bit.ly ► Nadia's tips on choosing the right kitchen paint colors: ○ Picking Colors and Materials - Go with warm tones that compliment your cabinets - Get color inspiration from the foods you regularly leave on display - Consider wallpaper - Get funky with chalkboard paint ○ Getting Creative - Paint your ceiling - Paint your wood or concrete floors - Get a professional cabinet painter - Create a pattern with stenciling ○ Using the Right Paint Type - Use a semi-gloss finish for easy clean-up - Go green with environmental friendly paints for little to no smell More Tips: ○ Deciding on a color scheme First, decide on the tone you're going for, cool or warm. If you're keeping your cabinets as they are, this may dictate your direction. For instance, warm wood tones go really great with blue and green colors, but if you have dark brown, black, or white kitchen cabinets you can go with any paint scheme. Be sure to keep in mind the color of your kitchen tile and your flooring. You wouldn't want a paint color for your kitchen walls that clashes. ○ Visualize your kitchen color scheme ideas with 3D design software If you are painting the walls, a home and kitchen design program such as Homestyler can save you a lot of time and money. You can create 3D designs of your kitchen and experiment with everything, including paint colors, so you can play with swatches in the program before you buy samples of paint. You can even look up a specific color from the paint manufacturer's ...
Derivan Blackboard Paint is a fantastic, non-toxic, water-based paint that can be used for a myriad of handy applications around your home or workplace.
Are you bored with your kitchen? You don't need to spend thousands of dollars to give it a little face lift. Just follow these tips and you'll make big changes on a little budget.
Need a colorful window treatment? Simply purchase an inexpensive basswood shade and paint it in a bright color. You can use a partially dry brush and paint randomly for an aged look.
Paint your walls a bright, sunny yellow and randomly paint over a few areas with a deeper yellow, a dark peach, and terra cotta. Mix the paints with a glazing liquid and wipe each coat with a wet cloth before the paint dries.
Paint your old cabinets with a few layers of paint using a dry brush. You can purchase pin stripe tape for automobiles and apply it just under the molding for an attractive accent.
Using a fabric panel with hook-and-loop fastening tape to create skirting around your under-counter areas. You can cover aging appliances such as dishwashers and worn cabinets with a colorful new curtain that hangs from underneath the edge of your counter tops.
Use your mismatched dishes and cups to decorate a stylish shelf hanging on your kitchen wall. Brightly colored dishes and hanging teacups make cute decorations.
Use your treasured family photos to decorate a shelf or nooks. You can use cheap picture frames and a cute shelf as an expression of your home and your life.
If your counter tops are not what they once were, remove the old surface and replace it with colorful, mismatched tiles you can purchase for next to nothing at a discount home store. If your counter tops are uneven, use a piece of plywood to even out the surface before you put down the tiles.
If your refrigerator has seen its better days, have a local supplier cut chalkboard to fit the front and glue it directly to the surface of your refrigerator. Use pine boards to make a border and you will have your own personal note center right on your refrigerator.
Decorating your kitchen need not be expensive. With a little imagination and a little work you can turn even the most boring kitchen into a work of art. Colorful curtains and paint will make a huge difference in any kitchen. No matter how small or dark the space may be.
Creativity can be fun and I have seen many housewives and stay-at-home moms turning into great businesswomen through their talent and art. If you either wish to open up your business of handicrafts or you like decorating your house with your own hand-made things, then I have some brilliant ideas to help you with it. In this article, I will show you how to make table runners and kitchen chalkboards at home so let's begin with it.
Wedding Table Runners
Wedding is a special occasion so if there is a wedding coming up in your close relations or if you are getting married, this could be a perfect gift which you or the bride can even use it in future as a regular table runner. A table runner enhances the beauty of your dining table and at the same time also reflects your elegant taste and choice. Following are the instruction to help you make them at home:
Materials you will need: A silk cloth, silk flowers, threads and thin foam.
Instructions: Cut the thin foam in shape of the runner; this will be rectangular and the length depends on the length of your table while the width should be around 8 inches. After the foam is cut, put is aside for a while. Take the silk cloth and cut that with the same measurements as your foam. Then insert the foam into the cover and stitch it from the opened side. Your silk flowers should be stitched at both the ends with neatness and your table runner is ready!
Kitchen Chalkboard
Available in craft stores, a pine chalkboard needs only a quick coat of paint and some decorative sponge printing to become an appealing and useful gift or decoration item.
Materials you need: Pine chalkboard; paints on straw and antique green; foam brush; kitchen sponge; palette.
