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	<title>Home Improvement</title>
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	<link>http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com</link>
	<description>More about lowes home improvement, home decorating, bedroom decorating ideas and home interior design</description>
	<pubDate>Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:15:40 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>10 Home Decorating Ideas To Quickly Update Any Room</title>
		<link>http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/home-decorating-ideas/10-home-decorating-ideas-to-quickly-update-any-room.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/home-decorating-ideas/10-home-decorating-ideas-to-quickly-update-any-room.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 May 2009 07:31:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator></dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Home Decorating Ideas]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lowes-homeimprovement.com/?p=3</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Not all home decorating ideas require a heavy investment of time and money. If you&#8217;re looking for a few affordable home interior decorating ideas to freshen up a room over a weekend, try these ten:
1. Rearrange The Furniture- Pull your furniture away from the walls. Try positioning it at intriguing angles. For example, a sofa [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Not all home decorating ideas require a heavy investment of time and money. If you&#8217;re looking for a few affordable home interior decorating ideas to freshen up a room over a weekend, try these ten:</p>
<p>1. Rearrange The Furniture- Pull your furniture away from the walls. Try positioning it at intriguing angles. For example, a sofa arranged diagonally across a narrow living room will make the room look wider.</p>
<p>2. Paint A Wall- Paint one wall your favorite color and make it the focal point. Hang interesting art on that wall and move a nice piece of furniture there. (Note: Make sure that the color is one that is shared with several other objects and fabrics in the room.)</p>
<p><span id="more-3"></span>3. Bring In Plants- Greenery always adds a breath of fresh air to a room. If you don&#8217;t have a green thumb, try silk plants and trees. The quality has gotten so good that its hard to distinguish them from the real thing.</p>
<p>4. Lay An Area Rug- An area rug is a wonderful way of defining a conversation area. Try one that complements the room. Lay it at an angle beneath your coffee table.</p>
<p>5. Hang Pictures or Mirror- Hang pictures that reflect your personality. Try frames that are more ornate. When hanging a mirror, try and position it so that it reflects and nice view or an interesting architectural element.</p>
<p>6. Group Figurines- Pull out your favorite collectibles. Show off your personality. Find a display area and group related objects together, in sets of three or five. Try and vary the shapes.</p>
<p>7. Add Decorative Pillows- The good news about decorative pillows is that they are an easy way to add textures and patterns to a room. Still better, they can be changed to jazz up a sofa or chair before your room is ready for a major makeover.</p>
<p>8. Replace Lamps- Lamps are probably the one thing in your home that will give others a clue that your room is outdated. Seek out new and fresh lamps that make a statement.</p>
<p>9. Add A Throw Or Afghan- Similar to decorative pillows, throws and afghans add texture to your furniture. They come in all kinds of natural and man made fabrics. Find a pattern and style that you like.</p>
<p>10. Eliminate Clutter- Clutter has a way of eliminating the desired mood and effect of any room. Find storage spaces for papers, toys, and other items that take from the personality of a room.</p>
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		<title>Home improvement : About Ceramic Tile Kitchen Countertops</title>
		<link>http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/home-improvement/home-improvement-about-ceramic-tile-kitchen-countertops.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/home-improvement/home-improvement-about-ceramic-tile-kitchen-countertops.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:54:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator></dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Home Decorating Ideas]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/?p=6</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Ceramic tiles for kitchen countertops have become a must have in home buyers&#8217; kitchens.
