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Jennifer Akre
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Joined EzineArticles on Apr 29, 2005 Stained Glass Window Panels - Versatile and Vibrant
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: January 10, 2012
Stained glass window panels can be used in a variety of applications; whether as a standalone piece hanging in front of a window or in a more permanent setting as a room divider. Whichever way you choose, these colorful works of art are the perfect way to add artistic flair to any space in both homes and work areas. Stained glass window panels are easy to shop for online since the selection is vast and it's easy to narrow your selections based on designs, colors or measurements. The allure of stained glass dates back to its inception in the 10th century. Some of the finest craftsmen were located in Syria, where pieces were made for kings and rulers in Greece and Italy. Popularity caught on quickly, and thus began massive installations in the design of churches and cathedrals. These creations, designed of colored glass artfully arranged to make intricate pictures and patterns, were meticulously crafted by skilled artisans and generally depicted religious or literary figures or referenced historical events. The mystery of stained glass results from the addition of metallic salts during glass blowing.
A Simple Remodel With Kitchen Cabinet Knobs
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: January 10, 2012
One of the easiest ways to get a new look for your home is to change out the hardware on your kitchen cabinets, and even your bathroom ones, too. It is one of the least expensive remodels you can do, and it can be done in a weekend. It is relatively easy, too. To do a weekend remodel using kitchen cabinet knobs, you want to do your homework first. For example, you want your knobs to match the existing or planned décor of your home. If you have a country kitchen, you may want to go with some glass knobs for a retro, farmhouse look or blue and white porcelain for a French country appearance. Or you can go with something that fits your passions. If you have a garden-themed kitchen, for instance, consider using kitchen cabinet kitchen knobs in the shape of fruits and vegetables or even garden implements. In recent years, manufacturers have turned out a huge variety of knobs, both more traditional styles and ones that are very unique.
Outdoor Lighting Keeps the Fun Going All Night Long
Home Improvement: Lighting • Published: January 10, 2012
Once an afterthought, today's exterior spaces are becoming an extension of the interior of the home. Not only does a well-conceived outdoor space increase the comfort of the home, but it can also increase the home's value. One of the keys to creating a superior outdoor escape is lighting. While any deck or patio can serve admirably in the daytime or even twilight, only those with outdoor lighting can truly own the night. If you are thinking about adding lighting outdoors, you'll probably want to do some planning. Lighting is not a haphazard activity - you want to make sure that the lighting is appropriate, covers the spaces you want, and doesn't leave any dark spots, especially near stairs or transitions between different levels of a deck. Installing lights not only increases the usefulness of your property, but also the safety of your home. And, with the low wattage fixtures coming out on the market and the growing number of solar powered lights, installing lighting is also cost effective.
Kitchen Island Lighting Made Easy
Home Improvement: Lighting • Published: January 10, 2012
Kitchen islands have gone from a "nice to have" to a "must have" in kitchens throughout the country. Not only are they a sign of a nicely appointed kitchen, but they add valuable workspace to the kitchen - allowing families to easily gather together to create meals and spend time with one another. Traditional kitchen lighting, however, wasn't necessarily designed with kitchen islands in mind. Often the lighting is directed instead to the kitchen counters using recessed lights or there is just a single overhead light that tries to cover the entire kitchen with a flat level of light that really isn't that great for preparing or enjoying food. If you have recently installed a kitchen island, have a portable island on wheels or are thinking about doing a major remodel to add an island, you want to give serious consideration to kitchen island lighting. The type of kitchen island lighting you use depends on the kitchen you have, its style and the shape of the kitchen and island in general. One of the popular options right now in kitchen island lighting is to go with lighting that is built into a pot rack.
Round Tables - Choosing One That's Right For You
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: January 10, 2012
We could make a lot of King Arthur jokes here about his knights and their round table, but finding the right table for your dining room or kitchen is pretty serious business. The right table can bring you hours of enjoyment, causing you to linger there in engrossing conversation long after the dinner plates have found their way to the sink. Conversely, the wrong table can detract from the dining experience. Who hasn't sat at a cramped table, mowing down food as fast as you can so you don't have to spend one more moment sitting in an uncomfortable chair, or having to straddle a monstrous leg at a table that has too many people and too few spaces for them. Round tables can provide a delightful solution for you, creating a spacious, welcoming place to enjoy a meal that is also flexible. With the right chairs and the right dimensions, you'll find that your table is the gathering place in your home.
