Feng Shui Living Room Decorating Ideas

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When it comes to feng shui, the main challenge of decorating a living room is creating a space that is both beautiful and practical but also has a strong and clean energy. If you want your living room to be beautiful but practical, you will need a bit of planning.

Here are some decorating ideas for luxury apartments Upper East Side residents, for example:

Clutter Free and Organized

A clean and organized living room is the foundation for good feng shui. If your space is full of clutter, it cannot have solid feng shui energy, because the two cannot coexist. If you need help clearing the clutter in your home, you should hire a professional interior designer.

Air and Light

When decorating any room in your house, you need to let in as much air and natural light as possible. Good quality light and air are the foundations for quality feng shui energy. If your living room only has a few windows, you should consider adding mirrors to bring in more light that is natural by creating reflections.

Moreover, you can layer your indoor lighting to add to the brightness of any room.

Practical Beauty

Creating a relaxed and welcoming space for children and adults to spend time in can be challenging. Although it is possible to create a beautiful living room, you might worry that your kids or pets will mess it up. This means that no matter how good your room looks, its feng shui will be off.

Living Room Color Scheme

Now that your living room is clutter free, has good quality light and air, and is organized, you should move on to feng shui decoration tips that are more specific. Because color is the expression of light and has a huge impact on mood, you should look at your color scheme. Moreover, each color expresses a certain feng shui element.

Use and Define the Bagua

Bagua refers to the energy map of a space. To create the best energy for your living room space, you should start by defining the bagua of your home. Once you define this area, you will have the clarity to choose the best shapes, materials, and colors based on the feng shui element that you need to support.

Materials and shapes

Just as you have to choose specific colors to create the best energy, you can choose specific decorating shapes to strengthen your desired feng shui energy. Each shape expresses a specific element, which means that you have to check the bagua of your space first. For instance, if you have a living room that faces north, you should go for wavy shapes that resemble the flow of water to create a great energy.

Watch for Balance

Although emphasizing the shapes and colors that are needed for feng shui is important, you should not avoid other shapes and colors completely. For instance, having an all-blue living room in your career area or an all-pink one in your love area is not a good idea. Feng shui is about harmony, health, and balance.

Best Living Room Arrangement

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If you live in Alameda, CA for example, your living room should stand out from the others in your neighborhood. You can do so by selecting the best furniture for your living room. The best arrangement is one where all your guests and family members can feel relaxed. You should leave enough breathing room for everyone and consider basic design principles.

You should create a good relationship between your furniture pieces by working with scale and proportion.

Home Upgrades that Pay off: Minimizing Water Damage With A Return

According to studies done on closed water damage insurance claims, the average amount spent after deductibles was around $4,500-$5,500 for supply/drain system failures and water heater, washing machine, and toilet problems. Additionally, water damage from the roof can cause many problems to the whole house to involve structural, mold, fire and slip/fall hazards, and energy problems.  

Mold & Mildew

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Once the water has leaked into the house for an extended period of time it can cause mold and mildew problems which are very costly. Once the mold is into the HVAC system it can spread throughout the house very easily. Mold spores are so small they easily float through the air and can then be carried extended distances throughout the home.

Mold and mildew problems can arise from plumbing and leaky roofs. This can be very costly to try and rid the house of the mold problem. It can not only cause significant damage to the house but also health problems.

Structural Problems

This can be the most significant problem to a house from water damage. The problem might start out as mold or mildew and then continue from chronic water deterioration of the wood. This causes the wood to essentially rot and lose its support and density. This can be support beams to the house or any other joist, trim, or wall framing.

Ideas to Prevent Water Damage

Water damage is a very costly problem to a house and the best case scenario to prevent any water damage is to understand your age of your bathroom, plumbing, and roof. If there has been significant time since the house was built, then dependent on the financial situation, the best case scenario is to replace or monitor the plumbing or roof.

Replacing the Plumbing

If the decision is made to replace the plumbing, then this would actually be a great time to remodel the bathroom or anything else that is dependent on access to the pipes.

Modern sinks for bathrooms provide a significant value and contemporary aspect to the home. Additionally, it is good to invest for your own self in one of the more private parts of the home.

Maintenance of the Roof

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The roof is not only one of the first things people see when they look at your house but it is ultimately the umbrella of our lives. If the roof fails your house, then your house fails. One cannot really understand this component until the roof decides to falter at the wrong time. However, there is not ever a good time for any roof to fail in our hectic lives today.

