Textures in the Living Space
This year design furniture and furnishings are becoming ever more popular with varied textures being an excellent way to personalise your living space. Seats with manoeuvrability are perfect for any living space as you can arrange and rearrange them as much as you like, and armchairs are idyllic. It is evident that the office-style is sought after in armchair designs and this year, the bigger the better. As with beds and sofas, the larger the armchair is and often consequently the more you spend on it, the more comfortable it is. Luxuriously, large sofas can be expensive but you do not want to hold back when buying something you may be sitting on for the next ten years. Although large sofas are popular, not everyone has enough living space to contain a sofa of that size. Loveseats are the answer to this, as they are more compact and cosy. Perhaps it is time to replace the sofa altogether and just stick with armchairs.
In order to personalise your living space; using varied textures, matching patterned and coloured items is an easy way to do so. For example, if you have a leather sofa, use fabric on your armchair. A fresh idea being re-introduced this year is having wooden flooring in the living space with a rug instead of a carpet. Rugs are on-trend at the moment, and they appear to be a trend that will continue to grow throughout the next couple of years. Using a wooden floor with a rug is another example of varying texture and there is also an opportunity to match colours and patterns with cushions, other patterns and furnishings such as curtains.
Wooden Fascias Can Drive You Squirrely
Oddly enough, many times the fascias and soffits on a home have become damaged, but not yet to the point where water damage may be readily apparent. In fact, many homeowners don’t even know there is a problem until they hear scampering feet above them as they are trying to sleep or during quiet times of the day. Although it could be some other kind of vermin, many times it is simply a mother squirrel that has chewed through the fascias and soffits on older buildings because they were manufactured from wood.
Today’s fascias are most often constructed from uPVC which wouldn’t do a squirrel one bit of good. Most people don’t know that the reason squirrels chew on wood is to strengthen and sharpen their teeth. If the home’s fascias and soffits are not older styles manufactured from wood, chances are the squirrels will move on to your neighbour’s house. A persistent creature may look for another opening to get into a loft, but for some unknown reason, they would rather chew their way in. Perhaps it’s part of the nesting process?
At any rate, even if there are no known leaks Fasciaexpert.co.uk recommends that you check your fascias and soffits at least twice a year, especially if they are older and made of wood. You may be doing so more often whilst cleaning leaves and debris from gutters and downpipes, but at the very least they should be inspected before, during or after squirrel mating season which happens twice annually.
Squirrels typically nest December through February and May through June. However, be aware of the fact that baby squirrels will stay in the nest up to 10 weeks so be prepared to safely remove babies if mom has eaten through your fascias and soffits to build a tidy little home for her young!
Top Tips to Maintenance Check Your Home in spring
The cold winter season is long gone and spring has arrived, which means there is no better time than now to spring clean your home. But as well as doing all the housework which involves scrubbing, dusting, washing and vacuuming, it is also an important time to undergo maintenance checks of the entire household.
The stormy gales that occurred in the UK in winter resulted in many fences falling down and roof tiles being blown off; so here are some top tips to ensuring your home is in working order and ready for the glorious sunshine and warm weather.
Firstly, repair any damage to the front wall. The outside of the property is the first thing that a prospective buyer looks out and will therefore affect their first impression. Next, ensure the upkeep of the front yard by mending any broken fencing and plant a few plants to add a splash of colour into the garden. If any windows have been smashed, get them fixed and you may need to stain any outdoor furniture. The driveway may also need clearing of debris and weeds.
Deal with any post-winter repairs by checking that the roof and guttering is functioning to avoid any damp problems; and put a fresh lick of paint on the exterior of the property to deal with walls that have weathered from wear and tear.
It is vital that you check that the plumbing is operational because neglect to the pipes can result in costly repair bills. Homeowners can easily employ drain cleaning services to rid nasty odours and prevent flooding; and the harsh weather may have caused the pipes to suffer frost damage.
As well as plumbing, the heating needs to be examined. Now is the best time to ensure boilers and radiators are energy efficient to reduce the energy bills later in the year. Insulating the loft can keep the home cool in the spring/summertime. For more tips on looking after your home this spring, speak to the professionals at The Plumb Store.
