Home Interior Design – Connecting Little Rock

Archive for April, 2010

2010 is looking to be a very exciting year in kitchen design trends.  In this article, we explore some of the most exciting trends in design aesthetic and functionality.

One trend that is continuing to gain momentum in 2010 is the emphasis on green solutions.

In countertops, materials such as ECO by Consentino that utilizes recycled materials such as porcelain, mirror, glass, and stone scraps will increasingly be seen.  In tile, Italian series’ such as Feel, Glam, Stream contain a pre-consumer recycled content of 20%, while a series called Charcoal is utilizing 40% recycled materials.

Green is also the word in cabinetry.  For example, think bamboo; A solution Innova recently used in a client’s kitchen renovation.  Other green cabinetry solutions include Ecowood; A sophisticated series of real wood stria composites using a revolutionary green technology.  Ecowood’s exotic finishes include  Macassar Ebony, Teak, Mahogany, Zebrawood to name but a few.

Other trends in kitchen cabinets include textured laminates, as well as high glosses, and mixed finishes.  When  it comes to mixed finishes, think both colour and texture such as high gloss whites mixed with dark wood accents.  And the dark wood finishes?  Out are the chocolates and kahluas, and in are the sophisticated greys.

For kitchen cabinetry lighting,  LED  solutions are lighting the way.  LEDs  save energy, and provide years of usage before any of the LEDs have to be replaced as opposed to the older halogen puck lighting which have short life spans and operate at elevated temperatures.

Cabinetry functionality trends continue with drawer solutions over doors in base cabinets, and metal rack pull-outs for pantry and base cabinet solutions. And those blind corners where you had to get on your hands and knees to reach to the back?  The Le Mans System solves that problem.  However, the hottest trend by far in cabinetry solutions are servo drives;  An electronically driven systems that opens your drawers with just a touch of your hand…

Innova Kitchens and Baths,

www.innovakitchens.com

Garden insects: know your friends & foes
Learn to identify and manage three basic types of garden pests

Why is it when 97% of the world’s insects are considered to be either beneficial or harmless, your garden attracts only the remaining 3%  that are considered PESTS? Although it may seem this way, there are both “good” and “bad” insects in your yard.

There is a constant battle going on to maintain a balance between these two groups. Toleration of some pests should be allowed as they provide a food source for the beneficial insects, allowing them to thrive in your yard and keep the pests in check. However, even in the best of gardens, uncontrolled outbreaks do occur. Preventing an infestation of bugs is an important part of gardening. By taking several precautions and putting forth a little bit of effort in the beginning, you will hopefully be rewarded with (almost) pest-free veggies and flowers.

Why are some bugs in your yard a good thing? A vast majority of the insects in your yard provide many services that improve your garden and lawn. Insects help pollinate the blossoms, which lead to more fruit, vegetables, flowers, and seeds. Insects improve the soil condition by crawling through the surface layer. Droppings and dead bugs increase the fertility of the soil. Earthworms and centipedes also help aerate the soil during their travels. Insects keep the numbers of bugs in line by capturing and eating other types of insects

Learn to identify and manage three basic types of garden pests:

Soil Insects: This type of pest feeds on the seed in the ground or small tender vegetation. They will also attack larger, established root crops (such as potatoes and carrots). Examples of soil insects include cutworms, white grubs, slugs, and mole crickets.

Sucking Insects: These insects have a mouth type to pierce the skin and to suck the sap from the plant. Sometimes the hole made by these critters is so small that it is unable to be seen without a magnifying glass. Severe injury or even death can occur once your plant has fallen victim to these sucking insects. A badly infested plant will become yellowed, wilted, stunted or deformed. Examples of sucking insects include aphids, leafhoppers, stinkbugs, spider mites, and squash bugs.

Chewing Insects: This group causes the greatest amount of damage to gardens and yards. They chew off all parts of the plant including leaves, fruits, vegetables and flowers. Chewing insects include Colorado potato beetles, tomato hornworm, cabbage looper, webworms, leaf miners and various caterpillars

There are even parasitic insects that live off “bad” bugs, eventually killing them! The braconid wasp larvae infests the tomato hornworm and uses it as a food source. Insects act as janitors for your yard. They search out any dead plants or animals and feast on them, which provides a cleaning service for you. Most important of all is the insect population control created through fighting among themselves.

