Decorating a Living Room With Stuff You Already Own

Decorating your active allowance can be a claiming if you acquirement all new items. Decorating with being that you already accept lying about can be an even bigger challenge, and could cause you to accord up on your architecture dreams altogether. Luckily, there's an simple way to accouterment a activity like this afterwards affairs out your hair. Reusing earlier items in a new amplitude is fun and benign to your wallet.

Step One-Find Some Stuff

The aboriginal affair you charge to do to accomplish this activity plan is in actuality analyze some pieces about the abode that you could reuse. I acclaim that you consistently alpha with apartment that are currently decorated. If you alpha in the basement, you could be down there for way added time than you advised to.

For decorating active room, alpha searching at pieces in your dining allowance and den that aren't necessarily abacus to the décor. You could in actuality try this in your bedrooms as well. Once you've articular what you wish to use, accumulate aggregate into the active allowance and alpha to section it together. (This is bold that you've already removed the accessories that you don't wish from the active room)

If you didn't acquisition abundant accessories upstairs, again go advanced into the basement and alpha your hunt. Just accomplish abiding you're not reminiscing over anniversary section that you find. That could amplitude the activity out for days!

If It's Broken, Accomplish it Pretty

You will added than acceptable acquisition that some pieces are broken, and others are just apparent ugly. That's accept as continued as you accept a bit of adroitness to plan with. A quick cruise to the ability abundance will boldness all of those problems and advice you actualize admirable accessories afterwards breaking your bank.

Decorating a active allowance is all about award means to inject your appearance into every little piece. The best way to do this is to actualize your own whenever you accept the opportunity.

Time for Musical Chairs

Now, afterwards aggregate is aggregate into the active allowance play about with the adjustment of the accessories and the furniture. Remember that sofas and tables do not accept to sit even up adjoin the wall. You can bend them to actualize abyss and ambit to your room.

After you accept begin the absolute appliance rearrangement, accomplish abiding that you accept the accessories placed so that they emphasis anniversary breadth they're in. For instance, if you accept a bend breadth that's bare, you could abode a baby table there. Instead of putting the abbreviate ash tray on the table, use the alpine table lamp.

After arena about with the adjustment of your appliance and accessories, you'll acquisition that decorating a active allowance is not harder at all. In fact, you may appear up with a few active allowance blush account for your new design.

Remember, old things can be accustomed new activity in a altered room. Before you go out and absorb money that you may not have, try affective the appliance about and application what you accept firs

Tips for Wall Aquariums

If you're because accepting bank aquariums for your home, again accede some of the afterward tips and tricks. These will accomplish your activity a lot easier and accord you accord of apperception in some instances. They will aswell advice you to accomplish the a lot of out of your new aquarium so that you can adore it as continued as possible.

Fish are not absolutely for affection

A lot of humans overlook that angle are not absolutely declared to be kept for affection. The best way to yield affliction of angle is to automate as abundant of the action abandoned and to about leave them alone. Your angle will reside best and convalescent the added you just angle aback and observe. That's why whenever you're because bank aquariums for your home, be abiding that you accept the account to absorb on it so that you can do aggregate all-important to adore the angle as continued as possible.

Filtering and charwoman the water

Perhaps the a lot of important allotment of befitting bank aquariums is to accomplish abiding your arrangement is adequate abundant to clarify and apple-pie the baptize all by itself to an adequate akin after accident to the fish. By its nature, bank aquariums are apparently actual difficult to apple-pie manually, so you wish to be abiding that there is abundant filtration set up so that it happens automatically. Be abiding there is no accident to the angle with things like pipes. Angle are actual analytical and will bathe up pipes and block them if they die, so you should accomplish abiding you accept gratings over them to assure the fish.

Feeding the angle automatically

Fish charge to be fed every day, but alone a assertive bulk of food, contrarily they can die from overeating. The best way to augment angle is to use an automatic and computerized agriculturalist that lets out just as abundant aliment as they need. This stops problems arising from doses that are too high.

Wall aquariums are abundant for active rooms

If you're not absolutely into television and added forms of bargain entertainment, again bank aquariums can be a abundant antecedent of fun in your active room. The angle can be empiric in their accustomed abode almost calmly and as continued as you don't afflict them and automate a lot of the things that are necessary, you will be able to see angle in your bank aquariums behaving like they would in the wild.

