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Interior Design Clients: The Designer's Guide to Building and Keeping a Great Clientele

by Thomas L. Williams

Clients are the lifeblood of any interior design firm and a sound understanding of how to manage those clients is essential. Interior Design Clients is an informative yet fun read for entrepreneurial designers interested in gaining a better understanding of how to build and manage their clientele. Tom Williams, designer, author, and blogger, deconstructs the pitfalls and challenges that can waylay even seasoned designers. As many professional designers learn, clients can be intimidated by interior designers and sometimes can even be fearful of the process. This unreasonable intimidation can often hinder the designer-client relationship and can even stop clients from asking for what they want. This leads to clients being unsatisfied and then walking away with a negative impression of their designer. Learning why clients fear their interior designer and developing strategies to allay those fears is essential for gaining and keeping a satisfied clientele. Everything from good client, project, and time management to interview techniques and staff and paperwork organization can all lead to making client interaction as rewarding as possible and are important aspects of the business rarely addressed by the interior design community as a whole. Interior Design Clients covers the subjects rarely taught in design schools such as specific presentation and interview skills and how to sell to market. Through frank discussion and practical examples, Williams weaves the art of selling into his lessons on interviewing, presenting, and pleasing the client as a natural part of the design process. Becoming a residential or commercial interior designer is not an easy undertaking, but Thomas Williams' Interior Design Clients: The Designer's Guide to Building and Keeping a Great Clientele provides the fundamental lessons and innovative solutions to help designers succeed in the ultra-competitive world of modern interior design.

The Interior Designer's Guide to Pricing, Estimating, and Budgeting

by Theo Stephen Williams

This second edition is updated throughout and includes additional material on time management and numerous interviews with leading designers. Empowered by the step-by-step guidance in this book, interior designers will be able to establish prices and budgets that make their clients happy and their businesses profitable. Written by a designer and veteran expert on pricing, estimating, and budgeting systems, the book provides practical guidelines on how to value the cost of designing commercial or residential interiors, from the designer's creative input to the pricing of decorating products and procedures.The book shows how to determine a profitable and fair hourly rate, balance the client's budget with his or her wishes and needs, negotiate prices with suppliers and contractors, write realistic estimates and clear proposals, manage budgets for projects of all sizes and types, and position the firm's brand in relation to its practices. Interviews with experienced interior designers, case studies, and sidebars highlight professional pitfalls and how to master them, from daily crisis management and self-organization to finding the perfect office manager.

Green Interior Design

by Lori Dennis

Award-winning designer and author Lori Dennis proves interior design can be both stylish and environmentally sustainable in this easy-to-use, entertaining guide. Dennis discusses every aspect of interior design-furniture and accessories, window treatments, fabrics, surface materials, appliances, plants, and more-from a green perspective in terms of reducing waste and pollution and turning a home into a healthy, comfortable environment. Readers will learn how to: - use sustainable materials like bamboo, cork, and recycled glass to enhance interiors - search thrift shops and antique stores for vintage hidden treasures - find the best vendors for purchasing green products - use plants and locally cut flowers to improve indoor air quality and brighten up rooms - replace lawns with indigenous plants and edible gardens - keep rooms clean with effective and nontoxic products - use energy efficient lighting and maximize natural light - apply for different types of green certification. Packed with over 100 color photographs, lists of the best green vendors, and profiles of leading green designers, this book is a thorough guide for anyone who wants to create beautiful interiors while lessening the waste and pollution generated by the building industry.

The Challenge of Interior Design: Professional Value and Opportunities

by Mary V. Knackstedt

Knackstedt, an interior designer and business consultant, takes an eye to changes happening in the interior design field and advises readers how to confront the challenges they entail. The book discusses what is different in the following design-related areas: business theories and today's market, industry, trends, clients' needs, design firms, learning programs, communication, the design team, and specialization.

Rocks, Dirt, Worms & Weeds: A Fun, User-Friendly, Illustrated Guide to Creating a Vegetable or Flower Garden with Your Kids

by Jeff Hutton

Let writer and gardener Jeff Hutton show you and your kids how to grow your own food and your favorite flowers, attract butterflies, create crafts, and more. Teach your children how to start garden seeds indoors as well as how to prepare soil, plant seeds, and transplant seedlings. Additionally, there are over a dozen fun recipes and instructions for making stepping stones, decorating egg carton planters, planting a sunflower maze, and much more. Parents and children are sure to have a blast in the garden all year round!

