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You know your house needs improvements. You know you need to redecorate but you can’t seem to come up with ideas for decorating your home. You need inspiration. Where do you go for help? One great source of home decorating ideas and inspiration is home decorating magazines. These publications provide a look into the world of home decorating and offer suggestions and tips to help you decorate your home. Home decorating magazines provide pictures of homes and rooms that were remodelled which may inspire you to recreate that space in your very own home.

There are many home decorating magazines available. Most of these magazines not only provide pictures and ideas but also offers the customer an opportunity to buy directly from them items you like in their magazine. Many magazines are advertised on the Internet. With websites displaying their ideas and pictures, you can browse these sites in your search for a decorating style. These online magazines will likely offer you a chance to buy directly from them via the Internet.

Home decorating magazines are constantly in circulation. Some of the popular home decorating magazines are listed here.

* Traditional Home – This magazine has its main focus on traditional décor and historical homes. Articles are written that allow you to visit historic places, gathering ideas and tips for decorating a traditional home. This home decorating magazine offers information on furniture, window treatments and color schemes.

http://www.traditionalhome.com/trad-home-mag

* Country Living – This is a magazine which is published monthly and offers ideas about country décor, crafts, and antiques. It also provides tips for traditional cooking. This home decorating magazine provides details regarding furniture, window treatments, fireplaces and historic colors.

https://subscribe.hearstmags.com/subscribe/splits/countryliving/clg_sub_nav_link

* Elle Décor – This home decorating magazine is published semi-monthly. It is a magazine dedicated to focusing on modern design with a French influence. Focusing on luxury living, furniture style and planning your room, this magazine intends to offer the average homeowner ideas and tips to achieve this terrific style for their homes.

https://subscribe.hearstmags.com/subscribe/splits/elledecor/edc_sub_nav_link

* Better Homes & Gardens – This popular magazine provides the reader with information about various subjects relating to the homeowner and their family. This information includes ideas for home décor as well as garden decorating. Better Homes & Gardens also publishes a seasonal magazine which focuses on décor with a lot of information regarding specific projects.

http://www.bhg.com/decorating/lessons/resources/september-2015/

These home decorating magazines are great sources or inspiration if you are having difficulty coming up with ideas and techniques for your home. Providing detailed information and vivid photos, these home decorating magazines offer you instructions and often step-by-step directions to achieve the desired look.

Hope you Enjoyed!

Home Decorating with Baskets

There are very few things you can add to your home décor that will have quite the versatility of baskets. Baskets are not only decorative touches, they also blend well with almost any décor and in most cases are quite willing to suit dual purposes as both decoration and much needed storage.

Below you will find some clever ways to use baskets. Enjoy!

1) Mail sorter. Try hanging a row of baskets near your entryway. As you are walking into your home while sorting the mail slip the appropriate piece of mail into the corresponding basket. Have one basket for each family member and drop the junk mail into the wastebasket you’ve placed just below the row of baskets on your wall. This way everyone has easy access to his or her mail and junk mail is handled as well.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/AQGAeCs6i5jnGfU-n0x2PP-zOxi4mqcLXyMgppDnUghXjpDJV8O58U8/

2) Kitchen organizer. There are many jobs in the kitchen that baskets pull off beautifully. One such job is that of napkin holder. There are actually baskets by a famous brand that are the absolute perfect size for holding napkins for the dinner table. Additionally taller baskets make excellent holders for kitchen utensils that need to be within easy reach of the stove. There are even small baskets that make excellent holders for small jars of frequently used seasonings such as salt and pepper. Keep your eyes open the next time you’re in the kitchen and consider all the great ways baskets could help out.

3) Knitting supplies. Larger baskets are excellent tools for taming the beast that can easily become your supply of knitting tools and notions. Limit your collection to one large basket and eliminate the things that will not fit. This keeps you on top of your knitting supplies while keeping them out of site and protected from dirty baby paws.
4) Umbrella holder. This is an excellent use for a basket if you have one of the proper size. Place it on the floor next to your coat rack or closet or in your entryway and you will always have ready access to your umbrellas when bad weather comes your way.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/AQGAeCs6i5jnGfU-n0x2PP-zOxi4mqcLXyMgppDnUghXjpDJV8O58U8/

5) Magazine holder. This is one very common use for baskets but one that should very well be mentioned.
6) Toy box. This is perhaps a favorite among parents who are fortunate enough to have an extra empty basket at any given time. Anytime unexpected company shows up this is an excellent tool for quickly gathering all stray toys and getting them out of sight.
7) Office supplies. There are many baskets that make excellent organizers and holders for office supplies. From pen and pencil holders to those that are ideal for paper clips, sticky notes, and liquid paper there are many baskets that are almost ideal for a home office.
8) Laundry hamper. This is yet another great use for a basket. They are able to breathe by the very nature of their design so that if for some reason a wet wash clothe or damp towel gets thrown in it doesn’t necessarily spell ruin for the whole batch of laundry.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the virtues of baskets but a good place to start the next time you are having an internal debate about whether or not to invest the money in a good quality basket for your home decorating needs.

