Home Improvement-Furniture-Design interiors-Gardening

Charlotte Interior Designs Ideas For Creating Custom Furniture

When I am flipping through the pages of a high end home decor magazine I will always be lured in by a beautifully upholstered piece of furniture. A chair or couch covered in a gorgeous piece of fabric gives the room the desired custom feel, elevating the look of the room. You know that it was probably designed just for that homeowner.

For most homes, why do custom upholstery when it is often less expensive to buy a piece of furniture from the home furnishings store? That is a valid question until you start shopping for a piece that will pull the look of your room together. In order to appeal to the widest group of people with their offerings, furniture makers have to manufacture pieces in neutrals or the most popular colors. A visit to your favorite home furnishing store will verify this. Tan, gray, cream, black and brown dominate the sales floor. Sage green and muted blue bring a little color to the offerings. What if you want to add personality to your room with a plum and green paisley print? What if your sun room cries out for a botanical print? You are going to spend hours shopping in stores and online and not find anything close to your vision. This is when your upholster is going to become your best friend.

If you are working with a decorator, they will help you choose a fabric that will bring personality to the room. If you are doing it yourself you can search local fabric resources or ask your upholster to help you. They will have sample books that you can shop from. Often they will let you borrow them to take home and see how the fabric looks in your room before you commit to it.

All home decor fabric will not be suited for covering your chair. Some fabrics are made for window treatments and throw pillows. Make sure what you choose is upholstery weight to insure it will hold up under the use it will get over the years. It should also have a stain resistant finish.

There are ways to bring further personality to your piece. Customize it with contrasting piping on the cushions and on the appropriate seams. Nailheads can give a chair a masculine finish. Covered buttons and fabric tucks add personality to your furniture. A designer trick is to combine several fabrics on one piece. This works well in a informal room or a child’s space. Because purchasing yardage for your furniture can be costly, a mixed fabric chair can be done less expensively with reduced price remnants. Check with your upholster to make sure you have the right amount of each fabric for this creative project.

Outdoor fabric has made great advances in the last few years. The choices in designs and colors are vast. The feel of the fabric is so close to regular home decor fabric that you can easily use it indoors. Outdoor fabrics are woven from special fibers that resist stains, mildew and fading from strong sunlight. Using this fabric will let you create beautiful pieces for your porch or sun room. You are no longer limited to what your local big box store is selling.

Custom upholstery will allow you to cover a worn out but much loved piece of furniture you own or rescue an ugly duckling at the thrift store and turn it into a swan. It is a fun way to make your home uniquely yours.

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Beach Vacation Homes: Interior Design Ideas

As most beach vacation homes are owned by people from the cold winter north, the natural desire is to design the inside of the home to reflect the surrounding outdoor scenery and all of the things that draw northerners to the warmer climates of the south.

The key to selecting finishes and décor for a beach vacation home is remembering one important word: Light. Light colors, light fabrics, light finish materials for floors and accessories and, of course, allowing plenty of natural light to penetrate into the home. If the homeowner allows the reasons they are drawn to beach style living to enter into their vacation home, they will find it very easy to be inspired in making selections that will extend that atmosphere.

Light, tropical colors for the walls, in very pale greens, peaches, and coral pink will subtly bring the breezy feeling of the beach into any room. Accent this breeziness by hanging sheer, white, floor-length curtains at the windows to ebb and flow with the ocean light winds. Ceiling fans are a must in any beach front vacation home, both for functionality and for aesthetics, and in a tropical climate the most appealing finish is that of a light with bamboo fan blades to reinforce the laziness and serenity of the areas foliage.

Furniture can be oversized, as long as it is light in color and comfortable, inviting the user to lounge and nap. Stay away from dark, heavy wood furniture, especially in a dining area, as this will leave an impact of formality that is not in keeping with the laid back lifestyle of the beach. For a more casual feel, you may even consider stringing a wall mounted hammock in a sun room, to further induce a mid day siesta.

To complete the interior décor, consider accessories that incorporate elements of the beach: sand, sea shells and palm trees are common themes that will bring the final touches of your vacation getaway into every room of your home away from home.

