In choosing your ceiling lights, there is wisdom when you spend enough time to plan out your steps with precision; otherwise, a lot of un-pretty and expensive consequences may come into the picture. Deciding which kitchen fixtures suit the mood of that particular place saves you the troubles that are common in compulsive or unplanned shopping.

First, good ceiling fixtures should provide the right amount of light needed for the room. In dining room for example, soft glow ceiling fixtures go in harmony with the dining table. The light must be sufficient in the sense that they should be friendly to the eyes, yet helpful in seeing only the important things such as utensils, food and the faces of the people. It should not be bright as to arouse self-consciousness.

Ceilings

Ceiling lights for bedroom can be recessed from the center. Some would recommend using fluorescent lights for ceiling lamps that are placed far from where the bed is located. Ceiling lamps that do not use bright lights can be placed directly above the bed.  If reading before sleeping is a hobby, having sconce light on the side of bed or having bedside table lamp makes it possible as well as enjoyable. Small recessed lights that illuminate softly can be great to lighten dark corners.

Besides ceiling height, determine the purpose of the light, if you choose a hanging light, will it be used generally to light the entire place? Or just a particular portion? What types of activities are done below the ceiling lamps?  To some people, they choose different set of lights for one room.

Choose your style

Some rooms have traditional style while others have contemporary. Choose the chandeliers or fixtures that are still beautiful even when its lights are not on. The finishing touch of the light is important as well. Does the beauty of the room enhanced more with lights that have satin finish? Brass perhaps? How about Nickel, chrome, glass, crystal or flock, to name a few?

How much light is needed?

Now, the room itself has a lot to think and plan about. For example, its size matters. Is it too large that it needs not only one set of chandelier but fixtures or pendant as well? If the size is medium to small, you can settle with medium-sized lights as well. What other people do is to have small chandelier installed either at the center of the ceiling or exactly above the living room set, and then have additional small sconces or recessed lights to produce light to dark areas. Still some, use floor lamps and table lamps situated at the corner.

Living room must not be left behind. This is where most visitors are entertained. This is also the place where the family gathers. Recessed lighting is perfect for the ceiling lights. Fixtures or pendant lights that emit bright lights bulbs set the room cheerful and lively. If there are dark corners on this part of the house, lamps whether ceiling or wall or customized for the floor serve their purposes.

Lighting for food and ambiance

Dining room is another place that needs the right lights. Fixtures with ceiling fans are the latest trends. They can hang exactly from where the dining table is located. If there is a long and wide cabinet near the dining room, or a mini- bar, customized fixtures and recessed lights suit well with them. Select the ceiling lights that have soft glow because they are friendly to the eyes and sets the right calming mood.

Whatever place you are renovating, bear in mind that some ceiling lights or fixtures can work only with specific bulbs. So before buying anything from the store, you need to consider the availability of the bulbs in case they need replacement.

A Retro Look For Your Teen’s Room

The 60’s were a time of tie & dye, flower power, Woodstock and peace symbols. This was the time of the hippie. Decades on, it’s evident that the hippie fad still hasn’t died down and continues to make a come back over the last few years. And it’s currently all the rage with teens all over.

Retro decor and vintage posters are back in style in a BIG way.

If your teen or tween is showing signs of that retro spirit, why not give her a room that will let her shine in all her hippie glory. decorating teen rooms can be a challenge for any parent, so take a deep breath and remember it is NOT your room ( thank goodness)

Be bold Be funky

Because the 60’s used bold colors you can also decorate using these colors. Take her walls for example, you can choose to do a block design on one wall. Create blocks and outline them with masking tape and then tape. Allow to dry before you remove the tape. When dry you should have a creative wall that is very retro. Add some personal touches to the look by painting daisies on the wall.

Use your imagination when it comes to furnishings.

Back in the 60’s the mood was happy and playful so you can create this look with blow-up chairs or bean bags. Take all the wooden furniture and paint it white. Add a disco ball to the room by taking down the old ceiling light fixture and put up a spinning disco ball. Don’t forget to purchase a lava lamp to finish the look. You can find all of these retro decorations at a discount store. You may want to add some incense on her night stand for her to light up and relax to.

A shag area rug would go great in your hippie teen’s room. This is because the 60’s were defined by the retro shag style area rugs. Get one in jewel tones or even psychedelic colors. You may even find that the color palette offered by the area rug is exactly what you need for the rest of your room. Get matching fabric or funky Posters to go on the walls.

Add vinyl and classic rock album covers on the wall. ( not valuable ones!)  This should be a variety of popular singers like Lennon and the Rolling Stones hanging on her wall.

When you are ready to decorate her cushions you want to use a tie dye look. This is an easy project that you can do at home together. Take some plain white linen and turn it into a bright bold color to add to her room.

Remember that hippies believed in freedom of expression so in order to make her happy you will need to allow her to express herself too. This will make the room look wonderful and your teen or tween will be very happy.