Hope you Enjoyed!

Lighting In The Bedroom

Lighting in the bedroom is extremely important when you are decorating.  Many people often forget about the lighting and it really makes a big difference when you are decorating your bedroom.  The first thing you must think about when you are designing the lighting in your bedroom is layering.  You must layer the lighting.

When you layer the lighting in the bedroom it gives you the opportunity to create the different moods you are hoping for. You should always have lamps on bedside tables and another light across the room diagonal from the bed.

This allows the lighting to be balanced in the room.  You also might consider light sources on a dimmer switch that allow you to select the balance of light that is emitted into the room.

One thing you do not want to do in your bedroom is have a ceiling fan with a light on it. If you must have a ceiling fan in the room then it is fine.  You should not have a light drooping from a ceiling fan because it looks tacky. Your bedroom needs to have the sexy look and a light from a ceiling fan will ruin the look.

I also love the look of a good wall mounted light fixture.  This can come in handy for night time reading and allows you extra space on your night stand.  It is also a good idea to use different bulbs for the lighting in the room to give a different look. Using recessed bulbs with floor and table lamps can give the look of washing the room with a soft light.  However, you also are layering the room with different lighting and it gives the look of pure elegance that you need to accomplish a nicely decorated bedroom.

Seven Easy Ways to Landscape the Patio

Patios serve as extensions of the living rooms inside the house. They serve as mirrors and reflect the inside of the house. It is important that the patio be decorated and presentable to those that who see it. Landscaping the patio is one way to make it attractive in the eyes of those who look at it.

Here are some tips on how to landscape the patio the easy way:

1. An outdoor chime may be placed to add a light mood in the patio. Wind chimes and musical chimes are perfect for outdoor use. Hearing pleasing sounds in the patio can add drama to the landscape.

2. Patio heaters may be used to provide warmth in colder weather. This will allow more time to spend in the patio rather than staying inside the house in cooler weather.

3. Benches that are intended for outdoor use may also be placed on the patio. The benches will serve as decorations and they can be used to entertain visitors. Guests will have a place where to sit and enjoy the view of the patio.

4. Hammocks can also be used to decorate the patio. Hammocks provide a relaxed atmosphere and they serve as additional design to the landscape garden. There are portable hammocks that are sold on the market. They are easy to assemble even without the use of tools.

5. Planters should never be missed in landscaping the patio. Patios always come with planters. They can be used to plant flowers and add beauty to the landscaped area.

6. Hanging flower pots may also add drama to the patio. There are hanging flowerpots that are made of plastic or mosses that are placed in a frame made of steel wires. The choice will depend on the taste of the person decorating the patio. There is also a wide variety of hanging flower plants to choose from. They are of various colors and sizes that will satisfy the different tastes of gardeners.

7. Decorative outdoor lights are also used to landscape a patio. They add a lively effect and can set the right mood especially at night. Lights will allow the people living in the home to enjoy the patio during the evening.

Start enjoying your patio while we have this warm weather with this tips!

We would like to welcome our newest team and family member Stephanie Horgan to Sunlight Heritage Homes. Stephanie will be taking over for Lilly Cordeiro as she will be away on Maternity Leave starting some time in August.  She will be in charge of our Design Center, Customer Service and Social Media.  If you are a homeowner who has moved in she will be your main point of contact.

Stephanie is a Sheridan College graduate with a diploma in Interior Design.  She understands how important it is when you are purchasing a new house to get the best help and design advice possible so she will be there for you through the process to ensure you will love it!  Stephanie’s personal favourite style of design is rustic. She loves the added touch of natural woods, stone and earth tones.  Although it is her favouite she does love to help other people’s personal style come to life in their new homes with Sunlight Heritage Homes. On her free time she likes to keep active and enjoy the weather when possible. Hitting the slopes to snowboard in the winter and hitting the waves in the summer to swim and relax with friends and family.

We welcome you and are happy to have you join our team!

Lilly Cordeiro

Sunlight Heritage Homes

Easy Do-It-Yourself Paint Repairs

Paint is considered to be the clothes of your house.  Although paint problems may look ugly and major, you can actually be saved from the obligation of calling a professional painter and spending huge amounts of money on them. You yourself can be your very own Picasso in doing paint  re touches of your house.

