decomagazine – Page 15 – Everyone needs a house to live in, but a supportive family is what builds a home.

Understanding the Foreclosure Process

Posted on October 21, 2019 by Eded1953

Foreclosure is a terrible thing for homeowners. It occurs when you drop far enough behind in your mortgage payments that your creditor is forced to seize the property and take it to auction. If you have a home and are in this circumstance, it’s very important to consult your state’s taxation statutes so you know your rights as a homeowner. The process is lengthy and there are many opportunities for you to protect, or even save, your property.

Before Foreclosure Begins

Foreclosure doesn’t sneak up on you. In the event that you’re a month behind in your mortgage payments, you’ve probably heard from your creditor. Because you’re a month behind rsquo & doesn ;t mean you’re in foreclosure. This is known as pre-foreclosure. During this period, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development advises that you do all you can to attempt to fix the issue. Take all phone calls. Many creditors are fine to giving you time to address the late payments. The longer you go without addressing the late payments, the closer your creditor comes to filing for foreclosure.

Demand Letter

In the event that you’re three months behind on the mortgage, you’ve probably got a demand letter (some states call it a note to quicken ). According to HUD, your lender will probably require that you make the specified payment in full within 30 days. It’so important to understand that you’re still not in foreclosure nonetheless, but this is the lender’s closing olive branch. In the event that you’re not able to make the payment or work out an arrangement with your creditor, foreclosure is forthcoming.

Notice of Default

If you receive a Notice of Default letter from the mail, then your creditor has started foreclosure proceedings against you by filing with the regional county. Your lender’s attorney will probably try to contact you as well to notify you regarding the foreclosure. The attorney may also try to negotiate a settlement to receive your payments current. So long as the foreclosure process is ongoing, it is possible to still work out a solution. The period in the notice of default to an auction is generally three months. In California, the procedure period is 117 days.

Judicial and Non-Judicial

Your state’s foreclosure legislation ascertain whether you go to court or not during the process interval. In the event that you’re served with the notice of default by a court official, then you’re in a judicial foreclosure and must show up in court. Below, a judge rules on the validity of the lender’s claim and decides whether the property goes to auction or not. If you purchased your home with a deed of trust, your foreclosure will be non-judicial. In cases like this, the conditions of foreclosure were ordered from the loan paperwork and do not need court approval. California allows judicial and non-judicial foreclosures.

Auction

Either a county sheriff or a court-appointed trustee is in control of the foreclosure auction. The home’s auction must be promoted for 21 days before it could be sold, generally at a public auction to the maximum bidder. Even though it is your home, you have the right to bid on it in the auction. The winner of the auction becomes the new owner.

After Auction

Depending on where you live, your home isn’t move however. Right of salvation is the final opportunity to keep the home. With right of salvation, you can cover the entire outstanding loan amount within a pre-designated interval and keep the home. Not every condition features a right of redemption. California includes a redemption period of 365 days, but just for judicial foreclosures.

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The Way to Decorate a House in Mediterranean Style

Posted on October 19, 2019 by Eded1953

Mediterranean fashion is influenced by the cultures of the southern European and northern African countries that border the Mediterranean Sea. Greece italy and Morocco are cultural and stylistic originators of Mediterranean style. While Mediterranean-style architecture is typically found in warm-weather climates, inside Mediterranean design can be used to add warmth and color to homes everywhere no matter climate. To achieve a Mediterranean look inside a home, use the colours, fabrics and furniture types most closely associated with the region.

Paint the walls in colours. The website Home Decorating Reviews suggests using colours like sea green, sand and earthy orange. Such colours are inspired by the sea, the skies and other all-natural elements of the Mediterranean atmosphere. Use multiple colours in the same area or even on precisely the same wall, and also add texture together with techniques such as sponge-painting.

Place decorative tiles along the walls. Pick ceramic or wrought-iron tiles which have detailed designs. Protect expensive or delicate tiles by exhibiting them on shelves rather than attaching them to the walls with nails.

Furnish spaces. Select couches, chairs and tables with short legs and intricate carvings. The website Redeco recommends furniture in wrought iron or wrought iron for a more real Mediterranean appearance. Stained glass and tile accent pieces are appropriate.

Place accent cushions. Select cushions that complement the colours of the furniture and walls. Pick fine fabrics such as silk and choose cushions with beadwork, fringe or embroidery.

Place metal accessories mantles and tabletops. Candlesticks, incense burners and figurines made of bronze, iron or aluminum are proper Mediterranean accents. Place well-made, intricately designed accents sparingly in the rooms that are desirable. In case you’ve got a fireplace, then think about a wrought fireplace screen.

Hang neutral-colored or black white curtains. Pick curtains which will not compete with all the other colours in the room. The website Home Decor Resource encourages homeowners to use gauzy drapes that can contribute a light, airy feel to the area.

