What Floors Can a Charcoal Quartz Countertop Go With?

Light or dark charcoal quartz countertops create a powerful design statement in the kitchen, but if you set them with the wrong type of flooring, it may detract from your entire decor and color scheme. Fabric and color choices are always subjective, however a few flooring materials and colors certainly look better than others. And don’t forget to consider your cabinet materials and shade, as they need to also play a role in your flooring choice.

Fifty Shades of Gray

Don’t let your charcoal countertop give your kitchen a schoolmarmish appearance; rather, let its sultry and hot side expression with its 50 hues of gray story instead. Always examine the charcoal quartz for all the other colors that are hidden within it. Pull among the many lighter shades of gray out of it for your hardwood flooring alternative. Extra-wide plank Charleston gray oak floor finishes off the kitchen with a nod to the gray from the countertop when giving your kitchen its hotness element. Stunning antique white glass-faced closets completes the look.

Gray Bamboo

A bamboo flooring in the kitchen is durable and comes in a vast array of colors. Search for bamboo flooring that contains soft peachy browns, variegated streaks of whites, browns and gray or the weathered appearance of a creamy seaside bleached-by-the-sun boardwalk. The flooring will create its own statement, but it is going to nonetheless let your charcoal granite countertops require center stage. To get a bold appearance, go for toned-with-gray pale green cabinets.

Whiter Shade of Pale

Charcoal countertops put upon bleached beech cabinets and floored by rectangles and squares of white tiles grouted in gray create your kitchen a standout. Although tile isn’t quite as forgiving to your feet or your fell dishware for a wood floor, it is simple to keep clean. By fitting the grout to among the 50 hues of gray pulled from the charcoal countertop, then you don’t need to fret about the grout demonstrating dirt. Or you can opt for miniature mosaic tile flooring in white with a distinctive-designed dark border tile pulled in the countertop.

Ain’t What It Used to Be

Vinyl flooring choices have changed dramatically since the early years with improvements in production and quality. Soft gray-and-white checkerboard tiles tie in your charcoal quartz countertops with your clean, white kitchen cabinets. You can also choose vinyl flooring that has the appearance of wood, ceramic or natural stone tiles. When you have overspent on your kitchen remodeling budget, vinyl flooring gives you an affordable option and still looks good. And it also cushions the feet if you spend a lot of time in your kitchen.

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What Colour Should I Paint Bedroom Walls When the Bed Is Pink and Orange?

A pink-and-orange bed adds a cheery color splash to any bedroom; however, deciding on a complementary paint for the walls can create a decorating nightmare. Consider your color preferences and the desirable bedroom ambiance. Whether you like a tranquil atmosphere or a revved-up, energetic vibe, numerous paint tones might improve your pink-and-orange palette while accommodating your favourite color mood.

Keep It in the Family

Choose a wall colour within the exact same color family as the pink-and-orange bed to get monochromatic appeal. As an example, begin by matching the specific orange or pink tones of your bed with a sample paint card. Select a hue on the matching paint card that is three or two tints lighter than the bed shade. Or pick a shade darker than the orange or pink color of the bed to create a cozier space. Use vibrant pink or hot orange walls to shake the room with an electric shade blast.

Timeless Appeal

Apply a neutral paint colour such as cotton white, soft wheat or creamy ivory to tone down the effects of the bed. Select a shade of gray to surround the brightly coloured bed with a serious and modern ambiance. A neutral wall color helps balance out the bed hues with an unassuming presence. Neutral walls produce timeless appeal and pair nicely with almost any color scheme should you choose to upgrade the bed.

Energize the Space

Ramp up the energy on your bedroom with hues directly opposite from pink and orange on the color wheel. These complementary, highly contrasting tones generate a vibrant impact. Because brilliant blue is that the complement of pure orange, and bright green is that the complement of bright pink, cover your bedroom walls with one of these colors. Saturated blues and greens such as royal blue and lime green intensify the visual impact.

Create an Illusion

Surround a orange-and-pink bed with sunshine-yellow walls in a little bedroom. In case you have a spacious bedroom, then employ the sunny toned paint to one wall to avoid excessive color. Cover the other 3 walls with warm beige. Insert an illusion of depth with dark-purple walls. Baby-blue walls project comfort.