Surveillance of your garden
Plant your garden in a location so you can constantly see it. If an insect attack occurs you can take care of it early.

Choose resistant plants
Your local nursery or Extension Office can help you select some plants that are less tempting to the pests in your area. Other information sources are seed catalogs and plant reference books at the library.

Proper conditions
Plowing and cultivating you garden brings soil insects to the surface. Birds and other predators can then feast on them as a snack.

Fertilize
Follow an organic fertilizing program and provide the proper amount of water. Strong and healthy plants will be less likely to come under attack by pests.

Practice “clean culture”
Remove debris, including old or dead fruit and veggies, before planting the next season’s crops. By either burning, burying or removing the debris, you will rid the area of insect infestation or disease. Keep surrounding weeds under control.

Encourage beneficial bugs
Do not use an indiscriminate insecticide. Try to use target-specific sprays.

Rotate crops
By moving your plants around yearly, any bugs specific to certain crops will be forced to relocate. Garden pests can be placed into three separate groups: soil insects, sucking insects, and chewing insects.

Be sure to check out Spray-N-Grow‘s organic and environmentally friendly insecticides

Bonide Bon-Neem Insecticidal Soap Concentrate
Bonide Rotenone-Pyrethrins Concentrate
Sluggo Snail and Slug Killer

Florida Home Loans, 97% Financing

Whether you’re a Florida first-time home buyer or a seasoned veteran, finding a great Florida home loan  is often stressful and time-consuming. FHAmortgagePrograms.com helps streamline the Florida home loan process. 

Here’s how it works:

Complete our simple, Florida home loan request Receive up to 4 offers from Florida home loan lenders Compare Florida mortgage rates and terms for each loan Choose the Florida home loan that fits your needs

http://www.fhamortgageprograms.com/florida/

Florida home loan specialist

For the Florida home buyer coming up with the down payment is often one of the most difficult challenges to becoming a Florida first-time homeowners. Fortunately, today there are numerous Florida home loan  programs available that allow Florida home loan applicants to contribute as little as 3-5 percent of the purchase to purchase a Florida home.

For example, in order to buy a $150,000 Florida home, a borrower could get away with putting $4,500 down compared with $30,000, the traditional 20 percent down payment. Of course, low down payment loans do require Florida home loan applicants to meet certain criteria. Typically, Florida  home buyers will need to have a good credit history that demonstrates their responsibility with borrowed money. They will also be required to provide proof of sufficient income for the home purchase a Florida home and they will need to have enough cash on hand to cover both the down payment and the mortgage closing costs.

These Florida mortgage programs have made homeownership affordable for millions of Florida home loan applicants, but there are some drawbacks to making a minimal down payment on a Florida home loan, like having to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI). With a low down payment home loan, the Florida  lender takes on more risk than a 20 percent down mortgage. In order to reduce this risk, the borrower will be required to pay PMI until your equity reaches roughly 20 percent. That means paying an extra several hundred dollars in Florida mortgage fees each year. Still, for many Florida first-timers, the additional future costs is often worth the thrill of owning their first Florida  home.

If you’ve ever spent time rearranging furniture in a room, browsing antique shops and second-hand stores in search of hip vintage furniture, or obsessing over accent walls and window treatments, you might want to consider joining the ranks of interior designers. By marrying your creativity with the right education, you can earn a comfortable living in a flexible career field.

As a career, interior design engages creative service professionals to plan and design spaces in public buildings and private homes. Interior designers work with clients and other design professionals (including architects) to create safe, functional, and attractive rooms. The job requires a keen sense for creative visualization, as well as solid aesthetic technique, customer service, and professional communication skills, which interior designers use to present design plans to clients. For any given job, interior designers make recommendations for materials to be used and must explain how different textures, colors, and lighting schemes combine and interact to create a pleasing design. Finally, interior designers must also understand technical requirements of a given space, including health and safety regulations, and building codes.

