Designers with an eye toward this form of enhancement, and who are willing to step back are likely to succeed in a world of showoffs who care little about the integrity of the design, but only want to be the first to try something new and outlandish.

When trying to design a room, take a good hard look at its architectural design to help set a mood and style. While you may be able to gut an old worn Victorian kitchen and turn into a high-scale modern one, something would definitely be lost. Why not take the opportunity to showcase your talent and ingenuity by trying to capture the essence of the architectural style and taste by preserving the style in a way that still enables the homeowner to enjoy all the modern conveniences of today?

Keep your eye out for unique room dimensions; unusual window casements; intricate moldings and trims; old fireplaces and doors. Sure, it would be easy to rip out (or paint over) and old brick fireplace and replace it with new sleek travertine, but ask yourself firs is something important would be lost if you did.

Too many buildings today are built exactly alike, making the designer’s job more difficult to try and create a unique setting for each homeowners of office. When you are lucky enough to be given the chance to re-do a local artifact, use its unique design and architecture to showcase its beauty – even if doesn’t quite match your personal style.

So, what should you be looking for when doing your initial walk-through for ideas? Here are a few places to start:

Original Fixtures.
Although original lighting and plumbing fixtures can rarely be used as-is, you can either have them refaced, or you can buy new “retro” ones that offer the same style of the originals, but which feature, newer more modern features. The same is true for things like old claw foot bathtubs; sinks and even ovens found in the kitchen.

Woodwork.
Many older homes and buildings sport beautiful woodwork and hardwood flooring. It can be expensive and time consuming to have them redone vs. ripping them out or painting over them, but is well worth the effort.

Large windowsills and older casings.
Preserving older windows can be tricky since there are energy efficiencies to consider. But, it is possible to preserve the same look and feel of the older windows and still be able to attain more modern temperature control.

Classic Colors.
One way to preserve an older style is by using original colors in the rooms and exterior. Research the original time period of the building to see what was popular in its heyday.

Regardless of the origin of such inspiration, it is important that you work with a Houston Landscaping Service that can help you more fully develop your landscaping design ideas in a manner that compliments the appearance of your home and helps extend its living space outdoors in a way that fully expresses the core values and subjective sentiments of your own personal lifestyle.

Make your landscape a virtual, organic extension of your home’s structure and aesthetic.

When you meet with your landscaping architect for the first time, try to develop landscaping design ideas that will compliment the architecture of your house. No matter how small or large your home actually is, it represents the most dominant feature of your landscape, and as such, cannot be ignored. Any outdoor structures such as an arbor, fire pit, outdoor kitchen, patio fireplace, or special walkway needs to reflect the basic design principles that distinguish your house from surrounding structures.

The swimming pool in particular is something you should pay very close attention to. Most swimming pool construction that is done independently from a landscaping plan tends to focus only on making the pool itself functional and aesthetically pleasing. We see this all the time when we work on older homes that were build in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. The pool looks fantastic in and of itself, but it clashes severely with surrounding terrain and home architectural features. We commonly have to remodel swimming pools significantly, or rebuild them all together, to harmonize the poll with the surrounding landscape.

Garden design is another area that you should really rely upon professional expertise to help develop. While you may already have dozens of landscaping design ideas in mind about what types of flowers, shrubs, and trees will look best in your yard, please keep in mind that vegetation groupings constitute forms in and of themselves that either work with or against the appearance of your house. A good example would be some of the contemporary landscapes we have done in our landscaping portfolio section which required us to plant some very unique vegetation patterns to truly do justice to the unique elements that constituted a particular home’s appearance.

Think form follows function when developing a landscaping plan.

The best landscaping design ideas will develop forms around practical use of open areas. After all, the more beautiful your landscape, the more you are going to want to go outside and experience it firsthand. Activities will naturally follow, so coming up with a clear picture of what you intend to ultimately do when you are outdoors will help you more fully develop a plan for development of key areas of your yard. If your ultimate goal is to create entertainment space, then outdoor structures and special environments will need to be built that support the many activities that you and your guests particularly enjoy. If you have children, and you are looking to create special play areas and sports facilities, Houston professional landscapers can help you by subcontracting specialists who can design these facilities (such as courts and practice fields) safely and effectively while still remaining ultimately true to the overall landscaping design idea envisioned in the master plan.

Ornament the landscape to create special space in addition to simply decorating it.

