There’s no doubt that chandeliers can enhance a home’s interior. This is not only for decorations but for better lighting as well. The cluster of bulbs that are arranged creatively are so glamorous and elegant to see.

There are quite a number of chandeliers available in the market. But it will have a greater impact if you do it yourself. You don’t have to look any further for materials because you can create a chandelier out of the mason jars you have at home.

How to Make a Mason Jar Chandelier

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You Tube video – How to make a Mason Jar chandelier

Mason Jar Chandelier Materials:

Mason Jars with lids

Flat cord wire

Light bulb receptacle

#10 Washers

Small Hose Clamp

PVC cap

Hex Nuts

Steel Nipples

Electric Drill

Wire Staple

Base (wood, metal or anything that can hold the jars)

How to Make a Chandelier Directions:

1. Prepare all the materials.
2. Drill a hole in the center of each Mason jar lid. This hole should be fitting to the steel nipples.
3. Then, drill at least 4 to 5 small holes in your Mason jar lids. This will provide the necessary exhaust for the heat produced by the bulb.
4. Attach the steel nipples in each lid and secure it using the hex nuts with the washers.
5. Insert the flat cord wire in the steel nipple. At the end of the wire, screw the wire to the bulb receptacle. Connect the bulb into the receptacle and seal the lid. Do this step in all the mason jars.
6. Ensure that all electrical connections are done accurately. Take note that electrical safety should be your priority. Also, it is very important to make it neat and clean.
7. Fasten each wire connected with the mason jar to the base. Do this according to your desired style.
8. Connect all wires in parallel. Arranged the wires properly so that it will not look messy.
9. Securely fasten the mason jar chandelier on your ceiling.

This personalized mason jar chandelier will surely be an eye-catching fixture at home.

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

How Safe is Your Older Home? The Dangers of Asbestos

Image via: This Old House

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How Safe is Your Home? The Dangers of Asbestos

I would like to introduce Heather Von St. James, an eight year mesothelioma survivor. Heather was exposed to asbestos when she was a little girl by wearing her father’s work jacket to do outside chores. Her father worked in construction and demolition, and he would come home covered head to toe in dust. Little did they know, that dust was a deadly substance, that would almost take Heather’s life down the road. Heather was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma just months after the birth of her only child, Lily. She was given just 15 months to live, but after treatments and a surgery to remove her left lung, Heather is now one of the very few survivors of mesothelioma.

This week I had the chance to interview Heather, and I asked her some questions about asbestos, and how we can keep our homes and families safe from it.

What is asbestos?

Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral that is mined from deposits in the earth. It was used heavily in the mid century for strengthening and fireproofing things like cement, and construction materials.

How do you become exposed to asbestos?

Exposure from asbestos happens when the mineral is mined, or when products containing asbestos are disturbed or disrupted. Many homes and businesses built before 1980 most likely contain asbestos somewhere, whether it be in insulation around pipes or in attics, or in ceiling or floor tiles. These building products are only harmful if they are disturbed, as in during renovation or remodeling. Asbestos is only dangerous when it is friable, meaning  when the asbestos fibers are airborne. It is breathing in or swallowing the fibers that causes the cancer 20-50 years after the exposure.

Image via: Home Design

What are the health problems associated to asbestos exposure?

Asbestosis, or thickening of the pleura, and mesothelioma are the two most serious problems. It has also been associated with renal cancer, lung cancer, uterine and testicular cancers.

What are some symptoms of mesothelioma to look out for?

About 60% of patients diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma experience lower back pain or side chest pain, and there are frequent reports of shortness of breath. Some people may experience difficulty swallowing, or have a persistent cough, fever, weight loss or fatigue. Additional symptoms that some patients experience are muscle weakness, loss of sensory capability, coughing up blood, facial and arm swelling, and hoarseness.

Peritoneal mesothelioma originates in the abdomen and as a result, symptoms often include abdominal pain, weight loss, nausea, and vomiting. Fluid buildup may occur in the abdomen as well as a result of the cancer.

