No matter what you think about them, there is much more to mirrors than it meets the eye. They are not only an item that helps you check your clothes or put on your makeup. It is also something that can be used as a decorative piece.

Mirrors are slowly becoming a product that is often used instead of paintings. This is to be expected given that modern interior design is all about clean, neat interior without any excess of items.

With all that being said, you still need to know how to use your mirrors. Even though their decorative side is amazing, some mirrors simply may not fit your home. This is why I made this article in order to point out major functions of certain types of mirrors and how you can incorporate them in your home.

Hollywood mirrors

Hollywood mirrors are otherwise known as professional makeup mirrors. They can be seen in almost any movie from 30s to 70s. After movie industry, this product spread to theaters and other entertainment professions. Main reason why someone should get a Hollywood mirror is its functionality. With it, you can see your face from various angles making it a perfect choice for applying makeup. Its numerous light bulbs always do the trick. But there is another thing to be considered, according to the experts at www.hollywoodmirrors.co.uk. They fit perfectly with classic design. If you have a retro home, this just might be an item that you’ve been searching for. It will definitely bring out the Hollywood in your bedroom.

LED mirrors

From classy traditional mirrors we quickly skip to modern ones. LED mirrors are practically the same as Hollywood mirrors with one slight difference. They have LED lights. But that is not all. These mirrors have a much more modern design and usually, straight edges. This makes them a bit sci-fi. Of course, this is necessary as only a few designs would fit with LEDs. If you have a modern minimalistic interior, this is just the right item for your home. Same as Hollywood mirrors, LED mirrors can be kept in your bedroom. In the end, they allow you to sit back and slowly put your makeup. Funny enough, this is not the biggest advantage of one such mirror. Its low consumption is. LEDs last up to 10 times longer than standard light bulbs. That alone makes them a viable choice.

Full-size mirror

Even if you have several mirrors in your home, you should definitely get one full-size mirror. They can be placed in your bedroom (or wherever you put your clothes on) or in a hallway. Full-size allows you to check your clothes and see how things fit on you. But they can also be used as ornaments. If you have an empty part of the wall stretching from floor to ceiling, you might be inclined to fill it with something. Have in mind that paintings are usually horizontal which instantly limits your choices. But full-size mirrors are vertical and can cover the entire stretch.

Folding mirrors

Folding mirrors are a good alternative to Hollywood mirrors and LED mirrors. If you’re concerned with your makeup and you wish to ease the process, you can get folding mirror. When you spread it, you can see different angles of your face. This makes makeup process much easier. Of course, they are not as good as Hollywood mirrors but that is not their main advantage. Main advantage of a folding mirror is that you can easily pack it. This mirror is perfect for smaller bathroom and people who like to look perfect at all times.

 

 

 

 

Are you tired of having plain walls? Do you struggle to afford expensive wallpaper and find yourself frustrated by the limited choice of designs available in your price range? Are you struggling to come up with ideas for wall art that your children won’t destroy? There’s a lot you can do on a budget if you know how. These tips will help you to create the home of your dreams – and thrill your kids into the bargain.

Painting techniques to transform your home

If you’re painting your walls yourself, that doesn’t mean they have to be boring. First, use a lightweight tape to cover the edges of the ceiling, baseboards and adjoining walls so that you can paint right up to them but keep it neat.

Then consider one of the following:

• Scumbling – mix clear glaze with a different color or shade of paint and use scrunched up newspaper or a nylon rag to apply it to the wall in an abstract pattern.
• Drybrushing – choose pain of a different color, pour a thin layer of it into a tray and let it mostly dry out, then use a dry brush to create distinct, textured strokes.
• Lacquering – apply multiple layers of clear glaze on top of your base paint, taking time to let each one dry, to produce a high gloss effect with real depth.

Different types of paint

Paint technology has been evolving rapidly in recent years, which really expands your options. One thing that appeals to many parents is the increased availability of wipe-clean paints, and these are great for rooms like the kitchen and bathroom where kids make a lot of mess. Other variants, however, are great for artistic work.For instance, metallic paints in a wide range of hues can be used for detail work, making your home look palatial (if you have pet fish, move them to another room first, as the fumes can poison them). Chalk paint absorbs light for a very soft pastel-hued look. You can even get paint that turns a wall into a whiteboard for children to write or draw on.

Wallpapering with fabric

When it comes to wallpapering, don’t feel you have to stick to papers. Walls can also look great covered in stretched fabric, though you should always make sure that it’s fire-retardant. Don’t glue it as the glue will usually soak through and look bad. Instead, stretch and pin it with carpet tacks. Fabrics like cotton prints generally work best, but you can have velvet or satin walls if you want. You can even get kits that allow you to create your own tapestries.

