Installing Hardwood Floors
Hardwood floors can be secured using various installation methods such as floating, glue-down, nail-down, and staple-down. The ľ inch solid floors can be nailed down. Adapters are used for thin flooring. The hardwood flooring can be stapled down over wood subfloor. The staple-down method is simpler than nail-down. Before securing hardwood floors, read the installation instructions provided by manufacturer for the right tools and methods. In glue down installation, the hardwood floor is glued onto the subfloor or cured and dry concrete slabs. Staple-down and nail-down methods are best for solid wood plank floors and solid wood strip floors. Parquet and engineered wood floors can be secured with glue. Floating is a quick and easy method of floor installation, in which hardwood floors float over different sub floors. The floor is not tied to the subfloor. A slim pad is inserted between subfloor and wood floor. The pad cuts noise level, and protects from moisture. Only groove and tongue of planks are glued together. Floating is used to install longstrip floors. The flooring should be acclimated in the room where it will be installed. If you are installing during the damp season, keep the wood indoors for minimum of three days. In summers, flooring can be stored in a garage. Hardwood floors can be installed using four different methods, such as glue-down, nail-down, staple-down and floating. You are advised to read installation instruction carefully. Hard Wood Floors provides detailed information on installing, cleaning and refinishing various types of hardwood floors, including engineered, solid, long-strip, exotic, pre-finished, and cheap hardwood floors. Hard Wood Floors is the sister site of Bamboo Flooring Web.
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Seeking Balance in Your Home Decor
In our homes, as in other parts of our lives, we are happier when we live with balance and harmony. Just like the rest of our lives, balance in the rooms of our homes is sometimes hard to create.
For many years, decorators and home owners tried to create this physical balance by having pairs of everything: 2 matching end tables, a matched pair of wing chairs, even sets of twin beds in the master bedroom. This certainly created a balanced room. It also created rooms that were sterile, formal and visually boring. In a formal setting or a Federal or Georgian home, this is still the way things should be to look 'right.' Our ancestors valued this perfect balance so highly that they created false doors in hallways so that both sides matched or doors that looked like windows so that the right and left sides of the back of a house matched perfectly. This can still be seen if you go to visit some of our historic homes. A notable example is the Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis, Md.
We, however, tend to prefer a more relaxed approach to our homes.
So how do we create a feeling of balance without matched pairs of everything? You can use:
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Actual size
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A thick bulky looking object has more 'weight' than a fragile, delicate one. Just visualize a blown glass vase and a terracotta pot of the same size.
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If you want to prove this to yourself, gather together a group of assorted objects and use a tabletop/mantel and try out different scenarios. Be sure you have different sizes, colors, textures and shapes. You can put a larger framed picture against one end and a slightly smaller one in front of it. On the other end of your table put a heavy pot. Do the same thing with a matching pot at each end. Try pairing the picture group with an assortment of candles in candlesticks. Each time you create an arrangement, step back and look at it. In fact, if you have a digital camera, take a picture of it. If you do this for a while you will start to get a feel for balance. You can actually give the illusion that the tabletop is tilted slightly by throwing off the visual balance.
The same effect can occur in your room arrangements. If you doubt this, close your eyes and try to 'see' a room in which you felt physically uncomfortable or slightly disoriented even though there was no obvious reason. A room in which the heavy items are all on one side of the room, almost feels as though the floor tilts. Once you have a feel for balance you can start to create a harmonious home.
Stand in the doorway of any room in your house that you feel isn't 'right.' What do you see? Does the burgundy chair stick out like there is a spotlight on it? Does the entertainment center overwhelm the room? Do you have a TV and a fireplace battling for focal point? Do your easy chairs look like they were made for children next to your mammoth sofa? Does your fireplace mantel look like you are setting up for a tag sale? Your room is out of balance.
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Try grouping the accessories on your mantels and tabletops. Balance the entertainment center on one side of the fireplace with a tall plant or group of plants on the other. Note: avoid having the tops of everything at the same height. You might as well draw a line around your room. Repeat the color of the chair in pillows, throws, lampshades or the matting around a group of pictures. You really will be amazed at the difference it makes.
We may all be born craving balance but except for the lucky few, we have to learn to achieve it. There is a myriad of books on the subject and it can help to read them and look at the pictures, but the best way to get a feel for balance is 'hands on.' Experiment with portable objects until you get a feel for what works and then enjoy creating your harmonious home.
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