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The Way to Replace Ceiling Registers

Ceiling registers are one of the home essentials which ignored and are often installed. But in case your registers have slowed, upgrading your registers, or when the time comes to remodel your house can improve the appearance of your house, with the added benefit of regularly improving your atmosphere. Whether you substitute registers with a layout that is very simple or decorative models, the look cans improve and texture of your area.

Eliminate using a ladder and an appropriate screwdriver to access the register, if needed. Be sure to wear safety goggles to guard your eyes whilst working around the ceiling away from falling debris.

Quantify the air duct and take note of the width and length dimensions. Don’t use the register for dimensions, to make sure that you are getting the most accurate measurement possible. Use this measurement when buying a register.

Drill a hole in the area indicated for the screwthread. Make sure that the hole is slightly smaller in dimension than the screws which you are using to attach the register but as long as the screws.

As you are screwing in the screws, tape the register to the ceiling using painter’s tape to hold the register set up. Alternately, have a helper hold the register set up.

Screw in the register screws using a power driver or manual . Eliminate the painter’s tape in the event that you used it.

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Filing Bankruptcy on an IRS Lien

In case you have taxes or even an Internal Revenue Service lien, you aren’t barred from filing for bankruptcy. Actually, portions of this U.S. Bankruptcy code deal especially with taxation. Should you hold an IRS lien, but there is a good possibility the lien will still be waiting for you if your bankruptcy case is payable. The code is intended to make you pay the lien, if you’re in bankruptcy or not.

Back Taxes and Liens

If you’re planning to file bankruptcy, then it’s important to note the difference between back taxes and exemptions. Back taxation are believed the money you owe to the government in taxes never paid. You do not have to have a lien to get taxes, and such back taxes could be as simple as a shortfall of 100 of a national income tax return three years ago. A lien results when the IRS joins your tax debt into your property, usually your residence, as a way of securing your debt. Additionally, it provides the IRS the legal right to your house, and is sometimes a precursor to selling the home to meet the debt.

The Way Liens Happen

The IRS periodically reviews tax liabilities; if you’ve got one, you’ll receive what is called a Notice and Demand for Payment. This will tell you what you owe. If you either dismiss this letter, or talk to the IRS but cannot completely repay what you owe, in 10 days of receiving the letter, this may trigger a lien. The lien doesn’t start right away. For the lien to be valid, the IRS must file the motion depending on your state’s property laws. For instance, in California, the IRS would record the motion with your county tax clerk.

A Lien’s Validity in Bankruptcy

A federal tax lien is legitimate only when it was registered before you filed for bankruptcy. After a lien is made, the federal bankruptcy code admits this as guaranteed debt, meaning it’s treated just like debt with collateral . Even the lien won’t go away. The IRS’s lien is given a top priority in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 proceedings. Even if you go through Chapter 7–that wipes out all of your debts–that the lien does not go away.

Paying Liens in Bankruptcy

Since federal tax exemptions are considered secured debt and receive priority in bankruptcy, it’s likely you will be paying at least some, if not all, of it back. In Chapter 7, this likely means that the sale of property such as your home and other resources to satisfy the lien. In Chapter 13, in which you repay some component of everything you owe your creditors, the bankruptcy trustee must make every endeavor to create a plan which pays your priority claims in full, which may include the lien. When the program is finalized, the IRS is bound into it, even if it does not receive whole payment.

Discharging Liens

While the bankruptcy code is able to help you release back taxes, it may offer little assistance for IRS liens. Liens are intended to get the debtor to repay, regardless of the conditions. The only way to be rid of a lien would be to repay the money owed, whether you’re going through bankruptcy or not. There are means to appeal and get rid of the lien, but these are often as a result of procedural conditions. A lawyer who specializes in bankruptcy or tax law may tell you when you that the IRS violated your rights or its own processes during the lien procedure.

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How to Pay Property Taxes

Paying your property taxes annually can occasionally be an inconvenient procedure. First, there is the wait for your official taxation notice to arrive in the mail. Then, there is the necessity of mailing the payment to the state tax collector. Following that, you wait and hope the payment arrives prior to the cut-off date to prevent a late payment. Luckily, most countries now allow you to pay your property taxes online using a credit card. It’s a much faster procedure, complete with instant confirmation of this funds being received. With a credit card takes the hassle out of paying your property taxation, and even leaves you having a record of the payment in the form of a credit card charge.

