How To Maximize the Potential of Your Area Rug

When you’re decorating a space, there are several factors to think about. General appearance, feel, level of comfort, and placement are all important things to keep in mind. Adding an area rug to a room can enhance the space in several ways. Knowing how to maximize the potential of your area rug will greatly enhance the look and feel of your living quarters.

Acoustics

When you’re setting up a room, it’s important to consider how sound travels. Many open spaces can echo, making them feel cold and less lived-in or comfortable. Placing an area rug with an appropriate thickness can alleviate or dampen the unwanted sounds.

Aesthetics

Choosing an area rug with colors and patterns may seem like a daunting task. Take it a step at a time and consider the surrounding furniture. If the sofa or bedding is patterned, then selecting a solid-colored rug is best. Conversely, if the furniture is solid-colored, then the rug should be patterned.

Picking vibrant colors will make the rug pop. Match the furniture color to the secondary color in the area rug and the third color in the rug to the walls or drapes within the room. Choosing a lively color to coincide with the other colors in the room will tie it all together and give the décor a thoughtfully calculated appearance.

Comfort

It’s important for an area rug to serve its purpose in regard to acoustics and aesthetics, it also needs to be comfortable and fitting. When you’re deciding how to maximize the potential of your area rug, ensure the material is ideal for the space. For example, in a bedroom, you may want something like a soft, plushy cotton. In a high-traffic area such as a common room, you may select something synthetic, since it’s a little firmer with higher durability. A sunroom may warrant a rug that’s more indoor-outdoor quality and made with a material such as nylon or polyester.

Optical Illusion

Proper placement of an area rug can make a room feel larger than it actually is. Lighter colors can create the illusion of a bigger room, and keeping the rug away from the walls will also enhance the appearance of a larger area. Furniture should overlap on the rug, but stick to only covering one or two sides.

When you’re choosing an area rug, it’s important to consider the space and its intention. Use lighter colors for smaller spaces, thicker rugs to dampen unwanted and traveling sounds, and patterns and supporting colors to catch the eye. Each space and rug pairing will be different. Personally customizing the area rug for your specific space is always a viable option.

Lighten Up: 4 Ways to Brighten Up Your Home Without Running Up Your Electric Bill

During the winter months, shorter days can lead to darkened homes. Achieving a bright, well-lit home doesn't mean that you have to turn on all of the lights and run up your electric bill. Try these tips to light up your house and improve your mood immediately.

Repaint Your Walls

If your home is painted in dark colors, this can make your whole home feel darker. Try painting your walls in a light color, like an off-white or cream. This helps reflect the light that is in the room, which brightens it up immediately. If your walls are already painted in a neutral color, you may try painting the ceiling a shade lighter. This will help bounce the light around the room.

Add Some Mirrors

Mirrors are a great way to instantly brighten up your home. When you hang a mirror, it doubles the amount of sunshine that streams in through your windows as it bounces off the reflective surface. For best results, hang a large mirror or a collage of smaller mirrors directly across from your window.

Consider Installing New Windows

Windows are the best way to bring natural sunlight from the outside world to the inside of your home. If your home is older, your windows may not be energy efficient or as clear as you would like. Having new windows installed can brighten up a room and make it appear larger. If your home doesn't have enough windows, you can utilize new window installation to help brighten up a dark room.

New styles of windows can also help you save on your heating or cooling bills. When the windows are installed, any leaks in the exterior of the window can be resolved. Modern styles of windows are also insulated and designed to keep cold air outdoors and warm air indoors.

Rethink Your Curtains

If you have heavy curtains, you may want to rethink them. Try swapping out your heavy curtains for a sheer variety. This will allow more sunlight to flow into the room. If you need to purchase light or sound blocking curtains for sleeping purposes, make sure to start your day by opening and typing back your curtains to allow as much sunlight in as possible.

If your home is dark, you don't need to feel like the only solution to brighten it is by acquiring more lights. Try these simple tips to make your home feel brighter, and enjoy your home all winter long.

Author Bio: Anita is a freelance writer from Denver, CO. She studied at Colorado State University, and now writes articles about health, business, family and finance. A mother of two, she enjoys traveling with her family whenever she isn't writing. You can follow her on Twitter @anitaginsburg.

How to Decorate your Home for Christmas

With Christmas just around the corner, it’s once again time to decorate your home in accordance with the holiday spirit. However, with all the cooking and preparing of presents in the way, it can be a bit difficult to focus on decorating. Therefore, we’ve created this Christmas home decoration guide to give you a helping hand.

Below you will find tips on how to decorate all of the rooms inside your home and achieve that beloved Christmas aesthetic.

Choose your desired color scheme

Choosing the right decoration color scheme for your home can be a bit frustrating especially when there are so many great options to choose from.  And considering that there are many who decorate each room in a different color to evoke a different mood, choosing color combinations becomes even harder.

