How to Pull Your Decorating Scheme Together

Last time we learn about Furniture Placement Guidelines, today we will learn about How to Pull Your Decorating Scheme Together.

With all the hard work over, we now need to tie up all the loose ends. Unfortunately, like every job there is the element of paperwork! I’m sorry, but it can’t all be glamor and fun. You must document your scheme, so that everyone involved is following the same path. This is then able to be used to get pricing from contractors and suppliers of products, as well as making sure that you or (your client if you are doing this for someone else) knows exactly where they stand and what they are going to get for their money.

So I will keep this short and sweet.

* Always write a finishes schedule. This lists up all there areas that you are working in, walls, ceiling, floor etc and what rooms you are working, and then what finish they will receive. This means that a contractor for example a painter can take this piece of paper and walk around the rooms and measure the quantities he needs of each product for each application.

* Make sure your client signs this document to ensure they know what they are getting. If you are doing this for your self you obviously don’t need to sign, but you do need to make sure you have a system if you change anything on this list, so that you can update it and reissue it to your contractors and you all know what is the most up to date copy.

* With your list (and this should be done when you are selecting your products) check with all the suppliers that the products are available and or that you can get them within your time frame. It adds a lot of money onto your project if you have to courier a product to get it on time. So forward planning is essential here.

* Make sure that you work out a time line and all your contractors know when they have the space to do their work and when they are expected to be finished, and make sure you are tough on this one, it is like a domino effect if you let one slip behind.

* Make sure you have all your prices and costs in your hand before you start engaging contractors or manufactures to start making things for you. You need to ensure that you are within your budget before you start. You want to make sure that you can pay everyone, if you want to get a start into the decorating industry, lets make it a good one.

* Engage your contractors and manufacturers ie painters, carpet layers, curtain manufacturers, in writing, always refer to their quotation or estimate and confirm the agreed amount and the payment arrangements. For example a deposit and remainder on completion or with installments, or payment in full before commencement (watch out for this one, don’t ever pay the total account until you have the total amount of work completed or else you have no way of getting the job finished if they don’t turn up. They have your money and you have an incomplete job.)

* Get the work underway, make sure you keep your eyes on the time and the quality of the work. Always be around, this keeps the contractors on their toes! You don’t have to stay but keep popping in to check up on things. You don’t want to have the job completed and see that the painter has misread your finishes schedule and swapped some bedrooms around!

* When the job is completed, check all the work has been done to a satisfactory standard before you pay the entire account. If you find any problems, write them down and get the contractor back to remedy them. It is important that you get this done ASAP as the sooner it is done the more likely they are to finish it, some contractors start another job and you just can’t get them back. So be very prompt on this job.

* Take out your camera and take some photos for your brag book!!

Well done! Read More...

The Finishing Touches

Last time we learn about How to Pull Your Decorating Scheme Together, today we will learn about The Finishing Touches.

Your contractors have left you have a brand new interior, you have placed your furniture, but there is still something missing. Yes! The finishing touches. This is where, less is definitely best, so select wisely. You want to create features in the room, not collections.

Here are some ways to finish your room:

* Artwork - paintings or prints. Select pictures or prints that relate to your theme or style, make sure they incorporate colors from your color scheme. They can be used to highlight your colors or just to create a texture to the wall in similar color tones. If you have a lot of paintings, you are best to group them together to create “one” picture, rather than spread them one by one across the wall. To find out more about placing artwork visit this article below. Arranging Artwork

* Artwork - sculpture. Sculpture is a great way to create a focal point in a room, find a god spot to display it and make sure you have a way of highlighting it with light.

* Vases - Flowers, fresh or artificial. These are a great way to soften a look. Fresh flowers are great because you can always create a new look depending on the type of flowers and the way they are arranged. For example wild flowers grouped suggest randomness, tulips on their own suggest simplicity, red roses on center stage suggest passion, spring flowers evoke cheerfulness to a room at the changing of a season, large white Asian lilies express opulence. To save time and money artificial flowers are a very good option today. They are almost too real looking, and you do look a bit silly when you go to smell them and have a closer inspection! Choose flowers that suit the style you have created, if you need help with this, most florists have a good background in matching flowers to your taste.