Find the web site to your county’s tax offices which allows you to pay online. At the city of San Francisco, the site you need is for the office of the treasurer & tax collector.

Log on to the secured real estate tax information and payment site to get a list of your tax invoice. Enter the address to your property and press the”Begin Search” button. The system will search through county records before it finds your particular tax record.

Read the taxation record and locate the payment summary section. Fill in the region alongside”Pay Full Amount” then choose online payment.

Choose the cover by debit card or credit card option and enter your credit card information. Note you will need to pay a convenience fee for using your credit card. The commission in 2010 is 2.25 percent of the total taxes paid. There’s also a limit on paying with a credit card of $99,999.99

Complete the transaction so as to cover your tax invoice with the online payment method.

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HUD Curbing Requirements

Legislation such as the federal Truth in Lending Act make it easier for homebuyers to determine how much a mortgage will charge them in interest and fees. In the wake of the 21st century’s real-estate collapse, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has adopted additional rules to assist homebuyers compare mortgages and decide which is best for them. HUD estimates these new rules can save approximately $700 at closure.

Uniformity of Costs

Lenders must present to creditors a good-faith estimate of costs in a uniform three-page document under HUD’s new 2010 rules, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. By requiring uniformity, the government expects to make it easier for borrowers to compare interest rates and fees offered by different companies and also to figure out which loan is really the very best price for them.

Hidden Costs

When rates drove their obligations to speeds many homeowners have been amazed. HUD’s new rules, according to USA Today, require lenders to include within their good-faith estimates features that could potentially drive up costs in the future, such as increasing interest rates, balloon payments and penalties for paying off loans .

Last-Minute Changes

Lenders must give prospective borrowers a copy of their settlement costs at least one day before closure, USA Today says. Under HUD’s new rules, the form must include a line-by-line comparison using the initial good-faith estimate so that consumers will easily spot any last-minute changes. The paper reported that by hitting borrowers using a last-minute increase in fees or interest rates, lenders place borrowers in a tight spot: Should they refuse to register on to the new modifications, they need to look for a new loan and might lose the home they want.

Closing Costs

HUD limits how much closing costs can rise above the good-faith estimate, according to the FDIC. Lenders can’t increase program fees, origination fees and other penalties which go right into their pockets. Fees for third-party services, such as title insurance and evaluations, can’t rise over 10 percent so long as the buyer employs the creditor’s recommended service providers.

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FSBO Buyers Tips

When browsing for a new house, buyers will inevitably come across properties listed For Sale by Owner. The owners of these homes, better known as FSBOs, are offering the homes available without using the assistance of a realtor. Sellers do this to save money; they won’t have to pay a commission to a listing real estate agent out of the profits of the house sale. Buying a FSBO home can be a positive experience. But buyers need to take certain steps to ensure they receive the best possible deal when working with a homeowner.

Pricing

Buyers should be prepared to negotiate when they create a deal on a FSBO house. There are two reasons for this: First, FSBO sellers frequently overestimate the market value of their home. They’re not working with real estate agents who can counsel them on setting a fair price. Frequently, homeowners, who have spent decades in their homes, believe with their hearts not their minds when setting an asking price. FSBO sellers are also saving money by not working with a realtor. In the majority of residential sales, both agents involved in the trade divide a commission of 6%, a percentage that comes out of the profits from the home sale. FSBO sellers can eliminate one half of the split. As a result of this, they may be willing to budge more on the final sales price. Buyers should work in tandem with their property representatives to negotiate a fantastic price on a FSBO sale.

Inspection

Buyers can protect themselves by purchasing a house inspection before finalizing a FSBO sale. This is mostly standard procedure in residential property transactions. But owners selling their own homes in a FSBO sale may balk. Buyers, though, should insist on a review. An inspector may locate the serious issues in a house, such as a crumbling foundation, leaking roof or major appliances that are malfunctioning. When buyers are armed with this advice, in a written report from the contractor, they can ask the home seller lower the asking price of the house or fix the issues before the sale closes. These negotiations can be tricky in a FSBO sale; there’s no seller’s broker to act as a buffer betweeen seller and buyer. Buyers, again, should work in tandem with their representatives to negotiate some pre-sale improvements depending on the inspection report.

