The right rawhide lamp shade can make a perfect lamp. But the wrong size shade can make a beautiful lamp look out of balance. And ordering the wrong size lampshade is inconvenient and expensive. Make the right choice the first time.

Our specialty is rustic lighting and southwestern rawhide lamp shades but the technique we use will work with any lamp shade, rawhide or otherwise. Give it a try to help choose the right shade for your lamp even before you order. Follow this simple procedure to help make the right choice the first time.

First, we need to understand how lampshades are measured. You will need three measurements, bottom diameter, top diameter and height. The height of a shade should be measured straight up and down vertically…not along the slant.

Measuring Tip #1: The reason we measure height up and down, “vertically” is that the height measurement of your lamp from bulb socket base to top of harp is probably the minimum vertical height you will want to cover with your shade.

Measuring Tip #2: The height of your lamp can be adjusted with a shorter or taller harp to be able to use a standard shade rather than ordering a custom lampshade in many cases.

Now, here is the trick to ordering the right shade. You probably have an idea of the approximate size, so simply consult a list of rawhide lamp shades and select the one you are considering. Each shade’s measurements should be listed as described above.

Next, make a simple two-dimensional “flat” pattern the size of the shade out of paper or cardboard. For example, use the lower edge of the cardboard for the base line. Measure up the height of the shade and draw a horizontal line parallel to the base line which will represent the top edge of the shade. Now draw a vertical line straight up and down from the base line to the top edge line. If you imagine the base line, vertical line and top edge line as the capital letter “I” you are on the right track.

The next step is to mark the top and bottom dimensions of the shade on your pattern so that you get the correct slant for the edge of the shade. From the center line measure and mark the top diameter of the shade. If the top diameter is 5″ then measure to the left and right of the center line along the top edge line 2.5″ on both sides and make a mark. Those points are the top corners of your pattern. Repeat along the baseline using the shade’s bottom diameter. If it seems confusing, it’s really not, but very simple and quick. See our full color shade measuring graphic for a visual aid.

Finally, cut out the pattern and have someone hold it in place over the lamp, while you step back and look. Even though it is flat, you will be able to get a feel for how the shade will look on your lamp and order with confidence. It’s not full proof but it is a quick and easy way to make sure that you are on the right track in your shade size selection. This simple idea has helped our clients save a lot of aggravation and money over the years and we trust it will benefit you too.

Craig Chambers, is the President of Mission Del Rey, an Arizona non profit organization preserving and advancing the culture of the Tarahumara Indians through traditional skills. Please use this article with a live html link to our missiondelrey.com/southwestern-lighting.html Rustic Lighting and Rawhide Lamp Shades so others may find additional useful information.

I’ve just discovered the easiest way in the world to give my living room a brand new look. My old furniture, while very comfortable, was becoming worn out, with stains on a couple of the chairs and a rip on one of the cushions of the couch. (Ah, children, they’re so much fun, aren’t they?)

I was contemplating getting the furniture re-upholstered, but didn’t want to go to that expense, and I certainly didn’t want to go to the expense of buying new furniture, especially when there was nothing wrong with the old except for those cosmetic problems.

Then I discovered slipcovers!

It’s not necessary to re-upholster my furniture – and then go to the expense of re-upholstering it again should the new fabric become stained – when all I need to do is purchase relatively inexpensive slip covers, which I can replace again and again if it becomes necessary.

What I was impressed about was not only the vast array of designs that slip covers come in, but also the fabrics. I never would have thought you could get leather slip covers, but you can. Other fabrics include denim, suede, chenille, or cotton and damask.

The designs are nothing to sneeze at. There are hundreds of designs to choose from, from floral to plaid to geometric, to solid colors. They also come in themes for kid’s rooms – sports, horses, etc. Indeed, having slip covers for chairs in your kid’s room only makes sense!

I was also pleased to see that these slip covers come in a variety of sizes – they’ll fit my couch and my recliner, to say nothing of the straight chairs in my dining room. And of course they’ll fit love seats, futons and ottomans as well – any size furniture you’ve got! And if you can’t get something ready-made that will fit, of course you can always order something custom-made.

So I’ve gone out and picked out a wide variety of slip covers, because I’ve got big plans. My entire family comes here for the holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, so I’ll cover the furniture with seasonal designs at that time.

If you decide to use slip covers on your furniture, make sure they are preshrunk and prewashed. Indeed, make sure they are machine washable so that they are easy to care for! Some fabrics of course will have to be dry-cleaned, but I always prefer to take the easiest possible way!

