When you want to bring sophistication to your home, most interior designers would recommend dark wood floors. True enough, the heavy tones of such wooden floors lend an air of elegance to a place, mainly due to the opulence associated with hardwood flooring.

Nonetheless, this style will only work when you know how to mix it correctly with the other aspects of your interior space. Dark wood – or any other wood flooring option– paired with the wrong colours could make the room glum and heavy.

Thus, it’s important that you know how to pair it properly with other parts of your area to achieve the atmosphere you want. Here are some things that go well with your dark wood floor:

White walls

When you’re a little strapped on your decorating funds, your best bet with the dark wood floors is to maximise the white walls to create a radiant atmosphere. The white wall presents a natural contrast to the heavy floor, and that’s something you can use in your overall layout. Keep your wall decorations to a minimum for a more modern touch. TheBlindsGallery.com.au says installing blinds and shutters can fit as perfectly attractive and functional visual accents to this design scheme.

Wood furniture

It’s best that you capitalise on the wood floor with other wood furniture pieces. You have two options here: to contrast or to complement.

When you plan to contrast, go with light wood furniture. This is a choice that harmonises all elements in your design. Weathered, warm, and light-toned woods, such as maple and cherry work best in almost all spaces.

On the other hand, when complementing is your choice, you can go with furniture pieces that match the colour of the floor. Make sure that you use the legs of the chair as the basis. The similar colours of the floor and the chairs can work, provided that your walls have a light (not necessarily white) shade.

Rich rugs

The right rug can disrupt the monotonous feel of your dark wood floor. This doesn’t mean always going for the brighter option, as you can choose a rug that’s nearly of the same hue. Apply the principle similar to your case with furniture and you’re good.

When you have a dark wood floor, make sure that you have at least one of these three to harmonise all elements of your floor space.

With the many crowdfunding platforms around the world, to understate its impact is a sin, a mortal sin.

For those who remain unfamiliar with crowdfunding, it is a way to pool funds for a certain project. In a way, you pitch your ideas to other people and if they like it, they’ll help you realize that vision. Since crowdfunding started, only one word can describe its effect: a phenomenon.

The Crowdfunding Phenomenon

A better illustration of how crowdfunding is shaping the world today is a look at the different projects that platforms, such as Kickstarter and GoFundMe have helped fulfill. There’s one person from Ohio who simply wanted to make potato salad (he had a goal of $10), but the campaign gained enough traction that its budget has climbed past $43,000 – all because of crowdfunding.

The $40K potato salad is just one string of the many projects crowdfunding achieved. There’s the (sadly) now-Facebook-owned virtual reality headset Oculus Rift, which could herald a new era in gaming. Singer Amanda Palmer achieved one of the highest funded projects in the history of crowdfunding, a $1 million music deal plus a lot of bonuses.

Thousands of other crowdfunding projects reach their targets every month, too.

The Intellectual Property Conundrum

Nonetheless, crowdfunding is not without any challenges. Apart from gaining traction amidst thousands of other projects, you also have to protect your ideas. With how people depend on the Internet today, almost everyone has an idea worth implementing. But once you post something on the Internet, it’s there forever – that includes your ideas.

LegalBrains.com suggests coming up with an IP strategy before you publicize your idea on a website. This advice has its merits, but how exactly do you plan such a strategy?

The trick to this is to go back to the basics of protecting your ideas. This means understanding all statutes concerning patents and copyrights. Without these simple guidelines, your idea can simply be lost in the fuzz and claimed by someone else. Protecting your idea before it reaches the Internet is the best way to guard yourself.

Crowdfunding is a relatively new field. Lapses are still existent, although the authorities are working on these already. Soon enough, these flaws will be no more, and crowdfunding will continue to be one of the finest examples of philanthropy and entrepreneurship in one.

Embroidery is one of those things that people think about doing when they need a hobby. The operative word is ‘think’ because very few people ever go through with actually doing it. The reasons for not following through are many and varied: ‘There are too many materials needed just to start’, ‘it requires actual skill’, ‘it makes you question your self-worth with each failure’ are just a few.

It’s true that embroidery is one of those hobbies that require more attention than stamp collecting, and it puts off people trying to find something to fill the time. But for the people who are serious about starting embroidery as a hobby, there are a few things they need to watch out for to avoid a serious waste of time.

There’s Not Enough Thread

First, read the instructions, just because you’ve watched a few videos on YouTube doesn’t mean that you know how everything works in creating intricate custom embroidery. No video ever teaches you the number of strands or the right thread to use, because it’s different for every project. There’s nothing more homicide inducing than running out of thread before you’re done because you used the wrong thread.

The Thread Count Is Over 28

Speaking of using the wrong things, you should also check whether you’re using the wrong fabric. No, they’re not all the same, hence all the errors people encounter when all of their stitches look like shite. The usual requirement for a fabric for embroidery is having a 28-thread count or higher, anything lower ensures the project goes tits up before it even starts.

That’s What She Said

Finally, make sure to use the right needle. A needle that’s too big can create holes that make the fabric look puckered, while a too small needle won’t penetrate as easily and cause unnecessary wear on the fabric. This doesn’t even account for the different types of needles: ballpoint? Sharp? What?

Embroidery in the modern world is best left to the professionals that have the equipment and expertise to produce cool designs in big batches, but if you’re serious about doing it as a hobby go for it. Just know that it requires many implements, specific equipment and most importantly patience.

The popular sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” is arguably one of the most-watched TV series today. Even in the UK, the ratings of this comedy show have been pretty impressive in its current six-season run. The series even broke ratings records with its immense popularity.

Beyond Sheldon’s quirks, another interesting aspect of The Big Bang Theory is the characters’ fashion tastes. What’s better is that you can make a statement with a style based on this humorous and influential show. Inspire your fashion sense with these styles from the lads of TBBT.

The Sheldon Look

Sheldon’s fashion style is quite simple. After all, he is a scientist who cares more about the way the universe functions. To recreate this style, simply wear your favourite graphic tee (your best choice would be a superhero-themed one) with a long-sleeved shirt underneath. Top it off with a plaid or striped cardigan and you’re good to go. You can also incorporate plaids on your trousers.

After that, all that’s left to do is say, “Bazinga!”

The Leonard Look

Leonard has a more low-key take on fashion than Sheldon, albeit with a few more layers than usual. Wear a simple graphic tee, jeans and sneakers. For extra comfort, 5Pointz.co.uk suggests wearing a Crooks and Castles hoodie underneath Leonard’s trademark cargo jacket. The ensemble is almost always like this, so you can play around with the colours, especially with the pieces you have on.

The Howard Look

If you can pull off coloured trousers, Howard is the man of your style. The engineer-turned-astronaut has a clear-cut fashion sense: plaid shirts, flashy belt buckles and turtlenecks. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to look like Steve Jobs. Howard plays it cool, so let the bright trousers take the spotlight and add a dash of fun with a subtly striped top.

The Raj Look

The gang’s astrophysicist has one key fashion piece all the time: a sleeveless jumper. Pair this with psychedelic patterns and you can dress like Raj. Mix colours well, but avoid overloading different shades at once. Wear a collared shirt, add a good sleeveless jumper(plain if the shirt is printed and vice versa), and a jacket to pull it all together.

It’s easy to let the geeks inspire you in your clothing. Take note of these pointers and you’d surely pull off a style that’s both geeky and trendy at the same time.