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How Do I Sell My House If I Have an Existing Home Equity Loan?

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Eded1953

You should not be kept by having a mortgage loan or a home equity loan on your home . The final attorney will cover all claims against your property from the buyer's buy money. If your loan balance is greater than your sales price, as is the case in sales, you’ll need to make arrangements with your lender prior to signing a sales contract. Some lenders will agree to a”short sale” where the lender takes an amount less than the loan balance as payment in full. Otherwise, you must pay the difference in the own funds.

Meet with a real estate agent who is familiar with your area and variety of home (condo, townhouse, single-family house ) to ascertain its fair market value. Ascertain a sales price, negotiate the broker’s commission and sign a listing agreement with the agent.

Review offers from potential buyers with your agent. Accept the deal that yields you the most positive outcome. Depending on your home’s sales price, the amount owed on the home and earnings and final expenses, once the sale closes, you break even may either earn a profit or invest money.

Attend the final. The closing attorney will cover taxes, any liens, fees, fees and other encumbrances from the purchaser’s purchase money. She will provide you some leftover funds. In the event the purchaser’s purchase money is insufficient to pay off your home equity loan or other expenses Simply take a check made out to the attorney for the shortage amount.

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10 Fantasy Dining Rooms for a Fantastic Cause

Posted on October 14, 2019 by Eded1953

Two stuffed animals, a Technicolor washi-tape dining table, heaps of hexagonal mirrors plus quite a piece of reclaimed wood decorate the walls, ceilings and floors of the 24 fantasy dining rooms on screen as part of the Serving Up Style fundraiser for Molly’s Fund Fighting Lupus. The event, which ran October 3 to 6, 2013, challenged 24 Portland, Oregon, designing teams to come up with the wildest, most innovative dining room potential.

Take a look at 10 of those fantasy dining rooms — from a colour explosion to a casbah camp to a cowshed — to get a glimpse of every designer’s imagination.

ColorBomb
Design team: Garrison Hullinger Interior Design

Garrison Hullinger coated his dining table in decorative Japanese washi cassette in vivid, brilliant hues. A Technicolor wall rug and treatment and eclectic wall artwork run with the crazy and colorful palette.

Suggested menu: A colorful Neverland-style meal in which food doesn’t exist unless you imagine it.

The Byre
Style team: Manor Fine Wares

This room’s simple design was motivated by Manor Fine Wares’ mascot: Tartare, a cow mount by a no-kill taxidermist (who utilizes only animals that have died of natural causes). The room is known as The Byre, following the English word for”cowshed”; it had been motivated by the contemporary movement in which old buildings have been reused for new functions.

Suggested menu: A local farm-to-table meal that reflects the area’s humble cowshed roots.

Ida York Interior Design

Home Brew
Design team: Ida York Interior Design

Portland has a different style and ambiance, and this chamber adopts some of the best of it. Reclaimed wood, elements from local breweries and trendy restaurant-inspired features convey the city’s funky blend of new and old.

Suggested menu: Pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, collard greens and bourbon balls over ice cream.

Art Institute of Portland

A Lair Combination for the Queen
Style team: The Art Institute of Portland and Ikea Portland

A team of college students from The Art Institute of Portland put their Ikea expertise to good use in this room. The design revolves entirely round wall installments of Honefoss hexagonal mirrors, which signify the gold accents and light around the room.

Suggested menu: The best, freshest honey in the hive.

Mobius Home

Glamp the Casbah: NW Meets Marrakech
Style team: Möbius Home and Studio G

Elements from Morocco and the Pacific Northwest blend in this informal, comfortable dining space. Salvaged, reclaimed, whitewashed and charred local wood (handled shou-sugi-ban style) covers the walls and ceiling, contrasting with the bright Moroccan-inspired colors.

Suggested menu: A Moroccan-fusion family-style supper with tons of spices, chicken shawarma and lamb tagine.

Urban I.D. Interior Design Services

Tranquil Hideaway
Style team: Urban I.D. Interior Design Studio

An island setting with a gorgeous view sets the tone for this unique outdoor dining room. The designers created a space where they pictured visitors unplugging and recharging from today’s busy world.

Suggested menu: A tropical-inspired meal of ceviche, crab, tropical fruit and a hibiscus cocktail.

Rejuvenation

Launched in Tanzania
Style team: Abode Design and Rejuvenation

The classic stuffed lioness and Victorian chandelier in this space ordered the theme. The mix of elegance with jungle design immediately attracted luxe safaris to mind — the first glamping! A cotton tent, a wood platform and zebra accents tie the entire room together.

Suggested menu: Traditional South African pap en vleis (maize porridge and meat) with a Cape Town cabernet.

Portland Community College

Up-Cycle
Style team: Portland Community College Design/Build Team

Portland Community College’s Design/Build team tapped to the city’s lively sustainable design movement for their area’s inspiration. A number of the products were salvaged or reclaimed in some manner, shape or form. The shrub and reclaimed wood convey the importance of indoor-outdoor dwelling.