Image via: Mesothelioma.com

What should I do if I have asbestos in my home?

Leave it alone first and foremost. If you suspect asbestos is present call a certified professional to come and test the item. If you do discover asbestos, have it abated by a professional company. You can find them by contacting your state environmental agency.  Do NOT attempt to remove it yourself.  Professional abatement companies have been trained with the correct procedure to remove it from your home in the safest way possible. For more information regarding asbestos in the home, please visit Mesothelioma.com

For more wellness home tips on Stagetecture click here.

It feels good when you know that you’re living green; that you and your family are making every effort to conserve the environment. When it comes to matters of being green, many people assume that it is going to be boring and that your kids will hate it. As much as there is some truth in this assumption, you can do it differently in a fun and exciting way. The tips below will help turn your house not only into a happy home, but also into a green one.

Landscaping

It is widely known that proper landscaping will add into your home’s energy efficiency. Simply said, it will provide shade in summer and insulation during the winter months. The EPA recommends planting trees that lose leaves on the southern and western sides of your house.

To make it more fun, take your whole family out and let each member choose the plants that they would like to plant. Everyone should then take care of what they chose and as they keep growing, it will be fun for them when they realize that their home is eco-friendly because of their individual effort.

Image via: Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

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Tankless water heater

Do you do a little dance as you wait for the shower to heat up? What you should note is that when doing this, you waste the escaping cold water and also waste the energy used to heat and reheat water in the tank.

As a replacement, look for a tankless water heater for your family. This only heats the water that is needed as it goes through a coil. This does not only save you energy; it also saves your whole family that terrible time in winter when they have to wait, seemingly for ages, for that water to heat up.

Eco Challenge

How about doing an “eco challenge” with your family? Here, you inform your family about different ways in which they can make your home more eco-friendly. Apart from the ones above, other methods that you can teach them include insulation, recycling, planting some food and making homemade apple pies among other ideas. The reward for the challenge should be simple’ any money saved will be given to the one who implemented the idea and they can use it to buy cool stuff.

How about doing an “eco challenge” with your family? Here, you inform your family about different ways in which they can make your home more eco-friendly. Apart from the ones above, other methods that you can teach them include insulation, recycling, planting some food and making homemade apple pies among other ideas. The reward for the challenge should be simple’ any money saved will be given to the one who implemented the idea and they can use it to buy cool stuff.

Image via: Natural Balance Home Builders

These tips will help you to have a great time with your family as you maintain an eco-friendly home. Each family member will have a sense of contribution and it will be easier for them to make green living a lifestyle. Not only will they have an environmentally friendly home, they will also have some cool new rewards and a great relationship with each other.

For more green living ideas for your home, click here.

If you are decorating or renovating your home then you should really consider the ways that you can make your home a little greener. Reducing your carbon footprint is beneficial for the whole world, and a nice little bonus is that it will save you money in the long run too.

Image via: Danny Broe Architect

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Here are some top tips to get a green home:

Install solar panels

Solar panels are a great way to be greener as they help you to use the sun’s natural power to fuel your home. This means you use less generated energy which cuts your carbon footprint and saves you money on your bills. An increasing number of people are using solar panels and having them fitted and they are even beginning to be seen as attractive features on a home because they offer so many wide ranging benefits.

Insulate your home

Being green is all about efficiency and insulating your home is a great way to become heat efficient. The less heat you lose the less you have to buy so this is another effective way to save money and energy, thus helping the environment. This means you should insulate your attic and any other part of your home where heat is lost.

Fit draft excluders

Draft excluders are another good way to save heat, energy and therefore money. You can find a selection at www.barrier-components.co.uk that, fitted to your doors, will keep your home green and keep the draft out. This is a simple measure but an effective one.

