Home Decor Style Blog

The general advice people receive when they are considering a construction project is to solicit bids from at least three contractors. This is called competitive bidding. This is a way to “comparison shop” just as you would when buying a television or appliance, the only factor you’re using in making your purchase decision is price. It’s a good way to shop for a product, but might not work well when buying a service, which is what general contractors provide.

I’d like to introduce you to an alternative to competitive bidding which you may not be aware of, a negotiated bid. This is not a situation where you haggle the price with the contractor. Rather, you and the contractor become allies in making your project a reality.

The procedure for negotiating a bid goes usually goes something like this: First, you pick a contractor you like and trust before the design process has begun or is in its early stages (there are many ways to find a good contractor; referrals from friends, NARI.org or NKBA.com). You and the contractor work together as a team to develop a project which fits your needs as well as your budget. This is a simple explanation of the negotiated bid process. You’ll probably require a bit more information before being sold on the concept but before we move on let me draw your attention to a few key words which need to be understood in context: trust and team.

This is a different relationship than most people have with a contractor. The contractor is a trusted member of the team. He gives his input during the design process and based on his knowledge of construction and what really happens on construction sites he contributes valuable information to tweak the design in order to maintain the budget. It is a powerful collaborative effort.

During this process you will become more educated about the impact of each decision you make and how they affect the overall cost of the project. You will be pushed to think through details and make decisions early in the process. This is one of the best ways to control the dreaded “budget creep”!

Additionally the contractor will be able to let you know what alternatives are available and how they can affect both cost and design. As an example, suppose you are adding a deck outside your kitchen and also want French doors that will open onto the deck. The preliminary design idea shows a door which will have to be custom made, with transom windows above. The contractor’s preliminary estimate on the deck and door work is more than your budget. However, by collaborating with the contractor it is determined that a simpler stock French door unit will significantly lower costs and that the transom windows be abandoned as another way to decrease the overall cost of the project. As you can see, the contractor is working with you to create a project that call be built within your budget but still satisfy your desires.

Another significant point to consider is that you and the contractor will have developed a good working relationship. All too often in a competitive bid environment the potential exists for a design professional to be aligned with the owner against the contractor in an adversarial relationship. When all parties involved work together on the project from the start this is much less likely to happen.

It must be made clear that the contractor is most likely not going to give you his time and advice for free. Remember that he is bringing you a wealth of knowledge that may save you a substantial amount of money and aggravation. You should understand you will be charged for the time that your contractor spends during the pre-construction planning. Some contractors request that they be paid an hourly rate for the planning work they do; others might request payment only if, for some reason, they don’t end up doing the job. In any case, this usually runs between 4 percent to 8 percent of the overall cost of the job, depending on the size of the project. This is well worth the investment as the contractor’s input before construction might save you thousands of dollars.

Should you put your project out to bid? Or should you find a contractor whom you can work with to negotiate the project? If you are concerned with overall value, the quality of the construction process, as well as the quality of the work itself, and you want few I surprises, I strongly suggest you negotiate the bid.

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Gary Belk has been designing and renovating residential property in California, Hawaii, Texas, Maryland, Central America and the Caribbean for over 20 years. He is also owner of Winans Construction in Oakland, California a design/build firm founded in 1978. http://www.winconinc.com

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Interior design is all about creating aesthetically pleasing spaces that are safe, practical and in harmony with the rest of the surroundings. In order to carry this out effectively we must source the best materials, furniture and fixtures and fittings for the job, and in doing so, we inevitably have an impact on the environment albeit inadvertently.

These days with so much emphasis being placed on global climate change, reducing consumption, and recycling, interior design can be a bit daunting if we want to limit our carbon footprint and still get the effect we want. However, armed with the right information, it needn’t be a big challenge and we can still create beautiful rooms that are stylish, healthy and that are environmentally friendly too. So where do we begin?

First of all it’s important to note that every single thing we buy has an impact on the environment somewhere along the line either, from the way they are extracted, manufactured and processed, or from the distances they have to travel to end up in our home. Take for example paint, wood, glass, metal, textiles and furniture, each of which can have a negative impact if we don’t know what to look out for but with a little effort and forethought, we are able to find eco friendly alternatives.

Paint

Conventional paint contains solvents and lot of other harsh chemicals and toxins but it is possible to source paints that have a reduced effect on the environment and that don’t contain solvents, which are not only a much healthier option as they won’t release harmful gases into your home and the atmosphere, they can be just as effective.

