Archive for the ‘DIY’ Category
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
House Painting – Doesn’t this sound a little expensive? Oh no! You are mistaken. As far as bedecking on a budget is concerned, paint is pretty much the way to go since you’ll get spectacular results with minimal investment. Well, nothing changes nor updates the interior look of your home more than an unsullied coat of paint. In fact, it can work wonders. In this section you’ll get to know the ideas of painting your house interior and exterior and many more ways to decorate your house. Painting changes the entire look of your house and makes it more beautiful and colorful. A small room seems to be larger and a dark room looks vivid with a bright coat of paint. Not just the four walls, but you can paint just about anything in your house to create a fresh look. Let’s take a look at some of the interesting DIY house painting ideas.
Spray painting
img credit : 33037982@N04
Spray painting is considered as a home decorator’s friend. Spray painting is much easier and faster than hand painting and it is cost effective too with a flawless finishing. The advantage of using spray paint is that it doesn’t look like spray painted, rather gives a dazzling finish. The least difficult part in spray painting is to find a place and the rest would become quite easy. Most of the people feel that spray painting doesn’t last for a long time as it will scratch, chip off easily. But by the usage of right amount of paint and the quality makes it look brighter with an unblemished outlook. Moreover brush is not used in spray painting which makes your work simple and easy. Then first step prior to start with spray painting is sanding. Many people avoid this step due to laziness and this becomes a huge draw back to painting. As a result it doesn’t adhere to the wall. Quick sanding using medium grit sandpaper will give the best result.
Spray Painting
img credit : grafeeney
Next step is priming. People hardly understand how crucial it is to do priming. Priming is mostly done with a help of a quality primer which allows the paint to stick well and in addition to that it makes the work look professional too. At no cost primer should be done. Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover 2X Primer is the most common primer used due to its thickness, so only fewer amounts of it is required. Once the primer dries the color can be applied immediately. Here paint should be sprayed ten inches from the surface and should be sprayed evenly to make it look smooth. Make sure that all the sides are well coated including the underside. After painting allow it to dry completely. For extra durability, use a spray over poly coating.
Posted in DIY, Home | No Comments »
Thursday, January 27th, 2011
Interested in giving your child a fantasy bedroom? Well, here are few tips to make your kid’s room a sensible and attractive atmosphere. Attractive colors in and around the room gives an active mind to the kid. Placing the cot along the window side might give a pleasant feel for the kids who love counting the stars before falling asleep. Small potted plants can be kept in a stand outside the window. This might create an interest for the kid in gardening.
img credit: 52914122@N05
Posters and portraits of famous cartoon characters, cars, dolls or any good thing of the child’s interest can be placed on the wall. Instead of painting the room multi-colored, it can even be given a simple color the child likes. The bed and pillow covers should give a bright contrast to the color of the room. The style of the chairs and tables should be both attractive as well as comfortable. These furniture should be safe to handle, with nails and fittings properly made. The electrical fittings should be proper and safely installed. Lighting should reflect the theme of the room and should not be too bright or too dull. Shelves shall be kept little lower and the locks should be simple for the kid to cope up with. Writing table and chair should be of the kids height and comfortable to sit and write.
img credit: 50173065@N05
Night lamps, fan designs, carpet, curtains, artificial flower pots, toy boxes should also match the theme. Give your kids a freedom to express their ideas. Door locks is one of the most important thing to be given attention. There should be ease of handling. In case of kids below 5 years, it’s better to have the lock out of reach for the kid.
Proper ventilation should be ensured. Installing safety alarms and intercoms is mandatory. It should be on a reachable place. The room should be cleaned periodically to keep the place dust free and prevent allergies. It’s better to avoid placing delicate and valuable materials that are easily breakable. A jug of water should be kept in the shelf safely. A dustbin shall be placed at the corner of the room. A board shall be hanged on the wall to bear the reminder notes. Stick some funny yet thought provoking proverbs of phrases on the places visible to the kid. Try changing the quotes once in a month. Decorate the room with fun and creative way.
Posted in DIY, Family | No Comments »
Monday, September 27th, 2010
Here comes a few tips to have an amazing experience in your pool at a low cost. Solar Pool heating is one of the efficient ways of heating the swimming pool. It is highly efficient, cost effective. We can even say it saves environment from Green house gases. The system doesn’t need any expensive additional fittings and the pipe which is used for filtering the pool water can be used to circulate the water through the solar collectors. Solar pool collectors are used to warm up the pools as the water circulates over an unglazed, plastic or flat plate collector. A filter is used to remove the debris from the pool water before the water is pumped through the pool collector. ‘The pool cover’ is yet another simplest way to keep your pool water clean and warm. It reduces the heating costs considerably.
img credit: mindcircus
A heating system without a pool cover is like using an air conditioner in a room with open windows. The room is cooled yet the cost goes higher due to more energy consumption. When a pool cover case is not used it results in the emission of CO2 about 6 tons more than the usual. Solar rings are the potential substitute for a full pool cover. A number of attractive designs are available for the use to choose from. These solar rings are of several meters in diameter and can be used to cover nearly 80% of the pool area. They sit on the water surface and uses solar energy to warm up the pool water. They use renewable energy source and reduce the cost of heating system. Automatic control panels are optional in a pool heating system. In this system a control valve is present which allows the user to know the temperature of the pool water. The heating will be cut off when the pool reaches a certain temperature. It is essential to check the pool’s chemistry frequently and checking the pH will allows the complete potential utilization of the chlorine present in the pool.
img credit: loauc
A low alkalinity makes it difficult to maintain the pH while high alkalinity creates scales or cloudy formations over the water surface. A pool wizard can be used to keep the pool clean and healthy. It does not need any plumbing or electrical requirements, it’s a drop and go equipment which maintains the pool water clean and blue. Hope these simple and efficient mechanisms will help to maintain your pool highly hygienic and environmental friendly. Experience a fresh, warm and a relaxed swimming in your pool at low cost.