Suggested menu: Like Hullinger’s space, a dinner party here will be much like a dinner at Neverland, together with whatever food you imagine.

YES Spaces, LLC

Feed Your Mind
Style team: YES Spaces

YES Spaces designed this dining room for a tribute to favorite childhood books. The chalkboard on the walls, by way of example, is a tribute to some publication from the Cheaper by the Dozen collection, in which the dad painted on the walls of the family’s home and left chalk treasure maps to his kids.

Suggested menu: A family celebration meal including a formal dinner, followed by rousing board matches.

Digs inside & outside

Kervanseray: Traveling the Silk Road
Style team: digs Inside & Outside

A prized mosaic chandelier located at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar sets the tone for this colorful Turkish-style design. Tulu rugs, plush pillows, pagoda lamps, suzani textiles and Turkish ceramics come together beautifully beneath a brassy black and white striped tent, much like a pit stop on the notorious Silk Road.

Suggested menu: A Turkish feast with a mezes platter of hummus, olives and pita bread; lentil soup; lamb kebab; saffron riceand honey-walnut baklava.

Watch the fantasy dining tables from last year’s event

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Smart Shopper: How to Purchase a Mattress

Posted on October 12, 2019 by Eded1953

Mattress shopping is just one of those dreaded jobs, like buying a vehicle, that may leave the consumer feeling dejected, defeated and deceived. The language is confounding, and comparisons may be bewildering. To top it off, the client sometimes has to haggle to seal the deal.

“It is hard for the user,” acknowledges Eric Thompson, the proprietor of Bedroom & More, a San Francisco mattress dealership. And yet it’s a task that needs to be performed frequently — as often as every six decades.

Listed below are a few tips to help you navigate the maze of mattress shopping. Hopefully, you’ll come out to the other side relaxed, relieved and sleeping like a baby.

Hotel Collection

How often should you replace your mattress? When your old mattress leaves you feeling exhausted or tired, it’s time to replace it. The Better Sleep Council recommends trading on your mattress every five to seven decades. While it’s not surprising to see this proposal coming out of a trade group, others support this theory, both for relaxation and for health reasons. (Mattresses collect dead skin cells and sweat as time passes, which may attract dust mites and pose health risks.)

If you get an excellent mattress with a coil count over 900 and keep it clean, Thompson says you can stretch that life expectancy to 10 or 15 decades. To prolong the life of any mattress, he advocates buying a waterproof, breathable mattress cover, that will help protect the surface from moisture and skin tissues. (They begin at less than $25.)

Size matters. If you sleep solo, any size will do. Unless you are tall, in which case you’ll want to go with a queen or king. If you sleep with somebody else, you’ll also feel much more comfortable with a queen or king.

Average mattress sizes:
Dual: 38 by 75 inchesFull or double: 53 by 75 inchesQueen: 60 by 80 inchesKing: 76 by 80 inchesCalifornia king: 72 by 84 inchesFirmness. Pros no longer subscribe to this theory that a firm mattress is best for you, so go with what feels comfortable.

If you are over age 40, then that might be a softer mattress than you have used before, because skin becomes more sensitive to stress as we get older. Firmness designations vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, so gauge a mattress by how it feels, not by what it’s called.

Foothills Amish Furniture

Mattress types. The fantastic ol’ innerspring mattress is no longer the only game in town. Now you have a bewildering collection of mattress alternatives to choose from, such as memory foam, latex, gel, inflatables and all natural — just to mention a few.
Innerspring has become the most popular option and the cheapest; it features tempered steel coils wrapped in layers of cushioning. Memory Foam (conforms to the shape of the body, so when you move, the remaining portion of the bed does not shake (great for all those bothered by a restless spouse). Gel mattresses combine memory foam with a cooling, so the body does not get so hot during sleep. Latex mattresses blend characteristics of the innerspring and memory foam to deliver excellent comfort at a top price. Indoor atmosphere mattresses possess an abysmal core which you may adapt to the desired firmness. All-natural beds commerce engineered materials for organic alternatives like cotton, wool and rubber.More about shopping for a Pure mattress

Amoroso Design

Hit the stores. Research mattresses, check for brand ratings and hit on the mattress stores. Remember while dealing with innerspring mattresses that a mattress will have a different name and insure from 1 shop to the next, although the item may be indistinguishable. This is a longstanding tradition in the mattress world, and it makes it quite hard for customers to compare products and prices from store to store. Fight it, and it’ll drive you nuts.

Rather, attempt to settle a merchant you prefer, and compare the merchandise in that showroom. Or narrow the field down to both or three favorite mattresses, and choose the model with the very best price.

