Silver Mesh Desk Organizer by Design Ideas

• Durable silver mesh construction for years of use
• Long, narrow compartment can hold pencils, pens, even your cell phone
• Other 3 compartments for paper clips, Post-It notes and more
• Size: 1 1/4″tall x 10″wide x 5 1/4″deep

Product Description
Looking for a versatile desk organizer? This silver mesh desk organizer is designed to accommodate stationery that might otherwise just lie around cluttering your desktop. The contemporary stylish design will fit right in with your other desk accessories. A long, narrow compartment will hold all your pens, pencils, markers, post-it notes and more! You could even keep your cell phone in it. The additional 3 compartments are spacious enough to fit everything from pape… More >>

Silver Mesh Desk Organizer by Design Ideas

Home Improvement Magazines: an Endless Source of Home Improvement Ideas

Home improvement magazines contain a plethora of house plan designs, renovation and decoration ideas for the kitchen, bedroom, living room, den and sun decks covering all types of houses and materials imaginable. There are so many, in fact, that the home improvement magazine industry has become a multi-million dollar business worldwide, catering to every home improvement and renovation niche.

There are magazines dedicated to do it yourself projects like kitchen cabinets, outside Jacuzzis, above ground pools, patios not only on their printed versions but on their online versions as well. The explosion of the World Wide Web gave added momentum to the publication of home improvement magazines because the web gave them even more exposure, globally and in real time.

More and more home improvement magazines are now publishing their issues on their websites including up to date tips and information on home appliances, materials, paints, wall papers, and other home improvement related products making it virtually impossible for the wife or DIY enthusiast to miss an issue.

Reading and browsing these magazines enable you and me to pick up ideas from various dependable sources, compare them and finally choose the better one or incorporate them in designing our own homes and the rooms within, especially the kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom and the living room.

Some sites even offer a virtual tour or a walk through of particular designs and models in order to get a first hand and realistic interpretation of how it would actually look like even before the first nail or screw is bought!

This innovation of the online version compared to the printed version is enough to inspire us to make necessary renovation changes in our homes and kitchens. You can even have real-time modification of changes you want from color, to material, to appliance placement and cabinet construction including effects of the various types of lighting fixtures.

Bringing your renovation ideas to reality however may be a pretty expensive option if you follow the home improvement magazine advice and techniques to the letter. What you see on screen and on the printed page look really good and beautiful because they do not have any financial constraints like you and me. However, with careful planning and judicious choice of materials, you can without a doubt duplicate that very striking cabinet on the page in time for your wife’s birthday!

Continue browsing and reading those home improvement magazines and pick out the styles you want; when the right time comes, you can then bring them to reality in your own home at considerably lesser cost and without jeopardizing your budget!

A Few Home Improvement Ideas to Increase Your Homes Value

Copyright (c) 2008 Smoky Mountain Painting

Would you like to increase the market value of your house? There are some home improvement projects will bring a return when you sell your home, but many home improvement projects will not offer much of a return on your investment. Choose your home improvement projects carefully and if you borrow money to complete your home improvement project, do your research first and be sure that you stand a good chance to recover the cost of the project when you decide to sell your home.

Kitchen remodeling is a great way to add value to your home. Upgrading your appliances, replacing door and cabinet handles and painting walls can add new life to your kitchen plus add value to your home. Kitchens sell a home, so remodeling a kitchen should be a first choice for a home improvement project. Sometimes doing it yourself can save money, but consider hiring a professional for the large jobs. The top five kitchen remodeling jobs recommended by Realtors are painting, cabinet refacing, new counter tops, new floors and a modern cook top range.

A bathroom remodel is second only to kitchen remodeling in terms of getting the most return on your home improvement investment. A bathroom remodel can often mean making the most of your current space, by upgrading fixtures, flooring and lighting. A few inexpensive ways to make your existing bathroom more beautiful and appealing include upgrading your cabinets, counter tops, sinks, tile or your tub and shower. However, if you do decide to add a new bathroom, it is going to increase the value of your home.

Kitchens and bathroom remodeling are both great choices when you want to add value to your home. Kitchen and bathroom remodeling projects are the best at recouping their cost and adding to the resale value of your house. The average return on a bathroom or kitchen remodel is 100-105%.

