Decorating With Marble Vases

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Posted by David Artstone | Posted in Look Younger - Beauty & Style | Posted on 10-03-2010

Marble vases are a classic piece of upscale home decor. Marble is an elegant material that has been chosen by artists and kings for centuries. It is particularly attractive when used in vases because the material can take such a high polish, that the stone will actually glisten in the light.

One of the most important things you need to know about marble vases is that you can ruin them if you try to wash them with the wrong chemicals. Marble is a base in an acid base relationship. When it comes in contact with an acidic substance, such as most of the commercial soaps on the market, a chemical reaction occurs and the stone becomes discolored. This is a permanent stain that cannot be removed by washing the material.

To avoid ruining your vases, you should only clean them with warm water and a wash cloth. For the most part the glistening surface of the marble wont get very dirty, and all you will really have to do to maintain it is keep it free from dust. If you absolutely have to give the piece a good cleansing, there are specially made non acidic marble soaps that can be purchased.

You should also be careful about the type of cloth you use when wiping the vase. Marble is a type of stone so it is hard, but the polished surface is actually rather fragile, and can become scratched quite easily. If you use a scrub brush with thick sharp bristles, you risk damaging the polished perfection of the stone.

Marble vases are a wonderful companion to any upscale home’s decor. The beauty of the natural stone compliments the unique features found in floral arrangements quite well, and its upscale nature tends to elevate the style of any space into which one is brought.

This article was written by designer Jim Slate on behalf of PebbleZ.com’s line of natural marble vases and onyx stone home decor products. They offer a wide variety of marble and onyx vases, in various sizes and styles.

Beautiful Landscape Lighting

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Posted by Colin Jones | Posted in Look Younger - Beauty & Style | Posted on 15-02-2010

While maintaining a fantastic looking garden is important you ought to consider ways of allowing the beauty of your garden to show through in different sorts of weather situations. Some people also want to have the option of having their garden illuminated at night. For these people, looking at various landscape lighting options will allow you the chance of having your garden looking just the way you want it, no matter what the natural lighting conditions are.

In order to provide the right landscape lighting conditions you will have to choose from a variety of lighting fixtures. These fixtures can be in the form of lamps, lanterns, spotlights, halogen lights and even solar lights. The price of these lighting fixtures varies for each type of lighting.

If you are thinking of using landscape lighting you will need to choose where to put the lights in order to get the best lighting effects. You may also want to think about which lights will provide your garden with an all over lighting. You can look in gardening magazines to obtain an idea of the various ways that landscape lighting fixtures can be used.

While it is possible to find ideas for placing landscape lighting in your garden from landscape magazines there is another way too. For this method, you have to look at your garden in the daytime and in the night time. In the morning you will need to look what spots in your garden would be improved by the use of landscape lighting. When night falls look out at your garden again and see what areas would benefit from the use of lighting.

Then, the morning after this nocturnal inspection, you can go out into the garden again and mark out approximately where you think there is a need for landscape lighting. Once you have inspected this area properly, try imagining what sort of lights would be useful. You can then go to the garden store to look for these types of lights.

After you have bought your perfect lights and you have looked at the instructions on setting them up you will need to start fixing the landscape lighting in a way that will make sure that your garden looks nice. Coloured lighting is worth considering too.

After you have finished your trials and installed the final version, you will see what a difference having the right landscape lighting can make to your garden. From now on, when night falls you will still be able to appreciate just how beautiful garden is.

If you thinking about using lighting for your home or garden, please click the previous link or for more landscaping ideas, please go to Stylish Home Decor

Halloween Date Night

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Posted by David Artstone | Posted in Look Younger - Beauty & Style | Posted on 29-01-2010

Slate and Artstone – The moon is full, the sky is dark, and gremlins are lurking in every nook and shadow. A terrifying thrill is in the air, and you can feel it racing down your spine. As the night deepens, the howl of a wolf sounds in the distance, prompting your date to yelp and snuggle closer. You look into one another’s eyes, and as the terror threatens to overwhelm you, passion steps in taking fears place and overwhelming you with the desires of the evening. Going out with someone on Halloween is a great way to ensure an atmosphere that is absolutely perfect for love. It may seem ironic that a holiday dedicated to monsters and ghouls could be romantic, but everyone knows that the best date movie is one which will scare your partner right into your arms.

