Furnishing Your Home With Wicker Furniture - Part 2

Proper care and maintenance of wicker furniture will ensure that it stays in good condition for many years.

Brushing wicker furniture

Periodically brushing your wicker furniture using a brush with stiff, non-abrasive bristles such as a paint brush, vegetable brush or a tooth brush is the best way of keeping your wicker furniture looking clean and beautiful. The bristles should be soft enough to be able to get into the areas between the weave and yet stiff enough to have the adequate muscle behind it. Alternatively you could vacuum your wicker furniture using a bristle brush attachment.

Occasional clean-up using furniture cleaner or a mild detergent solution is good for removing stains and will help your wicker furniture maintain its high gloss and good looks. Lemon oil, applied lightly with a soft cloth, will help protect the finish and enhance the shine of wicker furniture.

Washing wicker furniture

Natural wicker furniture can withstand moisture, but only to a limited extent. Too much water over an extended period will leave it looking loose, limp and saggy. Here are a few important tips to remember when washing your wicker furniture:

• When hosing, tilt the wicker furniture so that the tighter weave is on top. This way the excess water can run down to the looser weave, which is below, from where it is easily wiped away.
• It is absolutely important that the weave spacing and pattern should not be disrupted during the cleaning process, especially when the furniture is wet. Wicker furniture will dry and set in any new position that it has been subjected to. If there is excessive pulling of strands, the weave is more likely to have large gaps in it when completely dry. Strands that are too far out of position could pull the entire piece askew.
• Let the wicker furniture dry completely before using it again. Sitting on it or placing any heavy objects on it while it is wet, could leave it looking misshapen when dry.

About the Author:

Get rattan furniture from http://www.rattanland.com/

Furnishing Your Home With Wicker Furniture - Part 1

Stylish and elegant wicker furniture is the perfect choice of furnishing for any home, be it a contemporary city apartment, Victorian country home or a vacation retreat. Made from natural materials including rattan, banana bark, willow and rush, wicker furniture comes in a wide assortment of weaving styles and colors that can complement and enhance any décor. Wicker furniture fits in easily with wooden and upholstered furniture, adding texture and warmth to any setting.

Wicker refers to the pattern and process of the weave as well as to the products that are made from these natural materials. When wet, these materials are varyingly pliable and can be woven employing different patterns. Being natural products, each material has its own unique, individual qualities and when dyed, each produces slight differences in color, which adds to the exotic and versatile beauty of wicker furniture.

Rattan, a solid-core vine found in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia, is extremely strong and will not break, warp or splinter. Its innate strength and versatility make rattan a much sought after material for furniture. The natural fibers offer optimum comfort and its old-world rustic charm combined with its attractive casual look makes it appealing in any setting. Once solid rattan is woven, molded and set, its contours are permanently retained.

Natural wicker, while perfect for use indoors, may not stand up too well to adverse weather conditions and needs to be moved indoors when not in use. Weather wicker, which looks and feels like wicker but is constructed out of soft, woven vinyl is a better option for use outdoors. A synthetic material, vinyl is resistant to temperature variations, UV rays and rain and is easily cleaned making it ideal for use as patio and garden furniture. High quality weather wicker furniture resembles the beauty and design of the finest hand-woven, natural wicker furniture. Beautifully cushions in a wide array of exotic shape, sizes and colors add to the beauty and comfort of weather wicker furniture.

About the Author:

Get rattan furniture from http://www.rattanland.com/

Cleaning for Revival

Upholstery cleaning is a very useful means for reviving your home. Appearance, health, extended wear and air quality are among the reasons why you should become one of the many people that are taking benefit of this.

The nice appearance of your furniture can best be kept by having upholstery cleaning done in your home. Who would want to be the laughing stock of the neighborhood because of a dirty appearance of the upholstery? I can tell you, no one would. Therefore, you should start considering furniture upholstery cleaning! The result can only be an advantage to you, as your furniture will always look as good as new. Furniture upholstery cleaning can even be used in order to avoid the future damages of the upholstery, by spills and other home incidents.

Furniture Covers are a great way to keep your furniture clean, they are so easy and cheap to clean. All Covermyfurniture.com's covers are fully machine washable. You can't get cleaner or cheaper than that!

Carpet Cleaning

There’s nothing better than fresh, clean carpet. The way it looks, feels and smells right after it's been cleaned.

Having a pet can be quite an expensive proposition. Aside from having to care for your pet by feeding it, grooming and regular check ups, there are also other expenses that you might not have thought of. Keeping your home clean when you have a pet can cost more, and it can also be a matter of health. Many people are allergic to pets of one kind or another, with the most allergenic pets being cats and dogs. Unfortunately, for families that own pets, getting rid of them because of an allergy is not always an option. For this reason, keeping the house clean and free of pet dander is essential in having a home that's happy and healthy for the whole family.