Roof maintenance may sometimes involve a complete renovation, which isn’t the cheapest project you can undertake. Thankfully, you can rely on some financial assistance to get the needed renovation works done the right way. Institutions like Plenti offer renovation loans you can take advantage of to help make your upgrade project less expensive. These home improvement loans are tailored to meet your individual needs at great rates.

Roof Maintenance Issues To Address

The roof is one of the most important parts of the house. However, it is also one of the most expensive components of the house to replace. Taking this into consideration, it is best you understand the age of your roof and what to do to keep it maintained for prevention. Cleaning your roof may not come to mind as something you need to do, but professional cleaning can remove mold and unsightly dirt build ups.

Cleaning the Gutters: This should be an obvious fix but many let the gutters go because the damage does not happen instantly. As roofing contractors of NJ, state “to protect your home exterior, gutters funnel rainwater and debris away from your siding.”  

Gutters are also responsible to allow for the water to run off smoothly from the incline of the roof. If the gutter is full of dirt and clogged up then the water might pool up and create moisture or an actual water leak.

Replacing Shingles: Cracked, missing, and partial shingles all allow for water to intrude into the house and/or trap moisture under other shingles.

Replace Flashing: The metal flashing around vents, chimneys, and other openings such as windows or skylights is one of the main trouble areas for water leaks. If there is a water stain in the attic, most of the time the solution is to replace the flashing in the problem area.

If you fix roof problems as they arise or even before, as part of preventive maintenance, you might save yourself (or your insurance company) a large outlay of money.

 

 

 

Brushing Your Hair Leaving You Frustrated?

Every young woman knows the importance of always looking your best. The dress needs to be just right. The shoes need to match the dress. A purse and other accessories need to go with the theme, but they are never to be the same color. And most importantly, if your hair doesn’t look good, you can wear anything you want, and it simply will not matter.  

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While this can be strenuous for any girl, it was much worse for me during high school. My mother owned the most popular hair salon in town and I was used as a walking billboard. It didn’t stop with the way my hair was styled. Everything had to be perfect. Nails, makeup, clothes, sometimes I felt as though I needed to make sure I was walking the correct way.

Needless to say, being caught in public enjoying the comforts of sweats was never an option. I enjoyed the popularity. Looking back, all the pageants and beauty contests were great for my confidence. I felt like I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. Until a couple weeks before homecoming any way.

My hair was literally falling out

To this day, I am still not sure exactly what happened. About five weeks before homecoming, I noticed that a lot of my hair would fall out while I would brush it. It was almost as if I could watch my hair break off. I decided I would just keep the secret to myself. I didn’t even want to think about how my mom would react.

I was able to keep my mouth shut for about ten days. Every morning it would get worse and worse. It seemed like I would spend just as much time removing the hair that has fallen out from my brush as I would brushing. I had to do something. The big dance was starting to get closer and I started noticing the spots on my scalp where I was losing the most hair.

Finally, one evening as my mom was locking up the front of the salon, I broke down and told her about my problem. She asked me to brush my hair so she could see, as if I was making the whole thing up. With a few simple strokes, she was in shock. She took me straight back to the shampoo bowl and found what she called the perfect treatment for what was going on. After using the treatment for three days, the problem was just as bad as before.

Mom to the rescue

That’s when my mom had me start using a Keratin shampoo twice a day. I wasn’t able to notice the difference after a few days, but my mother insisted that I needed to keep using it anyway. This was going to be the answer to my problems. For the first time in a long time, I was thankful for her knowledge of hair treatments.

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As the days continued to pass, less and less hair was falling out. I could actually feel the strength of my hair increasing each time I would brush. As homecoming started getting closer, my confidence began to return in the way I looked. I am proud to say, I was elected homecoming queen two years in a row. The first time it had ever been accomplished at my school.

5 Fun Fashion Trends for Spring

The spring season is almost here, but in a lot of places, you’d never know it.  Here in the South we’ve actually had a very warm winter, but over the last couple of week’s we have some unseasonably cold temperatures.  Needless to say, everyone is ready to pack up the sweaters and coats and bring out that spring wardrobe.  Today I’m going to share 5 spring fashion trends you should be on the look out for.

yoga pants

Athleisure Wear – Yoga pants and athletic wear have been trendy for a while.  And now thanks to companies like Fabletics, the trend may be here to stay.  Now yoga pants and leggings aren’t just for home or the gym.  Now you can pair them with a cute top and wear them to the store, a restaurant and even the office.

