- Draperies are getting longer and longer. One of the best ways to add height to any room is to place window treatments just below the ceiling line. Use this designer trick in any room that could use a little lift.
- If you are planning a new kitchen, don’t miss the chance to build in space — creating touches such as a drawer-front that pulls out to reveal a useful extra work surface. Some ranges even incorporate drawers into the base area below the cabinets.
- As well as serving as decorative features and essential dressing aids, mirrors also play a less obvious role in a room scheme. They are invaluable for reflecting light, and can increase the illusion of space in a small room.
- Adding a skylight is one of the quickest ways to make any room brighter, creating an open and airy feeling. Skylights produce a top-lit architectural drama that windows often can’t match. Plus, dollar-for-dollar, they’ll usually bring in more light than windows.
- To make the most of a shared bathroom, consider these guidelines. For adequate elbowroom, the minimum clearance between two sinks in the bath should be 30 inches, centerline to centerline. Using pocket doors rather than hinged doors in the entrance way can save space.
- Changing the spindles on a covered porch or patio can easily change the style of the facade. Using a smooth, more rounded spindle creates a Victorian feel while the use of a square, more angular spindle can reflect either a Craftsman, Rustic, Modern or Classic style influence to a design. Staying true to the overall design style of the home will make choosing a spindle style much easier and one that will better complement the home overall.
- Adding wainscoting to an existing room can add a cottage feel and creates an old-fashioned look especially when added to a kitchen or bedroom. This design idea works well when an update is needed to an older home but you don’t want the renovation looking “too new” that it doesn’t integrate with the rest of the home.
- Barstools at a counter or center island in the kitchen are a convenient place for breakfast and other quick meals or school projects and homework that may need supervision or assistance from a parent.
- Reconfigure a porch, sunroom or large living area for semi-outdoor living by installing ceiling fans, screens and natural stone floors that will weather. Outfit garden-style furnishings with weather-resistant cushions and pillows.
- To help bring the outdoors in to your home use natural materials. Stone, wood and all different kinds of tile are great for contributing to an outdoor feel. Granite, iron or bamboo are other elements that help add color and texture creating contrast to an interior.
- One of the top trends in home design currently is the use of “flexible” floor plans. Traditionally designed styles with separate living and dining rooms are being replaced by large family areas or great rooms which offer more flexibility for family living.
- When planning a computer desk, you need a desk surface that is at least 24 inches deep unless you are using a laptop. But, keep in mind even more surface space will be welcomed for files and papers.
- Planning the layout of a living room is as important as choosing the color scheme. To make the task a little easier, draw a floor plan to scale on graph paper and cut out separate pieces for thefurniture. Place these on the plan and move them around until you have an arrangement that suits your needs.
- Partitions help distinguish the edge of rooms within a home and can be flexible or fixed. They can take the form of walls, glass panels, doors or even fireplaces. Low partitions are especially appealing because they allow the overall space to remain open and airy.
- Clutter can really detract from an open floor plan. When planning your living area, make a list of all of the items that will need to be stored. Everything from media equipment to children’s toy bins should be considered. Also, don’t forget to list books and collectibles. Often times when rooms are designed there is not enough storage for all of the everyday living items and rooms pile up with unwanted clutter. Designing a room initially with these needs in mind will not compromise the overall beauty of the space once all of your belongings are in place.
- Positioning the sink beneath a window gives a cheery outlook to anyone on washing-up duty.
- An unfinished portion of a basement is the perfect place to incorporate wine storage or a wine cellar. With its cooler temperature year-round and little amount of light, it’s a natural choice for storing these refreshments.
- When designing the kitchen, locate the preparation area between the refrigerator and the sink. Place any ingredients, mixing equipment or bowls here for best usage.
- If you want to add an island to the kitchen, think thin. A narrow island will still provide a great work surface without compromising the overall space.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
facts about design
Sunday, April 24, 2011
human eye can detect sound
The human eye can detect millions of colors and is sensitive to light and sounds. Yes, sound. University research studies show that mild and incidental noises cause the pupils of the eyes to dilate.
According to David Louis’s book of Fascinating Facts, it is believed that this is why surgeons, watchmakers, and others who perform delicate manual operations are so bothered by uninvited noise: the sounds cause their pupils to change focus and blur their vision.
The “millions of colors” that the eye can detect are the three primary colors of red, green and blue and the millions of combinations that result from these three colors. (In 1878, Ewald Hering proposed the theory that the four unique hues of red, green, blue, and yellow form the basis of all colors.)
animal facts
Mammals are the only animals with flaps around the ears.
African elephants only have four teeth to chew their food with.
There are about one billion cattle in the world of which 200 million are in India.
A house fly lives only 14 days.
A dog was the first in space and a sheep, a duck and a rooster the first to fly in a hot air balloon.
The Big Five is a group of animals of Africa: cape buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhino.
The oldest breed of dog is the Saluki.
The bee hummingbird of Cuba is the smallest bird in the world.
An ostrich can run up to 43mph (70 km/h).
An annoyed camel will spit at a person.
The world’s smallest dog is the Chihuahua, which means “tiny dog in the sky.”
Pea crabs (the size of a pea) are the smallest crabs in the world.
75% of wild birds die before they are 6 months old.
The pig is rated the fourth most intelligent animal but are mentioned only twice in the Bible
Sheep are mentioned 45 times and goats 88 times in the Bible. Dogs are mentioned 14 times and lions 89 times, but
domestic cats are not mentioned.
domestic cats are not mentioned.
Pork is the world’s most widely-eaten meat.
In Denmark there are twice as many pigs as people.
Dinosaurs did not eat grass: there weren’t any at that time.
The coyote is a member of the dog family and its scientific name, “canis latrans” means barking dog.