Interior Design Careers: A Flexible Living
Besides the ability to put your design skills to work, there are other benefits to working in interior design. One major benefit to an interior design career is flexibility. If you aspire to a stable, full-time position, several top-paying industries employ interior designers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics specialized design services employed 20,820 interior designers as of May 2007. Other top industries employing interior designers included architectural, engineering, and related services (with 9,680 interior design jobs in May 2007), and furniture retailers (with 5,770 jobs).

Depending on your preparedness to face the competition and your desire for high earnings, you may find some industries more attractive than others. Specialized design and architecture firms tend to offer larger and more stable salaries. In May 2007, mean annual wages for interior designers in specialized design services stood at $51,520. Designers working for architectural, engineering, and related services earned $52,000 on average.

If you’re looking for a more flexible pay scale and schedule, you can ply your trade as a self-employed interior designer. In 2006–the last year the Bureau of Labor Statistics accounted for self-employed interior designers–26 percent of interior designers were self-employed.

College Education for Interior Design Careers
As you might expect, finding a niche for yourself in any interior design industry requires a lot of hard work. Equally important, however, is postsecondary education. To gain entry-level interior designer positons, experts recommend postsecondary education–especially bachelor’s degrees. Although many colleges and universities offer two-year certificate and associate’s degree programs, bachelor’s degrees are generally considered more appropriate if you want to move from a college degree into internships or formal apprenticeship programs. Between formal college training and an apprenticeship program, you can prepare yourself to gain state licensure, a requirement for interior designers practicing in twenty-three states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

With so many different venues for new designers to ply their work, ample compensation for dynamic, creative work, and as many as 250 postsecondary institutions offering degrees in interior design, you have every reason to make space for your talent. Check out interior design career training today.

Are you sick and tired of that boring, outdated kitchen? If so, then remodeling is the right choice for it. Most of people feel pleasure in remodeling their house and most of them begin from the kitchen.This is usual, because the most imperative room of your house is your kitchen. If you find that your old kitchen is more of an eyesore than an appealing environment, then you can take steps to remedy the problem. How do you find the best kitchen style for your home, though?

Begin by analyzing the different offerings by top companies. You will come across the cabinetry by Aster, Elmwood and Cuisine Cabico that gives you access to everything from conventional style to smart modern cabinets. As you check out Varity of cabinetry collections exist, you’ll find that many of these drop the conventional “bulkhead” at the top – this allows the cabinets to touch the ceiling, and gives your kitchen a modern look.

You will also come across an extensive range of upgraded appliances.If you are feeling under the weather due to your single unit stove/oven, in that case you really need to change it with the latest one. Perhaps you do a lot of cooking in your home. If so, then big stovetops can provide you extra burner, as well as grilling and warming areas for greater ease. If you would like baking, then dual oven setups are just right choice for baking more than one thing at a time.

Your appliance choices are surely not restricted to stoves and ovens. You’ll find advanced microwaves that include convection cooking as well as conventional microwave operation You will find refrigerators in many different sizes and configurations, from double-door units to those that feature the freezer on the bottom of the unit. You’ll also discover many different finishes available, from black and white to stainless steel and much more.

The best kitchen elements should provide you a best combination of style, design and functionality. This ensures that you are able to achieve the look and feel that you want in your kitchen, but also that you are still able to use your kitchen the way that you want. Additionally, to attain the best kitchen, it is suggested that you search for an experienced designer to support you bring your theme together rightly.

Grow a cutting garden and enjoy flowers indoors and out

If you feel guilty when you cut flowers in your garden, worrying that you’re destroying nature or leaving gaps in your flowerbeds, it may be time for you to plant a cutting garden, says the American Association of Nurserymen (AAN). A cutting garden is designed to provide flowers for indoor arrangements, and it will give you a new perspective on removing flowers from your garden.

Choosing the Right Flowers and Plants

As with any garden, the first step in planning your cutting garden is to select plants that grow well in your part of the country. Ask the experts at your local garden center for their suggestions, and keep in mind your soil conditions, the amount of sun or shade your garden receives and how much it rains.

