ArtaBerryHome Improvement Blog..

Window treatments can say a lot about a room and a home in general. Some people may go for a sophisticated contemporary look with a set of roller blinds, whilst many choose to stick to a more traditional option and use curtains throughout the home. If this is the case, then a set of electric curtain rails may be worth considering. These allow curtains to open automatically along a motorised track and are available in a wide range of options, meaning they can be customised to suit a number of rooms in the home.

Perhaps the most appealing feature of these window treatments is their ability to open at pre-set times, meaning the homeowner doesn’t need to be present for them to operate. Whilst they can be operated by remote controls, wall switches and other various mechanisms, the use of a timer can prove handy in a number of situations. Firstly, it allows you to wake up to a perfect sunrise on those bright summer mornings, without even having to get out of bed to slide the curtains open. Similarly, you can set the timer to make them close after the sun has set, which in turn not only maintains comfort but also privacy in the home. You could even choose to have them operated by light sensors, which could save you the hassle of predicting the time of sunset and sunrise.

This can also prove extremely effective at deterring burglars from your home. When you are out of town on holiday, the simple things like the lack of opening and closing curtains can give potential intruders a huge clue about whether you’re at home or not. With time-managed electric curtain rails, you can give the impression that there is someone at home when this may not be the case. Obviously this shouldn’t be your sole deterrent when it comes to home security, but combined with a standard alarm system, your window treatments can help add an extra level of security to your home.

When it comes to installing your new curtain rails, you shouldn’t require too much time or equipment. The majority of electric rails come pre-wired and ready to install straight out of a packaging meaning that you don’t have to be a trained electrician to do a bit of DIY. The motorised rail firstly needs to be securely fitted above the window whilst you hook the curtain of choice onto the loops. Once the labour is out of the way, the only thing left to do is plug them into a plug socket or wire them to a power source if you’re clued up in that field.

These window treatments are just one way of adding a bit of modern sophistication to your home, whilst in turn helping tighten up your home security. Although curtain poles also serve a very good purpose, these curtain rails add style and are good for impressing guests too.

Learning how to paint a room is a simple task once you  begin reading up on it. There is a lot to think about, but most of your painting task is simple enough. Doing it yourself is easy as long as you complete the proper preparation and follow a few guide lines,

Preparation Strategy
Planning is an important part of any task as it typically makes the job go more smoothly. Make your preparations prior to beginning any painting. Compose a list of all of the supplies you need to purchase. This should include the proper brushes, paint, painter’s chalk and tape, tarps, and cleaning supplies. Purchase all of the items at the same time so that you don’t forget anything.

Choose an area of the home for a landing station where you will keep all of your supplies. If the room that you are painting is large enough, simply use a small section of that room. If it is a small room, you might want to consider storing the majority of these supplies elsewhere.

Even though you are going to paint the room and the dirt would get covered, it is important to start with clean walls. Paint goes onto clean walls more easily. Plus, the walls will look nicer when the paint job is finished. Remove obstacles from the room to simplify the painting task. This includes blinds, drapes, lamps, wall hangings, knick knacks, and any furniture that might get in the way.

What Size Brushes and Rollers to Use?
For the best results when painting a room, you should have several types of brushes and paint applicators. For painting the walls, you can use a wall brush in any width between 3 and 5 inches, a paint roller, or a paint pad. Paint pads usually create less spattering.

For the ceiling, a paint roller with an extension handle is the easiest tool to use. The roller can also  be used to paint the walls. Consider buying a power roller that holds the paint in a reservoir to simplify this task. A paint pad on a wheel is perfect for painting the wall near the trim, ceilings, and corners. It allows you to paint on an angle, up to the edge, without getting any paint on the area that you are trying to avoid.

A smaller brush is needed in order to paint any trim work. Purchase one with a width of 1 inch if you  have narrow trim. You can also purchase trim brushes up to 3 inches in width depending on the size of your wall trim. Typically, this type of paintbrush is referred to as a sash brush.

The thought of pumpkins, fiery leaves and hot cider are difficult to imagine during these oppressive summer days, but nothing makes us more eager for the refreshing cool of fall than planning ways to celebrate the season at home. Here are four trends with project suggestions to liven your home with the love of autumn.

Borrow from Nature: As leaves fall and the woody structure of shrubs and trees are exposed, borrow from their natural beauty. Snip a few branches from a tree with smooth wood like willow and display them in an angular white vase. Taller branches can be displayed from the floor and liven up a corner.