Testing the mattress. Do not get a mattress without testing it in the shop. Dress in comfortable clothes (pants) and wear shoes that are easy to slip away. If you sleep with somebody else, bring your spouse with you. If you are bashful about lying on a mattress in public, get it over. You are likely to devote a third of your life with this sucker, so it’s worth a couple of minutes of humiliation.

Gauge your initial reaction to every mattress. If you prefer it, then spend time lying on every side, your stomach and your spine, giving additional time to the place you normally sleep in. It isn’t unreasonable to spend 10 or 15 minutes onto a mattress you are seriously interested in. Do not be scared to ask the salesperson to leave you while you are testing a mattress, so that you may focus on the relaxation.

“Do not let anyone push you into a sale,” says Thompson. “Listen to your body. And look closely at the coil count.”

Coil count. A fantastic way to compare 1 mattress with another is by checking the coil count. Normally, the higher the coil count, the better the support. (That’s not the exact same thing as firmness.)

There are 3 standard types of coils: pocketed, hourglass and continuous. Pocketed coils are individually wrapped in a tiny bag, hourglass have a round top and bottom, and continuous are created from sinuous interconnected wire ringlets. The normal mattress contains anywhere from 250 to 1,000 coils. Obviously, bigger mattresses will have more coils compared to smaller ones. If you are looking around for a queen-size mattress, start looking for no less than 600 sinuous coils or 900 pocketed coils.

Mattress manufacturers may compensate for a low coil count by using a thicker wire. Cable thickness is measured in gauge, with a lower number representing a coil.

Pricing. The price is generally negotiable, especially for innerspring mattresses. Make sure you haggle (unless the merchant clearly says that costs are company) and don’t be tricked by the size of the discount that the salesperson offers — it’s the bottom price that’s most significant, Thompson says. If you enjoy a $1,200 mattress at shop A, and shop B is willing to sell you a comparable $3,000 mattress for 50 percent off, you are still paying $300 more for shop B’s mattress. Do not fall for it.

Before buying, ask regarding return policies, restocking charges, delivery charges and whether the shop will dispose of your old mattress. These variables could influence your final price.

Do not assume that a no-haggle merchant is a more expensive seller. Big chain stores might slash costs or sell to negotiate, but they often begin from an inflated markup, and the negotiated price might be no better — or even greater — than the no-haggle price at stores such as Macy’s or Nordstrom. “If I did not have a mattress shop,” Thompson says, “that’s where I would go.”

Browse mattresses in the Shop

More
How to Purchase a Sofa
How to Purchase a Sleep Sofa
How to Buy a Sectional

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Simple Pleasures: 9 Ways to Get Cozy Outside This Fall

Posted on October 10, 2019 by Eded1953

Crisp mornings, colorful foliage and the impulse to squeeze the most from waning daylight hours add up into a bundle of great reasons to enjoy your outdoor spaces and rooms this fall. From outside dinner parties into s’mores around the fire pit, the following ideas are supposed to inspire you to take advantage of your area and, most important, enjoy those small found pockets of time. Email can wait — but the fall leaves are going fast!

Don Ziebell

1. Gather round the outside fireplace. Fall is the perfect time for making use of an outside fireplace — and much better if it’s situated on a covered porch. Finish your outdoor room with a natural-fiber (or natural-fiber-seem) carpeting and outside couches with loads of pillows. A chandelier and bud of new flowers would make just-right finishing touches.

Atmosphere Design Group

2. Host an all-out formal dinner celebration outside. Actually if it’s chilly, folks can cozy up in tightly spaced seats around a very long table. By the time your guests are seated, candles and lanterns are lit, and wine was poured, the mood is sure to be festive. Drape a throw on the back of every seat and encourage visitors to cozy up if they feel chilly.

Marcia Prentice Photography

3. Cozy up seats with sheepskins. Real or faux; it doesn’t matter. The purpose is to put something deliciously thick and fluffy between you and cold, hard chair. Faux-fur throws, folded lengthwise, would do the job well, too.

Crisp Architects

4. Start with a brisk walk in the fresh air. There’s no better way to love a crisp day than having a refreshing walk, preferably in a scenic area. Try planning your walking path to pass with a horse farm or a apple orchard, or simply walk on your neighborhood, noticing things you usually zip by in the car. Once your cheeks are rosy, retire into a porch or back deck having a mug of warm apple cider and put your feet up.

Ridge Creek Custom Homes

5. Keep a well-lit porch. There’s something so tempting about a porch lit with warm, glowing light; you almost can not help but sit down and relax for a spell. Aim to have at least three sources of light — a pair of sconces and an overhead fixture, for instance. But you might also borrow light from inside your house by means of transom windows over the doorway, and by maintaining indoor colors up as you are out sitting.

Wendi Young Design

6. Create a warm glow with candles. Use actual column candles or the battery-operated kind — the most important issue is to use them in prosperity. They won’t supply the identical kind of warmth as a fire, but you may be amazed at how just considering flickering candlelight can cause you to feel warmer.