Selecting a Color Scheme

After you’ve decided which plants will thrive at your site, choose a color scheme, whether bright and vivid primary colors, soft and muted pastel shades or dusty earth tones. Since the purpose of a cutting garden is to grow flowers to use indoors, think about how flowers of certain colors will look when you place them in main rooms of your house.

Finally, plant flowers and plants in such a way that no one will notice that you frequently forage for new material for your indoor bouquets. One way to achieve a continuously balanced look in your cutting garden is to group your plantings by color, so that when you clip several blue flowers one day and several yellow flowers another, the overall appearance of the garden is still one of continuity and growth.

You can also fill in around your flowers with shrubs and larger, bushy plants that can easily spare a few leaves or berries, as well as plant a mix of perennials, annuals and bulbs so your garden will bloom all year ’round.

Florida a Low Down Payment home Loan

To be considered for a low down payment Florida home loan, you generally need to have:

Sufficient income to support the monthly Florida mortgage payment Enough cash to cover the down payment Sufficient cash to cover normal closing costs and related expenses (explained below) Within the recent 12 months have A good credit background that indicates your payment history or “willingness to pay” Sufficient appraisal value, which shows the house is at least equal to the purchase price In some instances, a cash reserve equivalent to two monthly mortgage payments

Closing costs, or settlement costs, are paid when the home buyer and the seller meet to exchange the necessary papers for the house to be legally transferred. On the average, closing costs run approximately 3.5% of the Florida house purchase price. This percentage may vary, depending on where in Florida you live.

Closing costs include the loan origination fee (if not already paid), points, prepaid homeowner’s insurance, appraisal fee, lawyer’s fee, recording fee, title search and insurance, tax adjustments, agent commissions, mortgage insurance (if you are putting less than 20% down) and other expenses. Your Florida mortgage professional will give you a more exact estimate of your closing costs.

Florida home buyers should know the many advantages of the FHA mortgage loan programs. FHA loans were created to help increase home ownership. For the Florida home buyer the FHA program can simplify the purchase of a home, making financing easier and less expensive than a conventional mortgage loan product. Some highlights of the Florida FHA loan program include:

Minimal Down Payment and Closing costs.

Down payment less than 3% of Sales Price Gifts are allowed Seller can credit up to 6% of sales price towards closing and prepaid costs. 100% Financing available No reserves required. FHA regulated closing costs.

Easier Credit Qualifying Guidelines such as:

  No minimum FICO score or credit score requirements. FHA will allow a home purchase 2 year after a Bankruptcy. FHA will allow a home purchase 3 years after a Foreclosure.

Apply for an FHA home loan today at

http://www.fhamortgageprograms.com/florida/

Points are finance charges that are calculated at closing. Each point equals 1% of the Florida home loan amount. For example, 2 points on a $100,000 loan equals $2,000. Florida home loan companies may charge 1, 2 or 3 points in upfront costs in addition to the down payment. The more points you pay, the lower your interest rate will be. In some cases, you may be able to finance the points into your Florida home loan.

So How Much of a Florida home loan Can You Afford?
There are two basic formulas commonly used to determine how much of a Florida home loan mortgage you can reasonably afford. These formulas are called qualifying ratios because they estimate the amount of money you should spend on mortgage payments in relation to your income and other expenses.

It is important to remember that the following ratios may vary and each application is handled on an individual basis, so the guidelines are just that — guidelines. There are many affordability programs, both government and conventional, that have more lenient requirements for low and moderate income families.

Many of these programs involve financial counseling for low and moderate income people interested in buying a home and in return, offer more lenient requirements.

Generally speaking, to qualify for conventional loans, housing expenses should not exceed 31% to 35% of your gross monthly income. For FHA loans, the ratio is 31% of gross monthly income. Monthly housing costs include the mortgage principal, interest, taxes and insurance, often abbreviated PITI. For example, if your annual income is $30,000, your gross monthly income is $2,500, times 28% = $700. So you would probably qualify for a conventional home loan that requires monthly payments of $700.