Project Suggestion: Gather a set of 6-10 spent stalks of daylilies that have dried since the mid-summer blooms. Spray paint them rustic orange or white and allow to dry (if your decor is more natural, you can also leave them paint-free).  You now have several options: bundle them together and tie with a contrasting ribbon or twine and display as an accent piece on your mantle, or place two stalks each into 3-5 slender white vases and line them up for a contemporary centerpiece.

Pair Neutral Colors with Bold Accents: Brilliant, fiery red is a hot color this fall. Paired with more muted wine tones and taupes, it can create a coziness that beckons to any houseguest. Other color combinations to consider are com husk yellow, chartreuse, and earthy brown, or even navy blue and gray with accents of dandelion orange. One of the simplest ways to integrate color without redecorating an entire room is to focus on the small accent pieces.

Project Suggestion: Create curb appeal with an autumn-inspired front entrance. Find a set of 5-6 old flower pots or check out end of summer sales at a local garden center. Choose your favorite fall flower: pansies and mums make fantastic options. Limit yourself to no more than  two different colors of flowers, repetition of color will create a more harmonious look. Spray paint the old pots the color of your choice to give them new life and pot your  flowers. Arrange in sets of 2 or 3 down your front stairs for a welcoming splash of color. What colors to try? Orange mums with navy blue pots, yellow mums with muted orange pots, and red mums with taupe pots all make good combinations

While thinking about a place called home, we came to know that it is the place where we get best level of comfort, safety & satisfaction.  talking about bedroom in particular, we cant deny the fact that we spent one third of the time of our life in the bedroom to sleep. everyone want to have a perfect sleep & spend nights dream. but not all of them achieve this. yes! to get this you need to optimize your bedroom. the design of our bedroom depends on our personal likes & dislikes. but here i must say, apart from mental stress & depression, things like bedroom design, decoration, bed & lightning plays an important role that can influence perfect sleep. here are some ways to make your bedroom comfortable, tidy & positively an ideal room to sleep.

Started with the decoration of the room, make sure that the decoration of the room is complete & balanced. the bed, bedside table and a chair. each of these elements has its importance, furniture like bookcase, desk, shelves, & dresser should be placed in proper descipline. avoid extra furniture & stuff like sports & exercise machines in your room & no television or computer as Internet and other electrical appliances badly effects sleeping habits. one the other hand the room must always be dedicated for sleeping only where you limit activity to sleep and nothing else. Organize an airlock decompression before sleep. Noise, light and temperature also effects sleep. however total silence causes anxiety & bad for falling asleep but noise also disturbs the sleeper.  So think the best way possible to soundproof your room from the hustle and bustle outside the house. you can can cope with noise up to some extent by double-glazed the windows & lying carpet on the floor. one the other hand Light is another factor that can interrupt your sleep. for this use curtains or blinds according to your taste about darkness. similarly temperature of the room is also a key to a good sleep. An overheated room, the confined air, disrupt sleep. So think to ventilate your room during the day and evening just before bedtime. The ideal temperature of your room, even if it depends on the habits of each, is around 18 ° C. This keeps the heat exchange between body and air.

Comfortable Bed is king of bedroom & so of deep sleep. you can use any kind of bed, Single or king size, soft or hard, however to get better sleep, be sure to position the bed to be smooth. place it where you will feel better but avoid placing it under a window. ensure your bed & mattress provides best level of comfort. always use luxury mattress from a reputable brand. in short, your task is to make the sense of security and comfort in your room. For colors, i always suggest neutral colors & avoid bright colors. colors like gray, light blue or white are good, however the colors selection must be familiar to you and put you at ease. Choose a smart lighting with two lights, one for the room and a more subdued for the sleeping area. take care of bed sheets & pillow covers & wash them regularly.

Your back is a complex structure of bones, ligaments, joints and muscles. Back pain can hinder even the simplest movements like sitting down and standing up, causing huge problems to your daily activities. It is important that you take care of these muscles and joints by giving them the correct care and support. With our active lifestyles, preventing straining our muscles can be a difficult task, however by investing in a memory foam mattress you are able to ensure that your back has the best support while you sleep. The orthopaedic benefits of a memory foam mattress allow your back to heal from the strain that you put on it during everyday life.

A memory foam mattress provides the correct amount of upwards support and decreases downwards pressure so that you’re whole skeletal structure is supported, reducing the tension on your spine and hips. A memory foam mattress is ideal for individuals who suffer from back pain because it dramatically reduces the time that it takes to recover after an injury. Investing in a memory foam mattress will mean that you are back on your feet in no time at all.

