Occasionally I enjoy the Home Channel.

Sometimes it’s a little “girly”, but other times it gives you a little “Useless Knowledge”

Anyway, today I saw this little tip:

Once you’ve hung your painting using the nail you normally use, place a little Prestik behind the picture frame and stick it to the wall.

The nail will support the picture, the Prestik will prevent it from moving.

This will help you keep your photos and paintings hanging straight!

Of course, you don’t always have to use nails to hang your pictures. For the light ones, I hang them with Prestik anyway.

Just don’t go hanging heavy and expensive paintings or frames with Prestik. It’s not 100% secure all the time, depending on your wall, age of the Prestik, etc.

For the non-South Africans reading this, I’ve just realised that Prestik is a South African product. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about it:

Prestik is a rubber-like temporary adhesive that is marketed in South Africa, and manufactured by Bostik.

It is water resistant, and can be used in temperatures from -30C to 100C. It can be used to secure things in place, such a pieces of paper on walls or fridge doors.

It is similar to Blu Tack.

So it looks like Blu-Tack is the way to go for people in other lands

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2010. | Home Channel Tip #6: Keeping your paintings straight | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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Our wedding photographer took excellent photographs at our wedding, as I mentioned in my article where I reviewed our wedding photographer. But, we just had the photos sitting in the wedding album which we would take out and show people if they hadn’t seen it yet (and if they asked… I promise we weren’t forcing it on people ).

But, almost 2 years down the road, we don’t get many requests to see the album, so we finally got around to getting enlargements made of a couple of our wedding photographs, and are hanging them up.

All I can say is: WOW

The difference a great looking photograph that has been framed well can make on a room is amazing. It is definitely something you should think about doing if you haven’t done it yet.

We enlarged our photos to an A4 size, and framed the black and white photo in a black frame, with a white border. It’s not TOO expensive to do, though it isn’t cheap either, but it is worth it!

And, if you’re looking for a great photographer, go check out our wedding photographer’s site.

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2007. | Use your wedding photographs | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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If your study is anything like mine, the colors can be a little drab. Dark wood seems to be quite the rage at the moment, and, with our cream painted walls and dark wood study desk and display cabinet/book shelves, our study is pretty much a black and white room. My tip is: Add some color with an abstract painting.

Choose a wall, and get some art that will take up a lot of it. It will be a focal point for your study, as well as a detractor from the lack of colour in your study. Of course, lack of color is not the only reason to put up art in your study, and abstract art is not the only way to put some colour into your study, but it’s a good way to do it, in my opinion.

Do you have any experience in adding a dash of color to your study (or other room in your house)?

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Decorating a study – Color | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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At The Columbian there’s an article on “Decorating Trends for 2006″. It talks about how “Designing a room has become more about comfort and function, while infusing luxury with playfulness and fun”. It even mentions how the use of “bling” – sparkling things – is making it’s way into the home (probably from a hip-hop star’s fingers and neck?!?).

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WHIOTV.com tells a story of a little girl who got stuck in a safe at a Home Improvement store in Miamisburg. It looks like she climbed in and the door closed behind her. She’s going to be ok though…

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wiseGeek (a GREAT website) has an article about “what should you consider before starting a home remodeling project”. It helps you answer the following questions:

• 1. Do I need a building permit?
• 2. Am I capable of performing this home remodeling project myself?
• 3. Will this home remodeling project address the actual problem?
• 4. Can I find reliable and licensed contractors?

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The Orlando Sentinel has a good article listing some decent websites that you can use to help you with your interior design, etc… For example, there’s Plan3D.com that has a package you can use to design your home, including your landscaping. Looks like a VERY usefule product, even if it’s not one of a kind.

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Designer’s eye, first steps, and other stories | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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When you visit other people’s homes, look around and see what you like. You don’t have to copy it directly, but look for ideas that you could use around your house.


