Decorating Guides

DIY Storage Shelves for a Room Divider

Well-positioned shelving can double as a space divider, enhancing design flaws and increasing storage requirements. Explore DIY notions using poles, windows, ladders or novels as the starting point for half-wall or full-height layouts. Safety is optimal; build a tall divider only if you’re able to properly secure it to joists or even a neighboring wall to keep it from toppling.

Boxed in

Wood crates, particularly vintage crates, such as old apple poles, come with glowing charisma and hardy storage possibilities. Stack same-size boxes on their sides, lengthwise, offsetting them brick-style for equilibrium and a stepped or zigzag effect. Face another one backward for two-sided use. For security, only stack them to half-wall height. A half-wall divider is ideal for entryway separation, shoe storage and light flow in an open-concept dwelling. If you intend to generate a tall divider, fasten the crates with wood screws, and affix the unit to your wall fireplace using brackets. For a modern effect, build the divider from white or bright-colored plastic crates.

Rung Out

When an older stepladder can no longer be trusted because of its intended use, upcycle it like a room-divider shelf. Lay weathered planks across each teeming and its opposite back rail as glowing shelving; seal the entire unit for bug-free storage. Keep any heavy items on the bottom; an attached pail shelf at the top is a bonus and handy for lightweight storage. Line up two or three ladders to fill in a wide span. Bushy hanging plants fill V-shaped voids in between, if you position the ladders feet, as opposed to side by side. An alternative is to make a vertical row of three or three standard or single ladders a foot or so apart as multilevel pot-hanger-style shelving, again securing the top ladder to joists using chains.

Stacked Up

Bookshelves are common room pillars, but shelves made of books — perhaps not so much. It’s simple: Utilize wide, matching height — 1-foot or-so — hardcover or magazine stacks to hold the end of each shelving panel. The panels must carefully match the books’ width, and the unit must not stand overly high –, half-wall height or so — to get security. This job provides a way to set a vintage, dust-collecting novel or magazine collection to use, while showcasing it at an unusually creative manner. Form the notion of more stature on a short divider by organizing tall, lightweight silk plants or vases of divisions or dried ornamental grasses on the top shelf.

Ceiling, Down

Turn a few antique wood-framed windows to your light-filtering space divider. Etched glass or frosted movie offer solitude. String the windows with floor joists to ceiling joists, using eyehooks and chain; find solid joists using a fireplace. Cut a narrow plywood shelf to position lengthwise between the chains, perpendicularly below each window, securing it using wood glue and screws. Paint the window-ledge-like shelves to complement the window frames, and use them to get lightweight storage. A hanging window divider is a focus on its own, but one created from framed stained-glass amplifies the artful effect.

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Decorating Guides

How to Glaze Using a Gel Stain

When you cemented a stained finish, it offers a way to deepen the colour, alter it or include antiquing consequences. You can use glazing chemical and include your seeds or you can do what many woodworkers use and do use gel stain instead. As a penetrating pigment stain like liquid stain, gel stain’s thick consistency makes it an excellent double for a glazing compound. The secret to beautiful glazing is appropriate preparation of the wood.

Gel Stain Enhancements

Gel stains don’t penetrate unfinished wood as deeply as liquid stains, which makes them more suitable for staining wood with knots and other grain irregularities. When you apply a gel stain to unfinished hardwood, you wipe it on with a cloth or sponge, make it time to sink, wipe the gel off with another cloth, leaving only a layer of coloured wood. The process is the same once you use gel stain as a glaze, however, the distinction is that the wood already includes a finish, and it may already be stained.

Glaze Planning

Before you apply a gel stain, it’s important to seal the wood with a finish; staining the wood seals it into your level, but it also ought to have a picture finish. A coat of lacquer sanding sealer or shellac is perfect, but you might also glaze over a coat of water-based acrylic or polyurethane. To prepare the wood for glazing, apply the stain, then allow it to dry for one to two hours, then apply one coat of finish. Sand the end with 220-grit sandpaper once it dries. This provides the smooth substrate that you require for glazing.