Image via: FINNE Architects

Buy low energy light bulbs

By simply buying some low energy light bulbs you can make your house a little greener immediately. This is an inexpensive way to help the environment, even though low energy bulbs do cost a little more. The bonus is that they last much longer than the cheaper traditional bulbs.

Invest in double glazing

Double glazing is a slightly larger investment but then again it is one that pays you back. Like solar panels double glazing saves you money over time and because it reduces energy wastage is starts benefitting the environment straight away.

Replace your boiler

If you have an old boiler it could be kicking out emissions that you could cut out by swapping it for a newer model. Nobody likes to buy a new boiler but doing so really does help the environment. And like we said, being more efficient also saves you money so everyone is a winner.

For more green living ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

The prospect of adopting a green lifestyle has become rather trendy over the past several years. The result of this surge in popularity has been promising; more and more people are spreading the word about environmental awareness and urging consumers to take control of their future via the products and services they choose to support. Of course, this has changed the market for such consumer goods, raising production and lowering costs so that nearly everyone can now afford to make at least a modicum of change in their own lives on the eco-friendly front. And when it comes to your home, there is no shortage of ways to cut your carbon footprint and jump aboard the eco-friendly bandwagon. But before you get started, you might just want to take the time to consider what you’ve currently got going on in your home. Here are just a few tips to help you make such an assessment.

Image via: Alison Glen

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What level of eco-friendliness is your home? 

Your main difficulty with looking for ways to determine the relative eco-friendliness of your home is knowing what is considered green and what isn’t. Often, homes employ some environmentally sound practices without even realizing it. For example, you probably conserve energy to some degree, simply because it is economical to do so. If you tell the kids to turn the lights off when they leave a room and you’ve set your computer to go into sleep mode when inactive for a few minutes, then you are practicing an eco-friendly activity and saving energy within the home. That said, most modern homes are not inherently geared towards environmental preservation. So the first step towards making an assessment could be to start following green blogs so that you can begin to get an idea of the scope of green living.

Conserving Energy & your Carbon Debt

Once you’ve started to understand the many ways in which you could transform your home to make it do more for the world around you, it will be a little easier to make a clear assessment of just how high your carbon debt is. From there you can begin to consider upgrades that will help you to conserve energy (CFLs, programmable thermostat, energy-star appliances, tankless water heater, etc.) and water (low-flow toilets, aerated faucets, drought-resistant landscaping, and a gray water system). And you can start to look at the products you bring into your home every day, like the food and clothing you buy for your family, as well as furniture and housewares.

Image via: Catherine Monaghan of Kitchens Southwest

Of course, remodeling and repairs will also provide you with the opportunity to turn over a new leaf since you can replace outdated goods with greener items. You might install organic or recycled-fiber insulation and double-paned glass to cut down on your need to generate hot and cold air. Or you could use reclaimed hardwood for cabinetry and flooring. Some products, like your furnace and AC unit, may even allow for a transfer of warranty so that the chain of title allows the homeowners after you to continue to benefit from energy-saving models for years to come. Although it’s not always easy to turn an objective eye on your lifestyle, it’s important to do your part to protect the environment, especially when you own a home and you have total control over how eco-friendly your property is.

For more green living ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

When those bright spring greens and colorful flowers start appearing after a long, gray winter, we naturally start thinking about freshening up our own gardens. We pore over bulb catalogs, stock up on planters, and head to our local garden centers for seedlings, soil, and supplies.

In the midst of all the garden-planning frenzy, take a moment to think about how the dream garden you’re visualizing relates to the exterior of your home. Two extreme examples from France will give you the idea: the formal gardens of the palace at Versailles, perfectly in keeping with the formal style of the building and its interior, and the riotous tumble of colors at Giverny, the final home of the Impressionist artist Claude Monet, where the interior colors of the house were chosen to harmonize with the gardens already in place.

Image via: Kim Parker Interiors

Just in case you don’t live in chateau, let’s take a look at how you can create and apply an inside-outside design concept to your home and garden. How do you start? An easy way is to focus on a current trend in interior decor, then find ways to translate that trend in your garden.