Memory foam mattresses have previously been used by the health profession; they are widely recognised for their orthopaedic benefits and have been an ideal solution for many people who find regular sprung mattresses uncomfortable to sleep on. It provides a relief to sufferers with an array of medical complaints as it offers excellent body-shaping support and long term back pain solutions. A memory foam mattress will improve your sleep, so that you wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and restored and ready to face the day.

A good night’s sleep isn’t always easy to get. There can be many reasons for this, one of which is simply not feeling comfortable in your own bedroom. But help is on the way. Here are some tips on how to add some luxury to your bedroom transforming it into a sanctuary you’ll find hard to leave.

Bedding is the main feature for that pampered feeling, so spend a little extra on it. When buying a new mattress go for the largest one you can afford. To make your existing mattress softer and more comfortable, use a mattress topper. Buy lots and lots of big, fluffy pillows, which you can simply fall into after a hard day, and be sure your sheets also add to the comfortable feel by purchasing ones with high thread counts.

Now to the flooring. If you have hardwood flooring, you can improve its appeal with area rugs. Choose soft ones in soothing and calming colours and be sure the rug is the first thing your feet touch in the morning. If you have carpeting, consider having a new high-pile and top-quality style carpet installed. Or go for area rugs again, but be sure the colours of your existing carpet and chosen area rug don’t clash, as this will ruin the luxurious image.

To visually enhance the refined appeal of your luxurious bedroom, use art and mirrors. The mirrors will add light to the room and make it seem bigger; while the art helps you relax. This is, of course, dependent on taste, so when choosing your pieces take your time and check if it is aesthetically pleasing to you and will match the rest of the room’s decor.

The lighting of your room can make or break the luxurious feel. A single light bulb on the ceiling of the room breaks it, but small table lamps and floor lamps have a softer glow and therefore set the mood. A combination of different styles of these lamps fashions elegance, which underlines the ambience of the room. Alternatively, you can invest in dimmer switches and have complete control over how soft or how bright you wish the room to be. The only light features left to control are natural light, and light from the street. Vertical blinds are great for this, as they can let in light or keep it out, and are available in several different colours and materials. Choose a style, material and colour that compliment your décor. Most importantly, remember that it is your luxurious sanctuary. So, anything you like, enjoy, relaxes you and makes you feel pampered, is right, and no sanctuary will look like another, and more accessories can always be added.

A heritage wall is a featured location in your home where family photos and ancestry memorabilia are displayed as a cohesive collection. This is an attractive and informative way to present family both  past and present for friends and family members to enjoy. This is a particularly good idea if you are preparing to host a family reunion event at your home.

Select a wall in your home that is normally ignored. Hallways, landings, and staircases are often a good place to consider. A room ideally with sash and case windows, the wall should be large enough for twenty or more items to be positioned in close proximity.

Bring out your family photo albums and select photos of family members of the last five or six generations. Download an attractive family tree that gives you room for the same five or six generations as well as locations for photos. Fill in the names of the family members.

Scan your historical photos into your computer and crop and resizing your images to fit on your family tree display page. Print out each person on a good photo paper with your printer. Trim and glue your images to the family tree display page. Repeat this process for your partner’s side of the family so that you have two similar size and organized larger display pieces favoring each side of your family. Frame these pieces identically.

Select other interesting family photos, some old, some new, along with newspaper clippings, announcements, invitations, old love letters and other frame able items that will add interest and color to the overall arrangement. When possible, always frame a copy of the original so that the original item will not fade from exposure to sunlight. Frame these items in a variety of vintage and new frames. Locate vintage frames in antique stores, garage sales, flea markets, and attics and from friends and family members.

The use of stencils can bring colour and interest to even the plainest of walls They can add additional colour to blend in with the colour scheme of a room, or they can help to expand a “theme’ in a children’s bedroom. Stencils are performed by the use of a template and are available in many different designs You can purchase them from most  DIY stores, art and craft shops and through the internet. Alternatively, you can buy sheets of pre-drawn stencils that you can cut out yourself, or you could even  design your own

Before you begin stencilling, you will need to look at the surface of your walls. Stencilling works best on flat paint surfaces, wood and non-vinyl wallpaper. Think carefully about the stencil design you have chosen, as some stencils are obviously going to be easier than others Some will require more than one color of paint,  which could be very fiddly if it is your first attempt at stenciling – even though stencil paints do dry quite quickly.

Always try your stencil out on a piece of paper before you start, to ensure that it is going to give you the desired effect. Once you are happy with the effect, you will need to consider the pattern area on the wall and then mark it out using your stencil and a pencil. Then carefully tape your stencil to the wall to hold it in position – check that the tape is not going to ruin your wall surface first.