Interior Design Ideas – Making Your Own Concrete Countertops

Concrete can be used for more in your home than building the walkways outside. Concrete is the perfect material to use as a substitute for other materials that are much more costly. The design and way that you treat your concrete can help it look like these other materials and save you a fortune at the same time. Concrete countertops are easy to build in your home and can give you the look of expensive granite countertops without spending a fraction of the money.

To get started on your concrete countertops, you will need a good mix of materials to provide you with the colours that you want on your countertops. Premixed concrete will give you the colour of cement. If you want to create a colour that is slightly lighter, you will have to mix your concrete yourself. To find the perfect colour for your concrete countertops, make a few samples to determine which one suits your design choice.

Once you have settled on the colour of the concrete, you will have to build the forms that will mould your countertops. Particle board that is coated with melamine will prevent the concrete from sticking to the mould. The particle board also allows the concrete to dry slowly and get stronger as it dries. When building your mould, account for any cut outs or places for sinks because you will not have an opportunity to cut the concrete once it has formed.

Use block outs to account for cut outs in your countertop mould. Once the form is built, pour your concrete mixture into the mould. To ensure that your concrete counter is strong and long lasting, use mesh in the concrete mix. Add the mesh to the mould almost to the end of the form. Measure the mesh pieces before you begin pouring the concrete so that you can just add them as you go along. The mesh in the mould will ensure that your concrete counter is strong. Do not wait too long between layers to make sure that the layers of concrete adhere to each other as you build up the concrete counter.

Once you have your concrete poured, it must be allowed to dry thoroughly. To remove the concrete from the form, take the form apart. The edges of the concrete counter can be sanded to prevent sharp edges. Keep the dust from getting in your eyes with glasses and wear a mask to prevent inhaling the dust. Etch the concrete with muriatic acid and water solution. This will bring out the colours in the concrete and any pigment that you have added for the design. Make sure that you rinse the acid from the concrete completely.

Use a cement mixture to fill in any voids in the concrete and to add some more colour to the counter. Be careful to avoid getting the mixture on the flat counter top while filling in any gaps in the counter. Finally, sand your countertop and add a sealer to give the concrete counter a glossy appearance. Sand the counter until it is smooth and free of bumps and burrs.

Interior Design Ideas – New Ceiling Tiles For A New Look

Replacing your ceiling with tiles is not something that many people consider for a way to improve the look of a room. In fact, ceilings are often overlooked as a part of a room’s décor. There are ways that you can improve the look of an entire room by changing the ceiling tiles or installing something completely different in your room.

Your first step in changing the look of your room is to choose the right tiles. There are many different looks that you can install on your ceiling to improve the look of a room. The ceiling tiles that you will have available to you are most likely made of fibreboard. The design and look of the tiles made of this material can vary widely. Choose a textured tile to give the ceiling a dramatic and unique appearance or you can choose tiles that have seamless edges.

There are varying sizes for ceiling tiles as well. The materials can be used to absorb sound or they can be designed specifically for a room that is used for entertainment, such as a home theatre.

Installing your tiles is easier than you might think. Adhesive is used to install the tiles when your existing ceiling is smooth and can accept the adhesive. For those with a damaged or uneven surface on the ceiling, you will have to install strips of wood to hold the tiles in place. The wood strips are used to attach the tiles so that the uneven ceiling does not affect the appearance of your ceiling.

One of the most important parts of the job is taking accurate measurements. You will have to plan out your ceiling tiles to be sure that you cut the appropriate size for the border pieces. Cut the edges and border pieces in advance so that you can quickly install them as you work your way across your ceiling.

Measure the ceiling in advance to determine how many tiles you will need for the job. Cutting the tiles in advance helps the job go much faster and efficiently once you start placing them on the ceiling.

The border tiles are put up on the ceiling first. The whole tiles are applied to the ceiling once the border is completely up on the ceiling. You can even create a fabulous design with your border tiles when installing a new ceiling. For instance, choose different colours for the outer edge of the ceiling and create a dramatic look for the room.

This is a simple method for changing the look of a room. You may not even realize right away what has changed, but there is little doubt that the look of the ceiling will create an entirely new atmosphere. You can also create a faux tin ceiling design at a very low cost. Tin ceilings can be very pricey, but using a simple paint technique can give you the great look at a very low price. Get creative with your ceiling and you will have your guests trying to figure out what you did in the room to change the look.