Making murals

It’s always fun to paint murals, and they’re a great option for children’s rooms as they can provide the perfect backdrop for play. Painting a castle or a spaceship against a starry sky doesn’t take a lot of skill but will thrill your kids, especially if they get to be involved in the design. If you’re not confident about your abilities, try copying an existing piece of art by drawing a grid on the wall in pencil and using it to work out which section of the picture should go where.

You could even copy a picture drawn by your child. If you have older children, they could paint parts of the mural themselves, but don’t count on them having the patience to finish it.

Going over the edge

When you’re creating wall art, don’t feel you have to stop at the edges. Japanese traditional art of this kind often includes paintings of trees whose branches extend across the ceiling, carrying flowers and small birds with them. If you fit shutters over your windows you can see one picture when they’re open and add a secret element that completes it when they’re closed. It’s easy to measure for shutters and these days they’re designed to be simple to install. If you prime them properly, they will take paint the same way your walls do.

Adding art

There are lots of ways to add art to a room beyond the obvious approach of putting up framed paintings, posters or pictures your children have drawn. You could use stencils to create small murals too elaborate to design for yourself, you could use mirrors creatively to expand the apparent size of a room, or you could attach bands of ribbons that ripple when the windows are open. Maps – ancient and modern – can be beautiful to look at and are also a great teaching tool, and a family photograph, blown up to a large size, can make a wonderful centerpiece for your living room wall.

Once you get going, you’ll find the sky’s the limit, and your rooms will look amazing.

 

What fun it is to walk out into your own backyard and pick some basil for that night’s pasta dinner, fresh greens and veggies for a great salad, or some just-ripened strawberries. It’s convenient, it’s healthy, and it’s something the whole family can enjoy and do together.

If you don’t have the space to give over to furrowed rows of produce, or if you want to start small and see how it goes, you can do it all in a very small yard or even just in containers on your patio. It’s a wonderful way to grow tomatoes, zucchini and other summer squash, bell peppers, hot peppers, and many other kinds of vegetables as well as lemons, strawberries, and other fruit for a summer bounty.

Of course, while you’re growing your prize-winning produce, you don’t want to neglect your lawn. So do it right by calling a Georgia lawn care company to take care of it for you with experts who will keep it green and trouble-free and leave you time to do the fun stuff.

Select Spots in the Sun

The sunniest places you can find are what fruit and vegetables will need in order to grow and ripen. They need a minimum of six and preferably eight hours of direct sunlight every day. You may think you know what spots those are, but watch those areas periodically for a day or two to make sure trees, patio covers, or house eaves aren’t going to cast their shadows over the plants. One of the benefits of growing in containers is that as the sun changes its height and angle over the course of the coming months, you can move the pots to take advantage of it.

If you’ve got the space, you can keep all of the edible plants in one area, but there’s no reason why you can’t scatter them about in different areas of your yard. Be mindful that it is more convenient, though, to keep plants of one variety near each other so you’re sure to give them the same amount of water and food, and so insects are controlled properly and critters that like one kind of plant don’t have an easy route to another kind. (There are actually plants and flowers that do very well planted in proximity, and plants that don’t like each other at all. It’s more of an issue when you’re planting them directly in the garden, but something to consider when you’re planting in containers as well.)

 

Choose the Containers

Containers don’t have to be huge to accommodate vegetables, and herbs in particular will grow very well in small pots. Choose something standard or something quirky, because almost anything you like will suit the purpose as long as it already has drainage holes or you can drill them. It’s important that a container has sufficient drainage so excess water doesn’t accumulate and drown roots.

When making your selection, do be aware that dark-colored and metal pots absorb and retain heat and may make the soil too warm for some plants, particularly under the hot summer sun.

 

Here are size guidelines for containers:

• Tomatoes: one plant per five-gallon container, with room for staking or caging the growing plant and its fruit. The container depth should be no less than 24 inches.
• Zucchini and other summer squash: two plants per five-gallon container, with room for a trellis or cage to support the vines.
• Cucumbers: two plants per five-gallon container. No need for a support if you’re growing the bush rather than vining variety.
• Peppers: two plants per five-gallon container.
• Peas and green beans: you can sow seeds directly into a window-box style container that’s just nine inches deep. Pole beans will need a trellis, while bush beans won’t.
• Lettuces and spinach: any container that’s a minimum of six inches deep.
• Strawberries: just about any container will do because the plant has very shallow roots, but best is the vertical pot with pockets that is especially made for growing them and keeping the delicate fruit from laying on the soil.
• Dwarf lemon and other citrus trees: a five-gallon, 10- to 14-inch diameter container is fine for starting out a two-year old tree you buy at a nursery. You’ll want to transplant the tree when it gets larger, but beginning with a container that’s too big will make the moisture level hard to control.

Feed, Water, and Start Eating

Start using a water-soluble fertilizer about a month after planting. Weeds should be minimal in containers, but pull them as soon as you see them. Because container growing medium is clean, disease shouldn’t be much of a issue, either, but inspect regularly for insect damage and treat it promptly with an eco-friendly product made for edibles.

