How To Choose The Absolutely Right Area Rugs

by shabnamahsan

Area rugs can be a magical touch to your home decor. Decorating with area rugs bring life to your room with vibrant colors or add a muted elegance. There is a dizzying array of choices in area rugs. You will find it in unlimited choices of colors, shapes & designs. It makes selecting the right area rugs to match your needs can be a very challenging task indeed. Here are a few major tips to ensure you choose the right option for your home

Shape

Area rug is available in all shapes & sizes. Choose your area rug according to the shape of your furniture & room.

A rectangular area rug at entry space will create an illusion of entry hall even if the front door opens directly into your living room.

Rectangular area rug goes beautifully with a long table in dining room. 


Modern Living Room by Austin Design-Build Firms Watermark & Company

In long shaped space rectangular area rug creates a visual order.
Traditional Kitchen by Hyannis Kitchen & Bath Designers Classic Kitchens & Interiors

Round area rug under a round table looks terrific & softens a square angular space
    Use your creativity with different shapes to give your home charm & elegance.

Size

It is important to consider size in placement of area rug. To get the perfect size measure the area you want to place your area rug with the help of newspaper or duct tape. Make the size of the area rug slightly smaller than the area to leave bare floors exposed on all sides, ideally 9-12 inches from the baseboards.
According to Designer Jennifer Duneier the size of the area rug depends on the furniture layout.
In Dining Room

Contemporary Dining Room by Berkeley Architects & Building Designers WA design

While putting area rug under your dining table, make sure it is large enough to allow you and your guests to be seated and stand up without pushing the chairs off the rug.

In Living Room
Contemporary Living Room by Durham Interior Designers & Decorators Heather Garrett Design
If you are placing large area rug in your living room, all the legs of your furniture should rest on it.   

Eclectic Living Room by Irvine Interior Designers & Decorators Blackband Design

It you opted for a small area rug, arrange the furniture around it placing front legs of the sofa on area rug.

In Bed Room
Area rug is an effective way to avoid stepping on cold floor from a warm bed.   

Modern Bedroom by Austin Furniture & Accessories Urbanspace Interiors
You can use a large rug under the bed but allow additional length on all sides of the bed to avoid hopping on cold floor. 

Contemporary Bedroom

You can place small area rugs on the floor on each side of your bed. You can position an area rug on floor at the foot of bed. It will give you a warm feeling every time you step on beautiful area rug on your bedside floor.


Cosy Enclaves
 

Contemporary Dining Room by Austin Architects & Building Designers Webber + Studio, Architects

If you have a specious room, use several area rugs to create cosy enclaves. You can use it to divide a large room into various areas of uses rather than walls or dividers. Make sure that the colors of the area rugs coordinate with each other.

Colour
While choosing the color of the area rug keep in mind these points

 

Beach Style Dining Room by Southport Architects & Building Designers Austin Patterson Disston Architects

Make sure the color of the area rug compliments and blends with the furniture, wall color & other decorating elements of the room.

 

Traditional Dining Room by Ellicott City Interior Designers & Decorators Laura Manning Bendik
Light colour area rug creates an effect of a larger space. 
Contemporary Living Room by Culver City Architects & Building Designers Natasha Barrault Design

Dark color on the other hand, tends to absorb light and lend a cosy ambiance.

 

Contemporary Dining Room by Gaylordsville Architects & Building Designers Callaway Architects, LLC
You can add a splash of colour with a bright color or rich textured area rug in a room where the colors are soft and neutral. It can be the focal point of the room.
Contemporary Dining Room by San Francisco Architects & Building Designers Chr DAUER Architects

If you are using area rug in high trafficking area of your home like playroom or dining room, use dark colour as it will hide the spill & stains easily.

 

Eclectic Bedroom by Dallas Photographers Taylor Shead

Dark colour is ideal if you have pets & kids. It will not show the wear and tear as quickly as light coloured area rugs.

  Hope It will help you to find the right area rug to give your home a joyous elegance. If you find it helpful share it with your friends.

 

Uncommon Uses of Common Things….Disposable Diapers

by shabnamahsan

 

  By Shabnamahsan

 

In continuation of my series of uncommon uses of common thing today I am writing few uncommon uses of disposable diapers.

