Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Two Ways of Home Improvement and Their Advantages

A home improvement project can do a lot of great things to your property. Aside from adding a new interest, it also brings part of your home back to its mint condition. It is also a great opportunity to detect and spot damages or issues that needed to be addressed. Repairing a small damage right away is crucial as it prevents potential problems to aggravate.

A good home improvement project also increases the value of a property.

There two ways a home improvement can be accomplished. One is to do it yourself popularly known for its acronym DIY. Another is by hiring a professional to do the job. Choosing which way to go depends on your budget, time to spend, skills, or deadline.

These two ways have advantages and disadvantages. It is very helpful if you know them to help you decide which route you should go.

Do-it-yourself (DIY)
Basically, DIY is cheaper and it saves you a significant amount of money. It is a good activity for your family especially on weekends as a great time for bonding. Doing it yourself allows you to decide what exactly you want for your home.

However, a DIY project requires time, energy, and skills. Time is not a problem at all if you are not a really busy person. We can always find time during weekends or during work day-offs at least. As for energy, you really need some. Skills are also needed but most of them can easily be learned. Besides, you can find really easy DIY project instructions in the internet.

A patio is a popular home improvement project. It is really easy to do once you get the idea. As an example, here is a list of what you need to create a patio place.

To get started you’ll need a backyard space. You don’t have to construct a structure for a roof. Just lay some bricks or concrete for the flooring. Place a set of teak patio furniture, wicker outdoor furniture set, or a little bistro set. Add a patio umbrella or a cantilever umbrella for your shade under the sun. Add some decorative accents like potted plants, and voila, you now have a patio place.

Hiring a Professional
If you don’t have the time, energy, or skills, then hiring a professional is a better option. Of course you should hire an expert and you need a bigger budget.

On the other hand, you have many advantages going this route. You can now have the project done in a short period with great results because the professionals have all the tools and essential skills.

You’ll only need to sit down with the professionals and discuss the plans, the budget, and the fees for the project. It is important that the project is well coordinated so that you can get your expected results. Once the planning is done, you’ll just sit back, relax, and see the project as it progresses.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Simple Maintenance to Keep Your Patio Livable

A simple maintenance care is a great help to keeps anything from degrading and losing its brilliance. It also applies to a Patio. Without maintenance, your patio would become uninteresting and unlivable.

There are a lot of simple maintenance tasks to keep the beauty and functionality of your patio. But let us examine first what makes a patio livable.

A livable patio is both pleasing and functional. The size of the space does not matter, as long as it is breathable and that you can easily move around. The design and decoration should look relaxing and well organized. It should include a set of patio furniture that you can comfortably sit and lean on.

A good ambiance is another important asset for a patio. Patios usually have a nice breeze that you can breathe. But it is not enough because as humans, we need the comfort of warmth especially in the cold night. With the use of a fireplace or a patio heater, we can easily create a comfy ambiance in a cool outdoor space.

Cleaning
The very basic maintenance care is cleaning. This alone eliminates the elements that negatively affect the look and feel of the place. This should be done on a regular basis or as often needed to avoid dirt build up as it would become hard to clean.

Clean the space including the covers and outdoor furniture and fixtures.

Furniture Maintenance
Outdoor furniture items are the essential additions to your patio. They add beauty and functionality to your backyard space. Without them, your patio would be like a barren place.

However, any outdoor furniture cannot completely withstand the punishment of harsh outdoors plus the frequent use. Somehow they will suffer wear and tear, losing the original appearance, and then degrade. So maintenance care is very important to maintain their appearance and condition.

Furniture maintenance is not intensive and really easy if you act fast on every problem. Once you see even just a little issue such as loose screws on a metal furniture, a tiny scratch on wooden chair, or a loose strip on a wicker chair, fix it as soon as possible because these small things can become a bigger problem.

Keep the Covers and Shades On
Patio covers such as patio umbrellas, shade sails, and awnings provide protection for your furniture and fixtures aside from keeping you safe from the sunlight. Their presence is crucial for the benefit of everything and everyone so they need to keep functioning.

Keep the Ambiance Available
Maintain your fireplace making it sure that you can still use it anytime you need. Clean it to allow it to give off heat well. Also make sure that you have some fuel stored to use for the next use.

If you are using an electric fireplace or a portable patio heater, keep it in good condition. There is just one good way to do it, use it. Turn on the unit even for just a few minutes occasionally.

Problems usually arise when they are inactive for a while. Sometimes you can blame insects and pests that make it their lairs. But there’s nothing you can do about it when it’s already late.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Small Enhancements That Greatly Improve Your Patio

A patio is created for relaxation and recreation. It is important that the place should be kept comfortable and pleasing. Aside from cleaning and restoring your patio, its glorious appearance can also be greatly improved by these small enhancements.

Transformation
Being in one same place frequently can sometimes be boring and a home patio place is not exempted.

One solution is re-arranging the patio furniture and fixtures. This is an easy patio enhancement task at a little or no cost at all. If done well, this simple project will result into a winning transformation.

Try to create a new focal point or a new interesting feature of your patio. Another trick is to change the direction your seating sets are facing bringing your view into a new horizon that you can enjoy.

Set a Mood
Setting a mood is like putting some flavor into your patio. You can make it feel like a tropical paradise, a romantic place, or a festive outdoor space.

Creating a mood is not a difficult task and you can make it yourself. You can plan for it based on your experience or on what you feel. Otherwise, you can find design inspirations from the internet.

If you can’t find an idea to start with, try it creating a mood can be based on color trends. Every year, fashion and design organizations release color trends for a particular year.  Then the designers, decorators and even artists use the color for their works. Search for the color tends for this year and you can get exciting ideas.

