Category: Blog

Moving into your first house is a liberating, landmark life passage. After you’ve freed yourself of your college futon and your roommate’s attempt at fine art, it’s time to come up with a plan for turning your empty shell of a house into an inviting home. Here are some suggestions for pulling it off:

1. Clean house at the old place. Even before you make an offer on a new place, get ahead of the game by starting this process. This critical first step will not only make your current digs easier to pack up, but it will put you miles ahead during move-in. Be strong and rid yourself of anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent of your old stuff: wobbly furniture in the attic, faulty appliances in the garage, questionable accessories you received as gifts. This is the perfect time to start over. Pare down your accumulated possessions to the minimal amount. Have a garage sale, auction it off on eBay or donate it to charity. You’ll be amazed at what you won’t miss.
2. Start with the bedroom. It’s where you’ll be spending almost a third of your time when you’re at home, after all. If you’re on a tight budget, opt for new bedding first, but don’t skimp on thread count! Buy as well as you can afford to spend in this area — it makes a huge difference. If you have a little more money, paint the bedroom walls to complement your new bedding. Still more cash in your pocket? Add coordinating window treatments. Early risers should opt for a lighter palette of colors and more translucent treatments. Night owls who like to sleep in will probably likely be more satisfied with deeper tones and more substantial coverings that block out the light. If you’re really ready to splurge, buy that bed you’ve always dreamed about. And choose carefully. It should mirror your personality, fit your room comfortably and stay with you for years.
3. Don’t buy everything all at once. Live in your new house for at least two months before you make any significant purchases. How you think you’re going to use the house and how you actually live in the house are commonly two different things. Maybe that $5,000 you were going to spend on renovating the bathroom isn’t quite as important as beefing up the kitchen and dining area for maximum entertaining purposes. And you may figure out that the living room loveseat would work much better in your master bedroom and the master bedroom’s chaise will work better in the den.
4. Fight the urge to match. Retail stores love to perpetuate the fallacy that everything has to match. They would love for you to buy everything in sets, but don’t do it! A few pieces with the same styling are fine, but any more than that and your home has the lifeless, generic look of a furniture showroom. Make sure your own personal style shows through, which most likely isn’t bland, beige and boring. Top priority should be proportion, scale and balance of your furniture and accessories within each room. Don’t shove five pieces of oversized lounge furniture into a 15×5 den that has a modest 8-foot ceiling. It will look like a clown car. Conversely, putting only a low buffet and a delicate, round dining table for four into a 20×30 room with a soaring 12-foot ceiling will look equally awkward and unsatisfying.
5. Tie everything together with color. If you’ve moved into your first place with furniture that spans the 1960s to now, don’t worry. The easiest, most economical way to overcome this seemingly insurmountable problem is unifying through color. Let’s say you have a sofa that has only one thing in common with the furniture in the rest of your living room: a tiny bit of the color in the fabric is the same as the less dominant color in the rest of the room’s upholstery. Solution? Play up that similarity and make it your living room’s unifying wall color. If that’s too much hard labor for you, find curtains, rugs or accessories in this common hue and see how the pieces begin to complement each other.
6. Solve practical problems inexpensively. If your kitchen cabinets are drab, for instance, freshen them with paint and change out the hardware. And don’t bother installing overly decorative (and very expensive) cabinet hardware on cheaply fabricated woodwork — it will look out of place and the money can be put to better use elsewhere. In the bathroom, something as simple as replacing the lighting can immediately improve the room’s appearance. If you find the typical incandescent R-type lamps in your new place, replace them with the less “yellow” PAR-type bulbs. Another inexpensive solution with a big payoff is installing dimmer switches to keep light levels low for a midnight bathroom break or to create a romantic mood for bubble baths for two.

Sometimes you can just miss the wonderful clean and fresh scent of nature in your home. Fortunately, you do not need to spray chemicals all over the cabin to make it feel clean. Here we have collected 6 DIY tips to spread the natural and clean scent in the home.

Give your bed linen a scent of lavender

How to do: Mix 1, 2 cl cleanser, 40 lavender drops and 4.75 cl distilled water well together. Bring the mixture into a container and spray your bedding with the most delicious lavender aroma as needed. As an added bonus, lavender has been shown to have a calming effect on the psyche and can give you a better night’s sleep.

