Make a rent room homey

The bricks and mortar might be someone else’s property, but there are many ways to make the place home belongs to you. Here are some tips from experts to make the most of rented accommodation without spending a fortune.

1. Spend most of the budget on items that we can take with, when we move. Remember, what goes in will have to go out again sooner or later, so don’t fill the spaces with large, heavy pieces of furniture.
2. Furniture on wheels is easier to move around and provides maximum flexibility in small spaces. 
3. Trolleys are very versatile. Easy to move, they provide extra storage and table space. Collapsible tables can hide behind sofas or be stored under beds when they’re not in use. A stool is ideal for extra seating when friends drop by. Use screens or shelving to divide rooms into separate zone. Or Rather than furnish two spaces, buy tables and chairs that can be used indoors and out. This type of furniture is generally smaller. Invest in a quality sofa in a classic design, and definitely buy a good bed and mattress. And if you can’t decide on a bedhead, opt for a quality ensemble. 
4. Brighten a standard white painted room with colourful furnishings. For example, choose a blue and silver scheme, and added to it with pale timber furniture. Suggestion : Colour coordinate the sound system. Banish an ugly carpet or floor from sight by laying a beautiful rug over the top. Rugs make a difference to any timber floor Glassware can be decorative as well as functional.
5. To lower a high ceiling, or disguise an unsightly one, tent it with metres of inexpensive calico or muslin. This is also stylish and inexpensive way of treating windows. 
6. Plants (such as cacti) can move when you do and are like sculptures in the house. Cacti are the perfect plant for renters – easy to care for and easy to take with you when you move. Even a simple arrangement of flowers looks beautiful.
7. For inexpensive and sometimes innovative pieces of furniture, visit auction houses and garage sales.
8. Keep your kitchen to a minimum, but don’t skip on essentials, such as the microwave.  

Fake Floor Cover

Timber floor is always a favorite for every home owner. It can make a house more cozy and warm. However, borer, dry rot, warping, cupping and gasps are all problems that can beset a natural timber floor. 

The two causes of disruption of floorboards are inadequate drainage or insufficient sub-floor ventilation. While cleaning with excessive amounts of water can result in rotting. The others are stiletto heels, furniture legs and castors. The beauty of natural floorboards can be just short lived.

Now, there are ranges banners, however, that comprise realistic looking fake floorboards. These new ranges feature wider boards, 125mm wide, ideally suited to Federation houses, while they also retain a comprehensive choice in the narrower options, measuring as little as 80mm.

Some timbers are represented: antique oak, jarrah, mahogany, various pines, and some bleached effects. And it is easy to care: regular sweeping and a wipe with a damp mop are all that is required for maintenance. Sanding, sealing and varnishing are not necessary. 

Edging your Bets

Everybody knows to plant the flowers in garden should be in beds. The traditional way is to make some soil a bit higher. And then we put some stones as a ‘fence’.

Now, a company, Boral Besser, produces garden beds and paths or build a retaining wall up to a meter high. The product is Garden Wall bricks. So, the newest, quickest way to edge comes.

The bricks are moulded in concrete with a roughened surface. Each brick has a lug at the back which locks into the next, giving stability for not much weight.

The bricks are not exactly like the real thing, Garden Wall blocks have a pleasing symmetry to make an architectural feature in themselves. The products are available in Sandstone, Limestone and Bluestone Brown.

The wall in the picture here is a strong focal point in courtyard renovation. The owner of the garden devised a year-round plan of blue, white and yellow (salvia, ageratum, petunias, alyssum), plus pots of the pretty pale pink Federation daisy called Sugar and Ice. In the background, are ficus Baby Ben, tree ferns, golden cane and scented Florida gardenia. 

Roof Garden

Living in the city means sometimes we don't have enough space for garden. Why don't we use our roof? Here is the roof in Jakarta. Garden surrounded by sky crappers.

Garden Roof in the middle of city. Location: Jakarta, Indonesia

The garden is so clean and wide. We can have lunch or breakfast here. However, Jakarta is hot. So you will have sweats during finishing your lunch here. 

Plant Pots in the Garden

Sometimes we want to have a clean garden. It means, we have garden with some stones, however we still want to have plants in the garden. We avoid the soil that will make the stone garden dirty. 

Some plant pots ideas

We can use some pots to put plants there. This is common in Indonesia. The plants we use here usually plants that need not the water much or minimum care.  


Here we can see some bonsai trees and a pot of succulent. They don't need so much water daily. Thus, the rest of water or soil don't make the stone dirty. 