Wood

If possible, try to buy wood that is grown in a local forest so it doesn’t have to travel long distances to end up in your home. Also, choose woods that don’t have a negative effect on the environment. Look out for the FSC symbol which stands for Forestry Stewardship Council, an international non-profit organisation that will ensure that when you buy you will not be contributing to global forest destruction and threatening the livelihoods of people who depend on the forest or timber to survive.

Glass and Metal

Glass and metal are fairly easy to recycle and one of the advantages of both is that in most cases they can be recycled over and over again without losing any quality. Using recycled glass and metal helps reduce the amount of resources needed to produce these materials from scratch, also the process of recycling uses a lot less energy than what is required to make new glass and metal.

Textiles

Textile production can include processes like dying and bleaching which uses a lot of energy and will produce toxic gases which are then released into the environment not to mention the harmful pesticides that are often used whilst growing the raw materials. The main things to consider when choosing an eco friendly option is how renewable the product is, in other words, can it be replenished quickly, whether the product is dyed or if natural dyes are used, and whether a lot of chemicals are required to produce it. Some of the more eco friendly choices include organic cotton, wool and hemp although there are many others available too.

Furniture

How eco friendly your furniture is will depend on the material it is made from, how it is processed and what finishes have been used, so choose carefully. Consider buying second hand furniture or items made from recycled or reclaimed materials and doing them up as this helps to keep existing items in circulation and reduces the amount of perfectly useful items ending up in landfill.

When sourcing eco friendly materials for your interior design project, try to stick to the following guidelines:

• Buy from local producers and suppliers as much as possible as the less distance an item has to travel, the lower the impact on the environment
• Consider the type of materials you choose and whether they come from renewable and sustainable energy sources
• Avoid materials that contain chemical additives or that use a lot of energy during manufacturing processes
• When buying new items, try as much as possible to choose products that can be readily recycled after use or that can be disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner
• Consider low energy or energy saving devices and buy as much as you can from recycled or reclaimed materials

Finally, as a result of the massive amount of publicity given to global warming and the need for conservation of energy, many producers make claims about their products that are misleading or even false so check out the credentials of any suppliers claiming that their products are certified as natural, organic or eco friendly.

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David McEvoy is an expert in interior design. If you are looking for a leather sofa to give the finishing touches to a newly decorated room then please come and visit our site.

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While it can be fun and exciting to decorate, sometimes it’s also difficult to think of a theme for an area. This is particularly true when decorating your child’s room. You want to be unique and creative, but you also want to keep in mind your child’s personality and his or her likes and dislikes. Fortunately, there is all sorts of children’s bedroom furniture available today to inspire creative themes around which you can build a beautiful child’s room.

Does your child like fanciful stories and gallant epic tales? Perhaps pirates or fairies thrill your youth to no end. For these little adventurers, you can start with kids’ canopy beds, which can be set up to cater to both boys and girls today. Use it to build a castle that can house a prince or be stormed by wandering armies and bands of thieves for your son, or create a lighthouse or tower for your princess of a little girl. Either way, you’ve started with an idea that can be carried through as a theme throughout the entire room. Perhaps the canopy could be the sail for a pirate’s ship, and the rest of the room could be “decked” out. There is no end to the possibilities.

Maybe your child likes to get away from it all and be alone, or maybe he or she is a star gazer, with a head in the clouds. Loft beds provide the perfect frame for such ideals, creating a vibe that feels like being away from the rest of the world by lifting the child above the mundane life of the everyday world. You can use this as a basis for the rest of the room as well, painting the ceiling to reflect a daytime sky ‘ light blue with fluffy white clouds ‘ or a nighttime sky full of stars and planets. Rainbows, birds, space shuttles, or other things that interest the child can also be incorporated into the design, perhaps in the sheets, décor, or walls.

In order to create a nice thematic design, however, you will need some extensive organizational practices. Remember that children have toys that clutter up a space, as well as games, shoes, and clothes that rival the closet of a supermodel. Storing the excess is essential to the design of the space. For this purpose, you may want to consider incorporating kids’ storage beds into the space, where you can make use of additional drawers and shelves to keep clutter and mess to a minimum. This will allow you to include more creative applications in the space with nothing distracting from the theme.

Kids’ bedroom furniture never has to be boring. It can easily be decorated to create a theme, with the personality of the child and the unique thoughts of you as the designer blending to bring home the perfect decoration ideas. Because most of the furniture for youths begins as a blank slate, it is easy to turn it into whatever you wish!

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Ben Weissman writes articles about using Platform Beds, Daybeds and other Contemporary Bedroom Furniture to Decorate Your Home. You’ll find more Bedroom Furniture Design Ideas at http://www.Home-and-Bedroom.com . Make your bedroom into a personal retreat!

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