Want to make your furniture pop? Try going green A great reason for choosing green dollhouse furniture is that it adds variety and mixture that not only stands out, but helps other pieces and designs look unique. We have found that it is the quirky pieces of furniture that we have loved the most, and green as quirky as it may be can really add to your dollhouse experience.

Using Pecan in your Dollhouse Furniture Coordination

What most people do not know about pecans is that it is a great wood for furniture. Pecan is a very popular option for dollhouse furniture today. It has a soft look similar to walnut or oak, yet it is a hardier material. This strength is why it is becoming a more reliable option for modern furniture or home flooring options. Pecan pieces go very well with a traditional, modern, or colonial dollhouse kit.

Using Porcelain in Dollhouse Furniture

What comes to mind when you think of porcelain? China, and that is because it was manufactured first in china around the 600s. Ever since then porcelain has been the dominant material for most fancy dishes, pottery, and "china". It has also worked its way into dollhouse furniture beautifully. The most common areas that porcelain is found in dollhouses is in the bathroom and bathroom furniture kits.

Dollhouse Furniture for Libraries and Office

Whether your dollhouse is old-fashioned or ultra-modern, elegantly Victorian or enchantly down-to-earth, the library or office really shows the era you are emulating. This is also a room in which just a few accessories can go a long way: a sophisticated globe or a few reverted books, for example. This room adds a lot of elegance to your dollhouse.

Poly-resin Material for Dollhouses

One of the newest materials to hit the miniature market is poly-resin. Poly-resin is a material blend between a polyester fabric and a hard resin giving it a unique feel and texture that works great for molding. This material is used in many places in the dollhouse including living rooms and kitchens; it is also a durable material that resists fading over time.

Walnut Material for Dollhouse Furniture

Walnut is a special type of wood that grows slow and weak. Its grain and color are very traditional and fit very comfortable in any dollhouse. Walnut is most commonly found in kitchen and bedroom dollhouse furniture pieces, but will work well with any room. Walnut's characteristics also lend themselves well to dollhouse furniture because of its durable scratch resistant nature.

Kitchen Dollhouse Furniture

There is a huge range of dollhouse kitchen sets available, from a few simple appliances to deluxe, everything-included kitchens. A table and chairs are important to have in your kitchen if your dollhouse will not have a dining room. Also, keep in mind that many of the most fun dollhouse accessories belong in the kitchen (pots and pans, dollhouse food, etc.), so make sure your kitchen will be able to display them.

With the expense and time commitment involved in learning to dance, it's important to take the time to explore your options thoroughly as you try to find the best dance studio. Delve into the details of any company you consider to find one that best fits your style and budget.

Observe Student Technique

Visit the school to observe some classes. A ballet technique class of older dancers is an ideal class for observation. Watch how the pupils perform and have during the class. Whether or not you have ballet experience yourself, you should see serious professionalism among the students. A dance studio that prioritizes technique and dedication to the art will carry through to its students.

Analyze the Facility Structure

The structure of the dance studio is also an important indicator of quality. The facility should set a dress code for attendees with strict adherence by everyone. Classes should be divided carefully by level and curriculum to allow students to focus on and learn various aspects of the art. This division enables pupils to advance in a logical sequence through the program.

As you perform this analysis, cast a glance around the physical structure of the facility. Optimally, it should appear spacious, clean, light, safe, and inviting. In viewing the facility through a pupil's eyes, it should feel like a positive place to learn.

Investigate Class Offerings

Review the class offers to determine the learning opportunities and the schedule. Often, courses will occur once per week. Optimally, pupils will need to test for placement instead of the facility simply placing students together based on age. This will ensure that classes contain pupils of similar abilities, which usually advances learning. Ask about performances and recitals. Recitals offer dancers important opportunities for performing in front of an audience.

Check Teacher Credentials

Teacher credentials are an important detail to consider. The teachers on staff should have proper training and professional experience that qualifies them to teach students at a dance studio. Educators should have specific training within the genre they are teaching. Image degrees and experience are beneficial. Staff with hands-on experience with children is also a plus. Ask for the teachers' background information so you can review their qualifications yourself.

Ask Pertinent Questions

A number of pertinent questions will give you more information to enable you to make a final decision.

1. Are auditions necessary for placement?
2. How does the staff assessment students in a placement exam?
3. What ballet method is used for traditional ballet?
4. What modern methods are utilized?
5. Where does the institute typically start beginners?
6. How quickly do pupils progress?
7. What is the typical age for pupils progressing to pointe?
8. What type of flooring do you have?
9. When does serious instruction typically begin for participants?
10. Can students cross train in a multitude of styles and disciplines?
11. Is competition a part of the program?

After careful assessment and review, you can find a reputable dance studio to provide instruction in the arts for your child.

One thing that has always interested me was the different way buildings, especially home buildings, are done. For instance in the USA it looks most houses are built out of wood, whereas in my home country South Africa it is the absolute exception.

Possible Reasons

The reason may be the availability of the main materials. The USA as well as Canada have large indigenous forests. In South Africa (SA) there are few indigenous forests and these are protected so that very little lumber may be taken from them and the lumber that can be used is too precious and only used for expensive furniture.

SA has planted forests in the wetter parts of the country, mainly in the east where the rainy is higher. These are single species forests and the lumber used for building comes mainly from pine. The species are pinus patula, a native of Mexico and pinus radiata, mainly a native of California, but also pinus taeda and pinus elliotti. These grow very quickly, due to the heat in SA, so the growth rings are far apart when compared to lumber in the USA. This results in wood that is not of a high quality and is very soft. It also tends to warp badly, so care has to be taken when it is discharged. The lumber is harvested within only 20 to 30 years in contrast to 45 years in the USA

Building Methods

The houses built from lumber in the USA have wooden frames with wooden cladding and sometimes even the roof shingles are wood. This would be unthinkable in SA as the sun would damage these in a short time if made out of these soft woods. Another factor is the plague of termites which attack any wooden structure without it is specifically treated.

Houses built in SA are built with bricks, either burnt clay bricks or cement and crusher sand hollow bricks. The last named are mainly used for low-cost buildings for the poor. For the roof structure lumber is used, with either clay or cement tiles for the more up-market houses, or galvanized iron sheeting, which is by far the most common. Sometimes shingles made from slate are used but are not popular. Pressed metal tiles such as Harvey tiles are also used, although these are quite expensive. The floors are concrete with a variety of coverings such as tiles, laminated wooden flooring, carpeting or even colored cement floated screed depending on whether it is an up-market building or not.

Thatched roofs are used sometimes but they are risky because of the danger of lightning. They have much higher insurance costs. In coastal areas this risk is less, so more homes have these roofs there, especially in the Cape where the old gabled Cape-Dutch houses originated.

Other Building Methods

For high-rise buildings concrete frames with brick walls and concrete rooftops are common here. The use of steel framing is used in contrast to the USA.

The black (Bantu) population in traditional areas use natural wood framing from branches and small trees cut in the bush combined with mud daub and thatched roofs. These huts are very maintenance intensive and it is the task of the women to regularly smear them with mud clay. The floors are made out of a mixture of mud clay and cow dung.

The brown (Khoi-San) people, who were the original residents of SA, built their traditional dome houses with thin branches covered with hides, because because they used to be nomadic. This is strictly used anymore, only in some desert areas in the North Western part of SA.

Other countries have very different building methods, but this article concentrates on the differences between South Africa and the USA and demonstrates how the availability of materials can affect building methods, not to mention other natural occurrences such as earth quakes.