Ideas for decorating are available in plenty, but the most important thing to remember when you start out on a project to do up your living room is to appreciate the fact that this is the area where you would spend most of your waking hours when you are at home. A living room is a common room for all the members of the family and so any ideas of decorating or furnishing it must include the needs of everyone in the family.

The interiors of the room must be pleasing to the eye and the design and décor must be such that it fits a particular theme. This may be in the colors, the materials used or even a recurring motif that is not too jarring or obvious. Themes can be traditional like plants, flowers, and animals or modern with abstract designs.

Living room decoration ideas must include furniture which fits in with the overall theme. Modern furniture with clean straight lines would in turn influence the choice of furnishings and color to see that the consonance is not broken. Traditional furniture of deep sofas and the like call for warmer paint colors.

Lighting in a living room is one aspect of decoration that cannot be neglected. The lighting should be such that the highlights or central theme of the décor is given prominence. While this is being done, the comfort level of the users of the living room must be taken into consideration. Lighting should be such that the normal activities in a living room like reading or just relaxing are assisted.

While decorating a living room, the cost aspect has to be kept in mind depending on the funds available and a total estimate must be worked out before even starting on the decoration. This will allow all the various areas like furniture, fixtures, furnishing, paints and lighting to get equal importance. All the styles need to be balanced so that one does not look out of place when compared to the other.

Decorating ideas for a living room can be taken from magazines, books or even the internet. A number of firms that sell paint, lighting fixtures or furniture are very keen to sell their products and can also be a good source of some designs. Decide on a theme once you have an idea of what you want the interiors to look like, and then make all your designs for furniture, paint and lighting to suit that theme.

In this article we reveal how to create your own outdoor cinema.

Setting up an outdoor home theatre is a fairly large undertaking, not only in terms of physical installation, but also in money outlay. A sensible option would be to host a ‘trial night’, whereby you would loan the equipment and an operator to try it out. This way you can get a feel for all the technical details and decide on the perfect requirements for your home.

If it’s the ‘Wow’ factor you’re after, and then think how to make the most of these important factors, which will determine your Al Fresco Theatre kit.

• Do you have a good spot to site the outdoor screen
• Where could you place the projector/screen
• Is there safe access for the electrical supply
• Where is the best location for the speakers
• Can you safely conceal the power leads

Consider the sunlight at different times of the day – maybe you’ll use your Al Fresco theatre more in the evening, however do think about excess light from street lighting or next doors’ tennis courtHow can you set out the seating, so that the ‘audience’ can all see clearly

Be considerate to your neighbours – how loud should you have the movie sound track?

Most locations are suitable for your garden Box Office, even incorporating a room from the house that flows into the garden, using this as the site for the projector. This allows a safer arrangement for the power supply and technical equipment, as it is weather protected and away from interference of the audience. The only equipment outdoors is the display or projector and speakers, which need to be weather proofed.

It is also possible to use the outside cinema for fund raising, however do check the licensing arrangements.

Dave has years of experience with Backyard Box Offices, as well as owning the worlds leading manufacturer of LCD Monitor Enclosures.

As with any pet, your guinea pig depends on you completely for it’s health and well-being. This article may help you by serving as a basic guide of guinea pig health care and give you an idea of what symptoms of illness to watch out for. Of course if you feel your cavy is sick then don’t delay in getting him or her to the veterinarian for a checkup and treatment.

You can practice good guinea pig health by providing your cavy with preventative health care. Preventing illness is a lot easier, and a lot less expensive, that treating illnesses. Cavies are hardy little creatures and with good preventative health care they can have a long, healthy life.