Increasing the curb appeal of your home is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to increase the value of your home. Applying a fresh coat of paint can make the inside of your home appear more appealing to potential buyers, which could mean a quicker sale. Neutral colors are a good choice when you are preparing your house to sell. Neutral colors blend well with a variety of other colors and can make a room look larger and more open.

Your roof is one of the first impressions people have of a home. With proper maintenance, a high quality roof should last a very long time. A new roof won’t add a lot of value to your home, but it will help prevent the types of repairs that can result from water leaking in from your roof.

If your carpeting or vinyl flooring is begining to show signs of wear this can adversely affect the appearance of the whole room and detract from the value. So replace the carpeting in rooms where the wear is severe to help increase your homes value. Often, a good carpet cleaning is all that is needed.

Naturally, you can only make the home improvements that your budget will allow. But many of these suggestions that I have discussed are not very expensive . All of them however will enhance the appearance and add value to most homes.

Remember that with any home improvement project moderation is the key. Don’t go overboard. Focus on improving two or three areas in your home which need the most work.

Home Staging – The Best Improvement Ideas for your Home

Many home sellers are often wondering what makes other properties sold that fast and why their own house for sale still stay in the market for an extended period of time. One of the most valuable secrets that has been used by many creative home owners and realtors is home staging. To ensure that their properties are on top of all the competition, this viable technique is sure to give you astounding results and draw innumerable buyers in considering the purchase of your house.

How home staging improves your selling chances?

Home staging is primarily the art of preparing and enhancing your property in order to make it appealing to buyers, thus facilitating the sale and profitability you expect to get out of your investment. This is actually the missing link why most home owners fail to improve the market value of their property and generate potential buyers. The notion that people make significant decisions the moment they set eyes on your house is quite relevant especially in the modern trend of the real estate market.

How does it work?

There are actually two distinct techniques you can use in home staging, both in the exterior and interior areas of your property. Curb appeal or the impression that people get about your house right from the outside is vitally important since it is a stimulating factor that invites buyers to explore your property further. Curb appeal is therefore catered through upgrading the outside appearance of your house.

Here are some of the ways to beautify your home exterior.

Get rid of all the clutters found in the outside area of the property through doing a general clean up. Sanitation marks a good impression on home buyers since it gives them an idea of the quality of your property based on the way you take care of it. You can also do some trimming especially for overgrown bushes around your yard or lawn. Put out simple flowers and other attractive items right on the front porch of your house to improve its appearance. You can also add a new doormat to creatively welcome and invite buyers to explore your home interiors. If you can afford a good landscaping job, then it will certainly add a significant amount of value to your property. You can do the landscape yourself by putting up fresh sods or exterior items like water fountains or exterior lighting.

Here are tips on how to improve the interior of your home.

Decluttering your surroundings is a very salient step to do inside the house. Take out unnecessary items you no longer use, trash and your personal things like family pictures and the like. Put up appropriately sized furniture to enhance the appeal as well as spaciousness inside the house. Fresh paints and wallpapers are likewise great alternatives for interior home staging.

All the efforts, time and money you actually invest on home staging are geared towards home improvement and eventually a successful sale and profitability. Competition is extremely tough thus it is imperative that you resort to all kinds of home enhancement to stand out among the rest.

5 Hot Interior Design Ideas For Decorating Small Rooms

Regardless of what type of home you reside in, whether it be a condo in the city, an apartment on the edge of town or you simply just want to decorate the smaller rooms inside of your home; interior design can be a challenge in this type of environment because of the limited space and options. However, you can still maintain a sense of style without requiring a large area of space, because essentially it is only one room that you are decorating; right? If you keep things simple and organized, home decor selection for small rooms can be easy!

If you take the right design approach, you can simplify the decorating process and make it so that the room seems larger than it really is, once the process is all said and done. Focusing on organization and storage will help you create an atmosphere that is not only functional and elemental, but also very structured or random depending on which way you wanted to take it. In some cases, randomness in room construction can make for an interested design process.

Take into consideration the following steps when preparing your plan for the room:

1. Focus on the desired functionality of the room. Use this as the foundation for which you will build upon with furniture, artwork, accessories, etc.