Fear is exciting, terror is fun, and on Halloween you can’t turn around without finding someone who wants to scare you. Even if you and your date are too jaded to actually jump at silly noises and fake ghosts, it will still put your subconscious on guard, making you more sensitive to emotion and stimulus. This is all part of the human mind’s amazing ability to react and adapt to any situation. In times of fear, we tend to turn to love, even lust, as a way of coping with the stress of a situation. The whole point of Halloween is to train our mind to adapt to negative stimulus in a safe and fun environment, and to wake us up from the sleepy day to day dream of life we float through.

Aside from the philosophically strategic benefits to dating on Halloween, it is also easy. There are a variety of activities set up for kids, adults, or both which allow you to plan an exciting date adventure, without having to go to a lot of trouble or expense. Some ideas include

- Going to a Haunted House: Most communities have organizations such as schools or local cubs that set up haunted houses for the public at little or no cost

- Go to a Scary Movie: Horror movie makers schedule the release of the best movies for late October. Those who don’t, usually schedule the release of the DVD’s around this time

- Halloween Parties: A lot of people throw big monster mash balls to celebrate the holiday. Check your local bulletin or ask around.

- Major Public Events: Aside from haunted houses, communities will often throw parades, fairs, or carnivals for Halloween. One of the most famous is the parade held in Greenwich Village NY each year,

If you want to be cute, you can have a pre-date date, where you and your partner make your Halloween costumes. This can be as simple as going shopping together, or as elaborate as visiting a craft store and seeing what catches your eye.

The bottom line is, Halloween is a great night for a date. The atmosphere is already inspired with excitement and fear, and the evening is usually full of built in activities which are fun and inexpensive. Best of all, people tend to be more uninhibited when dressed in a fantasy costume, so you never know what might happen next.

This article was written on behalf of PebbleZ the home decorating store. There you will find a wide variety of home decor and decorative products made from natural stone, as well as a wide variety of decorating articles.

Strength and Power in Home Decor

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Posted by Jim Slate | Posted in Look Younger - Beauty & Style | Posted on 28-01-2010

Slate and Artstone – Power and energy refers to a subtle, almost indefinable force, which relates closely to how much focus various parts of a room command. An arm chair with intricate brightly colored patterns has a lot of power, because it stands out and forces you to look at it, especially if it is placed in a contrasting monotone room.

Color and pattern are two of the most common ways an object gains power. Bright colors tend to stand out, as do intricate designs. Subdued colors and simple patterns will tend to fade into the background, acting as support to stronger pieces. Contrast can help give a piece greater power, especially if it is used in bold ways. A single deep red clock on an empty white wall commands the attention of an entire room.

An object can gain power and energy through its weight, or perceived weight as well. The heaviness of an item is related to how substantial it is, which gives it greater credence in our minds. Drink coasters which are made of paper will have much less weight, and therefore less of a presence in a room than coasters made from stone. Size is another aspect to energy and power. By simply taking up the most space, an object can dominate an area. In this way it holds the focus of the greater part of the room, by simply being the most noticeable thing there.

One way you can focus energy into an area or an object is to use the inherent lines which are contained in your design to point at the desired spot. These lines can consist of architectural bones such as borders, window sills, counters, or trim, or can consist of your own decorative lines such as those created by the bottoms of portraits, or the direction of various tables and couches. Generally the inherent structure of a room will point at a focal spot; however this can be altered by creating intersecting lines which point in other directions. Tampering with your lines alters the flow of a space, so be aware of how directing the energy of a space changes the way you move about it.

Power and energy are often overlooked aspects of a room. Color, patterns, and texture offer such rich options when decorating, that people often overlook the subtle effects that are achieved. Understanding their effect on your room however gives you a whole new set of eyes with which to watch the world.

PebbleZ is your source for rustic stone tables and natural stone home decor products. Their catalog includes over 40 mosaic table designs, each available in any size and shape you want. Fully customizable home decor

Halloween Decorating for Adults

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Posted by David Artstone | Posted in Look Younger - Beauty & Style | Posted on 10-01-2010

Slate and Artstone – Halloween has grown up. Sure we still delight to the sound of children running the streets hollering “trick or treat” in brightly colored costumes. However these days, adults want in on the fun too. However it isn’t very grown up to dress your home in pumpkin orange with cardboard skeletons. Luckily, it is actually rather easy to create a Halloween themed dcor without looking like you live in a “fun house.”

The traditional colors of Halloween are pumpkin orange and black. Complimentary colors include the various shades of autumn, reds, gold’s, and browns. This is great for kids, because it allows you to add a safe, and fun side to what is basically a scary holiday.