John Hummel & Associates Custom Builders

7. Embrace the semioutdoors. An indoor-outdoor area with sliding barn doors to help curb the temperature would be a fantasy place to amuse and hang out from.

Rick O’Donnell Architect

8. Create your own camp experience. A built in fire pit is the perfect gathering area for late-night chats, family campouts and post-dinner-party drinks. For a more rustic appearance, chop your own old logs to DIY seats and place up them in a ring round the fire pit in a remote corner of your yard. Obviously, s’mores are mandatory.

How to Produce a stacked-stone fire pit

Crisp Architects

9. Build outdoor time in your everyday routine. Whether you’ve got an outside fireplace, a fire pit, a back deck or a cozy small porch, the main issue is it’s well used and loved. Therefore, in the event that you find you haven’t been getting out there as far as you would like, consider if during your day you can sneak in a bit of outside R&R. Take your mug of coffee out to the porch every morning, or catch up with your partner over a glass of wine by the fire after work … just get out there and enjoy!

Tell us : Where is your favorite outdoor spot for relaxing? What would you love to add to your outdoor room to make it even more appealing?

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Welcome the Turning Season — Ideas for Your September Garden

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Eded1953

Most anglers can concur that September is among the best weeks for being outdoors. Around the United States, shifting seasons breathe life into gardens and anglers’ enthusiasm, and with this particular one the oppressive grip of summer’s warmth finally loosens.

It’s planting time again. Everything from cool-season edibles to broadleaf evergreens and indigenous grasses are planted this month. Consider beginning a wildflower garden from seed, and welcome winged visitors with berry-producing shrubs and by departing skeletal seed heads around winter.

The countdown to the first frost may have already begun, but there’s still so much left to enjoy. Here is what to do in your garden this September.

Jocelyn H. Chilvers

Northwest. Once it comes to edibles, “broccoli, cabbage, spinach and Swiss chard are all drop favorites,” says landscape designer Karen Chapman. “Radishes and lettuce additionally will have plenty of time to develop and be harvested until the cold weather comes.”

She adds, “September is also the ideal time to plant onions and garlic. Cover these with bird figurines raised a couple of inches with blocks of wood or older nursery pots. Birds seem to love to peck at these tips! Once the roots have created, the netting can be taken off.”

Get her Northwest September checklist | More cool-season crops

California. “If you’re considering planting a lawn shortly (fall is the ideal time to start), think about some of those newish less-thirsty kinds, such as California native grasses,” writes garden editor Bill Marken.

“‘Native Mow Free’, shown here, is a mixture of several varieties of fescue grasses which take some shade as well as full sun,” he says. “It can be mowed for a regular turf look or left unmowed for a shaggy, lumpy appearance. It’s ideal to mow it at least a couple times annually. It works nicely on a incline. It’s not a good play lawn.

Most important when beginning a lawn? “Whether you start with seeds (cheaper, but more demanding of weed control) or sod (proper watering is not quite as simple as it seems), the primary and most arduous step is preparing the ground,” Marken says.

Get his California September checklist | More tips for your California garden

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Southwest. “Give citrus trees their final application of fertilizer for the calendar year,” advises Arizona horticulturalist Noelle Johnson. “Citrus need to be fertilized three times each year: in late winter, early summer and late summer.”

Get her Southwest September checklist

Jocelyn H. Chilvers

Rocky Mountains. “Broadleaf evergreens should be a priority for your fall planting program,” writes Colorado landscape designer Jocelyn Chilvers. “These plants attract much-needed colour and texture to the winter landscape but can suffer from our region’s low humidity, intense sunlight and drying winds.”

Get her Rocky Mountains September checklist

J. Peterson Garden Design

Texas. “Start a wildflower garden. You’ll need until Thanksgiving to plant seeds, but the first part of September until early October is the ideal time,” writes landscape designer Jenny Peterson.

“Wildflowers like bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis), Indian paintbrush (Castilleja), Indian costume (Gaillardia pulchella) and purple poppy mallow (Callirhoe involucrata) require full sun and well-drained dirt to flower best. You are able to buy seed mixes from your local nursery or botanical center, or call your county extension service when you have difficulty locating seeds or want more specific advice.”

Get her Texas September checklist

Benjamin Vogt / Monarch Gardens

Central Plains. “Plants such as bee balm (Monarda spp) are inclined to look scraggly by late night, and deadheading doesn’t necessarily bring back new blooms,” writes Nebraska garden consultant Benjamin Vogt. “Consider leaving the unique seed heads that will be finely manicured by summer, making the garden a lot more pleasing to the coldest days.”

