Hobbies: Budget Furniture Fix Ups

Budget Furniture Fix Ups

Written by Kathleen Wilson

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list is what is known as “hardgoods”. Tables, chests, entertainment centers. A fast and inexpensive way to transform these items is, you guessed it, paint. Almost anything can be painted these days, including laminate. Simply prime it with a product specifically made for non-porous surfaces…I like BIN or KILZ. Then just use ordinary housepaint. Wood finishes can be just sanded and painted. Consider trying your hand at decorative painting or faux finishing for designed effects. I suggest visiting a few web sites for ideas like www.paintedhouse.com, www.paintideas.com, or www.fauxlikeapro.com. Another tight budget option for covering worn or outdated furniture includes using fabric on door and drawer fronts. You can use leftover fabric, fabric from thrift stores or garage sales, or search your own closet. Simply cut repparttar 116338

fabric slightly larger than repparttar 116339

drawer or door front, then use a staple gun to adhere it to repparttar 116340

back, stretching it snug as you go. Try painting repparttar 116341

rest of

piece a color picked out of repparttar 116343

fabric for a great coordinated look. The last option I am going to throw out there is mosaic tiling. This can be very frugal if you have leftover tiles from another project, or ask your local tiling center if they have broken tiles they would let you have. Another good place to look for free mosaic materials is at residential construction sites, especially ones that are more upscale. Always ask first, but there are always broken tiles when an installation has taken place, and it’s only going to get hauled to repparttar 116344

dump! Mosaic can be as simple as laying broken tile in a random pattern and gluing in place, to laying out intricate patterns, and grouting and sealing your project. You can use it on table or dresser tops, drawer fronts, or even a door itself! You can even produce repparttar 116345

illusion of mosaic by using decorative paper in repparttar 116346

same manner, cut it into irregular shapes, and glue it on! Whatever you choose to do to update your furniture, impose your own style, take your time, and be proud of your creation!

Kathleen Wilson is the editor of a free ezine/newsletter called The Budget Decorator, dedicated to “budget impaired” home decorating. Visit her at http://www.thebudgetdecorator.com for more free ideas and projects, and for info on her soon to be released book “Quick Decorating Ideas Under $20!: The Budget Decorator’s Bible”.

Digital Photography, Is It Right For You?

Written by Jeff Colburn

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Still not sure which way to go? You could buy a nice digital camera, with at least 3.1 megapixels, for under $1,000 and give it a try. You can even buy a printer that connects directly to repparttar camera, so you don't need a computer.

If you do decide to buy digital cameras, ask repparttar 116337 same questions you would for film cameras. What lenses, shutter speeds, ISO's and flash sync speed do you need? What subjects will you shoot, in what kind of lighting and how portable does it need to be? Do you need to end up with prints, digital images or slides?

Then talk to photographers that you know, or that you can find on newsgroups, and see if they use repparttar 116338 camera you're looking at, and what they think of it. If you live in a large city, you can probably rent repparttar 116339 camera you want, and if you decide to buy it you may even be able to apply your rental fees toward repparttar 116340 purchase price.

So don't jump on repparttar 116341 digital bandwagon just because everyone else seems to be doing it. A camera is a tool. Select repparttar 116342 proper tool to meet your needs. You will be happier and your pictures will look better.

Want to know what some of repparttar 116343 pros are using for digital? Check this out.

Cameras Canon EOS-ID and D30 Nikon DI

Computers Macintosh PowerBook G3 and G4 Sony Vaio PC

Scanners Agfa DuoScan and Arcus 2 Flextight Precision II Imacon Precision II Nikon Coolscan 8000 Scanview Scanmate 11000 drum scanner UMAX PowerLook 1100 with transparency attachment

Printers Epson 1160, 1270, 1280, 5500 and 10000

Software Adobe Photoshop 6.0 and 7.0

Jeff Colburn's books, "The Writer's Dictionary Of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Mythology" and "The Youngest Ninja," can be purchased from his site, The Creative Cauldron at www.CreativeCauldron.com. The Creative Cauldron is a site filled with information for writers, photographers, artists and other creative people.

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