Historical Paper Lanterns: Shapes and Meanings

There is a whole variety of decorative paper lanterns that are accessible for any kind of home exterior design. These paper lanterns are basically known as hanging paper lamps which originally came from Asia. The variety of paper lanterns can be utilized for the emphasis of the exterior of a home any time when needed especially during holiday seasons and celebrations. Japanese, Vietnamese, or Chinese style – just about every color is available for everyone. There is what they call Paper Lantern festivals all throughout Asia which do not exist in America; however, these lanterns would still look terrific for American holidays, weddings, parties, and birthdays. The paper lanterns are fit for night ambience without giving contribution to light pollution. In other words, the lanterns are perfect for just the ample right amount of fun and comfortable ambience that anyone would love.

Paper lanterns formally originated from China where the lanterns were used as an aid to the military. Flying lanterns were created by a military strategist who was inspired by a hat for the shape and figure of the lanterns. Oiled rice paper was the material that was placed onto a bamboo frame where a tiny candle rested. This little candle would easily produce heated air which allows the lanterns to rise. Gauze paper lanterns integrated with four red paper letters were commonly used during ceremonials including weddings. Another use of the paper lantern back then was for a simple symbol for the return of the spring season.

One of the most popular paper lanterns are the round paper lanterns which were formed with hollow centers with a height slightly smaller than its diameter. This round paper lanterns is probably the most popular among all the other styles because of its original and exotic appeal that attracts a lot of people. These can actually be used in the garden or around the area of a home for a warm ambience during night time. Another traditional type of paper lantern is the square paper lantern, ideal for garden and even for indoor room decorations. Cylindrical paper lanterns, on the other hand, are available in Chinese and Japanese temples where they are usually found hanging in front the shrines. These cylindrical paper lanterns were also popular for shops, having that symbol that indicates the items being sold in the particular shop.

Knowing some of the types of paper lanterns is beneficial to understanding which different symbols on paper lanterns can show the items that are accomplished around a yard as well as the use of each area including the BBQ, patio, and deck. Rectangular paper lanterns are commonly used as signs that are placed in front of the shops, showing customers to the location of the business the same way that the lanterns can guide visitors to the locations of entertainment and food in a yard. There are smaller versions of the rectangular paper lanterns that are fit and best for exterior areas for eating dinner.

There are also shapes and sizes that are non-traditional, adding a great accent to a garden or yard. These include the start lanterns that are used as Christmas decorations, zigzag paper lanterns for that different kind of attractiveness, wave paper lanterns for meditation and relaxation purposes, and lastly the mushroom paper lanterns which are odd, yet fun additions to an exterior area.

Concrete Patio Designs

One of the most important aspects of any home’s exterior is a stamped concrete. Stamped concrete overlay has aspects that most homeowners include would seldom lack the right landscape light where in fact it should be one of its most important parts. Homeowners often forget about including stamped concrete overlay when thinking about landscaping and lights due to the fact that the homeowners just often think about the physical aspects that are obvious across the exterior of their home. What the homeowners often think of are the paint job, the flowers, bushes, plants, lawn or grass, trees, garden features, fences, water features, and patios or decks. Homeowners should also think of ways for the benefit of having landscape lightings. Through practicing lawn care and ensuring the way landscape lights are placed in a manner that consistently highlights the best parts of the garden or yard, the overall value of a home can surely increase by 5% up to 20% compared to the other homes where there are no landscape features at all. This curb appeal is just priceless.

Another great advantage of landscaping and landscape light is that the home’s lifespan increases. The home becomes more than just a simple indoor living space complemented by a stunning outdoor area. No matter how simple or complex a landscape area is, having landscape lightings will always make everything look best especially at night. Landscape designs can always bring a homeowner the best sense of living and satisfaction because of all the beautiful elements that have been put together just to create an amazing living environment.

Lighting Your Pool

Inground pools, custom pools, and a pool builder are common in the homes of a lot of homeowners these days, and with these come a great deal of responsibility with regards to safety proper lighting for night swims. There have been a lot of problems about the lighting of the custom pools and how difficult it is to properly install them without even detracting from the set ambiance.
Some of the safety concerns that should be kept in mind for the lighting of custom pools include the selection of a design that would fit a person’s taste as well as its capability to stand against any weather or climate changes in a certain area. Another concern would be the proper placement of the lighting and making sure children won’t be presented in any hazardous situations. It is important to remember to keep the lightings out of the reach of children. It is recommended for a homeowner to visit a gardening center in order to see how lightings can be properly mounted in place.
The ability to display light in an authentic way is probably one of the best aspects that custom pool lightings can offer. There are a lot of outdoor landscape lighting fixtures that can be looked up online or around the city. It is important to compare prices for the best deals and at the same time, compare the durability and life span that each fixture will require.

