Archive for April, 2008
Design for collage kids
I will grantee you this post is not what you are thinking. This is not about dorm design but about a friend of mine and a contest they were involved in recently with some kids from a local state collage.
The contest involved designing the perfect collage guy home complete with huge couches, big screen TV’s and oh the ever popular beer pong tables yes more then one was required. I am shaking my head as I write this, but I will have to say that what they came up with actually looked good. The guys I know got advice from me and a few other people as to what they should do. Really the whole house is very well done and stylish, we all told them to put the beer pong tables in the basement along with any other weird drinking game stuff.
The point if this story is that you really never know what you may end up designing as an interior designer. Sometimes it will just be very strange.
Simple Saturday
Right now most people don’t have much money to spend, but soon those rebate checks will be out and you are suppose to spend them on stuff. Not bills, Hydroxycut or debt. If your one of those who are able to spend it on stuff I think I can help you out with a few simple ideas, that won’t break the bank.
Check out the dollar store, they always have some interesting and cheep things to buy. I have actually bought some of my artwork I have in my room from them. Most people don’t know the difference. Art work can add a mood to a room and works great to cover up that bare wall.
Yard sales are a great place to find simple accessories for your home. Someone trash is another persons treasure. My aunt is great at finding doors and windows at yard sales. She even once found a tractor. We live in the middle of no where so I’m not extremely surprised.
The point of this simple Saturday is that not everything has to cost hundreds of dollars to be worth something. With the artwork splurge on a more expensive frame, and no one will know you only paid $5 for it, unless you tell them of course.
Design and charity
Interior design is not all about the money, sometimes it’s about helping people who don’t have the money to get the job done or passably don’t’ even have a home. One of my classmates has taken on the task of finding a bus for sale so that she can redesign the inside for a church group. Not only does it get her some exposure and a great project for her portfolio but she’s helping people who need it. This church as over 300 youth members and they really need a good bus to travel to outings in. They also have a youth choir with 150 members. She’s got a great design in mind now all she needs is for them to get a bus.
Cool Your Home With Less Air Conditioning
There are many ways to cool your home where you can save energy and money. One way is to just open the windows. Of course many of us don’t like do this anyway so there are other options. One idea I really like is using window tinting. This can dramatically help to improve your homes energy efficiency and save you money.
I’m sure you are wondering where you can get this tint for your windows. Well Snap Tint has a great selection of not only Solar window tint, but decorative film and car tint. Most people I think will really like the Symphony Neutral tint that doesn’t look like a tint at all, but still reflects the sun away. This is a wonderful product for anyone who has large windows with a great view.
Stepping away from the solar tint we have decorative window film. This is not an energy saver, but for a feng shui tip, use it in your bedroom if you have closet mirrors facing the bed. This helps to stop the reflection and helps create a good balance in your bedroom. Decorative film can also be used in a bathroom, kitchen or along any glass surface.
Window tint is easy to install and does not cost much compared to the savings you will get. Warm sunlight though a window can raise the temperature of a home by 10 degrees or more. If you can block that sunlight your energy saves will cover much more then the cost of the window tint.
See the light and love it.
Have you ever walked into a home with a beautiful chandelier in the entry and thought wow this person has some class and must have some money. Guess what they might have class, but they may not always have money.
People judge you by what is in your home and what it looks like. Most people can’t tell a good dollar store find from a more expensive piece and the same goes with lighting. Most of the time with lighting you do need to spend a little more then you would for artwork at the dollar store, but you don’t need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a priceless chandelier, unless you have that much money to waste. For good lighting check out sites online or your local retailers to see what bargains you can find.
Lighting creates a mood and a feeling that is why when you see a chandelier you think money, you see warm light you think cozy and welcoming. If you see colored lights you thing fun and funky. Remember when looking at lighting think about the room it’s going to be in, what it will be used for and what you want that light to say to someone coming into your home.
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