Get his Central Plains September checklist

Barbara Pintozzi

Great Lakes. “September is the perfect time to plant perennials and woody plants,” writes Illinois garden coach Barbara Pintozzi. “It used to be that spring has been the ideal time to plant in Great Lakes gardens, but gardeners are discovering that with unreliable moisture and often excruciating summer heat, fresh plants fared better under the less-harsh states of fall. By planting in September, the gardener is guaranteed that the plants will have sufficient time to become established before winter.”

Get her Great Lakes September checklist

Paintbox Garden

Northeast. “About this time of year that I detect an increase in bird activity to my combined boundary, in which viburnum and redtwig dogwood offer a privacy screen from the street,” writes Vermont landscape consultant Charlotte Albers.

“Viburnum ‘Mohican’ is especially showy, with fruits moving from red to black and black leaves which turn red with the shortening days,” she notes.

Get her Northeast September checklist

Amy Renea

Mid-Atlantic. “Succulents additionally require a close eye this time of year. Some can overwinter outdoors, but tropical succulents will need to come indoors at the first hint of frost,” says garden writer Amy Renea. “These plants can endure a very light frost, but chilly temperatures can kill off the top growth. A wilted aloe vera is not a wonderful sight, so make them indoors if temperatures fall.”

Ger her Mid-Atlantic September checklist

Gardening with Confidence®

Southeast. “Hummingbird feeders aren’t necessary if you have enough plants to feed these visitors, but they’re a fantastic way to ensure you get a consistent food source for those hummers,” says North Carolina garden writer Helen Yoest. “You can place the feeder at a location which is easy to see out of your favourite seat, indoors or out.”

Get her Southeast September checklist

More: Watch more regional gardening guides

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8 Ways to Express Your Art Nouveau Style

Posted on October 5, 2019 by Eded1953

Although short lived, the art nouveau movement still leaves an imprint on design now. From the late 19th century until the early 20th century, designers and artists developed this style of design, decorative arts and style, incorporating sweeping, female contours. The movement aimed to be completely original, not mimicking anything from the past.

While the art nouveau style was acclaimed at first, its popularity quickly waned. Critics accused it of being overelaborate, lavish and expensive. The movement that followed, Arts and Crafts, addressed a number of those criticisms.

Despite this, art nouveau’s attractiveness is undeniable and is still valued today. Whether you’re seeking to genuinely embrace this look or simply add a touch or two, here are eight ways to work art nouveau style into your home.

Caroline Beaupere Design

1. Carved wood. Art nouveau artists, designers and craftsmen rejected traditional impacts, moving their designs toward an original and much more modern style. In the home, intricate carvings from the Victorian age gave way to a curvilinear look, together with sinuous lines and nature-inspired motifs.

Get this look: Replicate the style with an updated twist with the addition of moldings to newer furniture. Look for the local hardware store to get trimming pieces and use them to horizontal surfaces on tables, dressers or frames. Feeling really adventurous? DIY veterans can trace an art nouveau motif on wood and use a Dremel kit to carve out the details for an authentic period look.

Gast Architects

2. Metalwork. The art nouveau style was immediately adapted for ornamental ironwork and cast metal, in which its undulating, asymmetrical and organic lines located favor with rich homeowners.

Get this look: Whether their work is either custom or prefab, ironwork professionals often provide art nouveau–style alternatives for your home. Look for brackets, railings, gates and other architectural elements. If you’re short on money, look for salvaged elements, which are often less expensive. Consider employing an antique gate to get a headboard or a piece of wall art.

Marsh and Clark Design

3. Stained glass. Artist Louis Comfort Tiffany helped bring art nouveau stained glass to mainstream interiors during this age. His curving, sinuous designs adorned windows, lamps and other lighting fixtures.

Get this look: It’s easy to think of glass as a traditional feature, but in the right program, it can work beautifully in modern and contemporary interiors. Look for the curving lines of art nouveau and apply the stained glass in limited applications — such as to get a light fixture or a window, as in this bathroom.

Red Rock Tileworks

4. Tiles. The latter half of the 19th century saw a decline in tile manufacturing. Compared to wallpaper, tile was expensive and hard to install. But the substance’s popularity resurged in the 20th century. Molded tiles together with art nouveau themes became readily available and less expensive.

Get this look: Art nouveau–style tile works nicely in modern and traditional homes. Don’t feel like you need to put up an entire wall of tile — small quantities can have a powerful effect when used sensibly. Pick a few to get a boundary accent indoors or outside your home.

Margo Downing Interiors

5. Textiles. Although art nouveau was lavish, it was often inspired by nature. Original art nouveau fabrics usually comprised blossoms and blossoms in woven or printed designs. In both muted and dark color palettes, these fabrics included rugs, rugs and window treatments.

Get this look: Textiles will be able to enable you to add just a touch of art nouveau or finish a top-to-bottom makeover. Look for nature-inspired fabrics, pillows or upholstery in muted color palettes with curving, wavy lines. If you’re looking for an unconventional means to work with fabric, consider hanging framed panels as art or even covering an entire wall.

