Practical Interior Design Tips for New Homeowners

Nothing says independence like purchasing your first home. But, what will you do with the ancient oven in the kitchen? Or, that hot pink and green wallpaper in the bathroom? Those sound like interior design disasters. Luckily, there are some ideas to help fix up that new home and make it look brand new.

Wallpaper does not belong in the bathroom. This design idea is just asking for trouble. The humidity that accumulates in there will cause the wallpaper to easily peel off the walls. This may not happen right away, but it will happen eventually. You may want to consider lining the walls of your bathroom with tile. You don’t have to use ceramic tile, vinyl tile looks just as good. It’s easier to install and may last longer.

Kitchens are the best part of the house to decorate. Pull out that old stove and replace it with a new, flat top. These are easy to find and purchase in nearly any department store. You can find stylish, inexpensive home decor on eBay. Hot new appliances such as high-powered blenders, under the counter microwaves and metallic refrigerators always make a kitchen look snazzy. Hunt about for the latest deals, either online or in a furniture store.

The modern look is all the rage for most family rooms, dining rooms and kitchens. Modern means furniture and appliances that look sharp, new and high-tech. Décor like this comes as complete sets in many stores. Mirror furniture is now very popular as well. Nothing says elegant like a silver encased mirror.

If modern design isn’t your thing, try antique or bisque furniture. Antique furniture tends to make a house look more inviting and cozy. It also tells the visitor that the homeowner has a sense of elegance and classic style. Many people enjoy the antique look and combine it with wicker furniture.

Handcrafted wicker and wooden furniture is some of the best to own. There is also plenty of ready-made furniture available at local department stores. But, handcrafted wicker and wooden furniture can give your home an artsy feel. A special touch is to purchase a piece of artwork directly from the artist.

Decorating your home to your taste can be daunting at times. If this happens, check the latest home and garden magazines to get some ideas. You may even find a completely new idea that will cause you to rethink your original design.

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How Much Is This Going to Cost Me?- Home Improvement 101

Many American families today are opting to stay in their current home instead of purchasing a new home. In order to accommodate their growing family or to improve the appearance and value of their home, they are starting home improvement projects to create a better living space. Here is some information on the top home improvement renovations selected by homeowners.

Kitchens

Since many families spend a lot of time in their kitchens, this room is one of the most popular home improvement projects for homeowners. A kitchen renovation can be something as simple as replacing your kitchen cabinets or something as big as a totally remodeled kitchen. A kitchen renovation can cost between $5,000 up to $80,000 based on type of renovation selected. You can do some of the simple work yourself to save money. However, you may need to contact a kitchen contractor for some of the complex work such as plumbing and electrical.

If you find yourself needing extra money to complete your kitchen, you can try to obtain a personal loan from a bank or an online personal loan company. Here are some great companies to select from:

• Plain Green Loans
• Wells Fargo
• Bank of America

Bedroom Additions

Adding an extra bedroom to a home is a great way to expand a family’s living space. In order to reduce the cost of this project, you can turn existing space in your home such as your attic or garage into a bedroom. This type of project can cost up to $50,000 based on the condition of the existing space. If you wish to add a new addition to your home including foundation, you could spend an addition $20,000 or more. The level of this project can become difficult unless you have a construction background.

Siding

Adding siding to your home can improve the overall outside appearance of your home. Many homeowners purchase siding for their home because it is easy to maintain and is low in cost. By having siding on your home, you do not have to paint your home and it can last a long time in all types of weather. Based on the size of your home, siding can cost of up to $12,000 for the materials and professional installation.

Bathrooms

Bathrooms are another popular room that homeowners select to remodel. Many homeowners choose to update the bathroom fixtures such as the tub, lighting, vanities and flooring to create a more relaxing and modern atmosphere in their bathroom. A bathroom renovation can cost around $10,000 or more for an average remodel job. You can save money by doing some of the easier tasks such as wallpaper removal yourself.

Before you starting any home improvement project, it would be wise to do your research, obtain estimates, and create a budget first. Now that you know what the top home improvement jobs are, which one is next on your list?

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Home, Home On The Range…

The picture at left is from Architectural Digest, which did a photo layout of one of John and Cindy McCain’s Arizona homes in 2005. Here is the full slide show. Nice place.

Not exactly like our homesteads, which more often look sort of spliced together from this and that as we attempt to grow our personal independence and self-sufficiency in an increasingly hostile economy. Heck, many of us dedicated homesteaders have had to invent some creative ways just to pay the mortgage, which does tend to bite into time for completing the goat barn or installing the solar panels or building the sluice for the water turbine or… well, suffice it to say that for most of us, our homesteads are a forever work-in-progress. We wouldn’t be doing it if “Home” were not the most important asset we have in the world, on which we lavish our time, toil and love unconditionally.

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Building It: Log Home Advantages

In my last post I started talking about building your home, and introduced the subject of log and timber frame housing. These homes are becoming more and more popular all over the country, and offer some rather large advantages for homesteaders in a number of ways.

First and foremost, log and timber frame homes are environmentally friendly. There are companies producing “kit” homes in various parts of the country from farmed pine logs, and there are even a few specializing in ‘salvage’ timber. Those are standing dead or down trees, usually from large forest tracts (publicly or privately owned), harvested at little or no cost to the harvester because harvesting is part of the forest management strategy.

In my southern Appalachians, for instance, we have large stands of southern pine and hemlocks that have succumbed to pine bark beetles and wooly adelgid infestations. These insects get underneath the outer bark and kill the trees by destroying that thin layer of inner bark that the tree depends upon to transport water and nutrients from the roots to the limbs and needles. While treatments have been developed and are now available to landholders like us, it will only save the young trees. The older trees have already succumbed, and local environmental regulations even demand that landholders take down dead stands (or burn them).

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Housing: Buying, Building or Making Do

Part 1: The Pros and Cons

Wise Living Journal blog is oriented toward people who have chosen to live closer to the land than most do these days, and who are willing to take responsibility for as much of their lives and life choices as is possible in this modern world. This generally means those living off the edges of crowded cities or suburbs, or those lucky enough to have found a bit of countryside to call their own.

I’ve covered the basic homestead tool kit, started talking about some basic home repairs and maintenance jobs the homesteader can do for him or herself much cheaper than they can hire someone else to do. I’ve talked a bit about planning yard and garden space to make the most of your surroundings. And these subjects will come up again and again, as there is plenty to cover. But this sub-series is about housing itself.

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