Keep up with current Home Decorating styles and enhance your home with a rug from the Dynamic Rugs Funky Collection.

Home decor is a touchy subject. So many people feel that they have fantastic interior design abilities and that thier home is just gorgeous. That is, until they walk into a place that has been properly decorated.

They marvel at the decor….
muttering kinds words while all the time thinking I could so do this at my place. Just wait till I redecorate my place.

Lots of people look at the multitude of magazines that display glossy pictures of all the newest trends and styles. The trouble is, they rarely tell you how to actually do the work. Changing your decor starts with a very basic process; change your thinking. You’ve lived with the same staid, boring wall decor, paint and flooring for years. How about those kitchen cupboards? Do they still do it for you? Probably not.

Although it may be a blow to the proverbial ego, one of the best ways to bust through is finding an impartial and independent person (non friend) to give you their unbiased opinion on the current state of your home. You might not know have such a person in your immediate circle of friends but ask around and someone will know someone who can help. Close friends usually wont do as they tend to sugar coat their opinions.

Cold, hard honesty is needed here…
and that means a person who isn’t a friend.

While perusing your home with your new eyes take a lot of notes. Tackle the project room by room and make sure that your 3rd party understands whether you are planning a full makeover for your home or just a bit of redecorating. Choose colors, fabrics, furniture and artwork that create the effect you want.

Whether you’re extremely budget conscious or its pie in the sky time, there many unique and interesting ways to change and improve the look and feel of your home.

One piece of advice I cannot stress enough is the need to sit down and set a strict budget for the project. This gives you a guideline to determine what you can and cannot expect to do.

Set priorities for the job

With your budget in mind, now you need to set priorities for the job. If your main goal from redecorating is to display the family antiques then either the living room or a side room specially done for the job will be the main focus. If on the other hand you want a state of the art master bathroom then obviously that’s where the majority of your money will go.

Make your budget your primary focus in the planning stage. It will pay off as things get started. Coordinate your palate with a favorite fabric, rug or art print.

by Nadine Allyen

For the most up to date information about custom blinds penticton, This is the only resource you will ever need Custom Blinds Okanagan Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory

ArtCantHurtu Art Prints and Motivational Posters presents I am loving you – I HOPE you LOVE me back

There you stand chest pounding, palms sweating, head swimming while all the blood rushes to your erotic zones trying to find the perfect words to proclaim your true love.Yet, what is really consuming your soul is the phrase “I love you I hope you love me back”

Take a chance and spit it out or wimp out and just send this short. Either way you may start breathing again.

If you really have guts you might buy a few I LOVE YOU POSTERS and really put your heart out on your sleave, Who knows – it might just tip  the scales in your favor.

I love you POSTERS for Valentines : a romantic and unique way to say I love you Unique gift for valentines 2009

Love and Kisses video featuring whimsical and romantic motivational posters by artist Jan Riley. You can get these as high quality Art Print Reproductions or colorful refrigerator magnets – but make sure you get enough for all the LOVES in your life.

LOVE is all that Matters WHAT is LOVE?

If I have to tell you the answer then you – my friend -have never been in love. Love really IS all that matters.

motivational sayings abundance prosperity lovers  mindfulness falling in love good quotes love relationship affirmations kiss

Light it up green – save money and energy!

Everywhere you turn, people are talking ‘green’. It is fun to watch as green products and innovative decorating ideas continue to surface that are helping our planet become less wasteful in energy consumption. Items that we never dreamed could possibly be replaced are now slowly disappearing with new technology presenting, literally, a better light bulb.

Since 1879 when Edison first presented the light bulb as an alternative to kerosene lamps, we have marveled at this great invention, never thinking that there could ever be anything better. But as we study the energy draining products of today, the incandescent light bulb is right at the top of the list. An energy guzzling device that emits a distorted yellowish glare, it is still considered the cheapest option on the market.

Great for lighting – horrible for make up

Another type of lighting that gained popularity in the 1920’s was fluorescent lighting and was first used in commercial buildings and garages where more light was in demand. Even though at the time it seemed good, today we know how bad it is for residential use. Some of the many drawbacks of fluorescent lighting, for starters, is the fact that it is filled with mercury. It is also sensitive to temperature extremes, intermittent flickering is common and then there is disposal.

The world has a lot of lights – you can see form space!

It seems that energy consumption, sometime in the 1970’s, really began to take form and thus the birth of the tungsten halogen lamp or quartz lamp. The light from this bulb is far better than the incandescent light bulb, also needs lower voltage and its life span is much longer. It is becoming more popular only recently with emphasis on energy consumption but before people were not so quick to change, in part, because of the cost.

LED – bright, efficient and flexible!

But now, there is an option that we have all been waiting for. The most awesome and creative discovery of alternative lighting was discovered in the 1960s and is known as the LED. This device is made out of a Silicon element that converts electrical energy into light energy without the drawbacks found in other lighting types. Invented by Nick Holonyak, known as ‘the father of the light-emitting diode’, Holonyak has received many honors for his innovation that is changing the world – and deservedly so.

