Abhishek Agarwal asked:


As a hobby, gardening can be an absolute delight! While the task of creating an outdoor garden is rather an arduous one, the end result is enough to make you forget all your pain and labor! But if you are still skeptical about whether you are capable of taking up this activity or not, take heart from these gardening tips for beginners–

(1) Since it is the first time for you, plan a small garden at first, but envision a larger one in future. As a matter of fact, plenty of plants can be accommodated even in an area measuring just 80 to 100 square feet!

(2) As suggested in the gardening tips for beginners, it is easier to take care of a smaller garden, giving you enough time to get acquainted with the basics of gardening such as–how much water is required approximately, knowledge about fertilizers, keeping growth of weeds under control, keeping away pests and diseases.

(3) As a novice, you are eager to see how you have made out! So it just will not do for you to begin a long-term gardening project which could stretch over many weeks or many months. The waiting becomes intolerable!

(4) The small garden equips you with the necessary skills and creativity to create a better-designed and much larger garden the next time, since you are feeling much more confident by this time. Or you could think of ways to expand your present garden.

(5) But despite what gardening tips for beginners advises, if you still desire to start off with a large project, separate it into different segments. You can then work on one section at a time. Not only can you observe what you have achieved, but also improve on your efforts when proceeding to the next section.

(6) There are all sorts of gardeners. Some go after every weed, refusing to give it a place in their beautiful gardens! Some hate the thought of constant weeding and keep wishing that they could just spend time watching the plants grow and flower!

There is a way to prevent too many weeds from coming up, and that is by using mulch. Since weeding can be quite taxing on the hands and knees, put down a layer of regular mulch or organic mulch (2 to 3 inches thick) on the soil! The appearance is neat. Also, mulch helps in maintaining the soil temperature and moisture. Most important of all, weeds do not have the liberty to grow out of control!

(7) The soil should get enough water for the seeds to germinate and allow roots to go deeper. Plant roots (grasses generally) tend to remain nearer the surface if there is frequent watering because the actual amount of water taken is less. Gardening tips for beginners counsels that you take a larger quantity of water, but water less frequently.

(8) Plants should be watered in the early morning hours, as suggested by gardening tips for beginners. The leaves can dry off during the rest of the day. Thus, fungal diseases are kept away.

These are just a few gardening tips for beginners; there are many more! Follow the advice given, and observe how much beauty you can create even in a small piece of land! The magnificent vista that emerges from your labor of love can leave you with feelings of awe and wonder! Additionally, all that physical exercise in the fresh air contributes to a far healthier you and a great appearance!

Kim Stone asked:


What types of professional interior designers are available?

Have you heard of Interior redecorators? These professional interior decorators transform your home using things you have accumulated over the years. The end result is a balanced, harmonious space that reflects the personality of the people who use it. Many interior designers have added this service to their repertoire. Alternate terms for professional interior designers specializing in interior redecorating are interior redesigners, interior arrangers, interior stylists, one day decorators, visual coordinators or interior refiners.

What is a Certified Interior Designer? (from B&P Code Section 5800,5538)

A Certified interior designer is a competent design professional who is qualified to design, prepare, and submit any type of nonstructural, non-seismic interior construction plans and specifications to local building departments. Certified interior designers have demonstrated through education, experience, and examination their knowledge of the Uniform Building Code as it relates to space planning, life safety, flammability, and disabled access code issues. Most interior designers have a minimum four-year education. Many have Master of Interior Design degrees or other additional education in architecture or interior design. Interior designers who have many years experience may not have a Bachelors in Interior Design, but usually are well educated and have many years of qualified experience. All qualified interior designers will indicate that they have passed the NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Certification) examination and/or are registered/ certified/ licensed in their state.

How do Interior Decorators charge for their services?

Flat Design Fee: The client pays a flat fee for the professional interior designer’s services based on the design plan, time required, and scope of services.

Hourly Rate: The interior decorator bills a negotiated rate per hour.

Cost Plus Method: Professional interior designers charge a set percentage on all merchandise purchased and tradesmen’s services rendered.

Mixed Method: The client pays both a set percentage on purchases and a base design fee for hourly rate.

Per square foot: This method is used especially in new construction.



What to ask at the first meeting:

• Ask to see the interior designer’s portfolio, but remember that the designs reflect other people’s tastes,¬ not necessarily the interior decorator’s, and possibly not your own.

• Ask what size projects the interior designer has worked on, where, and what was the budget range.

• Ask how the established budget will be handled, and the kind of payment schedules the interior decorator requires.

• Ask about the types of services the designer can provide.

• Ask for a list of references.