Trends in End Tables
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: January 10, 2012
End tables are an essential part of any well appointed home. Not only do they serve a vital function, serving as bookends to a furniture grouping, but they also allow table lamps to be strategically paced around the room. As with all furnishings, the design of end tables evolve from year to year. Old ideas are reborn and the hottest trends seem to fade away. Somewhere in the middle lies the enduring design ideas, ones that will not only continue to look fresh year in and year out, but also solve some of your most common furniture needs. Nesting tables are a good example. These allow you to get maximum flexibility in the smallest amount of space. Nesting tables are just what they sound like. They have several tables that nest with one another. Think of those Russian nesting dolls and you'll understand how nesting end tables work. These are ideal if you entertain a lot, as you essentially get three tables in one, allowing you to spread them around the room during a party.
The Benefits of Sofa and End Tables
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: January 10, 2012
Like Batman and Robin or Ben and Jerry's, sofa and end tables just seem better when they are together. What modern home would be without these functional and stylish necessities in your living room, or to any room that they adorn? Of course, the style you choose and arrangement will reflect your good taste and thoughtfulness in providing family and friends with a convenient resting place for their beverages, or a handy location for books and magazines. Candles will provide an attractive lighting option and enhance the look of the wood's luster. Sofa and end tables make a statement as to your choice of decor, just as they did when they were first designed in Europe in the 1600s. Since there were no BMWs or Mercedes in the driveway to reflect one's wealth, the fashionable home was the ultimate indication of good taste and standing in the community. Back then, sofa and end tables would occupy the coveted area accompanying two other popular pieces of the time, the chesterfield or settee. (These days we would call them a couch or loveseat.) Acting as companion pieces, they were known for extensive carving and intimate details.
Console Tables for Use Through the Home
Home Improvement: Furniture • Published: January 10, 2012
A console table is a bit of a riddle. It can be a hall table or a side table, but is generally not an end table. It can be a sofa table or a coffee table or accent table, but not a dining room table. And never, ever is it a mathematical table!
Outdoor Teak Furniture Offers Wide Selection
Home Improvement: Landscaping Outdoor Decorating • Published: January 10, 2012
If you're beginning to have trouble telling the difference between outdoor teak furniture and teak furniture made for indoors, don't feel bad. Increasingly, designers and manufacturers have been blurring the lines between the two living spaces. Where outdoor teak furniture used to be mostly straight lines and even a bit utilitarian, today's designs take elements and features from their interior cousins, including sweeping arms, stately legs and even ornate carved features.
Kitchen Cabinet Handles - Something for Everyone
Home Improvement: Cabinets • Published: January 10, 2012
Having a well-designed area to work in the kitchen is essential these days. To that end, new kitchen cabinets are available with built in dividers, sliding trays and organizers and many of these innovations are available as add-ons to older cabinets as well. But until recently, accessing these drawers filled with gadgets and gizmos was pretty utilitarian. While cabinet manufacturers began to turn out tons of new designs to match nearly...
Glass Table Lamps: Selecting One That's Right For You
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: December 29, 2011
Choosing the perfect furniture for your home is only half the battle. Even if you've picked just the right upholstered pieces and tables, you still need one more element in the room to really bring it to life - lighting. While there are many different lighting strategies to choose from, few can match the flexibility and beauty of glass table lamps. Whether your home is done in a modern style, traditional or even antique, you'll find that glass lamps can really bring a room to life in terms of design, ambience and mood. Finding glass table lamps for your home is easy. There are literally thousands to choose from, both in traditional lighting, hardware and furniture stores and online. When selecting the right table lamps for your home, there are some things to consider. The first, as with almost all furnishings, is scale. Table lamps shouldn't be so large that they consume the table or the room. Rather, they should be big enough to create the light you need, but not so large that they are difficult to turn on and off or block the sight lines of the room.