Carpeting is a major investment in your home, and regular cleanings are necessary to keep it looking new. Just as the clothes we wear need regular washing to keep them fresh and hygienic, so carpets require periodic cleaning. Accumulated soil and grit are major causes of reduced carpet life, and enable destructive and health harmful mites and bacteria to work unchecked. Cleaning costs are minimal when you consider the replacement cost of carpets and furnishing, so regular cleaning makes economic sense too.

Blending Modern Contemporary Decorating Ideas

Eclecticism is a simple concept of merging themes together. You can mix a number of variables, and then start blending these together to create your own theme.

If you have a few design concepts in mind and do not know which one to choose, it may be a better idea to blend them together. Many people increasingly prefer the eclectic design approach.

So what is Eclecticism? It is a simple concept of merging themes together. You can mix a number of variables, and then start blending these together to create your own personal theme. It's a mix and match approach where you end up having all the good things although they may not belong to one original concept in particular. Although it may prove challenging, the end results often turn up to your liking. After all, it' about creating a harmonious flow of design concepts in your given space.

To begin with, find a common factor such as color. Once this is decided, you need to figure how the furniture is to be arranged and what needs to be discarded. You may have to spend some quality time thinking about this as the final output depends on this thought. Most of the times, you may find the decoration concepts conflicting with each other. The blend is what matters.
You can use a few ideas and modify them as per your taste. Blending these in the right proportion will give you a great look and feel.

Try the Country and Contemporary look. The blend in this case is called Modern Country. Here traditional country elements are used and fit into a new design concept. The new concept reflects the modern age and so includes gadgets and electronics.

Will the Greek theme suit your need? In this case the Greek themes are blended with Roman themes. The result is famously called Greco Roman. Originally these two styles are quite similar and are easy to blend.

Try blending the tropics in a modern setting. The Asian Art and Design is in preference in many countries, and tropical interiors mixed with a contemporary touch can be very pleasing to the eye.

You can begin experimenting with the above mentioned ideas. These are very easy to begin with. Once you have a hang of these styles, you can always add your own touch to polish the final look and feel.

You can graduate to other styles and try complicated combinations to bring about the unique look. After all, that is what matters. Otherwise, why would one think about evolving a new design concept when there are time tested ones already in existence. Creativity knows no bounds. However, even if you are not the creative types, the eclectic approach may well be your savior.

An Endless Source of Home Improvement Ideas

Home improvement magazines contain a plethora of house plan designs, renovation and decoration ideas for the kitchen, bedroom, living room, den and sun decks covering all types of houses and materials imaginable. There are so many, in fact, that the home improvement magazine industry has become a multi-million pound business worldwide, catering to every home improvement and renovation niche.

There are magazines dedicated to do it yourself projects like kitchen cabinets, outside Jacuzzis, above ground pools, patios not only on their printed versions but on their online versions as well. The explosion of the World Wide Web gave added momentum to the publication of home improvement magazines because the web gave them even more exposure, globally and in real time.

More and more home improvement magazines are now publishing their issues on their websites including up to date tips and information on home appliances, materials, paints, wall papers, and other home improvement related products making it virtually impossible for the wife or DIY enthusiast to miss an issue.

Reading and browsing these magazines enable you and me to pick up ideas from various dependable sources, compare them and finally choose the better one or incorporate them in designing our own homes and the rooms within, especially the kitchen, bathroom, master bedroom and the living room.

Some sites even offer a virtual tour or a walk through of particular designs and models in order to get a first hand and realistic interpretation of how it would actually look like even before the first nail or screw is bought!

This innovation of the online version compared to the printed version is enough to inspire us to make necessary renovation changes in our homes and kitchens. You can even have real-time modification of changes you want from color, to material, to appliance placement and cabinet construction including effects of the various types of lighting fixtures.

Bringing your renovation ideas to reality however may be a pretty expensive option if you follow the home improvement magazine advice and techniques to the letter. What you see on screen and on the printed page look really good and beautiful because they do not have any financial constraints like you and me. However, with careful planning and judicious choice of materials, you can without a doubt duplicate that very striking cabinet on the page in time for your wife’s birthday!

Continue browsing and reading those home improvement magazines and pick out the styles you want; when the right time comes, you can then bring them to reality in your own home at considerably lesser cost and without jeopardizing your budget!

About The Author:

Vincent Yim - founder of http://TropicalHomeImprovementIdeas.com