Instructions: Paint frame of chalkboard with straw, allow to dry. Make a square heart on neat paper; then trace these and cut out shapes in kitchen sponge. Dampen sponge with water, wring out. Dip square sponge into antique green paint, damp into palette to remove excess paint. Starting from the center of the each side of frame and working towards the corners, print around frame edge. Print heart shape at the top of the frame.
For most homeowners, the kitchen is an all-purpose gathering room where good food is shared among good friends and loved ones. It may also be the locale where homework gets completed, craft projects are undertaken, and morning daydreams infiltrate the mind. Homeowners who enjoy multipurpose use out of their kitchens are most likely to want that room to be both an inviting and creativity-inspiring one.
With their emphasis on sharing so much free time together, "Family Fun" magazine readers often fall into that homeowner category. It's no wonder then that the publication recently ran an article titled "Nurturing Creativity: Strategies for turning a home into a creative haven." Therein, the article's author covered such creativity-inspiring ideas as creating with your junk, posting an idea list, making the most of your space, showcasing your work, having an ongoing project, joining in the fun, putting up prominent canvases, making room for music and giving art a second life.
Some of the families interviewed for the article came up with ingenious ways to infuse creativity throughout their kitchens. In particular, "the West family of Kissimmee, Fla., painted their kitchen cabinets with chalkboardpaint so their kids can draw and play games while Mom and Dad cook." The chalkboard surface "is a place for reminders, quotes and drawings" and it's also a breeze to clean up. "A pail of water and a sponge are all it takes to wipe the [surface] clean and start again."
The sky's the limit when it comes to designing a creative kitchen, but a leading manufacturer of kitchen cabinets can provide you with the best selection of wood door styles, finishes, and decorative cabinet hardware to become artistic master of your domain. Chalkboard finishes are ideal for artsy kids, but adults can have just as much fun in the kitchen if their cabinets reflect their artistic leanings.
Wood kitchen cabinet finishes like honey spice, caramel, toffee, praline, and butter rum and ginger glazes lend that inviting coffee shop or corner bakery appeal to your kitchen, thereby creating the perfect inspirational ambience for the morning coffee drinker or budding baker in the family. Peppercorn, chocolate glaze, cabarnet, and oatmeal and malt glazes are kitchen cabinet finishes that sound good enough to eat. And they look that way too, meaning the amateur chef in the house will draw plenty of cooking inspiration from them.
Art lovers, painters, and color seekers too will enjoy the variety of finishes a leading kitchen cabinet manufacturer will afford them. Onyx, garnet, moss, pewter, kaffe, bisque and ivory are just some of the gorgeous hues they can wake up to every day to encourage their creative sparks.
Young or old, creativity can take place anytime, anywhere. When planning a home makeover, why not start with the kitchen cabinets? They serve as the room's focal point and they afford you the most opportunity to let your personal style shine. After all, who couldn't use a little more inspiration in their life?
If you need to focus your energies on redecorating your kitchen, you may not know where to start. You know it needs a fresh coat of paint, but what do you do with all of your decorative items and mismatched plates that you have accumulated over the years? Many times, the best way to decorate a kitchen is to center it on a particular theme. Having a theme that you enjoy will help you find items you can use in your kitchen and make your decorating job easier. Here are some excellent ideas for choosing the top themes for a kitchen.
Country Theme:
One of the most popular theme when it comes to decorating a kitchen is a country theme. Many people choose this design for everything in their kitchen, including the cabinet design. You can choose everything from apples to roosters. Roosters are quite popular these days when used in decorating and you will find many items that will match as you shop. Consider using your favorite country theme, too. Mix and match old signs, or use a barn theme. When you enjoy the look of country, the kitchen is a perfect place to put the things that you love the most for a glorious look.
Wine Country Kitchen:
Another top kitchen theme that is used in many homes today is the wine country. Using bottles of wine, artificial grapes and grapevines are all popular looks. In fact, you can even find wallpaper and wallpaper border that matches this theme. If you love using a wine theme, then consider hanging a nice wine glass rack from your ceiling and adding beautiful and colorful wine glasses. Save your corks from opened bottles of wine and add them to a pretty crystal bowl. You can even add a corkboard or chalkboard to your wall and write down a list of your favorite bottles of wine. This will give you a unique look using this popular them.
Contemporary Theme:
You can use contemporary decorations for another popular look in your kitchen. Think about dark colored cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, textured walls and bright, abstract art prints. Add in bright colored pottery and you have the recipe for a great kitchen theme. You can easily add to this look and change it as you see fit.
As you can see, when you center your kitchen decorating around a theme, you will have an easier time picking out things that will match in your kitchen. It is easy to find items and colors when you have a specific idea in
