GoGoKitty’s Do-It-Yourself Secrets

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The days of free in-home estimates are long gone, thanks to the high costs of transportation. If you’re looking to install granite countertops, most fabricators now ask you to provide a layout of your existing counters for a free phone or email estimate. Your layout will be ready in no time if you follow these tips.

First draw your counter tops as squares and rectangles. Graphing paper works best, but a clean sheet of printer paper will be good in a pinch. It does not have to be to scale, but try to keep the right proportions of the layout. Sketch each and every counter, including peninsulas, islands, bar tops, and ledges. Clearly indicate the placement of your appliances. This will help you keep track of your measurements and gives the fabricators a visual representation of your kitchen.

Mark the sink as a square or draw a circle if you have a round sink. With laminate counter, the top mount sink is installed. Granite counters allow you to choose between top mounting and under mounting the sink. Under mount sinks require a polished cutout that exposes the pattern and color of the granite. Most sinks include a template for the cutout, because they come in multitude of sizes, shapes and styles. For the purpose of your drawing, size and shape do not matter, but you should specify top mount or under mount.

Most kitchens have a 4-inch or full backsplash. The most popular backsplashes are four-inch, but several options are available. Homeowners have different ideas abount backsplashes - some like full splash, some no backsplash at all. Backsplashes protect the walls from water and cover the wall bumps.

Granite splashes are commonly installed wherever the counter meets a wall. You can indicate backsplashes on your layout by drawing a narrow rectangle along each counter. Ask your fabricator to estimate the price for different backsplash options.

If your kitchen includes a cooktop, mark its location with a labeled rectangle. Cooktop cut-outs are usually fabricated at the installation site.

Finally, mark the finished edges with an “X.Because granite is a solid surface, different profiles can be carved along the exposed edge. Granite fabricators can produce an array of finished edge profiles that range in price. Mark edges that will be exposed.

Be sure to include information about your options: granite color, backsplash size (4”, full, or none), and finished edge profile. An accurate estimate will require these choices. At the end include all your contact information.

And that's it! You will need to take some measurements before you send your layout to the fabricator. It may help to have a friend around to hold the other end of the tape measure.

Ever wondered how to make the best use of your cherished photographs in your home? Photography has also been affected by the advances in technology. Now, using photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop and Picasa, you can digitally add effects that can instantly turn your photos into gorgeous works of art.

Canvas artworks are classic in the interior design communityBecause of their elegant and attractive nature, they never go out of style. Commissioned classical artworks, however, can be very expensive.Photographs mounted on canvas are a great alternative to this. Not only do photos on canvas give the same look and feel of a commissioned artwork, they easily brighten up any living space and bring a burst of colour and life in to the room.

With just a few clicks of the mouse, you can turn your own photographs into your own masterpieces. Photoshop’s various filters can spark anyone’s creativity. You can render your photographs to look like traditional artworks. Other things you can do are adding textures to your photos, playing with your photos’ colours and saturation, have it distorted and even transform it into an abstract art.

Artistic Effects. Your photos can be made to look as if it has been painted in water colour or in oil paint. You can even convert them into a coloured pencil drawing and charcoal sketches. You can control the resulting effects by adjusting the various options such as brush strokes length and strength, the amount of light and shadows, and even paper brightness.

Distortion. Distortion effects include ‘diffuse glow’, ‘glass’ and ‘ocean ripple’. A fog-like effect is the result of the filter ‘diffuse glow’. You can edit the amount of graininess and glow to your preference. Glass effect gives your photos a look as if you’re looking at it through a glass panel or even through an ice block.Ocean ripple creates an ocean-like surface on your photograph.

Textures. You can add various textures in your photographs to make it look as if it had been printed into various textiles.Such textile includes craquelure, grain, mosaic tiles, patchwork, texturizer, and stained glass.

Colour. You can edit your photos’ colours through the many options available. Play with your photos’ hue and saturation, render them as a classic black and white picture using the desaturate option, or transform them into pop art by using colour variations. Apply a sepia tone on your photos if you want to achieve an antiquated feel.

Blurring. You can easily change the depth of field of your picture by playing with the various blurring and smudging tools on most photo editing software. Soften your subject’s features by using the different blur filters, such as ‘radial blur’, which gives a hazy circular blur on your photo and ‘motion blur’, which gives off movement effects.

By experimenting with various effects and filters, you can come up with an artwork worthy to be mounted on canvas and displayed for everyone to enjoy. What’s more, your beautiful stretched  canvas art print can not only be used to decorate your walls, but it can also be a wonderful gift to family and friends.