Home Design: April 2014

Formulate a Budget For Your Home Improvement Project

You can bet on the reality that your home repair or improvement project will go over budget. Sometimes things go remarkably well and a project is actually completed for less than the projected costs. In most cases, however, the project ends up costing more as we generally underestimate the costs. To accurately calculate how much your project is going to cost, it is wise to proceed cautiously and plan for the worst case scenarios, as opposed to just planning for the cost of labor and materials.

Assess Your Property's Value

Figuring out how much to spend on your improvement project requires finding out how much your home is worth. You need to weigh your home against other homes in your area that have the added feature. If a pool is what you are thinking about adding, what amount do homes of a similar size with pools in your area go for? Before you can set the budget for an endeavor, you need to know how much value you home will be increasing from the improvement.

The common mistake that many homeowners make is thinking that if an improvement is will add $10,000 worth of value to their home, that they can spend $10,000 making the improvement. That line of reasoning is one to avoid because, as mentioned, jobs typically exceed the budget. If you take out $10,000 to complete the project and it ends up going over budget, then the improvement simply will not be as valuable as it could have been.

Follow Your Budget

The best way to develop a reasonable budget is to try to plan for the worst possible circumstances. This way, you will be okay when things do wind up costing more, which is typical. Try to stay away from using your equity line or another type of loan to finance the project. Instead, cutback on your daily spending activities and set aside these savings for a home improvement or repair fund. Once you have the funds you need, stick to that budget. Try to economize on materials through sales or by purchasing the items from an online auction.

It may be necessary to seek advice from a professional. Unless you are a qualified contractor yourself, it can be complex to determine how best to go about purchasing materials. A contracting professional may show you how you can save money in one area or another. Ask the contractor for an estimate on supplies and then compare this with another contractor's estimate. You will get a sense of what is practical - and if the contractor is being honest. Only try to save on labor for things you are certain you are going to be able to finish yourself. Or else you are at risk of producing costly damage to the home or having to purchase materials more than once.

Small Improvements Count

It is not always necessary to spend buckets of money on a home improvement. Do not let the hoped-for gain in the value of the home be the determining reason in which projects you end up doing. In its place, consider some of the small, feasible projects that actually make a difference. Painting is a good example. A new coat of paint will not seriously increase your home's value, but it can add to your enjoyment of of the home enormously. However, it could greatly improve an out-of-date kitchen if you also add some new hardware on the cabinets. One common reason that home owners avoid improvement projects is thinking that the project is going to be a huge, costly burden. But small changes actually can make a big difference.

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Why You Should Be An Interior Designer

The world has been through 50-years of DIY culture, with the majority of people re-modelling, upgrading, and decorating their own homes in their spare time. However, that cycle is ending for a number of key reasons and this demise has given birth to some amazing and exciting opportunities for those people interested in Interior Design.

In the DIY period, people were happy to spend their spare time on home-improvements and they enjoyed showing off their efforts to all their visitors. Today, there are too many distractions and alternatives that have much more appeal to the modern generation of homeowners--who are happier spending their time in more entertaining activities with their friends.

Furthermore, in most families, adults are bringing home larger disposable incomes than ever before and today they prefer to employ an Interior Designer, rather than spend hours in trying to do it alone. The plethora of glossy magazines that are now available each month have thousands of pages with colourful photographs of beautiful homes, all with rooms designed by an expert in Interior Design. These magazines create the desire in people to have such a room in their own home.

That burgeoning desire for a beautiful home can only be fulfilled by an Interior Designer.

For years, tradesmen like painters, decorators, and carpenters would have nothing to do with people who worked in the Interior Design industry, and with a sneer, they would tell their customers not to waste their money on them. Today, it is a completely different story, because the tradesman now accepts that a home designed by an Interior Designer is far superior to anything they can provide. Furthermore, the tradesman often earns a far bigger profit when completing work for an Interior Designer compared to when they work directly for the customer.