French Affair - in style of furniture

Roset is a brand of furniture maker from France that at first produced walking sticks and umbrellas. That was in 1880.

Today, Ligne Roset is an international name for contemporary furniture. We can see that the furniture is adventurous, adaptable, innovative, modern, affordable and above all, comfortable.

one of the furniture

Each piece follows the company dictum: " anew design must be ergonomically correct, practical to make and use, at a price that is affordable."

It is possible to company to fulfill this by being forward thinking in its design and manufacture. Today Roset commissions leading edge European designers to create exclusive designs and then uses CAD/CAM (computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacture) to the hilt.

Now, Roset is becoming well-established in many countries. The stores are open in Zurich, Beirut, Prague, Chicago, Moscow, Sydney and Melbourne.

Its introduction in Sydney and Melbourne is in conjunction with already well-known French furniture company, Grange. 

Quatre Saisons

Quatre Saisons is one of the largest private gardens in Western Australia open to public, Quatre Saisons or Four Seasons was named after a heritage rose with a lineage dating back to the 13th century and ancestor of many of today's roses.

This amazing garden presented by a Perth rose gardener, Donna Brown. She presents her rare and heritage varieties to the world starting five years ago with charity days and proving so popular it is now on display for two seasons a year.

Some of rose collection of Quatre Saisons

She gardens on a hectare of the four-hectare property. She is concentrating on rare and heritage roses and intensively underplanting them with annuals and perennials. The location is at Glen Forrest, 35 km from Perth. Now, the roses at Quatre Saisons are more than thousand and the numbers are creeping up.

Donna trained in fine arts, painted large colorful oils. So she is always experimenting with color schemes and each year sees a new parade of annuals following her latest ideas. She does mainly botanical works, including illustrating the National Heritage Rose Journal.

The climate there is perfect for roses but the soil is "terrible". Donna built up garden beds so she could fill them with exactly the soil she needs and keeps up heavy mulching.

Quatre Saisons is open October 1 to December 24, 10am - 5pm, Sunday and Monday, Thursday and Friday, and open again in autumn. Peak viewing time is late October and early November. 

Dark Colors for interior

Denim, navy, purple and charcoal are all ‘saturated’ shades, that is, colors which have been darkened by the addition of back or grey. At the deepest end of the scale, the colors become practically black themselves.

When the amount of added black is reduced, the color range brightens. Navy is transformed into royal blue, purple lightens to violet or mauve, while charcoal pales to mist grey or silver.

Grey is a current favorite and its popularity has ensured that a variety of shades is available from mist to charcoal grey, which is a strong favorite for carpets and furnishings. 

In theory, grey is the only true neutral as it contains only black and white, but in decorating you’ll find shades which have definite tinge of pink, green, blue or beige. Grey works well with yellow and red, but for a subtler look team it with honey or blue, or opt for a sophisticated scheme of grey, buttermilk and beige.

Dark blue has been a popular color for decorating ever since the ancient Britons covered themselves in woad. Modern Britons are equally attached to dark blues in their wardrobes. Denim blue is a color for work-wear that’s found the world over, thanks to the hardy indigo plant.

Though navy and related shades have always been popular for clothes, they are rarely used in the home, almost exclusively restricted to the front door. Yet navy and royal blues contrast beautifully with peach, they look smart with beige and honey, and with red they’re absolutely unbeatable.

Purple is a demanding color that’s either in or out of vogue – the last time it was popular in home decoration was the early Seventies when a purple carpet was the last word. If the use of dark blue in the home is limited, purple is even more elusive.

Full strength it can certainly be overpowering, but don’t overlook the appeal of violet-blue and lilac. As purple is made from equal parts of red and blue, the colors derived from it veer towards one or the other so color matching can be difficult.

If a room scheme includes a fabric which mingles violet with mauve, then both of those shades can be used. A plain lilac, however, is best combined with contrasting colors like primrose and green or a more closely related color such as pink, or even just white; matching tones of the same color is much trickier. 

Decorating Dark room

Artificial light is especially important in dark rooms. Choose fittings which cast pools of light to illuminate specific areas because general lighting will only make the room seem gloomy. Consider using lights with tungsten halogen lamps which cast a dramatically bright light.

In most dark rooms it’s usual to try increase the amount of light by using pale colors to reflect it, you might, consider using dark colors to create atmosphere in rooms more frequently lit by artificial light, like the dining room and bedroom.

Don’t overlook the potential of dark shades for paintwork in place of white or pastels; reversing the normal arrangement of deep walls and light paintwork gives an impact that’s especially suited to modern settings. 

