Do’s and Don’ts of Decorating

Decorating your home can be a little daunting for someone who has never done it before, but the exercise is well worth the time spent. You do not need to be a designer to decorate your space. Before you start on your home, go through design magazines and start collecting the pictures that you like. Shortlist the colors and textures that you like. Take a fresh look at what you have. Once you understand what kind of style appeals to you, take stock of the furniture you have. Decide what stays, what goes and what needs an overhauling.

Keep the following rules in your mind and you will be able to change your home so it looks like a page right out of designer book.

Do’s:

• Do pick a signature piece to work around. It can be a beautiful piece of furniture, a fabric, an area rug, a picture or a piece of pottery. The item should dictate the color scheme of the room as well as the style and mood you wish to create.
• Do identify the focal point of the room. It may be a fireplace, a painting, a work of art, even a bed or an armoire.
• Do purchase large elements first (rugs, draperies, upholstered furniture) and coordinate all other styles and colors around these major pieces.
• Do use various textures; touch is very important. The sofa and drapes can all be the same color yet look different just by changing some of the textures.
• Do use neutrals on the walls. It makes the home look timeless, classy and open. Use same color palate throughout the house as it will give a sense of flow.
• Do use the principle of repetition when planning shapes, colors, fabrics, and patterns. One red accent in a room may look like an afterthought whereas several red accents here and there will contribute to the color scheme.
• Do buy furniture with clean classic lines. It will always be in style. However, you can mix styles, periods, and pieces of furniture.
• Do personalize your space by keeping things that you love, things that make you happy.
• Do buy the best quality fixtures and products. These fixtures are going to last a long time, maybe for generations. Spending money on good quality will save you headache and money down the line.
• Do make a lot of storage. It will help you keep the house organized and clutter free.
• Do keep a lot of plants inside the house and remember to tend to them. Not only do they improve air quality in the house, they also give it a fresh look, they are the most natural and inexpensive decorative items you can buy.
• Do upgrade the lighting in the house. Keep lamps in the living room. Recessed lighting will take the look of your room from common to classy.

Don’ts:

• Don’t have any clutter in the house. Just by de-cluttering the house you can make it more livable, spacious. Do not keep family pictures all around the living room. The hall is a better place for them.
• Don’t use artificial flowers anywhere in the house (not even in the bathroom). They look cheap and tacky. Instead go out and break some twigs and put them in the water. One real flower is classier than a bunch of artificial flowers.
• Don’t try to match everything.
• Don’t forget to consider lighting. It is the most important factor in the house.
• Don’t buy everything from the same store. Take your time and instead of matching, coordinate.

Text By Lily Sokhi

Unclutter your life

Text By Lily Sokhi

Relatively new to the western culture, Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway) has been practiced in the eastern culture for thousands of years. It is a systematic approach to your living and workspace that brings harmony to your surroundings, directs your creative and productive energies and amplifies your opportunities for success in all areas of life. As a practitioner, I have seen my clients move from home offices to much larger office spaces with conference rooms and the works! That is the power of feng shui!

The literal translation for the Chinese words “feng” and “shui” are “wind” and “water.” It is through wind and water that chi flows through nature and the universe. Chi symbolizes life, health, prosperity and everything that is positive to us. Feng Shui is consciously designing every room in your home, office or garden to create powerful results using layout, orientations, shapes, color schemes, placement of furniture, decorative objects and artwork. By creating a greater sense of balance and harmony in the environment as well as focusing your intention on personal objectives, application of these potent formulas can result in increased prosperity, new business opportunities, promotions, recognition at work, career success, robust health, love and marriage, closer family relationships and even improved grades at school for your children.

Good Chi, Bad Chi

Have you ever walked into a space and felt uncomfortable? Some houses give a very cold feeling whereas some places seem very warm and welcoming. According to ancient Chinese concepts chi is the life energy constantly flowing everywhere. This energy symbolizes life, health, prosperity and everything that is positive to us. According to Feng Shui, chi should always be able to flow freely through any space in order to help us being in balance with the elements surrounding us. Chi is what brings us positive energy and allows us to be prosperous in our lives. Chi is based on the natural energy exchange which exists among everything on earth, and it shouldn’t be blocked.

One of the objectives of Feng Shui is to create a smooth, gentle, nurturing flow of chi through your home. Think of chi as an important guest you wish to welcome to your home. Make your formal entry and the access to it from the street, as inviting as possible. Overgrown hedges, hidden front doors and dim lighting are all barriers to chi. If the mouth of chi has poor Feng Shui, the chi of your entire home will suffer.

Inside your home, chi likes to flow in gentle curves, like an angel, and will exit through side doors and windows. Long straight corridors will funnel chi very quickly toward whatever is at the far end. Active spaces of your home should have a more active flow of chi. Chi should slow down and linger in the places you like to sit down and relax at the end of the day, or where you need to focus and concentrate on the work at hand .

Cut the Clutter!

What sight greets you when you arrive home after a long day at work? Are you greeted by pleasant sights, sounds and colors that make you forget your hard day at work or is your first image one of clutter and disarray? Is the laundry still on the sofa where you left it? Are the cereal bowl and the coffee cup waiting for you when you come home? And how about the bills, the flyers and the junk mail? Are they piling up on the kitchen table day after day?

In order to invite chi into your home, first step is to de-clutter your home. Clutter can deplete your personal energy. And where clutter exists, a block of some sort probably also exists in a part of your life. Clean, dust and reorganize every cupboard, shelf and every nook and corner of your house. Throw out and give away anything that isn’t serving you. My simplest rule of something useless is if you have not used it in the last one year, chances are you will never use it. So, out it goes.
The biggest amount of junk comes to our houses in the mail. Clear your mail on weekly basis. Make files for phone bills, taxes, and other important documents. File them on weekly basis. Five minutes spent on these files will save you a lot of stress later. And do not pile up those flyers; new ones are on the way anyways.

