THE RENTED HOUSE - DESIGN NOTES
Let's hope that your new landlord said the magic words, "you fix it and take the cost off the rent". WAY TO GO SLUMLORD!. YELLOW BRICK ROAD!At this point, you immediately begin to make a steady effort to fix these things that are really wrong/ ugly or disturbing about your newly rented "house". If the paint is awful, drywall messed up, peeling paint do the faux antique Roman Villa finish described in POMPEII PAINTERS.
Take every UGLY CORNER and turn it into EXPOSED SHELVING AND STORAGE. CRAP when STACKED looks gorgeous! Use baskets for ungainly items. Thrifts are full of them!
If the landlord ever dares to say, "why did you turn that wall-to-wall closet in your bedroom into a RECESSED BUILT IN STORAGE area, with COVE LIGHTING? Answer him: 'it's a design choice UPGRADE of SERIOUS AESTHETIC VALUE that you'd have HAD to pay a decorator BEAUCOUP BUCKS to achieve. And tell him how even for your SKILLED WORKERS, it was a full work day to TEAR DOWN THE OLD MIDDLE AREA, install the built ins, which you'd micky moused out of 'found lumber and old fences so it was free to you, and then you DESIGNED it and OVERSAW the work done by a skilled designer (really it was that Mexican from HOME DEPOT's PARKING LOT), -- or those KITCHEN CUPBOARDS you demolished leaving just exposed shelves was done by a costly contractor and guess what, ----the whole job is worth thousands but you're only taking the cost of nails, glue and stain off your rent. So "SENOR LANDLORD, it was virtually free. " Oh yes, and ask him to cover the 80$ a day for the worker.
Not just nails and glue and paint!And go on: "The worker then went on to sand and varnish the living room floors. We did NOT use water based floor varnish which lifted the grain of the wood so the entire floor got like an emery board. No sir! Things were done right. It is so beautiful when finished that your house doubles in value". Then lean in and very kindly say, " Your son and daughter would laugh at you and call you names if you left this house the way you have it and they came and saw it. THIS WAY it looks as good as the house next door.. This is the worst slum house you ever owned (at this moment in time). I am going to spiff it up for bottom dollar. So sir, you will pay the rental on a sander."
To inspire you, see the king of sleek, black walnut floors who was the late great Michael Taylor, San Francisco Decorator & Designer
See http://www.michaeltaylordesigns.com/media_ad96.html
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architects/legends/archive/taylor_article_012000
The landlord's choice of Water stain on naked wood or water based varnishes will both raise the grain of wood floors, (i.e. make little fibers stand up). He should have done it right from the gitgo, VARATHENE or URATHENE after SANDING. They lay down hard and brilliant. NOW the FLOOR IS weird, that is what Dick did. He ruined the floor of his own damn house. Well, the FIX IS THIS: a rented belt sander would lay that fiber back down or really, take it off as saw dust. But with 8 animals in the house, three humans, a.) dirty clean up, b.) day to dry, c.) get wrecked again fast with claws on floor..... ??????If you want to add color to your wood floor or just change the color you would choose staining. There are many ways to stain wood but I am only going to address two in this article.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~^~^~^~^~^~Now while you're sanding floors, painting, all dogs go to the POOCH PORCH outdoors and put old quilts down there for them. They eat/ sleep in back. They live in back yard as dogs are meant to do
INFO FOUND ONLINE: This info is mainly pointed toward staining before finishing with Pure Tung Oil but will work for other finishes as well. The most common stain people reach for are products like Minwax oil base stain and other over the counter oil stains. The problems with these types of stains are two fold. They usually contain alkyd resin as the binder and pigments. (A binder is what holds all the ingredients together; alkyd resin is a type of varnish.) Alkyd resin seals the wood like a thinned down finish allowing less and less stain to be absorbed with successive coats. It also stops finishes from penetrating and binding well with the wood. The pigments are the sludge that is on the bottom of the can that when mixed into the stain makes it muddy. Pigments are solid particles that do not dissolve. When applied in any thickness they act like paint obscuring the grain of the wood. These stains are not all bad; they just need to be used in their proper place. Minwax also now has a water base stain. According to their web site it is not to be used for floors.
