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Stone houses are environment friendly structures that display an aesthetic sense of its owner. Easily available, stone can be considered as one of the most durable construction materials with a wide range of texture options.

In ancient times, various civilizations made use of stone to build their houses. This was because stone was probably the only available building material excluding mud and trees. Even in the modern era, eco-friendly houses have gained immense popularity because of their magnificent properties. Houses constructed with the help of stones are capable enough to resist fire, wind, water as well as various insects including termites.

Some stone houses provide a natural, unique appearance that reminds one of the European castles.

To avail the maximum benefits of these artistic constructions, it is suggested to use durable stones such as granite and avoid stones the wear down over time, such as limestone. Furthermore, purchasing of previously chopped stone is a wiser alternate to escape from the time consuming and laborious phase of stone cutting. However, the top suited stone for home construction is one, which is available in the respective local area so that transportation does not become an issue.

Sustainability and durability adds an extra spark to the elegance of these stone homes without costing much for maintenance and care. There are many historical examples to speak about sustainability of simple yet graceful stone houses where they have witnessed many centuries.

Pyramids, made up of stone, attributed to be a one of the beautiful creators, across the world, are best examples to display stone’s strength. Various historical stone buildings, especially constructed following the European-style stone houses have been around for thousand years and will probably remain the same for centuries.

Beside environmentally friendly abilities, stone homes also deserve a round of applause for their natural beauty that does not demand any painting or siding. In addition, the stone homes are comfortable nests and if constructed with passive solar design, they have ability to store heat within its walls. The absorbed heat is likely to radiate throughout the house, all night, creating a cozy and warm environment for the users. Above all stone homes are easy to clean and can be washed with simple water.

Proper planning as well as availability of a construction expert plays an important role to maximize stone home benefits. Furthermore, it is crucial to choose a quality stone along with proper technique to assemble them. It can be seriously harmful to choose an inferior quality stone that is not strong enough to support the required weight.

In spite of an array of benefits, the stone home owner also faces some difficulties with them. Customization is one such issue. For older homes, replacement of stones may present a particular challenge.

Some expensive stones, commonly used for flooring, including tiles may be cold and very hard under foot. It’s not recommended to use softer stones because they are prone to strains, moisture and scratches.

All in all, however, the owners of stone homes are generally happy with the strength, durability, security, energy savings, environmental soundness and natural beauty of these structures.

Interior design is the most interesting concept that is subject of much enjoyment for home owners and home builders. If you like playing with floors, ceilings, kitchen area, wash area, furniture and spaces, interior design is for you. Today, it has greatly revolutionized and home owners with builders are designing innovative and creative interiors through marble. They are continuously using marble products for more efficiency and beauty.

The great thing about marble interiors design is that you don’t necessarily have a deep knowledge about it. Home builders give exceptional ideas to change your interiors and apply marble in it. It certainly gives genuinely modern look to the houses and adds more value to it. Modern home builders also help you choose the best place to apply marble stone.

Today, one of the best ways of interior designing is using marble products. Marble interiors look stunning and redefine its value. One can have nearly limitless designs through marble stones. It simply offers a wide variety of opportunity of creating new interior designs. More number of homes is utilizing soft marble stone to their houses for balustrades, statues, staircases and medallions. Being beautiful in looks, it is modestly used in countertops, vanity tops and statues.

Nowadays, interior designers and builders are widely using marble stone to richly facelift traditional or old homes. They conclude their interior designing projects with marble flooring. In fact, it is the most unique feature of modern homes. They also use wide variety of marble products for stunning looks and aesthetic appeal.

Kitchen and Bathroom Interiors Ideas

Kitchen and bathroom interiors are the major part of any facelift project. These are the main areas of a home that needs to be addressed first. Both granite and marble can add extra appeal to kitchen and bath space. One of the most vital uses of marble is as countertops that can be installed in both kitchen and bathroom. It provides exceptional beauty along with a magical durability. Marble sinks and flooring are additional components adding uncompromising beauty to kitchen and bathroom interiors.

Today, marble interiors are becoming very popular amongst modern home builders, homeowners and architects. In fact, manufacturers are also offering superior marble products for homeowners’ use. To serve the daily rising requirement of interior designs, interior experts and architects are now including magnificent marble products in their design strategies. Manufacturers also offer different types of products for both commercial and residential applications.