The Paperwork

Residential property transactions take a mountain of paperwork. It’s important for both sellers and buyers to ensure they sign all the ideal papers–including the Truth-in-Lending form, mortgage notice and evaluation arrangement –to produce the trade official. FSBO sellers may not realize the paperwork they need to bring to the closing table to close a property sale. Buyers will need to work with their real estate agents, real estate attorney and mortgage loan officer to make sure all documents are in order.

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11 Tricks to Make a Ceiling Look Higher

A lot of people dream of having high ceilings in their home. But think about this: Rooms with high ceilings are a pain to heat and also to circulate air through; they also create barriers for light and sound control and often double the expense of painting, covering windows and adding art. Low and moderately substantial ceilings can be warmer, more intimate and much more in proportion with human scale. Not to mention that changing a lightbulb is as simple as pulling a step stool. Try that with a vaulted ceiling.

Frank Lloyd Wright often incorporated low ceilings in his Prairie-style houses. To compensate, he often made the rooms extra wide and deeply connected to the outdoor spaces. Using these notions, and with the ideal decor and furnishings, you can create any ceiling sense just a tad taller.

Domb architects

1. Pick low, horizontal furniture. Keep everything hunkered down low. If you’re fortunate enough to have a stunning view similar to this, it will amplify the impact dramatically. If you do not have a great view, low furniture will still optimize the perceived height of your room.

2. Use wide expanses of glass and maintain window coverings easy. Notice how attached this space feels to the backyard? Seeing the voluminous outdoor area makes this low-slung living room sense both spacious. This trick works especially well if you’re right at floor level.

Resolution: 4 Architecture

3. Keep lighting flush. At a contemporary house with a small ceiling height, utilize flush-mounted lighting to maintain the look clean. This approach will produce the appearance of more headroom.

4. Elongate with vertical stripes. Everybody knows that vertical stripes can be very slimming and give the illusion of height. The effective use of stripes within this narrow bathroom makes it look even taller.

Carolyn Woods Design Inc..

5. Use patterned curtains. They lead the eye up to give a sense of increased height. Why is this strategy successful here is the lack of competing patterns. While you’re at it, maintain crown molding proportional. Don’t go to get a deep profile, which could shorten the wall expanse.

Artistic Designs for Living, Tineke Triggs

A detail at the summit of curtains also provides precisely the exact same effect.

Griffin Enright Architects

6. Use a vertical display. This group has an uplifting effect. By taking even just a couple pieces all the way to the ceiling, you can increase the appearance of height.

Red Element Style Studio

Even a group of frames arranged will lead the eye upwards and produce more visual headroom.

FORMA Design

7. Contain uplighting. Notice how the ceiling appears to float in this picture. Bouncing light off the ceiling creates visual height. Sconces, cove lighting as well as very affordable torchieres can deliver this result. This is a great technique for basements.

High Tech Ceiling

8. Offer your ceiling high gloss. This createsan illusion of endlessness. If a ceiling like the one here is overly dramatic for your tastes, utilize a semigloss paint rather.

Lisa Petrole Photography

9. Expose your structure. If it will give you more headroom, then think about carrying your ceiling to its bare bones. Basement renovations are great candidates for exposed structures. Some main-floor spaces in older houses have floating ceilings left over in the day when lower ceilings were desired. Eliminate these and your area will instantly feel taller.

Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

10. Publish a diagonal. Perhaps you have noticed the way the staircase railing invites your eye to wander upward, giving lift to a room? A painted a decor element that makes a diagonal line will supply the exact same effect.

Regan Baker Design Inc..

11. Run paneling vertically. Like stripes, vertically oriented paneling strengthens height in a space.

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Explore the Art of Light and Dark in Design

Imagine being in a room painted all black with one light source coming from over. Your favourite thing sits at the middle of the space (I’m going to imagine an Eames Lounge Chair here, but you select what is located dear to your heart). From that single light source, your illuminated thing dramatically appears with highlights and throw shadows. Here is the idea behind chiaroscuro, an art technique employed by artists like Baglione, Caravaggio and Vermeer from the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Italian term for “light and color,” “chiaroscuro” is characterized by contrasts affecting a general composition. Using opposite ends of this light-dark spectrum results in drama, depth and visual interest, as found here in “Girl with a Pearl Earring,”by Johannes Vermeer.

