Our house is like our sanctuary, they need it to be the place where they feel most at ease and relaxed. Consequently, everything in our home must be flawless. Keeping the furniture neat does not must be a annoying and time consuming chore.

Unfortunately, most of us had the surprise to discover a watermark on our dinning table , or a stain on the relatives couch. You cannot prevent it from happening, but there’s solutions! Here are some tips on keeping your furniture neat and tidy, to preserve it is beauty for years.

Five of the first steps in making sure your furniture is well taken care of, is to make sure it is not close to heat sources or sunlight. These will dry out the furniture, discolor upholstery or paint finishes, destroy upholstery fibers.

Wood Furniture

You don’t must break the bank to get expensive cleaning products for a neat furniture. All is at hand. a Hoover, a cotton cloth, some vinegar, Dish washing detergent, a sponge, that is all you need to keep your furniture neat.

To keep your furniture looking great, it is a nice idea to dust it regularly. Your brother was right: Dust frequently! Don’t use a feather duster because it will only move dust around, besides a quill might scratch the surface of the furniture.

The first advice in keeping wood furniture looking its best is: shelter it from sun exposure and switches in humidity level! A major factor in wooden furniture’s deterioration, is a high level of humidity.

Be careful about using water when you neat your furniture. Don’t soak or wet wood furniture. Water will most likely destroy wood by staining and swelling it, when it penetrates the finish.

Five way of cleaning your furniture without damaging it is to use a cotton cloth. It is believed that a dry cloth won’t dust well, and that you ought to dampen it so that it is less hard for the dust adhere to it.

The first rule for keeping leather looking nice, is the same as for wood furniture: Avoid exposure to sunlight and heat sources, and from humidity changes. In order to protect leather from drying or cracking it is best to keep it at least 2 feet from a heat source.

Leather Furniture

Upholstered Furniture

For the best results use a soft cotton cloth or a damp sponge. Don’t use detergents when cleaning leather. Make a solution of dish washing liquid and warm water. Use the suds only, scrub softly with a soft-bristled brush and then neat with a damp cotton cloth or a sponge.
If the leather surface is stained or dirty, use a combination of 1/4 white vinegar and 3/4 water, and neat with a soft cotton cloth.

When dealing with stains use a mix of laundry detergent or dish detergent to 1c warm water. Use only the bubbles and a cloth and rub a small part of the upholstery. After, let it for a few minutes, and if there is discoloration or shrinkage , then stop and receive a professional to do it. If not, continue with the rest of the upholstery.

In addition to the first rule for preserving your upholstery : avoid placing it near heat sources, it is best to vacuum the upholstered furniture every week.

Follow these rules and your furniture will be the focal point of your house for years. This chore doesn’t must be time consuming or irritating, as long as you do it regularly. This way you won’t must invest in new pieces, and you will use your favorite furniture for a long time.

Meet cylinder-head Stormtrooper and Darth Vader. No they aren’t lamps, despite those heads, they are actually speakers…We aren’t sure why they have the lamp head. We only know that these things are a real disturbance in the force.

Just plug in your mp3 player and play your tunes, while pondering over those huge heads. They don’t even have alarm clocks. I think now we have officially seen everything Star Wars. Hey, they also have round bellies. That ain’t right.

[Gizmodo]