Capitalize on a room that is naturally gloomy and go for a dark, dramatic décor. But don’t forget that somber colors absorb the light, so it’s best to reserve these schemes for rooms you relax in rather than those where good illumination is required for reading or work.

Don’t interrupt a dark wall with contrasting doors or moldings. Paint them to match the color of the wall and keep to shades of equal depth for carpets, flooring and fitted furniture to create an impression of space.

Pink fits to warm the room

Pink has a welcoming warmth in the home and it’s not a demanding shade like the red though it’s related.

Pink is more usually associated with feminine color schemes but its potential is too great to restrict to the boudoii. Pink is not just for bedrooms and bathrooms.

Its use is more general than you may realize: pink makes an appearance in magnolia (the second most popular paint shade after white), in fawn, and in some shades of peach and apricot.

Let it come out of the closet and into the hall, the living room or the kitchen – pink is too versatile a color to be shut away upstairs.

The natural contrast to pink is green and not blue (although it does have a close affinity to green; the two are ideal companions in many color schemes. We can see in the lawn, the pink flowers with green leaves.

Other popular partners of pink are lilac, yellow, and the neutrals brown and grey. As pinks vary from those with a blue tinge to those with yellow, it’s important to choose co-ordinates which have a similar emphasis unless you have an expert eye for color.   

Decorating with pink

Rose has several names, according to its level of darkness, like baby’s breath, clover or blush, candyfloss, cerise or raspberry. It may also be peach (rose-peach), brown (rose-beige) or cream (magnolia). 

The benefit for us, a pink can suit every style of décor and taste. Because there‘s always a pink that’s right for every room: 

Rose peach warms up a chilly living room, rose-beige looks distinctive in the hall, and cranberry makes a dramatic dining room. 

A bright pink surprisingly successful  in the kitchen because it can offset the formality of wood or laminate units. And  the palest like blossom pink are the classic choice for the bedrooms.

There’s a wealth of paler tones to choose from – perfect backgrounds to sett off furnishings, fabrics and other details in the deeper pinks.

If shocking pink ceilings or carnation walls are not for you, choose a subtle shade of pink with a touch of beige for maximum versatility in living rooms and halls.

Pick up the pink in furnishing such as bedlinen, curtains, cushions and rugs.

Reserve shocking pink and cerise for accessories, or use them to create impact in rooms like the cloakroom where you don’t linger for long.

Decorating with whites

Sometimes we don't know what to do to have a classic and elegant room. Just using the white color can make the room lack of warmth and its elegant. It is the time to use the range of whites. And don't forget to add other elements into the room, but with the blending of the colors : white.

Texture is important in one-color schemes. Where a room lacks color contrast, just add rugs and fabrics to impart warmth. Gloss-painted floorboards and furniture will reflect the light to provide extra interest.


Paintwork should be part of the color scheme. Use a white which relates to the walls when painting the woodwork and radiators.


Ceilings are often best painted in a pale color to reflect the light, but don't use pure brilliant white. A soft white which tones with the walls prevents a harsh contrast, while pastel shades will subtly offset mouldings and decorations which are painted white. The ceiling is kept white to reflect the maximum amount of the white.


White and ivory make a really effective in the bathroom. White is often used to match bathroom ware, but it can cast a chill where light is limited. Ivory is to add warmth.


Similar shades used for walls and carpet create a most restful setting in the living room. The walls are painted silver grey to picture-rail level to offset the display of paintings, while the French door is stained to match the green-gold shade of the sofa. The ceiling is kept white to reflect the maximum amount of the white. 

The range of soft, natural white

The colors of the rainbow will mute into some soft, natural whites by adding high concentration of white.

The basic red, orange, yellow, green and blue become pink, apricot, primrose, apple and sky blue. While neutrals like brown and grey brighten into cream or beige and silver or mist grey.

Warmer whites contain a little pink (magnolia) or yellow (buttermilk) while cool pastels such as celadon (grey-green) and azure blue are created with a touch of grey.

Softer than white, paler than pastels – the natural whites contain just a hint of color to make the most light and space. The most important, they’re easy to live with, and make ideal partners for any color scheme.

The easiest way to use them is to create a room based around one color, blending range of tones so that they merge into each other.

Keep the shades of the same color and the scheme will be sure success; match rose-white walls with a raspberry carpet – or vice versa – and add lace, chintz or candy – striped curtains.

For a more emphatic statement, look at the pastels which are one degree darker than natural white. Consider some of the cooler tones which are especially suitable for modern or formal settings – and don’t forget the classics like cream, magnolia, mist grey and pure brilliant white. 

