Interior Design

How To Complete a Successful Ceramic Tile Installation

If laying ceramic tiles is totally new to you, “5 Steps to complete a successful ceramic tile installation” is a set of basic but important tips that you will help you avoid making costly mistakes on your next bathroom or ceramic tile installation.

1. Plan which Tile
2. Shop around if you want to save
3. Prepare the surface for a long lasting job
4. Lay the tiles
5. Finishing touches

Plan which Tile

This step is often underestimated and sometimes even forgotten (can you believe it?). Planning your ceramic tile installation from A to Z is probably one of the most important steps for a smooth, easy going and problem free bathroom tile installation.

Some things to take in account are;

• Suitability of the tile
• Pattern /colour of the tile
• Size of the tile
• Size of the area to be tiled. (This is important data that will be vital to know how much tile, grout, etc, you have to buy)
• Adhesive, mortar or grout to suit your needs

Not all ceramic tile installations are the same, different tiling installations may require different mortar or grout. DO NOT feel shy about asking the suppliers for advice or help in calculating how much you need. They will gladly help you, as they are likely to make a sale.

Shop around if you want to save

This isn’t as difficult as the first step, however when the budget is tight it can be tricky to find the right tile for the ceramic tile installation you want. You are going to have to make some compromises and so don’t get carried away by the beauty of some of the ceramic tiles. Prices can vary a lot between different tiles, so some end up rather expensive for only a few square metres.
Always shop around, it has never been easier. Just sit in front of the computer and use the Internet. Use local directories to find the suppliers close to you and pay them a visit.

Before making your final decision always check the chosen tile under different lights as the results can be surprisingly different.

Prepare the surface for a long lasting job before laying the ceramic tiles

The surface to be tiled (floor, wall or any other) will often need to be prepared, this can include work like filling, levelling, smoothing, priming and sometimes water proofing.

The right preparation will be directly affect the lifespan of the ceramic tile installation. Unless you want to be tiling again soon, you want to get this right from the start.

This is probably the most important point to ensure a long lasting tiling job. Don’t rush it.

Laying the ceramic tiles safely

The technique of laying ceramic tiles is not especially difficult. It only takes a little bit of practice before anyone can easily master it. Clearing the room to be tiled before starting will help you to do the job safer and easier. Don’t forget to wear your safety goggles when cutting or chipping tiles.

Laying ceramic tiles can also be a bit messy, if you don’t want dust all over the house we suggest sealing the room you want to tile whenever possible. A large piece of plastic tacked to the door frame will do the job quite well.
Try not to allow any adhesive to get on your skin and never forget to read the manufacturers directions before even opening the tin. If some ends up on you, just clean it with water as soon as possible. Even though tile adhesives aren’t usually abrasive, if you leave it for some time it may cause an allergic reaction.  Use a spirit level to help you with the depth & level of the tiles and spacers to maintain an even distance between them.

The finishing touches

Once the tile adhesive or mortar has cured (dried) and the tiles are firm and even, you can start with the finishing touches. You’ll have to fill the spaces between tiles with grout making sure you don’t leave any gaps as these cause damp problems, in a shower for example. The technique is very simple, use a rubber faced trowel to spread the grout and a cotton cloth to clean the excess grout from the tiles afterwards.

There are many different types of grouts; you’ll have to choose the right one depending on the surface and chosen tile.

Now that you have your ceramic tiles laid down, you only need to take care of them, usually manufacturers provide information on taking care of their tiles and only minimal effort is required. Most household cleaning products will do the job well, if some particular stain is stubborn, there are many commercial stain removers, just make sure you use the right product for the right tile. You are now closer to discovering how satisfying it can be handling a tile installation yourself; just follow these 5 steps to get the best result.

How To Choosing The Best Floor Lamp For Your Home

The right or wrong kind of lighting in your homes can either make or break the whole décor of the place. Therefore, it is important that a lot of attention be paid to lighting as well as light fittings. Proper lighting can increase the aesthetics of a room. In a perfect world, we would be able to change the lights in our houses with every change in the décor of our homes or with every addition of a piece of furniture or art to our rooms. However, changing permanent light fixtures is not only costly; it is also time consuming. A better method of varying the décor of your place with the help of lighting is to use lamps.

An extremely large variety of lamps are available in the market today, catering to all kinds of pockets and décor styles. You can choose a number of lamps ranging from floor to table to hanging lamps for your home depending upon your needs. Out of these, floor lamps are one of the most versatile and stylish looking lamps.

Floor lamps are generally used in room corners, entrance ways and in dining and living rooms. Floor lamps, apart from functioning as a source of illumination, also tend to add to the décor of a room, even when they are not in use, like in the day time. Therefore, it is important that you choose your floor lamp while keeping some basic points in mind. A number of tips given below will help you choose floor lamps that are most suitable for your home.

