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Do the Don’ts to Do it Right!

By Sal | Published July 24, 2013

Interior designing is a vast issue to resolve. And when you are adamant to be at the upper hand in this matter, you need to weigh the things smartly. To be on top you need to outline the do’s and the don’ts of interior designing giving them similar importance. The last blog post was about the do’s of home interior design while this one reveals the don’ts. So, get on the mark, get set and go!

Don’t Hop on from One Theme to Another!

This is a common mistake most homeowners make. They tend to think that the more themes they choose for their homes the better they become. Well, sorry to burst their bubbles but they seriously lose it when they do hop on from one theme to another. Many of the interior designers agree that choosing a single main theme for your home is great and then selecting some supporting theme which will be revolving around the center piece is even greater. But jumbling up too many main themes for your home is similarly unwise as the home loses the continuity and unity then. For instance, a novel that lingers on a main plot and some sub plots should be easier to read than a novel full of independent tracks and stories. The latter could simply be considered a collection of stories not a complete novel. The same thing can happen to your home if you don’t act wisely.

Don’t Shun the Classics

Don’t shun the classic ones just because they are less flashy than the trendy ones. If you look beyond the surface, you will be able to see the appeal of the classic styles of interior designing yourself. The trouble with trends is that they are basically some hype and nothing more which is supposed to be worn out as soon as possible. Yet, the very base of the term classic is the entire package of stability and durability put together. So, whenever you get to pick one of the classics and trends, try to stick to the classic looks.

Don’t Be Talked into

Well, don’t be a Hitler yourself and to be more precise don’t be Hitlered as well. Many interior designers are smart enough to talk you into doing something they want. Do not let them brainwash you for doing something that doesn’t suit your taste or style. Stay strong in your position to avoid such troubles. Yet, don’t refuse all of their ideas presuming that they are trying to manipulate you. Listen to them and judge the ideas on your own then either accept or refuse.

Don’t Rush

One of the most fatal mistakes in home interior design is made by us by rushing through it. Interior design is not such a thing that you can change daily, weekly, monthly and even yearly. So, rushing through the process can be a huge mistake indeed. It doesn’t matter how certain you feel about a theme or wallpaper, just sleep on it and take the decision later so that any mistake can be thwarted.

The Do’s of Interior Design for an Independent Home in Brentwood

By Sal | Published July 23, 2013

Do you know doing all the things right when it comes down to the interior design of your home is nearly an impossible task to be accomplished? Even if you have not found out the gravity of your home interior design yet, you are going to find that out when you actually have set the things into motion. Yet, you can ease up the entire process for you by simply following some interior design do’s these days to get your home in Brentwood the best possible look of these days.

Do Have Your Floor Plan Sketched

Does it sound cheesy when I put it like “this is where it all begins”? Forgive me if it does but it is very true indeed. When you expect everything goes silky smooth about your home interior design, you should have a professional and detailed sketch of your home so that you can make changes as easily as possible and get along with your interior plans quite cozily.

Do Find Your Own Statement

Finding your own statement is very important for you while your home interior design is of concern. Do try to find that before starting the process unless you want to keep doing and redoing things over and over again until you get exhausted both economically and mentally. And it is always better and smarter for you to learn from outside sources and not to turn your home into a laboratory for interior designing tests. Just go ahead and surf some websites, attend some show-houses or just read some blog posts and magazines to find your own interior design statement in time.

Do Find a Signature Number

A decoration piece, a picture, a flower vase, or a chandelier; it could be anything that represents your taste and goes with the theme and purpose of that particular room perfectly. Having a signature item in a room does not only add some environmental value to the room but also personalizes it as well. And a home cannot be called a home until it has got some personal touch which a signature number can provide.

Do Coordinate

Coordination is the key to successful interior design. Make sure you coordinate between your floors, walls, fabrics, lightings so that they stand together as a unit. A bit of mix and match can be delightful but over doing that can be an interior design suicide. So, when a suicidal interior design is not your option, you should be extra cautious about your coordinating, mixing and matching.

Do Focus on Double ‘B’

Beauty with brain is equally important when it comes to your home interior design and decoration. Buying something flimsy and fragile won’t do you any good. You might find them considerably lower in price and very catchy initially but in the long run they will definitely make you pay much more for them. So, stay on guard and buy something useful and beautiful at the same time so that they last for years.

