Summer is drawing to a close, and that means it is time to start your preparation for school. At first, you may think this does not affect your home. However, time schedules in your household are about to get stir up a little bit. Children will be out of the house sooner, more laundry from sporting events, and even more a chaotic schedule may come into the mix. There are a few rooms in our homes which need immediate attention before this all of this occurs, so make sure you prepare your home with these three simple tips.

Laundry Room 

With children going back to school, you may need to expect more laundry. Kid activities and sports may demand more clothing. You want to facilitate a plan to keep washing and cleaning clothes flowing at all times. This can be as simple as investing in laundry baskets and determining laundry days. Installing a “clean clothes” rack in your laundry room can allow clothes to dry and be put away at a more convenient time. You should arrange a game plan with your children to help this process be as smooth and effective as possible. 

Kitchen 

The kitchen also may get a little messier during the school year. Instead of having breakfast together, the mornings can be fast-paced before catching the bus or riding into school. You can establish an area for quick and easy snacks, set up a coffee station, and make sure everyone knows to put their dishes in the dishwasher before they leave. Just be sure to tailor the kitchen to your family’s lifestyle.   

Study Area   

A study area can also serve a great purpose during the school year. In today’s fast-paced society, there are more distractions than ever in the household. Designate a study area for your children and allow them a place to unwind and finish their assignments. Encourage your children to go to the study area right after school to help form strong habits. Make sure it is well-lit, no distractions, and provide areas where they can work, such as a desk or table. 

These simple tricks can help your household flow smoothly into the new school year. Help your children and family work together to keep your house clean and operating for the tasks ahead. For more tips and tricks, make sure to subscribe! 

Of course, you are in love with your tall walls and high ceilings. In fact, such depth makes your home feel more spacious, open, and it allows for the perfect opportunity to capitalize on natural lighting. While tall walls and high ceilings are a dream for many homeowners, it can be challenging to decorate spaces with such depth. In this article, we are going to discuss simple ways you can enhance your tall walls and ceilings so that you create a stunning design. Let’s take a look!

Darker Colors Add More Drama

In smaller spaces, darker colors can completely close off a room, making it appear smaller. However, with high ceilings and tall walls, dark colors will create an intimate and dramatic look. If you are apprehensive about painting your entire space a dark color, consider creating an accent wall using darker tones. It will help amplify the height without overwhelming the design.

Artwork Is a Must

When decorating tall walls, artwork is a must. The best way to complement your tall walls with artwork is to scale up their size. So you will want to choose large pieces that spread over the expansion of your walls. Horizontal art pieces will fill up the emptiness without being overpowering, whereas vertical artwork will also make a bold statement. Vertical art on your tall walls will draw your eyes upwards. You can stick to a single, bold piece of art, or you can venture out and create a gallery. If you are interested in creating a gallery or a grouping of art pieces, be sure to mix up the sizes for a unique look.

Dabble in Textiles

For a super modern look, consider dressing your tall walls in textiles. Find the right swath of fabric that goes with the theme of the room. For example, you can use wooden rods to mount the swath of fabric on the wall. Depending on the scale of the wall, you can install multiple swaths of fabrics.

How do you currently dress up your tall walls and ceilings? Do you already use any of the tips we mentioned? We would love to hear your feedback below in the comment section. Thanks for reading!

Homeowners will need to understand that almost all medium to larger rooms will have a seam. Standard carpets come twelve-foot-wide sizes, so some seams are inevitable. Seaming is a task that takes a keen eye and extreme level of scrutinizing. No seam will be invisible, but creating the perfect seam should make it very hard to see in a glance. Today, we are going to focus on seaming and how it do it yourself. Let’s take a look!

Seaming

If your space is over twelve feet wide, you will need to create a seam on your carpet.  First, measure your room and make your excess cuts.  You will most likely be having cross seams as well to complete your room.  Your carpet must all lay the same direction, so pay attention to how you unroll it before cutting!  Use your row finder to run a row down the carpet with-the-grain.  Using your top cutter blade, cut along your row on both pieces of carpet to create a perfectly straight edge.  Your top cutter can put the blade closer or further from the carpet, so make sure you put the correct distance before cutting.   Create your rowed cuts.  