Ambiance is another element that helps set a mood. Warmer atmosphere means comfort. This helps in creating a romantic place. If it is cold outside, a handy outdoor heater is your best companion.

Freshen Up
Plants and flowers are the best additions to freshen up an outdoor space. Additionally they also introduce good feelings.

Water features are decorative in nature, but they too are beneficial to a patio setup. They add sensational freshness plus the sound of the flowing water is so soothing. It aids in relaxing your mind and body. Water features include fountains and mini waterfalls.

Additional Decor Items
Adding decor items and embellishments is just a small part of designing a patio and usually cost less. But these small things can have a great impact on your patio’s appearance.

You can use rugs to highlight the floor or a centerpiece making it more interesting.  Hang some curtains which add luxury and smoothness. Throw some cuddly throw pillows for more comfort.

Patio umbrellas and shade sails are also a must especially for an uncovered patio. Surprisingly, they too are decorative. They add style and luxury aside from protecting you under the harmful sunlight.

Restoring your good old patio furniture is another enhancement that can greatly improve your patio. Restoration also prolongs the life of your investment.

Monday, July 8, 2013

How to Create an Outdoor Living Space for Less

An extra living space outdoors is one of the great projects most home owners wished for. People wanted to have it for different reasons. Most of us think of it as a place for relaxing and for leisure activities without realizing first the value it adds to our property.


However, some people are hesitant and thinking that it can be expensive and labor intensive to create. Well, it is really expensive. The good news is that there are ways in which you can make an outdoor living space at a lesser cost. The best way to accomplish it is to do it yourself.

One of the basics of saving is spending less and it means to buy only the things that are necessary. So, what could be the necessary things we need for an outdoor living space? Here is a short list.


Seats
It can be a simple chair, a lounge chair, love seat, or an outdoor wicker set. Seats and other patio furniture can be as many as you want but buy only as many as you need.

Shade
A simple patio umbrella would be enough to cover you from the intense sunlight. Another choice would be a shade sail or a simple awning.

Heat Source
Building fire pit is easy and simple that you can do yourself. Just make a small shallow pit on the ground and lay some stones or bricks around sides.

If you want something easier to operate, portable electric heaters come cheaper these days.


An outdoor living space is somehow incomplete without decorations and accents. You can find many decorations for less these days. But it seems DIY decoration and accessory making is ideal for less expenses. You can find brilliant ideas in the internet like in bhg.com. Unleash your creative side and save more. You can recycle and reuse common items in your kitchen such as cans, bottles and mason jars to create interesting and unique decor items.

Incorporate gardening as it makes your space full and beautiful without the need of fixtures.

Notice that you still need to buy stuff for your home backyard project. In order to spend less, find items that are on sale on online, and offline stores.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Knowing Outdoor Furniture to Get the Best Outdoor Experience

Backyard outdoor experience can be perfected with a set of outdoor furniture. These essential outdoor items are also known as patio furniture while others called it garden furniture. Actually, they are made much like the same as any furniture including those that are made for indoors. However, they have some characteristics to endure the assault of harsh outdoor environment.

There are many types of outdoor furniture and each has special qualities useful for outdoors. Each type boasts a unique beauty that can be exploited in an appropriate backyard design.

Somehow, choosing the right type of outdoor or patio furniture is important to make sure you’ll get the best outdoor experience. Here is a short list of outdoor furniture types and what they can offer.

Wood Outdoor Furniture
Wood outdoor and patio furniture sets are well known for its natural looks. Most people tend to love the grains, natural lines, and colors of wood. We loved it not only for its beauty but because they are warm and comfortable. But you’ll have to take care of them. They must be treated to endure the moist and keep them dry always because they are prone to molds, fungus, and eventually will decay.

Although wood can stand a hot sunny outdoor weather, it’s their looks will degrade in the long run. But it is not really a big deal because you can easily restore them and even enhance their beauty.

Metal Outdoor Furniture
Metal outdoor furniture are preferred for sleek and modern design. This is the choice for designing a minimalist style backyard design. They are shiny and finely finish items.

Metal pieces can be made of Aluminum, Stainless Steel, and Wrought Iron. Except for aluminum, they are prone to rust so you have to take care of them. An outdoor area is usually humid which causes rust. Always make sure that the steel or iron materials have protective coating.

Wicker Outdoor Furniture
Wicker patio furniture sets are popular because of their fine beauty. They can look classic but are also really great to add on to modern design.

Be watchful when you buy because there are two types of wicker, natural and synthetic.

Natural wicker furniture items are much like wood when it comes to maintenance.

If you want the looks but not the hassle of maintaining, try a synthetic resin wicker set. Synthetic wickers are new and they are made of All-Weather Resin. They are said to withstand most of the abuse of nature, another reason they are popular for outdoors.

Plastic Outdoor Furniture
Plastics are not as strong and durable as wood and steel but can perform pretty well. They are the best choice for a quick setup.  Just keep in mind that they are susceptible to sunlight and won’t last long. The material will degrade and impossible to restore.

Outdoor Covers
This is additional information. Backyard design will not be complete without the covers. Covers can be patio umbrellas, shade sails, and awnings. They too are considered outdoor furniture and can be made of different materials. You also need to know them before you buy. Here is a useful post about patio umbrella types.

Another reason I include the covers is that they have an important role for your outdoor setup. Covers such as garden and patio umbrellas will get you protected from the harmful sunlight. Once protected, you can stay longer and you’ll get the best outdoor experience. Not only that. They can protect other patio furniture as well.

All in all, outdoor furniture items don’t just sit there in your backyard. They add property and esthetic values to your home. The key is to choose not just the best one, but the best for your outdoor or backyard setup.