A giraffe can clean its ears with its 50cm (20 in) tongue.
A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle – a group of geese in the air is a skein. More animal collective nouns
The South American giant anteater eats more than 30,000 ants a day.
It is impossible to out-swim a shark – sharks reach speeds of 44 mph (70 km/h). Humans can run about 21 mph (35 km/h).
The sailfish is the fastest swimmer, reaching 68 mph (109 km/h), although a black marlin has been clocked at 80 mph (128 km/h).
The slowest fish is the Sea Horse, which moves along at about 0.01 mph (0.016 km/h).
Dolphins can reach 37 mph (60 km/h).
Of the 650 types of leeches, only the Hirudo medicinalis is used for medical treatments.
The heart of a blue whale is the size of a small car.
The tongue of a blue whale is as long as an elephant.
A blue whale weighs as much as 40 rhinos.
The eel is the only fish in the world that spawns in the middle of an ocean but spends its adult lives in rivers.
The scales of a crocodile are made of ceratin, the same substance that hooves and fingernails are made of.
A crocodile’s tongue is attached to the roof of its mouth and cannot move it.
A snail has two pairs of tentacles on its head. One pair is longer than the other and houses the eyes. The shorter pair is used for smelling and feeling its way around. (Some snail species have only one pair of tentacles, thus they have just one eye.)
The heaviest crustacean ever found was a lobster weighing 42 lb (19 kg), caught in 1934.
The largest jellyfish ever caught measured 7’6″ (2,3 m) across the bell with a tentacle of 120 ft (36 m) long.
The largest giant squid ever recorded was captured in the North Atlantic in 1878. It weighed 4 tons. Its tentacles measured 10 m (35 ft) long.
The giant squid has the biggest eyes of any animal: its eyes measure 16 inches (40 cm) in diameter.
Domestic cats purr at about 26 cycles per second, the same frequency as an idling diesel engine.
Sharks are immune to almost all known diseases.
Sharks and rays also share the same kind of skin: instead of scales, they have small tooth-like spikes called denticles. The spikes are so sharp that shark skin has long been used as sandpaper.
Animals also are either right-handed or left-handed. Polar bears are left-handed – and so is Kermit the Frog.
There are 701 types of pure breed dogs. There are about 54 million dogs in the US, and Paris is said to have more dogs than people.
Some bird species, usually flightless birds, have only a lower eyelid, whereas pigeons use upper and lower lids to blink.
Fish and insects do not have eyelids – their eyes are protected by a hardened lens.
Flatfish (halibut, flounder, turbot, and sole) hatch like any other “normal” fish. As they grow, they turn sideways and one eye moves around so they have two eyes on the side that faces up.
Measured in straight flight, the spine-tailed swift is the fastest bird. It flies 106 mph (170 km/h). Second fastest is the Frigate, which reaches 94 mph (150 km/h).
Millions of trees are accidentally planted by squirrels who bury nuts and then forget where they hid them.
There are more than 150 million sheep in Australia, a nation of 21 million people.
New Zealand is home to 4 million people and 70 million sheep.
sports facts
Fishing is the biggest participant sports in the world.
Football (soccer) is the most attended or watched sport in the world.
Boxing became a legal sport in 1901.
More than 100 million people hold hunting licenses.
Jean Genevieve Garnerin was the first female parachutists, jumping from a hot air balloon in 1799.
In 1975 Junko Tabei from Japan became the first woman to reach the top of Everest.
The record for the most Olympic medals ever won is held by Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina. Competing in three Olympics, between 1956 and 1964, she won 18 medals.
The record for the most major league baseball career innings is held by Cy Young, with 7,356 innings.
The first instance of global electronic communications took place in 1871 when news of the Derby winner was telegraphed from London to Calcutta in under 5 minutes.
In 1898, one of the first programs to be broadcasted on radio was a yacht race that took place in British waters.
Sports command the biggest television audiences, led by the summer Olympics, World Cup Football and Formula One racing.
Gymnasiums were introduced in 900BC and Greek athletes practiced in the nude to the accompaniment of music. They also performed naked at the Olympic Games.
The very first Olympic race, held in 776 BC, was won by Corubus, a chef.
The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece in 1896. There were 311 male but no female competitors.
In his time, Michael Schumacher was the highest paid sportsman, ahead of Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer. (Not including sponsorship endorsements.)
The high jump method of jumping head first and landing on the back is called the Fosbury Flop.
The Major League Baseball teams use about 850,000 balls per season.
About 42,000 tennis balls are used in the plus-minus 650 matches in the Wimbledon Championship.
The longest tennis match took place at Wimbledon 2010 when John Isner of the United States beat Nicolas Mahut of France 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68 in a match that lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes, played over 3 days, June 22, 23 and 24.
A baseball ball has exactly 108 stitches, a cricket ball has between 65 and 70 stitches.
A soccer ball is made up of 32 leather panels, held together by 642 stitches.
Basketball and rugby balls are made from synthetic material. Earlier, pigs’ bladders were used as rugby balls.
The baseball home plate is 17 inches wide.
The very first motor car land speed record was set by Ferdinand Verbiest.
The record for the most NASCAR wins is held by Richard Petty: 200 wins (and 7 championships).
Golf the only sport played on the moon – on 6 February 1971 Alan Shepard hit a golf ball.
Bill Klem served the most seasons as major league umpire – 37 years, starting in 1905. He also officiated 18 World Series.
The oldest continuous trophy in sports is the America’s Cup. It started in 1851, with Americans winning for a straight 132 years until Australia took the Cup in 1983.
Volleyball was invented by William George Morgan of Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1895.
A badminton shuttle easily travels 180 km/h (112 mph).
Ferenc Szisz from Romania, driving a Renault, won the first Formula One Grand Prix held at Le Mans, France in 1906.
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