* Cushions - These are the greatest accessory, especially if you have children, they just love messing up your well placed accessories! They are great as you can further enhance the colors and fabrics that you have chosen, use the same fabric in a slightly different color way or the same color way in a different design. Contrasting colors work well to brighten a scheme, or textured cushions in a monochromatic scheme. Fringes and tassels, buttons and beads, the world is your oyster when it comes to decorating cushions, these are a “must have” in almost every room.

* Throws - these are a simple way to make a room feel more homely. They are great when you sit in front of the fire at night to read a book and you wrap the throw around your shoulders and snuggle. So they are useful as well as adding color, texture and style to your room. Once again you can follow the principles for cushion selection to choose what they will look like.

* Tie backs, hold backs - curtain accessories, these really add a touch of class to your window treatments.

* Lamps - we touched on these in furniture placement, but I can’t stress enough how these really add the finishing touch and create versatility in mood creation to your room. You have many options with lamp bases and shades to add color and texture to your room.

* Coffee table books - the ultimate accessory - The coffee table book. Something grand on a trendy topic like Food from Tuscany, or The History of Fashion, something that makes people want to pick it up and flick through. This is a way of making people feel welcome in your home.

* Ornaments - keep these to a minimum, as they are the fastest way to clutter, but the odd strategically placed ornament will definitely make your house look and feel like a home.

* Mirrors - These are a simple way to make rooms look larger or bring in more light to a room via reflected light. There are so many beautiful frames available today that you are bound to be able to find something to suit your style or look.

I hope that this has inspired you to add the finishing touches to your scheme. Read More...

3 Tips To Pick The Right Living Room Furniture

While many people's living rooms look like a collection room at the Salvation Army, there are in fact reasons behind making living room furniture a collective design element, rather than a random showing of furniture.

The way that one sculpts pieces of clay into one static sculpture is the way we should look at living room furniture in terms of decorating. There are many reasons why living room furniture should be thought of in terms of sets, or relations to other pieces of furniture, none more obvious than the simple look of it.

When you have a bunch of furniture packed into a room, and if any, or all of it comes from a different location than the rest, the room is bound to look cluttered, and unorganized. Instead when it comes to living room furniture, make sure to buy in sets, or at least coordinate the colors of your living room furniture before installing them in the living room.

For those without an eye for design, or those that simply aren't interested in spending their time dealing with this issue, here are a few tips.

1) Always buy furniture that will last, like leather, and stay away from cheap furniture at all costs. Chances are if a furniture piece is cheap, you will get what you pay for, and it will break. If it breaks, the chance of you going back to find the exact shade of color that the furniture was is slim, to none. Thus, you will end up buying a replacement that most certainly won't match the rest of the set. Avoid this by purchasing only high quality furniture that has a warranty for replacement in case it breaks.

2) Another tip is to purchase neutral colors when it comes to your big ticket items like sofas, and easy chairs. Colors like beige, brown, and chestnut are easier to match to, than white, red, and yellow. The more toned down the furniture is in terms of color, the better off you will be to match the living room furniture with one, and other.

3) Finally always be sure to use living room furniture that comes in sets. If you purchase living room furniture set, typically a sofa, love seat, lounge chair, ottoman, and end table, you will be allowing the furniture company to do all the design, and matching for you. By purchasing in sets you don't have to worry about matching, since the furniture is made by the same company, in most likely the same color. Read More...

American Indian Art Auctions: Beadwork

The artworks made by the American Indian incorporate numerous varieties of arts and crafts. The diversity of the American Indian art ranges from the traditional beadwork, pottery and other conventional Native American art to the fine paintings, sculptures, photography and other sophisticated works. And because of that, there are numerous art auctions, of which are found either online or offline. These art auctions feature almost types of American Indian artworks.