Decorate The Floors With Quartz Floor Tiles

Quartz attic tiles are accessible in abounding colours and patterns. Depending on the décor of the room, the shades are chosen. For halls, entrances, passages, ablaze colours like ivory, white, and biscuit attending wonderful. In the kitchens and bathrooms, adopt white colour for a abreast look. Whole white kitchens and bathrooms are in vogue. For the bedrooms, opt for delicate shades or ablaze colours that access the adorableness of the appliance and added settings. If you are designing a kid's room, accept ablaze shades that allure the interests of the kids. Use your acuteness to actualize a altered looks in the home. Quartz is a abundant attic advantage to actualize avant-garde and artistic apartment with a lot of appearance and elegance.

Durability

You cannot altercate with the constancy provided by the quartz attic tiles. They are in actuality advised to endure best than granite tiles. They accept abundant backbone and can bear pressures. If floors use these materials, they do not blemish or crack, if you move abundant appliance on it. High cartage areas of the home like active apartment and passages use these tiles. High cartage areas in the bartering establishments aswell use these because of their backbone and longevity. This attic does not dent or breach easily. Decorate avant-garde homes application quartz extensively.

Installation

Perfect accession will aftereffect in abundant searching floors. Avant-garde techniques and articles aid the professionals to do this job perfectly. Quartz tiles attending abundant on both on walls and floors. The experts can actualize bland and even floors with able grouting, which aftereffect in a best abiding floor. Take admonition from the experts on the colours of adhesive to clothing the colour of the tiles. These surfaces do not charge a sealant. They are absolutely non-porous and will not blot any damp or spills. They are the ideal options for bathrooms and kitchens. The surfaces do not acquiesce any bacilli or moss to accumulate, and appropriately actualize aseptic atmosphere.

Advantages

Quartz attic tileshave abounding advantages. The flash and animation from these is arresting and not begin in any added variety. These tiles accept about 93-94 % quartz, and some resins and polymers. Pigments accompany a array of colours to the stones. As these stones are manufactured, they can bear a lot of burden and endure long. They beat any added asphalt or accustomed rock actual in these properties. The colours accessible are so different that any décor can be akin to them. Countertops and table acme use this actual for a beauteous look. The ablaze colours accompany in a lot of acclamation and positivity into the rooms. You can use these while amalgam a new home or for adjustment purposes. Refer a few websites and architecture magazines for added ideas. Accept the colours and patterns carefully, as these are abiding accessories that will endure added than a lifetime.

Multiple versions of the same painting

It is interesting that throughout art history we can find one artist who will paint multiple versions of the same painting- why is this?  There are many reasons but usually the first version of the painting was so successful that the artist had received another commission.  Let's look at several well known versions of the same theme by the same artist.

1483, Louvre (left) and 1506, The National Gallery (London) (right) 

The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci 

Leonardo da Vinci created this new type of Madonna and Child painting when he first moved to Milan.  The figures aren't seated on a throne or a chair, but enclosed in a unique landscape which seems otherworldly.  The Virgin Mary puts her arm around the infant St. John the Baptist as he is given the sign of benediction by the infant Christ while being watched over by an angel.  A foreshadowing to Christ's baptism by St. John can be seen in the body of water in the foreground.  Leonardo is here using several techniques he is famous for: chiaroscuro (modeling form with lights and darks), sfumato (using this glazes of paint like smoke) and the use of atmospheric perspective in the blue-gray landscape in the distant background.  The gestures, colors and forms all act as symbols as Leonardo took great care to copy this painting nearly exactly in the second version.

Why two versions of this painting?  The web site of the Louvre museum has a good hypothesis regarding the two versions of Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks.  The following text is taken from the website and was written by Séverine Laborie:

"The Louvre version of the picture was to have been the central part of a polyptych which the Brotherhood of the Immaculate Conception commissioned Leonardo and the de Predis brothers to paint for a chapel in the church of San Francesco Grande in Milan in 1483. The other version, now in the National Gallery in London and known to have formerly been in this chapel, and several archive documents indicate that the Louvre painting was never installed there. Its presence in the French royal collection is attested from1627, but several clues suggest it may have been acquired much earlier.

The most convincing hypothesis is that the picture, painted between 1483 and 1486, did not meet with Leonardo’s clients’ full satisfaction, which enabled Louis XII to acquire it around 1500−1503. The second, replacement picture, now in London, may have been painted by Ambrogio de Predis under Leonardo’s supervision between 1495 and 1508."