Whether you prefer glazed, porcelain, quarry or mosaic, these tiles are versatile and come in an array of designs, colors and shapes. A design savvy look, country flair, artistic interest or upscale appearance can enhance your kitchen countertops surface that&#8217;s low maintenance [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ceramic tiles for kitchen countertops have become a must have in home buyers&#8217; kitchens.</p>
<p>Whether you prefer glazed, porcelain, quarry or mosaic, these tiles are versatile and come in an array of designs, colors and shapes. A design savvy look, country flair, artistic interest or upscale appearance can enhance your kitchen countertops surface that&#8217;s low maintenance but high in style. Tile countertops are also a great idea for completing your kitchen renovation since tiles are not only durable but are heat resistance.</p>
<p>Be creative and always design your kitchen tile layout the way you like it. One interesting way to do it is to tile your backslpash. Be sure to put colorful, unique and single designs tiles in between plain fields tiles. You can do multiples of the same design tiles or each can have a different design or color. To make your kitchen come alive, use beautiful kitchen tile with attractive colors or designs. Your kitchen tile can standout or contrast, but you always want them to blend in with what you&#8217;ve got going on the cabinets and the floor. You do not want to get dizzy walking into your kitchen from all the &#8220;busyness.&#8221;</p>
<p><span id="more-6"></span>Murals also are a nice addition for your backsplash or you can add picture, marbles or things you collect for added interest. You do not want to get dizzy walking into your kitchen from all the &#8220;busyness.&#8221;</p>
<p>It seems though more and more home buyers are demanding granite kitchen counter tops.</p>
<p>Granite provides a beauty and warmth and it is ideal for aesthetic appeal in home design. Granite and its popularity are a little pricey with prices starting at 60.00 a foot installed. Although they are very popular, solid granite countertops may not be for everyone. A homeowner may not be willing to pay the price because of limitations on resale value. In situations like these you can always go to the granite tile countertops as an alternate means. The granite tile countertops are designed from the same desirable stone as the solid granite with all the desirable elements remaining the same. Granite tile countertops can withstand putting hot pots/pans on the counter. They also serve as an excellent surface for handling dough and confectionery. Granite tile countertops have such a natural beauty that compliments almost any style cabinetry. Granite tiles are very versatile and offer a wide range of ideas and options for installations. If you are not wanting to install granite tiles all over your kitchen consider doing just your island top for a focal point and conversation piece. These will make the tiles pop against the design choices you have made in your kitchen.</p>
<p>Granite tiles provide a great choice for the homeowners on a budget and can easily be done as a week-end project. The practicality choice of granite tile countertops can be set into any other material including laminated counter tops or solid wood. Clever design plans allow the homeowner to present their own style and taste without great expense.</p>
<p>The granite countertop appeal can not be compared to any other.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>About Clean Air And Air Conditioners</title>
		<link>http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/home-improvement/about-clean-air-and-air-conditioners.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/home-improvement/about-clean-air-and-air-conditioners.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:04:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator></dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/?p=9</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When it’s scorching hot outside, air conditioners can really work wonders in keeping you cool! You need not be surprised if you find people darting through the street merely to rush into an air-conditioned room. But remember, that cooling yourself is not the last thing; staying healthy and fresh is what should be uppermost in [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When it’s scorching hot outside, air conditioners can really work wonders in keeping you cool! You need not be surprised if you find people darting through the street merely to rush into an air-conditioned room. But remember, that cooling yourself is not the last thing; staying healthy and fresh is what should be uppermost in your mind. This is exactly what a good air conditioner should do for you, because apart from cooling the room, an air conditioner also filters the air flowing into it. A quality air conditioning machine has a proper set up which thoroughly filters the outside air and allows only the clean air to enter.</p>
<p>What you need, is an air conditioner that comes with an inbuilt air filter. The air conditioners available in the market are not quite capable of draining out everything harmful for you. So if you are really concerned that a regular inhaling of dust, fumes and smoke can affect your health in the long run, you should go for a high quality air conditioner, which has a proper air cleaner in it.</p>
<p><span id="more-9"></span>This type of air conditioning machine in your home or office becomes all the more useful if you or any one in your family happen to suffer from allergies or chronic breathing problems. Having a good air conditioner is not enough, so remember to let your doors and windows open from time to time and purge the impure air out of your room. Your house keeping style should also be taken care of.</p>
<p>To make sure that your air conditioner lasts long and your air filtration set up functions properly, you will have to pay a regular attention to the maintenance of your machine. Don’t defer your maintenance job until your machine finally stops working, or the inside air stops being so pure as it used to be. In fact, experts in this field will suggest you to change your filter every month to ensure the best functioning. But alas! Some people do not bother to budge for even years!</p>
<p>Make it a point to clean and change the filter regularly. This way your air conditioner will drain out the bad air and allow only the clean and filtered air to flow in. So if you want clean air to flow through your home, your only option is to maintain your conditioner regularly. A filter, which is poorly maintained, is unable to clean air properly and decreases the cooling capacity of the machine. On top of that, it uses up more energy, and ultimately leads to a shorter longevity of the air conditioner.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Home Improvement : An ideal bedroom Part2</title>
		<link>http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/bedroom-remodeling/home-improvement-an-ideal-bedroom-part2.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/bedroom-remodeling/home-improvement-an-ideal-bedroom-part2.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 Feb 2009 05:14:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator></dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Bedroom remodeling]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/?p=15</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At will you can finish bedroom walls with wood, cloth, veneer sheet or cork. Natural materials are distinguished by the characteristic structure and color, they do not have cheerless monotony and always look warm and lively, which is especially topical for creating comfort in the bedroom.