Your objective when finishing wood is not to mask the natural beauty of the
wood but also to add some color to enhance that beauty or to make it blend
into the surroundings. Now what stains to choose? Aniline dye stains!
Aniline is derived from coal tar. Don’t let that make you shy away from
these types of stains. Anilines are very effective and light fast (fade
resistance). Stains from things such as berries, tea, and coffee tend not
to be as light fast.There are basically three types of solvents which anilines are dissolved.
Water, alcohol and oils. Anilines are available in hundreds of colors and
can be inter-mixed to make custom shades. They come in dry crystal form and
are then mixed with solvent to the dilution you desire. You can make a real
dark stain concentration or make a light one by thinning. You can also
build colors on top on one another. For example, if something is too red,
you can add some green to make it browner.The two easiest to work with in a large application such as a floor would
be water and oil soluble.Water Staining
Water will raise the grain of wood (make little fibers stand up). Before
water staining a floor I recommend wetting the floor with water first
allowing the grain to raise then sanding with the grain when dry. You may
need to do this twice. Once the grain has been raised and sanded it will
not keep coming up. You would then mix up the water soluble aniline dye
concentration and stain the floor.Stain boards lengthwise one end to the other from one side of the room to
the other. Only stop at a seam between the boards. You may get a lap mark
if you allow the stain to dry in the middle of a board. You can use a
brush, roller, sponge or sponge mop for application. (Wrap sponge mop with
nylon stocking to stop it from breaking up). Once you have the color you
want proceed to finishing. Don’t worry if the grain is still raised in a
couple of spots. You can go cut those rough areas off with sandpaper after
the first or second coat of finish.Oil Stains
Oil stains are soluble in oil base solvents such as mineral spirits (paint
thinner) turpentine, naphtha and also our Citrus Solvent. Mix the oil
soluble aniline dye crystals to the proper dilution with solvent. Once you
have the color you like proceed to staining the floor working the boards
lengthwise with the grain from one side of the room to another. You can use
a brush roller, sponge or sponge mop. With oil solvents the room must be
properly ventilated. Usually a box fan blowing out a window will draw
enough air out. The advantage of the oil soluble stains is that they do not
raise the grain. Also Citrus Solvent and mineral spirits tend to dry slower
providing more time to work the stain. When dry proceed with finishing.Mixing Stain and Pure Tung Oil
You can also mix oil soluble aniline dye crystals with the Pure Tung Oil.
First mix the crystals to a very concentrated solution of solvent (mineral
spirits, Citrus Solvent) and crystals. Be sure all the crystals are
dissolved into the solvent. When they are dissolved add to the Pure Tung
Oil. This will make the oil tinted. You will not be able to get the finish
as dark as if you stained the wood itself but this can add some color if
you just want a little color. Raspberry/ Purple/ Berry? Or Viridian emerald?
Thalo Turquoise? SUNSET GOLDS?
Alcohol Stains
Anilines dissolved in alcohol are just too fast drying for large
applications such as floors. There can also be lapping problems because of
the speed at which the solvent evaporates.The above methods will provide a clear transparent finish for your floor.
The results you see will be dramatic if you have only used over the counter
stains in the past.Anilines are available from: http://www.woodworker.com
ALTERNATIVES: You could carpet the entire place but with animals in the house? PROBABLY some kind of soft, TERRA COTTA TILE-look LINOLEUM in the entire house would be better. JUNK RAIDERS television show gives hints on how to find NEARLY FREE supply houses. ION TV. My digital converter box gets it. They find these FREEBIE OUTLETS where contractors leave their unused everything, granite, flooring, paint.
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GARDEN FIX: Do you have a fence out in back there? A WOOD FENCE? VERDIS GRIS is the new "IN" color for old wood. It mimics old bronze.
I'm not that old, actually, but VERDIGRIS stain
makes me LOOK OLD. Bronze AGES this color.Imagine that verdigris color on a fence. It's so pretty, you only VINE cover it partially or use IVY but you are lucky if THERE IS a wood fence on any of the walls of the garden and If it's lovely, funky, splintery wood, we'll look for all the green 'oops paints' and turquoise and blue and mix with gray and get verdigris paint, kind of a green shade, the color COPPER GETS when it's old? An exterior flat mixed to that shade.
