Chez Home Ideas

Archive for the ‘Outdoor’ Category

Are you looking for ways to make your dog house a bit more exciting? It’s pretty easy to add decorative bits and pieces to an existing dog house design. Here are some ideas!

1. Log cabin dog house

Do your dog house up pilgrim style! This is pretty easy to do. All you need is some rounded beams, or you can split some small logs in half. Then just nail or glue them onto the walls of the house. It doesn’t even need painting – just a bit of non-toxic wood sealant, and you’re set. If you’re using bare wood rather than logs, you can stain them a little darker to look more log-like.

2. Tudor cottage dog house

Another fairly easy option. First, paint the walls of the dog house white. Next, get some small beams of wood – 2″x1″ or similar – and stick them on in a criss-cross pattern. A quick google for tudor cottages should give you lots of examples for the best patterns to use – basically, you want large squares or rectangles with diagonal cross beams. Stain the beams very dark, for that old, weathered wood look. You can stain the roof dark to match, or apply some shingles to look like tiles – or make a thatched roof if you really want to get into the theme!

3. Victorian house

If you live in a classic American home, then it can be nice to decorate your dog house to match. For this, you want to cover the whole of the walls with wide, thin beams. You can lay them either vertically or horizontally. Then paint them a nice color to match your house. Lay some shingles on the roof, and again, paint or stain them to match. If you’re very handy, a porch is a great finishing touch. It can be a pain to put one on the front of the house, and sometimes dogs knock over porch columns on their way in. But you can attach a porch to the side more easily, and it’ll look just as good.

4. Castle dog house

This design is easiest to do if your dog house has a flat roof. Cut some battlements out of plywood or similar, and glue them along the top of the walls. Then attach towers at the corners – square towers are easiest, but round ones look more fairytale. Paint the whole thing a nice stone grey if you’re going for the medieval look, or white/cream if you’re going for a more fairytale look. You can use a pencil and a ruler to add lines to represent blocks of stone.

5. Dog house stencils

This is one of the easiest ways to decorate a dog house, and it’s a lot of fun to do as a project with kids. All you need is some non-toxic paint, some cardboard, and some sponges. Paint the whole house one color first, and let it dry. Then cut some fun shapes out of cardboard – bones and paw-prints are easy and cute – and show the kids how to use the sponges to create the stencil. You can use more than one color with each stencil so you have multi-colored shapes. If the dog house has a wooden platform in front of the door (a good idea, as it gives your dog somewhere warm and dry to lie when he doesn’t want to be in the house), it’s a nice touch to paint it to look like a ‘welcome’ mat – or paint ‘Home Sweet Home’ on it!

However you decide to decorate your dog house, make sure the underlying construction is good. Your dog doesn’t care how his house looks, but it’ll make a big difference to him if it’s the wrong size, or if it’s not properly insulated.

Most canopies are found in flea markets or art shows, which use them for making quick and temporary stalls. A canopy is basically a tent with no sides, and a top layer supported by poles on the sides.Canopies are also used as portable tents for purposes such as outdoor wedding receptions, picnics, and other temporary needs.

A canopy is used for making portable structures, is usually preferred in white color, and is made of acrylic material. White is preferred mainly due to weather reasons. Summer is usually the time of the year when an outdoor wedding reception or party is arranged, and one does not wish to sweat and suffer under a black colored canopy material. In South American and South Asian countries, dark colored and multi colored garments are appreciated and worn by many people, with not many restrictions on season based dress color codes. Considering this, the portable canopy used in these countries will hence appear in multiple colors, sometimes with dark colors being prominent.

Acrylic is the recommended material for a portable canopy because of its ability to withstand different weather conditions, and easy maintenance. Other optional features that can be added to a portable canopy are an awning to add beauty and define the front opening, and netted mesh. Netted mesh is mostly used in camping situations as a material to be used for the walls to allow air and light in, and keep insects out.

Canopies have been in use for a long time and were mainly used by travelers and adventure seekers. Canopy is derived from a French word called ‘conope’ which means bed curtain. This is also similar to the Latin word ‘conopeum’ which means couch with a mosquito protection.

Canopy bed is actually an old form of furniture, which is still being considered traditional furniture. This is also called a four-poster bed, and has a tall post at each of the four corners. These posts support a covering that is made of netting or other thinner and softer material. Originally canopy furniture was created to serve the purpose of a bed, as well as help avoid insects and other small reptiles from harming the person sleeping within the canopy bed. In later years the roof was made out of acrylic or other clothing material, and canopy furniture was retained to serve the purpose of privacy.

Apart from serving as private chambers for somebody who sleeps inside, canopy furniture also helps in weathering the hot summers. The netting material as opposed to heavy curtains, helps in allowing a comfortable breeze to come through, but stopping insects and bugs from entering in. Canopy beds are one of the most sought after pieces of home furniture in humid regions like South America.
Canopy beds can be made of any material – chintz, muslin, or netting. Each one of them provides the same comfort and luxury of a private space with multiple options.