Free Home Design

Many home design styles have evolved over the years and some are more popular than others. Keep-in-mind that design styles can also be trendy styles. This means that any particular trend can become obsolete in a short period of time. Consider this when choosing styles. Do you want to go out and purchase new styles when the old ones fade? Be sure you really like a particular style before purchasing.

Of course; many people like the home design styles for their look and feeling it gives a room. So, what design style should you choose when decorating your home?

That depends upon your own personal preferences. What do you like when choosing decorating items? Do you like painted furniture, American flags, soft and cozy? There are design styles which will fit your type of home. Look around and see what items you already have displayed.

If you are just starting out, it would be a good idea to go on-line or visit the library to see all the design styles available. Of course, your furniture choices could help with that decision.

Are your furnishings modern, traditional, contemporary or tropical? If so, then you are already tuned into a specific design style. Some styles fit specific regions of the U.S. Coastal areas use the nautical themes while those in the mountains and higher elevations prefer the ‘lodge’ themes.

Landscape Home Design

Home landscape design matters. A study commissioned by the Professional Landcare Network states it in financial terms: Homes that have been professionally landscaped bring 15-20 percent more upon resale than those with no home landscape design. From an aesthetic viewpoint, it delivers pleasure. “The importance of home landscape design is that it creates an experience and evokes emotion as you come up to the house,” says Jeff Halper, home landscape design specialist with Exterior Worlds. “Additionally, it supports and enhances the architecture of the home.”

Home Landscape Design: The Steps

• Planning. This phase is where you get to dream. While you dream, you want to factor in how you and your family live in the space. Will your landscape design fit your needs, whether that means a pool for the kids, an herb garden or seating space for lots of guests? Would you like a outdoor kitchen for entertaining or the visual and auditory pleasures of an outdoor water fountain? What qualities do you want to bring to your landscape—do you prefer lots of color, variations on one color theme or the more subtle effect of different textures of green? Perhaps you own an outdoor sculpture that you want to spotlight or have a garden type in mind, such as a Mediterranean landscape design or an English garden design. Professionals, such as landscape designers and landscape architects, can help you make the best decisions.

• Budget. During this phase, the scope of the work is defined, including phasing in the different landscape elements. Cost factors include the hardscapes items like patios or decks; surfaces (cement, stone, brick) and walkways; fences, gates and arbors; outdoor kitchens; luxury swimming pools and other water features. Also landscape lighting; irrigation systems and landscape drainage systems; and types of grass, shrubs, trees, perennials and seasonal color.

Home Design Suite

We are now in a highly advanced world. And in our technological advancement, we can see a lot of enhancements to some tools and materials such as furniture. With furniture, we can see a lot of various styles that would fit the corner of our home. There are many designs that would fit the taste of every customer. Although some people would choose a specific set of furniture that would go along with their house, some would still choose furnishing that would be safe enough to blend with the surroundings for it will take time for them to choose the perfect one. A lot of factors would fall into place in choosing the right furnishings for the home. It is not just necessary to choose the right color, style, texture in buying furnishings. You would also consider its durability, practicality, and primarily, comfort.

It is a fact that every comfort comes with different market to be catered. And when we talk about durability, leather would always get in the way. In addition to that, there is also something special about leather. Leather as most of the fashion world use, brings much elegance class and a distinctive style. It also goes with age, so it gives you a feeling of being economical; it just gets even better as time passes by.

It always suits any given home design. From modern houses and apartment building will always look good with warm colors. With leather suites, anyone can find it very comfortable to relax with its ample seating space. And as with home furnishings, it can be less comfortable and durable if it uses low quality materials. But with leather, its durability is its essence. If you find buying leather suites expensive or too posh, try other types of leather that has already lowered its price. Leather has already come in different finishes and kind so you need not to worry about the quality.

Design Your Home

How to get your vision across to your team of designers, architects and engineers can be a challenge without a proper layout. Now it’s no longer a problem for those people who want to create a proper design for their home but lack the experience of an expert designer.

Easy home design programs are getting increasingly popular and make it simple for most of us to design homes that look stunning but most importantly take in to consideration individual needs and preferences.

The best thing about these programs is that some of them are extremely low cost or even free! Imagine not having to spend a single cent on designing your home with the aid of a simple PC.

A lot of these programs are freely available on the internet for anyone to download and are classified as freeware. Some of these programs give out demo versions for a limited amount of time and if you like the program you can invest a small amount of money buying them.

All in all the deals out there on the internet are amazing when it comes to such programs. When it comes to choosing software its best to review some of them and to decide on one that combines ease of use and superior quality graphics. Some these programs are so amazing that they even give you professional blue print type results in minutes.