If you have the truly ugly, transparant wire or cyclone fences, COVER THEM with something gloriously invasive like HONEYSUCKLE. Cut the flowering tips daily, bring into house for bouquets. And you will never call THIS VINE invasive!
LOVE those fences. Pretty ones get IVY, slow growing, UGLY ones get fast growing may apple, with its RED flowers, a ground cover that LAUGHS OFF HEAT! and that fence will be covered in ONE YEAR FLAT.
CREEPERS work
Parthenocissus-tricuspidata. Try asking FOR THAT!
ONLINE I FOUND THIS FENCE PAINTING info: "I have a cedar fence that has been stained twice, first gray to match our old siding, and then white. Both times with Olympic latex exterior stain, I believe. Well, I decided to paint the fence white because the white stain wouldn't cover the gray. (The previous white stain coat was on for about a year and had probably actually gotten two coats plus touchups to try to help cover the gray.) So I used exterior white latex paint this time. All seemed well and I was very pleased until I taped off around the hardware to repaint the latches and hinges. When I pulled the tape off a considerable amount of paint and stain came off taking areas down to bare wood. I'm guessing I should have power washed before painting and then priming?
Should I just go ahead and prime the areas now exposed or am I wasting my time and should power wash the entire fence and prime and repaint? The question really is did applying the paint cause the problem? Was the initial stain coat not properly applied? Was this to be expected?Answer. The areas exposed could be re-primed and painted if that’s what you think will work best. Use the correct primer for raw wood if that is what you have showing. Go with what’s best for the fence, not to create less work for yourself. There are no shortcuts. For painting a wood fence, these are the basic steps. Wash or power wash, let dry. Bleach if there is mold or mildew. Sand with 100 grit paper if there are rough areas and scrape off any loose paint. If you want to paint the fence with exterior latex, prime raw wood with a primer like Zinsser’s alkyd primer. Don’t use latex primer. Then I recommend a latex exterior paint over that primer, 2 coats of top-quality paint like Dunn-Edwards, Sherwin Wms, Dulux,
So are we in agreement? You get a basic, dark green verdigris coat of paint on that fence. Then mix up a second color, lighter. Take some white/ gray and lighten the GREEN paint as if you were making MOLD COLOR/ Then lightly brush surface with this lighter color. Doesn't have to hit more than the bumpy parts. You can add more white for a final light kiss or caress of paler color. And some speckles of white/gray shot with a flipped brush. All that imitates genuine verdigris that forms on wrought iron furniture. or brass or bronze.
This angel is verdigris color. It's a great color for outdoor things.
http://www.aspencountry.com/aspen/assets/product_images/product_lib/30000-39999/30878.jpgTHIS chair is also verdigris
http://www.bestbuypoolsupply.com/media/566767.jpgIt's a soft gardeny look. Now, the one thing I can't recall (as I said before,) is what kind of fences border the garden. If you have WOODEN FENCES at far ends of yard you can add vines, bushes, trees against them. I can contribute these, having a plethora! Honeysuckle, ivy of all kinds.
Seek 'found' objects at garage sales, stuff that you can put out doors, and paint with verdigris layers of green, bronze, gray. ALL THESE Country or Renaissance type sculpture, stone OBJECTS or glass balls, etc, are tossed in the beds, nestled in the ivy, or set up on pedestals. Give magic to the garden. The color repeats in the fence and maybe the SHUTTERS on your white house.
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GARAGE FOR THE HOME OFFICE: Do you have a garage? In a separate, solid looking stucco building? It deserves a faux paint job on the entire bldg, (Me and Landlord's Mexican I did a four bdrm house in a day and a half, exterior, it's not hard.) A garage office needs a meandering Path of its own from back door of house across what is now just scruffy ground, but not on the driveway around back to the Garage BACK entrance and it should have a little greens bed with some oriental plants, bamboo, hedges, maybe. Shield part of it, just part, by building a fence like this one:
http://www.myjapanesegarden.com/images/bamboo%2015.jpgWe could find a bamboo pole supplier and FENCING supplier here in town....
