Guest Post: Redesigning Your Home on a Budget

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Interior design, for many, can be a scary thought. Planning the layout and design of your home is something that needs time and care put into it to ensure your home is exactly how you wanted it and many people end up going way over budget. Here are a few helpful tips to keep you on track whilst designing your perfect home.

First off, you need to come up with a budget. You will need to consider how much you are willing to spend and how much money you have actually got to spend before you go ahead with buying your materials. Calculations of expenses for tools and materials need to be made, planning carefully what you are willing to spend on each item of furniture. This will give you an idea of the kind of design you are going for and more importantly, the kind of design you can afford.

Now you can source your materials and furniture to fit into your budget. Look at how you have divided your money and start to shop around for the right materials for you. You do not need to buy the materials straight away until you know where to find the cheapest price. Shop around for bargains online and in stores to ensure you will get the best prices.

Once you are certain of the products and furniture you want to buy, you will be more aware of the kind of price range and budget you are looking at. Of course, if you are confident that you have found the best price for a product then you should buy it, but be careful because a plan still needs to be drawn up for your room to give you an idea of the amount of furniture your space can accommodate.

Choose a Theme & Color Scheme
You should come up with a theme for the room you are going to redesign – look at color schemes and the type of style you will be going for in the room. This will help start you off on your project as you will have a clear understanding of what you are going for and the type of furniture and materials you need to buy. Look through some magazines or some online articles to get an idea of the kind of things you are looking for and what will suit your budget most.

Guest Post: Redesigning Your Home on a Budget
Photo Credit: Lowes

Measure the Space
Next is to come up with a plan for the room(s) you want to redesign. Measure the room and draw up a floor plan so that you can see how much space you are working with. For now, this can just be a bird’s eye view, but if you want to include more detail, draw a plan showing the height of your furniture and decorations to give yourself more of an understanding of the space you’ve got to work with. This will help you decide which furniture is going to be the best for your room.

Guest Post: Redesigning Your Home on a Budget
Photo Credit: Furniture From Turkey

Look at the sizes of the furniture which you have chosen and look at how you can most effectively utilise your space. Find measurements of the furniture which you will be using and draw them into your plan, try different rotations of the furniture and get a general idea of how the room is going to look in terms of size, space and aesthetics. This part is the most important and speaking from experience people that don’t plan their projects well, tend to go way over budget.

You need to keep a strict attitude towards the project to not only make sure that there is a definite completion date, but also to make sure you don’t end up spending a lot of time and money on the project only to be forced into defeat simply because you ran out of money.

Purchase Materials
When you feel confident that enough planning has been done for your project, you can now buy all your materials and prepare them for installation. Follow your plan and all should be well. You might find that there are a few minor things that you looked over in the planning and designing, although if you are thorough enough these occurrences can be minimal. Stick to a strict regime, but make minor changes to the design if you feel the need to and you will have the perfect room for you in no time.

Some people may find designing and planning interior design by themselves to be too much of a daunting task. If this is the case for you then you could always get a painter and decorator in to give you a help in hand, they may even be able to match your budget and keep things cheap!

{Brad Warmbold wrote this article on behalf of Butterworth Interiors, an Interior design and Decorating Company in Cheshire, UK. }

Oh Christmas Tree

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Decorating your Christmas tree is always so much fun. There are so many ways to style it up for the holidays. From different color schemes to unique ornaments, creating a masterpiece isn’t so hard to do. Here are some really nice ideas I found from Real Simple.

By keeping to one color scheme, you will create a modern looking tree with high style. Try using different size ornaments as well as different types to create interest.
OH Christmas Tree

Fun and whimsy, this tree simply makes you smile. Choose a theme and go wild.
OH Christmas Tree

For a more sophisticated look, stick to silver or gold and add a color. Metallics always give colors a classic feel.
OH Christmas Tree

If elegant is what you want, than one metallic should work.
OH Christmas Tree

Guest Post: Small Bathroom Remodeling Ideas

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Even small bathrooms can be remodeled to look modern. With a little creativity and some effort, you can even create the illusion of a larger bath space without completely renovating the room. Here are several small bathroom remodeling ideas.

Change the Sink
To make your small bathroom appear larger, switch to a pedestal sink instead of a large vanity. This not only opens up the space, but gives you more room to move around.

Guest Post: Small Bathroom Remodeling Ideas
Photo Credit: Home Renovations, About.com

Use Light Colors
Light colors, such as pale blues, yellows and pinks, open up a small room and make the area appear larger. This simple change doesn’t cost a lot of money and can instantly transform your bathroom into a more relaxing space.

Guest Post: Small Bathroom Remodeling Ideas
Photo Credit: View Home Trends

Switch Up the Fixtures
This inexpensive remodeling idea allows you to give your small bathroom a new look without taking up any additional space. If your bathroom fixtures are old and outdated, visit your local hardware store to find new fixtures that will breathe new life into your bathroom.

