First up is a great entry on coffee tables. If you are looking for a coffee table for your home, then you want to make sure that you get a really solid one that will stand the test of time. An oak coffee table is a great way to add style and solid craftsmanship to your home.

Moving along to the bedroom, Futon mattress covers will help keep your futon mattress from becoming dingy, torn and tattered. With a cover, keeping a futon clean is much easier than it would be otherwise, and helps keep life simple and worry-free, just as it should be.

If you are interested in decorating your walls, here is an interesting idea:  Glass art can be  hung on the wall of any room in your home. However, since it is impervious to damp and other conditions, it is especially good for kitchens and bathrooms. With a little care, your glass wall art will last a lifetime, no matter where you put it.

Next, a couple of lighting entries:

If you are considering trying to run your home lighting and other appliances through alternative energy means then you must take into account the factors around. Even if you have access to plenty of sunshine, sometimes the cost of solar panels can be prohibitive. But there are plenty of alternatives.

Lighting generally has four primary functions – decorative, accent, task and ambient. Table, bed and floor lamps often fulfill three of these functions as they are decorative, adding flair to a room. They also enable tasks such as reading or knitting as well as adding ambient light to a room creating relaxing atmospheres.

Finally, a great tip on home appliance protection plans: Home ownership is highly regarded as the best asset that grows in value and also has an excellent utility value. No other asset can be used every day and still retain its value over time. Home ownership also comes with some additional responsibilities and expenses to cover. You need to maintain your home appliances and it costs money. There are several choices to get an appliance protection plan. the best option is to get home warranty service.  If you are buying a new home or do not have an appliance protection plan for your existing home, you should definitely consider home warranty services. You will save money and time as your appliance protection plan takes care of your appliance repair costs.

That’s all I have for this week’s carnival. If you enjoyed reading the articles, please drop a note and let either us or the author of the article know. Thanks!

A favorite blind in use these days, mainly due to it being very energy efficient, is the honeycomb blind.  This type of blind comes in single, double or triple cell, with the triple cell offering better insulation.

Another popular, all time favorite for skylight blinds is the simple roller blind. This needs to be installed on tracks so that it is held down securely and rolls up and down easily. You can also buy blackout roller blinds to install on your skylight, which give added protection from sun damage.

Venetian blinds can also be used, and they work very well at regulating the light and temperature flowing in through the skylight.  They are also very easy to open and close, and only need to be secured at the top and bottom of the blind.

While pleated blinds can also be installed, many people find the fabric curtains to be fairly ineffective at both keeping out the hot sun and offering very much insulation at all. Remember, while your skylight is great during winter days at helping to heat up your room, providing there is a little sunlight, the heat coming through the skylight during a hot summer day can be almost intolerable.  You may not necessarily see the need for curtains or blinds during winter, but as soon as summer hits you will understand why you need to install decent window treatments. Actually, they are also needed and helpful to have during winter too, as if you close them up at night you will find that your room stays much warmer as the warm air has nowhere to escape. Pleated curtains are the type people usually choose, if they go for fabric curtains. Other con’s to using pleated curtains include the fact that they fade very easily when exposed to bright sunlight, and you have to take them down to clean and wash them.

If you are wondering about using plantation shutters for skylights, it is possible. However, you may find that the overall installation costs beginning with measuring, to having the shutters custom made, may be very expensive. They are also often quite heavy and unwieldy and most people find that a cheaper and lighter blind is more effective to use to cover skylights.

One reason for the blind being fairly lightweight is that you will need to be able to open and close the blind with ease.  There are several different ways how to open skylight blinds. The most common, and the least expensive is to buy a skylight blind handle or skylight blind opening pole, and do it manually.  This may not be as convenient as installing skylight remote control shades, but it is generally quite a bit cheaper.

Of course if you can install your skylight blinds with remote opening and closing abilities, you will find that this is infinitely easier to use. One caution though, anything that is automated may well break down. Problems have also resulted when the remote has mysteriously gone missing and the blinds cannot be opened for a day or two until the remote is recovered or replaced.  For some people convenience will win though, and it goes without saying that it definitely is great to be able to sit in your armchair and point the skylight blinds remote at the ceiling and have the blinds open for you.