Indoor Benches - Choosing the Right One For You
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: December 29, 2011
One of the great things about today's homes is the flexible space available. In older homes rooms were cordoned off, connected to one another by long, narrow hallways that were either part of the original design, or part of an addition as families grew in size. Modern homes make much better use of the square footage. Not only are they larger in overall size, but each room has the largest possible footprint. If hallways exist, they consume as little of the home as possible. This increase in overall room size has created some design challenges that didn't exist 20 or 30 years ago. This includes finding new ways to group furnishings so that a room doesn't look cavernous, but rather, just spacious. This can be difficult, given that traditional homes still rely on an age-old design scheme: sofa and loveseat (optional), coffee table, two end tables and perhaps a chair or two. That isn't a lot of seating, especially if you have a large screen television that you like to invite friends over to watch the big game on or a blockbuster movie that just came out on pay per view.
Electric Fireplaces Add Warmth and Beauty
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: December 29, 2011
Electric fireplaces have come a long way since they first came on the scene. Where they once put functionality ahead of design, today's fireplaces are really impressive, not only in terms of their design but their efficiency and construction. Even residents of Florida experience cold winter nights. Unfortunately, most homes in the warmer parts of the country don't have fireplaces. Homes in colder climes may lack a fireplace as well, or at least a functional one. Without proper care, built-in fireplaces can become unserviceable and even fire hazards. Electric fireplaces are easy to install and maintain. Unlike their wood burning counterparts, they don't have to be cleaned, there's no need to vent them, there's no carbon monoxide released and you don't have to hire a contractor to do the installation. In just a few minutes you can have your electric fireplace up and running anywhere in your home. In fact, you can move some electric fireplaces all around your house, letting you change your decor with very little effort.
Choosing The Right Table Lamps For Your Home
Home Improvement: Lighting • Published: December 29, 2011
The story is all too common. You spend a lot of money on furniture, artwork, paint and electronics, only to find that your room still doesn't look warm and cozy. The problem may have never been with the furnishings or the wall color. It may have been the lighting all along. Like the lighting on a Broadway stage, lighting in your home creates a mood. It can be inviting, dramatic, and even whimsical. It can bring focus to a certain part of the room, or break a large room into smaller, more manageable spaces that are perfect for intimate conversation. Overhead lighting, whether via chandeliers, spots, pin lights or recessed lighting. can do a lot of the journeyman work of overall lighting. But when it comes to lighting specific areas, nothing beats table lamps. Table lamps can help you define specific parts of the room, such as a place for a quiet conversation or reading. You can create drama by using lower wattage bulbs or fill the room with light with three-way bulbs that allow you to adjust the light levels.
Gel Fireplaces: Portable and Environmentally Friendly
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: December 29, 2011
It may be hard to imagine, but there are very few places in the United States these days that don't get cold at least once of twice in the year. Unfortunately, many homes in normally warmer locales don't usually come with a fireplace, as they are believed to be unnecessary. Space heaters are O.K. to use now and then, but nothing really beats a warm fire in a room, not only to take the edge off a winter chill, but to add warmth to your home, even if you're just renting. As a homeowner, you probably don't want to shell out thousands of dollars, even tens of thousands of dollars, to add a fireplace to your home. And if you're a renter, doing a major remodel just so you can enjoy a crackling fire is out of the question. However, gel fireplaces offer a great alternative. Thanks to modern design and manufacturing techniques, you can't even really tell that these fireplaces aren't part of the structure of your home. They are virtually identical to a traditional fireplace, complete with a fire screen or glass window and ornate mantle.
Dining Room Chandeliers Make a Brilliant Addition
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: December 29, 2011
Dining room chandeliers have become very popular in this country in recent years, not only because they offer homeowners a superior lighting solution, but also allow you to show of your sense of style as well. In a radical departure from the past, chandeliers don't have to be stuffy crystal affairs any longer. Instead, they have taken on a new life at the hands of today's savvy designers, allowing a wide range of designs to find their way into stores, including those online. One of the freshest takes on dining room chandeliers are ones that have candle fixtures. Many of these are forged from wrought iron and depending on the size of your dining room and the height of your ceilings, can be a simple one-layer affair or two or even three layers in height. Thanks to innovative manufacturing techniques, it's hard to tell incandescent candle lights from real candles. Manufacturers have even added such thoughtful touches as faux wax drips down the sides of the fixtures.
