Choosing the Right Type of Paint Finish

Choosing the right kind of paint for your home can be a difficult task. First you have to decide on a color, then once you’ve got a general color scheme planned out, you go to the store and are faced with hundreds of different shades of the color you had in mind.

Once you’ve settled on a color, then you have to choose which type of finish you want. Matte...semi-gloss...satin...what’s the difference between these finishes, anyway? The type of finish that would work for you all depends on the type of room you’re painting and what kind of activity goes on there. Is it a room that doesn’t get used very much or is it a bathroom, where the walls are exposed to a lot of moisture? Let’s take a look at the different types of finishes and what works best in certain areas:

Matte Since matte finishes don’t reflect light, they can be very forgiving on walls with imperfections on them. However, matte finishes are not as durable as glossier finishes, so they’re not recommended for places like kitchens, bathrooms, or rooms where young children play because it’s harder to clean the walls without chipping the paint. Matte finishes also work well on ceilings. Eggshell Eggshell finishes have a little bit more sheen and are a little bit more durable than a matte finish. They’re best used in places like living rooms or dining rooms where the walls aren’t likely to be scuffed up or need to be washed too often.

Satin Satin finishes have a nice, warm look to them, are pretty durable, and can be cleaned pretty easily, so they’re excellent for higher trafficked rooms like family rooms, hallways, and rooms where kids play. However, if you need to do any touch-ups, this finish of paint is less forgiving than matte or eggshell finishes since it will be easy to notice the difference in sheen.

Semi-Gloss Semi-gloss finishes are very durable; perfect for kitchens and bathrooms where walls will be exposed to things like moisture or grease. These finishes are good at resisting stains and won’t flake off during cleaning. They’re also a great choice for chair rails and trim since it won’t get scuffed the way a matte or eggshell finish would.

High Gloss High gloss finishes are extremely durable, but because of their extreme shininess, they aren’t commonly used on walls. Instead, they are more typically used on things like cabinets, doors, and floor or window trim, which are touched and bumped into a lot and can get dirty very easily.

Best Lakefront Home Window Styles

Michigan’s Great Lakes,  ponds, and canals offer wonderful opportunities for beachfront property. Against the water, these homes tend to host a different design style than your traditional inland abode. Because of this, we’ve compiled a list of the best window styles to complement homes placed against the beachy shore of a lakefront.

Bay and Bow Windows These window styles are ideal additions to any property with a scenic or nature-esque view. When it comes to living against the water, however, both bay or bow design work great in a living room. Position them so that the view they provide is an open panorama of the water that is wide enough to showcase backyard happenings such as fishing, swimming, or barbecue.

Picture Windows An open, expansive picture window makes for a realistic aperture that reduces the separation between the home and its beachy outside atmosphere. Similar to bay and bow windows, placing one near the back of the house is generally the best way to capture pleasant scenery at various floors and rooms. Views like watching the sun set over the water while eating dinner with the family makes the picture window a must-have for any lakefront property owner.

Doorwall A doorwall goes hand in hand with any cottage or lakeshore home. They work best in the back end of a living room or basement, making for an accessible in-and-out entryway from the house to the backyard patio (or vice versa). If you love hanging outside and are constantly going back and forth from inside,  add a doorwall to your home!

To learn more information about various styles of replacement windows and the benefits they offer, speak with a professional from Wallside.

Five Ways Home Windows Enhance a Room

From outside to inside, windows play an invaluable role in a home’s liveliness and visual appeal. Although windows have many practical purposes, they can also have a very dramatic impact on a home’s atmosphere. How, exactly, can a window transform your home? Let us count the ways…

1. Picturesque Views Often overlooked, the views windows provide are crucial to staying in tune with the outside world. They can also work as pieces of art. For example, bay windows are used to highlight scenic panoramas such as lakes and cityscapes within a home’s surrounding area.

2. Ventilation and Airflow As good as they might smell before a meal, smells from the kitchen cease to be mouth-watering when they linger well after the meal is finished. Exercise rooms and tight, cramped spaces also tend to trap unwanted fragrances that, with windows, can be avoided. Stagnant aromas can be quickly and easily dealt with—simply by opening a window.

Also, installing energy efficient replacement windows are a terrific way to improve insulation. The option of adding a screen onto a room’s window is also a great way to promote healthy home ventilation, particularly for humid summer days.

3. Natural Lighting Along with the nice feeling of natural light on the skin, there are numerous health benefits of the sun’s natural rays. Windows can be utilized in a variety of fashions to soak up some healthy light. Adding a skylight into a living space can be an effective way to promote calmness and capture the sun’s warm glow, which is especially useful in potentially high-stress environments such as an office or kitchen.