How can people take this two-dimensional idea of defining space onto a painted canvas and then apply it to the three-dimensional areas in which we reside?

CÚRE & PENABAD

Brick components painted black naturally appear brightly colored, while white areas have a tendency to come ahead — one example of chiaroscuro. Here the darkened stairs framed by light-colored walls creates a feeling of intrigue about that which is located at the very best.

LASC Studio

This roofline is pronounced, because the dark color stands out against the light sky. And painting a door black when it sits within a white wall immediately draws attention to it.

Eric Aust Architect

At dusk, once the interiors of a home are illuminated, dark window frames look spectacular against white walls.

Daniel Marshall Architect

Windows appear dark during the day, thanks in part to their reflectivity. Together with the general dark color on the next level of this home, the windows mix in with the adjoining walls, and the entire upper portion is one uninterrupted space hovering over the lighter base. Dark elements bright and overhead ones below play with visual perceptions of heavy versus light.

Architecture Smith + Scully Ltd

Shadows can provide an extra layer of texture and detail to a dark-colored exterior. Here the shadows assist notify the size and repetitive nature of the columns framing the walkway. The distinctive white soffit provides visual directionality to the entrance.

CplusC Architectural Workshop

Structures with simple, powerful lines and shapes are fantastic for employing contrast. The jet-black bottom of this roof form is sudden and feels romantic, because the perceived heaviness of this color brings it nearer to the viewer.

Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

Interiors are great places for chiaroscuro, too, as a result of the ability to harness and play off normal light entering the home. All the zones here are contrasted with by side light from dividers.

jessop architects

Skylights can split areas of bright illumination. Top lighting may have a very intense effect throughout the day due to its location and constant proximity to sunlight. Dark walls further differentiate the brightness round the skylights here.

Benjamin Dhong Interiors

Contrast doesn’t need to be white and black. This profound, subdued blue will help to frame the lighter-toned distance beyond.

In chiaroscuropaintingsartists define objects by exhibiting them against a juxtaposing background color. In design these objects can be stairs or light fixtures that stand out against their background.

CÚRE & PENABAD

A daring use of dark floors and ceiling will accentuate white walls and furniture. The additional dark elements here, like the bracket and the inside of the fireplace, further exaggerate this contrast.

The attractiveness of chiaroscuro is that it actually could be a black and white matter. Are you ready to add some contrast to your life?

More: In Praise of Shadows
5 Smashing Black and White Homes

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Show Us Your Garden Gnomes

Gnomes have been occupying gardens for decades, sitting toadstools, pulling carts, sometimes even making their own villages. Gnomes were initially produced in Germany. They were used as decorative guards to keep burglars from farms. Their popularity hasn’t waned, and they have played roles in movies and literature from fairy tales into the Harry Potter series. One of my personal favorites is their role in The Full Monty, populating the lawn of a stiff manager and showing his sensitive side.

Recently gnomes have taken on different roles. Ironically used alongside their southern cousins, pink flamingos, they have been awarded modern cred by designers such as Philippe Starck with his Napoleon and Attila gnome table stools. One roaming gnome functions as the spokesperson for Travelocity. A large group of gnomes celebrity in Gnomeo and Juliet. They’ve even been announced “invasive” by a single botanical specialist in this humorous short movie.

Show us Have some merry gnomes taken up home in your garden or inside your home? If that’s the case, please post a picture in the Comments section. Your gnome could appear in a follow-up feature on our homepage.

I will begin with my little gnome. He’s a bit worn out, what with holding up this marijuana for all this time. I guess he is waiting for me to plant something in it.

I love to move him about. In this area he is guarding my termite bait trap.

Whitney Lyons

Send in the gnomes: To include your gnome photo, type a comment about it below, then click “Attach Images” and select the picture on your desktop to share.

Tell us where you are and where you’ve got your gnome(s)!

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