Mini Chandeliers Offer Homeowners Maximum Flexibility
Home Improvement: Lighting • Published: December 29, 2011
Even in today's larger homes, there are times when a full size chandelier just won't work. This is where chandelettes, or mini chandeliers really shine as a design option. There is no hard and fast rule what constitutes a mini-chandelier versus a full size chandelier, except that chandelettes are typically 12 inches in diameter or less. They are perfect for a foyer, stairway or hallway, breakfast nooks or in a bathroom. You can also conceivably use more several mini-chandeliers in a space that a single chandelier would fit, or place two down a hallway to not only enhance lighting but tie the space together visually. They are not interchangeable with chandeliers in all cases, however. If you have a high ceiling or one that's vaulted, a mini-chandelier may not be able to produce enough light. You could conceivably purchase mini-chandeliers that can be installed with a chain, but you may just want to go with a chandelier instead. They are at their best when they are used in smaller spaces with 8' or 9' ceilings. If you think chandelettes are smaller versions of their full-sized siblings, think again.
Hall Benches Keep Entry Ways Clutter Free
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: December 29, 2011
No matter what size of family you have, the hallway and entryway of your home are most likely natural collection points for anything imaginable. Here, the kids leave lunch boxes and coats after school, winter boots, mittens and scarves after a day of sledding or snowman making, or flip flops, swim masks and towels after a day at the beach. Small wonder why homeowners since the time of the pioneers have looked to benches to keep their homes tidy and organized. In the early days of American history, hall benches were an essential part of any home. Pioneers didn't have such luxuries as an entryway closet. Instead, a bench or even a hall tree bench served as the collection point for all the necessary gear required to fight the harsh elements of a wintery Midwest. Even a trip to the bathroom was a challenge, given the sub-zero temperatures and the long walk to the outhouse. Benches in hallways provided easy access to warm clothing, even in the dead of night when nature called.
Coffee and End Tables For Smaller Spaces
Home Improvement: Furniture • Published: December 29, 2011
In the aftermath of the Great Recession, many home dwellers have had to scale down their lifestyles a bit. In some cases, you may have even lost your home and have had to find a way to make due with less square footage in an apartment or condo. Unfortunately, furniture isn't one-size-fits-all as it once did. It comes in different sizes and proportions. As such, the sofa or loveseat that was perfect for your larger home may make your new surroundings feel extremely cramped and even a bit claustrophobic. This is particularly true of coffee and end tables. In many cases, you may have selected tables that looked perfect with your old grouping, but now that you're down to a loveseat instead of the matching sofa that was simply too big, you may have to readjust your vision of your tables as well. Thankfully, coffee and end tables are one of the less essential pieces you have in your home and perhaps, in many cases, the less expensive ones as well. While you would loathe to replace an expensive sofa, loveseat, recliner or occasional chair, tables are less problematic.
Side Tables For Your Outdoor Spaces
Home Improvement: Landscaping Outdoor Decorating • Published: December 29, 2011
While much of the U.S. is fighting the cold during the winter months, it is actually an ideal time to plan for the eventual arrival of warmer weather, particularly when it comes to the exterior of your home. And, of course, if you live in the southern climes, enjoying the warm weather is almost a year-round pursuit. The concept of outdoor living spaces is constantly evolving. Where a basic cedar picnic table used to suffice for occasionally entertaining outside, today's homes demand outdoor spaces that are equal or even superior to those indoors. That is why you've seen a veritable explosion of new concepts in outdoor furnishings arriving almost daily in online stores, where the shopping is great any time of the year. In most cases, every stick of furniture you can find inside your home has a matching piece outside, from sofas, loveseats and coffee tables to side tables and lighting. Side tables are a particularly treasured piece outdoors, largely because of their flexibility. Small in size, portable and even store-able, these tables let you scale your event to the number of guests you're entertaining.