This is because the Interior Designer will quote for the complete job: from basic design to provision of all the materials and completing the actual conversion. It can even include the supply of carpets, curtains, rugs, furniture, pictures, and ornaments. The fee for the decorator who does the painting and papering is perhaps only a small part of the overall price, and will often include a 15% to 20% profit margin to the Interior Designer.

Tradesmen in the home-improvement industry now spend considerable time and effort in developing a good relationship with Interior Designers, because today they can provide an increasing part of their annual income. This is a two-way connection, because the Interior Designer often receives valuable enquiries for design work from their pool of tradesmen. In addition, when the tradesman completes their work to a high standard, the Interior Designer is likely to benefit in the future from referrals and additional work from their clients.

However, working on designs for homes is only touching the surface of the income stream of a good Interior Designer. There is a vast and highly profitable design market in the retail, commercial, and industrial sectors where directors and managers are not slow in spending huge amounts of money in improving their environment. It is always easier to spend 'other people's money' and the wise Interior Designer will make sure they enjoy a large slice of this business income stream. It is far larger and much more lucrative than the domestic sector where people are spending their own money.

The retail industry is always looking for ways to attract customers, and the Interior Design of their store is becoming a vital factor in establishing their brand. Commercial offices need to have ambient Interior Design if they are to attract and keep the best people as employees, and they are willing to spend vast amounts of money to achieve that objective.

There is also a certain amount of fame and publicity awarded the successful Interior Designer.

The avaricious glossy magazine market is continually on the lookout for interesting stories to photograph and publish. The clever Interior Designer will nurture relationships with editors and journalists and feed them stories of work they have done that may be of interest to magazine readers. This not only includes the obvious VIP sector where most important people in business, politics, religion, sport, and entertainment are only too pleased to have their home featured in a magazine, but there are other sectors that must not be ignored.

You may be designing a new home for a lottery winner, an invalid or an accident victim, or a person with an unusual hobby or occupation that requires a specific feature of interest. The building may be a converted 15th Century barn, a spacious farmhouse, a prison, or even a railway station. A large number of your contracts will have the potential for becoming a glossy magazine feature article, and this can provide you with the PR, publicity, and promotion that can boost your income tenfold!

There are opportunities for Interior Design everywhere you look.

People worldwide spend more than 90% of their life indoors and they need the right high quality environment, which is created by an Interior Design professional. As an Interior Designer, you can contribute to the health, safety, and welfare of people living in homes as well as those working in offices, hotels, restaurants, schools, stores, and other business places. You can be self-employed, you can work for an Interior Design company, or architectural offices, retail groups, or other commercial establishments can employ you.

Some newspapers and magazines are willing to pay an Interior Designer a handsome fee for a complete redesign of a home, which they then offer as a prize in a competition that will increase their readership. You can contact the promotions & marketing section of the media and suggest this idea to them, arrange a meeting to discuss the project, and negotiate a suitable fee. This will be much easier if some of your work has been photographed and published previously, and your name is becoming known.

The show-homes on display at new housing developments require excellent Interior Design in order to encourage visitors to become purchasers. Shopping malls and department stores can provide space for you to display photographs of your work, distribute colour brochures and flyers, and collect names of prospective clients for your Interior Design services.

You can learn all the secrets of Interior Design by taking a Course.

This is a profession that is open to almost everybody with a keen interest in design, and there are no restrictions on age, sex, race, or creed--if you really want to be an Interior Designer, a Course will show you exactly how!

You can complete a course from the comfort of your own home by distance learning, which means you can live in anywhere with Internet access and download the modules onto your computer.

Finally, as an Interior Designer in the 21st Century, you are not limited to simply advising and selecting furniture and accessories. You will create attractive and functional surroundings with the right ambience for either productive work or relaxation. You interact with many different people, enjoy a profitable and creative career, and best of all you can set your own schedule.

Home Improvement Loan For Everyone!

Who doesn't wish to own a house of their own or renovate the existing one? Many a times, people face difficulty buying a house for lack of funds. This doesn't mean that such people should not get an opportunity to buy a house or renovate an existing one. Lenders have now come up with home improvement loans for everyone. These loans, as the name suggests, are meant for all kinds of borrowers.

