Wallpaper Care
Wallpapers are some of the most common yet most neglected forms of wall coverings around. they come in all shapes and sizes and also come in a variety of materials. From cheap paper with thin films to last them longer to expensive textured ones that can cost an arm and a leg to get installed. However expensive your wallpaper would be, constant care and vigilance would be needed to maintain it’s beauty, such as peeling edges which should be re-glued as soon as possible to lessen the risk of getting it bigger, to having acrylic sheets placed in children’s bedrooms to protect them while letting the designs see through. Keep on reading!
Recession – Comeback of the DIY Warrior
As the recession tightens its grip over the world, it brings about a revival in a favorite past time of days gone by, DIY. Do-It-Yourself used to be a fad often associated with dad who always wanted to do stuff in the house with his own two hands. Through sweltering heat and freezing weather it worked and the jobs got done. Sometimes taking longer than it should but, it always results in a piece or work you have to just love (or risk the wrath of your dad!).
In today’s cash strapped economy, more and more people are opting to do their home improvements by themselves as much as they could to save on labor costs and materials (in theory that is). It brings together the long forgotten muscle memories when you used to know how to saw wood and hit nails with a hammer (hopefully avoiding your fingers!). It brings together the family who do their part for the common good, as it should have always been. A time forgotten and replaced with our fast paced life and stresses.
DIY Painting
You’ve chosen the shades and bought the paint. Your best buds are coming over for the weekend to help you repaint your room, and you’ve made sure there are plenty of food and drinks to go around. What do you do next?
1.First, of course, is buying the right tools. Choose the best brushes and rollers that works for you.
2.Prepare the area – make sure the room is well-ventilated if you don’t want the fumes going to your head. Remove all decorations, fixtures, etc. hanging from the walls and the ceiling.
3.Protect your furnitures – move all furniture away from the walls. For those that can’t be moved, cover them with plastic sheets or drop cloths. Don’t forget to cover light switches and the floor with plastic and drop cloths as well.
4.Clean and repair the surfaces to be painted – remove old paint, wash the walls and patch the holes.
5.Apply a primer – applying primer seals the surface and helps the paint cover the surface more evenly.
Now that you’re all set, good luck on your project!
House Motif
Image Source: www.yossawat.com
Due to the dangers of the outside world, more and more people are finding out ways to sedate their boredom within the safety of their homes instead of going out and so that they can save some money. This is done by creating a personalized entertainment room right at your homes. If you wish to make one yourself, like the one’s based on a 1930’s movie plush motif; making use of blood red, dark woods and gold accents. For the texture, use red felt or if you can afford it, velvet. Color the edges of the room in mahogany. Opt for a cosmopolitan and classic geometric-style wall-to-wall carpet for your floors. Use plush, upholstered chairs and couches as well as reclining ones. Install a mini fridge in the color of black or royal blue for that theater effect. Use prefabricated DVD holders to save money and flaunt style. And lastly, don’t forget the flat screen.
Stripped Off: Removing Old Wallpapers II
In scoring wallpapers, you may use a knife, but it might just cut through the paper. So a specialized device does the scoring, which is rolled over the wallpaper to enable the spiked wheel to scratch the paper’s surface.
Then a solution made of warm water and vinegar sprayed on the wallpaper can soften the glue, making it easier to strip off.
Once the wall is bare, repairs will be needed to smoothen the wall surface. Holes should be patched with dry wall compound. The wall surface should be totally dry before painting or pasting a new set of wallpapers.
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Stripped Off: Removing Old Wallpapers
Wallpapers get out of style, get discolored or are simply destroyed by pets, toddlers, leaks – and you just can’t “paste in” a similarly designed wallpaper. You’ll need to remove the wallpapers totally, repair the walls, then put on a new set (and style!) of wallpapers.
To effectively remove wallpapers, soaking it from the outside won’t help, since most wall paper surfaces are designed not to be penetrated by water. What you can do is to make shallow holes on the wallpaper surface to allow water to penetrate and soften the glue. The holes should not pierce the paper, but scratch it enough up to the glue layer. This is called scoring.
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