For your cross seams, you should flip your carpet over and cut from the back.  Using the cut edge, you just created, use your right angle and straight edge to make a perfect 90-degree cut.  Repeat this process for all your cross-seams.  

Once you have made all your seam cuts, roll your seam tape out underneath all the areas you will be seaming.  Your seam tape may have a line down the middle to help keep you perfectly aligned.  Allow this line to run directly down your seam.  Plug in your seam iron into your extension cord and allow it to heat up for seaming.   Pull back your seam and put your iron directly on seam tape and let it heat. Start with all your cross seams and then move into your big seam. Have your carpet kicker nearby with the teeth out and ready to use.  

As you heat your seam tape move down the carpet and meticulously line your carpet’s backing up to begin seaming.  Keep your carpet’s fibers away from the hot seam tape as you go.  Using your carpet tracker and seam weight, follow behind yourself and track the seam and apply weight – this must be a strict procedure, or it will show in the finished product!  If your carpet shifts, use your kicker to move it back in place, carefully!

Seaming carpet takes practice and can be challenging, depending on the design of each carpet. Patterns, textures, backing, and even pile loop can play a significant role in how visible a seam will be. If you missed the rest of our series, be sure to check them out here.

One of the main sought-after features of carpet is its soft, warm comfort. The carpet padding you install under your carpet plays a significant role in your flooring’s comfort. Today, you will learn about carpet padding as well as how to install it in your home. Let’s take a look!

Padding

Now that your room is cleaned and prep, it is time to put down your new padding.  First, roll out your padding in the room.  Carve it right against the inside of your tackless strip using your carpet blade.  Padding can easily wear down your blade, so be prepared to switch your blades multiple times during this process.  A fresh blade will always make a clean cut and prevent tearing in the padding while cutting.  Use your pad stapler to secure your padding.  Be generous to ensure the padding will not move when you lay down your carpeting. Your padding will probably come in six-foot rolls; therefore, you will have seams.  Staple as close to the seam as possible all the way down put stable about every six inches.  Use your duct tape or masking tape to secure all your seams and tape the padding to the tackless strip (while allowing tacks to still breakthrough).  If your room is over concrete, you can only secure your padding with the tape and by adding pad glue.  Roll your padding and apply glue under your padding to secure it down.  You can pour your glue in a zig-zag spread and do not need to spread the glue.  For padding closets or smaller spaces, measure your area and pre-cut your pad for the installation allowing for a little access padding to be cut of when you carve into your padding.

Laying Your Carpet

Decide what way you want your carpet to lie in the room.  Carpet is directional and has a cross-grain, with-the-grain, and against-the-grain direction.  When you lay your carpet, you will need to make sure your carpet you seam is running the exact same direction.  Remember, this is best left for professionals, and seaming can be quite challenging in larger rooms.  Roll out your carpet in the room.  Choose one wall and make your carpet flush against it.  For your excess carpet, roll it back and cut the carpet to remove the excess, so it fits cleaner in the room.

As you can see, there are many steps to having your flooring installed perfectly. Each step serves a crucial part of the end-product. Check out Part 4 to finish off our series.

The comfort and style of carpet will transform your home. However, there is a lot that goes into carpet installation that you may not know. Installing carpet is a laborious task and should be left for the professionals. We put together a simple walkthrough to allow you to have a better understanding of what goes into each installation. From Part One, you know what tools you will need for the job. Now, with your tools ready, you can begin your prep work in the room.

Prep

First, you will need to remove all the furniture from the room.  Take your curtains down and use your screwdriver to remove any floor vents or floor outlets. You need to remove them and store them during your installing.  Next, remove the existing carpet and padding.  Leave the tackless strip around the room down when taking up the carpeting.  If the room did not have pre-existing carpet, install a tackless strip around the perimeter of the room.  If you have a very broken or dry rotting tackless strip in your room, use your pry bar to remove carefully and replace with new strip using your hammer.  Leave a half-inch space from the wall to allow for tucking the carpet.  

For smooth take-up of carpet, cut the old carpet into smaller three-foot strips.  You can roll the carpet and pad up together or separately if you choose.  Use your tape to tape up the old carpet rolls and remove them from your room.  Now you will need to use your floor scraper to remove any access staple and padding in the ground.  Broom the room thoroughly to remove all dust and padding and sweep into your dustpan.  