One can even look online for easy and cost-effective cheap home loans. There is a wide range of home loans that one can choose online. One has an option of availing loans in two forms - secured and unsecured. For a secure home improvement loan, one needs to pledge some valuable asset as collateral. The collateral can be any kind of asset. For an unsecured home improvement loan, one need not pledge any asset as collateral.

Now, even those with credit problems can avail home improvement loans. No matter you are suffering form a bad credit score, have CCJ's, IVA's, have filed for bankruptcy, defaults on loan, you can still avail these loans. Feel free to use these loans for any home improvement purpose.

A borrower can also carry out home improvement, purchase a property or build a house. One can also use the loan to raise a large amount for home improvement purpose.

A borrower becomes eligible for the following benefits by opting for these loans:

o Loans approved immediately

o Loans at most competitive loan rate

o Avail loans in spite of a bad credit score, CCJ, IVA

o Home loan help online

These loans are indeed home improvement loans for everyone. One can make maximum use of these loans by using them for home renovation or buying another house. Now, a borrower need not suffer anymore for want of money. Make your dream home a reality by making maximum use of these loans.

If a borrower has any doubts regarding the interest rate charged on the loan, the repayment option, one can always approach a team of qualified home improvement loan experts. They can provide all the required guidance and help you make a better choice.

You can also make use of guaranteed secured decision loan for everyone. These loans being secured in nature, call for the placement of collateral against the loan. One can avail these loans at a cheaper rate of interest too.

Draw maximum benefit from these loans.

Kitchen Interior Design Ideas

When it comes to finding kitchen interior design ideas, you may have come across many various photo galleries and interior design pictures to get inspired about your own kitchen theme and design.

You may have noticed that when you search on the Internet, it is sometimes so easy to find photo galleries for design ideas, while the quality of the ideas offered are not that new or interesting.

That is why this article is going to help you discover more fresh and creative ideas for your kitchen interior designs.

How to Find Your Favorite Kitchen Interior Design Pictures?

Before you search for ideas and galleries online, it is important to know the different styles and themes your kitchen style can have.

You may choose from various styles like modern, traditional, cozy, contemporary, black and white, colorful, Asian, African, Japanese, or other creative interior design ideas that can be used for your kitchen.

Knowing exactly what kind of designs you like the most, will help make your search more targeted and easier to find. Because general design photo galleries may contain hundreds of pictures, but sometimes they are too broad and not much helpful to find the perfect kitchen design you are looking for.

On the other hand, when you search for a specific style like modern kitchen interior design galleries, you are much more likely to find your favorite design that interests you the most.

So whether you enjoy modern or traditional, cozy or elegant, Japanese or European styles in decorating your home and kitchen, you can simply find many free galleries online.

No longer you need to pay thousands of dollars to a professional designer to make the choice for you. Now you can easily find the theme you like the most and decorate your home that way, saving a lot of money.

Tips for Finding Free Kitchen Design Ideas
One way is browsing through the interior design section of your local bookstore. You will easily find a section dedicated to this specific category. You can find many books and photo galleries there with many pictures you can get inspired by.

Another very useful option is searching online for free kitchen design galleries. You can easily find many free websites that offer a wide collection of remodeling and decorating tips, ideas and pictures you can use.

Simply visit Google and search for the specific style and theme you are looking for, and you are guaranteed to find many free photo galleries full of fresh ideas.

Home Improvement TV Shows - Great Source Of Home Beautifying Tips

There are several television channels that offer hundreds in home improvement shows. Each show does a different kind of format with many different styles.

Some of these are arts and crafts channels while others are focused on home makeover shows. The Discovery Channel offers many types of home improvement shows which are very educational though they can be a bit on the dull side. To figure out which of these would suit you best, continue reading the article and find out below.

Home Improvement Craft Television Shows

These type of shows are intended for older audiences who have interests in woodworking and joinery. They often have detailed instructions regarding the restoration and creation of new things that can be implemented to restore your home.

These ideas can lead to even more ideas that can lead the viewer to design new things for their home they never would imagined if they had not watched these kinds of shows.

