Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Accent wall: Tips to design your accent wall


Having a bold coloured wall in your apartment is one of the best ideas to make your home a sophisticated one. Apart from just the pastel colours, most of us fancy having bold colours on our wall. Colouring the wall with your favourite bold colour defines the personality of an individual. How many of us are aware about the concept of an accent wall? An accent wall is known as one of the cheap and easy total room transformation method. 
 

An accent wall is a basic wall with a bold colour on one side and the rest wall surfaces coloured with a neutral shade. An accent wall is carefully created by avoiding a bold colour on the wall which is seen first when entered. An accent wall can be created with any darker shade or also have a completely different design in terms of material and colour. An accent wall can be created through a brick, wallpaper, marble, paint and so on.

An accent wall helps define a separate area within a larger space. You can create an accent wall to separate areas like the study space, entertainment space and so on. These walls can also be created by using the same colour on all the walls except one wall with a brighter shade. As mentioned earlier, an accent wall can be created with tile and wallpaper. Few of the areas which can be created as accent walls are; a fireplace, near a bed, a bookcase an entertainment space and others which can be focal points.

Instructions on how to create an accent wall:

An accent wall can be created in different ways and designs. One can make use of painting objects like a roller, a masking tape and a bold textured paint.

Choose a wall:

Most of them prefer having the entrance wall as an accent wall perhaps you can also have another wall as your accent wall which you think can be a focal point. The wall should portray the hall as a larger space when coloured as accent wall. One of the greatest advantages of having an accent wall is to change the colours accordingly each time you do not like them and paint over the same wall. You can also choose a wall having a large window or a larger piece of furniture. You can accentuate the accent wall by adding other attractive embellishments to it. 
  
Choose colours:

You can choose your favourite colour to create an accent wall. Ensure that the wall colour you choose should go well with your furniture and the home ambiance. Choosing the colours for your accent wall is majorly based on the type of environment you want to create. If it is for an office, make sure that you choose a sober colour which can create an office ambiance. If you would like to have an accent wall in your kitchen, you can have lively and fresh colours on the wall. The colours which you choose should be eye catching and a combination of bright and dark colours.

Accent wall for uneven walls:

If you have uneven walls in your room, you can make that wall an accent wall which will make you feel that the wall is closer to you. Even the shortest wall in your home can be created as accent walls which will make the wall look bigger.
Accent wall with a texture:

In order to make your accent wall an attractive one, you can add texture to the wall by creating a faux paint finish. Make use of Venetian plaster, stencils or a sponge to accentuate the wall.

Types of accent walls for your home:

Patterned wall paper: 
 
With the latest innovation of an array of wallpapers in the market, one can create innumerable patterns of accent walls in their room. Wallpapers are available from plush designer ones to patterns like damask and so on. There are also a variety of striped wallpaper patterns. If you are staying in a rented home you can always paint an accent wall and make your home a lively one and later remove them off.

Tiled accent wall: 

With the term ‘tile’ the first thought which comes in our mind is that tiles are used in wet areas. Perhaps that is not the only area tiles can be used. You can create an accent wall by using the contemporary tiles which are specially designed for the decoration of internal areas. One of the best techniques to use tiles for creating an accent wall is have iridescent, slightly mirrored tiles on a wall with a fireplace.

An upholstered accent wall:

This is one of the most innovative ways to have a unique accent wall. This style can be used to accentuate the wall of the formal dining room area. Also you can opt for this design in casual areas like a laundry or a sewing room by decorating the room with hard wearing textiles wherein the walls can be used as a pin cushion or a cork board for display. Also you can have an upholstered leather wall as your accent wall.

A mural accent wall:

Murals are one of the oldest forms of embellishments. They were widely used in gardens and other decorative places. If you need a unique accent wall, you can design the wall with colourful murals. It is not necessary that a mural should be a painted picture but you can also have a family picture mural on your accent wall. There are endless options for you to create a mural accent wall.

Striped accent walls: 

Having an accent wall with stripes will give your room an elegant look and feel. You can create the apt ambiance by having striped accent walls and this can be done by either pasting wall papers or painting them in stripes. 
 
Few advantages of having an accent wall:

Having an accent wall will break up the traditional look of your four walls which will be painted in the same colour.

An accent wall can be a powerful design choice in your home. An accent wall draws the eye to the particular part of the room.

Accent walls give you a chance to play around with colours by creating a new look in your home. If you would like to have beautiful accent walls, you can also decorate the walls with antique book pages, curtains, newspaper and magazine cut-outs.

You can use chalkboard paint for your kitchen accent wall.

To create an accent wall you should go for a more dimensional finish.

A unique way to create an accent wall will be to make your ceiling your accent wall.