Not your average bulb – more like a lightning bug on steroids!

The LED (light-emitting diode) is totally different from other light bulbs as we know them. If you’ve ever had an electronic device, you may notice a small red indicator light that shows whether the unit is on or off. This is a LED light. There is no heat given off, no distorted tint, no moving parts, a long life span and energy efficient.

This technology is being worked on all the time now and as a result there are bulbs being used as replacements in street lights and decorative lighting, as well as for LCD displays of flat screen televisions. Although the costs associated with this technology are high at first, the savings and other benefits outweigh that. Pretty soon all light bulbs will be replaced by the energy efficient and saving LED. This only shows that it is possible to make a better light bulb.

For those of you that have made the move to one of those beautiful, older, neglected neighborhoods you might have seen some issues. There is a lot of fixing up going on in these areas. While your working on your house you need to think of some new ways of pumping up the camaraderie in the area. Showing their Original Art is very exciting  for many local artist. If you get a new neighborhood idea going you can make improvements within the interpersonal layer of the community. In other words you can bring people together.

One such event that will attract a lot of attention is a community art show.

This could be a small locals only thing that the kids in the area could participate in. Or, you could make it the first of a new annual event in your city. For something like that you can get help from the city and turn it into a major city attraction. You can attract artists from all over and it will generate revenue for your neighborhood.

Before you start calling in artists you need to look at the laws and ordinances surrounding what you want to do. There are tons of funky city rules about things of this nature and you don’t want to get a bad surprise later on in planning. You would do well to use your neighborhood park for this because you will need a pretty space for all the artists and vendors. You need to look into getting permission, insurance, if needed and other things that are alien to you.

Get your ART team together

A team of volunteers is helpful for this to work. You will also need to attract sponsors. A corporate sponsor will give money and supplies to something of this type. You are not doing it for profit. That does not mean there will not be paying positions available at some point though. You could have wine companies donate wine that you will give out as samples. You can get money to help with advertising and other expenses. One thing that you want for sure are some promotional items. Shirts, hats, key-chains, or whatever you want. These can be where you give your sponsors some official credit and they will help remind people to look for next years event.

You can bring excitement, culture, and some revenue into your neighborhood with an art show. Just hit all the bases first such as, legal issues, planning, sponsoring, and attracting artists. There are multiple streams of revenue possible for something like this. If it is going to be a neighborhood event then you need to tap into the people of your area. You’d be surprised with the amount of knowledge that is floating around. Handmade artisans and professional muralists can also show their work.

Everyone wins

The businesses in your area will profit and you could even have it set up so your neighbors could set up stands in their yards to sell refreshments or whatever.

Powering an off grid home can be done in several ways and some of the most popular green-energy sources today are the wind and solar power that will not only help you save on your electric bills but you will also do your part for the environment. When deciding to go completely off-grid and install a solar or wind power system in your home you need to know which one is more effective. If you live in a more windy area then you will surely need to have a wind turbine, thus solar panels will be more effective in sun kissed areas.

No matter what type energy source you choose both the wind and solar power systems can reduce your energy consumption by 80% or even eliminate your electric bills.

Harvest the sun

Lets suppose you’re choosing to harvest solar energy and transform it into electricity using solar panels. You will need more than one solar panel to supply enough electricity for all your home appliances, including the heating in the winter. It’s recommended that you build one solar panel and first calculate the energy savings and then start building more solar panels to cover up all your home’s energy needs.

A DIY solar panel does not cost more than $200 to build.

If you were to buy the same solar panel from your local solar parts supplier then you would have to pay a few thousands of dollars. The misconception that it costs a fortune to build your own solar panels or any other renewable energy systems is just a myth.

I was where you’re probably now, skeptical about building my own solar panels to supply energy for my off-grid home. I though that it costs a lot of money to set up a solar power system, however I was wrong at that time. I soon found out that a solar panel can be built in just a few days spending no more than two hundred dollars for all the parts and components that we needed.

We’ve built our first solar panel purely to test out the energy savings for one month. We now have 6 solar panels installed on our roof-top, all running smoothly and generating enough power for our off grid home. The best part of it all is that we don’t have to pay a single dollar to our local power company anymore instead we benefit of the solar energy.

If you’re tired of high electricity bills, discover how thousands of families worldwide benefit from homemade solar panels and wind turbines to power their homes.

Here is one of many DIY videos on the subject!

Creativity is expressing your soul.
Share your unique passion, inspiration & vision and trust whatever happens. Spread creativity today – share this short with someone who needs a boost of inspiration!

Being creative is as natural as breathing, sometimes you just need a little nudge in the right  direction. We now have these Creativity affirmations as inspirational posters and motivational refrigerator magnets – (for less than $6) You can’t beat THAT for inspiring creativity!