The Stain Color

If you want your glaze to provide color overtones and shading, you must use one that’s either the same colour as the wood stain or one that’s darker. You can also alter the hue of the base color by utilizing an appropriate gel stain. As an instance, utilizing a Cabinet gel stain to glaze over a pine cabinet stained with a golden oak stain gives the cabinet a reddish tinge, and that will make it even more at home in a room with a sunset motif featuring terra-cotta colours and indirect light. Another strategy is to add frosting by glazing with a white or light gray gel stain.

Stain Application and Protection

Because the wood already includes a finish, you don’t have to take care when applying a gel-stain glaze. Wipe the gel over the surface you’re glazing at a circular movement, and if you’re aiming for shading effects, perform it into corners and crevices around trim along with other capabilities. The sum you wipe off with another cloth controls the shading as well as the tone of this finial finish. Always wipe with the wood grain and avoid leaving streaks. Give the stain eight hours or more to dry before protecting it with a coat of the finish of your choice.

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Decorating Guides

What Color Walls Move With Teal & Brown?

The wall color in a space with teal and brown pendant can turn this land-and-sea duo to a scheme that is vividly pronounced or gently reserved — it is up to you. Choose the walls’ color by matching your style preferences to the room’s function, whether it is a space for sleeping, socializing, sauteing or imprisoned.

A Bright Kitchen

A kitchen in snappy colors kick-starts your culinary adventures and revs your own appetite. Use a high-contrast wall color as the catalyst for this kind of daring design. On the color wheel, across from cool blue-green sit warm pink, red and coral hues. Select from these warm shades to fit your preference, but keep your choice in accord with this teal’s balance degree — vivid pink with bright teal, like. For balance, the wall color should not overshadow or look washed-out by blue-green dishware, tea towels and canisters. Espresso, walnut or mid-brown pine cabinets or furniture help to stabilize or anchor the room’s sass.

Coolness in the Bedroom

It’s no secret that cool colors relax the senses, making them suitable in the bedroom. Cocoon the room with light blue or light green walls for a small contrast behind pale teal components, using textured fabric or paint wallpaper. Varied textures keep a cool-colored space from appearing flat or stark. A pale-brown rug warms your toes and enhances walls, teal-on-white bedding, a white bedside table topped with a classic teal-tinged mason jar of baby’s breath sprigs, along with other white and soft-teal accents throughout. Lush, lined, velour drapes in light brown tie into the ground and prevent daylight on day-off mornings.

The Social Setting

Should you believe brownish a dated shade, then introduce it to grey. Silvery-gray walls behind overstuffed brown furniture is an uncommon but tempering mixture. A greige (gray-beige) rug with a brown and gray pattern makes sense of this color pairing. Contemporary teal cushions, watery-colored stained-glass art and teal-colored hydrangeas jump out from their neutral-colored environment. Bright yellow curtains and a couple of sunny-yellow touches spike the space with much more modernity.

Welcome With Color

The entryway gives guests their first glimpse of your house, therefore make a welcoming impression by keeping it tidy and airily coloured. Pure white walls, though bright, can be too stark, but tinged with buttery yellow, they offset a brownish coat rack, wood flooring, teal-tinged sheers and an antique or distressed teal-painted dresser and attached mirror — yes, you can use dressers in rooms aside from bedrooms. It’s not about your visitors, however; a good-looking entrance welcomes you, too, every time you return home.

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Budgeting Your Project

The Way to Get Prequalified for a Mortgage

Prequalifying for a mortgage does not mean you will automatically be entitled to a loan, but it can get your home hunt began on the ideal foot. When you prequalify for a mortgage, then you take a list of your own income, debts and assets and send them to your prospective creditors. This gives creditors the information they want to evaluate your program before you have a deadline and gives you an notion of what price range you can afford. It also shows lenders you are financially responsible enough to assess your finances before shopping for a home and may speed things along when you make an application for real.