Most home design programs have a very low learning curve and they can be easily used by even novice computer users. Of course, polishing up a few computer basics can be useful if you do not have any ideas about computers but overall the ease of use and simplicity that is built in to some of these packages makes sure that using them will not be that terribly difficult.

Online Home Design

It is possible to draw the most brilliant home designs with many home design programs available today. You no longer have to fiddle with pencils, paper and erases for hours at end. Visualization is the key when it comes to designing a home. Whether you have a new interior design bedroom idea, bathroom design idea, or any other interior designing idea to implement, this free home design software can help you achieve the home you want.

How to get your vision across to your team of designers, architects and engineers can be a challenge without a proper layout. Now it’s no longer a problem for those people who want to create a proper design for their home but lack the experience of an expert designer.

Easy home design programs are getting increasingly popular and make it simple for most of us to design homes that look stunning but most importantly take in to consideration individual needs and preferences.

The best thing about these programs is that some of them are extremely low cost or even free! Imagine not having to spend a single cent on designing your home with the aid of a simple PC.

A lot of these programs are freely available on the internet for anyone to download and are classified as freeware. Some of these programs give out demo versions for a limited amount of time and if you like the program you can invest a small amount of money buying them.

Architectural Home Design

If you are preparing to build a new home or remodel and existing one, remember the details make the difference. Some architectural plans are difficult to dismiss, wall height, lengths, roof pitch, and others. Other more minor details can sometimes be overlooked or changed. It is these small details that make the difference in how a home looks. These are the details that set the tone or mood for different rooms. Three examples of architectural detail that have a major effect on the finished product are metal ceilings, backsplash, and crown molding.

Metal ceilings have not been in use for very long. In fact, they first became popular around the beginning of the twentieth century. One attractive point of metal ceilings is the fire retardant properties they have. Many businesses have chosen metal ceilings for this reason. Another is durability. A metal ceiling will outlast almost any drywall or fiberboard ceiling. Metal ceilings do not require as much maintenance as other ceiling materials.

A tin backsplash used in the kitchen adds a touch of character that is missing when ceramic tiles are used. Tin can be formed and shaped to make a decorative fixture that provides protection from the wall and countertops from water. Ceramic tiles can be very pretty, but they are more prone to breakage in a kitchen area and are incredibly messy to install. A tin backsplash can be secured in place with a bead of a “liquid nails” type adhesive. The use of a backsplash also opens up more options for the material to be used in creating the counter tops and how they should be finished. This allows for far more choice of colors and styles when decorating a kitchen.

Home Design Furniture

Today shopping for furniture is getting harder and harder due to the lack of funds. We have to tighten the proverbial belt and choose wisely when buying. But; that is not so bad, Why? Because if we are tightening so are retailers. They are feeling the squeeze just like us and they want – perhaps need is the word to sell their products. As the products sit on the floor they loose money and can’t make room for newer shipments. This is definitely good for you – the shopper.

The most important thing to have before going shopping is a budget. This will keep you from overspending.

Many stores are having sales and this is the time to take advantage of these to purchase the furniture you need. Of course; don’t be foolish and go out and furnish your whole house (unless you really need to) since his is just the time for getting what you really need. Here are a few tips that may help:

1. If you have a tight budget splurge on a good sofa. This is where most people will be comfortable.

2. Leave room; when purchasing furniture or add more items later.

3. Put items in a room hat are personal and have stories in them to tell your guests.

4. Don’t buy a coffee table – be creative by using and old trunk or bench.

5. Don’t fill a large one with one giant seating area. Make several smaller ones for more intimate arrangements.

6. Antique pieces give a room personality…but don’t overdue.

7. Old furniture can be recovered or slip covered to update its look.

3D Home Design

Why do we choose particular colors for our home? It is because we either like them or have seen them in a magazine or someone's home. Most times it is because we have a favorite color deep in our mind and may not even be aware of it. But, some of us have trouble deciding on which colors we really want to use in our own home. So, what do you do?

Let's take it step-by-step:

1. Look around the room and see if there is a color you like in the items present.

2. Take the item (or a sample) to the paint store and choose some color samples that work with your item.

3. Tape the samples to the wall in the room you want to paint.

4. If you are happy with the sample you should only purchase a quart at this time. Why? It is hard to make a decision from a small paint sample. Or, ask the paint store if they can provide larger paint samples.

5. Paint a 5' x 5' square and live with it for a few days or more. Now you can place other items and fabrics near the color to see how they coordinate. Also, you can view the color during the day and at night when colors change due to the lighting.