The classic color schemes that look good in almost any household they’re used are white gold, silver and white, red and green. 

However as of recently, black and cashmere brown have become quite popular as well. When going for a black decor it’s best the ornaments are of the glossy kind so that they can reflect light off them. 

Cashmere brown on the other hand goes well very with other colors such as dull matte gold and pearl creams. 

Picking the right Christmas tree

When picking a real Christmas tree for you home, there are certain details you must be on the lookout for.

First, make sure the tree is healthy and will last longer. To do this simply run your finger through its branches. If no needles fall straight away, this is an indication that the tree will last longer. Avoid buying Christmas trees which are thin and dry and have falling needles.

If you’re wondering which species of Christmas trees to choose, we recommend going with either a Fraser fir or a Nordmann fir. These two types of trees can handle heavy decorations and also tend to last longer than other species when looked after at home.

Decorating the living room

The living room is usually the heart of each home, especially during the holidays. A great way of decorating your living space for Christmas is to give it a botanical aesthetic.

Buy some hyacinth vases and populate them with white hyacinths. These will give the room a nice fragrant scent and will also work as great eye candy. Also, consider decorating your walls with eucalyptus to really make them pop out.

Since the living room is the area where the Christmas tree goes, you will have to deal with its decorations as well. You can decorate the tree in the color scheme of your liking. Just make sure it matches that of the rest of the room. 

If you have a fireplace in your living room avoid real plants and instead opt for faux ones. And try to keep your Christmas tree as far away from the fireplace as possible.

Decorating the dining room

The main focal point of the dining room decoration should be the table. First, choose the tablecloth, we recommend going with white. Then start decorating the table, place some greenery in the middle like flowers and berries. And last but not least put up some fancy candles.

If you want to put the candles near the greenery, firstly, place them in jars to prevent any spontaneous fires.

As for the color scheme, go with gold. This way the with the help of the candles, your dining room will shine in a gold color.

Decorating the hallway

Since the hallway is the first room your guests will see once they go inside your home, it should be decorated in a way to set the stage.

A great way to do this is to first place garlands around the inside and outside of the front door.

Then, wrap your stairs’ banisters with faux green decor and hang some red baubles on them.

Decorating the bedroom

When it comes to the bedroom, go with a lighter decoration.

Perhaps add a chain of twinkling fairy lights and a small faux Christmas tree.

You can always go the extra mile and hang paper stars and snowflakes over the bed as well, giving the room a whimsical feel.

Decorating your outdoor area

The outside of your house will be what everyone passing by will see, so make it count. You have two options here, either go guns blazing and completely embrace the festive spirit or take a more subtle approach.

If you’re planning to go all out, hang white paper star lights from your windows or scatter icicle string lights throughout the exterior of your home. For the icicle string lights, you can charge them using a plug point you put inside your garage.

Conclusion

It’s always best to start decorating your home for Christmas at least a month in advance. Because the longer you wait the harder it will be. After all, the Christmas holiday is that time of year when most people spend their time with their friends and family and free time is scarce. So take some time off around the end of November and if you need any tips on how to decorate your home, simply follow this guide.

Author Bio: Desiree Thomson is a gardening and landscaping expert working at Fantastic Gardeners. When she’s not running around in her back garden, she can be seen blogging for various online outlets or fixated on decluttering her house.

Eco-Friendly Additions to Incorporate When Building a New Home

When you are working on a new home and looking to be environmentally conscious, you need to figure out what eco-friendly additions you can add to your home. There are many things that you can incorporate in a home to be good to the planet. You should talk with your contractor to come up with options that might work for you and your home.

Look for Ways to Repurpose Items and Use Them in the Home

There are items out there that are looking to be repurposed, such as barn boards and other pieces of wood that are no longer needed. You can take those items and repurpose them as shelving or decor in their new home in order to eliminate some of the waste that is on the planet. There are also options for investing in insulation that is made of recycled materials and furniture that has been repurposed.

Consider the Lighting Situation and Use Natural Light as Much as Possible

There are certain types of light bulbs that are more eco-friendly than others, and you should figure out how to incorporate those bulbs in your new home. You should also find smart ways of letting natural light into your new home so that you won’t have to use electricity as much when trying to keep the place lit. You might look for lights that you can install in your home that come with a dimmer so that you can adjust them to let off just as much light as you need.

Consider Different Types of Power Options

When you’re setting up a new home, you need to figure out how you are going to power everything in that home. You might look into some of the solar options that are available and find ways of creating your own power at your home. You might also look into wind power and other energy options that are available so that you do not feel guilty when using electricity.

When you’re building a new home, you have the opportunity to create a home that is eco-friendly and beautiful. You have the chance to put together a home that is responsible and that will be a good place to live. The earth is valuable, and each person should figure out how they are going to make their home eco-friendly and sustainable.