2. Choose furniture and decorative items by size and position, to ensure that the room is not cluttered and remains organized.

3. Find furnishings that serve multiple purposes, which will help improve your storage capacity (such as end tables with drawers, sleeper sofas, etc.) and increase the functionality of the room as a whole.

4. Place accent pieces in areas that highlight your room’s color theme, such as corners and around windows. Avoid placing items directly in front of the wall, but rather accent the outside portion of the room, making it seem bigger.

5. A small room must have plenty of lighting because this really helps to visually open up space. If it is possible, consider a built-in lighting structure such as track or recessed elements. If this is not a possibility or is overbudget, use small accent lamps to light up the corners.

Coordinate your palette and the room will come together by itself. Keep in mind the above mentioned techniques and just have fun with it!

Mary Elizabeth Beal is not just the founder of Trend Funnel, she is also an experienced Interior Design Consultant. Mary graduated with a bachelors degree in Interior Design from the FIDER accredited School of Architecture at the University of Florida. She has 8 years of design, decorating, and visual merchandising experience in both residential and commercial retail design.

So go ahead… ask her a question! Or, if you see advice offered below and feel you can do better- go right ahead! We are certain that the person who asked will appreciate your advice as well. After all… design, like art, is in the eye of the beholder!

Use the revolutionary 3-Step Trend Funnel® Method to shop for unique home decor items, furniture, artwork, accessories and more all from one complete source!

Our team of experienced PROFESSIONAL INTERIOR DESIGN and HOME DECORATION SPECIALISTS search high and low to offer you decor that fits your desired theme.

Simple Ideas For Home Furnishing

What is it about a home that you find inviting and appealing? For many, the interior design and furnishing of a home can contribute greatly to the look and feel of a home. This is why anyone who wished to greatly expand the potential value of a home’s visual appeal should understand a few basics about home furnishing and interior a design. Now, what are some of the more important basics to understand? Here are a few of them.

It is always a wise strategy to purchase furniture that is attractive to look at. However, this does not mean one has to spend and enormous amount of money on the purchase. When you go over budget on your furniture purchasing, you end up only partially furnishing your interior. Again, you can’t continue to purchase furniture if you have exceeded what you can afford.

Also helpful is settling on a favorite theme in advance. Mixing and matching furniture from different themes is not always bad, but sometimes it can be uneven. For example, mixing modern Japanese style furniture with reproductions of American colonial furniture may yield a haphazard result. As such, it is much preferable to stick with a single theme that has been decided upon long in advance. Similarly, it is always helpful to stay consistent with the theme when you add new items to it over time.

Interior design is also not just about furniture. Yes, this is something that we often overlook but it is true. Other items that are popular additions to any home interior are painting, mirrors, clocks, and fountains. That is why it is always important to look for these items and, if they fit into your overall theme, add them to the mix.

Staying on top of trends is also helpful if you are unsure of what theme to select for the interior of your home. If you are unsure of how to decorate or design a room, you may get an idea by looking at what others are doing. Perhaps you were unaware that a popular new design of leather furniture has been released. Of course, once you become aware of it, you might make the decision to integrate this furniture into your home. But, you won’t know unless you keep an eye open on the various trends that may be occurring.

Finally, no matter how you design the interior of your home, it is absolutely critical that you maintain the interior. This means you need to keep it clean, tidy, and in good condition. No matter how special or exotic your furniture may be, it will lose much of its appeal it is slips into neglect. That is why you need to strive to make sure it remains as close to its original condition as possible. Often, simply periodically cleaning the furniture or even just shoeing the cat off it can add years of life so a sofa or loveseat. Remember, if you treat your furniture as if it was valuable, it will remain valuable.

10 Home Decorating Ideas To Quickly Update Any Room

Not all home decorating ideas require a heavy investment of time and money. If you’re looking for a few affordable home interior decorating ideas to freshen up a room over a weekend, try these ten:

1. Rearrange The Furniture- Pull your furniture away from the walls. Try positioning it at intriguing angles. For example, a sofa arranged diagonally across a narrow living room will make the room look wider.

2. Paint A Wall- Paint one wall your favorite color and make it the focal point. Hang interesting art on that wall and move a nice piece of furniture there. (Note: Make sure that the color is one that is shared with several other objects and fabrics in the room.)