Monday, 23 July 2012

Rainwater Harvesting-Do it yourself


Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) is the act of capturing rainwater and either storing it for use or recharging it into the ground. In Apartments, water from clean catchments (roof) can be routed properly through suitable conduits into a filter. Filtered water can be stored in storage structures for subsequent use. Surface run off can be used to recharge the ground water. This is achieved by recharge wells and/or direct tube-well recharge. The following strategy has been found most suitable for rainwater harvesting implementation.

Storage of rainwater for direct use: Priority is given to capture as much of the run-off rainwater in storage such as sumps, on-ground tanks or tanks on terraces at intermediate levels (e.g.: sit outs / balconies). However for such a strategy, the run-off only from clean areas can be tapped. It is important that these catchment areas be free from any form of chemical or other toxic contamination and dust content is as low as possible. Typically roof areas qualify well for such a strategy. The water from this run-off is first rain separated, filtered and then let into the storage. The water can be used for all household purposes such as bathing, washing, cleaning, gardening etc directly and can even be used for potable purposes if subsequently it is passed through filters to deal with bacteriological contamination (E.g.: Aquaguard filters, boiling etc).

Groundwater recharge: Excess run-off from above mentioned clean surfaces, run-off from other surfaces such as roads, garden area etc can then is redirected for groundwater recharge. The most effective recharge structure has been found to be a recharge well whose depth is a minimum of around 20 feet. These recharge wells recharge the shallow aquifer. Water needs to be distilled adequately before allowing the water into recharge wells. The location of the recharge wells need to be chosen strategically – both where significant run-off water passes through the recharge well location and which is close to existing bore wells. Recharge wells, over time will help replenish groundwater. If the ground water table rises above the bottom of the recharge well, the recharge well can be used as a withdrawal well. The diagram below illustrates the principle of recharge.

Components of Rainwater Harvesting

Conduit/ Pipes
Filtration
Storage Structures
Recharge Structures

Conduit/ Pipes: Rainwater pipes/conduits carry water from the roof top to the ground. These pipes have to be connected and drawn to the required location by providing sufficient slope so that the water flows with gravity and no water is stored in the pipes after rain stops. The pipes can also be laid underground but sufficient care has to be taken in order to avoid damage to the pipe because of the vehicular movement. The cost of piping depends on various factors like quality of pipe and length of piping works to be done and many other site conditions.

Filtration: Rainwater has to be filtered for silt and suspended impurities before allowing into any of the storage structures in order to store it for a longer time. Some of the filtration methods can be implemented.

 1. First rain separator: It is a mechanism where in first few minutes of rain which carries most of the impurities from the roof are not allowed to pass into the filter or storage structures. It reduces the amount of silt / debris flowing into the filter or storage structures. This in turn reduces maintenance of filter and cleaning of the storage structure.

2. Filter: Rainwater from the roof carries dust and suspended particles from the roof top. These impurities have to be filtered before allowing the water for storage. This can be achieved by passing the rain water through a chamber having layers of graded aggregates and a layer of charcoal. The suspended particles get trapped in the aggregate bed and charcoal adsorbs gases and odor if any. Filter also reduces the velocity of water and hence helps in sedimentation of fine particles in the filter.

3. Underground / Subsurface Filters: In case it is not possible to provide filters over the ground, underground filters can be constructed. The principle of filtration remains the same but the filter will have 2 chambers with the filter media and the water flows through the filter media and moves to the second chamber through the underground pipe.

Storage Structures: Rainwater can also be stored in HDPE tanks for secondary uses. This procedure involves construction of a small pedestal and placing the HDPE Tank on the Pedestal and connecting the rainwater pipe to the Tank after First rain Separation unit. The water stored in the rain barrel can only be used for non potable purposes like gardening, car washing etc. Proper overflow pipe should be provided in order to avoid water logging near the rain barrel.

Recharge Structures: Ground water can be recharged using recharge wells. Ground water recharge helps in reviving the underground water level and can act as an additional source of water if recharged consistently. Recharge wells are constructed by digging the earth, placing concrete rings and packing the outer space of the ring using boulders.

Major Advantages of Rainwater Harvesting

A well planned RWH system can reduce up to 30% of the water requirement from other conventional sources like bore well or municipal supply.

Rainwater Harvesting provides reliable supply of water in rainy season.

Can be a major source of drinking water if the other available sources of water are not fit for drinking.

Reduces the electrical power consumption as pumping water from deeper bore wells is reduced.

Reduces the consumption of municipal water hence reduces the stress on centralized water supply board.

Reduces chocking or flooding of the storm water drains as most of the water is captured at the household level.

Replenishes the groundwater and secures the availability of water for dry seasons.