Visit your lender branch or site and ask for a prequalification form. For instance, Bank of America’s site provides an internet prequalification form it asserts it is possible to fill out in under 10 minutes.

Fill in the shape. Prequalification types vary, but creditors will often ask for your address, purpose of your loan, purchase time period, amount you plan to borrow and the type of property you need to purchase. You will also need to offer a history of your employment and evidence of income.

Authorize your lender to perform a credit rating. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires creditors to ask customers to provide a credit report authorization and release before running a credit rating.

File your application. Online applications may get a response in minutes. Other programs may take weeks or days to get a response.

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Budgeting Your Project

How Can I Bid on a Foreclosed House?

When a homeowner can’t make his mortgage payment, then the lender could take the home back, a process called foreclosure. The house is then put on the market, sometimes at a cost substantially lower than market value. This makes foreclosed houses attractive to both consumers and investors looking for a bargain. Although there may be more competition and there are no warranties that the house is free of defects, the procedure for bidding on a foreclosure isn’t terribly different from that of purchasing any other home.

Find a lender and apply for a mortgage, unless you will be paying money for your home. Your creditor will advise you as to what documents you want to present to your underwriter. These typically include copies of tax returns, bank statements, pay stubs and also a list of your debts and the amount paid on them every month.

Hire a realtor. Most lenders will only entertain bids presented by accredited real estate agents. Consult your lender for a referral to someone she has worked with and urges.

Decide on a foreclosure home you want to buy and have your property agent compose the bidding. If the house is fresh to the sector and appears to be a fantastic bargain, bear in mind that you may be competing with investors, therefore make your best and highest offer and allow it to be subject to performing an inspection of the state of the house. If the house has been sitting on the market for a while, it’s either overpriced or there are significant defects. A lower offer would be appropriate under these conditions.

Prepare yourself to cover an earnest money deposit to follow your purchase agreement. The amount of the deposit varies by area, and your realtor can advise you on this. Some lenders just provide you a few days until you will be required to forfeit the deposit should you not obtain the house, so make sure you schedule all inspections immediately.

Hire a licensed contractor or home inspector. If the house has been on the market for more than a month, then have the review done before you place the offer. Most foreclosed houses are sold within an as-is condition, and the bank will not cover any repairs. It is a great idea to know the area of any work that should be done so you can cost your offer so.

Request that your broker submit your bid and wait word from your bank as to whether it’s accepted.

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Budgeting Your Project

What Will Boost Home Equity?

One of the primary advantages of owning a home is the chance to construct equity. Equity is the portion of house which the owner has already paid off, or the gap between the property’s value and the owner’s overall debt into the mortgage lender. On the path to 100 percent equity, in which the homeowner owns the house , building equity may be a large advantage in handling personal finances and profiting from a home sale.

Reasons

Homeowners have plenty of reasons. More home equity means the chance to borrow more money with a second mortgage in the form of a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit. These loans offer money for funding home improvements, paying medical bills, funding a child’s education or buying consumer products like a new car, boat or RV. Home equity allows the owner put that money toward a house or retirement savings and to gain more from selling the home.

Down Payment

Upon buying a house, the first down payment that a mortgage borrower earns is the very first step toward building equity. A typical 20 percent down payment gives the borrower just 20 percent home equity, which is measured as 20 percent of the house’s fair market value. A larger down payment means more equity, and may also reduce monthly mortgage obligations.

Mortgage Payments

Each mortgage payment that a homeowner earns includes a portion of the principal of their loan and interest that accrues every month. The primary part goes toward building equity equity, and with every passing month the homeowner has slightly more equity. Making double payments may speed up the process and cause more equity faster. Homeowners who have an interest-only mortgage lose the chance to construct equity, since they briefly only pay interest in order to maintain payments at an affordable level.

