e

How to Carry Your Home Design Concept from Interior to Exterior

Make your home’s decorating flow seamlessly from your interior’s to your exteriors. Here are some designer tips that really do work!


Photos By: Osmond Designs

If you’ve recently invested time and money into re-designing the interior of your home, then there is no doubt that you’re enjoying the results. A newly designed home that reflects your lifestyle and personality helps to create a real sense of belonging and uniqueness in your home. While plenty of attention is paid to a home’s interior, the outdoor space is often seen as an after-thought rather than an opportunity to carry on with your design vision.

Rather than stop at the interior, why not look for ways to take your home design concept from interior to exterior and create a complete space that fits all your needs and wants. Here are some ways you’ll be able to create that design flow from indoors to outdoors.

Mimic the Same Types of Materials

One tip is to mimic the same types of materials both indoors and outdoors. Take, for example, counter surfaces. If you have used a lot of natural stone in the interior of your home in the kitchen and bathrooms, then why not create that same look outdoors.

Natural stone veneer from Kafka Granite can be the perfect way to create show-stopping landscaping details, walkways, and pathways. You can use the same color scheme as the indoors, so it won’t feel jarring as you move through the house into the yard.

Build a Patio, Porch, or Deck That Acts as Living Area

Another way to help create flow is to build a deck, patio, or porch that acts as outdoor living space. The idea is that you create the same sort of comfortable and welcoming area for entertaining and relaxing outdoors as exists indoors. The area doesn’t have to be massive; it just needs a designated space for seating.

Stick with the Same Color Palette

While you may be tempted to go for something bold and wild in your outdoor space, if this isn’t the same color palette as the interior of your home, it won’t feel connected. Ideally, you want to stick to the same color palette and just use various tones and depths to create interest and drama.

Install Glass Doors to the Outdoors

You also want to make the outdoors feel accessible. Nothing is more welcoming than large glass doors. Let’s face it, they invite you out there since you’re getting a full view of the backyard at all times. Perhaps you already have glass doors, but they are on the small side. You can make a pretty big impact by enlarging the size of the doors and creating a grander entrance/exit.

Design Flow Doesn’t Need to Stop at the Outdoors

When creating a design flow through your house, there is no reason that the outside walls should act as barriers. Instead, look for ways you can carry that same design style and vision throughout the exterior and really perfect that indoor-outdoor style of living that is so very popular.

e

Choosing the Perfect Front Door

It may be tricky to choose the perfect front door for your home, so we’ve put together an informative infographic to help you make the right choice!

Your front door should promise your family a place of security and comfort. It should welcome guests and present a pleasant face to friends and strangers alike as they approach. While firmly denying access to those who are unauthorized to enter, the front door should also provides smooth entry into the home when appropriate. If your front door fails to do any of these things, it may be time to replace it. Take a look at the infographic below to learn more about how to match a door to the style and architecture on your property. There’s a beautiful door out there to complete the welcoming atmosphere of your home.

The Perfect Front Door For Your Home

Make Sure it Matches Your Home

Depending on the style of your home, your front door should always match your existing exterior decor colors, style, and also complement your landscaping. Don’t rush trying to choose the right front door since this is an element of your home that will stay, at least for a while. There are many homeowners that have opted to make statements with their front doors using bright hues such as China red, bubblegum pink and bright turquoise. This may not be your style, but whatever you choose make sure it is safe, sturdy, and well insulated!

Copy Your Neighbours

Take a look around your neighbourhood and see what others have done with their front doors. Have you ever taken a stroll around the neighbourhood and noticed one house’s exterior decor stands out and looks like it came from out of space compared to the rest of the homes? You don’t want to be this homeowner, so make sure your home’s decor matches with the rest of the neighbourhood. You can’t mimic a tuscan style while you live in northern Canada or you can’t mimic a log home style while living at the beach. Take a walk, take some photos, and get ideas for your new front door!

Get Ideas Online

Websites such as Pinterest, Instagram, Houzz, and also various interior decor blogs, are full of exciting and creative ideas for home decor and architecture. Spend a few days getting inspiration and saving photos of you like and what you think will look great on your home. Houzz features a smart new feature where there is a price tag on everything in the photo which makes it easy to see where something was purchased and how you can get your hands on it. You can also always leave comments in the comment section and the person that designed the home is always willing to answer and help!