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Building a Duplex in LA: The Prerequisites and the Basics

By Sal | Published July 19, 2013

Who doesn’t love the idea of having a nice and cozy duplex in LA? Well, mostly each and every one is quite smitten with this idea for sure. And it won’t be a matter of wonder if you join the team as well. Yet, willing to get a duplex and building one are completely different from each other. Yes, your willingness of having one of those would definitely work as the first step but from then on you will have to build up the idea to turn that into a conclusively constructive and absolutely beautiful reality. And to that you will need some prerequisites and basics to go on with so that you can have what you are craving for— a dream duplex! Here is what you’ve got to do.

Planning

Planning is, has been and always will be one of the most important elements of achieving any sort of success. And this is applicable to any kind of stuff in the world. Once you plan well, you have a strong possibility of attaining success in any job you do. So, plan realistic and smart to get the job done neatly. That will help you to nail it perfectly.

Legal Issues

This is one of the first few things you will have to do before going for a duplex. The legal procedure varies from state to state even if the general ones remain same. Make sure your builder and you have done the necessary studies of those rules and regulations so that you don’t have to face any legal problems in the future. There are many duplexes that have suffered from early shut down or even huge fine just because they failed to comply with the existing laws regarding duplex building. To avoid the same fate, you need to take care of the laws and order.

Building Council

When you are building an entirely independent establishment then you might push this factor to the second row but when you are building one in an already established building, you should comply with the building council. Designing a duplex might include some changes in building’s original plans to which the building authority council might object. So, getting a clearance from the authority is very important when you are building a duplex in an existing establishment.

Correct Professional

Hiring the right professional for your duplex is one of the basics you need to do. You cannot plan, design and build a duplex without professional help unless you are an architect. Even then you will need some extra hands to help you to do the job. Yet, hiring one of the right folks won’t be a piece of cake unless you do the math correctly. Browse your option based on qualification, expertise, innovation, feedback and customer service. Don’t undermine the value of customer service and rapport because these factors play a vital role in building a good team and building a duplex.

Right Amenities

Make sure your duplex has all the basic amenities included in the designs. Otherwise the duplex will be utterly pointless. Be absolutely persistent about having the basics first and then go for the other things because if your needs aren’t fulfilled, your wants will not be fulfilled either.

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How to Choose the Perfect Lighting for Your Home in Santa Monica

By Sal | Published July 18, 2013

Are you raking your brain cells to choose the perfect lighting for your home? Well, if you are then you should at least know that you are not the sole person in that line. Many homeowners in Santa Monica are going through the similar ordeal. Really the lighting relevant troubles are not light at all! Anyway, there is a number of stuff you can do to straighten this up for you. Just go through the rest of the article and find out how to keep your lighting related troubles at bay!

Don’t Undermine the Goal

Whenever lighting is concerned many of us tend to overlook the necessity of determining or identifying the goal or purpose of the lighting. This is one of the most common lighting mistakes people are known to make much more frequently than the other ones. For instance, choosing some lamps that would only create an indirect and ambience based lighting would be perfect for places or areas like a living room, dining space, bedroom and so on but choosing the same ones for study, kitchen or home-office can be disastrous as the latter zones would need task or direct kind of lighting. Make sure the company you hire for the job does keep this in mind before going for the actual job.

Consider Lighting for Security

Most of the burglars or anti socials wait till the darkness of the night to get on with their stealing business. And the only reason behind this is that they don’t want to be seen at all while committing crimes or at least mischiefs. And by installing some modern lighting for your home exterior and entrances, you can absolutely discourage the burglars from dropping by at your doorstep for sure.

Multiple Sources

Multiple sources of lights should be arranged for each room. Especially, rooms like bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, living room etc., truly need multiple lights. Let me tell you with the help of an example okay? For instance, if you have gone to clean your face in your bathroom with seemingly adequate lighting, yet you get to have a hard time making out your reflection in the mirror properly just because you have forgotten to install the mirror lights, wouldn’t this be a very frustrating scenario for you to face? Yet, this could easily be avoided with the help of a light or a few tiny lights for your mirror. So, multiple sources are necessary.

Night Lighting and Chandeliers

Do you have kids? If you do, you will probably understand the necessity of night lighting without my telling you. Kids are usually afraid of the dark and when they go to sleep they expect to have at least some sort of lights or lamps to keep the boogeyman out. I am not telling you to encourage them to be afraid of the dark or boogeyman but forcing them to stay in the dark which is so frightening to them is not a cure to their fear as well. So, don’t let them stay under mental pressure and arrange some night lights for their bedrooms. And for public zones like living rooms or dining spaces, chandeliers are really worth placing.