Adam Peters is the author and editor of many exterior covers articles and newsletters published at home-decorating-reviews.com home-decorating-reviews.com . You can find more information and resources on home-decorating-reviews.com/SlipcoverFurniture.html slipcover furniture at his website.

A driveway alarm helps to make your car and outdoor driveway area much more protected from would be thieves. The basic idea is to make your driveway and /or car and home the least attractive targets that they can be. Of course we don’t want to take away from their value or functionality in order to make them less attractive to thieves, so we must think around the situation a little more creatively.

One way of making your property and possessions less attractive to thieves is to make is very difficult to gain access to. When a criminal cannot reach the targeted object, there is simply no way for the item to be stolen. Similarly, if an object that is disturbed as it may be during an attempted robbery, makes some sort of alert to let you know what is going on, this make theft less likely. It is the feature that allows the thief to hear some type of alarm that will probably do the most good, should the thief have the courage to come into your yard to begin with.

First things first. take the time to properly secure your property. Of course this depends on the environment, such as city or country. Different locales will have their own unique requirements and considerations. In the city, homeowners are somewhat more likely to install fences and more advanced security systems for the outer most perimeter surrounding their property.

An outer perimeter barrier doesn’t necessarily have to be locked, it can be simply a fence that discourages thieves from crossing for the sheer increased difficulty involved. Once you have the outer perimeter taken care of, it’s time to consider that various options ahead of you. There are many ways that you can strengthen the perimeter and any weak spot along it.

For example, the reason that a driveway alarm ca neb so nice is that many times the garage and driveway areas have a connecting door into the house. This makes the driveway area a sort of weak point for gaining access to the house itself. With a driveway alarm you can be extra sure that no one is going to get in to your garage or driveway, not to mention home, without you noticing it.

Take the time to read up about the different models of driveway alarms in order to determine the pros and cons of the various types and services. Every home and driveway have unique set ups and requirements. If you don’t take the time to consider which alarm system will best meet your needs, you may wind up having to replace the system shortly after you buy it. Trust me, it’s much better to take the time and effort to research and discover which alarms have worked the best for others.

It may help to include phrases like “customer reviews” in your search terms when searching the internet. This will help you narrow down shopping sites that feature customer reviews and ratings about driveway alarms.

Dewey worked for a security company as an alarm technician for more than 5 years. He has experience with both the installation of alarm systems for homes or for automobiles. At fantomizer.com fantomizer.com , he provides a free technical chart on the pros and cons and the most popular alarm systems that are available on the market such as fantomizer.com retail alarm systems.

Waterbeds are a very popular bedroom option because they provide such a gorgeous sleep and total rest for the entire slumber. Waterbeds are a revolution in sleeping because as soon as you lie on a waterbed you will notice a big difference from your normal bed. A waterbed feels a lot different from your traditional inner spring mattress style bed.

In any event though, the waterbeds of today are not the wavy, sea sick style waterbeds that you might perceive them as. Waterbeds have changed for the better and are now a very popular bedding option. Today’s waterbed is totally comfortable and completely shapes your body – structure and size – so that you get the optimum slumber. When you lie on a new modern day waterbed you will find it to be so comfortable that you will not want to move. It quite simply is far more luxurious than a standard inner spring bed.

With the recent manufacture of “wave less” waterbeds in the bedding industry, people who take the bold step of purchasing a waterbed are now receiving a far improved level of sleep allowing them to have more energy and improved health on a daily basis. Bedding manufacturers have responded to the changing demands of consumers and their feedback has changed bedding options forever. Nights of tossing and turning are long gone. You should note that when you own a waterbed there is some maintenance that is required. However, once you have had a good nights sleep in the waterbed, you won’t give the maintenance a second thought.

There are a wide variety of parts and supplies that you can find over the Internet for your waterbed. When buying them over the Internet you can also generally find them at better then retail prices. Bedding stores online offer items such as waterbed heaters, drain fill kits, frames and headboards. Many of the parts and supplies that are available from online bedding supply stores can also be very useful to you, especially if you intend to install and maintain the waterbed yourself without professional assistance. But apart from the maintenance perspective you can also have fun decorating your waterbed to match in with you bedroom decor. You can purchase any number of quilts, throw cushions and towels from these specialty bedding suppliers.

If you take care of your waterbed and conduct regular maintenance on it then your waterbed will be able to serve you for many years to come. The waterbed parts and supplies that you can purchase will assist you in doing this – ensuring years of sound sleeping.

Hazel Prechtel is the owner of
Fox foxbeds.com Beds which is a
premier source of information about Beds. For more
information, go to: foxbeds.com foxbeds.com