3. Bring In Plants- Greenery always adds a breath of fresh air to a room. If you don’t have a green thumb, try silk plants and trees. The quality has gotten so good that its hard to distinguish them from the real thing.

4. Lay An Area Rug- An area rug is a wonderful way of defining a conversation area. Try one that complements the room. Lay it at an angle beneath your coffee table.

5. Hang Pictures or Mirror- Hang pictures that reflect your personality. Try frames that are more ornate. When hanging a mirror, try and position it so that it reflects and nice view or an interesting architectural element.

6. Group Figurines- Pull out your favorite collectibles. Show off your personality. Find a display area and group related objects together, in sets of three or five. Try and vary the shapes.

7. Add Decorative Pillows- The good news about decorative pillows is that they are an easy way to add textures and patterns to a room. Still better, they can be changed to jazz up a sofa or chair before your room is ready for a major makeover.

8. Replace Lamps- Lamps are probably the one thing in your home that will give others a clue that your room is outdated. Seek out new and fresh lamps that make a statement.

9. Add A Throw Or Afghan- Similar to decorative pillows, throws and afghans add texture to your furniture. They come in all kinds of natural and man made fabrics. Find a pattern and style that you like.

10. Eliminate Clutter- Clutter has a way of eliminating the desired mood and effect of any room. Find storage spaces for papers, toys, and other items that take from the personality of a room.

Home Decoration Ideas – Make The Neighborhood Envious!

When you think about changes to your home interior, whether it is for a couple of rooms or for the entire house, your first thought is of color. As would everyone, you too would tend to choose your favorite colors generally, or colors which match your furniture pieces. However, a majority of people miss out on the most outstanding basic color combination – white and black – when looking for home decoration ideas.

These two colors, white and black, create a sensation in home decorating. White and black together create drama and pizzazz. A dash of black can beautify every room. This is an anchoring color and it grounds a room. It is eye-catching and speaks of a sophistication all its own. If you are using this color for enhancing your decor, you may like the idea of choosing accessories of this color such as furniture, trim or light fixtures. Black is the only color that creates a focus in a room, standing out boldly and making its own statement.

Use of white and black in home decoration makes an impact by creating a fresh, clean and elegant atmosphere. Any room in the house can benefit from this combination, creating a sophisticated space. Contemporary home decorating ideas often use this combination of white and black and in French Country Design, it is used to enliven other colors. Though it is difficult to imagine, there are a lot of wonderful ideas of home decoration with the use of only these two base colors.

Home decorating takes a great start if you focus on the flooring first, making a beautiful checkerboard pattern using white and black vinyl tiles alternatively laid. It really looks fantastic and elegant. Another wonderful idea is to use black marble flooring and accentuate it with wide white baseboards. Or you could paint the floor white or black and decorate it with stencils of the opposite color, or use black bordered white ceramic tiles to create a great effect.

Can you imagine anything more perfect than pure white walls? White walls or even an off-white color makes an ideal background for artworks framed in black. What a striking effect it would have! An aura of sophistication is created with elegant black treatments for windows or black shutters against a pure white wall. Perhaps black chairs lying around a glass-top black iron-trim table would complete the picture.

It would be lovely to decorate a bedroom using white and black. Iron bed-frame in white or black, covered with a comforter with white and black stripes; all white or all black pillow shames, with opposite colored cushions thrown in would be outstanding. The corner of the room could have a lovely white or black leather chair to accentuate it. For a contemporary feel, a piece of artwork elegantly framed in black handing on white walls would suffice. The pure white walls could provide a great background for the neat and tidy black furniture. The room could be jazzed up with silver candlesticks, pewter or vases and jugs. With a little color to enhance the beauty of the room, a bold colored cushion or throw in gold or red for the corner chair in the room would complete the picture.

There are numerous ideas to decorate a home. The trick is to find the one that suits you, even though it is great to do something radically new. After all, you must be able to really enjoy living in it day in and day out.

Home Makeover Ideas Anyone?

Every week, families across America have the opportunity to view home makeovers on television. After watching these programs, many families will take a look around and decide that it is time to do some home remodeling but the makeover ideas are suggested because families want to keep the beautifying efforts for the home under a certain dollar amount and some families will establish a firm remodeling budget.