Usually you can buy a skylight blind opening pole at the same time as you buy your blinds. They are very inexpensive. If you can, see if you can get one that is adjustable and that pulls out or slides in to adjust the length of the pole. Actually, you may even end up finding the opening pole handy for quite a few jobs around the home, not just opening and closing your skylight blinds!

One feature that people are very interested in these days when buying skylight blinds is the UV ray filtering properties.  With UV ray filtering, less harmful rays enter your home during the peak hours of sunlight during summer. This is a very important concern to many, and often the extra that you need to pay UV ray filtering skylight blinds is well worth it.

If you want to somehow have your skylight darken, then you will be looking for some type of blackout blind instead. Roller blinds definitely have the edge here, as they can be made to sit inside the skylight and once pulled down can definitely reduce the light coming in through the skylight tremendously. The skylight opaque blind can be very useful in rooms where you want to totally shut out the light for some period during the day and it is the best if you are wondering how to darken skylight.

One caution with installing window treatments, such as UV ray filtering skylight blinds, is that the better they are at blocking heat from the sun from coming in through the window, the higher the temperature between the glass and the window gets.  If this gets too high, to the point that it overheats, it can actually break the seal around the glass or even crack the window if the heat gets too intense. This is not common but it can happen and it is good to be aware of this before you install your skylight blinds.

It is not that easy to install most skylight blinds. An accomplished handyman could most certainly do it, but if you are not at all confident in your handyman skills you may want to arrange for a professional to come in and install them for you. This is important, as there is nothing worse than trying to install them yourself but instead botching the job to the point that you either ruin the blinds, or have to go ahead and have someone come in and do it anyway.

Skylight blinds can be ordered online, though special attention and detail needs to be given to the actual measurements you use to order your blinds. Keep in mind too, that some blinds may need trimming. Roller blinds are much easier to trim to fit than venetian blinds, for example.  Whatever your decision, make sure that the blinds fit in with the overall décor of your room too. Popular color choices for skylight blinds are white, cream and blue but you could choose any color you like providing it matches with your furniture and other window treatments.

Here are some details you may need to be aware of it you are wondering how to paint vinyl shutters. You will need a special acrylic paint for vinyl shutters that has urethane resins in it as well. This is not a super common paint, but it is easily found in paint stores (not at home centers though, like Home Depot–you need to go to a bigger paint store to find it.) The urethane resin in the paint is the key ingredient to making the paint stick to the vinyl, as it is by nature a very sticky substance which is great for painting on vinyl surfaces. Choose a color that most closely matches the existing color.

It is not a good idea to use regular exterior paint when you paint vinyl shutters.  Vinyl expands a lot during the course of the day, expanding with the heat and then shrinking back during the cooler night time temperatures. Most regular paints won’t be able to take all of this stretching and shrinking, and you will find the paint will soon start to peel.

Here’s a step by step guide on how to paint vinyl shutters.

1. Take your shutters down.  Keep all the screws together in the one place so that you can find them again quickly when it’s time to put the shutters back up.
2. Wash your Shutters:  Get a pail with soapy water, a good sponge and a scrub brush. Roll up your sleeves and go to work on them.   First of all soap them up and give them a scrub with the brush. Rinse the soap off and soap them up again. Keep doing this till all the dirt, residue and anything else left on the surface is gone. Give them a final soapy sponge up and rinse of thoroughly, making sure all the soap is gone.
3. Dry off the shutters and move to a spot that is out of the direct sunlight. You don’t want to paint your shutters under the sun.  Put on some gloves before painting, otherwise you may have a hard time removing the paint from your hands afterward.
4. Place your shutters down on newspaper and paint one side with the paint, being sure to get into the edges of the actual shutters themselves.  When dry, turn the shutter over and paint the other side.

Once your shutters are painted, it is a good idea to let them sit for a few days before re-attaching them to the exterior of your house again. This gives the paint time to cure properly, and dry well.  Don’t however put them in the sun, but rather let them cure outside in the shade or in the garage or somewhere.  So, can you paint vinyl shutters? Yes, providing you use the correct type of paint.

Of course the cheapest option when it comes to plantation shutters is to forego the idea of buying wood plantation shutters and to instead invest in some white PVC plantation shutters. These can look really good in a room, and they add a real bright and cheery appearance to a room. They look great in kitchens, of course, but can also look really nice in a bedroom and even in living rooms providing that your décor matches the style of shutter you are hanging.