6. If you're satisfied you can purchase the paint, pick the sheen and paint the walls!

Also, paint sheen is another decision, but easy one to make. The sheens are as follows and are usually dictated by the room's use:

• Flat has no shine and it hides imperfections on the walls. But, it is harder to clean than satin or semi-gloss.

• Satin or eggshell have a very soft sheen. But can be cleaned easier than flat.

Home Design Software

Nowdays the computer age is making software for a dazzling array of uses. One such genre is house floor plan software. With this type of program, you can quite literally be your own architect! Whether you're a home hobbyist or a trained professional, anyone can now use software to do everything from create house floor plans to landscaping the back yard of your dreams. Home design software ideas can go from dreams to reality with the touch of a button.

Creating house floor plans from home design software can be accomplished in just a few easy steps. Most programs have a number of notable features.

1. Design, publish and print completed designs in 3D for yourself, family and customers.

2. Customize the home's exterior by adding dormer windows, skylights, sun decks, balconies, terraces, and patios. Door styles and window types can also be customized.

3. Calculate and manage the cost of materials. This feature makes it easy to keep your house floor plan design withing you housing budget.

4. Lighting effects and shifting patterns of sunlight and moonlight can be created in order to see what effect the placement of windows will have on a room via 3D movies.

5. A built-in interior design program and furniture gallery can be used to create different themes before money is spent on interior decor.

6. Some software programs offer an optional landscape and garden program which allows the user to create a detailed design of yard desired right down to the flowers and ornaments. The landscape created can then be viewed through the change of seasons in order to create a colorful landscape year round. Most programs offer drag-and-drop capabilities that make designing your dream yard easy and fun.

Home Designers

Interior designers often enter a home armed with a veritable arsenal of creativity and subcontracted resources. In many cases, the secondary services a decorator brings in under his or her invoice adds a certain specialized expertise to robust décor. Professional lighting equipment and lighting design services are crucial to this mix. With the right levels of light, both glare and shadow are dispelled, and the texture and color of artwork springs to light.

Phantom Lighting Representatives, located throughout North America, Central America, and South America, are available to help the interior designer utilize some of the world’s most unique and aesthetically superb lighting equipment on the market.

If you are currently working with an interior decorator or interior design firm, we recommend you point them in our direction if they encounter any of the following scenarios relative to fine art and display lighting systems. While a great many interior designers are already working with Phantom Lighting products, many are still discovering us for the first time.

Your interior designer will most likely recommend new artwork as part of his or her overall plan for creating a new look within your home.

Home Designing

Is your home the place where your friends and family tend to gather for sporting events, card games or just a great place to hang out on a Friday night? Why not consider building a home bar to add a little flare to your entertaining? Building a home bar is a great addition to any home, but deciding on building a bar is just the first step. Many decisions have to be made throughout the building process to determine what the bar will look like, where is will be located and just how much money you want to spend on such an endeavor.

In many homes the bar is located in the basement in a large rec room. If you have the space to do this, it makes sense to locate the bar there, but it is entirely up to you where you locate it. If you are not handy with tools, it's likely best to hire a contractor to build a proper home bar that you will be proud of, however if you do have some technical skill, building a bar doesn't have to be difficult. It is possible to even purchase a home bar kit that can make it much easier to build. Most people however prefer a more custom bar that fits in with their current decor

Many types of home bars exist to suit any decor including Tiki Bars, Tuscany Bars or a Renaissance Bar. For those in warmer climates, a home bar could even be installed outdoors, around a pool or on a deck. Tiki bars are often popular choices for poolside bars. For people that live in parts of the country that have cold winters, an indoor home bar may be more appropriate. Depending on the current decor of your home, some bars work better than others, but if you are looking to build a themed room or build out an unfinished basement, any style will work.

Home Design

Although home saunas have been around for centuries, the stresses and health concerns of today’s society have brought the benefits of sauna bathing to the forefront. In addition to providing a relaxing yet refreshing spa experience, home saunas have been shown to help cleanse the body of toxins and other impurities, ease joint and muscle pain, stimulate metabolism, and provide numerous other health benefits. The social aspects of saunas have become more important in recent years as we focus on entertaining at home and spending more time together with our families.

The increasing popularity of saunas has led to innovative design options, including different heating technologies and a wide variety of prefabricated sauna kits that are easy to use and that can be adapted to most any living situation and budget.

Home Sauna Design Choices

Home saunas come in both indoor and outdoor models. A sauna located right in your home is exceptionally convenient and easy to use; however, it does take up space and likely will require some remodeling. An outdoor sauna may be less accessible, but offers more design options and may feel more natural. Where you live and how and when you plan to use the sauna will help determine which type of sauna is best for you.

