Now that the cooler weather is here, it’s time to start doing those outside chores that nobody wanted to do when it was miserably hot. I’m compiling a list of things I need to do for my house, and I thought I would post what I’m doing here, and see what everyone else was doing. Here’s what I have on my list:

1. Paint and repair the fence. I don’t actually have a fence, but my mom does, and since my dad’s been so sick, I offered to help.

2. Power wash the deck and sides of house, re-stain deck. The good thing about the drought in Tennessee is the fact that I can count on several days in a row to be able to stain my deck and give it ample time to dry.

3. Clean out gutters. I hate doing this, largely because I have some gutters on one side of my house that are up way high, but it must be done. I have one gutter that needs special attention because it seems to be leaking. Ugh.

4. Wash, wax, and detail cars. I like to get my cars all nice and clean before it gets cold, because I never feel like washing the interior windows of my vehicles in 30 degree weather.

That’s all I have on my list for now, but I’m sure I am leaving some things off. What are you doing to get ready for winter?

Much of my antique furniture comes from estate sales. You can often find the most wonderful bargains at estate sales. This is one of the places antique dealers find the pieces they sell. Might as well cut out the middle man and go to the estate sales yourself.

But where do you find estate sales? I have found a very good source for finding estate sales is by using EstateSales.net. They send emails and I just look through to see what’s going on, and if something interests me, I go to the sale. It’s as simple as that and I don’t have to fuss with getting a newspaper and trying to remember the best day to get the paper, etc. Try it out for yourself!

Hanging art on your wall can be easy or a source of a whole lot of drama. You know how it goes, "The left side needs to be higher. No, MY left. Now the right side needs to be higher." Ugh.

I have a very easy method of hanging pictures on the wall. Essentially, you use lip gloss to mark the exact spot where you are going to hang the picture. This enables you to put the nails exactly where they need to be- no easy feat with some pictures.

When hanging your pictures, make sure the center of the picture is at eye level. This is the most common mistake novice decorators make when hanging art. I’ve made that mistake myself, it is quite easy to want to hang the pictures higher than they should be.

When hanging a group of pictures, think of them as one unit. This means the center of the grouping should be at eye level. Be careful grouping pictures that are different sizes, sometimes this works, usually it does not.

Think of your furniture size when picking pictures. For example, your picture should not be longer than your sofa. Additionally, you shouldn’t pick a tiny little picture to hang over your piano.

When you hang a picture that hangs from a wire, use painter’s tape to keep it from sliding all over the place. Just wrap the wire several times with painter’s tape, and hang.

Be creative! You don’t have to just hang your picture on the wall, you can lean them on a shelf or mantle, or hang pictures on a wire, like this.

Happy picture hanging!

While decorating it is sometimes unavoidable to have the odd accident every now and then. But what do you do if find that you have created a nasty looking stain on your carpet? Home Tips at Arca Max have some great ideas that should help out in this awful situation.

Obviously it would be easy to decorate without the carpet, but that is not always possible, and by even covering the carpet there are always little gaps and liquids would find a way through too.

Home Tips have some great suggestions, which include how to remove new stains that are still wet, and even how to lift off that dried in stain; this is probably the worst one to lift. They explain how to clean the areas without damaging the carpet itself, after all, who wants to spend time cleaning a carpet only to find that it has been ruined in the process?

Finding space in the kitchen for pots and pans is sometimes difficult if not impossible. But here is quick, easy and stylish way to get those pots and pans out of the way and onto their own rack.

Now this is no ordinary rack, as you can probably make out the rack is made from a discarded bicycle wheel, which can be bought from a second hand shop or maybe you have an old bike of your own, which makes this true recycling!

You will need a bolt that fits through the hub and some of those butchers type hooks to complete the project, in all the total cost should be around $15 to $20, which is a bargain.

Source  [Apartment Therapy]

Its probably not the top priorities of a student, but there always comes a time when the dorm just has to be tidied up even if it is just to allow them to get in and out everyday.