                1528, Metropolitan Museum of Art (left) and 1530, St. Louis Art Museum (right)

 The Judgment of Paris, Lucas Cranach the Elder 

German artist Lucas Cranach the Elder was a court painter in Saxony and above we see two versions of The Judgment of Paris.  This told a story from the start of the Trojan War where the shepherd Paris had to judge which of three Greek goddesses was the most beautiful.  Cranach made several versions of this theme, he depicts the goddess as young and lithe (if proportionally inaccurate) and shows Paris dressed as a Renaissance man.  This was a popular theme for a few reasons: it showed the patron was educated and had knowledge of the classics and it depicted beautiful women.  Yet there was another reason this story was popular among Cranach’s patrons.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art states on their website:

“Just as the emperor Augustus had claimed descent from Aeneas, a son of Venus, so many Italian princes traced their ancestry to the participants in the Trojan War or sought to equate their own accomplishments with the deeds of these heroes.”*

Patrons wanted to tie themselves to the events portrayed in either a painting or sculpture and so commissioned a well known historic or mythological theme from an artist.

*Source of quote: Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints | Thematic Essay |Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

 Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio, 1601, The National Gallery (London)

The Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio has a few examples of multiple versions of the same painting.  His two versions of Christ's Supper at Emmaus are unique in this blog entry as being quite different from one another.

A Roman nobleman Ciriaco Mattei, commissioned the earlier version (above) in 1601.  In this first version Caravaggio pays as much attention to the detailed still-life objects on the table as to his figures.  The gestures that each figure makes are quite theatrical, Christ is shown as clean shaven and this version is not as dark.  In fact a figure casts a shadow that seems to represent a halo over the head of Christ.  While this is a well done painting, it isn't as realistic as his later version.

The second version of this painting was done after Caravaggio committed murder and fled to Naples.  Today it hangs in the Brera Gallery in Milan where I was fortunate enough to have recently seen it, in fact I spent quite a long time sitting in front of this painting.  This later version is more somber and powerful for the viewer, the figures appear in a naturalistic way rather than as having been posed dramatically for the scene.  The sobering changes in the artist's own life are clearly reflected in this work, done in 1606.

Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio, 1606, Brera Gallery, Milan

 

Vanitas Still-Life, Pieter Claesz                                                              Vanitas Still-Life, Pieter Claesz     

1630, Mauritshuis, Holland                                                               1656, Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna

Seventeenth century Dutch painter Pieter Claesz was a prolific artist who specialized in the Vanitas painting.  In Latin Vanitas means vanity and the Vanitas painting uses symbols to reflect on mortality.  The message for the viewer was a reminder that while earthly life is fleeting, your soul is eternal. While variations of the Vanitas had been used for centuries, its rise in Dutch art coincided with a difficult time in the countries history.  The Twelve Years Truce with Spain ended in 1621 and much of the next decade was spent under siege.  In 1624 a plague swept through Holland, the plague returned in 1635 and struck most heavily in Leiden where over 14,000 died.  

The Vanitas painting became increasing popular through the 1620’s and went from being metaphorical to an allegory of death.  Symbols of mortality included: skulls, candles (both lit and extinguished), timepieces, extinguished oil lamps and empty hourglasses. Claesz painted many versions of Vanitas paintings as they were a popular style of painting and middle and upper class patrons were buying these from galleries to display in their homes.

 1638-43, Metropolitan Museum of Art (left) and 1640-45, Louvre, (right)

                                        The Penitent Magdalene, Georges de la Tour

 French artist Georges de la Tour paints another version of the Vanitas, the penitent Mary Magdalene reflecting on her sins.  He owed much of his style to that of Caravaggio and is considered a "Caravaggisti" or one of Caravaggio's stylistic followers.  de la Tour painted at least four versions of this work, The Repentant Magdalene, is now housed in the National Gallery of Art (DC) and The Magdalene with the Smoking Flame, at the LACMA.
This was typical for the artist, he also painted multiple versions of other themes during his career.

Like the Claesz paintings we have symbols of mortality, such as the skull and the candle.  There are also other symbols of earthly vanity such as jewelry.  Like Caravaggio he creates a somber mood with a strong light source, all four versions of this painting are illuminated by a single candle.  Though the earliest version is unique in that the flame of the candle is reflected in a mirror that Mary Magdalene looks into with a meditative gaze.  Like Pieter Claesz, Georges de la Tour was also selling his work for a broad market and therefore would paint additional versions of his paintings that were the most popular.

 

 Painting Gallery of Ancient Rome, Pannini, 1758, Louvre

Giovanni Paolo Pannini painted his famous pair of works: Painting Gallery of Ancient Rome and Painting Gallery of Modern Rome while he was the professor of perspective at the French Academy of Rome.  French painter Hubert Robert began working in his studio and Pannini was to become the biggest influence on his artistic style.  Pannini took on the role of a mentor for Robert and the younger artist proclaimed him to be the greatest painter of ruins in the world.  While under his supervision Robert assisted with the master’s well known first version of his paintings of imaginary gallery views of ancient and modern Rome, of which he would make several other versions.  The first version was commissioned in 1756 by the Comte de Stainville (the future Duc de Choiseul) who had himself and his friends painted into the scenes as visitors to the galleries.  This pair of paintings proved to be so popular with de Stainville that the year after he finished them Pannini created a second set of these paintings again for the Comte, now in the Louvre.  Robert himself owned a later third version of Pannini’s gallery view paintings as well as several other works by him.