http://www.myjapanesegarden.com/bamboo_fence.htmTHE GARAGE BUILDING is actually quite BEAUTIFUL. So rev it up a few notches. PAINT IT TERRA COTTA faux TUSCANY LOOK & create PATHS AND BEDS next to it. Some screening, graceful trees. You have the garden's most beautiful FEATURE sitting in that garage there. Paint it a lovely terra cotta color http://www.wallswithanattitude.com/samplespage.html
http://www.wallswithanattitude.com/Italianplasters.html
where he has his WALL finishes and then look at his other pages. He has a lot of pages. One where he does fireplaces to make them look like marble so go over his websiteFOR THE EXTERIOR OF HOUSE/ GARAGE, Use a textured, gritty paint. That's normal exterior paint but with a lot of sand in it ---IT COMES THAT WAY if you want to pay or hey, get some textured gravel and sand and aquarium sand & throw it into reg exterior terra cotta paint. ONE COAT. THEN for second coat, turn brush sideways and hold it lightly so it flips over the surface & with side of brush swipe it with lighter terracoatta mixed wi white and pink. Just hit the high spots, this whole page is faux work. See WALLS I HAVE KNOWN.
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THE EXTERIOR OF HOUSE - It may be a dingy little house, or ugly. With some houses, we'd wish it had NO style but most have HORRID STYLE however there's a fix for a mismatched, bastard exterior. Just buy a few boxes of cedar siding shingles and cover entire front of house. Of course if you CEDAR-SIDE the house you can't have a MEXICAN TILE roof on the GARAGE! Unless people forget the front view of house, the house style by the time they walk into garden and see JAP bamboo fence and MEX TILED ROOF. PACIFIC FUSION. Yeah, that's what they call it! PANGEA. The lost CONTINENT OF MU!
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/12737.shtmlIf you currently have some dark color , brown, black, forest green, (all ugly) on front of house, If you want a LIGHT painted front to house, if you OWN THE HOUSE, take paint remover to the WOOD immediately, scrape the ugly paint off, stain the wood a natural color. That might take a MEXICAN WORKER a day of work!) OR, as I mentioned, just as easy and much faster, cover both areas with CEDAR SHAKE SHINGLES so your house is a.) foresty and b.) all one terra cotta or verdigris green gray color up to roof.
The cedar shingle siding treatment is gorgeous.
http://www.mosbybuildingarts.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/03%20mosby%20cedar%20siding.jpg
Show your landlord these photos --ask him if he has nailed these suckers down before, it's done bottom first, work your way up each layer covers layer before it. I see it all the time on "This Old Home" tv show
http://topoftheharbour.com/pics/forsale_front.jpg IS FRONT OF HOUSE
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THE GARDEN - That 150 foot ancient tall TREE tilting across the garden pointed at the house!! Do you want to leave the tree there?? If it fell over, it would smash the house to bits. If you vote to take your chances, then you cannot garden at its foot as that amendment stuff seriously softens up the ground! TREE Roots lose their hold. WATERING big tree roots cause them to rot, die, and whangie at midnight there's an OAK in bed with you. That tree's foundations would slide thru fine potting soil like your fingers thru shampooed hair! So leave that iron cement soil pack around it and just TENT the area. A tent will hide that treebark elevator shaft that goes up so far it looks like a NASA ROCKET pointed at the moon. THE TIP cannot even be seen which is uncomfortable for the HUMAN AND RIGHTLY SO!!!!!!Snaps necks to try to look at it!From about 15 feet high ring the tree in wrapped WIRE, holding leaves or petals of white canvas. And swoop down the canvas in panels, doesn't have to be a sealed tent, just the feeling of one ---- of shelter, ya know? to an EAVE at about 7 feet high, use poles..... and chinese lanterns
Use a few treated, redwood poles, make the eaves secure with a few diagonals, build a frame, even if three sided, open front....Staple gun cotton duck or canvas, very wide, like 70 inches over the frame....Hang a few strings of XMAS LIGHTS AND chinese LANTERNS underneath there ----et voila, summer dinners outside, the kids and their friends. MUSIC speakers in the rafters.
CHINESE lanterns.