                           If your kids are too big for diapers & you are confused what to do with some unused one, here are some interesting uses.

Diaper cake
Are you going to attend a baby shower? Use your diapers to make a cute diaper cake. Tie around lovely ribbon, attach some small toys & your pretty baby shower gift is ready.
Emergency Kit
Keep in glove compartment in your car for emergencies. It’ll serve as great blood absorber if accident occurs. 
Keeps Flower Fresh Longer
If you have to carry flowers & concerned about spilling during transporting, just wet the inside of a disposable diaper & wrap around the flower. Your flowers will get all the necessary moisture & won’t get dry without any mess. When you reach your destination put it in a beautiful vase, off course without diaper. If it’s for your loved one, just remember to discard diaper before giving it otherwise……
Convenient Iced or Hot Pack
If you get hurt or having pain anywhere in your body, you can use it as hot or iced pack. For hot pack, wet the inside of the disposable diaper & microwave it on medium heat until it’s hot enough for you to bear on your skin.
For cold pack, dribble one cup alcohol in diaper than soak it in water. Now pack it & freeze it. Sodium Polyacrylate in diaper will transfer the liquids in gel & alcohol will keep it from completely freezing. Even if you don’t have alcohol use plain water and freeze. Outer cover of the diaper will prevent water from dipping when using on the aching part of your body.
Great Mess Cleaner
If you are traveling & someone vomits or accidentally spills a large volume of liquid, disposable diaper is a rescuer. Clean the mess with it.  It won’t break easily as paper towel or have to wash frequently as cloth during cleaning. It you can’t get any proper place to dispose the mess just seal the diaper & carry it with you until you find garbage can.
Temporary Fix for a Leaky Pipe
To avoid the annoying dripping sound & fixing your leaky pipe just wrap a disposable diaper around it. Now call your plumber as it is a successful, but temporary fix.
Avoid Pet Disaster in Travel
Traveling with your pet can be a disaster. Keep disposable diaper at the bottom of your pet carrier to avoid any “accident”.
Keeps the Plant Hydrated Longer
Place a disposable diaper (absorbent side up) in the bottom of a planter before adding soil. It will work as water reservoir absorbing the water that would otherwise drain out the bottom. The plant will get hydrated longer & you have to water it less often.
Protective Wrapping Material
If you have to ship any fragile material in emergency & you don’t have time to go to the market & bring protective wrapping, don’t worry. Wrap around the disposable diaper & seal in a box. Rest assure your delicate object will arrive safely in one piece.
                Love to hear your suggestions of using it differently in comments.
Here are the previous posts of this series
Uncommon Uses of Common Things…Toothpaste Part 1  
Uncommon Uses of Common Things…Toothpaste Part 2
Uncommon Uses of Common Things…Baby Wipes 
Uncommon Uses of Common Things…Toothpicks
 

Choose Your Footwear With Care

by shabnamahsan

By Shabnam Ahsan
Fashion experts consider footwear as an essential part of accessories.It enhances or mar your overall appearance. But most of us ignore a very important aspect while selecting our footwear, ie. comfort of feet. We can save our self of a lot of pains & problems if we consider some simple points in choosing our footwear

1…The right time to shop the shoe is in the late afternoon as our feet expand a bit during the day. Curb the urge to bay it in the morning as these may turn out to be tight

2…Always take a walk round the shop a couple of minutes with shoes on before buying them. As you walk in the shop weaning new shoes keep these questions in mind:

Can I wiggle my toes? If you can’t the shoes are too tight

Does the ball of my foot rests comfortably on the scale of the shoe? If it doesn’t it’s not the right shoe.

Do the sizes & the back of the shoes fit snugly? If they don’t and there are gaps, the shoes are too large

Only when you are fully satisfied, you should buy the pair of shoes

3…We should consider shape & size of our feet while shopping shoes.

While dainty strap sandals look fabulous on girls who have small pretty feet, sensible, closed shoes are better for girls with larger feet.

4…We should take into consideration the occasion we are going to wear these shoes.