But when you grow up, you graduate from Scooby Doo to real horror movies, and your ideas about Halloween should grow up as well. Feel free to indulge in the dark, and enjoy the malevolent nature of the holiday.

To accomplish this, use copious amounts of black, in shades varying from midnight to charcoal. Ignore the autumn colors for the most part, they are too warm and inviting, you want to create something which puts people off a little bit, and startles them. If necessary, traces of crimson can be used in accents throughout the space to add a little excitement to the room. Create a powerful contrast with bone white products.

As far as accessories, don’t bother with cutesy cardboard or construction paper cut outs. Instead, use a little creativity to develop a space which is truly spooky. Try to create features which are realistic, and which play on the psychological fears that everyone has.

Deep black accessories such as candle holders, and decorative items such as cats, rats, crows, and ghouls create a sense of mystery and shadow. Spider webs, easily simulated by stretched cotton, are always a winner. In a dark space it is hard to tell the difference between them and the real thing. Peppering this with little black plastic spiders can further enhance the effect.

If you want to take it one step further you can purchase black dishes, cutlery, and even linens. Blackout curtains also make the space feel enclosed.

Contrast the darkness with bright white items such as skulls, ghosts, and napkins.

You’re all grown up now, but you don’t have to give up the Halloween spirit. Just take a mature look at the spirit of the day, and you will find all sorts of exciting ways to enjoy the day.

This article is brought to you on behalf of PebbleZ.com – the manufactuerers and importers of a unique line of stylish home decorating accessories made from all natural, mountain born stone materials. Their collection includes clocks, tables, lamps, coasters, and much more

Black and White Ideas for Stylish Home Decor

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Posted by Marion Jones | Posted in Look Younger - Beauty & Style | Posted on 26-12-2009

When people think about stylish home decor and making changes to their home, whether it be one or two rooms or the entire house, the first thing that usually springs to mind is colour. Generally people choose colours they are fond of or those which correspond with pieces of their existing furniture. When looking for ideas for stylish home decor, one idea which is perhaps too often overlooked is decorating with the two basic colours (or shades, to be more accurate) ” black and white.

Black and white, when used in decorating demonstrates style and creates drama. Top interior designers say that every room in the house could benefit by using a slash of black. Black is a colour which anchors and grounds a room. Bringing sophistication, black is certainly a colour that demands attention. Living room decorating ideas for a home using black may include accessories such as light fixtures, trim or furniture. Black serves to add definition to the focal points in a room. Black is just one of the colours that stands out, but it is definitely one of the most eye-catching!

Decorating with the shades of black and white in your living room decorating ideas, provides a clean, fresh, elegant atmosphere. This combination can be used in any room in a home making it a sophisticated area. Black and white are frequently used in contemporary interior design and often used to highlight other colours in the French Country style. It may be hard to conceptualize but there are many ideas for decorating a home using combinations of only these two basic shades.

The floor is a great area to start when you’re having living room decorating ideas. Black and white vinyl tiles laid alternately make a beautiful checkered pattern and gives a clean and elegant appearance. Black marble used on the floor, accented by wide white skirting boards is another fantastic idea for decorating a room. Laying white ceramic tiles with a black border or simply painting the floor black or white and using stencils of the opposite colour for decoration is also stunning. These all are great ideas for decorating a room.

Is there anything more perfect than white walls? Painting the walls white or even an off-white would make a perfect background for accessories such as shelving framed in black. Imagine that – stylish home decor! Elegant black window treatments or black shutters against a clean, crisp white wall would definitely create an air of sophistication. Perhaps a glass-topped table with black iron trim and black chairs? These are terrific ideas for decorating a home using only black and white.

A bedroom decorated using black and white would be beautiful stylish home decor too. A black or white iron bed-frame, covered with a striped black and white duvet or eiderdown. For the pillow cases, you could use either all black or all white and could add throw cushions in the opposite colour.

A chunky leather black or white armchair or sofa in the corner would definitely accent the living room decorating ideas. Then you could have the white walls with a elegant piece of artwork, framed in black, hanging on it. That would surely add to the contemporary feel of your living room decorating ideas. Black furniture against the stark white walls would definitely look really neat and tidy and you could spruce it all up with accessories like pewter or silver candlesticks, jugs or vases.

If you think the stylish home decor needs a little colour to complete the look, perhaps a throw or cushion in a bold color like red or gold, for the chair in the corner of the room would be enough to accent the room. Ideas for decorating a home are numerous. However, finding one that suits you and those that live in your home with you is important. It’s nice to do something radical and off-the-wall but remember you must be able to live with it for quite a while.