I HAVE SEVERAL DOZEN FOR YOU. Then, YOU NEED a landscaped pathway, from the the back door of bedroom, kitchen or house to the tent, landscaped on both sides with soft grasses, moonlight (light colored) plants, bushes and trees. WHEN IT POURS RAIN let it fall on the tent. Stuff dries in a half day in CALIF we live in a desert anyway. POLE FOOTING is a wad of concrete. Dry? Set pots around it with vines. Like BLUE MORNINGLORIES --THERE IS A SUBTERRENEAN method of sinking a POLE for a TENT or lanai. HOLE FULL OF CONCRETE, stick a round, treated wood beam in pointing straight up.
HERE IS AN OTHER DEA of what you can do in garden, a nursery area, tables and flats. http://www.rootsnshoots.info/gardens.asp
If you have a big garden, you can do one hidden area as a nursery but the main part as meandering paths and raised beds in at least six distinct areas. Like being in a natural WOODS. with winding natural seeming (tho man made ) paths, so that walking creates new views every few steps. As bushes/ trees grow, you can't see beyond your elbow. You'll have beds of perennials and annuals on all sides. FENCES that shut out your neighbors. Bamboo reed fencing over near garage, or do you have LOW fences? Hate those. Fences should be high enough so that you can't see the neighbors' buildings? HONEYSUCKLE grows fast, so BUILD UP THE HEIGHT of fence, even if it does NOT MATCH, creating really high fences and cover them with this fragrant, bouquet producing vine.
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The needed GARDEN fixes reduce to: TENT the BIG DEAD TREE IN MIDDLE OF YARD in BACK, if you have one. Way cheaper than cutting it down. A big tree is about 500$ to 600$ to eradicate these days.
Find a bamboo pole supplier here in town or check HOME DEPOT for bamboo fencing.
http://www.myjapanesegarden.com/bamboo_fence.htmTHE INTERIOR OF HOUSE THE FIX - Build WINDOWS on BACK OF HOUSE so that you can see the garden, catch the light. LOCAL RECYCLING SHOP has French Doors, paned windows. Torn out of homes. Some nephew or son remodels homes or is a handyman -- take him there, have him pick out FRENCH DOORS, (glass panes,) Big windows. CUT a BACK door to the garden on the back wall or side wall of your bdrm. Build steps out of plastered tiled concrete blocks. You can buy a used French door, w. glass in one of those many recycled architectural remnant places.
IF you chose to punch a door on SIDE WALL of your bedroom, then you SEE THRU its glass and right there is a FOUNTAIN HUNG ON THAT NEIGHBOR's FENCE - in other words, a fabulous VIEW.....building a fence like this one: http://www.myjapanesegarden.com/images/bamboo%2015.jpg
NEXT INSTALL A louvered double door between dining room and kitchen to keep animals in back of house. PURE WHITE against almond paint. Sparkling. Pristine. Tidy looking. DOUBLE latch so you can lock dogs in kitchen or lock from the other side.
Build an inset POOCH PORCH on the back of house which can be gussied up with hanging flowers. Drill holes to hang plants. Use REAL TERRA COTTA TILE on the floor of that outdoor, back porch thingie. I'd estimate fifty tiles, only a buck a tile. I did terra cotta tile to my front porch, twenty tiles. THEN you want to make that a cozy POOCH PORCH with some TROPICAL house plants in big pots, a rattan sofa for the dogs there, better dog pillows, you have a sewing machine?
A gorgeous PAIR OF SOFAS a little wider than this on the SIT SIDE for the pooches, and striped denim or vibratng colors on their dog mattresses, but not on the GROUND that has a very
GRUNGEY FEEL TO IT! maybe on old throwaway sofas or basketry sofas or even
a SOFA made of throwaway wood! The one above WAS an old table. Many fine hard wood table are at thrift shops ready to be turned into benches or shelves.These are all inexpensive fixes if your Mexican or handyman does them. The shingles are a day's work. Check shingle makers, check Home Depot shingle price (wall siding shingle shakes), phony cedar as it's not your house, so don't bother with real cedar. Lookalike.
