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Do you like what you have but dont like your room? Heres the solution: pull your rooms together so they look finished and professionally decorated by following these techniques to add the wow to your rooms! (Ive used them in hundreds of homes!).

1. Paint the walls and ceiling a rich, warm neutral color or one of the colors in your rooms fabrics. Your furnishings will immediately look more at home. I call it marrying your architecture to your furnishings.

2. Next, move your seating away from the walls and group it around a fireplace, a view window or any logical focal point.

3. Now, add a generous area rug to accent and unify your entire seating area.

4. Fill any empty looking corners with large plants and soft up-lights. Add a decorative, folding screen for a fuller look.

5. Place your lamps to evenly and softly light your seating area. Use additional lighting to accent your artwork, collections and accessories.

6. Create a focal point on the coffee table by elevating one of your favorite accessories on a stack of several books (sans covers). This will give your treasure more presence. Then add a low, full green plant or a blooming orchid and a couple of large, glowing candles. If you like a fuller look, use a decorative tray or runner underneath.

7. Lastly, be sure to decorate the top half of your room (from the furniture up), with tall plants, window treatments, artwork and that wall color. The room will feel considerably larger, more interesting and most importantly finished!

These few changes will make all the difference so you can start enjoying living in a beautiful home!

Mary L. Brown of One Day Design is an interior re-designer who specializes in quickly transforming rooms using the furniture, accessories, and artwork people already have to give them a professionally decorated look! She’s been featured on FOXTV, NBC and HGTV. Download Marys FREE Top 10 Decorating Mistakes (and How to Avoid or Fix Them!) and sign up for her FREE decorating eNewsletter at http://www/OneDayDesign.com

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Price : $79.99

Features

• Crafted from 100% pine - Unfinished - Some assembly required.
• Great for scrapbooking or other hobbies!
• Perfect for organizing home or office.
• 8 generously sized Drawers and included casters for extra flexibility
• Unit size: 20"W x 13 5/8"D x 40 3/4"H

Product Description

Handy, multi-purpose cart provides endless storage possibilities. Organize your office paperwork and supplies, children’s games or drawings, small toys, projects or hobbies. The perfect companion for the artist, hobbyist or scrap booker! Six generous drawers can store any number of art supplies or scrap booking paper. Easy-roll casters adds to the flexibility of this cart.

Customer Reviews

Review date : 2008-07-26
When I bought this cart, it did not say unfinished in the title. Apparently, my e-mail changed their deceptive advertising. First of all, the company does not stand behind their product. Our product came with a broken board. Well, this product came while we were on vacation and after the shock of finding out that it was unfinished and trying to figure out how to finish it, we did not inspect everything for a couple of weeks. The company only gives you 24 hours to inspect the product and let them know if anything is broken. However, they don’t tell you this in any of the packaging. So, if we want to get a replacement board, we have to pay to have it shipped to us. I have never met a business that has a 24 hour return policy. Most businesses have a 30 day return policy. Secondly, this product is not quality furniture. Besides the broken board, most of the pieces have gouges and knicks all over it. The wood on the drawers where you have to connect things is so thin that, even being extra careful, three drawers broke as we were trying to connect them. So, we basically have a broken, glued together, useless piece of junk that is an eyesore. This is not worth the 114 dollars plus the 80 bucks in paint and painting supplies it took to finish this eyesore. The company also was very curt in their e-mails and have done nothing to provide recompense for this piece of junk. The only thing that has changed is the advertising of the product, which is good for other people, but not us. I regret the day I bought this product. There are much better cabinets out there that might cost more money, but they are probably better quality and finished when you receive them.

We know how difficult and frustrating it can be to find an experienced, qualified contractor or tradesmen/women! I am sure most of you have heard many horror stories from friends and family and most of them have probably been true! But it doesn’t have to be that way. While it’s not easy to find a competent, ethical, do-right contractor to work on your home or business, it CAN be done so read on for some practical advice!

Real world information is very hard to find when you are starting your search. Newspapers and and magazine articles mean well but none of them are able to provide you with real testimonials and experiences of previous customers who worked with any particular contractor.

We have put together a quick checklist for you below:

GET REFERRALS!

The best way to start is through friends and family. However, these referrals need to be qualified and checked as well. For example, your friend might have used a great contractor for her garage addition but may have no idea whether the company is also experienced in kitchen cabinets and tile replacement. You need to find out whether the referred company is also experienced in the specific job you are interesting in getting done.

Hardware stores and material manufacturers are also a good resource. But once again, make sure you check references and portfolios.

Engineers, architects and other contractors in similar industries are also an excellent resource. Once again, check all references and experience regardless of how good the referral sounds.

Spend some time and research each candidate. Check with the search engines for anything you may find. And most important of all, trust your instincts.

PREPARE BUDGETS AND SPECIFICATIONS

If you are serious about finding a good contractor, it will be important for you to be realistic about your budget and the work you can afford to complete.

Any professional contractor and tradesperson will appreciate the fact that you have prepared your specifications in advance and will be more responsive as a result. He/she will also be able to quickly determine if you can afford what you want, will help determine how much of what you want is possible with your budget and you’ll have the assurance that everyone you’re interviewing is pricing the same job. Many times, contractors seem unreliable or unresponsive because customers do not seem serious about the work they need done or have no idea how much things will really cost. Do your homework in advance and you will get a much better response.

CHECK REFERENCES!

We CANNOT stress enough how important this step is!! Before you give your final word and sign on the dotted line, make sure you follow these steps:

1. Make sure your contractor is INSURED for both Worker’s Compensation and General Liability. Don’t take the contractor’s word or accept a copy of an insurance binder from the contractor. The only secure way is to get the name of the contractor’s insurance carrier, look the number up in the phone book yourself, then call and ask for a Certificate of Insurance. The carrier will be happy to send you one in the mail.

2. Check the contractor’s professional associations. For example, contractors who are members of NARI (The National Association of the Remodeling Industry) are usually the type who take pride in their professional credentials.

3. Find out how long the contractor has been in business. Many small businesses go out of business in less than a year. Make sure your contractor doesn’t run out of capital on your job.

4. Call the company’s bank and find out whether their account has been handled responsibly.

5. Find out how long the contractor has been working with his crew? A long-time crew is a sign that your contractor treats his workers well and that there should be no revolving door on your project. You want to avoid the “learning curve” new employees bring to a project in progress as much as possible.

6. Find out what will be handled by the contractor’s staff and what will be subcontracted? Get names of the subcontractors and call them. Ask if the contractor pays on time? How reliable is he? Also ask for the names of suppliers and check out the contractor with them.

7. Find out how many other projects the contractor will be working on simultaneously if you choose to hire him/her. Will the contractor be able to devote the time you need to your project?

8. Ask the contractor to provide you with references of projects similar to yours and call them up.D id the job stay within budget and on schedule? Was the site kept clean? Did the contractor pay his bills? Would you work with this contractor again? Ask if you can visit to see the results of the project.

And finally, just like anything, go with your gut feeling. For more info on how to find a good contractors, come back for the second part of this article where we will discuss how to negotiate a good contract before beginning the work!

Good luck and happy building and remodeling.

Ken Krysinski

The above article was written by Ken Krysinski, co-owner of online contractor referral service http://www.quotecity.com QuoteCity matches home and business owners who have home improvement and maintenance projects, to qualified and available contractors.

[tags]contractors referrals, home improvement, custom home building, hire a contractor[/tags]