Decorating

5 Amazing Tips to Choose the Best Dining Chairs to Add Grace to Your Dining Decor

May 30, 2018 by Painter Mommy 1 Comment

The dining room is the ideal place to enjoy your meal times and share memorable moments with both friends and family. Being a multi-functional room that hosts daily dinner time with your family, hosts regular Sunday dinner meetings with your extended family or hosts the ever-so-occasional special dinner parties, it’s important to decorate and make the place as beautiful as possible. It is crucial to make sure your dining room furniture matches your exceptional personal style to reflect your way of life, and ensure it is both functional and livable.

Among the most important components of a dining room is your chairs. You should make certain that chairs in your dining space are of the right height for the table, comfortable, and made of durable fabric. There are many questions you should ask yourself before getting the right chairs for your dining room. Luckily, the following tips will guide you to choosing the best dining chairs to add grace to your dining decor.

Buy easy to move chairs

You should consider choosing dining chairs that are easily movable around the house. Portable dining chairs can serve double duty as they can be used as extra seats in the living room when hosting guests. Furthermore, movable dining chairs enable easy change of your dining room design and appearance.

Consider mixing up the dining table chair designs

Acquiring dining chairs of different designs for the same room offers a complementary rather than a matching feeling. Mixing up the plan for your dining chairs provides a mismatched geometric setting brought about by painting the chairs in different colors or when decorated in the same fabric. If you are a fan of a particular style and material, say bucket seats, you should consider acquiring dining chairs that come with diverse backrest designs.

Settle for comfortable and high-quality fabric for your chairs

Comfort and quality are among the main factors to consider when choosing the best chairs to add to your dining room. Consider going for the best fabric that will offer high comfort levels to your guests. Having comfortable chairs in your dining room ensures you get the most value out of the products you have purchased.

Choose the best size for your chairs

The dining room is a busy place that requires clear and clean movement area. Selecting seats that are 18 inches in height provides the much-needed space as they can easily slide under the dining table. Your chairs should offer a minimum of 12 inches space between the dining chair surface and the tabletop to ensure comfortable seating while providing enough legroom.

Seek the services of professional interior designers

Professional interior designers and home decor experts will advise you on the best dining chairs to go for. Their experience in decoration will be vital in helping you choose the best chairs to add the much-needed grace in your dining room. Furthermore, you may consider exploring websites such as the Modern Dining Chairs for Sale at Modern Digs, which offer dining chair for sale.

DIY Tips: Master a Classic Milk Paint Finish

May 24, 2018 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

When it comes to discussing milk paint, it seems that many people are misled about what milk paint is, as they seem to think that it is the same as chalk paint. But the reality is that while chalk paint is certainly fun to use, milk paint is something totally different from chalk paint and it provides a totally different finish in comparison to chalk paint.

Upscale finish

Though it is possible to distress milk paint to achieve a finish that looks shabby and chalky, you will most assuredly realize the difference between the paints once you work with them. The outcome is that you can achieve a finish that is much more upscale and modern when you use milk paint. For example, you can create a look that is weathered or restored, which is highly fashionable these days.

No primer required

The good news is that no primer is required when you paint raw wood with milk paint. When you apply the milk paint, you will notice that it has the appearance of wood stain or ink if the color is dark. The paint will be semi-watery and will have a high level of pigmentation. You will love the intensity and vibrancy.

Dries quickly and provides a nice stain appearance

This paint dries rather quickly. It is not uncommon for it to be dry in fifteen minutes. You will enjoy the stain look it provides for wood once it is dry. This paint is unique by its own right and definitely does not resemble chalk paint when it dries.

Good coverage and no brush strokes

Milk paint seems like paint that is thinned out with water and the good news is that you do not need a lot for good coverage. And you are going to be so impressed that your brush strokes will not be visible when the paint dries.

Remove dry paint with wet cloth

You can paint two layers of paint, one on top of another. The fun thing is that when the paint is dry, you can gently rub a slightly wet cloth to remove a bit of paint to provide a distressed type of finish that you are looking for. Other paints must be wet for removal when trying to achieve a distressed look. This process with milk paint, therefore, is fun and intriguing.

As a result, you have much better control when being able to distress with a damp cloth instead of using sand paper or steel wool, which are required with other types of paint, including chalk paint. You will achieve a more subtle and blended finish with this type of distressed technique, which makes your projects look polished and professional.

Start your own project

Maybe it is time for you to try some milk paint on a lovely old table or dresser that you want to breathe new life into to match your updated décor. You will surely have so much fun with the wide variety of color combinations that are available.

So when you are thinking about DIY for spring, milk paint truly is a new painting technique that is great to try. Realmilkpaint.com has all the supplies you will need. The quality of the milk paint is impeccable.