When coloring a room

To choose which the best color for your rooms, you have to pay attention to the size of room and the location of the room. Because the effect of the colors will be different from one room to one room, though using with the same color. 

Small, dark rooms need the enlarging qualities by using  the palest natural whites. Avoid brilliant white, because it  takes on a tinge of grey where light is limited.

Cold rooms usually these rooms face north or east. They will look warmer with a tint of rose, primrose or apricot. Rose-peach on the walls will transform the light into a warm and welcoming glow, complementing perfectly the cream upholstery and the beige carpet.  

Sunny rooms usually face south or west. They will look fresh with   a hint of apple or lavender.

Primary colors require a cool contrast. You can pick brilliant white or pale grey.

Neutral schemes need toning whites. If the scheme is cool, use brilliant white, apple white or grey. If it contains warmer shades like beige or honey, opt for apricot or barley white, buttermilk or magnolia. 

Colour for House

Colour is one of the most important elements in decoration. Many people will think the colours of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or violet. But actually these represent just a few of the thousands of shades from which we can choose for our house.

A building on the backyard of Presidential Palace, Bogor, West Java, Indonesia

When paint was first produced commercially the favourite shades were buff, sky blue, green and brown.  Synthetic dyes increased the range but they were often bright and crude. Dark shades were dominant for practical reasons to conceal the dirt; only the rich could afford to use pastels. 

In fact, houses were often decorated in vivid colours but they faded or yellowed fast. Country cottages were distempered in red and yellow ochre which soon softened to pink and buttermilk, while even the classical statues and temples we think of as white were once brightly painted. 

Brilliant white paint was not produced until the Twenties when all-white rooms became the ultimate in chic. Though boarding-house brown was the norm, the potential of colour was demonstrated by the pacesetters.

As home ownership increased, the boom in home improvement began. Not only did it add value to homes, but house buyers discovered the satisfaction of creating an environment that reflected their own taste rather than the landlady’s.

Improving Kitchen

We can start our project to improve house with your kitchen. Of course, new counters and cabinets will improve it, but they cost a lot of money. It is that we avoid.

You could change just the handles or knobs on your cabinets or if it possible the doors.

A fresh coat of paint can enhance any room. You can brighten up old wooden or even laminate cabinets with a fresh coat of paint on the doors. Pay attention to the ceiling and walls, too. You can paint them with different paint from previously. And your kitchen will be brighter and fresher for just a few extra dollars.

Light fixtures, like everything else, are only in style for a while and then something new comes along. New, modern light fixtures are readily available at home and department stores as well as lighting specialty stores.

Lighting fixtures and kitchen/bathroom faucets are often on sale. J If you watch the flyers you should be able to get new ones for both your kitchen at a reasonable price. Take some time to shop and see what you like and then wait for the fixtures to go on sale.

You can replace your kitchen taps. This is a relatively inexpensive way to modernize and improve the appearance of your home.

The new curtains or blinds can give your kitchen an improved appearance both inside and out. Old faded curtains give a home a rundown appearance that no one likes. There are some inexpensive ready-made curtains and blinds on the market.

Some boxes of fresh flowers can change the look your kitchen.  You can install some window boxes to plant fresh flowers. Even if you don't have room for a "real" garden, you and others can enjoy the beauty of bright, fresh flowers.

Home improving with budget

Do you want to sell your house? You want to improve your home a bit, in order the selling price is higher or the customer fall in love with your home and to buy it.

Or, perhaps you just want to make it nicer for you and your family? Home sweet home, isn’t it? There are a number of things you can do to make your home a more attractive and appealing place.

It depends on your personal skill set you can do most of them yourself. You need a hammer, some nails, or some paints. Don’t worry, if you can’t do that by yourself. There are always alternatives for the things you don't want to do yourself. You can consider hiring a home handyman.

Some handy people won't charge you as much as a certified tradesman. Though for them their skills is just a second income.

However, be sure to get and check some references first, before bringing anyone into your home to do work.

In the other posts, we will start our adventure on improving our hous :D

Indoor Plants

Indoor plants can make rooms and house more lively and naturally. Even a busy person still need a greenery at home, but no need  to take care intensively.

What kind of indoor plants is better to be placed at home? Just choose plants that live around your area. The advantage is they can live longer without extra treatment.

Many plants can be indoor plants. But remember, when you convert the plants that used to live on the soil into the pot. Don’t forget to give them nutrition, since as they live in the pot their live depends on you now.

Place the indoor plants pot near the window glass, because they need sunshine.  Place the indoor plants pot in the room for 1 week, and  then put it outdoor. It is good for the health of the pot plant, and we can have a change situation.