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Interiors ideas from the garden

Color-blocking is not only a key trend for spring (in fashion as well as interiors), but it’s also one of the easiest ways to give your interior a fresh new look! Martha Stewart has some bright and colorful ideas to get you started, from table settings and shower curtains to painting shelves and tossing pillows.

Image via: PHX Architecture

Outside home – garden inspiration

Next, think about outside your home. Does the view of your plants, lawn, and trees from, say, your living room, harmonize with the colors, shapes, and scale of the interior? It’s useful to think in terms of visually extending you view, from the inside of a room outwards, to include exterior architectural features like a deck, and beyond, to your lawn and garden. But how do you take the idea of color-blocking outside?

Your lawn is a great place to start, especially in early spring, when it’s just starting to turn green. (This is also the perfect time to consider a commercial lawn care service, to encourage healthy growth and color after the winter doldrums.) Once the lawn is in good shape, you can focus on adding blocks of color to that lovely expanse of green, with bright, early-flowering annuals, dark green shrubs, and small trees, like Japanese Maples, with a variety of foliage colors and variegation.

After your garden-renewal projects are well underway, you might want to think about changing exterior elements of the house itself; this can easily add a completely new dimension to the idea of outdoor color-blocking. Take a look at these exterior spruce-up ideas, ranging from a new color for your garage door to enhancing your entry.

So the next time you’re out taking a walk or exploring a public park or garden, take color inspiration from whatever attracts your eye — daffodils, new leaves, wet buildings, the sky — and create your own unique color palette as a jumping-off place for your fresh-for-spring color-blocked home, inside and out!

For more gardening tips on Stagetecture, click here.

When you’re refurnishing your home there are several options available and many people choose to buy cheap composite furniture from home superstores – mainly because of the attractive price tag. However, buying cheap furniture is a false economy as it simply means you’ll have to replace it much more quickly than solid wood, which could last for generations.

Image via: Jill Greer

Why choose Hardwood Furniture?

In these cash strapped times it is tempting to purchase furniture made from cheap and inferior materials such as veneer, plastic or wood composite. But anyone who has bought cheap flatpack furniture before will know that it simply doesn’t last as well as solid wood furniture or look nearly as attractive. Take a look below to discover more about the benefits of choosing hardwood.

Natural Beauty

Hardwood furniture utilises the strongest, most durable and most attractive woods, such as mahogany, oak and mango. Beautiful woods like these can bring warmth to a home and rather than simply being functional, they can also add character to your space. There are tons of different types of hardwood furniture to choose from so you can pick pieces that will sit perfectly within your interiors and become a feature within themselves.

Exceptional Interiors

If you want your home to be full of quality items that give it a unique flavour then solid wood furniture is a great investment. There are all sorts of hardwood items to choose from including coffee tables, dining tables, cabinets and chests of drawers, so whatever type of furniture you need you’ll find plenty of hardwood versions. Stunning hardwood is a great way to make your home stand out from the crowd and give your interiors that all important warm and welcoming feel.

Durability

When home superstores first appeared in the UK millions of people bought into the idea of cheap but practical furniture, but today a large proportion of that furniture s sitting in landfill rather than in people’s homes and when you take into account the chemical and industrial processes that engineered wood or composite has to go through, it becomes clear that it’s not the most eco-friendly of choices. Hardwood on the other hand is cut from sustainable forests and goes through very few processes before it arrives in stores. In addition it’s strong, durable and will literally last a lifetime.

Image via: Amber Ranzau Interior Designers & Decorators

Easy Upkeep

Hardwood furniture is incredibly easy to look after and in most cases will simply need the occasional dust, polish or wax to keep it in tip top shape. Whereas a scratch or chip would completely ruin most composite or veneered furniture, scratches and other minor flaws can be easily repaired on hardwood furniture. Some people choose cheaper furniture because they’re worried about it being damaged, especially in busy family environments, but solid wood is one of the toughest materials known to man and will stand up better to bangs, scrapes and knocks than cheap furniture.

