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Posts Tagged ‘home & family’

Red Tones in the Home

December 8th, 2009 David Artstone No comments

David Artstone – Red is a powerful color. From the fury of red – orange flames to the depth of crimson blood, this color automatically stirs us to action. It excites us, invigorating our metabolism and stirring the warrior spirit deep within our subconscious mind.

Color determines the way a room will feel, and to some extent, the way you will feel in a room. It is the background of life that creates an ambiance against which your actions will occur. By paying attention to color, you can control a powerful and subtle element of any space.

In our primitive past, the color red was often seen in the red blood of the hunt, or at the explosion of a volcano, or the savage thrust of a forest fire. Because of this, our minds evolved to become excited when we see this color. We start moving, we start acting, and we start doing, in furious and passionate ways.

One of the main effects the color red has is that it tends to speed up the metabolism. This has the dual effect of making you hungry, and making your body process food faster. So you will eat more in the presence of red colors, but you will also lose more weight. The weight that you maintain will be determined by the balance that you reach.

Red also has an invigorating effect. It makes people want to take action, now. This can cause you to be impulsive, taking chances, and making decisions rapidly. This makes it easy to wake up in a red bedroom, but difficult to go to sleep in one.

Red is also a violent color. It makes people angry, and combined with its invigorating effect, this can lead to fighting. If you are already argumentative, this may be a color to avoid.

On the other hand, the flip side of hate is love, and red is a passionate romantic color. If you are having trouble heating things up, red may be just the remedy you need.

The bottom line is, that red is a powerful color. Like fire it can help a space, or it can hurt it. The best use of red is as an accent, balanced by more reserved colors. Try placing small, tasteful red objects throughout a space, to invigorate a boring room. Otherwise, use a single red centerpiece to make the focus of a space action and passion.

This article was written by Jim Slate, one of the designers that works at http://PebbleZ.com where they craft a line of elegant natural stone home products, such as rustic wall clocks, sandstone drink coasters, marble chess sets, and onyx home decor.

Solar Lights Versus Conventional Lighting

November 25th, 2009 James Thornton No comments

If you’ve ever thought about landscaping your garden then you have probably thought about lighting it too. It seems pointless to do one without the other. The reason is largely due to the extra ’space’ you get the moment you introduce lights to your garden. Once the lights have been installed you will likely find yourself spending more time in your garden at night, due to the beautiful ambiance created by the lighting. Why stare at black hole when you could be sitting and enjoying the evenings looking at your magical new environment?

Once installed a whole new world is opened up for you and you will likely find yourself spending more and more time in your new and tranquil space. A very realistic consideration to effect this change is via solar lighting.

The lights need not only be decorative, for many people utilize them for security purposes. You can hang flood lights by your doors, windows, or even illuminate an entire pathway. This acts as a huge deterrent to burglars. As a precaution, you may like to consider purchasing a solar light with a battery that acts as a backup in the event that they have collected enough sunlight throughout the day and don’t produce the requisite amount of light for the entire evening. This is most important in the case of motion-activated lights for here they must work without fail.

Lanterns are an extremely popular choice because they are virtually effortless to install as they merely need pushing into the ground by means of a stake. However, this is only one amongst many that you may choose from.

I have already mentioned flood lights, but there are also fountain lights, pond lights, wall lights, deck lights, and even solar illuminated house numbers. There are even insects and birds that sit atop sticks and glow magically in the dark. Of course, landscaping lighting is only a part of the solar revolution, and almost everyone is aware of the large solar panels that are often housed on a roof, but they can also be installed in a garage or any out building with the panel sitting at the top. The type of approach would necessitate you switching the lights on after an adequate charge has built up, whereas the many of the typical landscaping options have a photo-sensor that detects the darkness and automatically switches the unit on. Solar lights are superb way to light your garden or act as a very efficient security system for all the family.

James writes for numerous sites that are connected in one way or another to Solar Power Lights and also Solar Garden Lights