Home Improvements

Anything that increases the value of a house also increases the owner’s equity. This is home improvements could be such investment. Homeowners who invest in regular maintenance, together with other jobs like improvements and renovations, are helping to boost their equity while at the same time making the home a more enjoyable place to call home. Landscaping, new fittings and adding energy-efficient appliances boost home values and increase the owner’s equity.

The Real Estate Market

Finally, the real estate market itself may cause large changes in home equity. The supply of homes on the market and the demand from home buyers may drive home worth up or push them down. When mortgage rates are low, more buyers may be in the current market, which may lead to home values to rise and current owners to gain equity. Improvements in a neighborhood or area that make it a much more appealing place to live could have the exact same effect on a local level.

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Eclectic Homes

Historical Rate of Mortgage Foreclosures

1 significant gauge of the housing market is that the foreclosure rate: the number of homes at foreclosure expressed as a proportion of the entire stock of privately owned houses. This speed is often quoted in economical reports to show the condition of the housing market and the general U.S. market. The more complicated the foreclosure rate, the more serious an economic recession, if one exists. However, researchers should approach historic comparisons with caution.

History

Foreclosure rates of the late 2000s are often compared with people of the Great Depression, that happened during the first half of the 1930s. But, there were not any public or private agencies keeping tabs on foreclosure prices at that moment. Indeed, the government still does not keep an official statistic on the number of homes at foreclosure or repossessed by lenders and banks. Rather, the generally accepted amounts on foreclosures are retained by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Current Foreclosure Information

The MBA, a national association that represents the mortgage banking industry, has monitored foreclosures since 1990. Current information on foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies are seen at the agency’s Web page,”Economic Outlook and Forecasts.” A wealth of research, predictions and remarks are found through the hyperlinks provided on this page.

Depression-Era Information

A 2008 post by David C. Wheelock, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, mentioned yearly reports issued by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board throughout the 1930s. These reports reveal the foreclosure rate exceeded 1 percent from 1931 until 1935. In the bottom point in the Depression-era economic crisis, in 1933, about 1,000 home loans were being placed in foreclosure by banks every day.

Trends

Another important source of foreclosure data is RealtyTrac, a prominent California-based organization that reports present amounts. The data cited comprises the monthly number of new foreclosures, the monthly number of foreclosures offered and the average selling price of foreclosures. The present statistics are contrasted with those of the last month, or using the same month in the last year, to establish the tendency.

Default Rate

Another measure of the health of the home market is that the speed of loans in default. Such loans are 90 days in arrears, but the houses they secure are not yet in foreclosure. As mentioned by Wheelock, a poll by the Department of Commerce found that 43.8 percent of houses in 22 urban areas were at default. For houses with a second or third mortgage, that this rate had reached 54.5 percent. In contrast, the default speeds throughout the subprime crisis of the early 21st century reached a peak of around 3.6 percent of all residential mortgages.

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Budgeting Your Project

FHA Seasoning Guidelines

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) seasoning guidelines pertain to the buying and selling of homes. The best example is a house that is bought by an investor and then sold to someone who is using an FHA-insured mortgage to purchase it. Seasoning itself is the waiting interval between the time when the house was purchased and when it might be offered to a buyer using an FHA-insured mortgage. Furthermore, private lenders might also have their own seasoning requirements.

Significance

FHA seasoning guidelines were put in place to help buyers buying a house that’s been”flipped” by an investor. Flipping is the procedure of buying a house and then quickly turning it about for resale at a higher price. Specific guidelines which regulate flipped houses and if they can be offered to buyers using FHA-insured mortgages are located in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 24, subsection 203.37per month (b)(2).

Time Frame

FHA seasoning rules try to prevent abuse of the flipping process, mostly by shareholders. Specifically, they require that a house needs to be owned at least 90 days before it can be sold to someone using an FHA-insured mortgage. Exemptions, of course, also exist. For example, real-estate owned (REO, or bank-owned) or foreclosed properties being marketed do not have to fulfill seasoning guidelines. Almost all other houses, however, are subject to the 90-day waiting interval.