Next in line comes the faux-wood plantation shutters. There is a huge difference here in the costs of different faux wood shutters. Difference in the design and the craftsman ship employed to build them can sometimes result in differences of $100’s when buying plantation shutters.  While you do want to save, you don’t want to buy such cheap plantation shutters that they don’t last, so be judicial in your decision when it comes to how cheap you are going to go with faux wood plantation shutters. While they may be cheap plantation shutters, you may find they are all together too cheap!

I would never really consider wood shutters to be cheap plantation shutters. Having said that though, it is possible to find discounted plantation shutters which do end up being fairly cheap.  For example, most larger stores like Lowes or Home Depot have resale lists where builders and contractors have had to return unopened blinds to the store due to mistakes they make when measuring for the blinds!  As they are returned goods, the store is forced to sell them at a huge discount. Great idea to check that out when looking for cheap plantation shutters.

Of course the cheapest is to order your plantation shutters online. The cheap plantation shutters offered online are just as good quality as store-bought ones, and the only real con to buying on line is that you have to measure very carefully and put the plantation shutters up yourself. If you are sure you can measure accurately and if you are confident that either you or someone you know can install the shutters for you, I would highly recommend going this route.  Many places will even offer free shipping!

There are some options however for buying cheap wood blinds, with pros and cons to each one. When making your decision it will really be all about what is available for you, what you can afford and most importantly what you feel the most comfortable with.

Buying Online: Without any doubt, you can definitely find the best prices for wood blinds by searching online for them.  There are often sales online also, and if you look around enough you should be able to find a supplier that also offers free shipping.

When you buy your blinds online, however, you don’t really have any way of returning them if you measure wrongly, for example.  You also have to either put the cheap wood blinds up yourself, or hire someone to do it for you, which adds to your costs.

If you measure for cheap wood blinds that you are going to purchase online, make sure to carefully follow the instructions given on the web site you are ordering from.  Use a very good measure (don’t try and do it with your kids school ruler!) and take the measurements a few times. It’s even a good idea to have someone else measure as well, to see if they come up with the same measurements. That’s really the main consideration when ordering online, as you don’t want to make a mistake with the measurement.

It is also sometimes difficult to get the exact match of color or wood stain when ordering online, but there are different ways around that. I’d suggest you buy all your blinds at once, or if you can’t afford that at least note down the style and item number and go back to the same on line merchant when it is time to order more cheap wood blinds.

Buying from a Store:  Home Depot has cheaper blinds, in general it seems, than Lowes for example. Other places where you can sometimes find cheap wood blinds include “Next Day Blinds” and “Budget Blinds”.  I’m sure there are a  lot of other shops that also sell blinds, where you can sometimes find good deals.

Recently I heard that Home Depot was only selling custom sized blinds, which has pushed the price for ordering blinds from them up a bit as you need to pay for them to come and measure and install. One thing you can do with Home Depot, and most likely other shops, is to pay for their workers to come and measure for the blinds, but then arrange to put the blinds up yourself, this can really cut costs considerably.

There are also sometimes coupons for Lowes or Home Depot offered, where you can get discounts on your blinds.

The pro of ordering from a shop, and having them come and at least measure for your wood blinds, is that they will take responsibility for any mistakes with measuring, which is great. Some shops also do actually offer free installation, so be sure to shop around.   Another pro is that you can actually go down and physically see the blinds and make a sure choice based on what is in front of you. The main con is the expense involved .

If you are really looking for cheap wood blinds, I think you will find it best to order online, from a supplier that offers free shipping.  Just be sure to measure correctly for them.

Part of their rise in popularity is of course due to the ease with which people from all over the world can check out shutter styles on line.  This makes styles that were once peculiar to a certain region or country suddenly becoming in vogue worldwide.  But that’s not the only reason that plantation shutters are popular.

They offer many benefits to homeowners.  First of all, the type of plantation shutters I am talking about are the interior shutters, usually made from either wood or faux wood, or occasionally from a harder plastic.  Traditionally, though, I think that plantation shutters should be at least wood or composite wood in order for them to look realistic.