Ifyou are using the same colour you can use a roller brush, but it may be easier to use a paintbrush or special circular brush, which is designed for stencil painting. This brush will help to get the paint into all the corners more effectively. Take care not to get too much paint on the brush in case it runs down and do not move the stencil to the next position until the paint is dry, or you make risk smudging your design.

Home owners and decorators alike know just how much style a window treatment can lend to a home’s decor. With this in mind, many are now opting for the modern and sophisticated style of Roman blinds. Like the name implies, Roman blinds have been around for centuries. Their popularity continues to grow, namely because of all the wonderful benefits Roman blinds have to offer when compared to traditional window treatments.

Roman blinds are available in a variety of materials, each one lending its own element of style and purpose to any home. Roman blinds come in vinyl, plastic, fabric, and even bamboo. All varieties of Roman blinds can be raised and lowered vertically, either manually or remotely. With an unlimited range of colours and textures, any room in any home can be magically transformed with the addition of Roman blinds.

There are two main types of Roman blinds. These are louvered blinds and single-panelled blinds. Louvered blinds are reminiscent of the traditional blinds in many homes. There are multiple horizontal slats that can be opened or closed by turning a rod, and they can be raised and lowered vertically with a pull cord or remote control. When raised, the slats “stack” on top of one another in order to customize the amount of light entering the room. Single-panelled Roman blinds are one all one piece and are generally made from fabric. Either option has the capability to transform a room or an entire home, yet remains versatile and functional enough to become anyone’s window treatment of choice.

Style is an important factor in choosing a window treatment. Fabric Roman shades come in a range of contemporary styles, colours, and patterns. Plastic and vinyl versions come in any colour imaginable, while bamboo shades lend a style all their own to any home. Any Roman shade can be custom made from nearly any material in any colour, and they can be fitted to any size and style window. Because there are so many choices, there are Roman shades for any budget. Manually operated Roman blinds are generally less expensive than their remote-operated counterparts. Bamboo tends to be more expensive because of the materials themselves, and because of the difference in the way they are manufactured.

Roman blinds are available in just about every home furnishing store. There are also internet websites that specialise in window treatments, and even a few that only deal with Roman blinds. This may be a great option for the highest levels of customization, but after shipping costs, may be more expensive than purchasing pre-packaged styles and sizes of blinds.

Roman blinds are definitely one of the most stylish options available for window treatments today. They are affordable and practical, and are very easy to install and clean. Virtually infinite numbers of patters, colours, and shapes provide the highest level of customization in any home. Changing the decor of any home can either begin or end with the selection of window treatments, and Roman blinds are always a wonderful choice.

Updating your home with a new look can be an enjoyable task. After all, the options are so varied that the results can range from a simple upgrade to an entirely new look. One of the easiest ways to provide a new look to a room is to concentrate on the woodwork within the room.

When you decide that it’s time to redo the rooms in your home, do it one room at a time. If you focus on only one particular room, you will be less likely to miss an important aspect.  Customizing a room with wood involves some very specific planning. Take the time to do your research so that the project is completed properly.

Customizing a room with wood can be as simple as redoing the woodwork or as complex as installing a deluxe wooden bar or several bookcases or shelves Size up the room and take into consideration the other items that you want to include in the  room. For example, what other pieces of furniture will the room include or what electronics including television, stereo, or sound system are going to be located in the room?

Building wooden bars and back bars into a room requires some special considerations as far as location goes.  If you are installing a wet bar, then you need to check into your plumbing possibilities. Certain areas of the room are going to be more amenable to the installation of pipes and sinks.  Additionally, if you are going to include a refrigerator with your set up, special electrical requirements might be involved, particularly if you have an older home.

Deciding how many stools you want to set up at the bar is another consideration. Is there sufficient seating capacity in the area of the room that you have selected for your bar’s location? If not, then you might want to consider selecting a different spot, doing without the wet bar to free up your options, or lower the number of seats that you want to include. The configuration of the bar is going to be a combination of your personal preference and the configuration of the selected place in the room.

Wooden bookcases and cabinets can add an elegant touch to any room. With these items, your biggest concern will be that of proper measurement. You need to measure the height, width, and depth of the area that you have to work with to ensure the bookcase or shelves fit into their intended location. Also, you need to take into consideration the location of any electrical outlets or switches since a large wooden bookcase can easily block them. Plus, the presence of doors and windows should be taken into consideration so that they so not become partially blocked either.