Later on, we will tackle the American Indian artwork that has the most traditional and historical feature, of which, are the beadworks made by the Native Americans. The beadworks made by the native American Indians have rich meanings in terms of symbolisms; these beadworks also are highly decorative and utilitarian.

The process and the beadwork itself is one of the oldest crafts of the Native American Indians. The beadworks are mostly made of stones, bones, shells and other semi precious stones. The some of the beadworks made by the native American Indians that are available these days are made very much the same way as their forefathers had made them. Although few of them are made using today’s modern technology, little has been changed and the process is somewhat the same as the ancient ways.

The most popular American Indian artworks are those made of sea shell materials. These types of beadworks are highly popular. Almost every American Indian beadworks are made from sea shell material, from necklaces to purses to almost everything.

In the old times, the beadworks made by the American Indians were made mostly of the turtle shells and animal horns and hooves. These native American artworks were often used for rattling or tinkling materials that are used for their dances. These artworks were also worn by hunters in a form of necklaces and were mostly made of wolf and bear claws. They serve as trophies of their kills, and serves as a symbol of the hunter’s expertise. While some of the American Indian beadworks are made of steamed bones and seeds. They were often used for stringing and are mostly blended into various forms.

Because of their ever increasing popularity, oriental factories has been replicating, manufacturing and importing beadworks of the Native American Indians. They have been doing it for several decades now. Therefore, has been a competing factor in the beadwork industry of the American Indian arts. And because of that, the craftsmen in the industry of American Indian art industry are greatly affected, losing a considerable amount of income (millions and millions of dollars) because of the fake native artworks made by these oriental factories.

In terms of string beadworks of the American Indians, they were mostly made of animal sinews that are finely divided and are attached on clothing. Sometimes, sturdy plant fibers were utilized for this reason.

These days, Navajos and some traditional aboriginal American communities still manufacture an ancient type of beadwork that is called the “heishii”. The “heishii” or referred to as “legend necklace” is the most popular type of beadwork, and are used to refer to a legend. Even today, heishii is still used to narrate a legend, with every single bead symbolizing a character.

The craftsmen of today’s American Indian art create designs using the today’s technology, by creating actual beadworks through digital means. Thus, the sophisticated and complex beadworks and its designs can be tested digitally before actually manufacturing the piece. Therefore, adding creative process for the craftsmen.

These American Indian artworks and its components are essential factors of in the field of archaeology. Not only do they survive history, they also provide numerous fascinating tales and stories that most of which are still untold. As a matter of fact, ancient American Indian artworks are found thousands of miles from seas. Of which is an indication of the numerous trade routes and contacts thousands and thousands of years ago by various cultures.

Beadworks crisscross itself through time not just through the history of native American Indians but also in the modern technology of today. The most vital aspect of the American Indian beadwork is the value it represents when it is given among family and friends. Their true meanings are associated with aspirations and essential judgments of a person. Read More...

An Approach To Sell Comics

Creators can sell comics as the usual 24 pages book or as a graphic novel 60 to 200 plus pages. When one wants to sell comics as the 24 page book, the comic book would have to come as a series of separate issues. In this way it may be cheaper to produce. You can have a series with 5 issues that come out in different periods of the year. The revenue made from issue #1 can be used to cover the expenses for issue #2. In my opinion this is probably the best way for inexperienced comic book creators to start.

However, if a creator thinks that making a graphic novel is more convenient for him/her to start with, you can go for it under two conditions. You have the funds and a marketing plan. I say this because the marketing is the most strenuous part any creator experiences when producing a product. These days publishing your comic book doesn't have to take fifty dollars out of your pocket if you do the writing and drawing yourself. This method is known as publishing on demand. For first time comic book creators, the difficulty of marketing your comic book can be ten times multiplied.