Plantation shutters these days are made up of individual shutters that are sent into panels that are usually one to one and a half feet high.  While originally used to shelter homeowners from hurricanes and other weather conditions, or to protect a house from being looted and robbed by passersby by adding additional security to their oftentimes isolated homesteads, now days they are mainly used to add to a home or rooms décor.

There is not really much value in installing faux-wood plantation shutters over real hardwood shutters, aside from the fact that faux wood shutters generally are quite a bit cheaper than traditional wood shutters.  They are also usually quite a bit heavier, which is something you may want to take into consideration if you are planning on hanging them over large windowed areas.  Wood shutters are easier to manage, to open and close, due to the fact that the real wood shutters are usually lighter weight-wise.

Faux wood plantation shutters are a bit easier to care for. They don’t fade in the sun as much (although some finishes used on faux-wood shutters can yellow if exposed to bright sunlight) and they don’t warp when exposed to dampness or humidity as much as wood shutters do.

Few people are able to tell the difference, from a distance at least, between real wood and faux wood shutters, and in general the faux wood shutters look just as nice in a home as the real wood shutters.  Deciding on what type of plantation shutters to buy will really depend on your deciding first of all what you can afford, and secondly on what is of the most importance to you — their weight, whether you live in a humid climate, etc.

On a final note , if you do live in an area that is exposed to very bright sunlight, and you are planning on opting for wood plantation shutters, you may want to consider purchasing light colored wood shutters as these show a lot less fading from being exposed to the sun.  Thus, they will last longer without needing to be re-finished.

While a great addition to a room with a high ceiling, the inconvenience of a skylight can often be very bothersome to the people living or accessing the room. An unshuttered skylight sends tons of UV rays down and usually heats the room up more than is acceptable.  So, what is the solution to this?  Skylight blinds, of course.

Skylight shades are usually set to run on tracks so that they can support the blind in any position and they usually have a handle that can either be operated manually or via a skylight window pole which is a much more manual way of operating the skylight blind.

There are different types of skylight blinds available. Some merely filter the light coming in through the skylight, while others offer total blackout. As with most blinds, you can have either inside our outer mount shades.

Light Filtering Skylight Blinds:  These type of skylight shades allow light to filter into the room via the skylight. Shades can be opened and closed, just like any other type of shade and depending on the amount they are opened or shut the same amount of light will be filtered into the room. These are great to use in rooms that are ‘used’ for either a bedroom or study, as you can control the amount of light that is filtered into a room.

Room Darkening Skylight Shades: Do just what their name implies. They darken a room! Light coming through a skylight window can sometimes be a hassle. Using skylight blinds to minimize this light can make all the difference!   These type of blinds are particularly useful in rooms used for media, TV, video games, etc.–anywhere where light would be intrusive.

It is important to note, though, that these do not totally omit all light from entering into a room, but rather significantly reduce the amount of light that enters a room.

If you are wondering how on earth you can open or close your skylight blinds, there’s no need to wonder any further.  The majority of these type of blinds, especially new blinds, are motorized meaning that you can open and close them by the use of a remote control.

Skylight blinds, especially remote controlled skylight blinds are not cheap. For example a 72″ x 84″ semi-opaque blind can cost up to $550. A normal light filtering shade of the same dimension can cost up to $950, while a room darkening blind will set you back a tidy $1200 plus.

Although it is expensive to buy, and difficult to install skylight blinds they do really look good in a room where you have a skylight and are actually often a necessity.

They can be made from different materials, including PVC; fibreglass; wood; faux wood; or aluminium though until recently wood was the favoured material for Bahama shutters.  Aluminium Bahama shutters are increasingly more popular, and are replacing the former wood Bahama shutters. They are very lightweight when it comes to opening and closing, yet they do provide adequate protection for your home. They are also cheaper to maintain than wooden shutters.

They are not only decorative, adding style and often resale value to your house but they have an added use of offering protection from storms and hurricanes. This is particularly useful if you live in an area where hurricanes occur.  While Bahama shutters are made to open from the outside of a house, these days they are also made so that they can be easily opened or closed from within your  home as well.

Aluminium or fibreglass Bahama shutters are available in an array of different colors, which makes them perfect for adding a touch of color to your home.  Wood shutters are either stained in light to dark wood shades or more often painted with an exterior paint, and you can choose whatever complements the outside of your home.  If you choose wood shutters, you do have to make sure they are well maintained as if water penetrates the finish it can damage the shutters.