Get personalized decorating advice to help you through your most troublesome of decorating problems.This website is dedicated to helping you get information that you need. For free resources please visit our design articles, secondly, you can look at advice that has previously been given to visitors by viewing our design advice answers, and lastly you can gain insight from The Decorating Bible, a comprehensive step by step look at decorating your home.
Choosing The Right Lights for Your Look and Needs
A successful lighting scheme that meets practical needs and creates atmosphere plays an important part in establishing the style and character of your home. There’s more to home lighting than a central ceiling fixture backed up by a couple of wall or table lamps. A well-planned lighting scheme should be both practical and decorative.
On the practical side, the right sort of lighting provides illumination for cooking, cleaning, sewing, reading, and many other day-to-day tasks. Decorative lighting helps to create a relaxed atmosphere, and should complement your color scheme and furnishings. A successful home lighting scheme is made up of several different elements. Most rooms will need a carefully thought-out mixture of these effects to work well.
Lighting Choices
General lighting provides overall or background light and should be used in every room. A hanging ceiling light is a common type of light fitting, offering a variety of shade styles in materials as diverse as fabric, paper, or metal. A ceiling pendant that is the sole source of light in a room is a limiting choice; it provides a bright central space with shadowy edges.
Recessed or semi-recessed low voltage down lights spaced across the ceiling will give a good level of clear light. Depending on the type of bulb used, and the housing, a recessed down light can spread light over a wide area or in a narrow beam. Semi-recessed down lights (sometimes called eyeballs) can be swivelled.
Controlling down lights with a dimmer system is a good idea because you can then have some of the lights off while others are on, and can vary brightness.
Task lighting is designed to give concentrated, directional light over a small area and may be used in conjunction with general and accent fixtures. The type of task lighting you choose depends on the activity you have in mind.
A desk light with a flexible arm is the perfect example, as it can be adjusted to provide light exactly where it is needed.
A reading lamp should be tall enough to shine onto the pages of the book, but not into your eyes. A floor lamp positioned behind the reader is ideal.
Light for writing, sewing, or any other hobby should be positioned so that it shines down onto the work. Rise and fall pendants are useful for this, especially if you work at the dining table. Recessed strip lighting is useful for providing countertop light in a kitchen. Accent lighting is used to show off plants, pictures, collections, and interesting architectural features. There are many different types, which can be used to light objects from above, below or behind, or at an angle.
A narrow beam halogen down light may be used to light a single vase or piece of china. The lower part of the object remains in shade, so this gives a dramatic floating effect.
Pictures are often lit from above. An adjustable eyeball or ceiling spotlight focused on the picture, or a special framing spotlight, which will flood the painting with light but leave the walls around it in shadow, are worth considering, as well as the traditional brass picture light.
A table lamp with a wide based shade will throw a pool of light onto the surface below it and is an attractive way to light a small collection or some framed photographs.
Floor standing drum torchieres can be positioned below large plants to create dramatic leaf patterns on the walls and ceiling. You can light objects on glass shelves very effectively by positioning a row of small halogen spotlights below the bottom shelf. Wall-mounted sconces, wallwashers, or tall floor lamp-style designs will illuminate the detail on an interesting cornice or ceiling.
Small floor torchieres positioned behind a sofa or armchair will wash the walls with light and make the room seem larger.
Tips for Your Front Porch or Sun room
Choosing just the right decor for decorating your front porch or sunroom requires a combination of two things: Style and functionality…
Pillows, upholstery, slipcovers, shades and blinds, lighting, flooring, and rugs all make a sunroom or a porch lush and comfortable. What you can use depends on how rigorous the weather is on the furnishings. In a relatively moisture-free hot climate, for instance, sun resistance is the quality you want to look for, but mildew resistance is not essential. In other areas, both sun and moisture (caused by dew at night) can damage the goods. Select products specifically resistant to mold and mildew and ultraviolet rays. Choices abound for products that work well in a protected outdoor environment. Here’s some guidance on which are suitable for the outdoors.
Shades and Blinds:
Simple matchstick or rattan rollups can protect furnishings from some rain and sun. Other treatments might include fabulous see-through screens and blinds that block ultraviolet rays while allowing breezes to waft through the space. Shower curtains or simply made fabric curtains are decorative solutions that add privacy as well as beauty. (Bed sheets are an inexpensive alternative to fabric.) Remember, however, if the fabric isn’t sun resistant, the curtains will fade over time.
Flooring and Rugs:
Tile, slate, concrete, and weatherproof painted wood are floor choices that require minimal care. Soften the look and the feeling underfoot with natural-fiber rugs, such as sisal or hemp, which by nature resist moisture damage; this type of floor covering works best in sheltered outdoor spaces. Another possibility is indoor-outdoor carpeting, which can be left outside all year long.
Fabrics:
Cushions and pillows with fillings that allow water to drain through them take very little care. Add to this a wide range of new fabrics–acrylics, woven vinyl-coated polyester, laminated cotton that feels like uncoated fabric–and almost anything is possible. Look for these fabrics at tent, awning, or fabric stores, as well as the porch and patio sections of department stores and pool-supply stores. Don’t overlook clear plastic to protect some fabrics, and go ahead and use conventional fabrics that catch your fancy if the area is protected. Store pillows when the weather turns foul. Fabrics treated for stain resistance are more expensive but wear better.
Lighting:
Outdoor ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs), built-in lighting, and fans make all the difference for nighttime use of porches and sunrooms. Avoid conventional indoor lighting unless your space is attached to the house. And be kind to your neighbors: be sure lighting does not encroach on their space. (The same goes for any noise you create, such as from a television, radio, or stereo system.) Don’t over-light, but do provide adequate transitional lighting from inside to outside, allowing eyes to adjust.