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Choosing the Right Restaurant Floor: The Options to Consider

By Sal | Published July 17, 2013

Flooring is one of the most important parts of any building. Be it a home or be it a restaurant, a proper and an adequate flooring material is a must one for either of them. Yet, not the same kinds of flooring would be accurate for both and this piece of work will be focusing on only one of them. Let me take you to a short and splendid tour to the town of flooring materials for restaurant on this occasion. Here is a list of options that you might find useful while choosing the right kind of material for your restaurant floor. And these options are applicable to new establishments as well as the remodeled ones.

Vinyl

Vinyl is one of the most prominent and popular floor materials for restaurant owners. Seriously, they kind of go head over heels for this material. And why wouldn’t they when it as so much to offer? The vinyl comes both in forms of sheets and tiles. The restaurant owners tend to be partial with the sheets as they are easy to clean and maintain because of the lack of joints to put some extra cleaning effort on them. They give a warm and soft look and come at a very affordable price. The installation of vinyl flooring is fairly easy too. This floor material comes in several colors, designs and patterns to suit the best restaurants.

Ceramic Tile

Ceramic tiles are arguably the best restaurant floor material there is. They are very strong and durable and vastly used as flooring of most restaurants. Unlike homes restaurants have to endure heavy traffic and frequent movements of chairs, tables and other similar stuffs. These actions can result into occasional cracks or stains if the material that has been used for the flooring is a cheap and flimsy one. With ceramic tiles, this tension can be put aside without any kind of difficulty as they are really very sturdy and fortified in design. This is literally waterproof when correctly put together. This is the aspect which makes it very hygienic and easily maintained. On top of that, the ingredients that are used in making ceramic tiles are sand and clay which makes it an eco-friendly product itself. Besides, it does not release any unfriendly gas or fume to pollute the nature. And last but not the least, like vinyl it also comes in multiple shades, designs and patterns which give it a dimensional look to get along with any restaurant decoration.

Concrete

Ah, the name itself gives a sense of strength and power, doesn’t it? Of course it does! This material is literally slipping proof, almost no maintenance and surprising cheap to come by. Seriously, you barely ever a slip on a concrete surface! On top of that, even after ages all you need to do to keep your restaurant floor as good as new is to use some clear seal coat. And the best part of is using this material is it is one of the most cost effective ones there is!

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How to Stay on a Remodeling Budget

By Sal | Published July 16, 2013

Whenever you are dealing with renovation or remodeling, money seems to run like a flowing waterfall. Believe me no matter how impossible it may seem to build a dam to keep the ‘Niagara’ of your renovation under control you still can get that done if you put some effort into it. Here are a handful of things that can assist you to pull it off nicely and neatly!

Decide on the Longevity

Whenever the term ‘home’ pops in our mind we usually get an idea of peace, happiness and permanence. Well, that’s all very nice indeed but when it comes down to the question remains, how permanent would you want that to be? It is kind of deciding on whether a person is a bf/gf material or a hubby/wifey one. When you are not willing to be committed to your place for more than a few years then you should not be wasting your money on buying ‘too sturdy, too pricey and too quality’ stuff. You can simply pick up trendy and budget goodies and get a great home. Yet, if your home is like your place of ‘happily ever after’ then you should be going down the finer quality and pricier remodeling.

Keep Faith but Don’t Trust Blindly

When you want to stay on a remodeling budget, you need to take every step cautiously. You should trust your builder with the job but don’t keep your eyes closed. Ask for an estimate from more than one contractor and see who is giving you the best quote both quality and price wise. When you get what you deserve, hire one for a sample project to see if the company can live up to its promises or not. This way you can waive off the trouble and monetary loss of hiring an incompetent one.

Don’t Spend Too Much Straight Away

Many of us tend to purchase each and every screw and bolt beforehand just to keep everything ready when remodeling is concerned. Planning ahead and being prepared for the future is a great thing but you must remember that not everything can go according to the plans. And keeping every possible necessary item stored for the future use might cause you a hard and fast financial loss as you might not need many of them. Take a single step at a time and spend accordingly unless you need to buy some stuff in lots.

Stay Constantly Communicated with Your Family and Pay Heed to Their Needs

Your remodeling budget can go straight up to the sky if you have to redo the remodeling over and over again which can be a very possible thing for you to face if you don’t involve your family members in it. For instance, your precious little prince Rhoda is head over heels for the remodeling just because she wants a Barbie themed room and somehow you managed to give her a room with Cinderella theme. Can you imagine how disappointed she would be and how much more you have to spend on the room to redo as per her original choice? To avoid such a case, stay connected and communicated with your family and see how it turns out for you!