Air shows are challenge type of shows in which two teams compete for success and vie for the best craft. Whoever creates the better craft wins the honor (show). Prizes for winning can vary but most often there are no prizes for winning the competition.

Air shows can be very boring but informative too.

Makeover improvement shows will typically feature certain rooms that focus on bathrooms, dining rooms, sitting rooms and sleeping bedrooms. These rooms can be redone completely... walls and all. Designer teams are brought in while the wife is gone on a voyage for a small time. Designers hurry to work on the room and then as a surprise, she returns to all kinds of different things.

The shows inform others how they can accent their home for a low cost and minimal effort. Sometimes an entire house is redone and then featured on the show. Garden shows are done in this format. While the homeowners are gone, friends of the couple arrange the garden team to spruce up the flower beds and gardens.

These home improvement shows can be aimed toward all viewers, young and old. It gives them an edge for helpful tips. With some much needed insight, homeowners can make their own magnificent home without spending all their hard earned money.

Their popularity have seen a rise in the kind of shows that come out on improvement channels. Since the teams and producers put the home improvement discussion in layman's terms, anyone can understand how to do a project they are interested in doing themselves.

Interior Designer Victoria Hagan Captures Comfort and Style With Quiet Sophistication

To be truly inspired for interior design ideas, one has only to look at the interiors by Victoria Hagan. One of the top New York interior designers today, Hagan's interiors epitomize refined sophistication and exhibit her talent for combining various styles. Her interiors showcase her ability to balance the old with the new and to create spaces that are full of texture, harmonious color and strong silhouettes. Interior designer Victoria Hagan captures comfort and style with quiet sophistication.

Victoria Hagan graduated the Parsons School of Design in 1984 and began an internship with designer Simone Feldman. This relationship led to a partnership up until Feldman's death in 1991. At that time, Hagan opened her own design firm and has been recognized by many as one of the leading interior designers. She was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 2004 and has been listed in Architectural Digest's "Top 100."

In 2002 Hagan introduced a line of furniture, fabric and accessories that represents the inspiration that she finds in the people and places around her. She refers to her collections as the "new American classics." Victoria Hagan's designs illustrate her trademark tailored upholstery, strong silhouettes and innovative textures.

When implementing Hagan's style into your own home think simple, comfortable and interesting. You won't see an overabundance of embellishments. What you will see is an expert use of color, clean lines, interesting textures and the unexpected. You won't see one particular style of furniture or décor. What you will see is an eclectic mix that is well blended.

Hagan's interiors seem to be filled with light and have a well-balanced blend of comfort and style. Texture is definitely a trademark of the designer's, whether it is achieved with a luxurious throw, a unique piece of art, a decorative pillow or even the upholstery.

When you work with texture and concentrate on the scale of furniture, color should be used with discretion. That's not to say a room should be boring. Certainly, Hagan's interiors are far from boring. However, they exude a restful respite from overwhelming color proving that a dash of color in an unexpected form or place more than makes up for a roomful of overindulgence.

The trick to capturing the essence of Victoria Hagan in your own interiors is to keep it sophisticated, subtle and mix it up a bit. Choose neutral wall colors, blend subtle upholstered pieces for a sophisticated look and accessorize for touches of texture, color and interest. You would be surprised what a few interesting pillows will do for a sofa.

Don't be afraid to mix styles. It's okay to blend a contemporary acrylic coffee table with a traditional style modular sofa. That antique desk of Uncle Bob's would fit beautifully next to that upholstered club chair. The modern art sculpture that you just had to buy at that new gallery in town will work its magic as your "something unexpected."

Above all, make your space livable and make it yours. Add your treasured collections or furniture pieces. Keep the space uncluttered, enabling you to move freely about in total comfort. Experiment with different arrangements of furniture and accessories, as well as with mixing styles. Use Victoria Hagan's own mantra as your guide, "the beauty is in the mix." Above all else, take a cue from Hagan's approach to decorating: keep it fun. That's advice you can use from one of the top New York interior designers.

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