There are many decorating shows on television these days that transform boring, everyday living rooms into magnificent palaces of
style and fashion. These shows can give you fabulous ideas about what you might like your living room to look like. However, what they do not tell you is that these transformations cost thousands of dollars to perform.
There are not many people who have thousands of extra dollars lying around for a complete living room makeover. However, it is still possible for you to decorate your living room. These low budget
decorating ideas should get your started.
Window Treatments
You may very well be able to find some nice curtains in a clearance decor sale at a local store. That will definitely help you on your way to low budget window treatments. If you cannot, however, you can easily come up with your own idea for curtains.
Flat sheets make easy and elegant curtains right out of the package. You simply pull the curtain rod through the pocket at the end and let them hang. Instead of purchasing expensive curtain tie-backs, you should try to use pretty scarves, sashes, or even sturdy long beaded necklaces. To further dress up the top of the curtains, you can drape a long scarf or beaded garland along the top. Buy a length of ribbon or lace at the craft store and drape that around the curtain rod for a pretty feminine look.
The Couch and Chair
Buying a new couch or chair can cost a lot of money. If the fabric is unattractive or too worn, you can purchase a nice slipcover that will fit it exactly. If you cannot find a slipcover, you can use a blanket or a sheet to tuck in around the sofa cushions.
After you cover the couch, you can update the style by using throw blankets and decorator pillows. It is easy to buy a small throw blanket from a thrift store for a quick decorating idea. Pillows can be purchased of sewn by folding a rectangle of any cloth over an old pillow.
Table Top Glamour
The flea markets and thrift stores are great places to find money saving decor ideas. Old bottles, flower pots, and knick-knacks make great decorations. It is easy to paint older items or leave them weathered for a country home look. Be creative with your decorating, and you will be able to save a lot of money.
Decorating your living room does not have to cost thousands of dollars. By following the tips and advice outlined above, you should be able to create a warm and inviting, or highly stylish, living room in your home.
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Thursday, October 9, 2008
Starting a Wine Collection
There are two main reasons why people collect wine: for money and because they are passionate about it. Regardless of which of these reasons has led you to collect wine you should know that wine collecting requires that you invest some money. You should also know that enjoying fine wine is something that is completely different from having a wine collection. Before you begin your wine collection you should make one very important consideration: Where are you going to store your wine collection? A large part of your initial investment is going to go towards ensuring that you have a place that is suitable for storing your wine. You will want to do this in order to make sure that your wine collection's value will increase. Whether or not you believe it, storage will make a huge difference.
Whenever you keep, collect and protect your wine in a suitable manner it will nicely age into a fine vintage wine. On the other hand, if you do not properly care for your wine, you will be able to taste it. This is because the wine collection's quality will deteriorate.
Once you have chosen a way in which to properly store your wine collection you will be ready to extensively research the wide variety of wines that are available on the market. In your research you will learn that only certain types of wine should be stored for an extended length of time. For this reason, serious wine collectors willingly spend money on books about wine collecting. You will need to spend time reading about and understanding the various types of wine and how each of them should be stored. Another way in which this research can be done is via the Internet. There is a lot of information available on this topic. It is your job to find this information then read and remember it.
After you finally understand how each type of wine should be stored you can create your wine's storage area. Of course you will have had to have already decided what type of wine you want to keep.
Once you have built the area in which you plan to keep your wine you can begin purchasing your wine. Your wine's quality will depend upon how well you are able to store it. You will want your wine to have the best quality so that you will get a higher price for it.
When you go to purchase your wine you will want to ask the seller to give you an authentic certificate. While this sounds trivial it is actually very important because you will want to know for sure that you are purchasing a wine that is of high quality. This is really important if you are going to purchase wine in bulk.
As a wine collector you should try to get a balance of Old World wine from Europe and New Age wine from Australia and Chile. You should also know that wine, which is ready to be drank, and dessert wine are not good wines to store for a long period of time.
You really need to know what you are doing before starting a wine collection. Otherwise you will be wasting a lot of money.
Stay up to date on your PC, the Web, and your mobile phone with Windows Live. See Now
Whenever you keep, collect and protect your wine in a suitable manner it will nicely age into a fine vintage wine. On the other hand, if you do not properly care for your wine, you will be able to taste it. This is because the wine collection's quality will deteriorate.
Once you have chosen a way in which to properly store your wine collection you will be ready to extensively research the wide variety of wines that are available on the market. In your research you will learn that only certain types of wine should be stored for an extended length of time. For this reason, serious wine collectors willingly spend money on books about wine collecting. You will need to spend time reading about and understanding the various types of wine and how each of them should be stored. Another way in which this research can be done is via the Internet. There is a lot of information available on this topic. It is your job to find this information then read and remember it.
After you finally understand how each type of wine should be stored you can create your wine's storage area. Of course you will have had to have already decided what type of wine you want to keep.
Once you have built the area in which you plan to keep your wine you can begin purchasing your wine. Your wine's quality will depend upon how well you are able to store it. You will want your wine to have the best quality so that you will get a higher price for it.
When you go to purchase your wine you will want to ask the seller to give you an authentic certificate. While this sounds trivial it is actually very important because you will want to know for sure that you are purchasing a wine that is of high quality. This is really important if you are going to purchase wine in bulk.
As a wine collector you should try to get a balance of Old World wine from Europe and New Age wine from Australia and Chile. You should also know that wine, which is ready to be drank, and dessert wine are not good wines to store for a long period of time.
You really need to know what you are doing before starting a wine collection. Otherwise you will be wasting a lot of money.
Stay up to date on your PC, the Web, and your mobile phone with Windows Live. See Now
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