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Friday, June 25th, 2010
Child’s room is a very important place for the smallest family member – that is his or hers nearly whole world. But not everyone has enough money to create an amazing, fancy children kingdom. We will try to help those families with a quite small budget at their disposal. Check 5 original ways to modify children’s space in your home.
Boxes, cases, chests
Playroom and sleep place for children should remain in order. It’s possible when you use a lot of boxes and cases. Besides organizing the space, they help with keeping it clean. Little boys and girls learn since their first steps that things have special places and should find there after finishing the play time. It’s the end of tiny cars and dolls scattered all over the floor - at least theoretically…
[photo: AndWat]
[photo: suzettesuzette] (more…)
Tags: Child, decorating, Design, Furniture, Home, home decor
Posted in DIY, Home, Interesting | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
Add instant beauty to any setting with hanging baskets. Dress up the front of the home for all to enjoy or place them around the back deck or garden. Suspend a hanging basket full of summer blooms in front of the kitchen window and enjoy watching butterflies and humming birds while attending to kitchen chores. Some edibles even grow well in hanging baskets, such as tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, lettuce or herbs. Create a kitchen garden where ground space is limited.
[credit: Lachlan Hardy]
To create a hanging basket, line a wire basket with moss. Fill with potting soil and add Soil Moist granules, if possible, to keep the moisture in the basket. Alternatively, line the moss with plastic. Add the flowers or edibles to the soil and water thoroughly.
Consider placing plants around the outside of the basket as well. Cut holes through the moss prior to filling the basket with soil and then add soil to the level of the holes. Carefully insert the plant roots through the holes and cover with soil. Work up the basket until it is filled. (more…)
Tags: Flower, Plant, WATER
Posted in DIY, Garden, Home, Interesting, WATER | No Comments »
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
Summer is a wonderful time in the garden. Green, lush foliage provides a relaxing and cooling respite even during the heat of the day. Have an amazing garden this summer by following these four tips.
Ensure Adequate Water
Provide adequate water based on plant type, soil condition and weather. When dealing with plants with varying moisture needs, supplement general watering with a drip system or individual irrigation rather than over-watering some plants to ensure adequate water for others. Water early in the day to guard against excess moisture loss through evaporation.
[credit: Memotions]
Encourage Optimal Plant Growth
Hoe weeds on a regular basis, thin seedlings, apply liquid manure to crops and pick peas and flowers to encourage new blossoms. Thoroughly check for signs of pests and parasites at least weekly and treat promptly, as needed. Drape netting over all kinds of berries to prevent damage from birds. (more…)
Tags: Flower, Garden, Plant, Soil, WATER
Posted in Cleaning Tips, DIY, Garden, Holidays, Home, Plumbing, WATER | No Comments »
Monday, May 31st, 2010
Certain home maintenance tasks should be performed on an annual or semi-annual basis. Appropriate tasks for spring or early summer include ensuring that window screens and the cooling system are ready for the impending warmer weather, checking for water damage around the home or garden and performing a seasonal check on home safety equipment such as smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
[credit: kaiton]
Inspect each window screen and remove for a thorough cleaning, if possible. Repair small problems or completely re-screen, if necessary. Consider switching to finer mesh screening in areas where midges are a nuisance. (more…)
Tags: Cleaning Tips, spring, WATER, Weather
Posted in Appliances, Cleaning Tips, DIY, Holidays, Home, Interesting, Kitchen | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
You have a multiple choices – a number of ideas, creative designs and opportunities is infinite. In this post we want to show you just the most interesting, popular solutions and some of the most original wall decorations.
LED TV
Fireplace
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Tags: Arts, home improvement, Living room
Posted in DIY, Home, Interesting | 2 Comments »
Friday, May 14th, 2010
No-see-ums, also known as midges, are small biting insects that are barely detectable to the human eye. Although the bite of a no-see-um is usually harmless, it does hurt and may itch intensely. To effectively deal with this tiny nuisance, follow these tips.
- Determine the time of day when midges are a problem. This will usually be in the morning and evening hours. Try to confine outdoor activities to the hours when no-see-ums are absent. During the morning and evening, keep all windows closed and avoid opening the door, if possible. (more…)
Tags: Insect, Outdoors
Posted in DIY, Garden, Health, Home | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010
A dripping outdoor faucet is an unnecessary waste of water and may even cause damage to the home. Even a small leak adds up to a lot of wasted water each month. Inspect all outdoor faucets at least twice each year and repair or replace those that leak.
The first thing to try when dealing with a leaky faucet is to simply tighten the packing nut located right behind the handle. Hold the faucet steady with a pair of pliers and turn the nut clockwise. If this does not work, the rubber washer inside may have become hard or brittle over time and need to be replaced.
Prior to further work on an outdoor faucet, assemble all tools and replacement parts needed. Then turn off the water. Always securely support the pipe to which the faucet is attached while twisting on the faucet. Take the faucet apart and inspect the interior of the valve to ensure that the valve seat is smooth and free of corrosion or debris. If all appears in good condition, replace the washer, reassemble and test. (more…)
Tags: Plumbing, Tap, WATER
Posted in Appliances, DIY, Garden, Interesting, Plumbing, WATER | No Comments »