Companion Planting: Bob's Basics (Bob's Basics)

by Bob Flowerdew

According to Flowerdew, the key to successful organic gardening is working with nature, rather than against it, to get your plants to thrive. This practice is called companion planting, and it is explained in this volume with a style that is both no-nonsense and reader-friendly. Topics range from plants that compete for nutrients to plants that enrich their soil for future crops. Gardeners of all levels will learn from Companion Planting and their gardens will benefit from happy and healthy plants.

Maximizing Your Mini Farm: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre

by Brett L. Markham

Mini farming describes a holistic approach to small-area farming that will show you how to produce 85 percent of an average family's food on just a quarter acre-and earn $10,000 in cash annually while spending less than half the time that an ordinary job would require. Now expanding exponentially on his bestselling Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on ¼ Acre, Brett Markham gives you tips, tricks, and planning advice on how to make the most of your mini farm. New topics include: -Soil and Fertility yy Tools and Techniques-Planting Guides and Seeders-Easy Trellising -Weed Control Techniques-Greater Food Self-Sufficiency-Making Your Own Country Wines-Making Your Own Vinegars -Making Cheese at Home-Cooking for Self-Sufficiency Keep your costs down and production high with this complete guide to maximizing your mini farm-whether it's a rooftop urban garden, a suburban backyard, or a more substantial plot of land. Materials, tools, and techniques are detailed with tables, diagrams, and 200 color illustrations and author photographs.

The Ultimate Guide to Permaculture: Permaculture For Beginners (Ultimate Guides)

by Nicole Faires

Permaculture is an important but often misunderstood method of growing food and building homes in a manner that works with nature, rather than against it, to create beautiful, healthy, and useful gardens. Blending ecology, organic agriculture, green home design, appropriate technology, and biology can be confusing and overwhelming, but The Ultimate Guide to Permaculture simplifies this vast field for practical application. This is a hands-on guide, taking the beginner through each step of the design process, so that anyone can apply permaculture principles to their own life. While the principles are simple, the in-depth topics cover every aspect of permaculture, including:- Building green homes and passive solar design - Growing edible plant communities and forest gardens - Using no-till and natural farming methods - Creating microclimates for extended growing seasons - Raising livestock with ecological foraging techniques This is a common-sense approach to sustainable living that creates a self-sufficient and low-effort home for the people that live there, whether in the city or the country. The Ultimate Guide to Permaculture isn't a philosophy book, or a dissertation on theory. It is a step-by-step, complete guide to every aspect of permaculture.

The Ultimate Self-Sufficiency Handbook: A Complete Guide to Baking, Crafts, Gardening, Preserving Your Harvest, Raising Animals, and More (Self-Sufficiency Series)

by Abigail R. Gehring

This compact guide provides advice, tips, and step-by-step instructions for hundreds of projects, offering the entire family the tools they need to make the shift toward self-sufficient living. Readers will learn to dip candles, bake bread, make maple syrup, start a vineyard, and much more. With special features for young homesteaders, this is an essential family guide to self-sufficient living. - Bake Pies, Cakes, and Bread- Grow Vegetables yy Raise Chickens - Keep Bees - Preserve Your Harvest- Cure Meats - Build a Treehouse- Spin Wool - Make a Toboggan - And Much More!