So if you’re sick to death of the flatpack throwaway attitude then invest in hardwood splendour instead and fill your home with incredible art that also happens to be practical furniture.

John Hinds writes for Lojix and his interests include playing tennis, reading, writing and painting.

For more furniture ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Today we continue Stagetecture’s feature. ‘Olioboard Inspiration‘. Last week you enjoyed Steven Gluth’s  – ‘Sexy Chocolate Valentine’s Home ‘ and this week I bring you Tabitha Loudon, a member of the Facebook Olioboard Fan Room. I asked her to show us great inspiration for turning your winter home into a spring inspired home. We are all ready to get out of the cold, and Tabitha did a great job of showing you how to instantly bring warmer weather into your interiors this Winter!

If you’re interested in being featured see details here: How to be featured on Stagetecture’s Olioboard Inspiration‘ series.

Olioboard Inspiration #5

‘Brightening your Winter Home with Spring Ideas ” – Tabitha Loudon

Suffering from the winter blues? Don’t worry, spring is around the corner! Today I am going to show you how to get ready for spring by adding some sunshine into your winter home and it all starts with color! Color is what we see in everyday life, and when I look at nature, I’m always inspired by the colorful aspects of it. When spring is about to begin, green leaves start forming on the trees as well as patches on the ground. The flowers begin to bloom, and it can really bring out natures true beauty! Nature is a healthy, important aspect to our needs. Life would not be the same if we weren’t surrounded by the beauty of nature. Also, being around plants and flowers can really make us happy! So when we are decorating for spring, using bright colors, natural aspects, plants and flowers are important to this theme.

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How to bring spring into your winter home

When using bright colors think about what colors are in nature. Do you see greens, yellows, oranges, and pinks? Think about softer tones. Nature is comfort, being outdoors is like seeing a beautiful painting, it makes you feel good, and in a relaxed state. Spring is about relaxation so having colors that are too vivid or dark won’t work in this scheme. When we think about spring what comes to mind?

Bring in natural elements

Birds, flowers, rain, Easter; all these things could make us think about spring so add little touches of things that remind you of it. You can add flowers to the pillows or find baskets to place around the house. Also, when decorating for spring think about adding some plants to put in your window, fill your vases with fresh flowers or bring some flowers from the garden to use for a table centerpiece.

Bring in natural light

Another tip to think about this coming spring, is to make sure to keep the sunlight in your home, it can really brighten up the darker areas. So, open a window or some curtains and let the sunshine in! Now you see how nature can really play a big part in decorating for spring. It’s time to enjoy that time of year where we can go outside, and enjoy the beauty of spring, and bring it into our homes. Also, if you are heading outdoors don’t forget to bring an umbrella, because you may just need it.

About Tabitha Loudon

Tabitha Loudon is mom and an aspiring designer who lives in Baton Rouge, La. She plans to take classes to earn a degree in interior design, but in the meantime she raises her three year old daughter. Her dream is to become a successful designer and work with the rich and famous. Follow Tabitha on Facebook, on Olioboard, and on Twitter.

If you are a person who loves to update the home with the changes of seasons, spring brings a great occasion for you. However, if you are not interested to change the whole decor of your house, as it will be costly too, you can choose to focus on the living room. Here are ideas to bring spring color into your interiors.

Image via: Decoist

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Give an Organic Touch

Fruits and flowers are the two integral parts of spring. So, bringing some bright-colored, fresh flowers and fruits inside the living room is not a bad idea. For example, take some water in a glass vase and place some yellow tulips in it with some kumquats at the bottom half of it. You can think of some other color combinations with different fruits and flowers. Place the vase on the coffee table or on the dining table and see how it changes the air in a moment.