Like any project, the prep work is a very crucial part of the end product’s success. Do not take short cuts on getting the room cleaned and empty. Having a well-prepped space will allow the installation process to flow easier. Your carpet is now ready to be installed in your home. Check out Part 3 to know exactly what goes into the installation process in your home.

Nothing can completely transform a room’s ambiance and feel quite like carpet.  Carpet can change your room’s appearance, style, and comfort. But not all carpets are made the same, and each unique design and pattern gives you the opportunity to pick the perfect solution for tailoring your carpet to your home’s design style.  

Installing carpet can be quite challenging as well as take a toll on your body; however, if you are interested in how the process is done, we put together a step by step guide to break down for you.  Some carpet is glued down while others may be installed over a pad.  For this article, we will be primarily focusing on traditional, residential carpet installed over padding.  Remember, carpet installation is best left for the professionals and can be quite challenging, but this series will show you all you need to know on how carpet is installed in a home.

Supplies

Most carpet comes in twelve-foot rolls to make it easier to install as well as transport, yet unfortunately, not all rooms are exactly twelve feet wide or smaller-this means you will need to seam your carpet to get the perfect wall to wall appeal.  Here is a list everything you would need to have to install your carpet in your home:

• Carpet of your choice
• Padding
• Tackless Strip
• Floor Scraper
• Broom and Dust Pan
• Pry Bar
• Measuring Tape
• Hook Knife
• Carpet blade with many replacement blades
• Screw Driver
• Hammer
• Pad Stapler and Staples
• Duct tape or Masking Tape
• Carpet Kicker
• Carpet Stretcher
• Extension Cord
• Seam tape
• Seam Iron
• Seam Weight
• Carpet Tracker
• Straight Edge
• Right Angle
• Top Cutter Blade
• Row Finder
• Wall Trimmer
• Knee Pads
• Chisel or Carpet Wall Tucker

There are a lot of tools and time involved in installing carpet. It is best to leave this task for professionals. But once you have all your supplies ready, you can begin your take up process and prep work. Check out DIY Guide for Installing Carpet | Part Two to find out more!

You have spent hours determining what would be the perfect color for your walls, and then you realize “what about the interior trim?” The trim is the finishing touch that does not often get much attention. Many people choose to simply leave the trim the color that it has always been without giving consideration to the beautiful alternatives available. Whether you are thinking of applying a fresh coat of white paint to the trim or using another bold hue on it, here are some ways you can get the look you want:

White Trim

Of course, classic white is always a great choice. Whether you have a plain trim or a more elaborate trim molding, using white paint is always a safe choice. White also works well with colored walls or even white walls. When you pair a white trim with a bold-hued wall or an accent wall, the white trim will further highlight or frame the wall. Also, using white on the trim is a great way to tone down a dominant wall color. The white trim will steal some of the surface area, and the bold hue will not seem as if it is swallowing the entire room.

Neutral Trim

Dressing the trim in a neutral shade is bound to give the room a look of sophistication. Giving the trim a neutral color like grey or brown will create a stately appeal — a neutral trim pairs wonderfully with traditional decor. However, if your style leans more towards contemporary, you can add more modern furnishing to give the room more character. Opt for a neutral trim if you want to highlight an architectural feature, if you have a colored ceiling or if you love a transitional style.

Bold Trim

Are you interested in stepping outside the box by painting the trim a bold color? Since trim typically consists of a small strip of the surface, using bright colors like pink, blue, yellow, or green introduces a pop of color to the space. Bold color trim may be an ideal trim choice for you if you want an eclectic look or if you want to add a new hue without going all out on the walls.

What are your thoughts on trim colors? We would love to hear your opinions in the comment section.

Decorating your home can be both the most exciting and overwhelming project that you have ever done. No doubt, your mind is swarming with tons of design for ideas; therefore, making the final decision on what color scheme you should use is difficult. That is where the 60-30-10 Rule comes into play. This timeless method has helped homeowners put together a color scheme that best complements their home. In fact, it brings balance to the colors used in any space. Let’s see how!

How Do I Use the 60-30-10 Rule?