Keeping Your Guinea Pig Healthy

There are some basic levels of care that you can provide your cavy to keep him healthy. Here is a list:

• Provide healthy, nutritious food and a plenty of clean, fresh water
• Make sure they have lots of room in their cage or hutch to run around, play, and get their exercise.
• Make sure they have something like a “nest box” where they can hide away if they need to
• If possible have two cavies – they love companionship and it really is best for them
• Make sure their cage or hutch is clean, dry, and away from cold drafts
• Make sure that their cage location is not subject to extreme heat or humidity
• Keep them in a quiet environment
• Give them fun toys, and specifically chew toys to keep their teeth healthy and trimmed
• Most importantly, give them lots of your attention.

Knowing the Signs of Illness in Your PetIn order to recognize a sick cavy, it is first important to know how a healthy cavy looks and acts. A healthy cavy will have bright, clear eyes and a shiny coat. A sick animal will have a dull look in it’s eyes, the coat will be dull and in poor condition, it may have patches of hair missing, and will look thin. A healthy cavy will act alert, have a good appetite, will drink water, will vocalize, play, and have normal urination and poop. A sick cavy will be lethargic, have no appetite, is not drinking water, may have abnormal posture, and is not having normal urination and poops.

Common Health Problems

Cavies can come down with a variety of bacterial and fungal infections, and parasites, which can cause problems with their eyes, ears, and digestive system. It is important to give your pet cavy a daily looking over to make sure they aren’t coming down with something, because when a cavy comes down with an illness it becomes very fragile and it’s health can deteriorate very quickly in a very short period of time.

• Dehydration: this can be caused by your cavy not drinking enough water, prolonged exposure to a hot environment, or from diarrhea caused by illness
• Dental Problems: Your cavies teeth continue to grow throughout their lives. Most dental problems can be avoided by giving your pet chew toys and feeding hard pellets which will keep the teeth trimmed. But sometimes your pet’s teeth do not grow in proper alignment. If not treated this can be very painful resulting in your cavy’s inability to eat and could actually result in starvation and death.
• Ear Problems: Ear problems can be caused by infection, parasites, or injury. Indications of ear problems include scratching, head shaking, tilting the head to one side, and loss of balance.
• Eye Problems: Eye problems are usually caused by injury, infection, or an irritating object in the eye. If your pets eyes appear dull, have a discharge, or he keeps them closed, then place him in a darkened room because the problem may be painful and make their eyes sensitive to light.
• Tummy Problems: If your guinea pig has diarrhea, or is constipated, it may be because he has a gastrointestinal bacterial infection, is not eating a proper diet, is suffering from stress, or is living in a dirty cage. Diarrhea needs to be treated quickly, otherwise it can quickly lead to dehydration and possibly death.
• Heatstroke: Cavies can overheat very easily if exposed to high temperatures. It will quickly become weak, unresponsive, and eventually comatose. Without immediate treatment it will die.
• Respiratory Problems: If you hear your cavy wheezing, sneezing, or otherwise having difficulty breathing you need to take these symptoms seriously. These symptoms may be caused by bacterial infection and your pet could develop pneumonia, the most frequent cause of death in cavies.
• Skin and Hair Problems: Sores, dry itchy skin, loss of fur, and oozing sores are all signs of skin problems. There can be a variety of causes of these symptoms including skin parasites, allergies, stress, and diseases. Your veterinarian will need to diagnose the exact cause.

SummaryRemember that good guinea pig health starts with prevention. A daily routine that includes handling your pet cavy so that you can give it an “examination” is a good idea. The earlier that you identify an illness in your pet and can seek veterinary care the better chances of cure and a quick recovery. Your pet cavy needs you – take good care of him!

Guinea pigs are gentle creatures. Mike Andrews is a 52 year old native of native of Colorado, and has been a life-long animal lover and guinea pig enthusiast. Mike would like to see that all pet guinea pigs are properly cared for. He has written additional articles relating to guinea pig health on his website at http://www.PetGuineaPigsInfo.com. Please visit and check out his eBook “Giving Your Guinea Pig the Love & Care it Deserves” and his FREE 10 part mini-course on the proper care and raising of happy and healthy guinea pigs.