 Painting Gallery of Ancient Rome, Pannini, 1756-57, Stuttgart, Germany

These are just a handful of examples of multiple versions of the same painting by the same artist, but many more can be found throughout history.

Holbein's The Ambassadors

I have long been fascinated by Hans Holbein the Younger's 1533 painting The Ambassadors.  This double Renaissance portrait is filled with symbolism both known and unknown.  The artist Holbein was originally from Germany and moved to England after the Protestant Reformation to work as a portrait artist.  Holbein eventually became a royal court portraitist for King Henry VIII and painted many members of the Tudor court.  

This work is a portrait of two French ambassadors who visited Henry VIII and have been indentified as Jean de Dinteville (left) and Bishop Georges de Selve (right).

 The Ambassadors, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533, The National Gallery, London

It is important to keep in mind that 1533 was a seminal year in English history: Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine were divorced, he then married Anne Boleyn and was excommunicated from the Catholic church.  The Protestant Reformation was well underway in Europe and after Henry VIII was excommunicated, England too breaks away from Catholicism.

These events were in part why de Dinteville and de Selve were sent from France to England to visit the Tudor court.  It isn't entirely clear who commissioned Holbein to paint their portrait and requested so many symbols and details be added.  This work has been the subject of scholarly research and debates for centuries.

The Ambassadors, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533, detail of dagger and book

One element that may go unnoticed by most viewers is that Holbein has listed the age of each of his subjects, de Dinteville (29) on the sheath of his dagger and de Selve (25) on the pages of the book his elbow rests upon. These symbols tie into the idea of de Dinteville as a man of action and de Selve as one who is leading a contemplative life.  The shelves in the middle are filled with additional symbols that show both men were well educated in a variety of ways.

 The Ambassadors, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533

detail of upper shelf

The upper shelf is filled with scientific instruments and has been referred to as the heavenly realm.  Let's look more closely at these objects.  Sitting on top of a luxurious oriental carpet we have a globe of the heavens, a quadrant and several instruments used to tell time including two types of sundials.


Are these objects alluding to the knowledge and worldliness of the two ambassadors?  Is there a particular day and time that the instruments point to that add to the message in the painting?

The Ambassadors, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533

detail of lower shelf

The lower shelf while the lower shelf is filled with the objects of man and thought of as the earthly realm.  Here we have a globe of the earth, a book open to reveal mathematics, a lute, several flutes and a song book open to reveal specific hymns.

The Ambassadors, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533

detail of lute and songbook

If you look closely at the lute, you will see that one of the strings has been broken.  Therefore an instrument which would be considered harmonious, is now a symbol of discord.  Was this a symbol of discord between England and the Catholic church?  Perhaps instead it was a symbol of the discord between Henry VIII and Catherine as the queen failed to produce a suitable heir to the throne.  Later in the 17th century the lute was frequently used in Northern European painting as a symbol of a woman's sexual organs, though I don't know if there is any connection to that in this painting.

The Ambassadors, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533

detail of floor and anamorphic skull

Still lower in the painting are the unique type of flooring and the anamorphic skull, which is unrecognizable when viewing the painting head on.  The viewer must stand to the side and crouch down in order to see it, though it is thought that it originally hung over a flight of stairs and that the viewer would have an easier time seeing this skull, perhaps so as to be taken by surprise by it.

While there are other examples of anamorphic art (where an image can only be seen from a certain viewpoint) it wasn't common at the time.  In fact Holbein was very skilled to have been able to properly execute this artistic trick.

 

The Ambassadors, Hans Holbein the Younger, 1533

detail of anamorphic skull as seen three dimensionally

The unique flooring is said to be the same as the style in the main altar of Westminster Abbey.  At Westminster the design on the floor has a significance as representing the universe.  Is the fact that there is a skull placed at the bottom, within a possible symbol of the universe a representation of the inevitability of death?  Look again at the full painting at the top and in the top left is a crucifix, placed in a spot over the heavens and earth and reminding the viewer that salvation could be found after death.

Articles and books have been written about this mysterious and compelling work of art and while several interesting theories have been proposed, we may never have all the answers.