Sixty Percent

It is a relatively simple concept to use. Sixty percent should be the main color of your room. More than likely, this dominant color would be used on the walls. This rule ensures that the dominant color anchors the space while serving as a backdrop for the color that comes next.

Thirty Percent

The thirty percent is the secondary color. You will be using half as much color as the dominant color. This secondary color should complement the primary; however, they should be distinct enough where a difference could be noted. The thirty percent color can be used on an accent wall, drapes, chairs, and your bedding set.

Ten Percent

Finally, your ten percent serves as your accent color. In a bedroom, the 10% color will be reflected in throw pillows, your bedside lamp, or even a picture hanging on the wall.

Using the 60-30-10 Rule makes it extremely easy to select colors for your decorating scheme since all you need is three colors.

The flooring you choose is a fundamental component of your home. Each flooring can generate a theme in the room as well as come with its own sets of functionalities. You want to make sure you are selecting the best flooring option for your home’s need. In a rental property, you want to find a cost-effective floor that can take a beating from your residents and does not need to be replaced repeatedly between renters. To help, here are three things you should know:

Appealing to the Masses

You want to find an aesthetically-pleasing floor to help close the sale on your home. Never pick a trendy flooring style for rental properties. While this may be your favorite flooring choice, tailoring your floor to the market is vital. Find out what other rental properties use in the surrounding areas.

Durability

Durability is also paramount. Ideally, you want the flooring to last longer than your tenants’ stay and into your next set of renters. However, this may not always happen. Look for durable, stain-resistant carpet if you decide to add soft flooring. If you want a more solid surface option, you have four primary contenders: tile, vinyl planking, solid hardwood, and engineered hardwood. Each has its pros and cons. Some of the floorings cannot handle high humidity or wet areas very well. Make sure you know which floorings are best in which environments before investing.

Affordability

Your next key factor will be affordability. You really need to invest in your market. Find out what is in homes that are renting around your area. “Cheaper” does not always mean it is best for the sale. Try to find an affordable flooring that can continue with the home because flooring is an investment which needs to last. However, do not overspend or personalize a rental to your own desire. While tile and hardwood may seem expensive, there are always less expensive versions of each.

Staying with uniform flooring in the home can help increase the chances of it being rented on the market. Study what renters are looking for in your area and tailor it to them. Never pick a trendy floor or a color that can deter renters. It is all about appealing to the masses while finding an affordable yet durable product.

Everyone loves hardwood floors and their timeless beauty. Not to mention, hardwood is the number one recommend gold standard for floor coverings in the world! From durability to beautiful, hardwood has many features people want in their own homes. Yet, this pristine floor is not ideal for every space. Here are the pros and cons you should know before investing in your hardwood floors:

Pros

Hardwood is a timeless floor that adds instant character and charm to any space. It has withstood the test of time and has been in homes for centuries. You can refinish your hardwood flooring as it wears to make it new over and over. While it can gouge, most hardwood species are extremely resilient to general wear. Being eco-friendly and allergy-friendly, it is ideal for anyone who is looking to be a little greener and cleaner in their homes. This low-maintenance floor is so highly desired, that it is one of the few flooring options that can give a home a high return on investment and up your home’s appraisal value.

Cons

So, with all these pros, it must be perfect for every situation? Not quite. Harwood flooring is beautiful, but it is not the most budget-friendly flooring option on the market. Installation and cost of flooring may be an investment you are not willing to spend. It also does not do justice to dampening sounds or cold conditions. Being a natural, raw element, hardwood flooring can expand and contract. It is vulnerable to water and can easily be damaged by it. Depending on the hardwood, it can be very difficult and usually unfeasible to install in a basement.

What to Look for When Shopping

Recognize that not all hardwoods are the same. You can get many different species of hardwoods which can either be easier to scratch or more durable. All species will take staining differently, which is important to keep in mind if you plan on redoing the floor. Decide if you want an engineered floor or solid hardwood floor. Knowing all these can be impactful to your final decision.

We all love hardwood floors! Putting them in your home is an excellent investment. Make sure to check with your Carpets N More sales representative to see if hardwood floors are right for you. For more information on our hardwood products, visit us here. Thanks for reading!