Pot Rack With Lights, Functional and Stylish
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: November 14, 2011
Julia Child would positively drool at the variety of pot racks available these days. This illustrious chef understood the necessity for the well-chosen space-saving apparatus, and had a trained eye for beauty. Fortunately, the average savvy chef today can shop online for the ever-popular pot rack with lights in the comfort of their own home - something Julia would have relished! It's easy when shopping online to choose quickly from numerous exquisitely detailed selections, but to make sure your pot rack with lights serves its ultimate purpose; think carefully about its location. The two most popular locations for your rack are over a cooktop and lighting a workspace. Some guidelines: Placing your rack over a cooktop or cooking island: This is an excellent option when you want to conveniently and quickly select just the right size pot for the job. Most racks also contain multiple hooks for hanging cooking utensils and colanders alongside your pans. Remember that you will need to find an alternate way to vent your cooktop if you choose this option. For this reason, consider buying your pot rack with lights at the same time you purchase your cooktop for ease of planning and installation.
Living Room Tables: A Sensible Addition
Home Improvement: Furniture • Published: November 14, 2011
In homes that have both a family room and a more formal living room, the living room often gets left out in the cold. For years, these formal gathering spaces were located near the front of the home, far away from the real entertainment hub - the kitchen. If you have a home that is pre-open space plan, then you know how hard it can be to get people to feel comfortable in your living room. But with the right decor and furnishings - including living room tables - you can turn this once little used space into a beehive of activity, not only for visitors and guests, but the family as well. If you have the advantage of doing a complete revamp of your room, you may want to consider going with a little less formal look. These days, homes are more relaxed in their decor, becoming more inviting to visitors and family. Selecting a different style of furniture or a more colorful pattern of fabric can make the room more user friendly.
Ottoman Benches For Rest And Play
Home Improvement: Furniture • Published: November 14, 2011
Few pieces of furniture are built more with comfort in mind than ottoman benches. Often thought of as fancy footstools, ottomans have become very popular in recent years as people have rediscovered how fun it is to enjoy the beauty and comfort of their homes. One could blame this on the economy and implosion of the housing market, but other factors seem to be at play, including a longing to return to a simpler time when families enjoyed their time together at home, watching a movie, playing a game or just simply talking late into the evening. As anyone knows, being comfortable is essential to these nights at home. That's where ottoman benches come in handy, since they are made to improve the seating experience in the home by giving your tired legs and feet a place to rest. This not only take pressure off your aching muscles and bones, but also changes the way the blood flows through your body, reducing the stress and strain placed on your heart. No wonder you feel so relaxed when there are ottoman benches around.
Need a Real Standout? Try a Hall Accent Table
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: November 14, 2011
In older homes, hallways are everywhere. The older concepts in architecture made them a standard part of the layout, long before space maximization and great rooms came into vogue. However, whether you have an older home or a brand new one, chances are good that you will have one or more hallways to add your touch too and that means a hall accent table. Why a hall accent table? The reason is quite simple. Few pieces of furniture not only add beauty but functionality to a hallway. While you could conceivably go with a potted plant or a sculpture in a hall, they do little to add value to it, instead serving solely as decorative purposes. But with a hall accent table, you not only get a lovely piece of furniture, but lots of functionality as well in a single form that is beautiful and useful. With a table in the hallway, you can allow guests to have a place to put their makeup when they want to check their face before returning to the part, or give them a convenient place to put their drinks or plates while they use the restroom.
Round Kitchen Tables For Entertaining Royally
Home Improvement: Interior Design and Decorating • Published: November 14, 2011
Everyone is familiar with the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. The table, where Sir Galahad and his peers would meet, served as a place to bond in friendship, share tales and break bread with one another. Today's round kitchen tables aren't much different. While diners have traded in their suits of armor for something far more informal and comfortable, the round table is still a great gathering place for friends and family. Part of the reason for this, of course, is that round kitchen tables are so convenient. With the rebirth of the kitchen as an entertainment space, people naturally gather there. The kitchen table gives them a place to relax and enjoy a bite to eat or a drink without having to stand. What's more, it serves as a natural place for family and guests to talk, even as other conversations flow elsewhere.