What you may be asked at the first meeting:

It is a good idea to prepare for your first meeting with a professional interior designer by creating your own folder of clippings from magazines, catalogs, and books of design ideas that appeal to you.

You may also be asked some or all of the following questions:

• For whom is the space being designed?

• What activities will take place in the space?

• How long do you plan to occupy the space?

• What is your time frame for completing the project?

• What is your budget?

• Are you relocating or remodeling?

• What image do you want to project?

• What colors, style, and effects do you like?

• What are your objective and lifestyle needs?

• What is the approximate square footage to be designed?

If a professional interior designer, or anyone, for that matter, tells you the process is easy, stress-free, and will be complete in two weeks, they’re either lying or stupid. Don’t hire that person.

Mary Hanna asked:


You’ve decided to plant a garden but you need basic gardening tips for beginners, this is the place to be. Gardening has become a delightful hobby for people all over the world.

There are many rewards for the gardener, the visuals of his creation, the scent of the blooms, great fresh air and lots of exercise. Imagine a weekend spent in the yard with your feet up drinking in the spectacular gardens that you have created the fruits of your labor and love. If you are a beginner gardener, here are some basic gardening tips. No matter how much room you have, you can create a masterpiece garden.

The basic garden tips for beginners will help you create new gardens and make it a successful and joyful experience. In the beginning go slowly, start small but use your imagination. Choose a project that will not take a long time to complete. If it takes you weeks to finish a project you will get frustrated and start to hate the project you wanted to enjoy. Even if you have 75 or 100 square feet you will be amazed at how much you can plant.

If you are determined to have a larger project, then work in sections and turn your attention to one area at a time. This way as each section is finished you can enjoy that completed job. This will also build up your confidence as you go along making the next section not so daunting.

But for a beginner gardener a small scale garden is optimal. You are going to have to learn the basics of gardening, all about disease, the best way to control weeds and pests, the all important watering and when and how to fertilize. After your initial project you can enlarge the garden or plant one somewhere else in your yard with your new found confidence.

To cut down on the weeding of your garden, place mulch around the plants. This serves three purposes; it cuts down on weeding, as well as aiding in temperature control and water retention. Granted there are some gardeners that love to work the soil and weed the plants but it would be more rewarding to tending to the plants or just watching them grow. To maintain really healthy plants water for longer periods of time but less frequently. Do not let the plants dry out. Always water early in the morning so the plant leaves have time to dry out during the day which helps prevent fungal disease.

After planting, try to have your garden remain pesticide free. An especially good natural deterrent is as follows:

In a jar, combine 1 teaspoon dishwashing liquid and 1 cup vegetable oil. Shake vigorously. In an empty spray bottle, combine 2 teaspoons of this mixture and 1 cup water. Use at ten-day intervals (or more often if needed) to rid plants of whiteflies, mites, aphids, scales, and other pests.

These are the basic gardening tips for beginners. Remember, that you can create lovely gardens in containers which you can move around as you please. There are hundreds of different plant combinations and containers that you can use for a container garden. So, if you are an apartment or condo dweller, you can plant lovely gardens on your balcony or patio. The basic tip here is that container gardens will dry out much faster than the plants in the ground so be vigilant about checking them for moisture.

Happy Gardening And Good Luck!

Copyright © Mary Hanna, All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

Interior Design Talk asked:


If you talk about interior design, it sure is a complicated profession, many people thinks architecture is an interior designing and many confuse it with decorating, but this is something different, interior design courses will provide a profession in which you plan and organize the interior structure rather than furnishing or refinishing available interior space. It involves delivering interior environment that is practical (functional) and pleasing, interior design seems simple but there is lot more in interior design.

 

In past few years, there is constant increase in popularity of interior designing as a profession. Now there is licensed design professionals who are qualified by degree, experience and work. There are even organizations who are developing awareness of interior design and with their constant dedication, this profession is now at where we see it.

 

Interior design courses are now offering widely online, in universities and in colleges and they teach the process, principal, necessary understanding, knowledge and experience to be successful as an interior designer. If you view from consumer point of view, this all give benefits to consumer end.

 

Decision making process is the key in the interior designing, take a example of home designing, we eat, sleep, entertain, wash and work in home, there is no readymade design, people lives differently, so while making decision, designer make sense in relationship between home, family, owner and lifestyle.

 

The basic principles of good interior design are natural, the more close it will be to the nature, the more it will be practical and pleasant, “examine the universe it will teach you how to live”. Interior Designing is an art, art of making life easier by giving environment, it involve the shaping the space, walls and surface. Dedicated skills when combine with artistic waves of mind, transform “imagination into design”.