Effects

Many investors believe that their actions are unfairly punished by FHA seasoning requirements. Certainly, a couple of bad apple investors have a tendency to spoil the game for everyone. Before, they’ve taken advantage of over-eager buyers employing FHA-insured mortgages. For instance, some have been put into houses that had inflated evaluations and weren’t worth what they offered for. Requiring a 90 day time interval between purchase by one buyer and sale to another is believed to help lessen such activities.

Factors

With housing markets across the country more volatile than the FHA has introduced waivers to the seasoning procedure. In reality, the 90-day requirement was suspended, as of summer 2010, in an attempt to reduce the amount of houses sitting unsold on the market. This is only for 2010, although the FHA guarantees to inspect the market and decide whether to expand the suspension for future years. REO and foreclosed properties will continue to be exempt, however.

Warning

Waivers of the seasoning requirement have to be justified if the house sells for 20 percent more than its acquisition price. In this aspect, the FHA will require that the lender making the FHA-insured loan supply evidence behind the price growth. This might be in the form of repair bills and the like. The lender has to pay for an FHA-specific property review and supply it to the buyer prior to the closing.

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Budgeting Your Project

FHA & PMI Rules

It’s easy to become confused by Federal Housing Authority (FHA) insurance requirements concerning Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). An FHA loan is in fact just a conventional mortgage loan guaranteed by the FHA, which is a federal agency operating under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Interestingly, though, although the FHA provides insurance to the mortgage creditor, the FHA also requires borrowers to purchase PMI.

FHA Insurance

To clear up the confusion, the FHA does not actually require borrowers to purchase PMI from a traditional, personal PMI company. Instead, the PMI a borrower pays actually goes directly to the FHA. The FHA is your insurance company. Sothe PMI payments you make actually cover your FHA insurance on your loan. In exchange for your PMI payments, the FHA guarantees to lenders when the lender forecloses, then the FHA will purchase the house for the complete value of the mortgage loan. The FHA requires PMI payments for as long as you’ve got less than 20% equity in your property. Since many FHA borrowers only supply the minimal 3.5 percent down payment, most borrowers should pay PMI.

Closing Prices

The FHA requires two kinds of PMI premium payments. The first is that a sizable premium payment that the borrower must pay at the time of closing on the mortgage loan. Before 2010 the FHA required an initial PMI payment equivalent to 1.75% of the whole loan amount. However, as of 2010 the FHA increased that initial payment to 2.25 percent of the entire loan amount. However, borrowers who take part in a FHA-approved”HELP–Homebuyer Education Learning Program” can qualify for the elderly 1.75 percent premium payment.

Monthly Premiums

The second type of PMI premium payment required by the FHA is monthly PMI premium payments for as long as the borrower has less than 20% equity in the house. If your house has increased in value as closing, then you may have a current appraisal performed to prove that you now have 20% in the house. Until that happens, the FHA requires monthly payments equivalent to 1/12 of 0.5 percent of the entire loan amount.

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Eclectic Homes

Guest Picks: 20 Color-Happy Dining and Kitchen Accessories

With the arrival of summer, I feel like my kitchen needs a jolt of color to bring it back into life and prepare for a period of parties, barbecues and warm, lazy evenings spent sipping cocktails. These neon accessories will make your kitchen enjoyable to work in, although not just more pretty. From handy accessories like silicone spatulas and dishwashing brushes to warm towels beautiful enough to be hung on the wall, those finds help brighten up your own tables both inside and out! — Marie out of Food Nouveau

Rice

Melamine Bowls With Plastic Lid, Neon Mix – EUR 46.30

Every kitchen needs a colorful set of mixing bowls. This durable melamine set comes with convenient covers so you can mix and store in just 1 bowl. Perfect for potlucks!

