Tile Installation - DIY, Clay Based Flooring Finishes for Interior Design and Decorating

Brick and Brick Paviours (Tile Installations & Laying)

• Bricks are made from clay, which is formed into shapes and dried in a kiln.
• Paviours are made in a similar fashion but they are thinner and often have special finishes on the surface.
• They are both hard wearing and chemical resistant.
• They are laid on a bed of mortar.

Ceramic Tiles - About & Installation Tips

• Ceramic tiles are made from clay, pressed and tempered into the required shape and size and fired at high temperature.
• They are available in a vast range of colors; sizes and some have textural designs on the surface.
• They can be used a floor or wall finish.
• Careful attention needs to be paid on selection in regard to wet areas, as they are very slippery when wet.
• They have a high durability; they can be broken or cracked if heavy objects are dropped on them.
• They can be noisy underfoot and cool, but they are excellent for using with under floor heating.
• They require a level and solid substrate for laying, a concrete slab or plywood sheet.
• Where there is a large expanse of tiling, expansion joints should be used to allow for expansion or contraction to reduce the risk of cracking. These joints are filled with a compressible sealant product

Quarry Tiles - About & Installation Tips

• These are made from unrefined extruded, high silica alumina clay that gets pressed into the desired form and hard burnt.
• They are hard and durable but have a softer composition than ceramic tiles.
• They can be used with under floor heating.
• The quality and price is wide ranged and varies depending on the size and thickness.
• It is an unglazed form of tile, which comes in a natural color selection, red, brown and beiges.
• They can be sealed but must be done immediately after installation.
• Like ceramic tiles they are cold underfoot and will break any thing that you drop on it.

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Landscape Elements - Hardscapes

A landscape is never complete if its soft elements are not completed correctly by its hardscape. Hardscape or “hardscaping” is composed of inanimate elements of landscaping, particularly the work of masonry or carpentry. For example, stone walls, concrete or brick patios, tile roads, bridges made of wood and wooden trees would all be considered as part of the hardscape. But hardscape goes beyond large-scale projects like these. Any non-life ornamentation in your landscaping is technically part of the hardscape.

Without the clever arrangement of stone and other components hardscape, the most artistic landscape is not a framework for disable plants tastefully and beautifully. When designing your garden, always start by permanent structures. Let the physical area and its surroundings dictate the form and shape of your design.

The wooden structures can be used in the garden to provide support for the plant material and define the elements of “outdoor rooms,” the truss becomes a wall, tree a door, a pergola roof - a gazebo combine all these. The design of these features should take into account the weight of loads probable plants, natural forces of wind, humidity and the sun and properties of the wood itself. Including wooden structures in the landscape offers us the opportunity to recycle materials “nature garden” to ours.

Sample 1: Pergola

Sample 2: Pathway

Sample 3: Patio with pergola

Hardscape materials are as varied as your imagination. But for weight construction, you are safer with proven materials such as stone, wood, cement, etc.. Most people like the shade patios and structures. But even these can be built with creativity, train them to the original design and choosing materials imagination. The cement can be colored, stamped or inlaid. Mosaics, paving stones, tiles, bricks, colored gravel, crushed glass, or a combination of materials can make flat surfaces turbulence with interest. Consider the addition of two structures use and beauty.



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The Choice of Fabrics

It is most important that the fabric will drape or hang well. In general the heavier the fabric, the tighter the weave should be to ensure that the fabric will hang well.

The looser the weave the more prone it is to environmental factors like heat and moisture which will mean that you can physically see your drapes rise and fall.

The most common types of fabrics that are used for drapery are as follows: sheers and nets, most commonly synthetic, used for privacy.

Casements, which are made from loosely woven textured yarns and also used for privacy.

Prints, probably the most popular, these are generally made from tightly woven cotton or cotton polyester blends and are of medium weight and practical from most window treatment situations.

Satins and jacquards, mostly for formal applications, heavy tightly woven supple fabrics that hang very straight and formally.

Sheers or nets are a popular choice for casual uses of curtains, shown in this photograph, they are a perfect fabric choice for a difficult set of French doors. The fabric diffuses the natural light but you can still see out and access the door handles in the center.

There are no rules, you can use almost any fabric for drapery with careful thought about the application, as long as you can justify your selection with all your knowledge – go for it, dare to be different.



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Curtains – The 'ins and outs'

There are only a few simple rules to follow here; the length of the hung curtain should be to the floor or the windowsill. Anything in between looks rather odd.

There is a trend today of puddling curtains, this is where they are made longer than the height required and “puddle” on the floor, this requires a skill in fabric selection, so that they sit well. It is used commonly in living rooms and bedrooms.

With puddle curtains on a hand drawn track, make sure that the width of the curtain is not excessive as they become heavy and difficult to draw back. They are also prone to picking up all the fluff from your floor, so a little bit more attention is required to keeping them looking smart.

The top of the curtain (the heading), for all curtains can be at ceiling height, above or at the top of the window frame or flush with the window reveal.

It all depends on the space that you have. Do keep your choice constant in your home as it can look very odd if some curtain heads are fixed at different heights to others, especially when you can view through from room to room.

The finished length of ceiling to floor curtains should leave a 10mm gap, so that they don’t catch the floor and are easy to draw back, the gap for finishing at a windowsill only requires 5mm.

For safety reasons, never cover radiator heaters with curtains, look for another solution, either stop the curtains short of the heaters or use a blind as an alternative style of window treatment.

Consistency in design of the window treatments allows for a symmetrical form to be created here in this photograph. The head of the curtains are all the same height and the window swag and tail valance details are all the same and they are all held back at the bottom of the window sill which provides a regular frame for the windows and creates a flow and rhythm to the window treatments.

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Sheer and Net Curtains

Sheers or Voiles

Sheers, voiles or nets are fine translucent fabrics. They are used to cut down the amount of sunlight that enters a room and to create a small amount of privacy.

They can be used on their own or combined with heavier curtains to be drawn at night. For a long time they were only available in white or cream.

The selection available today is very extensive ranging from colors, beaded, textures, striped, rainbow effects, metallic, threaded with flower forms, embroidered with designs, sequined ... the list goes on.

So you can see that they are quite a fashion statement for your window. A very good alternative to blinds.

The use of sheers in this contemporary apartment allows diffused light to enter and makes a subtle design statement. They are ceiling hung on a track behind a pelmet in the form of a lowered ceiling and the curtains seem to float.

Sheers are a great way to add soft and subtle decorative curtains as seen in this photograph. The sheers diffuse the sunlight as under curtains, and then the gold decorative curtain to the side is pulled through a ring to act as a tieback, very clever design accessory.

The heading options vary greatly, from pencil pleats for a lovely fullness to inverted pleat for a more flat sophisticated look, to a simple gathered head that will be covered with a pelmet, valance, swags and tails or a scarf drapery.

They are also commonly threaded through rods or poles using a casement heading.


Nets or Net Curtains

Net curtains are similar to sheers, but the construction of the fabric is different. The strands of yarn are interlocked to form patterns of fine or large holes in the fabric. They can be fine or coarse, with varying degrees of complex patterns.

They are hung in a similar fashion to sheers.

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