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Restaurant Outdoor: How to Outshine Others in Orange County

By Sal | Published July 11, 2013

The outlook of a restaurant is very important everywhere in the world. And the Orange County ones aren’t immune to the charms of the outdoor decorations as well. So, when you are a restaurant owner, you need to be extra careful about the outdoor design and decoration of your restaurant. Let’s take a look at the ways that will help you outshine many other restaurants in your area.

Flat Surface

Get a specially designed flat surface for your patio. Make sure the flat surface slightly slopes down to the street so that rain water can be cleared easily. Make sure the board or bricks are placed neatly. Otherwise, they can be responsible for holding water and make it all slippery. Cover all the cracks or loose-boards to avoid tripping.

Awnings

Restaurant outdoor decoration design is not only about looks but also about comfort as well. This is the reason why along with the flat surface, awnings are also very important to have for your restaurant. When they are chosen carefully, they not only provide shade from heat and rain but also offer a delicious look for a restaurant or diner. Make sure the awning you are choosing is beautiful enough to give your place a beautiful look.

Fences

Fences are very important for a restaurant with outdoor seating area. You should separate the garden or our outdoor seating space of your restaurant with fences. You can find a lot of variations in the materials of fences. Yet, the wooden or wrought iron ones are the most popular choices among those. Pick your one and get ready to get to take the next step regarding your restaurant outdoor decoration design.

Pest Repelling Plants

Keeping pests under control in an outdoor area is very tough. Pest replenishing plants can be a good choice for you as they are not only good for the environment but also great for the looks as well.

Amenities and Locks

Get the service station or stations located wisely so that it can cover the restaurant in a time effective way. Proper locks should be placed so that the amenities such as the cutleries, napkins, linens etc., can be locked up properly after the closing hour and need not to be carried inside.

Proper Lights

Lights should be selected wisely in outdoor areas so that they scare away the dark and do not drag the unwanted attention of the pests and bugs. Select the proper shades and colors of the lights. Keep lanterns, candles etc., ready for special occasions.

Maintain Uniformity

Maintaining uniformity with the interior of a restaurant is a must for the restaurant outdoor decoration if the outdoor one is not an independent restaurant itself. Otherwise, the outdoor or garden restaurant will look out of place. For individual outdoor restaurant, the decoration gets more flexible.

Magical Music

Music is one of the most important parts of any restaurant. Keep something a bit louder than the indoor ones so that it keeps the outside noise under control. Yet, don’t use too loud numbers that will cause the noise themselves.

Posted in General | Tagged outdoor decoration design, restaurant outdoor | Leave a comment

Living Room Decoration: Do It the LA Way!

By Sal | Published July 11, 2013

Are you tired of seeing the old and worn out decoration of your living room? Do you want to decorate your living room in the coolest way possible? Then you should do it the LA way because that’s one that counts! Now, don’t worry at all thinking about how to do that right. Just do your homework correctly and you will see how easy that could be! This article will help you to get your homework done as neatly as possible so that you can get your dream living in no time at all.

Make Room for Stuffs

Yes, make room for the necessary stuffs while cut down the extra ones. Just because your living room has been packed with stuffs for ages shouldn’t necessarily mean that each and every piece of things your living room contains is important. Make a couple of lists so that you can differentiate between the important ones and the trashy ones. Then take the trashy ones out of your living room and make room for the must ones. You can even buy some new things if you see fit for the redecoration of your living room with their help.

Leave the Walls Alone

Decorate your living room keeping at least some of the walls alone. On many occasions you can see that people have a tendency to place all the furniture sticking to the walls. This is a decorating mistake. Yes, it is true that doing so might seem like having more space in the room but not always. Use your judgment well deciding the placement of your furniture so that some of them stay away from the walls to give your living room a more cozy touch.

Make Space for at least Six People

Seating arrangement is a very important part of living room decoration. While decorating your living room, make sure you have arranged comfortable seats for at least six people or more. You can give it a bit more personal touch by dividing the arrangement into a smaller number of seats. Yet, the main point remains to be keeping the seating arrangement open to six people in the least.

Light Colored Carpets

Carpets play a vital role while living room décor is in concern. People seem to have a great liking for carpets as decorative items. If you also love a have a carpet in your living room, make sure you have chosen the right one. Solid ones and/or light ones add more space to the sight of a human.

Floor Color

Most of the builders will agree to this point without wasting a second that the color of the floor should be at least a shade or two darker than the walls. It gives a room a nice and solid boost when it comes to the looks of the room.

An Artifact

Decorating a living room can be a lot more fun than the usual if there is an artwork to deal with. Make sure it is viewable from the sitting area so that it draws attention of the guests easily.