Partially the image of the bedroom is defined by color [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>At will you can finish bedroom walls with wood, cloth, veneer sheet or cork. Natural materials are distinguished by the characteristic structure and color, they do not have cheerless monotony and always look warm and lively, which is especially topical for creating comfort in the bedroom.<br />
Partially the image of the bedroom is defined by color that dominates in its setting.</p>
<p>Blue or dark blue plunge you into the thoughts of coolness and sky space. Green tones are associated with spring, freshness, they favor relaxation, but their emotional restraint requires active support from warm colors. Beautiful combinations are made as a result of combining pale shades with rich, saturated color and light.</p>
<p>Yellow gamma is like sun rays, it warms and animates the room, but it is recommended that vast yellow surfaces are freshened with fragments of other saturated colors. It is better to soften orange by combining it with cool key of gray-blue or one can experiment with its pale shades. Red is considered &#8220;to cheer up&#8221;, but it is difficult to wake up in such a bedroom. It is better to use red colors as a light accent.</p>
<p><span id="more-15"></span>Violet is deep and expressive, especially in combination with mild yellow or green background. Ascetic black-and-white gamma is actively used in popular minimalist stylizations. But the best decision for bedroom is thought to be shades of white that remind of baked milk or soft gray that approaches the color of flax linen. Effective are combinations of light and dark, weak and saturated colors.</p>
<p>Textile plays the dominant role in the decorative finishing of the bedroom, even more so because cloth decorations are can be easily replaced at will. The chief textile topic of the bedroom is connected with finishing of the window and the bed. The surface of walls and floor in this case serves as background: monotonous walls harmonize with variegated cloths with saturated colors; patterned wallpapers or a gay carpet, conversely, match one-color textile. However, interesting can be also the decision, when textile and walls are covered with one pattern. Upon basically finishing the bedroom, one can proceed to curtains.</p>
<p>Usually they are made from soft, well-draped clothes. The ideal variant is curtains of medium thickness that disperse intense daylight and soften light contrasts. If the window is on the sunny side, it is better to complement light curtains with thick ones, small screen rollers or Venetian blinds. The shape and pattern of the curtains can change the proportions of the window and influence the geometry of the room.</p>
<p>A small embrasure in the spacious wall can be visually increased by means of covering the whole window wall with curtains. You should avoid using cloth with big pattern in a small bedroom with a great window opening, as this will even more diminish the room. While choosing cloth for curtains, you should also consider a bedspread and bed-clothes. The easiest thing is to make bed-spread from the same cloth, as the curtains, and bed-clothes - by one or two tones lighter. A more original decision is a complex combination of cloths with different patterns and various textures, which reflect light in a different way. Bed-clothes can be combined in the following way: a one-color sheet that matches the general coloring of the bedroom plus multicolored pillow-cases and blanket cover. Have you decided on the planning, style, materials, color and textile? The next stage is choosing the lighting.</p>
<p>It is better to avoid direct, open, collimated light in the bedroom, because it creates deep shadows. Disperse light can be achieved with the help of lamp-shades, plafonds from suffused glass or mosaics - it is the so-called general, orientating light. And finally, it is impossible to imagine a bedroom without accent lighting: table, wall and floor night-lamps, built-in or hung up in the head bed lamps. They calm down and tune in for sleep. These are some brief pieces of advice in design of &#8220;intimate space&#8221; of your house. Of course, advice is not a dogma, but it should be taken into the account, when you get to bedroom in your fantasies about repair-work.</p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Home Improvement : An ideal bedroom Part1</title>
		<link>http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/bedroom-remodeling/home-improvement-an-ideal-bedroom-part1.html</link>
		<comments>http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/bedroom-remodeling/home-improvement-an-ideal-bedroom-part1.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Feb 2009 12:08:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator></dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Bedroom remodeling]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Home Improvement]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.lowes-homeimprovement.com/?p=12</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In special terminology bedroom is referred to as &#8220;the intimate space&#8221;, i.e. the place that is not intended for others&#8217; glances. However, the bedroom in a modern apartment-studio can be only conditionally separated from other zones by light constructive elements: arches, columns, sliding partitions, screens, etc.