Clear your home of all objects that bring you bad memories. If you are looking for new love in your life, do not keep anything that reminds you of your ex. By doing this, you are symbolically letting go of the past relationship and letting the universe know that you are ready for a new chapter in your life.
Next, check your residence for anything in need of repair, and fix it. If light bulbs are burnt out, replace them. If a drippy faucet is keeping you awake nights, call a plumber. Anytime you observe something that is not in good working order, you can be sure something in your life (health, finances and relationships) is being impacted and is not working as well as it could. By taking these two simple steps, you will be focusing on improving your personal environment to create a more harmonious living space.

Removing the clutter and making repairs where needed will go a long way toward balancing the energies in your home and clearing the way for something new and exciting to come into your into your life. Make your home your sanctuary. Continually work on organizing yourself and your surroundings. Clear out your space so that you can make room for new wonderful events to enter your life

When properly aligned, our environments enable and support us to live richer, fuller and happier lives as we actualize our full potential in life.

CUSTOM STORAGE CLOSETS THE ANSWER TO DISORGANIZED HOUSEHOLD CHAOS

Text By Myron Love

Storage is an issue that is front and centre in today’s busy lives. With space at a premium and more to store all the time, people need to make the most out of the space they have.

That’s where California Closet and Jack Kovnats come in. “Our goal is to help homeowners reduce stress by helping them simplify their homes and life through having proper storage closets,” Kovnats says.

The approach is to build backward by first identifying the available space for storage and then determining what is to be stored.

Most designs incorporate space for full length (shoulder to ankle), mid-length (waist to ankle) and half hang with different needs addressed by a variety of shelves, baskets and drawers. California Closet closets are made up of partitions separating hanging and shelf sections; system holes – small holes, running the length of the partitions, that allow the attachment of adjustable components; fixed shelves securely fastened to partitions by connector fittings for lateral stability; adjustable shelves resting on adjustable shelf supports between partitions; tie and belt racks attached to the system holes with EuroScrews; and poles resting on pole cups between partitions. Each pole has a fixed shelf above it.

For do-it-yourselfers, start by clearing out your existing closet including shelves, poles, cleats and hardware. Then patch any holes. Repainting should be done a day before you install your new closet components.

When mounting the rail, first find and mark the location of all the studs (which are usually 16″ apart). Pre-drill 1/8″ holes into the wall at each place where the rail will be attached to a stud.

After the rail is in place, prepare and hang the partitions. Then you can insert the fixed shelf dowels and mount the fixed shelves. After doing your leveling secure the angle and suspension brackets. You then install drawers and baskets, the adjustable shelves, pole cups and poles and, lastly, tie and belt racks.

There are a variety of colors and finishes available. You might want white units with colored door fronts, chrome racks or nicer handles.

Kovnats notes that he is seeing a growing demand for storage systems by front entrances. “People are spending more time on entry closets,” he says. “With family members and others going in and out, people may want baskets for mitts and gloves and drawers for keys and cell phone.”

A future area of the home for closet developments may well be the garage, which often becomes a collection space for tools, outdoor equipment and toys and odds and ends that people collect over time.

Walk-In Closet Project

Project By Blair Korchinski

There are plenty of walk-in closet organizing systems on the market today. While these systems are fairly adaptable, if you want something slightly different or have an odd-sized space, you can design and build your own walk-in closet. Building your own components for a walk-in closet can also save you money or allow you to use the materials you prefer.

Step 1: Plan Your Closet.

Think about the space available and what features you want in the closet. Once you have decided what features you want, draw several possible designs on graph paper and pick the design you like best.

Since you are building your own units, it is highly recommended that you also draw each unit complete with measurements before you begin building.

In this case, to demonstrate a variety of options, we are going to assume a 10×12 closet and dressing room for a working woman with a large wardrobe. We will require a dressing and make-up area, as well as storage for a variety of clothing, shoes, accessories, and jewelry.

Step 2: Build Supporting Units and Storage Pieces.

To build strong shelves, make a dado cut so that one piece of material fits into the other. A dado cut is simply a groove cut into the wood. To make a dado cut, install a dado blade set to the proper width on a table saw, set the blade depth to the required measurement and make your cut. It is important that you measure very carefully because you will need to make a matching cut on the material for the other side of the unit. You will require one set of horizontal dado cuts for each shelf.

Since the taller units will be attached to the wall, you will also require vertical dado cuts inset ¾” to accept the back of the unit. This will leave room for a cleat that can be attached to the wall. (see step 4)

Once you have made your dado cuts, place a bead of carpenter’s glue in them and insert the back and shelves. Once the shelves are in place and the unit is square, drive screws through the side and into the shelves.

Step 3: Install the Supporting Units

Before you install the unit, you must install the cleats. Simply cut a piece of 1×4 or 1×6 to fit, and attach it to the wall studs with screws. The cleat should be four to six inches below the top of the unit you are installing.

Once the cleat is installed, move the unit into place and attach it to the cleat.

Step 4: Install Rods

For a neat, clean look, use a hole saw to drill holes through the upright units, and simply slide the rod into the holes. Attach a piece of wood slightly larger than the hole to the end of the rod inside the shelving unit.

Step 5: The Lower Units

Building the lower units is the same as building the taller units, with the exception of the drawers. Since solid drawers are difficult to build and require the use of specialized tools, it is recommended that you buy pre-manufactured drawers and install them in cabinets that you build yourself, following the manufacturer’s installation instructions.

The lower units simply sit on the floor, so installation is just a matter of setting them in place.