Creators who successfully sell comics they created are usually those who have experience and background in the producing of comics. It would be easy for someone who is known for working on titles like X-men or Spiderman to come out of Marvel and produce his own comic books or sell his comics. This was the case for Todd McFarlane. McFarlane reached star status in Marvel comics. When he came out of Marvel, he was involved with other illustrators in starting Image comics. Once he published his title called Spawn, it became an almost instant hit because of McFarlane’s popularity. The thing is, not everyone who wants to create comics would get the privilege to work for a giant publisher like Marvel Comics, and also not everyone who works for Marvel will become popular.

How I see it is there are two ways one can break into the comic book industry by creating comics and to sell comics. Both ways involve developing a name for your-self. First, it could be done by integrating oneself with existing publishers and editors, getting hired as staff in an editorial office, and getting published by a smaller publisher. The second way is by independent publishing. Let me add, both ways are extremely difficult, can take years to getting positive results and could cost you big time money.

The encouraging news, there are other methods to get your work to the audience for less money or time. Thanks to the increase in technology, the conventional (going through the big time publishers) way of breaking into the comic book industry to sell comics is not the only way. I’ll explain.

The hardest and biggest hurdle comic book creators have to overcome is marketing their comic book or getting an audience to their comics. Once people know that your comic book exists and like the comic book, to sell comics would be a lot easier for you.

First of all and most important is that when you want to sell comics you have to have a good quality and appealing comic book to sell. Develop an appealing comic book that you know a certain group of people would like.

The next step to sell comics is to market it to those people you made the comic book for. The people whose needs your comic book is meeting. In this way you are almost certain to have a buy. You can do this by creating a website for your comic book and then refer interested people to the website to check your comic book out.

Creating a comic book and marketing it through the internet is now one of the most convenient ways to get your comic book recognized. Like I said before, once your comic book is recognized and liked, to sell comics would be natural.
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Pictures Of Landscaping - Using Other Peoples Ideas To Design Your Landscape.

One of the most common searches on my site is for pictures of landscaping. So I know that a lot of folks rely on photos of other peoples designs to get ideas. But at the same time, while I do have a large picture directory of other peoples projects on my site, the most common questions I receive are still related to specific shapes and design ideas.

It would seem that with as many pictures of landscaping there are to look at online, just about everyone could find a close match to their own property that could be copied. It would seem so.....if every yard was square or rectangular. However, the fact is that most yards aren’t square or rectangular. So even with the endless landscaping ideas and examples out there, it’s still highly unlikely that you’ll find an exact match to the shape of your property.

Don’t tell anyone... but even as a professional, I still use pictures of other peoples landscaping as an educational tool and to get new ideas. However, unlike most people, I don’t search for an exact idea to copy. I look for unique, creative, and new ideas and pieces of the puzzle.

Now here’s a piece of advice and the point to this entire article.

When looking at pictures of landscaping, pay attention to the details, ideas, and principles that are universal to most designs. Look for the things that are common and repeated often by different designers. These are the elements that look good because they are generally based on basic principles of art. These are the things that will probably incorporate well into your own design project regardless of shape.

Other peoples landscaping pictures are a great design tool to help you get your project done. However, instead of hopelessly searching for your exact layout, borrow several ideas from several different designs. You’ll save yourself a lot of frustration and have a much better chance of creating something unique to your own property.

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Miniature Painting - Art Through the Ages

As an artist, Rebecca Latham as well as her mother, Karen, and sister, Bonnie, strive for detail in their painting. Studying with a Flemish master, they have developed their styles for painting extreme realism. Their works, both large and small, are painted “in miniature”.