Top Tips to Spring Clean Your Home
Spring has just arrived and there is no better time than now to give the house a good clean. Over the year the home can become cluttered, especially full of toys and bits and bobs right after Christmas time. Objects that are no longer used can just get thrown to the back of the shed or to the back of the wardrobe, only to lie there obtaining dust. The year 2012 may have already started but why not take advantage of the upcoming warm temperatures and sunshine by cleaning the house top to bottom as if it was a palace.
Here are some top tips from Trueshopping on spring cleaning your home. A messy house shouldn’t stop you from enjoying quality time with the family this spring so take the steps now to ensure the property is sparkly-clean so you don’t end up cooped up indoors cleaning.
Firstly, start from the top of the house and work yourself down. Get rid of all the old clothes that you no longer wear and clear your closet space out. If you struggle to part with favourite garments, ask yourself when was the last time that you wore it? If it was last worn more than a year ago, it is ready to go. And think of the positive side, you can donate it to charitable organisations.
Give the bathroom a thorough clean by cleaning all the tiles down, scrubbing the sink clean of toothpaste and ridding the bath of water stains. You may want to purchase a new shower curtain! Take all the blinds and curtains down in the house and give them a wash; tidy out any cluttered cabinets and don’t forget to hoover those cobwebs in the corner of ceilings. In the kitchen, take all the draws out of the refrigerator and give it a thorough clean as well as the black smoked oven.
Kettles, toasters and breadbins may have become dull over the year so give them a good polish and clean the dish waster and washing machines themselves by allowing them to do a run without anything inside. Drag out the patio furniture that has been collecting dirt in the shed over the past 12 months and wash it down ready for the summer time and wash all the windows of the home to make everything pristine.
Brightening Up Your Bathroom
If you have been looking at your dark green bathroom for years thinking about how much nicer it would be if it were only a bit brighter, then why wait to make a change? Spring is upon us and with that comes spring cleaning and getting rid of old garbage. If your bathroom looks like old garbage then it might be time to fix it up a bit. First of all, the Best Bathrooms of the 1970’s were olive, or puke green. We are now in 2012 so it is time to update those old bathrooms. Get rid of those horrid wall tiles with mildew living behind them, pull out those old useless and water stealing toilets and install beautiful new ones.
Secondly, bathroom accessories are nowhere near as expensive as they used to be back in the olden days. There was a time when just purchasing a toilet could be ridiculously expensive. However, today with the new materials being used to make production a bit more economical, not only to buy but also in terms of resources used, a new toilet is much cheaper. Where you might have spent 400 pounds years ago for a basic toilet, you may be able to realise one for less than 200 today. That is a pretty significant decrease in price.
If you want a brighter bathroom then light pastels, yellows and whites are the way to go. You can have a lot of fun with bathroom remodelling. Looking for matching towels and accessories to go with your new basin and toilet can be almost as much fun as painting the walls a gorgeous new colour. No one likes a dreary and dark bathroom, it is simply depressing. Brighten your bathroom up this year and make that change you have been considering since the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana!
Cultivating Tropical Plants in Colder Climates
Ever since people in Northern Europe tasted citrus fruits there has been a demand to be able to cultivate certain types of plants and trees without having to uproot to the area of the world that they are native to. The first conservatories were built to house orange trees for wealthy people living in northern Europe, the fad has spread since then and greenhouses are now a very common fixture in home gardens and on farms alike. However, when it comes to growing in a greenhouse there may be some problems that you encounter along the way.
When it comes to growing sensitive plants and trees in harsh environments you will always want to be sure that you address any problems that you encounter along the way as soon as they present themselves. When it comes to growing in a greenhouse one of the biggest problems that many growers encounter is a sharp drop in temperature. Depending on what plants you have growing in your conservatory a drop in cold can present a serious and possibly fatal occurrence for many species of plant.
One way to combat the cold in your growing environment is to install some good conservatory roof insulation. When it comes to the heat that is retained and lost by your greenhouse the majority of it leaves end enters through the roof, therefore having a good, thick layer of insulation on the conservatory roof can make for a much more comfortable climate all year round.
Having Roof Cozy insulation on their greenhouse is something that they are doubtful about because it is basically like adding a roof to your greenhouse. However, if your conservatory is positioned right and in a good location the difference in light should not be visible but the amount of climate control will be immediately apparent.
