Home Blog Arts: November 2009

Monday, November 30, 2009

Fiberglass Door Maintenance

Fiberglass Door

Although fiberglass doors are impervious to extreme weather conditions and to various chemical, waters, and other factors that may wear away your door, they still need to be given maintenance every now and then, to keep the door in fine working and looking order.

So what are the main benefactors of a fiber based door starting to break down over time? Well firstly, fiberglass doors will scratch and chip by accidental hitting or scraping certain objects firmly against the doors surface. These types of doors can also be damaged by the sun constantly baking against it, which will cause the surface of the door to begin to peel back.

It isn't too difficult of a fix, in fact, when you buy a fiberglass door they usually provide you with a fix-it yourself kit to keep your door in proper order, or you can buy a kit at a local hardware store. These are mainly for minor injuries. For major injuries, I would suggest hiring a specialist to make the repairs, but with such a strong durability length, most stores provide customers with 25 year or lifetime warranties when you buy a fiber glass based door.

If you do wish to repaint the door and to make it look more beautiful and new, it is highly important you clean off any particles or dust that may already be on the door. This should be done with a special fiber glass cleaner you can find at any hardware store. In conclusion, always refer to your doors user manual when it comes time to make custom repairs to your fiberglass door, or make sure that you buy a door with a lifetime or 25-year or more warranty for free repairs or replacements
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rick_M._Zablocki

Considering the Services of a Garden Designer

If you think that you are not the perfect individual to design your own garden and need some assistance then you must consider the services of a professional garden designer. They are a wise option to consider as they have all the information which is required for designing an attractive garden. They know what spots are better for shady and daylight plants, what would be the schematic designs of the garden, which stones and pebbles should be applied and specifically what type of water elements would be added for making a garden look more attractive yet fascinating.

Keeping a garden designer is beneficial in a sense of saving both time and money. It reduces efforts and woes at your part as well. The things you want to look in a garden designer are experience, work abilities and his knowledge towards all sorts of flowers and plants. He or she should pay attention to what your needs and desires are. A garden designer should be a better listener for that cause. He or she should carefully jot down what your hopes and expectations are. After hearing to what you wish, a garden designer should advice what things are positive and what is impossible to carry out.

More of the ideas which could be implemented depend on the location and site where the garden is to be made. It would start with an elaborative measurement of the area so that it could be observed of what planting could be done. The soil should be examined to figure out what shrubs will be suitable for it to sustain and what will not be. A few other things such as the water providing system and the light arrangements should be considered as well.

There could be a need of certain changes in the garden which you want to design. The soil might not work out for some of the plants, the drainage system might not be as efficient, and there might be some issues with the length and the height of the plants also. These problems can happen once or twice a year. Make a note of all these things and make sure the garden designer you hire knows all these points as well.

A garden designer should help you with all the information of plants and flowers. This is the field he or she should be an expert because it is going to save you plenty of time and hardship. Your garden designer should tell you what flowers, pebbles or water themes would work out best with the location and lighting scheme.

You also need to make sure that the person you hire for the garden work has enough idea about places where gardening elements and tools are available at cheap or reasonable rates as it would save you cost sharing in buying any expensive material.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Diarioti

Simple Tips For Designing a Rock Garden

Rock gardens are characterized by ultimate beauty and sense of pleasure and sophistication. They are the most amazing thing to observe. We have plenty of things which we overlook in nature made out of stones and rocks. It would be creative enough to have a combination of both of them in your own backyard garden. You need to consider a mindset for the design and the elements through which you could carry out your rock garden. It needs to be taken care that you read plenty of books or visit particular websites in order to understand the whole phenomenon for rock gardening.

You need to make sure whatever plan you come up with is valid and sure. Once you start working on it, evenness and distribution wouldn't matter either. It is going to give your garden a fake look. Go for some textures and shapes instead of keeping it plain, and remember, redesigning a rock garden is not an easy task. It takes a lot of effort and time consumption to put the structures of the stone together. It is also followed that the gardeners who keep a rock garden, hardly make any changes to it that is because the design should be kept the same for as many years as possible.

You can design your rock garden by following simple steps. First, determine the location and the site where you want it to be placed. Try a natural slope and direction where it should be exposed to the maximum light intensity. Secondly, decide what plants and shrubs you want to include in it. Think convenient. Plant those flowers and herbs which you know are available all time of the year and which would bloom and flourish giving your garden a refreshing look.

Go for the rock theme you want to put in your garden next. Decide separate places for various kinds of planting. If you love plants which need loads of sunlight, for instance, you would need to choose the spot where the sun shines the most or if you like shady grasses or flowers you would have to leave the lightless spots for them. It would be a good choice if you leave spot for both kinds of plants and flowers because it will be a great deal of work if you realize you want to experiment with shade loving plants after all the years you have been having the ones which require more sunlight.