 

e

Why Cities Are Switching To LED Streetlights

Over the last several years, more and more cities all across the USA have opted to exchange their traditional incandescent streetlights for much more efficient and durable LEDs. Not only small towns and communities but also giants like Los Angeles and New York.


Photo: Ilandscapin

When you take into account the millions in potential savings, it is no wonder they decided to undertake the massive changes. However, the process can be taken even further into the ‘green’ and eco-friendly direction. Solar streetlights like these https://www.streetlights-solar.com/solar-street-lighting.html not only benefit from the durability and effectiveness of LED light fixtures but also use solar energy to power those LEDs, further saving both money and electricity. But, what are the advantages of the LED light fixtures over the regular ones?

LEDs Reduce the Light Pollution

The exact feature which was often taken against LED light fixtures for the indoors now seems to help them be the better option for the outdoors. Namely, the directional nature of these light fixtures means that the light emitted is pointed to where it can be used by the people – down.

On the other hand, another lighting idea is that incandescent lights disperse the light in all directions, meaning that they add to the light pollution. If you have never heard of light pollution, look up at the sky at night. Can you see the stars? How many? What about the Milky Way? If you can’t see hundreds of stars, the main reason is the light we are surrounded by – the light pollution. The biggest offender are the regular street lights.

However, with LEDs, this problem is significantly reduced, as the light is only directed to the useful areas, deliberately avoiding pointing it upwards. The LED technology has evolved, so it can be omnidirectional, just like other light sources, but the experts make a conscious effort to avoid light pollution.

Energy Savings

The most important reason to make the transition into the LED light fixtures for a local government is most certainly the cost savings. If you use incandescent lights to transform your space at your house, you most likely use the 75-100W ones. However, an equivalent LED bulb will only consume somewhere between 14 and 20W. That is a five-fold reduction per light bulb. If you calculate that for the whole house with at least 20 light bulbs and for the duration of a year, it comes down to some significant savings.

No matter how much home use of LEDs is important and how much it saves money and energy, it cannot be compared to the massive savings big cities can expect. Los Angeles’ roughly 150,000 light fixtures have been exchanged to the tune of $7 million of savings, whereas an even more ambitious New York’s program exchanged 250,000 for a staggering $14 million savings in maintenance and energy consumption.

However, as mentioned before, the savings could have been even higher if they had had enough vision and forward thinking to implement solar streetlight solutions. However, it is at least a step in the right direction.

Durability

A lot of people who have been trying to save electricity will gladly point to CFL bulbs as an equivalent to LEDs in terms of savings. While it is true that they are comparable to LEDs in terms of energy consumption, they are nowhere near when it comes do durability.

The standard incandescent light bulb has a life expectancy of around 1200 hours, which can last for about a year. CFL lights greatly improve that with around 8000 hours, which is about 7 years. However, an LED has an impressive 25,000 hour lifespan – enough to last for 20 years without changing. When applied to the scale of the big cities like LA and NY, the savings are more than obvious.

e

Amp up Your Home with Our Designer Approved Trends

To be honest, interior designing is not a cup of tea. It always looks simple but is a little complicated yet interesting procedure that involves a lot of tricks and techniques. Many of us often have no idea where to start decoration from If you are one of them, here are some useful decor tips approved by interior designers:

 

Tip#1: Artworks for Your Rooms


Photo: Amanda Nisbet

It is easy to bring home some great artworks from the schools. If you are a child or teenager, participate in drawing classes warmly and have some marvelous artworks for your bedrooms. You must remember that putting them up on your cabinet is not going to work. Give a glittering and beautiful look to your rooms because artworks are a good addition to interior designing. It is a way of transforming a room, and can make you feel nice and amazing. Once you have considered the mood of the rooms, then next step is to find the right kind of artworks. All of the pieces should be hanged at the eye level for greater impression.

Tip#2: Use Different Colors to Create Variety


Photo: Amanda Nisbet

The use of different colors to create variety is a wonderful idea. If you are investing handsome amount for home decoration, just remember that you don’t need to spend all of the money on the same paint colors. A lot of ways are there to use colors that create special effects in your rooms. For the best ideas, it is good to consult an interior designer. A white ceiling can make rooms look precious when adjusted with red or other dark colors. Curtains, cupboards, furniture, and walls etc. everything has to be beautiful and attractive for maximum exposure.

