From setting a realistic budget to understanding the tools of the trade, this book offers down-to-earth advice on creating a stylish yet comfortable home. Includes idiot-proof steps on wallpapering, decorative painting, and other do-it-yourself techniques. Also features quick and simple weekend room makeovers that won't cost a fortune.

You're no idiot, of course. You hold the "best dressed" title at the office, you have a knack for accessorizing everyting from your office to your kitchen countertops, and you always manage to keep cool under pressure. But when it comes to decorating your home, you feel like dunking your head into a gallon of paint. Don't test color combinations on your body yet! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Decorating Your Home, second edition, enables you to create a homey look without all the blood, sweat, and tears. From setting a realistic budget to understanding the tools of the trade, feel confident about home decorating.

It's show time! Home staging transforms rooms from that everyday lived-in look to ready-to-be sold for top dollar. This step-by-step guide offers the tactics used by home stagers - from de-cluttering and cleaning up to arranging and remodeling - that will often yield a quicker sale and higher selling price. --Decorating tips to make a house appeal to the widest range of buyers --Cost-effective techniques to highlight the home's selling points, whether it's the floor plan, the high ceilings, or a newly renovated bathroom --Suggestions on how to downplay or eliminate features that might be considered negatives. such as smaller rooms, minimal storage space, or ghastly wall colors

An essential how-to on powering your home with sun, wind, water, and more. For readers wanting to save money-and the planet-by using alternative energy, this book provides everything they need to know. The five basic sources are fully covered: sun, wind, water, earth, and bio. The benefits, what is needed, and whether it will work for a particular home are all carefully laid out in this comprehensive overview: ? Solar energy for home heating, water heating, and electricity ? Wind power, hydrogen, and micro hydro power ? Heat pumps-air, geothermal, and water source ? Heating with wood and going bio

All the power you need is already there. This third edition helps readers understand the basics of solar (photovoltaic) power and explore whether it makes sense for them, what their options are, and what's involved with installing various on- and off-grid systems. Solar power is a $3 billion industry, and it's poised to grow to $39 billion by 2014. By 2011, the United States will surpass Germany as the largest market for solar power products.

If you can dream it, you can design it Whether your goal is to design your own marketing materials, launch a visually compelling blog, or just have some fun creating your own CD covers, The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Graphic Design is your one-stop reference. Presented in an intuitive, accessible format, here are the fundamental elements of design and design principles, as well as instruction on how to apply those elements and principles to a variety of projects. • Covers art supplies, software, concept development, reproduction needs, and much more • Sample projects include business cards, print and web ads, and graphic T-shirts • Follows the success of other titles aimed at the aspiring artist, including the Complete Idiot’s Guide® titles on digital photography, drawing, and manga

How many readers does it take to change a light bulb? Only one . . . if he or she is armed with this book! Rather than focus on the big projects that most homeowners would wisely leave to professionals, it concentrates on the common repairs that everyone encounters and anyone can do—with the right instruction—including repairing holes and dents in drywall; fixing popped nails in walls; checking and replacing fuses; unclogging drains; replacing light fixtures; fixing squeaky floors; repairing cracked tile and damaged carpet; replacing screens; screening gutters; and much more. • Contains 250 to 300 step–by–step illustrations

If you can envision it, you can make it happen. Creative visualization is the technique of using the imagination to identify goals and then making them a reality. It’s more powerful than sheer drive because it works in harmony with the positive energy of the universe. The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to Creative Visualization helps readers visualize—and then actualize—their best and brightest lives. - Filled with techniques and exercises that reveal the power of visualization. - Offers suggestions, guidance, and tips to inspire the imagination. - Follows the path of the book that launched the creative visualization movement nearly 30 years ago and adds such New Age elements as meditations and affirmations. - Creative visualization offers something for those interested in the New Age movement, spirituality, and self-improvement.