 

JT Miller asked:


When you start researching home improvement financing you’ll quickly learn that there are different ways to borrow money for home improvements. The two general types of loans are often categorized as “secured” and “unsecured” loans.

Unsecured loans are loans which are given to you based on your credit rating and not based on anything you have to offer up for collateral. Your credit rating is really nothing more than a measure of your historical ability to pay off debts and money given to you in the past. If you’ve always paid your bills on time and always pay back debt then you probably have a pretty good credit rating. By financing your home improvement projects with an unsecured loan of some type you will be paying the loan off without any sort of collateral offered to the bank. A credit card, even a credit card from a home improvement hardware store, is usually considered an unsecured loan.

Secure loans are loans in which the bank or lending institution have some sort of collateral or item which they technically “own” until you pay it off. When you finance car payments or buy a house with a mortgage the bank technically owns your car or home until you’ve paid off the debt amount plus interest. Your house is the collateral. If you default on your loan then the bank can take your house or car and sell it in an effort to regain some of the money they lent you.

Unsecured loans are good for small home improvement loans which you can pay off quickly. Home improvement store credit cards are good to use for small home improvement projects that are under $1,000 because the application process is usually fairly easy. Sometimes those home improvement store credit cards even offer zero percent interest or discounts on merchandise for a fixed period of time.

When you’re exploring larger home improvement financing options you’re almost always going to end up with some sort of secured loan because most of the time the equity or “extra value” in your house is used as collateral for a loan to improve it.

Secured home improvement loans such as home equity loans and home equity lines of credit generally have a lower interest rate, which makes paying them off easier over the long run. There is often more paperwork and a longer delay associated with secured loans because they are so much larger than most secured loans. Depending on your tax situation you may even be able to deduct the interest you pay on the secured home improvement loan from your yearly income tax returns.

No matter what type of home improvement financing you consider remember that you do have to pay the money back and you will be paying interest on the money owed. Plan ahead and make sure you can really afford the monthly payments before you go forward with your home improvement project. Many home improvement plans are scaled back when people finally begin to consider the true cost of home improvement financing.

If your home improvement project is a rather large one such as remodeling a kitchen, adding a bathroom or building an addition on your house then a secured loan that offers up your home’s equity as collateral is the best form of home improvement financing.

Christine Anderssen asked:


Interior Decoration and Interior Design, although related disciplines, are different in terms of their application. Interior Decoration is the process of decorating a house with regards to finishes (for example wallpaper and paint, choice of furnishings and fixtures as well as adding finishing touches and decorations such as paintings and objets d’art. All of this provide a certain “feel” to a house but essentially the underlying structure of the house is not changed.

Interior decoration is normally professionally done by Interior Decorators although recently there is a movement for people towards learning about Interior Decorating through various courses or books and then apply the techniques themselves – usually on a shoestring budget. The whole objective of Interior Decoration is to make a house aesthetically pleasing and at the same time, unique, since it should reflect the owner’s specific personality and tastes.

Interior design on the other hand is more integrated with the architecture of a building and a professional Interior Designer will work closely with architects and builders to make choices regarding the integral design of the whole house or building. This includes looking at choices with regards to room layout, choice of cabinets and tiles and a whole host of other design factors. While previously the Interior Design budget for new developments was minimal, it is recognized these days that incorporating Interior Design into the project means the difference between a mediocre development and one that contributes to the branding and life-style image of the project. The money spent on Interior Design is therefore seen as a worthwhile investment in the whole property development process.

Homeowners are spending more and more to improve their homes. Since it is relatively easy to change the whole look of a house by changing the finishings, furnishings and fixtures a large portion of this money goes into Interior Decorating. The growing popularity in do-it-yourself Interior Decorating has meant that a whole industry around Interior Decorating books, TV Shows and courses have also sprung up, and it has become a popular hobby for married couples. Innovative Interior Decoration ideas, which cost less but at the same time giving the impression of style and class, are in vogue.

Young entrepreneurs have also seen the gap and there is a growing demand for information and courses on how to break into the Interior Design and Interior Decorating Industry. This has also given the home interior decoration industry a boost.

Although the trend recently is for people to tackle the exciting task of transforming a house themselves, it has to be recognized that this falls more in the area of Interior Decorating. Interior Design still requires study of the context of Interior Design, the theory of good design, knowledge of the technical advances in the engineering industry for both residential as well as commercial buildings and knowledge of the latest trends and advances in the Interior Design industry.

In short, an Interior Design project in which all the elements of design are pulled together is still the ambit of the professional designer who should be able to deliver on projects that extend beyond the boundaries of a hobby pastime.