Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Spring is well on its way, which means backyard barbecues aren't far off either. Don't get left in the dark: Assessing your deck or patio and identifying your outdoor lighting needs is the first step to creating a welcoming atmosphere.

Take a look around your outdoor space. Are there practical spots that need to be well-lit, like your grill and dining areas? How about lighting for safety, like stairs and garden pathways? Lastly, think about aesthetics. What mood do you want your lighting to create? Do you have attractive areas that you want to highlight like stone waterfalls, landscaping or archways? All are important things to consider in your outdoor lighting plan.

One of the primary ways people light their decks and patios is with lighting fixtures attached to their home's exterior. And we're not talking visually shocking flood lights. Wall lights, lanterns and sconces are the perfect place to start, not to mention a great way to set the lighting style you are trying to achieve for your deck, whether mid-century modern, European, baroque or something completely different.

These lights are crucial to making your deck safe as well as enjoyable. With well-lit stair risers, you can easily ascend and descend while carrying trays of cocktails or appetizers to your guests.

Attaching LED lights to the tops of your deck's post caps is a very popular way to add functional lighting to your outdoor space. Be sure to opt for LEDs with warmer color temperatures like soft white to give your yard a welcoming glow. When you check the back of the bulbs' packaging, you'll find the color temperature scale; keep in mind that the farther left on the scale your choice falls, the warmer the light it will emit.

Rope lighting is a great deck option because it's extremely versatile and weatherproof. Consisting of a flexible, solid plastic rod with a series of tiny bulbs embedded in it, rope lighting can be run under virtually any surface length on your deck and attached with rope clips or a plastic rope light track.

This method of lighting works because it subtly illuminates the boundaries of your space and keeps your guests aware of trip hazards like elevation changes.

The final and most fun step to planning your deck lighting is choosing the decorative lighting that will serve to enhance the mood of your gatherings. Whether you want to get crafty and make your own Mason jar pendant lights, add funky flair with colorful paper lanterns, or stick with more traditional LED string lights for a romantic ambience, it's completely up to you. The sky is the limit!

Sarah Kellner provides online advice for The Home Depot on everything DIY, including topics like backyard lighting and what types of light bulbs to use. Visit HomeDepot.com to find the LED lights and bulbs that Sarah talks about in this article.

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Flip the switch: 5 places to install deck lighting for entertaining

One morning in 1961 at the Querini Stampalia, I asked him to keep water outside the palace He looked at me and after a pause he said: Inside, inside! Water must be inside, like everywhere in the city. We just need to control and use it as a shining and reflecting substance. You will see the light reflections on the yellow and purple stuccos on the ceiling. That is so gorgeous!

- Giuseppe Mazzariol,director of the Fondazione Querini Stampalia,recalls Carlo Scarpas attitude to the creation of the museum space in the centre of Venice.

When I arrived at the Fondazione one afternoon last week, the tide was rising and canal water was slowly infiltrating the dusty channels cast into the museums interior, making its way through round holes cut into the walls. The steel grilled watergate in the museums facade is permanently submerged and the sound of water lapping against stone inside the corridor and its cooling effect makes the spaceuniquely beautiful, neither interior nor exterior.

In the garden to the rear there is a beautiful continuity of form and material from the inside spaces.

I think Scarpas design and many of the older buildings in Venice offer a positive glimpse of future opportunities for living in cities threatened by rising water levels.

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Landscape Architecture - People and Place

Original photograph of the garden's planting

Hello, this is a slightly odd request but Im looking for this garden, was my opening line. When the housekeepers eyes flickered in recognition at the photos I suspected I had struck gold. When she said, Ah yes, the garden here! I was thrilled. Not only did the garden still exist but Mr Morris, the original owner, was at home. He invited me in to see the garden.

I discovered, with amazement, the intact bones of a late Seventies masterpiece. Certainly many borders have become overgrown, but there is no doubt that the underlying structure that Jakobsen laid down survives.

A lucky win

Having bought the house in 1967 at the tender age of 22, Michael Morris concentrated on getting the interior right before doing anything about the garden. He says: When I bought this house the builders had left it in a terrible state. It was horrible, really horrible we had to throw the kitchen out.

Fortunately a winning bet on the 1979 Greyhound Derby brought the garden into being: effectively, it was built by a fast greyhound called Sarahs Bunny.

It is a well-used and much-loved plot. Mr Morris has raised two families here and he clearly still loves the place.

Loved by many the garden is still going strong (Rii Schroer)

Its like being on holiday in a hotel and at home all at once, he says. Ive got the best of both worlds. There is always laughter and happiness in this garden at night it is wonderful.

He agrees that Jakobsen was famously uncompromising in his design approach. I found him difficult at times. He [Jakobsen] knew what he wanted.

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A private garden worth searching for

Over-the-Top Girls Room
Interior designer Trish Johnston tours an over-the-top girls room that she designed for a young client. Instead of choosing a typical pink palette for the ro...