Even something that normally conveys a purely artistic sentiment can play a functional role in the development of your landscaping design idea. Your Houston landscaping company can help develop special patio and seating areas that are aside just for you. Here, you can reflect, meditate, read the paper, and enjoy the morning over conversation and coffee. Fountains and sculptures, though typically categorized as purely decorative, can take on a new, more subtle role as boundary markers between public space, children space, and special, private space. Landscape lighting can then be installed around these areas to maintain these boundaries during the night as well as the day. In this sense, one single landscape can be turned into many smaller landscapes; each represented by its own unique features, forms, purposes, and carefully designed ideas.

fixed firmly in their mind when they contact Exterior Worlds. They may have seen visited our landscaping design portfolio and seen the work we have done for other homeowners in neighborhoods like West University, Bellaire, River Oaks, and Tanglewood. They may have seen photographs of properties in a reputable publication that inspired certain landscape design ideas based on several motifs that caught their eye, or they may be have had a passion for a certain cultural style such as French, Italian, or Japanese that they have always wanted to develop on their own personal homestead.

Regardless of the origin of such inspiration, it is important that you work with a Houston Landscaping Service that can help you more fully develop your landscaping design ideas in a manner that compliments the appearance of your home and helps extend its living space outdoors in a way that fully expresses the core values and subjective sentiments of your own personal lifestyle.

Make your landscape a virtual, organic extension of your home’s structure and aesthetic.

When you meet with your landscaping architect for the first time, try to develop landscaping design ideas that will compliment the architecture of your house. No matter how small or large your home actually is, it represents the most dominant feature of your landscape, and as such, cannot be ignored. Any outdoor structures such as an arbor, fire pit, outdoor kitchen, patio fireplace, or special walkway needs to reflect the basic design principles that distinguish your house from surrounding structures.

The swimming pool in particular is something you should pay very close attention to. Most swimming pool construction that is done independently from a landscaping plan tends to focus only on making the pool itself functional and aesthetically pleasing. We see this all the time when we work on older homes that were build in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. The pool looks fantastic in and of itself, but it clashes severely with surrounding terrain and home architectural features. We commonly have to remodel swimming pools significantly, or rebuild them all together, to harmonize the poll with the surrounding landscape.

Garden design is another area that you should really rely upon professional expertise to help develop. While you may already have dozens of landscaping design ideas in mind about what types of flowers, shrubs, and trees will look best in your yard, please keep in mind that vegetation groupings constitute forms in and of themselves that either work with or against the appearance of your house. A good example would be some of the contemporary landscapes we have done in our landscaping portfolio section which required us to plant some very unique vegetation patterns to truly do justice to the unique elements that constituted a particular home’s appearance.

Think form follows function when developing a landscaping plan.

The best landscaping design ideas will develop forms around practical use of open areas. After all, the more beautiful your landscape, the more you are going to want to go outside and experience it firsthand. Activities will naturally follow, so coming up with a clear picture of what you intend to ultimately do when you are outdoors will help you more fully develop a plan for development of key areas of your yard. If your ultimate goal is to create entertainment space, then outdoor structures and special environments will need to be built that support the many activities that you and your guests particularly enjoy. If you have children, and you are looking to create special play areas and sports facilities, Houston professional landscapers can help you by subcontracting specialists who can design these facilities (such as courts and practice fields) safely and effectively while still remaining ultimately true to the overall landscaping design idea envisioned in the master plan.

Ornament the landscape to create special space in addition to simply decorating it.

Even something that normally conveys a purely artistic sentiment can play a functional role in the development of your landscaping design idea. Your Houston landscaping company can help develop special patio and seating areas that are aside just for you. Here, you can reflect, meditate, read the paper, and enjoy the morning over conversation and coffee. Fountains and sculptures, though typically categorized as purely decorative, can take on a new, more subtle role as boundary markers between public space, children space, and special, private space. Landscape lighting can then be installed around these areas to maintain these boundaries during the night as well as the day. In this sense, one single landscape can be turned into many smaller landscapes; each represented by its own unique features, forms, purposes, and carefully designed ideas.

1910’s – The homes of 1910’s were quite similar to the homes of 1900, perhaps the only difference is this is when interior designs came into play. The home itself you would probably find wooden floors, paneled walls, the windows are likely to be stained glass, the most noticeable item in a 1910’s home in my opinion would be the fireplace, it would be the focus point of the room, very large hearth placed in an inglenook or recess, you would also notice the mantle to be carved and often there would be a motto above it. When it came to decorating these homes, this is when handmade items became very important, wooden handmade furniture, lots of copper and pewter would also be found in these homes. The most noticeable thing décor wise would have to be hands down the wallpaper, normally made with vegetable dyes and wood blocks.