You should also keep in mind about what paths and ways you want in your rock garden. They should be made at the very first spot instead of keeping them the last thing to be done after you have decided all the elements of the garden. You can also select small river rocks and pebbles to add up to the garden bed.

You can make your rock garden as much happening as you want. Add water components, woodwork, or any elegant furniture if you like. This would provide you with a handsome space for a better look for your house
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Diarioti

Unbelievable: Jackie VonTobel

I can't contain my excitement: Jackie VonTobel (of Jackie VonTobel Home ) just launched her new fabric line & online store today!!!!! You HAVE to check it out -oh my gosh her things are SO BEAUTIFUL!! http://www.jackievontobel.com/

Her designs are too pretty for words... But I'll try of course! ;)

Everything is so fresh & energetic& happy!!!:

Lots of them are whimsical takes on the classics: enlarged florals & toile-like patterns (The design below is just perfection... It reminds me of a modern version of one of my Grandma's plates... Oh how I need it!)...

...chinoiserie in unexpected colors...

beautiful peacocks, huge paisleys with an enormous amount of white space ...

...Cheerful graphic patterns that are still curvy enough to be super-pretty. (Sometimes graphic patterns can be a bit too much for me & feel a bit trendy but not these!)

I could seriously find a spot for every one of her fabrics & pillows in my house. (I would love a closet full of her pillows to switch in & out seasonally. Just one of these would make a room!) You can choose to go with organic cotton or eco-friendly linen, depending upon the look & feel you're after.

She uses so many different color palettes & here are images of just a few:

.... had to share the greens & grays of course!!! But this blue too (below) - oh my goodness!!!

Anyway, you've got to check it out!! I am in love and cannot wait to use some of these for projects!!!

xoxo,

lauren

all images from jackievontobel.com

Cómo aprovechar un salón de muy pocos metros

Lo primordial en un salón de pocos metros es aprovechar al máximo el espacio y potenciar la luz natural. Los colores claros -en paredes, tapicerías, puertas y suelos-, los muebles bajos y de reducidas dimensiones, son grandes aliado

Un buen recurso también es utilizar muebles funcionales y prácticos. Este salón, por ejemplo, cuenta con una mesa de centro que se levanta y baja a voluntad, a través de sus piernas y altura regulable, y puede, por lo tanto ser utilizado como mesa de centro o mesa de comedor, según la ocasión.

Detrás del sofá, se ha aprovechado un antiguo conducto de humos, para instalar en la pared unas gruesas planchas de roble teñido que cumplen la función de una biblioteca.

Para obtener más luz, las paredes y el sofá son de tonos claros, y las cortinas son transparentes. El resto de la decoración es suave y femenino: el sofá decorado con cojines de seda pastel, y en el suelo, una alfombra de pelo de vacuno teñidos de fucsia.

Cómo aprovechar un salón de muy pocos metros

Paredes para niños artistas

Desde ahora, en las paredes sí se escribe, se dibuja y se pinta. Estas opciones te servirán para que tus niños muestren su arte y creatividad en las paredes (sin destrozarlas) de sus dormitorios y cuartos de juego.

Una opción es convertir una pared en una pizarra con una pintura especial. Los colores más habituales son verde (como los tableros escolares) y negro (opción más actual), pero hay firmas como Cuarto Color que han desarrollado hasta 10 colores diferentes en pintura de pizarra. Lo puedes adquirir en tiendas especializadas de pintura y bricolaje.

Otra opción muy divertida es convertir una pared en tablero magnético con pinturas que incorporan partículas metálicas y permiten sujetar elementos directamente en la pared, con imanes. Para que la superficie tenga magnetismo hay que aplicar 3-4 capas y renovarlas cada año (2 capas más). Las hay con acabados de pizarra como las de Bruguer y otras que permiten cualquier acabado como la de Mag Paint (Pinturalmán).

Paredes para niños artistas

Simple, Inexpensive "Window Treatment"

I really won't be doing a Christmas post every day this month, so for those of you who aren't looking for Christmas ideas, hang in there! :-)

I was at the Dollar Store before Thanksgiving and saw these big white styrofoam snowflakes for $1 each. The front of them actually has a felt texture with a tish bit of glitter. I liked them, so I bought some without actually knowing what I was going to do with them.

After thinking about it, I decided to take down the window treatment in my master bath (just for the holidays) and make a "christmas valance". I already had the little gold ornaments and, as you can see in the photo below, the back was just the right size to stick into the holes in the snowflake - no glue needed!

There was already a little white ribbon attached to each snowflake, so I just used that to attach them to the curtain rod. To soften it a bit, I added a length of wide ribbon that I already had in one of my Christmas boxes. That was it. $5 worth of snowflakes and ornaments/ribbon that I already had...

I'll be editing to link to blog parties as they happen:
DIY Day at ASPTL
Get Your Craft On! at Today's Creative Blog
Trash To Treasure at Reinvented
Transformation Thursday at Shabby Chic Cottage
Thrify Thursday at Tales From Bloggeritaville

Have an awesome day!