DO NOT FORGET to PUT IN A PAIR OF FRENCH DOORS on your bedroom's back wall to lead to the Garden, maybe on the SIDE of the bedroom to lead to the fountain. Get them at a
USED ARCHITECTURAL REMNANTS RECYCLING YARD -- many in LA, SUN VALLEY
LONG BEACH, PASADENA, PACOIMA. Not sure if your town has them yet. Great biz if your area does NOT. Let contractors know you exist!http://www.pasadenaarchitecturalsalvage.com/pages/store.php?i=20
AND ON BACK OF HOUSE near POOCH PORCH, some shutters and plants
SEE PLANT HANGER and other garden accessories article~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~
GARDEN LANDSCAPING PLAN: you pull branches off that big tree, from way up on top & use them to line paths and make a decorative but natural, rustic edging,
ALL BRANCHES off PINE TREE get savedYour GARDEN SPACE is fairly HUGE so you will need other edgings. I like rustic best, logs. I like dry stack concrete.
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Instead of a tent, you may want to do simpler shade sails.
http://www.practicalhomeandgarden.com/wp-content/uploads/shade.sail.04.jpg
also called garden canopies. Google dealers near you. Or make your own!Maybe if the KILLER tree is happy it won't kill you and your family but believe me...if you soften soil with fertilizer, water, to make flower beds at its base, that sucker will fall over in wind even EASIER than a Virgin in Johnny Depps arms.
Tell LANDLORD: This TREE REMOVAL will increase the value of your house, give it class. Right now, it's a disaster waiting to happen. Get some estimates. DO NOT HAVE YOUR COSTLY S.U.V. CAR IN DRIVEWAY when you get the estimate. Get those big SUV's down the street, then have the TEENAGER park his scuzzy old car there when the TRADESPERSON COMES to give estimate.
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GARAGE OFFICE.
http://www.backyardcity.com/Garden-Arbors-Trellis-Designs.htmLittle road to the entrance to garage, gravel or bark on it, edged in verdant
borders, some flowers, a bamboo wall......you have a lot of space in that garden,
you could do another little road to the far back right, meandering road
with an arbor. Put it right at that fenc.eYou could leave that fence, grow honeysuckle on it. My yards are
both edged by cyclone fencing but the honeysuckle, mayapple, ivy
covered them. no telling it's cheap fence and i think that the fence you have could be
the same. We can uproot about 20 of my honeysuckles. I have thousands, so it's not a
problem.BOSTON IVY ON FENCE
REGULAR IVY on fence
ENGLISH IVY on fence
http://www.walkingclub.org.uk/book_3/walk_04/walk_04_dl_11-ivy_on_fence_approaching_mere_pond.jpg
SOLID FENCE WITH FOUNTAIN AND IVY
http://www.rd.com/familyhandyman/content/17893/COVER FRONT OF HOUSE WITH IVY and that over pruned CYPRESS strand of trees? What is it, twelve trees cut off at their waists? Let's turn it into a quasi FENCE, PROVIDE SUPPORT like cheap wire fencing, plain chicken wire, then put IVY up and down driveway in pots and train it up over the fencing and up the old trees. Or put fencing between the trees, paint tree trunks and fencing verdigris.
http://images.clrsearch.com/prop/22/6922/256922/0_f.jpgHERE there will be no expense if you are in Los Angeles
I can give you cuttings, l00, 200 of ENGLISH IVY.
http://www.takoma.com/archives/copy/2006/02/features_gardencoach0206.html
cover the pooch porch with ivy
http://dominomag.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/01/21/bye_ivy.jpgThere are MANY VARIETIES OF IVY, all made in the shade to cover basically ugly, old homes and make them graceful. Take cuttings all around your neighborhood. Dozens to a flat. Semi shade for first month until they 'take'.
UNDERSTAND that it does not take work, you can WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE:
http://neglectfulgardener.blogspot.com/2010/03/landscaping-with-used-concrete.html is a smart site,
and has DRY STACKED broken concrete as edging, which is very pretty. You find it in alleys all the time, too.If you have to buy garden plants, find a pal with a resale number. Hit the WHOLESALE NURSERY.
signed, ANITA SANDS HERNANDEZ
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THE HOME'S INTERIOR : Great fireplace in living room. Perfect. You could faux marble it. Google IMAGES and FAUX MARBLE. Instructions to do it.
