7 DESIGNER TIPS FOR THE COMMON HOMEOWNER
#1: CLEAR THE CLUTTER! Purge before your reno. Stow stuff you must keep, but keep it out of sight. That way you can imagine your new look. The first step is always to envision what you want.
#2: GO WITH THE FLOW! Set sightlines in your home. Stand in different prime locations such as the front entrance or the middle of the kitchen, and plan to eliminate "things" that block the flow of energy in your home. Things could mean furniture or even a wall!
#3: TAKE IT ONE AREA AT A TIME. Once the project has started, your home will find itself in disarray; to avoid being overwhelmed just take it one step at a time, one room at a time, one project at a time.
#4: PRACTICE DIPLOMACY WITH TRADESPEOPLE. Be diplomatic! It will pay off when you need the tradespeople to revisit for deficiencies or particular touch-ups. It could even bring your bill down.
#5: REPEAT ELEMENTS. Rather than being suddenly jolted by a totally different look in each room, repeat a theme, harmonize your paint colors, keep all the knobs silver, etc., for a cohesive, pulled-together look.
#6: BUT MIX IT UP! "Matching pieces" are a bit passe. Blend disparate objects to create an alluring setting. This is where your personal style gets to shine. Avoid a catalogue-perfect look.
#7: BLING THE UNEXPECTED! Try a chandelier in the kitchen, an antique in the bathroom, a painting in the garden. Make your home uniquely, beautifully yours.
Green Wall
Spring equinox is upon us! On the West Coast the sun is calling us outdoors after hiding behind rain clouds for several months. As you venture forth, there are some great ideas to take with you.
One of the most recent elements of exterior home design is the GREEN WALL. It is considered a vital element by many building developers. In some countries, such as Germany and Japan, builders receive subsidies and tax breaks for installing this sturdy wall panel loaded with plant life.
Traditionally, we're accustomed to ivy or vine-covered walls. Today, multi-colored plants yield a green canvas for our urban communities. Licorice ferns, begonias, huckleberries, even lettuce, create a colorful collage.
Besides adding natural beauty to our concrete surroundings, a Green Wall cleans internal air of dust and smog. It enhances storm water run-off. It increases sound insulation while reducing energy costs.
Pre-packaged green-wall kits, including plants and empty wall racks, are available to fill with your personal palette of grass, ferns, herbs, and berries.
Caution is required regarding the wall you choose. Make sure it's a wall that can withstand water soakings when you tend to your thirsty plants. Is the wall able to ward off plant roots trying to penetrate?
If you're a patio gardener or a condo-dweller you too can participate in the urban greening movement by designing a plant sculpture. The skeletons are available to you, all ready for setting the plants into. For example, you might envision a bear or a deer in your garden; green of course!
Sustainable housing is a fine art. Go Green!
GOING GREEN is SUITE!
Most of us are at level one in the Green movement. We're starting to get into the gadgets and habits that we truly believe are our way of contributing to the desperately needed regreening of the planet. But according to experts, when it comes to our homes, true Green is about the building itself. The way of measuring this includes:
- building on a sustainable site
- water efficiency
- energy prudence and atmosphere control
- materials and resources
- the individual environmental quality
Since 2004, every house in Vancouver may include a suite. This is a positive environmental solution because it means less driving due to more housing within the city. It also makes detached-home ownership more affordable, when the owner has a "mortgage payer" suite; in addition, it helps to make urban rentals more affordable when there are enough to go around!
As a wise owner, make an up-front GREEN investment in your rental suite!
Many suites are in the basement or on the ground floor. They therefore have limited natural light, are prone to ventilation challenges, and can be damp with the resulting problems of mould and dust-mite growth.
By investing on no-VOC paint, such as provided by Canvas Home Basics, there will be a reduction of indoor air pollution. Installing hard flooring such as wood or laminate, and getting rid of the carpets, harbingers of dust-mites and mould, is also an attractive improvement. You can add insulation between the suite and the owners' upstairs, which will reduce noise pollution and save on heating energy. Hot air rises! To reduce energy and water consumption there are Energy Star appliances, low-flow showers and toilets, and faucets with aerators.
A wise owner will want to attract good tenants who will stay a long time and play an important role in the Going Green Movement.