If you are looking for more ideas on Stylish Home Decor, then you really ought to go along to our website for more free ideas on Interior Design Ideas and more.

Thinking of Re-decorating Your Bathroom or Kitchen?

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Posted by Marion Jones | Posted in Look Younger - Beauty & Style | Posted on 25-12-2009

For the person who seems to have it all or for the person who is bored with their lifestyle, there are a few things that you can do to jazz-up your life. Perhaps the best way though is to begin redecorating your house. Some of the first places you should look at redecorating are your bathroom and kitchen.

These are usually the most overlooked and yet, most used rooms in the entire house. Think about it, have you spruced up at least even one of these rooms within the past few years? The answer is probably “no”, in which case think back to the last time you even looked closely at your bathroom or kitchen other than to Spring clean them.

More than likely, if you noticed anything at all, you put the notion off until a future date when you could devote more time to refurbishing your bathroom or kitchen, although at that time, the place certainly didn’t look as bad as it does now, after all, the years soon mount up and even though you’ve been keeping it rigorously clean you can’t prevent the steady march of time.

The chances are that if you took a closer look now, you’ll find that the curtains are looking a might shabby and worn around the edges, as are the bathroom rugs. And let’s not even talk about the toilet roll holder. It is quite true that they don’t make them like they used to, and with very good reason too!

So, do yourself a favour and throw out all that unnecessary junk in the bathroom and get yourself some new accessories – you will be astonished at what lovely things you can find nowadays. Anyway, you’ve probably been eyeing that lovely bathroom set you saw in the shop for some time, so at the very least now you will have a good reason to go out and splash out on yourself.

And while you’re about it, you might as well buy that lovely new spice rack you saw last week for the kitchen and a few mats that can be used in either room. They should be resistant to such commonplace accidents like water, soap, oil grease, fat and all the other things that somehow seem to become ground into carpets.

However, if you’re looking for a few new ideas about decorating your bathroom or your kitchen, there are a number of resources for you to get your inspiration from. The best I’ve found are the catalogues you can browse through to your heart’s content.

With all these options, you can even swap something that is less expensive for the things you want in the catalogues. This is the best method to get your decorating projects off the ground and to keep yourself pleasantly busy for some time and to transform your tired old bathroom and kitchen into brand new, glitzy areas.

If you are looking for stylish ideas on stylish home decor, then you really must visit our website for more free ideas on bathroom and kitchen remodeling and more.

Country Home Decor Style

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Posted by Gail Jones | Posted in Look Younger - Beauty & Style | Posted on 22-12-2009

The house is finally clean and you put your feet up for a minute with a nice cup of coffee by the side of you and you pick away at your muffin. You are tired but it’s the good kind of tired where you know you’ve done a hard day’s work and you have no regrets about it. A happy feeling settles on you and you look around yourself with contentment.

A magazine lies appealingly within reach and you give in and pull it towards you, intending to enjoy your well-deserved rest. The main cover story jumps right out at you, called Country Home Decor. Naturally you flip through eagerly to that very section, you had just seen an article on converting your house into a small country haven in another magazine and you were interested.

Page upon page of the magazine is filled with what can only be categorized as the most perfect country home decor you can imagine. You gaze longingly at the various styles and furnishings you see gracing the magazine’s pages. A quick look up from your magazine assures you that your own modest abode hasn’t changed magically into one of those lovely country homes you were just looking at.

A sad sigh passes your lips at the disappointment and so you go back to reading your magazine article. You had never realized that you were the sort of person who could stand the country home decor style but now upon consideration you think you just might be able to.

Now without your even realising it, you find yourself marking the pages that intrigue you the most, doing small maths calculations on how best to achieve the same effect but on the smaller budget that you have at your disposal. After all, it just wouldn’t do to fork out for that lovely Welsh dresser and have to go without your freshly ground whole bean coffee, would it?

But, you could definitely buy that appealing table runner without too much of a problem. And if you donated all those modern chrome coffee mugs and dinner sets to charity you wouldn’t really be splurging, would you, since you would have already done your best for charity and donated all these things?

What about swapping your snazzy blinds for something that’s a bit more in the country home decor style, and while you’re at it perhaps you could even exchange that ugly lampshade you received as a house-warming gift for something a little more country.

