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Category Archive: Decorating Tips
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Leather – How do I know if it is ‘Genuine Leather’?
Tanning animal skins and hides creates leather. Leather comes from skins when smaller animals are used. The skin or hide is cleaned and tanned. So, if this is the case, why would you look for products categorized ‘Genuine leather’? This is an advertising idea that indicates the item is not made of imitation leather. The choice is genuine or imitation.
Imitation leather has properties similar to leather. The surface is embossed, colored and glossed to create this effect. The better qualities of imitation leather are created using textile substrate. If poor quality substrate is used, it can still be labeled “Genuine leather”. Some leather has been given a plastic lacquer or foil coating. (more…)
Cupolas: Décor, Symbolism, and Practical Uses
With a gleaming copper roof and white sides, a cupola points into the sky. Giving a building a majestic appearance, cupolas are now considered pieces of décor, but at one point, these small, tower-shaped structures were a practical architectural addition. But their practicality is coming back again, only in a different form. Relegated to attractive home décor for most of the 20th century, cupolas are now being added to various green homes for cooling.
Each month, you see how high your heating bill is, and environmentally-friendly architecture aims to reduce this. Not only for expenses for also for reducing your carbon footprint, environmentally-friendly architecture incorporates aspects of nature to cool or heat a building. This is where cupolas come in. A home may be designed with two vented cupolas, which allow air to enter the building, circulate throughout, and cool off the structure in warmer weather. This way, no air conditioning or central heating unit consumes a large quantity of power. (more…)
Tagged copper roof, cupola, New England
Adding Weathervanes: Shapes and Styles for Your Home
Composed of two halves of hammered copper soldered together, weathervanes draw attention to the roof of your home or building. These copper and brass shapes have a long history, however. While used primarily for décor in the present, weathervanes were needed to indicate the direction of the wind. Over time, this practical use was compounded with design, and the shapes of certain weathervanes became associated with specific establishments or businesses.
In the present, weathervanes come in all shapes and sizes. Roosters, grasshoppers, and horses are some of the traditional designs. Roosters, once called “weather cocks,” were associated with the Catholic Church for several centuries. In the ninth century, the Pope decreed that all churches display weather cocks to symbolize the events taking place after the last supper. (more…)
Tagged Catholic Church, grasshoppers, weather cocks