The Weekend Homesteader: A Twelve-Month Guide to Self-Sufficiency

by Anna Hess

The Weekend Homesteader is organized by month--so whether it's January or June you'll find exciting, short projects that you can use to dip your toes into the vast ocean of homesteading without getting overwhelmed. If you need to fit homesteading into a few hours each weekend and would like to have fun while doing it, these projects will be right up your alley, whether you live on a forty-acre farm, a postage-stamp lawn in suburbia, or a high rise. You'll learn about backyard chicken care, how to choose the best mushroom and berry species, and why and how to plant a no-till garden that heals the soil while providing nutritious food. Permaculture techniques will turn your homestead into a vibrant ecosystem and attract native pollinators while converting our society's waste into high-quality compost and mulch. Meanwhile, enjoy the fruits of your labor right away as you learn the basics of cooking and eating seasonally, then preserve homegrown produce for later by drying, canning, freezing, or simply filling your kitchen cabinets with storage vegetables. As you become more self-sufficient, you'll save seeds, prepare for power outages, and tear yourself away from a full-time job, while building a supportive and like-minded community. You won't be completely eliminating your reliance on the grocery store, but you will be plucking low-hanging (and delicious!) fruits out of your own garden by the time all forty-eight projects are complete.

The Interior Design Sourcebook

by Thomas L. Williams

Concrete that is light and translucent, fabric that responds to its environment by lighting up, tiles that can be moved from place to place at will-these are just a few of the updated entries you'll find in The Interior Design Directory. The book is divided into four parts, opening with a section on classic, composite materials including wood and stone, brick, and ceramic, then moving on to building materials that have been refined and updated for home use from glass, concrete, and metal to rubber and tiles. The final section is devoted to sustainable materials and the environmental impact of our choices. Photographs of contemporary interiors and detailed close-ups of each material make this as visually inspiring as it is practical.

Projects to Get You Off the Grid: Rain Barrels, Chicken Coops, and Solar Panels

by Instructables. Com Noah Weinstein

Instructables is back with this compact book focused on a series of projects designed to get you thinking creatively about thinking green.<P><P> Twenty Instructables illustrate just how simple it can be to make your own backyard chicken coop, or turn a wine barrel into a rainwater collector.Illustrated with dozens of full-color photographs per project accompanying easy-to-follow instructions, this Instructables collection utilizes the best that the online community has to offer, turning a far-reaching group of people into a mammoth database churning out ideas to make life better, easier, and in this case, greener, as this volume exemplifies.

Go Green, Spend Less, Live Better: The Ultimate Guide to Saving the Planet, Saving Money, and Protecting Your Health

by Crissy Trask

Go Green, Spend Less, Live Better is an authoritative, practical guide that details the money-saving side of greener, healthier, and simpler living. Bestselling author of It’s Easy Being Green and sustainable-living expert Crissy Trask provides a prescriptive handbook for making better decisions about our homes, how we get around, what we eat, and how we behave as consumers, in order to simultaneously achieve two desirable and imperative goals—to be better off financially and to do what is good for the planet.Laying out steps that will yield immediate results, Trask also provides explanations of bigger commitments that take time to implement, but also produce much bigger savings. With her practical money-saving strategies and environmental know-how, Trask empowers readers to confidently pursue change, knowing their bank accounts will grow as a result. Go Green, Spend Less, Live Better shows how typical families can easily save at least $10,000—and even as much as $30,000—in the first year alone by greening up some key areas of their homes and lives.Other areas covered include:How green living is not exclusive, but highly accessible and affordableFive reasons you will live better and save money when going greenHow to start reaping economic rewards right awayTaking green to the next level and getting more for your moneyEarning rich returns on green investmentsThe link between better health and greater wealthAnd much more!

Clean Sweep: The Ultimate Guide to Decluttering, Detoxing, and Destressing Your Home

by Alison Haynes

Covering every room in the house, this guide is chock-full of advice on green living, especially as related to cleaning. Haynes, author of books on beauty and skin care, tackles a range of topics in great detail. Originally published in 2004 in Australia, this U.S. edition includes recipes for homemade beauty products and advice on fabric care. However, the datedness of the publication becomes apparent with Haynes's omission of new electronics and appliances, such as DVDs, iPods, and the popular front-loading washers. Organization and storage are barely covered, and the section on alleviating stress is rather skimpy. A marginal purchase at best. (Library Journal -Karen Ellis )

Log Cabins: How to Build and Furnish Them

by William S. Wicks

Ever wanted a cabin or little cottage in the woods but don't know where to start? With Log Cabins, author William S. Wicks offers clear, practical instructions on how to build your own log cabin-and furnish it, too-while harmonizing the structure's interior and exterior with the surrounding environment. Topics include: Location scouting and preparation Foundations, tools, and materials Roofs and shingles Floors, ceilings, and partitions Chimneys and fireplaces Screens, windows, and shutters Doors and stairs And more! With line drawings of lean-tos, Adirondack cabins, simple log structures, furniture, and more, this handy how-to manual provides easy-to-understand and must-know information to make your cabin dream a reality.