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Home Remodeling: The Tips and Tricks

By Sal | Published July 9, 2013

Remodeling a home is not a matter of joke than can be taken lightly or in a hurry. If you want to remodel your house, you should be ready to give it some thoughts. Yet, there are some tricks and tips when it comes to renovation of your home which can ease things up for you so that you can have a beautiful home within a short time. Let’s take a peek at those before wasting a mere second!

Keep Your Neighborhood in Concern

Standing out is good but the same cannot be said about standing out of place at all. Specially, when you are renovating the outer look of your independent home then staying in harmony with the neighborhood matters the most. For instance, if each and every house in your street is maintaining some sort of uniformity, you should take that into consideration. Yes, you still can give your place a dash of personal touch but that should not be disturbing the neighborhood harmony at all. Interior renovation of an independent house or an apartment renovation is easier than individual home renovation when it comes down to uniformity.

Get It Done Correctly

There are some stuffs you can do it on your own but some other jobs can give you a heck of a time even when you are very crafty with this sort of jobs. And you should decide which kind of jobs you need to get done while renovating your house in advance. This will help you to look beyond the planning and will help you with the execution of the plan perfectly.

Put Timeless over Trends

Don’t get me wrong. I am not telling you that trends cannot be timeless. Some of the trends do come to stay and live forever while most of the trends get worn out within a year or a few. And going for something big like home renovation each year can be very tedious if not impossible thing to do. And this is why, going for some flashy and weak home remodeling trends should not be encouraged by you. Yet, settling down to something that has survived for a long time and attained people’s admiration over the time can be a good thing for you to do.

Save the ‘New’ for Later

Home remodeling has a couple of basic phases which can be explained as renovating the existing zones first and creating new zones. When remodeling, you should save the new zones for later to remodel and work on the existing ones as the first priority. This saves a lot of money and time. This also helps you to decide whether you need the new ones decorated or not.

Don’t Put the Basics in the Second Row

It is one of the common remodeling mistakes that many of us try to add additions in the cost of some basic requirements. For instance, you have an extra bedroom which is not currently in use. Do not change that into a store room or dressing room. If you do, it will get you a poorer resale value.

Posted in General | Tagged Home Remodeling, home renovation | Leave a comment

Color Trends 2013: What’s Hot and What’s Not for Your Restaurant in Santa Monica

By Sal | Published July 8, 2013

When it comes down to restaurants look matters just as much as quality and tasty cuisine. Speaking of which, the talks of the colors and shades come up as they play a vital role in the looks and ambience of a restaurant. Here are some Hot’s and Not’s of the Santa Monica restaurant color trends 2013.

What’s Hot?

When you are concerned about modern and up-to-date colors for your restaurant walls, you have numerous options to choose from. Let’s take a glance at them so that you could choose the perfect one or the perfect combo!

Ravishing Red

Yes, you have read right. I am absolutely and unmistakably talking about red. It happens to be like this; red is a color that stimulates human nerves in a way that makes him feel very hungry. And this is the point of opening a restaurant right, to feed people some excellent dishes? Yet, if you are not really into such bold and stimulating colors you can go for a tamer version of it!

Ostentatious Orange

This can be a tamer version of red and can be a highly acceptable choice for the ones who do not like to make too bold of a color statement. This is a vibrant and stimulating color like red but much easier on the nerves than that as well which makes it a safer choice for the reluctant people.

Youthful Yellow

Yellow is a color of life, purity and youth. This color is very hot when the 2013 color trends are in consideration. This color triggers the serotonin flow in the brains of the humans and makes them feel hopeful, optimistic and happy. As a result a hearty appetite triggers off and makes the people have a happy and healthy meal. Pale or dark, pick one and get a great look and business for your restaurant for sure!

Groovy Green

Do you know what else the 2013 color trends include in its list? Well, the answer is a solid and hearty dash of a green! Green is a color of peace, tranquility and smoothness. This is why having green walls makes it easier for you to grab some regular and fresh customers all the time.

Glowing Gold

Well, this is hot these days as it gives a sense of gravity, warmth and sophistication. Yet, if you overdo it, you can get a flashy and tacky look which you would not like to have for your place.

What’s Not?

What not to do regarding shades and colors to follow the color trends 2013 perfectly? Let’s have a quick look!

You should keep safe from blue, pink, black and yellow and green combination when your restaurant is in concern. Black represents darkness, negativity and mystery which makes this color not a very good choice for boosting appetite. Blue is perfect for bedrooms but not for the restaurant. Pink is simply a not-happening color for increasing peoples’ appetite. And the green and yellow combo simply slaughters the look!

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