Etsy

Latticework Tea Towel from Avril Loreti

Avril Loreti is among my preferred textile designers, and I think this new Latticework tea towel is absolutely stunning. It is so gorgeous that I would probably hang it on a wall rather than using it to wash dishes.

Rice

Wood Brush – EUR 3

Washing the dishes can be a chore when you use fun tools like colorful gloves or those glowing wooden brushes.

Etsy

Wooden Salad Bowl Set by Willow & Wind Home of 5, Neon Pink – $169

A fantastic gift for new, youthful and stylish homeowners, this neon-dipped wooden salad bowl set is anything but dull. Not merely are the bowls good to check at, but they’re clever too: The colored part is made of soft, rubbery plastic that is non-slip and durable.

bambeco

Chelsea Bent Tray With Handles – $37

This contemporary and sleek tray consists of 100 percent recycled wood and features comfortable handles to make carrying food or drinks easy. It will add a healthy splash of color anywhere you take it.

Pomme

Wooden Cake Forks – $11

These disposable wooden celebration forks are so adorable. I feel like I’d want to wash and reuse them again and again.

Anthropologie

Ripe Kumquat Pitcher – $268

This striking handblown glass pitcher is sprinkled with a rain of bright, citrusy granules that gives it texture and color.

Rice

Melamine Salad Spoon, STAR Colors – EUR 4.80

These colorful spoons would be spectacular for serving cocktail snacks on a hot summer evening.

Bouf

Oven Gloves, Gray Jouy – $34.70

These oven gloves are made with a chic Parisian brand that enjoys to introduce fashion from the kitchen. I believe the juxtaposition of this Toile de Jouy layout along with the neon pink iconic chick is absolutely irresistible.

Terrain

Watercolor Flora Tea Towel – $28

Inspired by the patterns found in an original painting, this neon representation of inky blooms would be right at home in any contemporary or modern kitchen.

Bouf

Triangular Mug Set – $30.99

I am an avid mug collector, and such cups adorned with a multicolor triangular routine have just caught my attention.

Bouf

Pink and 24-Karat Gold Shot Glass – GBP 17.95

Can a more glamorous shot glass exist? These stunning neon pink and gold eyeglasses will perfectly grace the most trendy tables — and also be good conversation starters!

Huset

Rice dk Colored Silicone Spatulas – $17

I am in love with those glowing silicone spatulas in various shapes and sizes. I want to collect all of them.

Pigeon Toe

Scribble Tumbler – $36

These tasteful ceramic tumblers can be personalized: You opt for the color of the inside glaze from 16 lovely and vivid colors.

Bouf

Il Sacchino F Essent-ial Sack – $25.18

Neon paint dripping all over your lunch bag? I believe that this is a superb pattern idea. The machine-washable newspaper and cellulose bags are extremely versatile and can be employed to save bread, wrap presents, etc..

Huset

Darling Clementine Owl Tray – $26.50

This tray features an illustration by a duo of Norwegian designers. I love the unexpected mixture of neutral black and charcoal grey with red and fuchsia, which include just the correct pop of color.

Lisa Stickley

Pinny, Pink Marigold Apron – GBP 15

This apron is female with just the ideal dose of polka dots and blue pink.

Huset

Rice dk Melamine Cup – $7.50

These joyful melamine tumblers are fantastic for children, but fun for adults too! They’re the perfect addition to a summery place setting.

Huset

Marimekko Noitarumpu Bowl – $17

It is no secret that Marimekko excels in creating colorful patterns. This bold purple, red and fuchsia pattern has been inspired by an old Russian folk tale.

Bouf

Trio of Wooden Breakfast Trays – $92.96

This trio of laminated wooden trays features abstract prints that pack a punch. Made in Sweden from sustainable birch wood, they’re perfect for carrying your breakfast or utilizing as unusual serving dishes.

Next: Patios Look on the (Truly) Intelligent Side With Neon

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