Tip#3: Place Medium-Sized Furniture

For those who have a taste of big sized furniture, my recommendation is to go with medium sized furniture items. If your rooms are small, then obviously bigger sized beds, sofas, tables etc. aren’t of any use. It is up to you of how you want to decorate your rooms and what’s your budget. Investing in medium sized furniture is not only money saving but also this saves a lot of your room’s space, giving an edge to the overall beauty of the rooms. Be careful to hang newly acquired art too low or too high on your artwork at the correct height.

Tip#4: Rugs Should Fit Your Rooms


Photo: Alykhan Velji Design

Many of us have been crazy for rugs when it comes to decorate the bedrooms. If you own so many things, minimize the appearance by keeping your walls simple. Always remember that you should not put anything on your walls because you should see whether this looks good or not. Too many items can clutter up your home, making it look odd and boring. Rugs should always fit your rooms and the overall beauty of the home. For this, you can involve your children in cleaning up time and they could organize toys in a way that is most suitable for them.

Tip#5: Proper Lighting is Must

This is nothing I can make you realize because everyone knows the significance of proper lighting. It is crucial in spaces such as bathrooms and kitchen, as well as storerooms. Make sure you have either fancy or simple lights to for each and every portion of your house, with nothing giving a look of being darkened.

An easy way to make your space look twice the size is by having great lighting or simply changing your light bulbs. A room with dim lights or not enough lighting can look dark, gloomy, and a lot smaller. If you focus on brightening up dark corners you will be surprised at what a difference it makes. You can instantly make your room look a lot more spacious without having to increase your home’s size!
e

6 Signs Your House Is Just Waiting to Be Robbed

According to FBI reports, every minute a home in America is burglarized. When you plan to decorate the house, you obviously spend lots of money. Try to understand that you also need to be attentive towards its complete safety and security. Thieves never look much beyond the opportunities that they see, and may be are ready to rob your house, making all the family members suffer.

Signs Your House Is Just Waiting to Be Robbed

Here are 6 signs your house is just waiting to be robbed and needs your immediate attention.

1. Trash barrels are out — days before pickup

If you have kept the trash cans outside the front door, and the day for trashing is Monday, this clearly indicates that you aren’t home on weekends. Beware to not leave the boxes even when they are full of garbage. It is okay if your plan is to go out for an event, just don’t make it known to everyone.

2. You’ve got a lot of big bushes

Entrances shielded by trees and shrubs or that tall privacy fences are a way to provide burglars complete cover they always need for fiddling with a lock or for force opening your doors. If your garden area is full of bushes, it is time to remove them all as everything has to be clearly visible. Thieves love to hide themselves in tall bushes. To avoid any uncertain situation, you should not have overgrown grass. Keep the garden plants look fresh and medium-sized.

3. There are windows on your garage doors

Do you have windows on your garage doors? Obviously, this is a sign that thieves can arrive as burglars are offered easy access to your home due to these doors. Survey reports have suggested that in different parts of the world, almost 70% of home invaders peek in garage windows to see if the homeowner’s car is inside. Another 9% gets in the green light and enters homes through the garage doors. So, why don’t be careful!

4. You have a cat

If you have a car or window decal signifying that you have a cat, thieves find it to be a welcoming sign. They can easily assume that this can be the entry point to your house. Don’t leave the windows open, and don’t try to allow the cats wander inside and outside during the night houses. Experts suggest that a yappy dog is best to prevent theft because they bark and make the most noises.

5. Your name is on the mailbox

Your name is on the mailbox? If so, the burglars can call to see if you are at home. It is an easy way to recognize your identity. You should not leave your name or number on the mailbox—never ever.

6. Your neighborhood is full of rental properties

Living in an area where neighborhood is full of rental properties is a sign that strangers can be around all the time. It is commonly thought that renters aren’t trustable individuals until or unless they have been verified by the police of the area. If you have neighbors who have rented the house, be very careful.

Keeping in mind the above, you can definitely avoid any of the situations when you and your house has to suffer from theft.