• First of all, make sure that whatever lamp you buy, it goes with the style and ambience of your room. Buying a Victorian looking floor lamp for a house with a modern décor theme is a complete no no, even if you are getting the lamp at a ninety percent off sale. So take your time and choose a lamp that will enhance, rather than clash with the décor of your house.
• Floor lamps can last a life time if used properly. So if you find a good looking lamp, make sure that it is of a good quality and is durable. Check how sturdy or heavy it is and if the finishing and painting are smooth or not. A floor lamp should be heavy enough not to fall to the ground with the slightest nudge or shove.
• Most floor lamps come as a combination of a separate lamp base and lamp shade. Choose your lamp shade very carefully, and if possible, try to look at it in daylight before buying it to see how good or bad it looks. Your floor lamp will act like any other show piece in your room during day time, so it is imperative that it looks good in daylight also while it is not in use. Needless to say, choose a lamp shade that complements the colors of your room.
• Another important thing that will determine how good or bad your lamp looks is the kind of bulb you use in your floor lamp. While the brightness or dimness of the bulb should be based on the amount of area that you want your floor lamp to light and the purpose for which you need the light, it is important to note that the bulb should be dim enough for the lamp not to look garish or too bright for the eyes.

Oriental-style interior

Theme interior space is increasingly diverse. One theme that is still up to date and happy to be used by many people because these styles are timeless is the Oriental style. Not only the interior of houses, office, and even commercials space such as hotels, restaurants, cafes, and so on. Oriental style is inherited from the Eastern culture that developed covering an area of China, Japan, Korea, to Vietnam, Thailand, to Persia. Culture in the heyday of the Empire at the Palace of China and Japan brought a strong impact and the cultural roots of community life. This culture continued to grow and develop in society in various forms including architectural aspects of buildings.

Oriental concepts in buildings usually appear in the form of a physical building / exterior and interior. Includes roof form, space layout, building form / elements of the building walls, the gate / entrance, to the various types of furniture and accent / ornament space. In the style of today’s modern homes, this oriental concept experienced remarkable evolution. Wealth forms continue to be explored by the designers to make an impression oriental easily applied to the kinds of modern buildings. Form gate / gate and walls of processing elements in the room / building is one example of a direct physical looks from the outside. While election accent / key ornaments and furniture in the interior will facilitate the creation of an oriental style in your room.

For example in Japanesse style interiors, the use of interior decoration materials and furniture from wood. Oriental style tends thick with natural color. Natural elements such as wood, natural stone, bamboo, and painting the walls of the paper more often used. Another popular element in the Oriental style interior is the alphabet known as China or Conji (Kanji), which is usually written into China calligraphy on a sheet of paper displayed on the wall and into the accent / ornament on the space key. The touch of oriental style is also reflected in the selection of red, gold, black, and white for the theme of space. Some Oriental items that can be used to decorate the house such as bamboo, a symbol of religious, ethnic ornaments and wall hangings picture / painting of a dragon or lotus flower.

For the small house that still want to use the concept of oriental but also not leave the concept of green house, try to organize a small dry patch of garden in the house. Because the inner garden concept is already on the layout of the Japanese house in the past. Elements for the inner garden, with or without the element of water is a natural stone both large and small size, sand / gravel, bamboo / other plant space efficient, and where the light from the stone. Additional lighting inner garden will beautify your home.

Dividing Screen Room With Wood

The biggest problem is how the tiny house to provide a complete space, and where to place the rooms, so the house does not seem crowded. Then the next problem is, how to make the house look beautiful.

Main Room
Although the extent of only 60 m2, Javanese-style house is able to provide the main spaces, the dining room, 1 bedroom, living room / living room, kitchen, bathroom and 1 (in the bedroom).

The bedroom and bathroom are in a closed room. While the dining room, living room and kitchen are in a space that “continuous”. To get privacy, all of this space hidden behind the screen / timber wall near the main door (see chart).

Wood bulkhead
What is unique in this house are: limiting the space a lot with wood screen, not the brick wall. Brick wall is only used on the borders with the outside space and bathroom.

This wood is thinner than the brick (the brick wall 15 centimeters thick, while the wooden panels around 5 cm). Thus, this screen does not “eat” too much room, and at the same time make room look more beautiful with a carved-carving.

Invisible
Another trick is done in this house arrangement is to make a hole in the septum. This hole is actually a window, which bought all the teralisnya resembling prison bars.

With this barred window, standing anywhere we can look into another room. From the foyer to look up into the bedroom, the kitchen could look up into the foyer. The house was not visible so crowded.