When you hear the word “lamp” what image do you think of? You probably imagine that table lamp on your bed’s nightstand, which sheds some light on your bedtime reading. Or maybe you think about the lamp sitting on the console table in the hallway, which greets you just before you enter or exit the house. Or perhaps you remember the end table in your recreational room, where you set the glass of your favorite beverage as you catch a game or movie on TV.

While table lamps are typically the most common light fixtures in our homes, we should not forget floor lamps as well. Though taller than their table lamp or desk lamp counterparts, floor lamps can provide a variety of benefits that can enhance the decor of any room:

1. Sturdiness
Today’s floor lamps, such as Tiffany stained glass floor lamps, are much sturdier than floor lamps of the past. For example, in the past, floor lamps were notorious for tipping over easily, thus creating a fire hazard. However, today’s floor lamps must meet something called the UL “tipability standard,” requiring their bases to be heavy enough.

2. Full spectrum lighting
This allows the lamp’s user to enjoy the full spectrum of light, including light that the naked human eye cannot detect, such as infrared light. In particular, this feature provides artists who use a variety of media, with a type of artificial sunlight to help reveal how certain hues will appear in sunlight.

3. Attractive styles for any size or decor of a room
You probably do not want to match up paisley lampshades with checkered wallpaper. Fortunately, floor lamps, such as contemporary floor lamps, and mission style floor lamps are available in a variety of styles, which complement the decor.

Today, themes have become the “in thing” when creating decor for a particular room. Fortunately, floor lamps range from traditional styles and colors, to more contemporary ones. And with retro models, the old is new again!

4. Perfect as both a reading or a task lamp
Table lamps can only provide a small range of illumination, and oftentimes they barely create enough light for reading, which increases your eyestrain. However, a floor lamp provides a wider range of illumination. So whether you are watching TV, working on a puzzle, or reading the newspaper, a floor lamp can provide the right amount of light, thus lowering your energy bills. 

5. Adjustable brightness.
While the brightness of many table lamps is limited to “off” and “on,” floor lamps tend to provide a wider range of brightness. Whether you need minimum lighting for reading or more lighting for your kids’ board game, a floor lamp usually provides a variety of brightness settings.

6. Reduced eyestrain and glare.
Many homes still use fluorescent lighting throughout their various rooms. Your eyes subconsciously pick up the flickering of such lights, increasing eyestrain and glare. While the light of a table lamp illuminates outwards, the light of a floor lamp illuminates downwards. This provides a broader area of light that is helpful for whatever activity you are doing.

There are different types of wall art that you can use to decorate various parts of your house. There are artworks painted on canvas and some that are printed on paper or fabric. Some are framed while others are not. Depending on your home design some may be more suitable than others.

Metal Art – Metal art can consist of antique pieces or new artworks made of metal. This kind of art can be suitable for various types of homes, from traditional houses to modern minimalist urban condos. Metal art can look like a typical squarish piece of art work on canvas or look more like wrought iron designs. These are a bit heavy and will need more sturdy support to hold them up on a wall. They can have a southern Texan flair or look ultra modern depending on the design.

Wall Decals – Kids will like colorful wall decals made of stickers in their bedroom or playroom. These are practical if your kids are young since you can easily remove the stickers and replace them with other designs. Some wall decals look sophisticated enough for the living room or master’s bedroom. If you rent an apartment, these sticker art are ideal because you won’t have to bore holes on the wall and can easily remove them when it’s time to move out.

Paintings – Paintings are classic art pieces. They can be abstract in form or look traditional. There are many different types of paintings you can choose from to find an ideal subject, size and medium that will go with your home design and furniture style. Some canvas wall art can be framed or hung unframed if mounted on gallery wrapped canvas.

Tapestries – Tapestries are painted or printed on fabric from Africa or Asia. Tapestries add an old world flair to a home. This type of wall decoration is often forgotten as an art form but seems to be benefiting from a comeback. There are reproductions or commercial types of tapestries and original hand painted tapestries made by indigenous people from various countries. They can also be made by modern abstract artists to go with modern home designs.

Mirrors – Mirrors don’t just make a room look much larger but can also be considered artistic if mounted on a decorative frame. The frames can be made of elaborate wooden carvings or modern metals. Some frames are made of wood and made to look like metal like silver, gold or bronze. These kinds of wall art look good in living rooms, dining rooms and at the end of a hallway. Use this type of wall decor if you want to make your rooms look larger.