Bring Spring’s Spirit with Colors

The most common way to bring spring inside your living room is to replace neutral colors with bold, vibrant, and vivid ones. To match with the spring’s happy-go-lucky theme, you can bring bright yellows, vibrant pinks, greens, and blues in the living room. Bright colored flower vase, draperies, coffee table, or paintings against the backdrop of milky white walls will inject a spring zing into your space instantly.

Image via: House Beautiful

Renovate the Fireplace

Instead of discarding some items that were essential during winter, you can renovate them according to the seasonal theme. You can create an airy feel in your living room by lighting up with a number of candles in transparent glass hurricanes. Fill the room with fragrance by placing a container filled with flowers in front of the fireplace opening.

Replace Fabrics

Change the draperies of windows with some floral printed fabrics. The dreary sofa can be mixed up with some bright colored accent pillows. You can also use floral printed slipcovers to add a brand new look to your sofas. Duvet covers can also be used instead of slipcovers, as they are available in fabulous paints and patterns. To give perfection to sofa renovation, place a vase of fresh flowers on the center of the coffee table.

Image via: Apartment Therapy

Wall Display

Give the living room a new look by adding ready-made ceiling rosettes. They will serve as an impressive wall display. Being available in different shades, these discs can easily add grace and style to your living room. They are lightweight, easy to hang, and are affordable.

In most of the houses, living room is treated as the hub where people relax and spend times with family members, friends, or guests. So, giving this place a spring makeover will certainly uplift the appearance of your whole living space.

For more home decor ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

With the footsteps of spring at our door, many of us may feel the urge to shed the heavy winter decor from our living space and refresh it with a clear, straighten look. If you have that urge, look at these affordable ways to give your home a fresh spring appearance.

Image via: Apartment Therapy

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Add Colors

Coloring the whole place will drain out your wallet for sure. In this case, you have to be a bit tricky to drop the winter look. Add spring accents to the whole house interior without paining the walls. Give a fresh spring touch to your all-white bathroom by placing turquoise blue towels in it. Consider a bowl brimming with lemons or limes on the kitchen table and changing up winter-weary chairs and sofas with celadon or pale yellow slipcovers. Enliven your dining room with napkins, placemats, and table runners in uplifting colors like yellow, coral, or apple green. Use colorful flower vases and change the pillow covers in eye-catching prints.

Change or Clear up to De-clutter

Change the graphic patterns of the room by adding an organic touch. The heavy area rugs that were comfortable during winter months have to be replaced now. Nature-inspired objects or patterns can be perfect for this time. Items like a floral cushion or a branch table lamp can be a great nod to the outdoors. You can add the seasonal touch to any of your rooms by keeping budding branches in large, clear glass vases.

Apart from that, cleaning up some old books, newspapers, magazines, and old mails is not a bad idea at all. Keep what you really need and discard the others. Store the saved paper stuffs in bookcase or magazine racks to give the place a neat look.

Image via: Ron Rosenzweig

Treat Your Windows

The windows remain closed during the winter months. As a result, they become filled with dirt, dust, and pet dander. So, it is a good time to remove the heavy, dark draperies, wash them, and store them till the next winter. Replace your window treatments with lightweight fabrics in dazzling sunny prints. It will allow your place to shine in sunlight. Apart from window treatments, you can use dimmers and reinstate light bulbs. A great difference in the feel and look of a space can be brought by arranging for good lighting.

Re-arrange

It is a renovation way that demands no cost at all. Just some pushing and lifting can bring a great change to your interior. Think what does not feel right at a certain place and try to move it to a suitable place. For example, if the seating arrangements combining with a couch and two chairs lined up around the centerpiece in your living room is rarely used, you can change the placement by moving the chairs with their back to the entrance and opening up the passage to the couch. It will surely create more inviting seating arrangements.

Image via: D Randolph Foulds Photography

These renovation ideas will not break your bank but will certainly give your home a comfortable air during the warmer season.

For more home decor ideas on Stagetecture, click here.