Bahama shutters are made with fixed louvers, which allow a good air flow into the room whether the shutters are closed or opened though they are usually fixed in a downward position to avoid rain being able to enter into your home.

Bahama shutters are mainly found in Southern USA regions, rarely in the Northern states. They are also known in some places as Bermuda shutters.

One of the original reasons shutters, such as plantation shutters, were add to homesteads and a very good reason why house shutters should be added today, is that they offer extra protection from bad or stormy weather.  This is particularly true in areas that suffer from strong wind or hailstorms, or in areas that suffer with cyclones, hurricanes or typhoons.   They are also handy to have if you want to cool down your room during summer, particularly if the hot afternoon sun really beats through one or two windows in a room. You can simply close the shutters on that side of the room and keep the room a few degrees cooler.

Another major reason for adding house shutters to pioneer homes was that they also added extra security to households, particularly on plantations where there were a lot of poor labourers or others who might be tempted to steal.  The house could be easily secured at night, or even during the day if no one was going to be home.  This discouraged thieves from breaking in and also added to the safety of those left at home.

With heating costs as expensive as they are these days, it is always a great idea to add as much insulation to your home as you can.  Shuttering your windows helps insulate your house as well, and this can be a great idea during the nights for example when it is not as important to have light coming in through the windows.

Aside from all of these reasons, house shutters just make your home look a lot more attractive, comfortable and welcoming providing they match the overall style of your house.  They are not always that easy to attach to brick houses for example, as getting them up can be a bit tricky, but they do well for most other style of housing.

These house shutters are made from many different materials these days, including vinyl, wood such as cedar or pine, metal , and faux wood. Faux wood and vinyl house shutters work well for attaching to the exterior of a house and they require little maintenance.  Vinyl shutters are better if you are mainly wanting to add to the appeal of your home as they aren’t so good at protecting your windows and home.  For that you would either want the heavier faux-wood shutters, or perhaps cedar or pine shutters.  Note, however that hard wood shutters do require more work to keep them in shape and looking good.

Bamboo roman shades can either be treated by staining and coating, or they can be left in their original color and just coated so that they resist dust and in order to make the blinds more durable.  While some people tout their durability, it is important to note that they are not terribly sturdy. With care, they will last you a long time but they aren’t really suitable to windows that get a lot of rugged treatment   nor should they be used in rooms that are damp or where there is a lot of humidity in the air as they don’t do well in these type of situations.

You can buy standard sized bamboo roman shades which fit in normal sized windows, or you can alternatively order custom made shades if you need them a specific width or length. Most stores and online stores offer you this option, although custom made blinds cannot be returned to the shop so make sure that you measure your window accurately before placing your order.

Bamboo Roman shades are not designed to block out light, unless you buy them with a special light-blocking backing.  They are designed to filter light.  As they are loosely woven in most cases, quite a bit of subdued lighting can filter into the room between the bamboo slats, giving a nice warm glow to the room in most cases.

Commonly you can buy them in wood-shades, ranging from dark brown to medium or light brown. Some blinds are treated and painted, so finding a white bamboo roman blind is not that uncommon either. I personally prefer the blinds to be a wood-shade, as they usually are hung so as to give a natural look to a room, but again it all depends on the overall décor of your room.

One of the big plusses to using bamboo for material for a blind is that it is natural and very quick growing. Therefore it is a natural resource that is not really in any danger of being soon depleted unlike some of the hard woods that furniture and blinds are made from. So, you are really doing the environment a favour when you choose to buy bamboo roman blinds.

Inside mounted bamboo Roman shades can be bought that are lifted up and down by simply tugging on the middle of the bottom rail of the blind. These are great to use in homes where you have young children or pets inside and you wish to avoid buying curtains and shades with strings attached.

To clean bamboo roman shades it is recommended that you either lightly dust them at least once a week, or that you vacuum the dust directly off them once a week. They are not really recommended to hang in areas where they are liable to get very dirty though, or in any area where they may attract grease, as they are not super easy to clean and of course you can’t use water to clean them. So, take that into consideration also when deciding whether or not to invest in Bamboo Roman shades.