By: Steven and Chris

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Over-the-Top Girls Room - Video

kitchen interior designer jakarta Interior Kitchen Design 2015
contemporary interior kitchen design,concepts interior kitchen pune,concepts total interior kitchen solutions,kitchen cupboard interior fittings,kitchen ca...

By: Interior Kitchen Designs

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kitchen interior designer jakarta Interior Kitchen Design 2015 - Video

Baby, its freezing outside. And February is far from over.

So heres some hot technology that can keep your home safe and keep you entertained while you hunker down under the blankets.

Frozen Water

A friend who posted a note about the pipes in his kitchen freezing this week reminded me of one of the dangers of protracted frigid weather: water leaks.

Photo: WallyHome.com

The sensors need to be placed near pipes or potential trouble spots. They include disposable lithium-ion batteries that the company says should last for about 10 years. Wally also works with the Nest smart thermostat in a single app, simplifying monitoring, particularly for people with a second home or for those lucky enough to be on vacation.

While the $299 price for Wally may deter some shoppers, keep in mind that detecting one threatening temperature drop or early leak can save a home owner thousands of dollars in repairs. One caveat: if youve got a large, older home with idiosyncratic wiring, you may have difficulty making a connection to the Wally hub from distant corners of your abode.

Video Guard Dog

Photo: Guardzilla.com

Guardzilla is a noteworthy new model for its easy installation, modest price (its $100, which is half the price of the Dropcam Pro ), and the fact that it can sound an audible siren when an intruder is detected.

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Hot tech for a cold climate

Canary Home Security Review for Online Shoppers
http://frontpointsecurity.linktrackr.com/youtube Canary presents a perfect and easy to set up solution for your very basic every day security and protection ...

By: charvan sken

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Canary Home Security Review for Online Shoppers - Video

Edinburgh
Comfortable and spacious inside and out! Large living room, wonderful outside entertaining space with deck, grilling/firepit area, fenced yard, 2 storage buildings with electric and new doors....

By: Realty One

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Edinburgh - Video

MOUNTAIN VIEW (CBS SF) You get a text message on your Google phone from your blood-born Google nanosensors saying you need more vitamin D, so you turn off your Chromecast, turn on your Google connected home security system, pop in your Google anti-UV contact lenses, hop in your Google car to go to a beach that Googles YouTube predicted you would like, then order up a burger and ice cream sundae to be delivered by Google drone, that youll eat with your Google Spoon, all coordinated using WiFi from Google balloons and satellites hovering above the Earth. Powered by Googles Kite turbines. And youll do it all because Googles Calico Lifespan project alerted you this morning that you have exactly 22 years, 5 months left of projected life left, and you want to enjoy every Google-connected minute of it.

Creepy? Maybe.

Brilliant? Yes.

Invasive? Definitely.

Reality? Every one of these is an actual project Google is investing time, money, and in some cases, entire divisions to make a reality. Many already delivered on their initial goals. Some of them Google has bought outright, and began improving on the technologies. Others are home grown.

Whichever way they came to be under the Google umbrella (or Google tentacles, depending on your view of massive corporations that explore diverse products), they show how Google is increasingly entrenched in every part of our lives.

Its all public information, all available byyou guessed it: Googling it.

And, expect this list to grow. Astro Teller (yes, thats his real name) who runs the moon shot programs at Google X tells Forbes they reject 100 projects every year or more, including the Google Jetpack (too inefficient) and the Google Hoverboard (not practical).

16GOOGLE PROJECTS THAT COULD CHANGE THE WORLD and CHANGE YOUR LIFE

1. GOOGLE TERMINATOR:This 6 foot, 2-inch tall, 330 pound robot named Ian is not really a killer, but it could be. It looks like the Terminator, but its stated skills include carrying a fire hose, driving a car, and apparently doing moves from The Karate Kid. Its a product of Boston Dynamics, a Google-owned subsidiary, that does contract work for DARPA, the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corp in addition to private companies like Sony.

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16 Bizarre, Surprising, Or Creepy Google Projects From Bloodstream Robots, Military Dogs, Lunar Bases, And Even ...

POLAND, Ohio -

Imagine someone watching every move you make inside your home.

That's what prompting a Poland township woman to take legal action alleging that someone hacked into her home video security system.

Jocelyn Pannunzio has filed a lawsuit seeking damages for invasion of privacy.

Pannunzio wanted a video system to monitor her son's bedroom so she could watch him at night when she wasn't home.

When the system developed a problem, a technician made a disturbing discovery and asked if they had been logging in to the system.

We don't even know how to log in. Just from our I-phones, said Pannunzio. The technician told Pannunzio that someone had been logging in everyday, all day.

Dave Betras is Pannunzio's attorney, who had the system checked by a computer forensic expert.

I have proof that someone hacked into her home system and someone monitored her and recorded her in her own home said Betras.

Pannunzio says it's disturbing to know that loving moments with her son were not really private.

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Poland woman says security cam hacker spied on her at home