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LIVING ROOM FURNITURE : You have to ditch the gigamongus leather sofa, it dwarfs the whole room, and it's ugly as a beached whale. Put it outside in garage office. Get a few classic BASKETRY CHAIRS for the FIREPLACE area, coffee table on top of area rughGet small sofas for WINDOW END OF ROOM. Three sofas in a U SHAPED GROUPING maybe, clear gauzey curtains with view of front yard. Get a few French provincial chairs to flresh out the living room. Procure at a Salvation Army or Thrift store. They're cheap as they're all varnished, look terrible. But here's the fix for them. TEAR OFF ALL UPHOLSTERY.. REMOVE ALL the varnish or PAINT, get down to naked wood, you could sand blast it, for a grainy look, then pickle it. There was a famous London designer who used a lot of French Provincial furniture, Syrie Maugham, wife of Somerset, the writer, she shortened fruitwood furniture a little, pickled it, white finish. "CUT IT DOWN AND PAINT IT WHITE " were her words.
http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architects/legends/archive/maugham_article_012000Very French country look. Fit in well with terra cotta tile in living room or black walnut floors and area rugs. Upholster in ginghamy squares of Manta or Cambaya. These are wider plaid stripes in pastels My friend LILA can get CAMBAYA and MANTA (handwoven upholstery fabric,) she's in MEXICO CITY. She was born into the Mexico City textile world. Goes to NYC every once in a while as she's a designer for a chain of New York MEXICAN RESTAURANTS LA ROSA..and a Menu designer, she and her hubby were food experts. I have one of his cookbooks. EL CHILE Y OTRO PICANTES. He was an author. Publisher also.
This FABRIC I HAVE LISTED ON THE "HOT IMPORTS" WEBSITE is CAMBAYA OR MEXICAN HAND WOVEN COTTON. They also call it MANTA. I also adore the French small, tight plaid or gingham fabrics, but France very costly and the stuff is too 'busy'. The real manta or cambaya is more relaxed.. Cambaya is more ROUSSEAUesque. FRENCH GINGHAM is country feel.
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BEDROOM. You have that large bed, add gauze curtains. paint the room strong colors. Give neutral gauze curtains to all windows. I hang on sapling trees, dead, dried ones. Makes an interesting curtain rod and just a few nails will hold it up. Gauze gets thumbtacked on. Swoops of it.
Attention needs placing on any horrid black, grimy closets with old fashioned doors. You can't stare off your bed into or AT that closet. SO UTILIZE the RECESSED NATURE of it, in this way: PEEL IT OUT. HOLLOW IT OUT DO BUILT INs. Expose or curtain for easy access. This needs a real SCREWED ONTO WALL curtain rod with easy move-to-the-side curtains as you go in there all the time. Rings move easily and are good looking.
http://www.snemisconstructioninc.com/pics/edgewater%20built%20ins.jpg
CENTER part should have bureau with TV ON TOP, Drawers below, MAIN THING is on TOP, a space for a new big screen TV. HOW:Cut right thru middle of closet leaving just the sides. Keep those as clothing storage. Floor to ceiling behind the doors. KEP ONES YOU HAVE or Mexican Worker can build new. Electric saw, sander at Sears.
SLICE or CUT out a new middle with a special SKILL SAW, they call it, right down and thru the middle part of current closet in your bdrm & turn it into well designed SET OF BUILTINS Again, a BUREAU with TV on top. BUREAU below TV can have some grill front doors. No need to hide TV. the grilled doors below open and you have shelves in there for clothing/sweaters. CRISTO builds it, you pay him, Landlord Dick pays you all costs. REMIND HIM. it ups value of his house. This area has to have ingenious solution for your shoe storage. Then you want to store most of your clothes in there, though one bureau can exist elsewhere in the room for flat stuff/ blouses, sweaters. The built ins. http://www.ahmannarchitects.com/images/Built-ins1_a.jpg
THEN, the TWO pink ceramic LAMPS along side the BED, CROWN/ with hanging GAUZE and two night tables. You need a French DOOR on side of bedroom as an exit from house and set a wall fountain outside. Show Your worker these images and ask him what he could do to make your bedroom identical.
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SON's Bdrm and getting it Perfect. If the Bed is too big for the room it makes the whole place look LOW RENT, so throw the DOUBLE MATTRESS into Garage Office as a sofa. give a teen a TWIN BED ONLY, or FUTON SOFA. All a kid needs is a BIG SCREEN TV, cable hookup and he's good to go.