Guest Post: Small Bathroom Remodeling Ideas
Photo Credit: Homes House

Install New Lights
Over-the-mirror lighting is harsh, and can make the space seem even smaller. To give your bathroom an airy, open feel switch your light fixtures for ambient light sources. The whole room will appear brighter!

Guest Post: Small Bathroom Remodeling Ideas
Photo Credit: Homesqu

Remodeling a small bathroom can be tricky, but with these simple ideas you can transform your small space into a room that appears much larger than it actually is.

{This is a sponsored post from Henderson Properties, a full service real estate agency proudly serving residents in North Carolina & South Carolina.}

Planning a Vacation at Home

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When life has stressed us out beyond belief, the only thing we want to do is escape. When you are married, you just want a little down time with that person you love. However, taking the time off of work is not possible all of the time and can lead you down the dark road of feeling down, caged in. So remedy your situation with a compromise and create your own romantic getaway at home.

Just like any vacation, you need to plan the days you will be escaping from life. If you work, it may have to be Friday night through Sunday night. Arrange for the kids to be elsewhere so you have the house to yourself. Then, you get to work on planning!

The Invite
I’m not the most romantic person sometimes, but I am creative and I want to be romantic so I work at it. To introduce the idea to your spouse, leave an envelope with something that resembles a plane ticket in it. It should include when you will “depart” for the fun and where your “destination” is. You can print these types of things out with your printer on card stock. Browse for templates online, they are out there. Crafting stores may have pre-printed options that you just fill in. Tell them to pack a suitcase for the weekend and leave it by the front door.

Guest Post: Planning a Vacation at Home

The First Night
Think in terms of relaxing. Order dinner in and decorate the patio table or just your dining table to reflect how you feel. Doesn’t really have to be fancy. A tablecloth, a vase of roses or favorite flowers, pull out the china, chill a bottle of wine or sparkling juice, a candle, manage a nice place setting (look it up if you don’t know how), maybe a mint like Ande’s on the napkin for after dinner, and put your take out in serving dishes. Play some nostalgic music and ask your partner to dance with you for a moment. Then, enjoy your meal. Of course, this all helps the atmosphere, but cleaning up the house beforehand makes it feel a little more commercial.

Guest Post: Planning a Vacation at Home

Guest Post: Planning a Vacation at Home

Once you have eaten, cuddle up with a fire in the fireplace and watch an action flick. Romance movies tend to make women cry and feel a little deflated. Guys just can’t live up to those movie characters and their stories! Ha! It is a proven fact that watching something that gets the heart pounding and the adrenaline going will keep you both from feeling sluggish afterward.

Take the time to pour a warm bath with a lot of bubbles. Play music and light small tealight candles around the edge. Just be careful not to get too close or catch a towel in the flames. Have your bedroom decorated to simulate a hotel. Swap out your current comforter for an older one in the closet to make it different. Use white sheets and pillowcases and pull them tight over your bed. (That is one of the greatest things about sleeping in a hotel!) Turn on the bedside lamps to a low glow and have your suitcases on the floor. Bring a television in, if you don’t already have one and spray a clean scent around the room.

Guest Post: Planning a Vacation at Home
Photo Credit: Hotel Book

Use removable wallpaper along a bare wall or one that could be cleared. You can get this printed with a photo of your choice, so pick a photo of your honeymoon or find a database shot of a place you both want to visit. This has a sticky back like unto a Post-It note and can be put up and taken down for future use. Lay out traveling pamphlets over the dresser and just unplug the phone! There is no need for wake up calls in the morning. Lay out fluffy towels for bath use and even little soaps and shampoos, if you feel like making that extra effort. Search a place you want to visit for photos to recreate the same sort of look.

The First Day
Get up. Don’t allow yourself to sleep all day. Make breakfast together and enjoy a mug of cocoa or coffee. Turn on the fireplace and talk about anything for an hour while you eat. Then, enjoy a shower and get ready for the day. Have a place in mind that you can drive to, that won’t take all day, and get out of your…er…hotel. Try to make it a new place you have never experienced before. That is how it would be if you were on a real vacation.

Guest Post: Planning a Vacation at Home

Take a picnic lunch with you and share that while doing your excursion. Then, come home and refresh and take your special someone out to dinner at the place you met or had your first date. Try to even sit at the same table you had shared. Even more fun is to role play. Secure a reserved table but one of you sit at the bar. Come up and offer to buy them a drink. End up eating dinner at your table and pretend you are meeting for the first time. Afterwards, go for a stroll through downtown or in a park.

The Last Day
Leaving your vacation spot is always difficult. Filling the suitcase to head for home can be a little depressing. However, spend the day unpacking your suitcases and doing some laundry. Just a nice quiet day together is the great way to end your vacation. If it is possible, go have a massage together. Just be ready to face the work week with recharged batteries.

By setting your scene and playing the game you can really enjoy yourself for little money out of your pocket. Having a vacation a few times a year is good for the mind and the relationship. Set your decorations aside and use them again next time. That way subsequent trips cost you less! No matter how you relax, do it together and enjoy life!

Written by Maddy Olsen