I love this trend because it combines style with comfort.  It also adds a lot of versatility to your wardrobe, as you can use one athleisure outfit for multiple purposes and occasions. [Read more…]

Friday Favorites Linky Party – Week 357

Hello everyone! Happy Friday! Welcome to this week’s Friday Favorites party, where we feature YOU and all your latest projects.  This week we have a lovely mix of winter recipes, Valentine’s Day projects, and beautiful home decor!  Please take a look around and be sure to visit all of our featured bloggers and pick out a few posts to visit from this week’s linky.  Have a fabulous weekend!

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Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet HomeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Christine at Light and SavvyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Jen at Creatively HomemadeTwitter | G+ | Pin

Dawn at LeroyLimeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Maisy at Becoming AliceFB | G+ | Pin

Sheree at Stage PresentsTwitter | FB | Pin | Inst | Inst

Lisa at Condo BluesTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small ThingsPin

Penny at Penny’s PassionTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas SkyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

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You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! [Read more…]

Friday Favorites Linky Party – Week 355

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Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet HomeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Christine at Light and SavvyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Jen at Creatively HomemadeTwitter | G+ | Pin

Dawn at LeroyLimeTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

Maisy at Becoming AliceFB | G+ | Pin

Sheree at Stage PresentsTwitter | FB | Pin | Inst | Inst

Lisa at Condo BluesTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small ThingsPin

Penny at Penny’s PassionTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas SkyTwitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

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You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party! [Read more…]

Steps to Maintain Your Car

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CambialoConQS #CollectiveBias 

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We recently got a car for our 16 year old, and from school to work, to back home, and everywhere in between, he’s already put a couple thousand miles on it.  Then we have a family car that my husband drives to work and we use for shopping, and running errands. (And till this year, it was also the car I would drive to take Noah to school.)  Needless to say, having our cars in tip top shape is very important to my family.  Luckily my husband is an expert of fixing practically anything, and he’s great at working on cars.  Today I’m going to discuss a few steps that you can take to make sure your cars maintained. [Read more…]

Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches with Red Vinegar Sauce + El Yucateco Sweepstakes

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #KingOfFlavor #CollectiveBias

Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches with Red Vinegar Sauce

This summer we’ve been making the most of our grill and smoker!  One of my family’s favorite summertime cook out foods is pulled pork sandwiches. The secret to our delicious pulled pork is a yummy red vinegar sauce that we make using El Yucateco® sauces.  Today I’m sharing a special sweepstakes from our friends at El Yucateco®, and I’m going to show you how we make the secret sauce, and I’ll also tell you about our method for cooking and serving up our delicious pork sandwiches. [Read more…]

Friday Favorites – Week 329 – With Peach Recipes

Hello everyone.  Thank you for stopping by for this week’s party. For this week’s party, I have some delicious peach recipes, including a cobbler, peach bread, and peach tarts! Yum!

Also, I want to thank everyone who’s applied to be a party hostess.  I’m still making final decisions on who we’ll be adding to the roster, and I’m also considering a few changes to the party that I think everyone will love.  In the meantime, if you are interested in hosting and didn’t see last week’s announcement, or you didn’t get a chance to apply, you can find the form at the bottom of this week’s party post.

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Hosted by:

Simply Sweet Home
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MustLoveHome

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A Heart Full of Love

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Our Secondhand House
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Homemade & Yummy
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LeroyLime
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Making Time for Me with a TAZO® Chai Tea Latte

This post was sponsored by Starbucks as part of an Influencer Activation. I received compensation and complimentary products to facilitate my review.

Making Time for Me with a Tazo Chai Tea Latte

How your mornings start can usually tell you a lot about how the rest of your day will be.  What’s your morning like? Do you stumble in a zombie-like state to your Keurig® machine for that delicious cup of coffee or tea? Is your morning filled with chaos, as you struggle to get breakfast on the table for the kids? Or do you sit down at your desk to work only to find it hard to get motivated?  If you can say yes to any of these questions, you are probably in need of a little “me time” in the morning. [Read more…]