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Choosing Exterior Paint Colors

Unlike painting interior is easily changeable, the exterior of your home isn’t something you want to do on a whim. With the expense and time involved you’ll want that paint job to last.

Paint, picking the best hues for your home isn’t as hard as it might seem. Just remember that before you get out the paintbrush it’s a good idea to take cues from:

The style of your house. Certain colors have become synonymous with specific architectural styles. For instance, Victorian homes often boast vibrant, contrasting color schemes, whereas Southwestern homes are typically adorned in the colors of the desert landscape (think pinks, soft yellows, sandy taupes, and beige). An abundance of architectural details may mean you can use a variety of colors on the exterior, as with Painted Ladies; simpler homes look better with a more straightforward palette (pick a body color, trim highlight, and accent punch at most). Read More …

Paint Your Exterior

Paint is not easy job, we should know what we paint for. These are severla tips before you paint your house or building

There are two types of Exterior Paint:

Latex: With latex-based paints the finish lasts the longest while retaining the true color. Because it is water-based it is easy to work with and cleans up well. In addition it dries quickly so that extra layers can be put on in hours and not days, as in oil-based paints. Latex has a porous surface which allows moisture to escape and this helps to prevent peeling and flaking.

Oil-Based (Alkyd): Alkyd-oil is great for coverage and sticking to most clean surfaces. Heavily-used areas require oil-based alkyds because latex coverings will wear down after constant handling and foot treads. And because they dry slower there are no roller marks as in in latex. Clean-up is low and tedious with off-gassing from mineral spirits.

Whatever paint you choose there are some basics for preparation: Read More …

What to Put in Front of Your Sofa

Don’t Let Your Sofa Feel Lonely

I’ve had a home for a really long time, and believe it or not, I’ve never owned a coffee table. It’s not that I didn’t want one or need one. I just never found just the right coffee table that I wanted. Maybe I’ve procrastinated too long, now. I am still looking.

Because a sofa is probably the largest piece of furniture in your main living area, it could look lonely all by itself, a big glob of fabric-covered seating. And when you’re sitting at a sofa, you’ll undoubtedly want a place to put things like magazines or drinks so that you can reach them easily. Read More …

How To Modernize and Update the Lighting in Your Home

Bring more light to your home with these tips. From bulbs and switches to fixtures and lamps, simple changes will help to brighten things up.
Here’s How:

1. Install dimmer switches on as many lamps and light fixtures as you can. In the bathroom, you can really create a soothing mood for bathing. A bedroom becomes more romantic. You’ll have control over the intensity of light around your home and save energy at the same time.

2. For dark corners, use metal can up-lights. They can be purchased in a variety of styles and only need to be plugged in, with the light directed at the dark area. These are small and work great in a potted floor plant or on the top of a chest or armoire. Be sure to camouflage the fixture and just enjoy the light. Read More …

How to Get an Entry Level Job or Internship

Looking for that big break? A gateway to the thrilling world of design? Follow our 10 step program and you will be on your way!

1. Decide which country and city you most would like to work in and decide which firm or designer you would most like to work with.
-Consult books, magazines, websites and ask fellow designers and professors: where would they go and who would they want to work with?

2. Make a list of at least 10 different firms and designers that you want to contact.
-Rank them (using criteria such as location, coolness of projects, reputation in design community, specializations, skills you will learn there) so that you know where to put your best effort. Read More …

Deep or Wide : Between Education and the Design Profession

I tend to argue with myself. It usually ends peaceably unless it’s out loud on public transportation. As these last days of summer fade into the school year, I find I am at odds with myself once again.

Educators serve two masters: to the student and the profession. With limited time and budget, teachers struggle with the choice: teach the person, or train employees. In schools of industrial design, this issue is particularly relevant. The field has become so broad that schools struggle to provide enough depth. The technical burden of the software alone could fill a four-year course of study. Factors like technology and globalization are changing the role of designer at a break neck pace. Where design historically concerned itself with manufactured things, today’s designers are routinely employed to also develop strategies, interactions, and experiences. Are design programs teaching enough of the skills that designers really need, or are we simply training the designers of tomorrow in the techniques of today? Read More …

Practice Noticing Stuff and Telling Stories

To be a better design researcher, hone your ability to observe the world around you. Keep a regular log that you add to at least weekly (daily would be ideal). Document the strange, the curious, the weird, the awesome and the funny. Learn to keep a close eye on the artifacts, signs, designs, behaviors, products and experiences that you encounter in your everyday life.

Put your observations on the Internet. Maybe no one will see them, but the discipline of taking your observations out of your own head and publishing them in a sharable form will force you into telling a story. As much as design research is about observing others, there’s something very personal about how and what we see, and developing that voice will serve you well. Collect stories and retell them in your own way, emphasizing the perspective you want others to take away. Read More …

Portfolio Preparation Tips and Suggestions

These days you need to go beyond the ordinary to make your portfolio stand out. Here is an overview of what to do and how to excel.

A strong portfolio opens doors, a weak portfolio closes them. Your portfolio is often the only thing a person sees before deciding whether or not to contact you, and in many cases you may not be present to explain it (particularly on-line portfolios). There are fundamental qualities that all outstanding portfolios share, and a variety of principals and techniques that can help take your portfolio from average to excellent. If at all possible, your portfolio should be appropriate to the situation and reviewer, and all portfolios should show creativity, skills, range, thought, and ambition. It is the overall combination of these, plus that “special something,” that makes one designer stand above the others. Read More …