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OFFICE INTERIOR. GARAGE floors are toxic so suggest linoleum to cover the floors, some area carpets from thrift stores. SECOND CHOICE. PAINT THE CEMENT floor with TOUGH PAINT after power washing, use TERRA COTTA color. FREECYCLE ORG has giveaway BOOKSHELVES daily. LINE the walls with them. BUST THRU WINDOWS, so SUN pours in. Screen with bamboo. PUT A WALL TO WALL SHELF OVER THEM. ART WORKS/ BOOKS.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~FRONT GARDEN - ivy and roses on a fence, couldn't find image but I think it could easily be done -- cheap pickets. not this version which costs more
http://www.photokiva.com/sean.images/pikthor.jpgBuy bare root climbers. Eventually the ivy, roses (if climbers,) cover it so the rickety pickets don't get seen much. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/tpitts26/MVC-041S-1.jpg
http://www.reliablefenceboston.com/nss-folder/pictures/1Image105.jpg
You can do A fence midway acros front GARDEN and then create country wildflower and grasses beds OUTSIDE the picket fence. Note how front of house is circled by picket but the outer area is a wild garden.
WHY DO THEY CALL them PICKETS? And why are pickets still around? Cause no matter how rickety the things really class up the joint with country flavor.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i313/debsebayphotos/SAMPLE%20LOGOS/altjal-silent-fence.gif
Spin a fence across half the yard, cozies it up, do big gardening thing
outside the fence, sun hardy, low water plants. XERISCAPING
with a few frou frou flowers stuck there so it doesn't look like a desert
http://blogs.move.com/do-it-green/2007/05/24/xeriscape-for-a-water-wise-yard/another xeriscaping yard
http://www.daviddarling.info/images/xeriscaping.jpgIf you hate ARIZONA, maybe not for you.
but still just a few low water requirement plants would be good.
See: low water needing plants
http://www.surfcitywaterscapes.com/Waterscapes-Xeriscaping.html
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LESSONS:
Small Living Room Design Tips To Fool The Eye (found online)If you have a small living room, chances are you also have small furniture
and fixtures to match. But this doesn't have to be your final resort if you
do have a small living room. Designing a small living room may be a
challenge, but it is quite fulfilling when you see the finished product of
a small living room design that fits your small space and lifestyle.1. Use lighter shades of green, blue and yellow for your walls. These
lighter colors or pastels help open up the room and give it a more airy
feel. If you want a cozier feel to your living room, use darker shades of
red, blue and brown.2. To help further open up the room, use mirrors and glass table tops.
Mirrors reflect light and give the illusion of a larger room. Make sure
that the mirror reflects a view or an ornamental item to enhance the room.
Best reflection of all is a candleabra or small, curiosity lamp with glowing orb.2A.Use glass table tops to give your small living room an open feel, rather
than using hard wood tables that further shrink and clutter the room. But
do not do this if children or drunks inhabit this space.3. Avoid using heavily printed upholstery for your seating and sofa. Use
light, monochromatic colors that match.4. Use light gauzy and filmy fabrics for your window treatments. These
fabrics let natural light pass through and adds more personality to your
living room. Do not overdo and avoid using heavily printed fabrics in a
small living room design. Just today I took a dried bark sapling, lay it
across two nails above a 7 foot stretch of windows. Then thumbtacked
10$ worth of Walmart Voile curtain, a synthetic nylony white gauze , tacking
in swoops, half moon droopy arcs, held by each tack, falling to the top of a bureau.
Wow, that room is 'instant celestial', light coming in, but from front path,
you can no longer see into that bedroom from the outdoors!5. If you want to accessorize your small living room, choose the items that
will compliment your furniture and fixture. And make sure these items are
also functional to help you keep the room spacey and clutter-free.6. Choose the right-sized fixtures and accessories. Do not over-decorate
your small living room; instead, look for items that will help make the
room look bigger. Choose reflective items such as a good-sized glass-top
coffee table, a wall mirror and a few functional items that add style and
class to your small living room design.To learn more living room design tips and ideas, visit
http://www.livingroomdesign101.com<==BACK TO THE LIVE CHEAP WEBSITE
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