1920’s – These years the homes started to make quite a change in design. The homes were now being built noticeably smaller than those of previous years. A new style of housing was also introduced, this was the bungalow, or as we sometimes now call them, ranchers. These are homes with all the living space on only one floor. These houses now had toilets as well. The most distinctive style was the Modern style. Normally the priority was purpose; they avoided decorations and focused on the use of chrome and glass. They would have flat roofs, white concrete walls, and large windows with iron frames. Rather than using decorative items home owners would decorate with their fireplace, furniture, wallpaper, and fabric, often of a brighter color.

1930’s – In the 1930’s you would still find quite simple architecture and style, mainly due to the fact that during World War II people just had more to worry about than interior decorating. You would find inside colors such as dull greens and browns. Houses tend to be in a semi-detached pairs and owned rather than rented. Due to the shortage of timber, the trussed roof was introduced, this is a factory made roof that requires little skill to erect, but provides no attic space. The more modern style of these years was called the sun-trap, the main goal for this style was to receive as much natural light as possible, so they introduced the big curved windows.

1940’s – Starting in 1940 there was a more modern or contemporary look. These would be one or two storey homes or even a split level home. They would have large windows, open floor plans, and horizontal lines with simple details. One of the most noticeable things you might see is the fact the front porches of the older homes pretty much vanish in the 1940’s homes. During the ‘40’s carpet becomes very common, as do the use of refrigerators. You would find a lot of yellow, metal canister sets, white enamel surfaces, pretty aprons, and chicken & rooster motifs in the kitchen.

1950’s – This era was all about open spaces. A lot of wood was used such as wood paneled walls, wood walls, although carpet was preferred these days. Very simple designs for the house itself, and the way it was decorated. You would probably see a lot of greens and yellows throughout the home. Also quite popular in decorating these homes were area rugs, lamps, and you guessed it…wallpaper.

1960’s – Oh the ‘60’s. As far as I’m concerned, you couldn’t have accused anyone of having “no taste” considering the “in thing” was to purposely combine colors that don’t match. Home designs haven’t changed much but interior designing has gone crazy! In most homes you would find shag rugs, also pop art and op art were very popular, pictures of icons, comic strips, etc… covered the walls and the use of pattern and color to simulate movement that op art delivered was everywhere, whether it be crazy mismatched colors or the oh so famous black and white, this was a very “far out” time.

1970’s –  Similar to the ‘50’s in the sense that the more space the better, people were wanting big, bright, open spaces, lots of sundecks and porches were added onto homes of the ‘70’s. There was still a bit of color in decorating but quite calmer than the years in the ‘60’s. You would notice some homeowners remodeling older homes, or even converting, barns, clock towers, carriage houses, and stables into homes. Eclecticism in interior design continued to grow throughout the ‘70’s. Meaning people would use older styles and blend them into their new styles.

1980’s – Homes built during the 1980’s tend to be quite boxy, often homes had vaulted ceilings. Inside these homes you would find items such as the halogen lamp, and waterbeds in the bedrooms. Finally these are the years when people decided to invest in their kitchens, now used as a hub of the house, rather than just for function people would spend time entertaining there. You would see a lot of brass throughout the home, especially in the kitchen and bathroom.

1990’s – During the 1990’s it became imperative to build affordable housing, the most common were 2-story, split-level, and the condominium was becoming quite popular. You would most likely find a lot of homes with skylights in them. The décor you’d find inside the home would be very soft colors, lots of gadgets such as home theatres, automatic garage door openers, garbage disposals, intercom systems, and anything electronic. One of the biggest changes would be the main floor laundry rooms, as opposed to previous years where they would have been in the basement.

2000’s – The 2000’s are very much about status, you will find a lot of cosmetics added to homes outside and in, such as professionally landscaped property, lots of lights, additions, skylights, etc… you are sure to find condominiums to be the new “it”, they are everywhere, people are concerned about space so we build up rather than out. Inside of these homes are quite incredible actually, you’ll find items such as digital thermostats, digital ovens, anything digital. The use of Stainless Steel has become very common, beautiful light fixtures; a lot of homes have home offices in them, as more and more people are working from the comfort of their own homes. A lot of people think of their home as their own little museum where you can display all of what you’ve accomplished and we show who we are by the way e decorate our homes…can’t wait to see what the 2010’s have in store for us.