Hang eucalyptus twigs in the shower

How to do: Grab 2-3 twigs of eucalyptus and hang them in a dry corner of your shower. As you go swimming, the steams will highlight the fresh aroma of the eucalyptus and transform your bathroom into a tour of the Turkish bath.

Give your handset a little love

How to do: When you finish the dishes, pour a little of your favorite dish soap around the washbasin and scrub thoroughly. Rinse thoroughly after. The pure freshly scented scent will hang in your kitchen longer than you think.

Make your own citrus aroma

How to do: Peel an orange and take 5-6, rub them against the peel of the orange, tie it all together with a ribbon and hang it up in the kitchen or living room. The wonderful fresh fragrance lasts for several weeks.

Spread fresh air with water

How to do: Dip your water tails into your favorite perfumed oil and place them around in drawers, cupboards or between the pillows on the couch. Be careful if you have small children or animals at home and place them outside of their reach. The home will have a comfortable and clean fragrance that lasts as long as you want.

Get rid of the fridge.

How to do: Fill a bowl of natural oatmeal and place it in the refrigerator. The oats have an absorbent property and absorb the odor. Remember to throw the oats out when you are done.

There is something special about the smell of rain, fresh grass or a spring garden. It’s all smells that can do something very special about us. A little like when you enter a room with a very special scent that produces good memories or a special feeling in the body.

Let the stove clear the peas

If you want a fresh scent at home, there is a simple and extremely easy trick. It involves a pot, lemon writer and whatever else you are left with scented herbs.

If you bring a little water to the boil and add a few slices of lemon and herbs, possibly a little lavender or mint, you have a quick spoon in the kitchen. The heat from the stove and the boiling water sends the sweet scent around the whole house.

Bring nature into your home

One thing is for sure, there are few things in the world that are more beautiful than the trees and flowers of nature. Not only is it beautiful to look at, it can be as comfortable to smell. Therefore, the next trick for a fragrant home is to fill up with plants and flowers.

Indoor plants are not only good because they smell good. Certain plants can also clean the air for more harmful substances.

The experiment was originally made to determine which plants would be best for cleaning the air in space stations. Room station or not, the plants can also be left in your living room and clean the air.

Venting is the way forward

Air out, air out, air out. It is both important for the indoor climate and for your health. It is healthy to add new oxygen to the rooms at home, even if it is cold outside.

As a rule, you should vent out for at least 10 minutes each day.

If you live in a house or apartment with ventilation ventures, you may want to place an air freshener from, for example, a car (Wunderbaum) on the inside of the ventilation.

When the air blows through the ventilation, the fresh fragrance will be pulled around the room. It’s smart, cheap and easy.

Be strategic with your four-light lights

It is always cozy with some cozy lighting in the form of candles and it is always a plus if they smell beautiful. You can place a few scented candles in the corners of the room so the smell does not get too strong.

Be careful not to turn on many fragrance lights at a time and be careful not to mix different fragrances – it can be confusing and have an opposite effect.

You can also use the scented candles for something else. Try placing the lights in your closet or where you store your bedding or blankets. Of course, you should not turn on the lights, but just let them stand and give sent to the materials in the cabinets.

Highlight your inner frk. Jensen

There is nothing that smells as good as the smell of home baking. Whether it is cake, rye bread or freshly baked buns – there are few times there is something that can beat that fragrance.

You do not have to pull the thick cookbook forward to live this trick. You can be content with something very simple like cookies, banana or the usual recipe for muffins.

Some factors that determine what a house is worth have no control over, such as the location. But there are plenty of other things that you can change to increase the value of your home.

When you think about improving your home, you have to remain realistic. Renovations will sometimes not be 100% profitable, but can help you sell your house faster.

Make your home more attractive

And work from the outside in. So start with the exterior of your house. What your house looks like at the front is the first chance to make a good impression. The goal: make sure people want to walk in.

You do that for example by making the garden tidy. So planting some flowers or shrubs or painting the front door could help.

If the exterior is in perfect condition, focus on the kitchen and the bathroom. If these two rooms look modern, this can greatly affect the value of your home and how fast it is sold. Make sure it looks neat, modern and clean.

An American study has shown that a new floor and new cupboards in your bathroom can yield up to 70% return on your investment.