Simple and Cost Reducing Tricks to Make Your Home More Stylish

April 5, 2018 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

Making your home look stylish may seem out of reach. However, it does not have to cost a lot of money to bring style into your home decor.

Mix and Match Sheer Curtains

Most people tend to stick with matching curtains. However, when they are sheer, they add an elegance to the room and the window when you mix and match two sets of curtains.

Tie Ribbons to Shower Curtain Rods

This gives the bathroom an elegant feel. You can add napkin rings and ribbons if you don’t like the look of ribbons directly on the rod.

Frame Your Television

For an elegant look in the living room, you can frame your television. Try using distressed wood or elegant looking pieces of trim cut to size. You can also hide all of the cords within a shower rod to give the room a simple and organized air.

Spray Paint Old Air Vents

Air vents tend to take on an aged look when they have been in place for some time. Give them a fresh coat of spray paint, and they appear like new.

Use Photo Frames to Accent Your Light Switches

Light switch frames do not have to be boring and light-colored. Instead, opt for a colorful picture frame, picked up at the dollar store or a yard sale, and frame the switch plate to make it look fresh and new. It adds style to the room in a way that you might not notice at first, but it is worth the effort.

Paint the Ceiling a Bright Color (Think Accent Wall)

Accent walls have been popular for a long time. Now, you can opt for a brightly colored ceiling to be the accent “wall” in the room. Instead, of choosing a wall around the room, draw the eye to the upper area. It brings style and gives the room a boost in energy as well.

Make the Room Look Bigger

You can opt for half-painted walls, which will make the room appear taller. You can also make the windows in the room appear bigger by using curved curtain rods. These can help give the room the illusion of more space, which can make people feel more comfortable and less cramped in the space.

Infuse Your Closet Doors with Style

You can purchase mirrors for reasonable prices. Opt to buy matching mirrors and attach them to the closet door. It is a good idea to paint the doors to match. Then, they appear built-in and very elegant.

Add Hardware to Tie Curtains

Tie-backs with a simple hook and ring connected to simple rope can give your curtains an elegant style. Meanwhile, you can opt to basket-weave the top of the curtains to provide another shot of elegance to the room.

These tips, along with resources like The Stylish Splash, can be very helpful if your home needs a bump in the style sector. They can also be helpful for renovations to sell your home. You can make it look irresistible to potential buyers with limited investment.

The Drapery Defence – 6 Tips For Avoiding Common Mistakes When Choosing Curtains

November 21, 2017 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

Nothing beats the superior beauty and elegance of custom made curtains. They can transform a drab window into a showpiece and encourage, filter and diffuse natural light – highlighting a room’s best features and downplaying its worst.

Unfortunately, windows don’t come in uniform sizes, so finding the perfect curtains which match your decor, style, taste as well as fit your windows can be a little daunting. Understanding the common issues around selecting the right curtain fabrics and customising them to complement and enhance your home, is the first step to picture perfect windows.

Length – the long and the short of it

Common mistake: Curtains can make or break the look of a room. Curtains which are too short can appear as if you have scrimped on the fabric or used secondhand curtains designed for a smaller window. A puddle of material due to curtains being too long, can be almost as bad.

Solution: Even if you are getting custom made curtains, you may need to provide accurate measurements to ensure precision fitting. Your curtain provider can give you tips on how to measure your windows for optimal fit but if not, the following instructions may be of some assistance.

Firstly fit all curtain rods and tracks around 10 – 20 cm (depending on personal preference) above all the window recesses you intend to cover. This will give a uniformity to all the gaps between the rods and the ceiling.

Next, decide whether the curtain drop will be to the window sill or the floor.

When measuring, note:

Curtains which drop to the sill usually finish 1.25cm above the sill.
Curtains which drop just below the sill will ideally sit around 15 cm below but this is a matter of taste and personal preference.
Curtains which drop to the floor should allow a 2.5cm clearance to avoid dragging.
Rod and ring curtains should be measured from the bottom of the ring.
To this raw measurement add another 20 cms (5 cms for the top seam allowance and 15 cms for the bottom hem) for lined and unlined curtains with tab or tape tops.
Curtains which have cased headings will require 25 cms added to the finished length (10 cms for the top seam allowance and 15 cms for the bottom hem).

Width

Common mistake: A shortage of fabric in the width of your curtains can make even the most luxuriant fabric look stingy and cheap.

Solution: Again, accurate measurements with enough fabric allowance to allow curtains to crossover in the middle to ensure privacy. They should also have ample fabric to look ‘drapey’ and flowing.

Aim for the width of the fabric to be two to two and a half times as wide as the window.

Uniformity

Common mistake: Selecting mismatched curtains or window treatments throughout a home can be jarring, causing the decor to look hobbled together.

