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Age-Old Techniques Gaining New Popularity
If you've been considering ways to improve the interior of your home, you probably haven't thought in terms of marble columns or walls. Or even exotic woods like knotty oak or birdseye maple. Sound appealing? If you think so but find the cost prohibitive, there's an alternative: Decorative faux finishes.
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All About Paint and Painting
Even when the same color is applied, a fresh coat of paint can give a distressed surface a clean and uniform finish. And, an added coat of paint, if of good quality, can make a surface more abrasion-resistant.
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All About Wallpapering
How can you make a small room feel spacious, a large room seem cozy or the most drab and lifeless room come alive with depth and color? Aside from knocking down walls and raising the roof, wallpaper can do the trick. It comes in as many different patterns, materials, and finishes as there are tastes.
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All About Wallpapering
How can you make a small room feel spacious, a large room seem cozy or the most drab and lifeless room come alive with depth and color?
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All You Ever Wanted to Know About Painting
It's once again that time of year when hordes of do-it-yourselfers converge on paint stores all over America in an effort to improve the appearance of their homes.
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Applying Paint
It is often said that the key to a top-quality paint job lies in the preparation. How true. A clean, dry and well-prepared surface will significantly improve the appearance and lasting-quality of a paint job. Equally important is the quality of the paint. Paint is an investment.
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Be Subtle with Color
Usually we write about the mechanical aspects of do-it-yourself home improvements: what tools to use, the best material for the task at hand, shortcuts that the pros use and the easiest way to clean up. But aesthetics are important too.
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Car Care
A surface scratch in the paint of your automobile is a lot easier to remove than you might imagine. In many cases all it takes is a little car polish and a little elbow grease.
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Choosing the Proper Roller Cover for Painting
Starting a paint job? Here's a great way to figure out which roller is right for you.
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Cleaning Wallpaper
Wallpaper is now used to make a statement, to create an effect or a
mood, or a theme, and to enhance the ambience of your surroundings.
There are new decorative effects, new colors, and new and innovative
designs, textures, and surfaces.
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Common Paint Problems
Roses are red, violets are blue, buying and applying the right paint will a home improvement hero make of you.
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Comparing Oil and Latex Paint
Few home improvement projects are as instantly gratifying as is a fresh coat of paint.
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Concrete Ideas
After standing on the remodeled patio for over an hour, we had no idea that it had been made from concrete. We both thought the tiles were real stone. We eventually learned that we were standing on pieces of broken concrete mortared together to look like stone.
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Controlling Rust
In your experience you may have debated whether to purchase a product made of steel which is strong, solid and durable, or to go with something made of a lighter material that is easier to maintain, such as plastic. Fact is, products made of steel when properly maintained will far outlast most other building materials.
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Dealing With Railing Rust
Decorative ornamental railings can do wonders for the appearance of a home. Aside from architectural enhancement, they serve an important purpose safety. Hand rails at stairs and elevated porches and balconies are a must. And, a securely anchored and well-maintained steel railing system can last virtually forever.
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Dealing With Rust
Simply stated, rust is a reddish-brown oxide formed on iron and iron-containing material by low-temperature oxidation in the presence of water. Aside from its ugly appearance, left untreated, rust can bring any of the mentioned products to an early demise and lead to other damage.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Interior Painting
If you are like many, you probably prefer to paint the inside of a room in your own home rather than hiring others to do so - not only to save money, but because painting is satisfying and isn't terribly hard to do. An average room can be completed in a day or two.
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Getting the Hang of Wallpapering
Recently we told you how to prepare a wall for wallpaper. Now we'll discuss how to hang paper on those ready and waiting walls.
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Glazing Techniques
Consider turning your walls, paneling, cabinetry, furniture and flooring into art objects by using a decorative painting technique called "faux finishing."
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Good Paint Means Good Results
Although we believe that 80 percent of a good paint job is in the preparation, even with the best of safeguards some paint jobs fall apart in no time from cracking, peeling and chipping. The quality of the paint, thus, is essential to a good result.
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House-Painting Basics
When we were boys, our father taught us that 80 percent of the work in just about any paint job is in the preparation. He also encouraged us both to take art classes. We did. But it didn't make any difference. Today, our wives insist on picking the paint colors.
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How to Convert Old-Fashioned Wall Paneling
While the thought of trading dark, dated paneling for a lighter, more attractive wall finish may appeal to you, the prospect of removing the paneling may be discouraging. But, you don't have to remove it. You simply can brighten up paneled walls with a fresh coat of paint or wallpaper.
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Installing Wallpaper Borders
If you've ever applied wallpaper, you know that it can sometimes become a pasty mess of torn paper and crooked edges. But wallpaper borders are a cinch and the finished product always looks good.
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Magnetic Wall Decor
Magnetic Creations is a wall decor system that attracts magnets. Two coats of this stuff and you'll never need another pushpin or piece of tape again. And with four coats along with a strong magnet, you can toss out picture hangers and hang-framed pictures, plaques, etc. What's the secret?