In addition to indoor and outdoor sauna options, you can choose from the following technologies for heating:

Wood
Electricity
Gas or Propane
Infrared Heat

Home Design Ideas

Custom log home design ideas can be used to help create the dream log home you've always wanted. Perhaps you have some custom log home design ideas on paper as you've been collecting design ideas. That's a great way to plan and organize your ideas, by making a scrapbook of the things you may want in your log home design. Here are some tips for custom designing your log home:

1. Explore and Select Your Log Home Style - select the log home style that you really want and like, a style that excites you. Will you prefer the manufactured or handcrafted log home style? Manufactured log homes are made with logs that are milled into a desired shape, producing uniform logs without taper. The logs used generally range in length from 10 to 18 feet.

A custom log home design using manufactured logs can vary considerably in shape and appearance because the logs have different shapes and there are different corner styles. You can obtain kits ranging from just the logs and fasteners to more complete systems that include the roofing materials, doors, windows and even more.

A handcrafted custom log home design means handcrafters will strip the bark off of whole logs. Using special skills and tools, the handcrafter will fit each log into place. Handcrafted custom log home design and construction is labor intensive, and the construction process takes longer and usually costs more since so much work is done manually. This method attempts to preserve the natural shape of the tree, and each log is carefully trimmed and shaped for a specific location in the log shell. The logs may be assembled at the company's yard, the pieces are numbered, taken apart and shipped to the homesite to be reassembled.

Interior Home Design

Home staging is the proven way to sell your house quicker and at a better price...even in today's poor market. Home staging makes your house more competitive by presenting the house as "ready-to-move-in" to prospective buyer's. And; home staging can be a way to get more organized and de-cluttered. This applies to both inside and out of the home.

Staging can be simple or more work and could require the help of a professional home stager. But; in some cases you can do it yourself if it is a simple project.

The first step is to look around each room. Bring a note pad with you if you are serious about doing this. Make notes about any problem items; such as broken doors, light switches. Yes; the ‘honey do’ type list, but it gets much more detailed as you go.

Now look inside the closets. Yes; buyers look in closets to see if there is enough room. Mark in your pad whether the closet is neat or packed and needs some thinning out.

Bathroom is the next stop. Any broken tiles, dripping faucets, etc? Also is there any areas that need to really be cleaned? Look at this as though you were buying.

The kitchen is an important area. Is it cluttered with items all over the counters? Are the cabinets messy and over flowing? Clear out the items you don’t use on a regular basis. Store them where you can get to them; but not clutter a cabinet in doing so.

Modern Home Design

Arguably since the 1950s, the ceiling fan has been a staple of every home, even though the likes of the air conditioning system have replaced it in recent years for no apparent reason other than technological innovation and novelty value. However, the contemporary ceiling fan is making a bit of a comeback at the moment. It has been modified and brought up to date with manufacturers that are making the most of the environmental concern of society at the moment.

Contemporary ceiling fans are more sophisticated than ever before. They have been updated to fit in with modern décor so that they appeal to homeowners today and will continue to do so well into the future. Some have a sleek and stylish look that is both pleasing to the eye and able to fit in with a whole range of décor themes, including the minimalist style that is so difficult to buy for. Most contemporary ceiling fans also have lights incorporated so that they kill two birds with one stone. You do not have to find room for a light as well as a fan and that ultimately looks better than overcrowding your ceiling too.

Contemporary ceiling fans come in a variety of colours so that you can choose the one that reflects you best. Traditional ones only tended to come in one or two colours and you had to make do with that but now you can choose pillar box red if you so wish! It truly is a consumer market!

Architect Home Design

Designing a home is a very exciting project. It is also a very stressful time as you have lots of decisions to make and questions that need to be answered. One decision you have to make is hiring an architect. Not all architect firms are the same. Each has their methods of creating designs. As well, the services that different architects offer will vary. When choosing an architect, you have to make sure it is the right architect that meets your design needs.

The following is a list of tips to hiring an architect to designing your home:

1. What size and type of projects do you design? Designing firms will often have certain size projects they will design. They can design be specific rooms in a home or building, entire homes, commercial buildings, apartments, condominiums, or all types.

2. What is the architect’s education and experience? Inquire about past clients, what school the architect attended, and if he or she won any awards.

3. Is the architect licensed? In order to be allowed to work in a particular state, an architect must be licensed. They can also have the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Certificate (NCARB.)

4. Does the architect have design samples? It is important to look at design samples to assess the quality of work. You want to make sure you like the designs and style of each design.

