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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.

We analyze several housing market indicators in order to present an in-depth breakdown of Glendale Homes Market comparing February 2009 to February 2010.

Summary of Key Points

Key Statistics, Glendale, CA: Median Sales Price (113.16%), Median Days on Market (140.29%), and Number of Units Sold (-31.37%), Sales Price to List Price Ratio (Feb 09 95% – Feb 10 98%)

The City of Glendale has shown a very impressive recovery with the Median Sales Price shooting through the roof. Median days on market and number of units sold categories have suffered.Units sold normally are based on inventory available. Lack of inventory reduces the units sold. Median days on market increases since a lot of short sales are involved and getting approvals from the lenders adds to the median days on the market.

Glendale Homes

The city of Glendale experienced a 113.16% increase in median sales price from last year going up from $335,863 (Feb. 09) to $715,922 (Feb. 2010). Median days on market data for Glendale show that houses are selling slower than Feb 09. It took 29 days in Feb 09 for a house to sell and for Feb 10 that number has gone up to 69 days (an 140.29% deterioration). Another important factor to consider is total number of units sold. In the month of Feb 09, 51 units were sold compared to 35 for Feb 10 (-31.37% change). Lastly we are going to take a look at the Sales Price to List Price Ratio for Glendale. SP/LP ratio for Feb 09 was 95% compared to 98% for Feb 10.

Let’s take a brief look at neighbors Burbank and West Hollywood. Burbank homes featured a 24.69% increase in median sales price ($476,991 Feb 09 – $594,740 Feb 10) and West Hollywood ca homes for sale saw a -2.11% decrease ($870,000 Feb 09 – $851,667 Feb 10). Are houses in Burbank and West Hollywood selling faster or slower this year? Well, Burbank experienced a -12.58% decrease (58 to 51 days) in median days on market and West Hollywood saw a -59.17% decrease (80 to 33 days). In the units sold category, Burbank sold 8 units less (-24.24%) in Feb 2010 than 09 and West Hollywood sold 1 unit more (50.00%) in Feb 2010 than Feb 09.

When was the last time your doctor inspired you to do the right thing for your health, yourself or the health of your family? I can tell you from one of own recent experiences that inspiration isn’t starting inside the waiting room of my PCP or on the phone disputing a claim with customer no-service and trying to talk to some big insurance company.

In the new world of medicine, medical homes and concierge medicine are delivering some big results. These health care providers and the businesses they operate are successful in today’s difficult marketplace because of timing, technology, relationship and the listening ear you receive from every physician you meet inside these practices.

So, what exactly is making medical homes (sometimes referred to as concierge care or concierge medicine) attractive, affordable and inviting to everyone? It’s summed up in five words. Price. Compatibility. Relationship. Technology. Accessibility.

Medical Homes Are: Affordable.

Concierge medical care and direct pay medical business models are on the forefront of modern business and innovation. Like Taco Bell, the originator of the ‘value menu,’ many modern medical practices across America are actually starting to list their prices to their patients before they buy.

Until recently, primary care and health care practices were one of the only businesses in America that rarely listed how much they charged for services and products. The eventual evolution of retainer based health care, direct primary care and concierge medical business models changed all of that. Then along came the recession in 2008 that changed the world as we know it. People started paying more attention to their credit card statements, health insurance claims, hospital bills and prescription drug costs.

An independent analysis of concierge medicine and direct pay primary care practices across the U.S. have shown that nearly 60% of physicians using this form of price transparency are costing patients less than $136 per month. Compare that to the insurance premiums of large health plan carriers and the savings are monumental. This is just one of the new ways to inspire hope in difficult economic times.

“People want ‘the deal,'” says one concierge physician. “We, the doctors, must be the first one to the market to be honest with their customer…we need to take the first step. For too long we’ve waited. Decades in-fact, for insurance companies and managed care organizations to provide some form of user-friendly price transparency. It just hasn’t happened. It’s simply become to complicated, until now.”

Medical Homes Are: Compatible.

An independent study analyzing concierge medical and direct pay health care practices across America for the past three years reports that 80% of these types of practices and physicians accept insurance. Sound like a contradiction? I thought the whole purpose of price transparency and direct pay health care was to do away with insurance complexities?

So, why are so many of these practices across America (80% in fact) allowing their patients to use their insurance too? Because insurance is still important to most people. You see, the physicians and business executives who operate these types of modern medical practices understand that you cannot take away the freedom of people’s choice to use their insurance, when necessary.

Despite the enormous complexity and erroneous amounts of work these insurance plans carry with them, it’s still every patients right to carry and use their health insurance beyond the retainer of fee they pay for comprehensive service from their physician.

“Patients continue to carry their insurance because of hospitalization or emergency room visits,” says one Texas family physician. “We encourage them to call us first if they have an allergic reaction or other severe health issue but if they need to go to the hospital, that type of service can’t be paid for inside our financial relationship with the patient. So, having that backup plan in your wallet or purse is more useful than you might think.”