 

We have all been in the dilemma where we aren’t sure if we should attempt a minor project around the house, or call in a professional. We don’t know if it is worth the expense of hiring someone, versus doing it on our own with the risk of making costly mistakes.

The truth is, no matter how much money we have, we all tend to get a little cheap when something involves our home. We figure “If I have a basic understanding, why not do it myself?” It’s not like everyone’s got dollars running out of their ears, so there are some times we decide to put in the hard work in order to save an extra buck.

Many self-help Guru’s and financial success leaders will say that you should not undertake home repair jobs, for that time is better spent building your business or working a few additional hours at your job, thereby making you more money than what you would save doing it yourself. Others claim that a minor project (a construction job, for example) for which you have the time and ability to perform, is worth doing on your own. These debates have really been going on since…well forever!

The truth is each situation has to be judged on its individual merits. If the type of job you want done is something anyone could do and thus the professional is as qualified as you are, then you have nothing to lose to do it yourself. Be careful you don’t overestimate your skills. It’s good to be a well-rounded person, but be honest with yourself. Don’t be afraid of asking for help.

Hypochondriacs are constantly turning to a doctor for advice. Most people understand they don’t need to see a doctor for every single headache; they simply take a Tylenol and move on. Think of your small home projects in a similar way—you don’t necessarily need to call over an Atlanta demolition company to make a small adjustment to a wall. Most of the times, a handyman can take care of something like that and will charge much less than a contractor, so don’t be afraid to ask around. It probably isn’t a good idea to consult the construction company, for they will find some reason to convince you to hire them. I am sure you have friends and acquaintances who can offer suggestions. There are also a number of on-line forums that can help.

Since you do not run to the doctor for every cough, neither should you be calling in professionals for every repair job. However, when you feel you need help with a project, first consider the unlimited free Google searches you can conduct; there is so much information out there. Get creative and use common sense.

One final thought is to keep in mind that if you decide to hire someone to do a job for you, you must pay for both the material and for the labor. If you are not completely satisfied with the final outcome, you will have forked over a handsome amount. Compare yourself with the professionals. Do you really believe they will do that better a job? Don’t be afraid to ask to see some of their previous work.

 

 

The great thing about backyards is that they give us a lot of room for tinkering. Depending on the available surface, you can make new constructions and other additions. In the end, it is basically an empty property, and you can do anything you please with it. Nevertheless, most people will still use their backyard for rest and recreation. In the end, there is nothing better than spending some quality time outside.

This is precisely why we made a list of five luxurious options that can totally revamp your backyard and give a new, fresh spin to it!

Grotto

Instead of investing in high-tech pool pumps and other accessories, it is much better to make some additions to the pool itself. Having a pool is simply not enough; you have to do something with it! Grotto is an amazing option that allows you to have some intimacy. It is a perfect addition for young couples as it puts a lovable spin to an already romantic pool. You can even use the top of the grotto as a pool slide. I am sure your kids will love it! If you still need some pool pump equipment, you can check ForPumps store.

 Hedge

Now, I am not saying you should build a hedge maze but there are definitely several things you can do with hedges. Besides the obvious decoration of your backyard borders, you can also place them within the backyard itself. If you wish, you can use it for pathways or to place boundaries around pool area. The options are infinite, and they will instill a new life within the space.

 Relaxation area

Most families have a patio where they place a table and relax. However, if you wish to do something more luxurious and extravagant, you can create an entire relaxation area. It will be like a covered patio where you will be protected from a sudden rain or wind. This area should provide more options than a standard table plus chairs setup. For example, you can put a bed here together with a big-screen TV. You can recreate the living room without having to stay cooped up inside during summer.

 Treehouse retreat

If you are more of an adventurous type, you can go for a treehouse retreat. However, keep in mind that this option requires some time, especially if you do not have a big tree to support the construction. Basically, you can create an outdoor relaxation or dinner area on a tree. It is like a treehouse which needs a properly accessibility. If you wish, you can use it for guests or just to for relaxation. Due to its positioning, you will have an awesome view!

Barbecue area

The backyard is the perfect place for a barbecue. However, you can do much more with it than simply setting up a grill and firing it up. You can create an improvised outdoor kitchen. The main reason to do so is to have a covered area. Even if it starts raining, you can be certain that no meat will be lost. This is especially amazing for spring and autumn parties when weather quickly changes. The area will still be open from the sides so you can enjoy some fresh air. You can place fans on top of the construction to regulate the odors and smoke. Lastly, you can set up a table and chair so you can eat as soon as the food is finished.

 

Conclusion

A pool is the first thing that pops to our head when we talk about backyard luxuries. As you can see, there is much more you can do with this space. Just let your imagination run wild, and you will certainly find a perfect way of utilizing the area.