Metalworking: Tools, Materials, and Processes for the Handyman

by Paul N. Hasluck

With over 2,000 black-and-white illustrations and clear, practical instructions given by expert handyman and blacksmith Paul N. Hasluck, Metalworking offers everything you need to know to turn a chunk of metal into a useful and well-crafted product. From building a blast furnace and polishing metals to forging iron and steel and spinning metals on a lathe, this comprehensive guidebook includes the tools, materials, and processes that are fundamental to the art of metalworking. Included here is information on working sheet metals, gold, and silver; building a dynamo and electric motor; making a vertical steam engine; and more! This ultimate, do-it-yourself guide to metalworking is ideal for all handymen and women, do-it-yourself-types, and industry professionals--amateur and seasoned alike!

The Encyclopedia of Wood

by Agriculture

Timber is one of our most precious, versatile, and vulnerable resources, so using it effectively is important. Knowing your material inside and out is the first step to doing just that. Read about the structure of wood itself, from growth rings to its chemical composition. Learn wood's physical and mechanical properties, including everything from elasticity to nuclear radiation. This extensive manual includes a section on stress grading as well as thorough descriptions of which fasteners to use and when. It has information on adhesive bonding, biodeterioration, control of moisture content, preservation, fire safety, specialty treatments, and much more. The Encyclopedia of Wood is an essential resource for builders, architects, engineers, and woodworkers.

Fences, Gates, and Bridges: And How to Make Them

by George A. Martin

First published in 1887, Fences, Gates, and Bridges is an instructional guide to the best ways to build a variety of fences, gates, hedges, bridges, and culverts. The section on fences boasts a wealth of information on building various types of fences, including rail, composite, garden, board, and picket. It also explores how to construct an effective barbed wire fence, how to use a stone wall to reinforce a wooden fence, and highlights the pros of building portable fences. Fences, Gates, and Bridges is a classic manual for anyone who wants to build their own structures for their farm, large property, or quaint backyard.

The Self-Sufficiency Handbook: A Complete Guide to Greener Living (Handbook Series)

by Gill Bridgewater Alan Bridgewater

Anyone considering a shift to a greener way of living must get this inspirational and practical guide. With easy-to-read layouts and simple text, it runs the full ecological gamut, from geothermal heating to crop rotation to soap making. The Bridgewaters, well-regarded garden writers, help readers answer questions such as how much land they really require, whether or not to depend entirely on natural forms of energy, and which farm animals will best meet their needs. There's practical information on building an insulated flue-pipe chimney, identifying edible wild plants, and composting with worms. In addition to recipes for jams, rhubarb wine, and other delicious foods, three A-Z sections offer planting and harvesting instructions for vegetables and salad crops, fruits, and herbs.

Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Homes and Bungalows

by Gustav Stickley

In 1901, Gustav Stickley began to create the first uniquely American style of furniture and home design-known as Craftsman. Stickley's principles of home design include construction that is in harmony with its landscape, open floor plans, built-in storage, and natural lighting. He was a major influence on Frank Lloyd Wright, and he remains one of the great names in American architecture. Craftsman Homes and Bungalows showcases his work in an affordable, attractive new edition. Featuring hundreds of black-and-white photographs, line drawings, and sketches of cabins, cottages, and bungalows from concept to finished product, it presents easy-to-understand directions on both home construction and improvement. This resource, a combination of three of Stickley's works, is a comprehensive introduction to the design and building of beautiful Craftsman homes.

Growing Marijuana: How to Plant, Cultivate, and Harvest Your Own Weed

by Tommy Mccarthy

Marijuana seeds are legal to buy and-with some soil, water, and light-can grow into one of humanity's favorite pastimes. Call it pot, bud, cannabis, ganja, dope-if you have the seeds, you can grow the weeds. Here are step-by-step directions to growing and managing your own marijuana plants. The author discusses both in-door and outdoor growing, including information on: Choosing the right plants for your needs Where to buy seeds How to germinate the seeds How to nurture the plants How to prepare the final product Problems to avoid And more! In addition to more than 100 full-color, step-by-step photographs, the book features an extensive list of resources, making it the essential guide you need to grow your own weed.