If you have not visited the incredible Google Art Project site, I suggest you do so if only to view an incredibly close and detailed version of this painting.

Powerup Your Songwriting With A Chord Wheel

Quick what's the 1st thing that pops into your mind when you think of Music theory? Hey... This is a PG post. ha But you get my point. Very few people get excited at the thought of studying music theory. What I propose... Go at it a different way.

The Chord Wheel, provides an excellent way to propel your music and songwriting forward. Essentially, what it does is give you a plethora of options for chords to use that sound good tonally together. You start with the key you want to play in and spin the wheel to open up the options of what chords or notes to play next. The Chord wheel is an excellent resource for composition, soloing, music education, and transposing.

When writing our own songs, we typically have a handful of chords that we are comfortable with. Our staples, per say. But to continue on our journey as songwriters, we need to move past, what is comfortable, and learn new things. This can often be frustrating, slubbing through websites, books, and reference apps to get points of references.

This handy little tool has it all in one. Is it going to be the only thing we use? Absolutely not, but it can help open up even the worst of writer's block. There is even a handy app for all of our phones.

Another cool way to use this songwriting resource is to look up your favorite songs tabs, and see what chords they used and compare them to your own songs. See if your favorite musician or band is moving to the same positions you tend to gravitate towards.

Here is another cool trick!

Look up your favorite songs tab.

Pull out the chord wheel, and use the first chord as a reference point,

Now change the rest to different chords than the ones in your favorite song!

Maybe you start with moving all the chords just one spot to the right on the wheel.

Now play the chords together, and WALLAH you have a new song. Now, it may take some experimentation, but you get the point. Your options and growth, as a songwriter, have just opened up.

Have fun with it! Use the new inspiration to write that hit, or a new jam song for you and your buddies. We're all looking for new tricks, and this may very welll be a new way at looking at something you already knew.

most Trends In Floor Tiles

In this avant-garde year of 2012, accustomed abstracts are giving way to bowl and porcelain. Attic tiles with these options are harder wearing, ablaze in weight and actual simple to install. The accustomed abstracts are set abreast for this contemporary year as they are costlier than the bogus varieties. People with homes that accept ample apartment adopt these tiles aural a bound budget. Oversized ones are the allocution of the day. They are awful fashionable and actualize a comfortable attending like the chic auberge rooms. Some of the new looks are discussed below.

· Application bowl or porcelain. Opt for a attenuate colour with basal design. These should not accept any arrangement and should reflect a air-conditioned atmosphere.

· Aloof blah ceramics in abounding textures gives acceleration to a air-conditioned comfortable room.

· Wet apartment like the bathrooms can use bowl bank and attic tiles in the latest designs with animate finishes.

· Tiles are getting recommended for active rooms, bedrooms and dining rooms. The use of carpets is an old ancient idea. A acceptable textured asphalt is abundant for the active spaces of the absolute house.

· Reclaimed varieties, recycled, best and added classical designs with adorable finishes are admirable means to advance the appearance of your home.

· Monochrome designs are the contemporary types. Acceptable choices can plan for both new and rustic country appearance homes.

· Reclaimed artery can do the ambush for traditional, and farmhouse appearance kitchens floors.

· Victorian varieties with abundant patterns and admirable designs are ill-fitted for aged finishes in old appearance homes.

· Atramentous and white coloured ones in the hexagonal shapes add admirable detail to the bath floors

· If you wish to accomplish a allowance attending wider, accept the laying methods differently. A askew laying arrangement will be interesting.

· Bowl ones with a balk attending are advised a fashionable advantage for floors. They are the ideal ones for kitchens and bathrooms.

· Oversized and ample architecture tiles are the latest additions to the home advance apple of fashion.

· The asphalt patterns should appearance chain with the calm and alfresco areas.

· Colours like the electric blue, charcoal blah and olive blooming can be acclimated in aggregate with attenuate aloof shades.

· Stone tiles for the alfresco walls are trending appropriate now. Opt for able-bodied closed and non blooper ones in the wet rooms.

· A seamless attending for the attic tiles is accomplished by application the aforementioned colour grout. This makes the attic attending uniform.

· Text aggressive prints in atramentous are actual contemporary for both walls and floors.

· Graphic tiles with abundant patterns and colours can actualize a accidental mood. These are acclimated to acquaint belief in spaces that do not crave a acceptable look.

· Rectified ceramics tiles accord a automated attending with little accomplishment on maintenance.

· Metallics in brownish tones actualize around-the-clock breeding in the apartment of homes or offices.

Eclectic shapes and finishes of floors attending air-conditioned in non acceptable active spaces.