Quoizel

6. Lighting. Art nouveau stained glass pendants, iron chandeliers, leaded glass Cabinets and acid-etched lampshades all represented the elaborate and organic-inspired patterns of the age. Mixed substances — usually metal and glass — were combined in feminine forms.

Get this look: Most decorating approaches can accommodate a touch of nouveau-inspired lighting. You don’t need to choose traditional or antique pieces to get the look. Sconces, pendants, chandeliers and table lamps with just a touch of curved iron or acid-etched glass can indicate art nouveau style with a more modern touch.

Graham & Brown

Diva Wallpaper, Beige – $85

7. Wallpaper. Cheaper and accessible than tile, wallpaper was a popular fixture in homes during the art nouveau period. Palettes may be bold or dull, all in the rhythmic patterns of the age.

Get this look: You don’t need to go far to find great art nouveau–style wallpaper now. The graceful lines are a favorite look with most major retailers.

Don’t rule out wallpaper if you don’t need the wall-to-wall look. Consider using it on a single accent wall, as matting for art, behind a collection of mirrors or as a remedy beneath a chair rail.

AllPosters.com

Reverie Print, circa 1897, by Alphonse Mucha – $35.99

8. Artwork. Printed bits are a touch of this art nouveau style, as it had been the very first design movement to mass create images for commercials, labels, posters and magazines. Many of those printed bits are available now in classic and reproduced forms.

Get this look: Check out swap meets, art fairs and antiques shops for some fantastic vintage finds. Reproductions are readily available, too.

If you’re searching to make a bolder statement, then locate a massive art nouveau–motivated stencil to use all on your ceiling or wall.

More: Art Nouveau Style Creates Verve With Curves

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No Fall Men, Please: Suggestions for Lighting Your Outdoor Measures

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Eded1953

The backyard at night can be charming. But we humans are not the best at viewing in the dark, so it also can be dangerous, especially if you own stairways, steps or uneven surfaces. With the ideal lighting, though, you can turn these potential problem areas in to highlights of your night landscape.

Ideally you should have enough lighting combined stairways and near steps to allow you to walk safely, but not so much light that your lawn ends up resembling a well-lit parking lot. It may be as simple as adding a row of lights along one side. But if your lighting can add interest and a sense of design to your overall space, so much the better.

When you’re looking for stairs and measures to your walkways and outside rooms, take into consideration the lighting choices — out of downlights and sidelights to those set from the risers or constructed into the railings and banisters — that might make your landscape even more special.

The Taunton Press, Inc

Rising to the event. Stairway lighting can be ordinary — it can be a work of art. Geometric cutouts in each riser allow plenty of lighting through to light up the measures here, but whatever you notice are different patterns. Repeating one pattern on every other riser retains the design from becoming too active.

Pinney Designs

For a narrow stairway, a single light centered in every riser may be adequate.

Karen Garlanger Designs, LLC

But if you’re light a wider expanse, then spacing a succession of lights along every riser is a better option.

Clemente style studio, llc

Long, low measures can be especially tricky to navigate at night. Including a mild that extends the duration of each riser ensures that you and your guests will not trip over an unexpected step down or up.

Andrew J Coleman

Keeping things easy. Sometimes all that’s required are light fixtures alongside the measures. The style of those outdoor lights fits in well with the overall backyard, so they are equally decorative during daylight hours.

RJK Construction Inc

Archadeck of Suburban Boston

Other simple-to-install choices that work especially well for decks include banister cap lights, rope lighting and downlights constructed into the articles. The majority of these accessories are easy to find, and retrofitting an present deck stairway should be relatively easy.

Daryl Toby – AguaFina Gardens International

Looking down. Lights that shine downward instead of up or outside create soft pools of light along a stairway. There’s enough light to allow you to see where you’re going, but it is not jarring or shining in mind. You do not need to light every jog. Instead, aim for only enough light to keep things secure while enabling the next lit place to draw you further up (or down).

John Kraemer & Sons

Looking sideways. Sidelights will cast a glow across the measures. The ones in the very low wall lining each side of those steps are unobtrusive but provide adequate lighting at night.

2. ink Studio | Landscape Architecture

Mixing things up. Don’t limit your choices when planning your lighting. Sometimes combining different types of lighting works best.

The dramatic steps climbing above this bud backyard and turning from the water attribute are completely lit instead of simply bathed in a light that blurs the borders. This light scheme not only highlights this architectural feature along with the surrounding landscape; it is a necessity with the nonuniform measures and absence of handrails. In contrast, the long stairway behind only requires sidelights set periodically to the wall to help keep it lit and secure.

Integral Lighting

Single lighting in the center of each riser provide the key lighting here, but the additional lighting throughout the room, from the lights from the doors to those at the borders of the paving, create enough light to keep people secure and enough shadows to keep the appearance intriguing.