According to the tradition, bedroom is isolated and is placed [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In special terminology bedroom is referred to as &#8220;the intimate space&#8221;, i.e. the place that is not intended for others&#8217; glances. However, the bedroom in a modern apartment-studio can be only conditionally separated from other zones by light constructive elements: arches, columns, sliding partitions, screens, etc.</p>
<p>According to the tradition, bedroom is isolated and is placed in one of the far and noiseless parts of the apartment, but at will one can also arrange here a workplace that won&#8217;t allow the premises to &#8220;stand idle&#8221; in the daytime, or the drawing-room.<br />
In the apartment with high ceilings one can make the entresol and place the bed on the second level. As a result, there will appear some additional space for arranging workplace or cloakroom. (By the way, the place to store clothes is one of the main elements of bedroom. Even if it is possible to arrange a separate cloakroom, it would better place it adjacent to the bedroom. A small cloakroom can be separated from the bedroom by the rigid, but light mobile partitions that are commonly used for organizing of fitted cupboards).</p>
<p>One of the original decisions is the podium-case. For this the dais is built in the room and the bed is mounted inside of it. Boxes for bedclothes are placed on the sides. In the case of need the bed easy moves out on rollers.</p>
<p><span id="more-12"></span>The podium area can be used as cabinet (the workplace), library, etc. Such planning of the room empties space for area of recreation (drawing-room).</p>
<p>Not less original is the bedroom in the &#8220;Eastern&#8221; style.</p>
<p>In this case the bed is replaced by the mattress, which, with a help of the carpet, is transferred into the couch with many pillows, when it is necessary to transfer the room into the drawing-room.</p>
<p>Convenient and functional is the version of the bed-transformer that can be risen vertically and hidden, upon necessity, in special fitted cupboard. Finally, one can make zoning with the help of partitions (for example, in the form of the fitted cupboard), sliding doors, but better do with through rack structure or screen. They visually separate one zone from another, do not prevent the access of the light and air and create the feeling of the open space. Additionally you get shelves for books, files or your favorite collection. When you plan bedroom, first of all, you ought to think about the location of the bed.</p>
<p>Usually the head of the bed is put right against to one of the walls. But if you consider it important to orient the resting body along the east-west axis, the bed can be placed freely relatively to walls.</p>
<p>If the bedroom sizes permit, a wide bed can be placed far from walls. In such a way you can create the peculiar &#8220;sleepy island&#8221;, particularly if the bed is round. The special atmosphere for sleep can be created by the canopy. It is a weighty construction that consists of the massive framework, awning and bed curtains. The root of such decision is in our subconsciousness that requires protected, even symbolically, place for sleep.</p>
<p>One often uses such method as rising of the place for sleep to the &#8220;podium&#8221;. Its construction looks like the podium, even sometimes with several steps. The bulk paddy mattress is freely put on it.</p>
<p>The ingenious decorative method is the location of the bed in the niche that can be marked out by the contrasting to the whole interior decorating. It will be nice, if it is possible to design the bedroom with a separate bath that is intended only for owners of the bedroom. Then not only sanitary engineering, but also the dressing table with autonomous illuminated adjustable mirrors will be placed there.</p>
<p>The stylistic decision of the bedroom can be quite different from other rooms.</p>
<p>Solemnity and pathos, which are relevant for the guest segment of the house, are extra here, the atmosphere of personal quarters is to promote relaxation and distraction from everyday concerns, everything should tune you in for rest.</p>
<p>The character of your bedroom, that psychological mood that it causes, greatly depends on the finishing agents, and remarkably, not only their decorative, but also their practical qualities shape the enveloping atmosphere. Generally, people strive to use noise-insulating materials for bedrooms. It is preferable that walls are textural and noise-absorbing. A wonderful material for finishing of the walls is wallpapers. It is better if the surface does not yield blinks, because this is rather tiresome.</p>
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