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Posts Tagged ‘art’

Decorating Your Home with Cheap Paper Lanterns

November 2nd, 2009 No comments

Lighting is an important part of decorating, and if an unexpected celebration pops up, you might not have any impressive lighting decorations to hand. You might worry about hosting a huge event if you know that your lights aren’t festive or decorative enough for the occasion.

One of the easiest ways to get out of this bind is to turn to cheap paper lanterns to decorate your home and garden. You can find cheap paper lanterns in all sorts of colours, designs, shapes and sizes. They can be used to start off and complete the look you want to achieve for your event.

Many people are fond of using paper lanterns to enhance wedding receptions and outdoor parties. You don’t need to spend a large amount of cash just to improve your decorative lighting for a few annual occasions.

The paper lanterns can be used repeatedly for different celebrations. You can have green bulbs in them to create an eerie atmosphere for Halloween or candles if they’re used for a romantic outdoor dinner. Whether you want a casual mood, a romantic one, or an elegant, chic one, all these can be achieved using paper lanterns.

When you consider how little they cost, you realise you really should make the most of them. There are many stores online that sell paper lanterns for as low a price as $2 per lantern.

They have many different varieties to choose from, and you can find the best ones while surfing the net from the comfort of your home. It’s best to shop around online so that you can find lanterns which you are happy with, from stores which offer you the best prices.

Although the lanterns themselves won’t cost you much, they will still make it look like you spent lots of money to make your home look festive. They look great both inside and outside your home, and you can place them in hooks on the floor, or make them dangle from the ceiling or tree branches.

Paper lanterns are the best way to decorate your home for any event if you don’t have a lot of cash to spare for decorations.Without spending tons of cash on decorations, you can rely on paper lanterns to create the ambience you desire.

Cody Scholberg, a lighting expert, writes about hanging paper lanterns. Check out this post on using japanese paper lanterns to repel mosquitoes!

Interior Design: Expertise At Your Fingertips

October 28th, 2009 No comments

Over my many years of design I have been asked many questions. One in particular always pops up. How to hire an Interior Designer and what you should know.

See to it that you use the 5 questions presented in this article to help you make an informed decision.

– Do you feel inadequate when it comes to home decorating?

– Do you buy home accessories, furniture, fabric, etc. on impulse, and now you don’t know what to do or where to put everything?

– Is your day just too busy and you can’t find the time to even think about decorating or designing?

– Do you and your spouse or roommate disagree on design styles when it comes to home or apartment decorating?

– Are you unsure of how to decorate your space in a way that makes your feel comfortable?

If you’ve answered yes to any of the questions in this article, then it is possible you could use the help of an Interior Designer. You won’t regret your decision I promise.

One of the biggest reasons to hiring the consultation services of a Designer is that they have the expertise to turn your vision of comfort and beauty into a living reality. This could mean buying the wrong furniture or choosing the wrong paint colors. Mistakes can be costly! Interior Designers are experts in their field just like plumbers or electricians. Each has a particular set of trade skills they have learned through education and experience.

Now I’m not saying that all Interior Designers are alike on the contrary. If you ask five Designers about how a room should be designed, you will get five different answers!

So how do you hire and find the Designer that is right for you? Word of mouth is great advertising so you might ask friends or family for a referral. Maybe someone on the job might have hired an Interior Designer recently.

Many Designers will offer a free consultation to discuss your design project. At this informal meeting you will get to know about your Designer and the array of services he or she will offer to bring your interior space alive.

Meet with your Designer before hiring them. Many will advertise their services on personal websites. Most Designers offer free consultations, which is an informal meeting to break the ice and get to know your Designer. Your Designer will use this meeting to get to know you as well and hear what you desire in your interior spaces.

You will want to be clear about your design intentions and express exactly what your ideas are and how you want your interior space to look. Even if you don’t know exactly what you want, a good Designer will always bring it out of you.

This is great and exactly what you are looking for in a Designer. And it’s not about how many years the Designer has been practicing you will just know and feel that the Designer truly understands you.

Of course, the Designer must keep the Client on track because they will inevitably fall off track for lack of skill. So the two must join as one, and be on the same page so to speak. This “synergy” must exist between the two personalities do matter.

Interior Designers are also valuable because they have a variety of special vendors at their fingertips that can help get the job done. They know the “Who’s Who” in the industry, who to go to, and more importantly, who not to go to. The consumer does not have this in-depth knowledge, so therefore this is invaluable.

You can ask for referrals from your Designer, although some may not give that information out due to client privacy.

You can ask your Designer what types of projects they have completed and if they are experts in home or office design, residential or commercial. Prices will vary so don’t think you can’t afford one. Even if you are on a budget, many Designers will work for you. Most charge by the hour and it can range from $50 to $300 an hour and upward depending on the design project.

See link for contemporary interior design in phoenix for more on contemporary interior design in phoenix.