The only thing that is left for you to do now is to lie back and enjoy the fruits of your labours and gaze with beaming pride upon your newly redecorated home. Furnished, naturally enough, in the best country home decor style that you could obtain from every source that you found, like that first magazine which started it all off way back then.

If you are looking for modern ideas on stylish home decor, then you must visit our website for more free ideas on country home decor and more.

Stone Coasters as a Decorating Tool

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Posted by David Artstone | Posted in Look Younger - Beauty & Style | Posted on 13-12-2009

Slate and Artstone – When you look at a set of stone coasters, you are seeing objects that were formed by the earth itself. Their evolution took millions of years, slowly melting and molding, and developing the unique characteristics which adorn the surface of the stone. Their life story is a saga of ages that has witnessed the rise and fall of whole species, buried deep beneath the earth.

While these pieces are generally purchased for functionality, as a means of keeping water from hitting the surface of a table, they can also be quite effective as decorating tools, allowing you to change the entire look and feel of a space at whim.

If the coasters are natural stone, without an image printed on them, they can be used to create a natural feel in the home. They have a surface of rock, that matches the mountain they were taken from, and so by spreading them throughout an environment you can get a very natural, outdoors, or even rustic look.

Many sandstone coasters are also printed with attractive images which allow you even more decorating options. You can create a cat theme, or a feel of ancient history, or even just add bright and vibrant colors to a room using various types of printed coasters in different rooms.

Another decorative advantage of the coaster is that it is quite small. This is especially true when they are stacked in a single place. However when an entire set is spread out throughout a home, it is quite possible to cast a web of color over the space, completely altering the feel of the environment.

Stone coasters are especially good at this because they are relatively heavy and solid. They are made from actual mountain born rock, so even though they are small, they have quite a presence. This makes them more imposing than lighter plastic or aluminum pieces.

This article was written by Jim Slate. http://coasters.PebbleZ.com has the world’s widest selection of natural stone coasters. Their product line includes dozens of colors in sandstone, slate, marble, and even onyx. With a lineup of literally hundreds of coasters PebbleZ.com is the nation’s leader in the coaster industry.

Plastic Shower Curtains

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Posted by Marion Jones | Posted in Look Younger - Beauty & Style | Posted on 09-12-2009

Once upon a time, fabric shower curtains went the way of the dodo and glass shower doors became fashionable. But, like most fads, common sense regained control and the fashions of yesterday have come around full circle. You’ll now find that fabric shower curtains are all the rage once again and are readily available most at stylish home decor shops.

However, don’t dump your old glass doors just yet. The convenience and smart look of the glass doors seem to be firmly entrenched with some people. Adherents of glass doors will swear by these and will even sometimes be ready to lay down their reputations for them.

You’ll find, when discussing fabric shower curtains, that people are laid back and will smile when asked about their preferences. Naturally, they’ll stick by their fabric shower curtains but they also admit to seeing the advantages of glass doors as well. No dripping from the bottom of the curtain as you take a shower, no constantly damp curtain folds that need to be separated out each morning in order to dry and air out.

Best of all is the easy cleaning afforded by glass doors. However, as the fans of fabric shower curtains will also tell you, glass doors have their downsides as well, the biggest of which being that if you let the cleaning of the doors slide for even one week, stains will begin to form along the sides where they’re fixed to the wall and some of these prove to have a stronger will than you do.

And if you don’t perform a good regular wipe-down of the glass shower doors, your otherwise nice clean bathroom will begin to look rather grubby. The reason though why fabric shower curtains are an all out favourite of many people in the know, is for just one reason and one reason only. This is also what leads these people to have a smug grin on their faces even after they’ve just spent the last half hour cleaning their bathroom. Fabric shower curtains are disposable and therefore can be changed easily.

Yes, that’s the one whopping big reason why fabric shower curtains continue to be a firm favourite with a lot of people. Have you ever tried replacing your glass doors on a regular basis? It just won’t happen and its doubtful if it will ever happen within three years, unless that is you take a hammer to it.

So, now you understand the reason for that mysterious smile and why fabric shower curtains never really went out of fashion. Convenience, more convenience and still more convenience. So if you’re considering of swapping from your glass shower doors to the more convenient fabric shower curtains don’t be put off by the initial job that awaits you.

Once you remove those doors, your life is bound to become easier, and if it’s not, just swap one pair of fabric shower curtains for new ones. If nothing else it’ll make you feel better!

If you are looking for more info on fabric shower curtains , then you ought to visit our website for more free ideas on Stylish Home Decor and more.