Most people face this dilemma when they’ve just purchased a home or when they want to renovate or redecorate their home – they’re unsure of whether they should hire an interior decorator or do the job themselves. The answer to the above question depends on a host of factors, the most important of which are money, time and skill. In general, it pays to hire an interior designer if:

• You can afford it – designers don’t come cheap, and the changes they recommend could also be costly and the contractors they use could end up draining your bank balance, so even if you do have money, fix a budget if you don’t want your designer to assume carte blanche and go the whole hog in redecorating your home.
• You want a professional look – your home is bound to look more appealing and stylish when trusted to the hands of a professional designer. So if money i

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Hi, Clara. I don’t recommend painting over wallpaper, but I know in some cases there isn’t much choice.  If all the walls in your mobile home have this type of wood paneling with some sort of wall covering on it, this is going to be a fairly sizable project for someone.  You might want to try doing some of the work yourself to cut down on your potential costs.

The first step is removing the wall covering in any place it might be loose.  You don’t want to spend a lot of time and money redoing all the walls of your mobile home and then have the wall covering you painted over start peeling.

When all of the loose wall covering has been removed, the walls should be painted with an oil-based primer.  You don’t want to use anything with a water base as that can cause your wall covering to lose its adhesion.

Once the walls have been primed, use drywall mud or compound to put a coat of mud over all defects in the walls.  Basically you want to hit any spot that has a rough surface.  This could be spots where you pulled the loose wall paper off, joints in the wood paneling or holes where pictures were mounted.  The mud should be applied with a broad blade drywall knife. Smooth the thi

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Remember how I hated our TV wall?  I like it much better now.  My husband got all mathy on me and showed me how if we canceled our cable we could still watch our favorite shows and in about 9 months, the new TV will pay for itself with the money we save on our cable bill.  By the fall this TV will be earning money for us.  Simple Mom did a great post last week explaining all the tricks of watching TV on the cheap.

I’m glad she took the time to write all that so I could lay around with my sick boys and enjoy our new TV.

updated:: someone asked to see the side view comparisons

Here’s the side comparison so far, bad lighting and the tv is now moved back a little and the wires can be flattened but, now you don’t get smacked by a huge blue armiore {it ended up in my office} and tv guts when you walk in the front door.

Jenny Brewer idfx

Last night I went along to a master class in lighting at the John Cullen showroom on King’s Road, the first of four events taking place over the spring/summer. With important but drastic new energy efficient lighting regulations in place, using the right lighting products in residential projects has never been more important, and John Cullen has the solutions. After a series of detailed demonstrations and inspiring presentations led by the team of experts, I emerged full to the brim with knowledge and ideas, though feeling we only scratched the surface of their expertise.

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If Emily Post were reading, I think she might be upset that I have been a touch delinquent with my (virtual) thank-you notes!

First, I owe a big thanks to the adorable Marianne from Style for Living for giving me the Stylish Blogger Award. I am in very good company, as this award has been making its way through the blogosphere at record pace! Marianne, thanks so much for the award … and for the record, I think you are an uber-stylish blogger yourself. I am a touch concerned (flattered) that we may have been separated at birth because we (a) kind of look alike, (b) have similar logos, (c) have similar backgrounds, and (d) own dogs who appear to be identical twins. I

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