Wednesday, March 12, 2008

How to Buy Wallpaper on a Budget

If you're buying wallpaper on a budget, the best way to save money is to properly measure and plan. Since a good quality wallpaper can be fairly expensive, you don't want to purchase and use more than you will truly need. This is even more important if your style of wall decor must be meticulously matched at specific points on a pattern (see point 8 below). Keep reading to learn how to buy wallpaper for your next project without wasting money.


1. Start by measuring the room that you plan to cover. Draw amap of the room and include each wall's height, width and length. Try your best to draw the map to scale so the sketch isrelatively proportionate to the actual structure of the roomitself.


2. On your map, sketch in any openings like windows and doors that won't be wallpapered. Write in the measurements for all these.


3. Then measure the wall spaces between openings. For example, measure the width of the wall from the corner to the edge of the window and then from the window to the closet door.


4. Once you're ready, use a simple online calculator to figure out how many rolls you need to buy. Lowe's has a simple wallpaper calculator on their web site that you can use to makeyour calculations. Alternately, you can take your measurements into the store and the clerk will do the calculations for you.


5. Before you buy, make sure that you're purchasing the rightnumber of rolls. Wallpaper is typically priced and measured insingle rolls, but often sold or manufactured in double or triplerolls.


6. Also check the width of the product. Typically, Europeanwallpaper is 20.5" wide and includes approximately 56 squarefeet of it on every roll. In contrast, American double rolls are27" wide and have about 70 square feet of paper.


7. When estimating the price, always ask the clerk if the priceis listed as a single roll or double roll. You don't want tomake a selection, then have to take it back once you find out itcosts twice as much as you anticipated. For example, theretailer may list theirs at $15 per single roll, but inactuality the double roll will cost you $30 at the cashregister.


8. Ask the store clerk if the product you're planning topurchase is "drop match" or "straight match." Typically, a dropmatch has to be matched up at specific points, meaning therewill be more leftover, unused pieces at the end of your project.Straight match, on the other hand, can be aligned with at anypoint with another piece of the same wallpaper.


9. Buy from a store with a liberal return policy that will letyou return any unused or unopened rolls. If you can, purchaseone or two extra rolls to make sure you have enough for yourproject. Afterward, you can return anything you don't use.


10. Check the run or dye lot number on every roll. You want this number to match, otherwise the coloring can be slightly, but notice ably different. Don't open any rolls until you've checked them all.


About the author:For information on practical interior design recommendations, please visit http://www.interior-creative-design.com

Thursday, March 6, 2008

ALL ABOUT INTERIOR DOORS

Your interior doors are very important, because they will dramatically improve the look and feel of your home. But it’s not always as simple asyou might think that it should be to find the perfect interior doors. There are many things that you must take into consideration, such as the size, style, the swing or the slide just to name a few.
Let’s take a look at some of the different styles of doorsthat you have to choose from - hinged doors, plain door ,recessed panel doors like 6 panel doors, glazed doors and thenthe type of wood and the stain color is going to also change the door style as well. There are hollow doors and solid wood doors.The prices for these types of doors are going to be drastically different, so you should be sure that you know what your budgetis before you go door shopping.
The first thing that you are going to need to do is know what style you are going to be going with - modern, country, contemporary or any other style. Once you know this you will beable to easily narrow down your selection of doors to choose from. There are some pretty amazing interior doors that you canchoose from. So just take your time browsing through all of your selections until you find the interior door that is going to bethe perfect match for your home.
The door itself is not the only important part creating awonderful looking interior design. Door hardware is going tohelp you to achieve an overall complete look and feel of the room.
There are many door hardware companies that are available for you to browse through at your leisure. You are going to be amazed at the many choices that you are going to be faced with when you are lookingfor door hinges or door handles and the many other door hardware that you are going to want and need. Take your time looking atthe many different online door hardware companies. There is noreason why you will not be able to find the perfect items at the perfect price.
Author: Suzanne Lamoutte

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