Early Beginnings

Miniature painting is a traditional style of art that is very detailed, often referred to as painting or working “in miniature”. Because of their origins as illuminations, they are also painted to have as smooth of a surface as possible. (It is also suggested that miniature art may have been influenced by the medals of ancient Rome as well) Miniature art can be traced back to ancient Egyptian manuscripts on papyrus scrolls. Monks are also often highlighted for their contributions to early miniature painting with their beautifully illuminated manuscripts such as the Celtic Book of Kells and England's Lindisfarne Gospels (both of which measure around 9" x 12"). Some early manuscripts contain miniature paintings on their pages that depict beautiful arrangements of life sized flower arrangements on their borders. The history of miniature painting is also seen throughout the world in various other cultures.

Miniature painting began out of necessity for illustrating documents and manuscripts to aid those reading them during a time when many were not able to, before printing was invented. The miniature helped to convey the story and meaning of the written word. Therefore, the art of miniature painting is directly connected to the book arts. The various sized illuminations (pictures) were cut out of these books or documents so that they could be carried more easily. Later, developing from the carried miniature, portrait miniature artists were commissioned to paint small portraits – paintings that were used as we use wallet sized photographs today. These sizes of miniature paintings became popular with collectors and are often referred to as “hand held miniatures”. Portrait miniatures were painted in larger sizes as well, for example master miniaturist, Nicholas Hilliard, Peter Oliver, and Sir Charles William Ross all painted works that were of a larger size.

Sizes

Miniature painting is sometimes confused and assumed that the pieces must be small or depict subjects on a smaller scale to be considered miniature art, though this is not the case. It is helpful to keep in mind that the origins of the term "miniature" have nothing to do with a size. The word miniature comes from the terms 'minium' (used for the red lead paint used in illuminated manuscripts) and 'miniare' (Latin for 'to color with red lead').

Miniature painting is a style and technique of painting, and as such, a wall sized work could be painted “in miniature”. Authors of the Yale University Press publication, “The English Miniature” have stated that miniatures have been painted large and some works are even considered to be gigantic. Numerous faculty members of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London confirm that miniature paintings are not restricted to smallness. Larger sized miniature paintings are documented throughout history and are recognized today, though painting larger works in miniature is more difficult and time consuming than a smaller piece if the same attention to detail is observed. Miniature art is also unique in that it was and is often used on objects, such as the Russian lacquer boxes that are beautiful examples of Russian miniature painting.

Exhibitions

Today, there are miniature art societies in western society to help promote and preserve traditional miniature art and the “spirit of miniature”. Their exhibitions feature the hand held miniature paintings (or sculptures) and each exhibition has its own unique guidelines and rules for artists showing in their exhibit. Some of these rules limit the size of work to be no larger than a set square inch. Others limit the size of a subject, such at the 1/6th scale rule that a subject may not be painted larger than 1/6th of it's natural size, or the 2” rule, that an object in the painting may not exceed 2”. Scale rules were initially put in place as a guide for artists starting out in miniature art. There are also many framing restrictions for society miniature works as well. All of these rules are put into place by each show for their own individual and unique exhibitions, and do not define what miniature art is.

Artists painting miniatures throughout history were not restricted in their artwork by scale as their subjects were painted to any measurement or scale that the artist deemed pleasing to the eye and their patrons, for both manuscripts and other miniatures. Subjects that are naturally small in size, such as butterflies and insects, were painted life sized. Thus the 1/6th scale rule that is used by some shows and societies today unfortunately causes a bit of confusion to those new to the art form who commonly assume that is it a part of a mechanical criteria of the miniature's definition. The world's experts in miniatures do not recognize the rule as legitimate, and view those embracing it as unknowledgeable, and dismiss them.

The term "miniature", as it addresses miniature painting, is often confused with "miniaturize" and some miniature art exhibitions do not refer to miniature as it's initial meaning of techniques, but rather the size of the painting (miniaturized painting). They are two very separate descriptions.

Miniature painting is an art form that is very rich in history that continues today by artists from around the globe. The beautiful ornamental qualities of the miniature should be preserved whether it be the intricate large pieces, or intimate hand held works. Read More...