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Painting a Concrete Surface
The successful painting of a concrete surface depends on several things, the most important being preparation. Don't be in a rush to paint freshly poured concrete.
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Painting a Room - Step by Step
Painting can have great impact on the appearance of a room for little cost. It is also a project that most people are capable of if they do their homework first.
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Painting Doors and Windows
Aside from the painter (you), a good paint job is influenced by several factors: the condition of the object being painted, the paint, the applicator and the temperature.
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Painting Made Easier
Painting is the favorite home improvement of the do-it-yourselfer. As remodeling contractors, we can tell you that many folks who otherwise hire others to do their work, choose to do their own painting.
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Painting Over Water Stains
You had a roof leak and wound up with a water stain on your ceiling. You got out the touchup paint, gave the stained area a quick coat of matching color, and, in only an hour or so, the paint became completely dry. To your dismay, however, the stain returned as soon as the paint dried. Well, it doesn't have to be that way.
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Painting Stucco
If you're like most folks, your home is the single biggest investment that you will make in a lifetime. Therefore, it makes good sense to do everything that you can to take good care of it...
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Painting Tips
Although our sixty-second solutions usually apply to every aspect of home maintenance, repair and cleaning, we decided that we would share just those that apply to painting -- this time round.
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Painting Your Home
While color is a factor in the appearance and "curb appeal" of a home, a more important reason for painting is to safeguard the exterior from deterioration due to sun and rain.
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Picture-Frame Joints
Unfortunately, over time, wooden picture frames get knocked around and become square and beat up. Here's how to make the repairs yourself—and save money in the process!
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Refinishing a Light Fixture
The value of a home is enhanced when it appears well maintained. Unfortunately, few prospective buyers look below the floor into the sub area. And although the sub area is just as important to properly maintain, the areas that are most thoroughly scrutinized are those that are readily visible during a quick walk-through.
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Refinishing Furniture
When we were young, one of our favorite pastimes was refinishing old family furniture. Our aunts and uncles generously donated old chairs, tables and other pieces. We can still hear their whispers, "What the heck do those Carey boys want with all of that old furniture?"
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Refinishing Furniture
Old furniture never dies, it just ends up in storage. You don't need to be an expert furniture refinisher to restore the beauty of an old oak rocker. With tools no harder to handle than an electric razor, anyone can fix up a piece that isn't broken, and give it a second life.
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Removing Wallpaper
Wallpaper removal doesn't have to be a dreaded task. The real secret to successful wallpaper removal is something that happens long before it's time to remove the paper; it's addressed when the paper is being hung.
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Repainting the Home Exterior A-Z
A fresh coat of paint applied to the exterior of the house will do more to improve its "curb appeal", and hence its value, than any other single improvement that one can make. Additionally, a coat of paint will protect the exterior surface of the home from damage due to wind, rain, the sun and even structural pests.
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Repairing Furniture Blemishes
It doesn't take much to make a fine piece of furniture less than beautiful. Scratches, cigarette burns, white rings and dents all contribute to the de-beautifying process. In the past, we provided advice on the removal of white rings from furniture. Now we'll share a few simple tips on repairing blemishes and other imperfections in fine wood furniture and cabinetry.
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Restoring Kitchen Cabinets
A few minor repairs, along with a fresh coat of paint, can make your old cabinets look new, brighten up the room and make them easier to care for.
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Selecting and Properly Using Paint Applicators
Painting with a roller? There's more to it than meets the eye.
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Solving Exterior Paint Problems
A coat of paint on the exterior of a home can do wonders to improve its appearance and its value. And, enough can't be said about the added benefit that paint offers to the lasting quality of a home.
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Stencil Painting Is Easy and Fun
Beyond color, a little paint and a lot of imagination can go a long way in adding to a home.
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Texturing and Painting Processes
We recently spent an entire day schmoozing. Our brand of schmoozing did not involve an iota of jargon nor a scintilla of idle chatter. It did, however, involve paint and plastic. That's today's offering "schmoozing" and other unusual texturing and painting processes.
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The Anatomy of a Paintbrush
If you follow our column, you know we regularly preach that 80 percent of a good paint job is preparation. Paint won't stick well when applied to a dirty wall, and doesn't look good when used to cover a damaged one.
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Two-Tone Painting
We have, for a long time, been looking for new and unusual ways to use multiple colors to make things around the house more interesting looking. We'll use a cabinet door as an example, but practically anything that you paint in two colors can be done using the same technique.
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Using the Proper Painting Tools
Preparation (cleaning, scraping, sanding, patching and priming) accounts for well over three-quarters of a good paint job. Taking your time and using high-quality patching products will yield the most professional results.
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Wallpaper Can Do Wonders
How can you make a small room seem more spacious, a large, cumbersome room feel cozy, or a drab, lifeless room come alive with depth and color? Instead of knocking down walls and raising the roof, try hanging some wallpaper.
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