Gast Architects

A clean of light throughout the whole entrance makes a sense of welcoming here. The appearance is achieved with a mix of downlights and a traditional porch lighting that ensures the house number is visible. The result is a warm and inviting glow.

über iron

Make it your own. Sure, downlights would most likely be adequate with this stairway, but in this case the lamps specify the upper and bottom of the staircase, add a solid decorative element and provide plenty of light. The white glass allows the light to shine through but protects the bulbs themselves out of sight.

Super Bright LEDs

The preceding examples have all been fairly subtly lit, but when it suits your style, why not go bold? Lights in blue, red, green, purple or other colours may be more effective than those in tones of white and yellow. You’ll certainly notice them!

Tell us: Are you working on an outside lighting scheme this season?

More: Spectacular Landscape Lights Dazzle from the Dark

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8 Ways to Lasso Lone Star State Style

Posted on September 30, 2019 by Eded1953

Homes in Texas come in most design styles, but its classic appearance still embodies a romance with all the Old West. This varied appearance blends Native American, Spanish, Mexican, Anglo-American and European components using earthy finishes, timber, cherry, leather, iron — along with a rebellious streak. You don’t have to live in the Lone Star State to be inspired by the distinguishing features from these Texas interiors.

The Cavender Diary

1. A colour scheme. A down-to-earth, rustic colour palette defines that this Texan interior. Dusty reds, blues and whites (like on the Texas and American flags) complement hot wall colors.

Get this appearance: Light foundation colours work best in the hot Texas climate, so stick to lighter colors on your walls and use bolder colours for entertaining punches in cloth, art, accessories and furniture.

Zoe Murphy Compton Ltd..

2. Textiles and furnishings. Organic materials like wood, leather and iron emphasize the warmth and relaxation of these spaces. Traditionally, Texas craftspeople made furnishings by hand out of local pine, walnut and cedar. Furniture was upholstered in hides or in sturdy textiles with geometric patterns or Western scenes.

Get this appearance: If you are wanting to save a little money to acquire this Southwestern appearance, reupholster a footstool or side chair in cotton or burlap. Sloping up a thrifted wooden chair using sandpaper and dry brush a layer of paint on top for authentic and reclaimed style.

Rachel Mast Design

3. Rodeo flair. During the late 1800s, rodeos became a favorite test of skill across the western United States. Lots of Texans still hold fast to this cowboy tradition, and it’s frequently represented in iconic art, accessories and textiles in the house.

Get this appearance: Look for rodeo silhouettes of a cowboy and bucking bronco in photographs, prints or paintings. Metalwork and antiques can pay tribute to the tradition, too — old spurs and boots can make a fantastic entryway accessory.

3 Fold Design Studio

4. Limestone. Native Texas limestone is your top stone quarried in the state, and it’s widely used for both interior and outdoor functions. Designers frequently use subtle stone colors like shell, cream, buff and gray in both traditional and modern settings.

Get this appearance: Consider using limestone for a stacked-stone fireplace or a wall, backsplash or flooring. Try accenting a little corner or terrace with limestone border tiles.

Wright-Built

5. Tin roofing. Metal roofing’s reflective surface helps preserve a home’s temperature in the hot Texas weather. Galvanized roof systems have been frequently used in old Texas houses — they withstood the elements beautifully and frequently rusted over time, including personality.

Get this appearance: Reclaimed galvanized sheets can add a gorgeous patina to every part of your home. You’re able to salvage old panels or purchase new ones and use a rust kit from the hardware store to oxidize the metal.

Legacy DCS

6. Reclaimed lumber. Reclaimed lumber and barn timber include history and warmth. Old-school Texan homes embraced this hot and weathered appearance, with old barn wood liner cabinets, walls and flooring.

Get this appearance: Fortunately for us, pieces made from reclaimed lumber are no more difficult to come by, as a wealth of designers and furniture manufacturers really like to use this substance.

More salvage style thoughts

7. The Texas star. Featured about the state flag, this star is over conventional Texan houses. It’s a sign of Texas’ individual spirit and ethics, and houses often display it through the flag, as a sculpture or in carved details, tile work, signage and more.

Get this appearance: Branch out beyond framed flags and textiles, and use the Texas star as a theme on a wall, carpeting, tabletop or tile depth. I really like this homeowner brought the star outside in a rustic, patinated metal.

The Cavender Diary

8. Longhorns. The Texas longhorns are descended from the first cattle brought to America from Christopher Columbus. These cattle are frequently associated with the love of the Old West and are becoming an iconic element of Texas culture.

Get this appearance: These accents look great over fireplaces or as part of a gallery wall, and you can also find ceramic and papier-mâché designs. No luck finding something sculptural? Try out a longhorn pillow or stained motif instead.

More: Texas Design Corrals a Assortment of Styles

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