your every day use. They certainly come in handy for hiding the clutter while storing things safely for future usage.
Wooden is preferred for building cabinets over other materials because of its durability and capability to blend with almost all types of house decor. Maple, oak, cherry, birch and many other kinds of wood are utilized for making these cabinets. However, with time, wooden loses its sheen and also the protective cover provided by the wood finishes. So, you need to polish your wooden cabinets as and when required.
Source: Economic Times
5 tips to improve your home’s resale value
Is the home you are moving out of designed to sell?
If you are searching to add oomph to your address before planting a for sale sign out front, area real-estate agents say you can do it yourself with small expense.
“There are plenty of low-cost methods to get your house ready to sell,” says Steve Klemm of Sangamon Realty in Springfield, Ill.
Tip 1: Up against the wall
Klemm states his No. 1 suggestion is to take down any wallpaper in the kitchen, living room and master bedroom. Then paint the interior walls a basic, neutral color.
Klemm says that while repainting is labor-intensive, a fresh coat of paint creates a large impression when he shows a home to potential buyers.
Ed Calma turns kitchens into design showcase
In the past 20 years, architects and designers have been acknowledging the expanding role of the kitchen.
“It utilized to become hidden in the back again,” notes architect Jose Eduardo Calma. “As multi-functional room, it is turn out to be as important because the living space.”
Cara Marcelo, senior principal designer for Focus Global Inc., distributor of luxury home appliances, adds, “With the popularity of cooking shows, people desired to become chefs. The kitchen has become the center from the house along with a showcase. It is also a place exactly where you not only entertain while cooking but also where children can study.”
Clearly, food may be the center of family life.
With this trend in mind, Sub-Zero and Wolf, high-end American appliance brands, have been holding a biennial kitchen area design contest. The entry should integrate at least one full-size Sub-Zero refrigerator and Wolf cooking appliance in the design. The jury is composed of prominent architects and designers.
Ever since the Sub-Zero and Wolf Kitchen Design Contest was open to foreign contestants in 2004, the Philippines has been winning successively. Calma’s personal kitchen area won two prizes in the recent 2008-2009 tilt in the International Category Award, besting all entries from various continents, and the First Location in Contemporary Kitchen area, for that US national contest.
Earlier, his client’s kitchen area, that is bigger than a regular condo unit, won in the International Catagory (2006-2007.) Marcelo won the exact same category in 2004-2005 for kitchen renovation.
The judges looked at innovation, practicality and aesthetics.
Style continuity
Marcelo’s clients, operators of the big food chain, desired to make their kitchen into a hub. Walls were knocked down to expand the space to 45 sq meters and larger windows were incorporated to reveal garden views.
Discover The Easy Steps In Installing Your Dream Home Entertainment
The installation of the home leisure amusement program within the comfort and ease of your personal house can revolutionize the way you experience movies, music, your favourite Television programmes and much much more.
There are many options to think about when purchasing the best home leisure equipment – and luckily there’s now greater option than ever with regards to custom house entertainment style, packages, set-up and accessories. For instance, wireless house theater systems and speakers have become much more well-liked in recent numerous years, as they provide greater style and compactness, and enables for a a lot much more spacious house leisure room; and “home theaters inside a box” are advertised as delivering a simple introduction to amusement centers. Home entertainment stores are also willing to combine best high quality individual parts (for instance customized house entertainment projectors, speaker systems, DVD players, receivers and screens) in what ever way you select, and for much less expensive than you may expect.
Furthermore, building your own customized house theater program is progressively simple and price effective. Numerous home entertainment magazines and webzines supply useful information on customized home leisure construction: such as practical guidelines for example home leisure strategies and layout guidance, audio program methods (including surround sound), DIY wiring diagrams and advice on custom home leisure electronics.
Brinklow: Unique, rustic style defines home
Three miles north of Ashton, this craftsman home is really a 6,100-square-foot woodland retreat that offers rustic luxury in a contemporary setting
. Constructed in 1978, but extensively renovated and modernized, the custom wood and stone house appears brand new.
Even prior to entering, a visitor might be awed by the spectacular wooded great deal and its hardscaping. The front door, having a distinctive, stained-glass insert above the door, opens to some tiled center foyer having a g
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