When you go shopping, especially to furniture stores, take note of how the furniture is decorated. You have to realise that the shops main function is to make their furniture seem appealing to a customer, so it is in their best interest to decorate it/arrange it in an appealing manner.
Browse the internet. Their are TONS of websites that show you Interior Decorating tips and tricks. There are even website that show you interior decorating photos. These are a good resource for you to get ideas.

I hope you enjoyed my Ten Tips for a better looking home… Please leave me some comments on what you did/didn’t like so I can improve.
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© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Home Decorating Tip #10 – Take a look around | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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Give each room a function, and make sure that each function can be fulfilled in the room.

2 obvious examples:

• The lounge needs seating, but also a coffee table for people to put their cups down. Try not to force people to do things they don’t necessarily enjoy doing, like holding a hot cup of coffee until it’s cool enough to drink. You can definitely make your coffee table a feature of the lounge.
• The bedroom definitely needs a bed to sleep on. But it is really helpful to have a bedside table next to the bed, and even possibly a bedside lamp on top of that…

So, things to go shopping for today: Coffee tables, lamps and bedside tables… All very useful, and yet all necessary extras for the room they will go in.

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© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Home Decorating Tip #9 – Give each room a function | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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Don’t make your guests (or yourself) climb over things or have to dodge furniture. Try and make your rooms easily accessible by people, even when there is a large number of people.

To create easily accessible “paths” around your house, try the following ideas:

• Leave sufficient space between furniture so that people can easily go between the furniture
• Use a focal point as a “destination” to draw people on a specific path – A painting at the end of a path or passageway works well
• Make the destination of a path functional – For example, in a lounge, make sure you can get to the entrance, lights and seating without too much hassle

Something as simple as Traffic Flow may not seem important, but your guests are more likely to remember your house for bad traffic flow, than for good.

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© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Home Decorating Tip #8 – Create easily accessible paths | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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You could automatically have a focal point in the room ready, in which case you want to highlight and/or enhance the attraction of this feature. Here is a list of things that could be a focal point, or help create/improve a focal point;

1. Fireplace
2. Windows
3. A Painting or Photo on the wall
4. A mirror
5. A vase with flowers
6. A wine rack

And, of course, it doesn’t always have to be inside the house. Here are some tips and ideas for creating a focal point in the garden:

1. Water fountain
2. Bird Bath or Bird Feeder
3. A nice tree or shrub, especially a colorful one
4. A garden path (leads your eye to a point)

Something to remember: keep the focal point in line with your theme/decor. It will enhance the effect when it blends and yet stands out at the same time. (Does a Japanese Bonsai tree in a cemented back yard REALLY count as a focal point???)

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© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Home Decorating Tip #7 – Create a focal point | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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There are a number of ways light can enhance the ambience of a room:

• Accent lighting – For lighting up your paintings or your artwork
• Atmospheric lighting – Soft lighting for the dining room or bedroom, for example
• Task Lighting – For example, the spotlights over the bar or kitchen counter
• Reading lights – Like the new desk lamp you’re going to buy

There are a lot of good sites and shops out there for you to take a look at. I suggest taking a look around to see what would suit you best.

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© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Home Decorating Tip #5 – Use good lighting effects | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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A frame can really enhance the effect of a picture or a photo. I’ve had many a picture that was “nice”, but when I put it in a frame, it turned out like a great picture. If you’d like to try this, I recommend adding a border around a photo you have on your computer using something like PhotoShop (or GIMP, for a free tool). You’ll notice the difference immediately.

And, use a frame that goes with the decor of the room. There are many types of picture frames out there. There are simple, modern ones, and some very decorative frames. Like I said, keep it inline with the decor of the room.

Browse around and see what’s out there. As I’ve said in previous articles, look for examples. Look at photos, shops or catalogs and try and see if there’s something that would compliment your home.

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© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Home Decorating Tip #4 – Decorate the walls | No comments yet. Click here to add yours... |

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