Any expenses that extend 11 months or more into the future are termed long term debt, such as a car loan. Total monthly costs, including PITI and all other long term debt, should equal no greater than 33% to 36% of your gross monthly income for conventional loans. Using the same example, $2,500 x 36% = $900. So the total of your monthly housing expenses plus any long term debts each month cannot exceed $900. For FHA the ratio is 43%.

Maximum Allowable Monthly Housing Expense
27% – 28% of gross monthly income – Conventional
31% of gross monthly income – FHA

Maximum Allowable Monthly Housing Expense and Long Term Debt
28% – 36% of gross monthly income – Conventional
43% of gross monthly income – FHA

One way to determine how much to spend for a Florida home is to compare your monthly income with monthly long term obligations and expenses. Use the worksheet, “Evaluating Your Financial Resources,” to determine how much money you can spend on Florida home. Be sure to only include income you can definitely count on.

When budgeting to buy a Florida home, it is important to allow enough money for additional expenses such as maintenance and insurance costs. If you are purchasing an existing Florida home, gather information such as utility cost averages and maintenance costs from previous owners or tenants to help you better prepare for Florida home ownership.

Homeowner’s insurance or property insurance is another Florida home loan cost you will have to consider. The Florida home loan lending institution holding the mortgage will require insurance in an amount sufficient to cover the loan. However, to protect the full value of your Florida investment, you might want to consider purchasing insurance that provides the full replacement cost if the home is destroyed. Some insurance only provides a fixed dollar amount which may be insufficient to rebuild a badly damaged Florida home.

Interior design careers require not only a sense of design, but also technical aptitude and sophisticated communication skills. A bachelor’s degree and passing mandated government exams is just the beginning of this highly competitive – but rewarding and inspirational career.

Designing your life with a career in interior design can give you the lifetime reward of living with a job you love. Interior design careers are for the creative individual who also has the ability to manage the creativity logically and enjoys working with materials. To be a successful interior designer, you must also be able to communicate the creative and logical aspects of your design to clients.

An interior designer works for their client. The client will issue their requests, demands and specifications for the interior design. The interior designer will then take those specifications and create a design, using creativity and talent to create a design, and educational background and on-the-job experience to make the design a reality. Textiles and materials, form and function, safety and security are all areas of study that the interior designer has to master. Aesthetics must meet functionality and it starts with a degree.

Your Interior Design major will begin with the fundamentals. These courses will include learning about the basic principles, processes and elements of design, types of materials and furnishings, identification of fabrics and textiles, and utilization of space. From there you will move on to the physical properties of materials, composition, light, color, sketching and mechanical drafting. Later in your education, your studies will focus on blending the visual and the practical, then move to business practices, government regulations, environmental considerations, communication and building your portfolio. Safety courses will include fire regulations, building codes, ADA regulations, and space constraints.

Most states require an interior designer to be insured. To qualify for the exam, you will need six years of college, and work experience. If you claim you are an interior designer in those states and perform work, it’s possible you could be criminally prosecuted. Once you complete your education, complete the National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) exam. The NCIDQ exam is administered twice a year and includes three sections. Section One is “the Principles and Practices of Design (Building and Barrier Free Codes included), Section Two is “Contract Development and Administration,” and Section Three is “Schematics and Design Development.” Once you pass your NCIDQ exam, you will be assigned a certificate number and get your license.

During your studies you will likely find your area of preference and expertise. An interior designer can work in general interiors in residential or commercial buildings, or they can specialize, working for just restaurants, hotels, skyscrapers, or any other specialty that they’ve found their talent for. An interior designer might work for a large corporation, a small design firm, or out of their own home. The interior designer’s education, license, portfolio and work experience will determine reputation and career.

Interior design takes a great deal of creativity, skill and knowledge. Years of education and training take place before your interior design career becomes a reality – but once it does, your life will be designed for success.

The kitchen is the most significant room in the house. It is the nerve centre of what keeps the family ticking over. Subsequently when it comes to giving the kitchen a facelift, should you go for a professional or is DIY kitchens in you?

In the existing economic climate, there is no doubt that many of those on the fence may well essentially try their hand at DIY kitchens. If you are handy with tools, then perhaps this is a good choice. For those that struggle to put shelves up though, making a decision such as this is fraught with danger!