Solution: To create a seamless flow and theme through your home, match curtains, blinds and other window treatments. They needn’t be all the same – curtains in a kitchen will not be the same as those in a formal dining room for instance, but they should complement each other.

A Material Difference – Fabric choices

Common mistake: The use of poor-quality fabrics or those which are unsuitable for their use, can bring a room down quicker than any other feature.

Solution: The fall of a curtain can tell a great deal about the quality of the fabric and workmanship involved in its production. Curtains and window treatments are a substantial investment and as such should be selected thoughtfully with consideration given to each room and use.

Begin by moving from room to room, identifying the amount of light which enters and the desired level of sun blocking and privacy required.

Working within your colour pallette so as to maintain uniformity, use hues and tones to create warmth in living areas, brighten dull, dark rooms or block light to specialty rooms such as baby’s room or home cinema.

Colour Clash

Common mistake: Garish mismatches of colour can prevent a feeling of flow and uniformity. They can also date quickly.

Solution: Obtain some fabric swatches and hold them up in each room to see how they react with light changes over the course of a day. Sticking with neutral tones as much as possible is the safest way to avoid the curtains overwhelming your decor.

Pocket Calculator

Common mistake: If opting for rod and pocket style curtains, making the rod pocket too tight can prevent easy movement of the curtains and making them too loose can prevent them staying gathered when open.

Solution: Pre-shrink all your curtaining fabric, to avoid any nasty surprises down the track. Use your rod as a guide and pin and tack the curtains in place. Check movement for sticking or gaping before sewing.

Beautifully made curtains should be a focal point to any room of the home. Investing time into perfecting the cut, colour, conformity and quality, will pay dividends for many years to come.

From Trash To Treasure – The 6 Steps of Starting An Upcycling Business

July 19, 2017 by Painter Mommy Leave a Comment

If you’re thinking of turning your interest in upcycling into a business, there are a few things you can do to make the process easier. The following 6 steps are aimed at getting you mentally and financially prepared for your exciting new venture.

Train Your Eye

One of the most important and hard to qualify traits you may need to hone in your quest to become an upstart upcycler is to train your eye. What this means is that you will find it easier if you allow yourself the time and space to develop an eye for potential.

A great place to start this process is the library.
There are many books and resources available which can help you to solidify (and ground with theory) any ideas related to aesthetic or design practice. Having an idea of historical context, aesthetic development, and of broad-based eras and movements will help you understand the potential in any objects you encounter, and whether they’re suitable for restoration or modification.

Uptown Girl

Knowing the potential value of an object is only one part of a much larger learning curve. Another part of your growing arsenal of skills will be in the ability to envision how to best revamp and revitalise an old item. Being able to evaluate, budget and decide how much time, effort and resources you’re willing to dedicate to the process will also be of huge importance.

Having quality touches and finishes will set you apart from competitors and cheap replica designs. Upholstery suppliers are a good place to start – choosing a fabric, texture or colour palette may be all you need initially to get your creative juices going.

Know Thy Market

You may find that it’s harder to set up your business than you’d imagined – or, that your potential customers and suppliers are located somewhere geographically-distanced from where you’re planning on conducting business.

The lesson to be learned from this is to plan ahead and to know thy market.
It’s a good idea to do some research into your target market, and to figure out some ways in which you can best bridge the gap between yourself and your potential customers – before committing time, money and energy into the process.

Point Of Difference

There’s no use starting a business that’s going to have to compete with thousands of other businesses locally by doing the exact same thing as other businesses.

In order for your upcycling business to flourish, it’s important to market your ‘point of difference’. Generally speaking, a point of difference is a marketable trait which is unique to your product. Think of design quirks, use of quality touches or of eco-credentials. Find a way to promote these differences and put your stamp on your product.

Price Point

Another key element to take into account is related to pricing – how much to charge, how to charge, and how competitively to price your items.

Part of creating a price structure will come through understanding your target market. If you’re upcycling furniture into modern, trendy magazine-worthy pieces, your pricing structure will be different to someone upcycling fringe or niche fashions.

Search out items of similar quality and appearance to your own and have a look at how they’re priced. Are they being purchased? Is there a market to price things at a similar cost? If so, it may be a great place to start.

Reach Out

Once you’ve figured out your marketable point of difference, it’s time to find a way to get your product to its intended audience. Finding a way to market and project your products is an art in itself.

Think about using social media apps as well as traditional media as an adjunct to your promotions. Social media users are often willing to share and promote your products for you if you present them with incentive. It also helps to build a community around your business.

Starting an upcycling business takes time.
There are skills you will need to acquire and hone, and some lessons to be learned through trial and error – but there’s also a whole lot of fun and freedom in running your own business. If you’re ready to take the next step, get reading, get writing, and get designing.