How to Build Your Dream Cabin in the Woods: The Ultimate Guide to Building and Maintaining a Backcountry Getaway (Lyons Press Ser.)

by J. Wayne Fears

Here is the ultimate resource for finally turning your dream into reality. With photos, blueprints, and diagrams, Fears thoroughly covers the process of constructing the cabin you've always wanted. From buying land, construction materials, deciding on lighting, the water system, and on-site constructions-such as shooting ranges, an outhouse, or an outside fire ring-this is a book filled with nuggets of wisdom from a specialist in the field: J. Wayne Fears is a wildlife biologist by training who has organized big-game hunting camps, guided canoe trips, and run commercial getaway operations. He built his own log cabin in the early 1990s and has been enjoying it ever since. Now you can build and enjoy the cabin you've always dreamed of, too.

The Book of Basic Machines: The U.S. Navy Training Manual

by U. S. Navy

Have you ever wondered why levers and pulleys make it easy to lift heavy objects? Or thought about what it is that makes a combustion engine work?The Book of Basic Machines will give you the information you need to understand key concepts, techniques, components, and much more. Designed and prepared by the Naval Education and Training Program Development Center for naval training, and taught widely in technical school across the country, the manual covers the theory and application of many of the most important mechanical ideas. Concepts build effortlessly from one chapter to the next. Clear explanations, illuminating examples, and over 200 skillfully rendered diagrams, cross-sections, and illustrations make it remarkably easy for readers of any level to understand the fascinating inner-workings of basic machines. The Book of Basic Machines is an invaluable resource for mechanical engineering students looking to learn the basics, working engineers wanting to brush up on some theory, or hobbyists who simply want to know how things work. Simply put, this book is required reading for anyone interested in machines. From the basics of simple levers to the principles of the internal combustion engine, The Book of Basic Machines covers every aspect of basic machinery.

Greens!: Tips and Techniques for Growing Your Own Vegetables

by Karin Eliasson Charlotte Gawell

Gardening is on the rise as the desire for fresh, delicious homegrown vegetables grows. Growing your own vegetables is an easy hobby for a variety of lifestyles, as it doesn’t take a large amount of space to yield nutritious carrots or lettuce. All it takes is a bit of passion, care, and knowledge, and the rewards are soon there to enjoy.Both down-to-earth and inspirational, Swedish gardener Karin Eliasson describes the charm of growing your own vegetables. Karin runs a kitchen garden and guesthouse in Spain, but her tips are adapted to suit most climates and soil types. In this gardening guide, she gives advice on how to grow, harvest, and store over 100 different vegetable varieties and suggests easy recipes you can use in your own kitchen. With instructive and beautiful photographs, she explains the step-by-step principles of organic gardening—soil, plant feeding, digging, hoeing, and watering—and shows how to combine blooming flowers and vegetables in attractive, colorful mixes to attract garden-friendly insects.This book will not only arm you with the knowledge you need to get started, but also provide experienced and budding gardeners alike with a source for inspiration while they enjoy the beautiful photographs and tips on garden design.

The Disaster Preparedness Handbook: A Guide for Families

by Arthur T. Bradley

Ninety-nine percent of the time, the world spins like a top, the skies are clear, and your refrigerator is full of good food. But the world is a volatile place—storms rage, fires burn, and diseases spread. No one is ever completely safe. Humans live as part of a very complex ecosystem that is unpredictable and merciless. Could you protect your family in the case of an emergency—domestic or global?The Disaster Preparedness Handbook will help you to establish a practical disaster plan for your entire family (covering all fourteen basic human needs) in case the unpredictable happens. Additional information is also presented for those with special needs, including the elderly and disabled, children, pregnant women, and even pets. Well-researched by an army veteran and current NASA engineer, this is the essential guide every family should have, study, and keep handy, in case the unthinkable should occur.

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