Art Prints – Art prints are photographs printed on canvas. Large-scales pieces are very attractive and contemporary looking. You can get these ready-made from art stores in any size you want. The photos are taken by professional photographers who take pictures from various locations around the world. The images can show landscapes, seascapes, or portray culture and food. Some photos depict animals and city skylines.

No matter what kind of wall art you choose to hang in your home. Be sure to get one that you enjoy looking at. Before purchasing wall decor, make sure that that the size is ideal for your wall space. Take note of colors around the room and get artwork that contains some of those colors. Avoid hanging artwork with the same color as your wall to make the artwork stand out.

Chakras are vortexes of energies in the subtle body.The etheric body is the very first layer in our aura and is closest to the energy system of our body. Healthy chakras keep our mind, body and spirit living in harmony. A closed chakra caused by energy blockage, be it emotional or spiritual will create disharmony, causing the chakras to go into excess or lack there-off. This induces a state of lethargy and disorientation and eventually leads to physical illnesses.

Let’s Chakra balance and design our home!!

We connect with the universe through our astral body and the chakras that energize us in a reciprocity that envelops us as a whole. Our home is an extension of our energy so a happy house is a happy you!! Lets integrate the chakras in our home in a way that we understand and connect.

The Root or Base Chakra is associated with stability and survival and governs the Kitchen, Toilet. The kitchen is where we sustain ourselves so a clean, bright and cheerful atmosphere keeps the chakra happy. An antique Indian sideboard or manjoosh carved in old wood works splendidly as an island where family gives you company while cooking their favorite meals. Grounding woods and earthy colors of vintage carved barn doors for the pantry, the tree of life nourishes us. Decorate with fresh fruits and flowers, sustaining the source.This chakra is also where any energy is eliminated from our body, so the toilet should not have any leaks or issues as that drains energy. The old door console made from antique doors and studded with iron and brass converted into a bathroom cabinet gives the earthing element. Decorate with broad leaf plants and distressed wood planters.

The Sacral Chakra is connected to the center of creativity, and could be your extra room where you paint or write blogs. Orange, burnt reds, russet beaded sari tapestry hanging from an old carved distressed wood mantle give the aura of creative energy. Accent with sheer sari curtains and toss pillows and feel the creative juices flow.

The Solar Plexus Chakra is our personal will, social connections and governs our emotions and discipline. The family room and laundry room are connected to this chakra. Do you feel happy and connected sitting in your family room or isolated? A stunning vintage ochre yellow intricately carved cabinet or a distressed wood yellow coffee table will bring in new energy. My friend decorated her laundry room beautifully with an antique Indian armoire using it to store the laundry and cleaning supplies, a practical and beautiful statement!

The Heart Chakra represents love and compassion and I immediately connect it to green plants that are scattered all over my house. The bedroom is the zone for the heart chakra and the seat of divine love. A beautiful antique door makes a magnificent headboard, the door panels hung on either side giving the eclectic touch. Beautiful carved consoles make unique nightstands and the bedding is soft and lovely pashmina woven coverlets giving the plush and luxurious feel.

A clear hallway keeps the energy flowing from each room to the other and the Throat Chakra governs communication. Clean hallways and your work station or computer areas connect to this chakra. We connect to the world via the internet, yet the electromagnetic charge around us is disturbing to our energy field. Earthing old door study tables take away this charge and balance us so we may vocalize in a happy and concise medium. Blue carved hall tables and vintage armoires in turquoise also energize this chakra.

The Ajna or Third Eye Chakra is the master chakra that balances all the other chakras yet is open only when all the others are balanced. Wisdom and intuition and connected to the source the Ajna chakra is your sacred space or your meditation room where you connect with your inner self. Abundance in all aspects of life is governed by this chakra and violet is the colors that resonates with it. Yantras and divine sculptures of Shiva, Ganesha and Durga raise the vibrations of this space.

The crown chakra is our link to the universe, the thousand petalled lotus that surrounds us with its love. The entry door in the ancient times would be carved with beautiful motifs of lotus and divine symbols attracting the cosmic energies towards our home and welcoming all that is good.

Designing with furniture and architectural elements of ancient times gives meaning to our collections and energizes us with its beautiful vibrations.