Decorative Concrete Impressions

Concrete offers one of the most basic and functional construction materials in the world. Given the importance of this tool, it is no wonder that using the right combination of mix, design, as well as workers can leave all homeowners with the perfect design quality and outcome for their favorite outdoor or indoor location. With a concrete contractor for concrete repair or concrete restoration, homeowners are offered reconstruction materials which require little to no maintenance for the homeowners once the application has been allowed to set and the protective sealer applied to the finished project. Using a concrete contractor for concrete repair or concrete restoration is especially useful in that the concrete repairs can be easily molded into any shape that homeowners desire and offers a higher level of fire resistance than its natural material counterparts.Decorative concreteis capable of greater strength for the interior or exterior of your home than any other natural material homeowners might use. There are many advantages to the use of decorative concrete, the abilities of which are conducive to creativity for all homeowners. Exterior floors can be covered with concrete or paving stones with an exterior finish to match the interior. It can now be used to cast interior surfaces such as countertops. Interior countertops are expanding in terms of their uses with technologies such as hard-troweled finishes for the decorative concrete, three-dimensional relief for any existing flatwork, as well as diamond cutting patterns and hand-tooled joint details for individual slabs. There are also many exposed aggregate finishes for vertical applications as well as horizontal applications.

Owning Your Home’s Exterior

Homeowners have found many ways to utilize decorative concrete resurfacing options such as a concrete overlay or stamped concrete. The main way homeowners use these decorative options is to enhance the look of their homes, particularly in the back or front yards. In order to maintain decorative concrete which surrounds landscaping features such as a garden or other shrubs or flowers, it is important to keep a garden clean and free of pests. This can be done in a variety of ways, including natural and organic pest control and weed control. When you use these products you will increase the value of your decorative concrete and acid stain by adding a manicured finish. 

Some houses or gardens might have issues with spiders getting in to their tomatoes or their other vegetables. For this dilemma there are pest control products such as spider mite knockout. A poison-free magnet will lure insects such as ants, scorpions, centipedes, spider ants, roaches, and crickets through a patented pheromone. The Critter Ridder repellent is one of many similar pest control products but only requires a single application which lasts up to thirty days. This natural product utilizes patented pepper in its formula.

For treating any wood items, there are formulated wood treatments which can ride your yard of pests inside or out. There are other pest control products such as insecticidal soap, directional sprayers which are perfect for the undersides of leaves. There are clothes moth traps, indoor fly traps, snake traps, as well as mosquito and gnat barriers.

Stamped Concrete and a Decorative Solar Outdoor Light

Many homeowners who integrate solar outdoor light fixtures are unfamiliar with the manner in which they ought to care for their new stamped concrete overlay and a solar outdoor light. Generally homeowners place the stamped concrete overlay and a solar outdoor light where they think it will be most beneficial in terms of aesthetic quality and decoration. They place them around their garden, along a pathway, or around a porch. What many homeowners fail to recognize, however, is consideration of the amount of daily sun exposure that these lights will receive when placed in these areas of the landscape. Common problems associated with solar outdoor light is that the fixtures do not receive adequate lighting during the day and therefore cannot charge completely, leaving them dull and non-operational during the night hours when they are needed the most. 

If this continues, then the batteries within the stamped concrete overlay and a solar outdoor light will lose their lifespan and thus shorten the lifespan of the fixture, costing homeowners more money than they need to spend. Also, solar outdoor light fixtures should be cleaned often to ensure that the solar panel receives enough light to recharge during the day. If the unit is covered with dirt and grime then it will be impaired in terms of recharging, also limiting the overall life span of the fixture. At the end of each season, homeowners will leave their solar outdoor light fixtures in the yard, even during winter when the yard is covered with ice and snow. This is not advisable. In fact, solar outdoor light fixtures should be turned off before freezing temperatures set in. They can also be removed and stored until spring arrives. If they are left outside during the shortened winter days, then they will receive less exposure to sunlight which will shorten the overall lifespan of the units.

Making Your Concrete Shine

There are great things that you can do with concrete today. These include coloring techniques and other techniques which make your concrete shine. You can add a glossy layer over any technique applied to your concrete to add an extra layer of protection, resistance, and excitement. A decorative concrete contractor can expose you to the many types of concrete decoration such as an aggregate finish or exposed aggregate. With either or those options your concrete company will place stone and marble pieces in the concrete mix applied to the top of your existing concrete. They will sand down these jagged edges so that they give you more resistance. This is especially useful for walkways or pool decks, or any surrounding areas where lots of traffic or children often run.

With the creativity of a decorative concrete contractor and a concrete company you can select the right color finish to add to a stamped concrete overlay. With stamps or stencils, you apply mats to the thin layer of concrete applied on top of your existing concrete. These are left there and pushed down with a roller so that they are embedded slightly into the wet concrete. These then dry in place and after twenty four hours they are removed, and any jagged edges sanded quickly to leave you with a great design. This can be used to separate certain parts of your yard when you have a single slab of concrete in place. You can make a separate area for a pool deck, for entertaining, and for relaxing.