5. Does the architect have insurance? Every professional architect will have insurance, especially liability insurance.

Custom Home Design

Mass produced goods have overtaken the world, leaving little precious hand-made goods to be found. Mass production has also hit the housing market. Track homes litter the highways, filled with one-size-fits-all houses.

Unique handcrafted homes are becoming rare and often retain value better than their vanilla counterparts. Well-constructed custom home designs also tend to sell more quickly even in sluggish markets.

Many people shy away from custom home design due to the time and cost factor; however, many architects can be surprisingly affordable and can help you work within a strict budget, helping you choose the most cost-effective materials.

Custom home design doesn't just pertain to sprawling estates and mansions alone, small cabins, single-level homes, or even futuristic space savers can be created on a reasonable budget. Most architects are happy to work with you to plan whatever size or scope of project you need.

The benefits of choosing customized residences over existing houses are numerous. Besides retaining value better, you have the freedom to create a dwelling that works for you and your family's specific needs. This is especially useful if someone in your household has special needs, such as a difficulty walking.

So not only are you able to create a residence that is aesthetically pleasing, but it can be highly functional for the individual as well. Wheelchair ramps and wider doors can be added for the physically challenged. Cupboards and doors can even be made to suit people shorter than average in stature.

Home Designer

Now lets face it, everybody wants to have a beautiful and attractive house, both on the inside and out, but at the end of the day how many people fail in their attempts due to the fact that they do not have the neccessary guidance or experience to give that desired end effect.This is why most people will end up paying a small fortune for an interior design expert to evaluate thier house and give them the information they could probably gather on their own.Having said this,I would like to talk about a ebook I have used called "The Secrets To Home Decorating Success" which is a comprehensive interior design ebook compiled by various experts in the field on Interior Design and Home Decor.

This detail packed 172-page eBook( filled with pictures) will teach you various techniques such as how to turn your bedroom, living room, and bathrooms into master showpieces, as well as how to make the most out of small spaces with the right furniture and alternative arrangements as well as choosing the right color concepts and different paints to enhance household features. This professional and easy to use guide will without a doubt eliminate the endless frustration of not knowing how to decorate your home, or wondering if you have done it correctly.

There are also additional bonus features including a Question and Answer guide - anwsering 80 of the most commonly asked questions requested by general home owners, Decorating Success Audio Buzz - which has over 1 hour of decorating tips covering about 25 hot topics, "from the Experts ebook"- 9 top experts to share 17 pages worth of hot tips. By using this step-by-step guide, you will get it right each and every time without having to spend lot's of money, or worrying about whether or not it's done the wrong way.

Home Design Plans

It is a fact that a house is never truly a home if devoid of some personal touches applied by the homeowner. It is the choice to design every portion of your house in preparing custom house plans is perhaps the best way to achieve the desired personal touch and really revolutionize your house into a home. With the help of a contractor, you can always tailor every part of your house to suit your needs and reflect your personality.

If you are new to house plans and are not sure how to draft them, then hiring an experienced contractor is the key to success. Moreover, even if you feel confident in designing and drawing up the home design plans, the help from a professional will ensure that the progression is standardized and that the results are much more satisfying.

While going in for a design plan, there are many considerations that require your attention. These considerations are essential to follow if you choose to design your own home. Deciding the budget before you start with the design plan is absolutely necessary and can be considered as a first step.

Employing an experienced and reputed home design contractor to help you with the design process is also an important step. The process of designing begins with the details of designs and requirements you have in mind. If you are unsure about the designs, you can have a look at house and home books and also a quick search on he Internet will help you to form an aesthetic design.

Home Interior Design

Getting into home interior design is not necessarily for the faint of heart, as it can get very complicated and expensive. There is much more to home interior design and just slapping paint on the wall or doing some basic repairs. While virtually anyone can do those sort of tasks, designing an interior from scratch is quite another matter.

However, there is something quite wonderful about having everything in your own hands and having complete control over how you design your house. Obviously, all these sort of things start with a plan. To begin with, this plan might just be a rough sketch on a piece of paper and then it evolves from there.

The plan is the most important thing in fact because it gives you an overall impression of what the end result is going to look like. Before you start spending money and time, you need to have a good impression of what you are in for. There are a number of ways to achieve this.
If you have any knowledge of computer aided design, then you can truly work wonders with today's modern and super fast computers. Though these order programs do tend to have a rather steep learning curve, computers these days are ultimately capable of creating photo realistic designs which you can fly through to see everything how it would look in real life.

However, if you are not into computers and you just don't have that knowledge, then you can also do quite a lot just with a pen and paper. Creating some two dimensional plans as to whether furniture will go is a start. You will also need to be good at meditating however, as you are going to need to visualise without a picture how your room is going to look.