For more Information on this topic visit www.buildwish.com a free Online Home & Garden Renovation & Design Directory in 100 Cities in North America. Featuring millions of Real Estate Classifieds, Helpful Articles, Contests, Virtual home tools, Qualified Trades, Forums, a moving center, free quotes for Insurance, Moving, Mortgages, Contractors, Foreclosures and Much More!
Author
Sofia Rucci -

1. Pay attention to color. We use color everywhere in our lives and it affects nearly everything we do. For the cooler months, darker, richer hues are ideal for creating a cozy, winter look in your living room. Rich browns, burgundies and dark greens and ochres are perfect for making it feel warmer inside, but you don`t have to run out and buy new furniture. Slip covers make it very simple to change the palette of a room, as do curtains.

2. Use plenty of texture. Clean and smooth is the way to go for hot weather, but once the snow starts to fall, it`s time to get nice and warm and fuzzy. Texture adds a lot of personality to a room and you can use as little or as much as you like, depending on your taste. This can mean anything from throwing a couple of warm fleece blankets over the back of the sofa or adding some fuzzy pillows to bringing out extra throw rugs and hanging up heavy oil paintings. Thicker curtains can also help warm a room.

3. Bring the outdoors in. Just because it`s cold and wet outside doesn`t mean there`s nothing interesting in nature. Try creating an arrangement of stark branches to place on the mantel, or find seasonal plants that can be brought indoors during this time. Like you would decorate with flowers in the spring, do the same with what you have at hand during the winter, albeit less colorful. A tall collection of reeds or decorative dried grass, for example, can lend a natural winter feel to a living room and keeps things from getting too bare.

4. Literally warm it up. If you have a fireplace, real or electric, now is a great time to fire it up. Keeping things cozy and warm with flames automatically makes the living room a place that feels like a retreat from the blustery world outside. But even if you don`t happen to have a fireplace, you can still create that homey feeling with candles. One or three candles (odd numbers tend to look better) set on the sideboard or on a low shelf are perfect if you just want to add a touch of warmth, but for a real comfort zone, try lighting a dozen or more around the room.

5. Change the decorations. Flat surfaces such as mantels, windowsills, coffee tables and shelves offer a multitude of decorating possibilities that we often forget to alter. What works for a summer layout isn`t going to work for winter, so take a good look at the decorations and centerpieces that you have and make some seasonal changes. Winter scenes make a great alternative to floral paintings, while crystal jars and such are a great way to decorate a shelf.

Transitioning from a summer look to a winter one with these interior design tips should be a piece of cake. Think about what makes a room feel warm and inviting and then add that to your living room to create the perfect hideaway for cold, wintry days.

Author
Kate Hobbs -

1. Waterproofing

Concrete waterproofing is gradually taking center stage as it continuously proved its efficiency at the same time boasting its affordability. Many people are opting for concrete waterproofing because they find it more economical than the other types of waterproofing.

2. The Concept

Basically, concrete waterproofing is used to prevent seepage and leakage of water to the structure. It utilizes the catalytic reaction to close up holes, contraction cracks, and passageways that are common to most concrete walls. Concrete waterproofing uses crystalline as its basic component because it infiltrates deep within the concrete. As it seeps through, it does not merely wrap up the hairline cracks but also the existence of humidity and further fissures that are embedded deep within the concrete walls.

As the mixture is applied to the concrete’s exterior, catalytic reaction takes place and develops some inches of non-soluble crystalline fibers within the holes and capillary tracts of the concrete. In turn, these crystalline fibers close the cracks and provide protection against further infiltration of water from all routes.

3. The Composition

Before, concrete waterproofing was mainly used in buildings and industrial structures. But with further developments, concrete waterproofing is now house-friendly and can be readily applied for residential use. The suburban composition of concrete waterproofing is composed of waterless powder mixture of Portland cement with proprietary chemicals and very refined silica sand. It is so easy to apply because it only needs water for application.

4. The Advantages

- Less costly than solvent-based waterproofing
- It’s easy to apply.
- Eradicates the expense and difficulty of re-excavating present groundwork just to patch up a seepage
- It’s safe (non-flammable, odorless)
- It is more durable and reliable.
- Can endure all kinds of harmful elements in the surroundings like harmful chemicals and salt sprays

5. The Application

- Clean the surface first and free the area from any dirt and dust. Unlikely substance may cause the mixture to not stick
- Apply the mixture and let it stand for two to three days
- Regularly apply water to the surface during the two to three days curing period. This is to ensure that enough moisture is present so as to complete the catalytic reaction

You can do this by spraying small quantities of water enough to moisten the surface, backfilling the surface with damp soil, or covering with soaked burlap. By occasionally applying moisture to the area, the reaction will speed up and the process will be finished earlier. So, after doing all these, you can now be assured that your house will be leak-free when the rain comes. You can now enjoy rainy days without a drop from the inside.