Break Down

All kinds of paint, whatever brand it may be, can only last for a specified number of years on your wall, before the break down process starts showing. When you are experiencing paint break down, it basically means that the first or primary layer on the surface is weakening.

This problem is commonly experienced in old houses that have several paint layers. When the break down process starts, paint will start cracking and peeling from your wall or your wood surface. Because of this, your wood or drywall will be exposed.

To fix this, try scraping or pressure washing your surface. After that, fill any holes using putty if it is wood or filler if it is a wall surface. After filling in, get a sand paper and fine sand the surface.

When you’re done, wipe of the dust and let it completely dry. Basically, when you pressure wash or when it is raining, 24 hours should be allotted for the surface to dry. Once you’re sure that it is dry, and then you can start painting.

Moisture Build-Up

Another cause of paint cracking is moisture build-up, leak or excessive condensation.

Most probably, you can find mildew and mold along with this problem. This kind of problem is often experienced in the bathroom. However, it can also
occur in other parts of the house because of leaky roofs and close outdoor shrubs. Your paint can sag down due to the moisture. But in this case, you won’t
see any chipping debris.

If moisture build-up is the cause of your pain cracking, then you would have to do another remedy.  Since you will be targeting on the mildew, and if it is an interior surface that you are fixing then you can make use of a solution that consists of three
parts water and one part bleach. If it is an exterior surface, you can wash it off using an exterior solution intended for pressure washers.

Both of these can be bought at your local shop. You can also try renting a pressure washer from some stores that provide services like these during the
weekend.

Fading Color

The last most experienced paint problem would be fading color. This is usually experienced with surfaces on the exteriors of the house. However, it can also occur indoors when specific colors were used for the walls. Basically, paint color fades when it
exposed too much to the sun.

To avoid this kind of problem, most people would try no to use bright and bold colors such as deep red. If you have an affinity for deep colors, but don’t like the fading ones, then try to look for hues which have a ruddy or golden tone with them.

You can try consulting a paint associate about this.  Try to find out how much red oxide or yellow oxide colorant was mixed for the specific color that you want. Basically, if the paint associate says that each colorant has about 1 ounce or so in the tint base to
create the color, then you have spotted a color that can resist fading for a very good period of time.

When people think about making changes to their home, either one or two rooms or the entire space, most often they imagine color. Generally people choose colors they are fond of or those which correspond with pieces of furniture. When searching for ideas for decorating a home, one idea which is perhaps overlooked is decorating with the two basic colors – black and white.

Black and white, used in decorating, creates drama and pizzazz. It is said that every room can benefit by using a touch of black. Black is a color which anchors and grounds a room. Adding sophistication, black is definitely a color that demands attention.  Ideas for decorating a home using black may include accessories such as light fixtures, trim or furniture. Black serves to add definition to focal points of a room. Black is just one color that stands out or makes a statement.

Using black and white when decorating a home, provides a clean, fresh, elegant atmosphere. This combination can be added to any room in a home making it a sophisticated space. Black and white are often used in contemporary home decorating and often used to accent other colors in French Country design. It may be hard to visualize but there are many ideas for decorating a home using only these two basic colors. The floor is a great place to start in decorating a space. Black and white vinyl tiles laid alternately makes a beautiful checkerboard pattern and looks clean and elegant. Black marble used on the floor, accented by wide white baseboards, another beautiful idea for decorating a home. White ceramic tiles with a black border or simply paint the floor black or white and use stencils of the opposite color for decoration. These are great ideas for decorating a home.

White walls, is there anything more perfect? Painting the walls white or even an off-white, would make a perfect background for accessories such as artwork framed in black. That you can imagine. Elegant black window treatments or black shutter against a clean, crisp white wall would definitely create an aura of sophistication. Perhaps a glass-top table with black iron trim and black chairs, these are terrific ideas for decorating a home using black and white.

A bedroom decorated using black and white would be lovely. An iron bed-frame in black or white, covered with a striped black and white comforter. For the pillow shames, you could use either all black or all white and could add throw cushions in the opposite color. A nice leather black or white chair in the corner would be certainly accent the room. Then the white walls with an elegant piece of artwork, framed in black hanging on it, this would surely add to the contemporary feel.

Ideas for decorating a home, there’s tons out there for you. Finding one that suits you and those that live in your home is important.  It’s nice to do something radical and off-the-wall but remember you must be able to live with it for awhile.

Hope you Enjoyed!

Lilly Cordeiro

Sunlight Heritage Homes