But being on a tight budget can be a problem, so here are a few starting points just to get the ball rolling so to speak.

Get a futon – These are made for dorms, space saving and modern in design, best of all they can be bought for less than $200 and that they double as sofa and so save space, great for sleepovers.

Wallpaper – Not just any old wallpaper, this wallpaper is draw on and peel off wallpaper, which you can personalize yourself, for $45 you can get a nice light shade from paperapartment.com you also get a maker pen to draw on the walls too, when you are finished, just peel off and then the dorm is back to how it started.

Reflect – Mirrors are great for making small spaces look larger, great if you can place them on opposite walls the room will look as if it goes on forever. Small mirrors can come in various shapes and sizes, but the great thing about them is that they can be self adhesive, which is good for just placing on the wall.

Wall covering – Does not have to be wallpaper as that can be just too permanent, so have a look at tapestries and small throws, these can be very reasonable in price and just simply hung on the wall. These will come in many different designs and colors.

Cushions – You do not need many of these to make an impact, four can make a dorm look homely and very comfortable, pick one design and match with some solid colors for great effect.

String lights – The standard dorm lighting system, with so many designs to choose from there is bound to be something that fits into your lifestyle, be it chilies to sport related lights.

Most of this can be done for a few hundred dollars, which includes the futon, but be aware to budget and account of the costings, it is all to easy to let it get out of control.

Source  [GW Hatchet]

Estimating the amount materials needed is essential when undertaking a large project. If you order too much you over spend and get left with unwanted materials and on the other hand, if do not order enough, then you will end up have to order more materials, if the retailer has a minimum order then you will end up with an excess of materials and wasted more of your budget.

To help you in this, I have put together some clever material estimators, with these all you need do is measure up the room space, including height etc, then enter these details into the calculators, within a second or two you will have the exact amount of material needed to complete the job.

Drywall – Just enter the dimensions into this calculator, and it will give you an estimate including the amount of fasteners, joint tape and joint compound is needed.

Fences – These come in all shapes and sizes, so it is essential to get this one right, otherwise it will cost.

Grass Seed – Grass seed needs to be spread evenly, so that there are no patches.

Paint – This calculator will tell you the amount of paint required for a specific sized room or wall, it will also tell you which brushes and rollers are needed.

Tiles – Enter in the details of your tile requirements and sizes of floors, walls etc, and you get the exact amount of tiles that are needed to finish the job.

Tile Pattern – Design your own tile pattern,

Wallpaper – A great way to cover walls and bring a new texture, but it is very easy to buy too many rolls of wallpaper, use this tool to calculate how many you will need.

Window – With windows, getting the right sizes can be very tricky, but with this tool, the will be m mistakes, and you can get more quotes over the phone, without the pushy sales people coming round.

While doing any decorating or home improvements is always possible, no matter how careful you are to make a mistake or maybe just a quick freshen up, but don’t panic because there may be an easy solution to cover up, your mishap even if it has to just a temporary measure.

Paint – Always the best and easiest way of making a room look clean and fresh, depending on the size of the room this can be done for a minimal amount of expense, as the walls of an averaged sized room can be completely covered with two to three liters or a gallon of paint, which if picked in a sale or an offer will cost way less than $50.

Fabrics – When you have had a sofa for a while it sometimes begins to look tired and worn in places, but replacing can run into hundreds of dollars, and can take a few weeks to be delivered, so by simply buying a new sofa, may not be the quick fix. An alternative would be the use of cushions and throws, these can either be matching or completely different to your current color scheme, but by doing this can be a really good way of giving your sofa a makeover without the cost of buying new.

Rugs – That bare patch or nasty looking stain will completely disappear underneath a rug, make sure that is a good size, i.e. not to big or small, this can be a very cost effective way of covering over any type of stain or marking on the floor.

Paint effects – If you have a wall that has markings like cracks or even mould patches, the simple technique of sponging or rag rolling can be used, and this will cover the markings in away that they will not be so apparent, therefore camouflaging the offending marks.

Source  [Home Decorating Sense]