If you plan on a major overhaul of the kitchen, then the choice is perhaps not so stark. You will need some specialist tools and will also require some specialist skills. The former could be purchased, or perhaps hired at a cost, but the latter is not something that you can acquire overnight, unless you have a suitable skilled friend to help you.

However, a DIY kitchen facelift is something else, and certainly within the capabilities of a lot more people.

Simply sanding down wooden cupboard doors might be enough to revitalise a kitchen. The same can be said of a worktop, as long as it is wooden. A lick of paint on wooden panels can make a huge difference as well.

Changing the floor can also be a very effective makeover ploy. Changing lino, or even applying new tiling can change the aspect of a kitchen completely. Cork tiling is an interesting choice. The material is soft, so dropped plates have a greater chance of survival. It is also warmer on the feet too.

A simple redecoration of the walls can be very effective as well, though done in conjunction with a cupboard makeover or flooring facelift, can give the impression of a complete new kitchen. The combination of ideas does make the idea of DIY kitchens a lot more appealing!

All in all, DIY kitchens should be a fun learning experience. Inevitably, you’ll make a mistake or two along the way. Try not to get discouraged, and if you get stuck don’t be afraid to call in a professional for a free consultation. Ask him or her how much it will be to finish the project and what they would do to complete the job. You don’t have to actually hire the person, but getting their free opinion can help to point you in the right direction. A free word of advice: if you’re going to have a tile kitchen floor, make sure you order at least 10 percent extra to allow for cutting and accidental breakage.

What makes hydroponic gardening different from traditional in-ground gardening is a soilless growing medium. No dirt! All plants require support, to be held up. This basic requirement is dealt with by soilless growing mediums which are inert, mostly non-organic materials.  Non-organic refers to the medium not being derived from living organisms, unlike soil, which is. There are a perplexing jumble of growing mediums available for hydroponic gardening. Generally speaking, these mediums are porous, light and coarse, allowing oxygen and nutrients to be easy accessible  to the plants roots.

Some of the most common used in hydroponic gardening are:

Coconut Coir ~ This is produced from the husk that surrounds the coconut shell. Made up of millions of tiny micro-sponges, it can absorb and hold up to eight times its weight in water, perfect for hydroponic gardening. It lasting three times as long as peat moss so is fairly sturdy. It is also called palm peat, coco, or just coir.  Some of the advantagesof this medium  for hydroponic gardening are better water retention and aeration.  The disadvantages of coconut coir are its breakdown after several uses and some drainage issues.  It is often mixed with other media to improve drainage for hydroponic gardening.

L.E.C.A / Lightweight Expanded Clay Aggregate ~ This is clay which has been heated under high temperatures until it puffs up.  It makes a very coarse medium as the clay balls are about 1/4″ across. Superb drainage, holds moisture, stays put and is reusable after sterilization to continue with your hydroponic gardening. These are just some of the advantages of this medium. On the downside, it doesn’t hold moisture as well as mediums like coconut coir and can be more costly.

Perlite ~ Glass flakes (Silica) are heated until it expands producing what we know as perlite. These tiny nodules hold water well and provide drainage. A common medium for hydroponic gardening due to its low density and somewhat lower cost.  Its advantage is its re-usability. That being said, it cannot be used alone for ebb & flow hydroponic gardening because it will float away or move during flooding cycles.

Rockwool ~ These cubes are made of fibers spun from melted Basaltic rock. The density of this growing medium for hydroponic gardening can be adjusted by changes in the amount of pressure during production. Large slabs are cut into smaller slabs and propagation blocks for easy handling in hydroponic gardening.  Advantages of this medium are the ease of handling, convenience, better control over nutrition, being able to plant seeds in it and allow the plants to be very stable.

So you see, soil  is not necessary for growing plants and you have plenty of other choices for your hydroponic gardening.  There are many other ways to germinate a seed  and support a plant.  What is vital is water, food, light, warm and oxygen. As long as you provide these things, plus the support, your plants will grow and flourish. Visit http://www.hydroponicgarden.net to find all these choices and supplies for successful hydroponic gardening.