Playing shoes should be firm, but not bandaged around the feet. If you are going to start jogging, then opt for shoes specially made for that purpose. These have reinforced heels, arch support & soles that protect the foot against continuous pummeling on dirt or pavement.

If you are planning to wear heavy boots in a hill station, try them on after putting on the woolen socks you will use them with. If you are buying shoes to wear with socks or stockings try them on with the socks.

According to experts we should vary our heel heights from time to time. If we wear high heels one day, we should wear medium heels the next day and perhaps very little heels the following day to allow different foot and leg muscles to get a workout and also give the shoes a chance to breathe.

 We can make our footwear our sole mates by following these simple tips.

7 Tips For Perfect Candle Burning

by shabnamahsan

By shabnam Ahsan

Burning candles is fun. We can light a candle at any time, any place or any occasion. Be it a candle light dinner, a relaxing evening or even in bathroom we can light candles in different colors & shapes & in beautiful holders.

Here is some tips to prolong the fun experience of lightening candles

1…It’s a good idea to keep candles in fridge as cold candles burns slowly or you can put it in fridge an hour prior to light it but to prevent wicks from absorbing moisture wrap them in foil or cling-film first.

2…To avoid the bending or fading the color of the candles never expose them to sunlight or internal spotlight

3… Wrap cooking foil or tissue paper around the bottom of the candle to make the base thicker if it’s too slim to fit perfectly in the holder. The melted wax will soak the tissue & prevent it from burning.

4…To ensure that the pillar candle burns evenly each time you light it allow it to burn long enough each time to create a pool of wax that almost covers the diameter of the candle otherwise it will make a tunnel through the candle or melt through one side.

5…To extinguish candle push its wick in the liquid wax. The wax will cover the wick making it easier to light again.
 6…Avoid standing a lit candle in draught as it will create uneven burning with larger flame.

7…Try to buy votive candles in metal cases as it’ll be easier to remove them from holder after use.

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15 Tips To Keep Cut Flowers Fresh Longer

by shabnamahsan
 
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By Shabnam Ahsan
Fresh flowers can freshen up any dull room, & make your day as they express someone’s emotions for you. But the life of fresh flowers is generally short & they are easily perishable. Here are some tips to keep them fresh longer.
1…When you buy flowers try to buy most of them still in bud. They will have longer vase life & you will get the pleasure of watching them slowly open up.
2…Crush and split the bottom of the woody steamed flowers like Rose to take up water easily.
3…. Always cut rose’s stem holding it & sharp scissor under water like water filled sink or a big vessel to prevent getting an air bubble in the stem which can cause the rose heads to drop.
4…To lengthen the life of flowers snap their stems on a slant with a sharp knife to expose more stem surface & wash away the sticky white secretion.
5… Cut the stems another inch or so whenever you change the water. In this way by the end of the week, you will have shorter, but still alive bouquet
6… If you want to extend the life of your flower arrangement than put it in the coldest room of your house before going to sleep.
7…To keep the Tulip straight push small pins just below the flower heads & wrap the bunch in wet newspaper and leave them in two to three inches of water for about one and half hours.
8…Before putting the flowers in vase, remove all the leaves that will fall below the water level to prevent them rot & create bacteria resulting in shorting of life of the flowers.
9….Nearly all commercial floral preservatives contains 3 main ingredients, (1) biocide that is a chemical that kills bacteria, fungi & yeasts, (2) acidifier (3) sugar
Instead of using commercial floral preservatives, add 1 tablespoon sugar ½ teaspoon bleach & 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice to 1 quart water to keep our flowers fresh & healthy for a longer time.
10….Best time to cut the flower is early in the morning or late in the afternoon when it has cooled.
11….Always use container in proportion of the flowers as too many flowers in very small container will look overcrowded & won’t get enough water to live longer & enough room to breathe.
12….Never put Daffodils & Tulips together as Daffodils sap is toxic to tulips.
13….Always put flowers away from fruits as fruits give off ethylene gas which makes flowers deteriorate more quickly.
14….Some flowers are more perishable than others. When they began to perish pull them out & continue to enjoy the flowers still looking good.
15…To create a humid atmosphere around the flowers, lightly spray with clean water from time to time.
               If you have move tips to keep fresh the flowers do share with us in comments.