A family will get home makeover ideas from outside sources such as the neighbor next door who did something marvelous with some new flooring that they found on sale. Other makeover ideas might come from the building supply inventories that are placed on sale in the front of the store. The second a woman sees a new style of a screen door, she realizes that the front porch could benefit from a makeover. To complete that minor makeover, the wife might also select some door hardware that gives the front porch a totally different appearance.

As people travel about town in the automobile running errands, they could be exposed to several home makeover ideas along the way. The husband might comment about how pretty the lawn in front of a house on Elm Street looks and discover that the bushes he viewed in front did not cost that much because the landscaper grew them on his own property and supplied these yard accents at a huge discount. With visions of a tranquil garden in mind, the driver might be diverted to the landscaping nursery to talk with that guy.

A family might need extra space inside the home but can not figure out any home makeover ideas to improve the situation. Some might remember the handy storage boxes that were on television that allowed people to find extra space in closets by using unused space under the beds. The interior space of the home will be clutter free by the end of the week after the homeowner buys several boxes that are thin enough to fit under the beds at home.

Some home makeover ideas might inspire homeowners to participate in charitable giving. The family might decide to combine more people into one sleeping space and gain extra closet space by donating extra clothing to a local charity. The homeowner might get other ideas for decorating the new space by the colorful frames that were seen at the charities local market place. With a little elbow grease and a coat of paint, the frames can be used to display certificates of achievement or the photo of the school baseball team. The sporty new bedroom will make changing rooms less an issue and the boy might feel more at home in his new surroundings.

Some makeover ideas lead people to emptying the contents of the home into the yard. Once the debris field has been removed, the homeowner might consider replacing window curtains to obtain a different look. The homeowner can achieve a totally new home interior by adding a bit of paint to every room in the home. When all belongings are brought back in, they will all be put away in the proper place. This makeover idea occurs throughout the year and is performed every weekend to make the task of making over the appearance of the home interior less of a chore.

Interior Painting Ideas Guaranteed To Bring Your Walls Back To Life!

There are many different interior paint ideas you’ll discover that can be used to add style, and change the look of your rooms. As you begin decorating the rooms of your home.

Interior paint ideas are about being creative and you can be as creative as you wish. Plus, you shouldn’t have a problem when it comes to controlling your budget.

That’s because most of the materials you will need can be acquired for a small amount of money. However, you should remember that although interior paint ideas do not have to be expensive, creating your designs with them, can take quite a bit of your time.

So, be patient, because hurrying your paint designs will often result in an unrewarding outcome.

The following are some of the different ways you can use interior paint ideas to dress up the look of your walls:

Rag Rolling – Rag rolling is done by rolling up a rag as you would a magazine or newspaper, and then rolling it with your hands over the wet paint that has already been applied to the wall.

Stenciling – Stenciling is one of the best interior paint ideas because it is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to decorate your walls. Stenciling works by painting the areas that have been cut out of a template.

Then once the template is removed, a defined pattern or design remains. You can create your own stencils, if you have the proper materials, or you can purchase them at craft or specialty stores. Stencils come in various sizes and designs, and you can place them on any part of your wall to either create a picture, or boarder.

You should remember, however, that it is a good idea to use a darker or light color for your stenciling patterns to contrast with the main color of the wall.

Bagging – After the wall has been painted you can then use the bagging interior paint ideas to create interesting wall patterns, by placing a cloth that has been bunched up into a bag, and then dragging it over the wall.

Sponge Painting – For sponging interior paint ideas all you require is a simple sea sponge, and a tray to hold the glaze paint of your choice. You can then proceed to sponge the wall as intricately or loosely as you would like to create the desired effect you want. You will find that with sponging, you can create a lovely marble look on the wall.

Other interesting interior paint ideas you can create if you are more adventurous include dragging, stippling, combing, granite finish and marbleizing.

Types of paint that you should look into for your painting project include:

* Latex

* Latex flat enamel

* Alkyd

* Enamel

* Epoxy

As you can see there are several great interior paint ideas for you to check out and use to create some of the most wonderfull designs on your room walls. Take your time decorating your rooms, and you will love the result of your work.

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