4. Window Decorations Drapes, curtains, blinds, sheers, and multiple other window treatments are excellent decorations to enrich the theme or design of a room. The textures, patterns, and colors increase a room’s character and bring forth a specific atmosphere depending on the style. Additionally, blinds and sheers can serve as an artful way to control a space’s lighting.

5. Custom-Style Aesthetic A window’s size, shape, and placement all influence an area’s mood and personality. Ranging from square or circular to arched, the shape and size of a window can be designed to a customer’s preference. Another approach is incorporating windows with the design of interior doors, creating a unified style.

Tools Every Homeowner Should Have

 

When it comes to interior design and home maintenance, there are some undertakings that require just too much time and expertise to adequately fulfill on your own. You can hire an expert for pretty much anything these days, but can also save a hefty amount of cash if you tackle the work yourself. But to even attempt home upkeep, at least with any success, there is a quintessential set of tools everyone should keep around (and know how to use) at all times. For beginners and experienced vets alike, here is a list of stock tools for any homeowner.

Tape Measure When you’re a homeowner, you will inevitably need to measure some spaces in your home. Some tape measures provide general increments of inches and centimeters, while others can give more of an intricate scope of detail with even finer measurements. The tape measure is of great help for making sure furniture like a new dresser or piano will fit inside your home and of absolute importance for any home construction project.

Screwdriver Coming in a range of designs and styles, the use of screwdrivers stretches from installing toy batteries to building workbenches. Be mindful of the head and size of screw you are working with, as this will determine the type of screwdriver that you will need. Power drills are also extremely convenient, but can be a bit clumsy when working in tight, awkward corners.

Handsaws Though the most conventional and widely-applicable style being the carpenter saw, which is used for carving into basic woods, other forms such as the hacksaw and coping saw are designed to pierce heavy-duty textures. If anything, keep a carpenter saw around for the broad materials it can cleave. Stay aware of the type of materials you are working with and what saw is most appropriate to do the job best. Lastly, when handling the carpenter, remember to position the saw at a forty-five degree angle to ensure the cleanest incision possible.

Nails, Screws, Putty, and Glue What good is a screwdriver if you have nothing to screw? The same goes for a hammer; nails and screws are just as important to make sure you’re fully stocked with.

Another handy item that works wonders is putty. Putty is a great mini utility for a wide scope of circumstances, especially when refurbishing a room; there’s bound to be at least several ugly indents and nail holes to patch up, but after applying a little putty (while making sure it matches the walls!), the room will look good as new.

Hammer Whether it’s building a bench, bookshelf, table, or any other project that uses wood as a fundamental component, it almost goes without saying that somewhere along your home improvement misadventures, you will need a hammer.

3 Smartphone Apps that Simplify Home Maintenance

For interior design and home maintenance projects, it’s critical to stay organized. Without proper organization of the measurements, colors, and tools, it’s likely your project will face complications and suffer from financial pains -- which, for the most part, are avoidable. Solution? Download these smartphone apps to keep the data of your home projects all in one place, right at the reach of your fingertips.

Home Improvement Calcs Price: $1.99 Platform: Iphone & Ipad

Packed with nearly two hundred unit conversions and calculations, the Home Improvement Calcs app takes away the burden of juggling multiple measurements, fractions, and data processing by handling the messy mathematics so you don’t have to. Whether it’s assessing the amount of asphalt you’ll need, gauging the annual cost of an electrical output, or measuring the dimensions of your living room windows, the app is an affordable yet indispensable gadget to keep around for home improvement projects of any kind.

MagicPlan Price: free & premium versions available ($2.99 per property map, $9.99 for unlimited usage) Platform: Iphone & Android

Using state-of-the-art technology, the MagicPlan app configures an indoor map of your home just by snapping a pic with your smartphone. Curious to see how that couch you’ve been thinking about purchasing online would fit in your living room? Test it out by plugging in a product’s dimensions and viewing it in the digital floor plan that the app creates. For once you can leave the toolbox closed; MagicPlan gathers a room’s measurements itself - all through the phone’s camera lens.

myPANTONE Price: $9.99 Apple products, $7.99 for Android Platform: Iphone, Ipad, & Android

When designing a new home’s living room decor or just adding renovations, the color scheme is something you always want to be mindful of. With a seemingly limitless amount of shades and hues, the myPANTONE app is a pro-tool for managing the color palettes of your home furniture and decorations.