Make your home easy to maintain

Many home buyers are worried about the maintenance of a house. That’s why it can be rewarding to replace large parts that require a lot of maintenance for sales. Think of a fireplace, boiler or the floor. For example, replacing a carpet with a hardwood floor can yield a lot.

Make your home more efficient

Sustainability has a big impact on the value of your home. Think of double glazing, solar panels, environmentally friendly insulation and AAA appliances that can really boost the value of your home.

Make your home bigger

Of course, the number of square meters also has a big effect on the value of your home, but even a more convenient layout can already make a difference. For example, you can create extra living space by finishing the basement, building a roof terrace or doing an extension.

Make your home smarter

With smarter you can think of a remotely controlled thermostat, smoke and CO 2 detectors, smart doorbell, or adjustable lights, but also safety measures, smart locks with burglary prevention for example. Because of these characteristics you can sell your house much faster.

Did you know that indoor air quality is often worse than the quality of the air outside? Too much insulation, moisture, dust and other polluting elements in the air that are not even perceptible to the naked eye; the sources of air pollution indoors are multiple and nobody escapes. Nonetheless, there are things you can do to ensure that the air you breathe is not too unhealthy.

Switch to natural cleaning products

Most cleaning products are full of toxic substances. So do you think good to do by cleaning thoroughly in every corner of the house with your spray all-purpose cleaner, then you are, at least in terms of the air quality in your house, wrong. So give preference to natural products that contain as few ingredients as possible. Sodium bicarbonate, vinegar and lemon juice are your best allies in this case.

Take home air-purifying plants

The scientific world is not yet sure whether the term ‘air-purifying plants’ is actually applicable, but green plants undeniably contribute to a healthy indoor air quality. Choose your air-purifying plant not only on the basis of how it looks, but also taking into account the concerns that it needs. Do you like working on plants and do you want the hippest ones in your interior? Then opt for a Monster or a Kallithea. Clorophytum and Areca are for those who like firm, trusted values, succulents and cacti for those who tend to forget their plants.

Dispose of an odor evaporator and air-purifying oils

Essential oils are ideal tools for improving indoor air quality. They fight bacteria, purify and disinfect the air and leave behind a pleasant fragrant perfume. You can use them after you have cooked, early in the morning to freshen up the house or during the day to perfume the rooms in which you live. If you are not familiar with it, start with classics such as ravintsara or eucalyptus. Do you need an extra boost, choose citrus fruits. Lemon and grapefruit are ideal for your mood and to give your energy level a boost. Note that you are not too lavish with essential oils, they work best in a limited dose (they are also often not recommended for areas where pregnant women or children stay).

Pay attention to volatile components

Plastics, paint, glue, lacquer, solvents and chipboard all contain varying degrees of particles that, if they spread in the air, are harmful to your health. Please note that the brands from which you purchase these products produce in a way that complies with environmental legislation or buy these items second-hand, then the particles have already evaporated. And always observe point 5, especially if you live in a recently renovated or built house.

Ventilate every day

Without a doubt the best tip to ensure good indoor air quality: open the windows one or more times a day to refresh the air in the house. The current building materials guarantee such good insulation that there is now less exchange between outdoor and indoor air than a few years ago. The better the air quality, the better your quality of life, so open those windows, preferably as often as possible.

The sleep, the awakening and the way of “living” your day depend very much on our way of life, but one should not neglect his environment, his room. We could compare the environment and lifestyle to the association between a mattress and its bed frame – even if you have the best mattress in the world with a bed base of poor quality: comfort will not be there!  So to put the odds on your side, we propose 5 strategies, 5 tips to grant (finally) your lifestyle and your environment, your room and your sleep but especially 5 strategies to make your room a kingdom dedicated to good -be.

Your bed, your well-being compass

In your room, your bed is your compass what would be a crown without jewels? What would your room be without its bed? This is the essential question. Your bed is the central element and must remain so. To put it simply, there are several rules. It is recommended that you do not put the bed back on a door or under a window, or put it in an angle – that’s what you should not do. The best option: place it against a wall with room on each side, a solid headboard and the door in your field of vision, but not in front. Of course, if you cannot tick all the boxes, do the best!

Disconnect for bedtime

We want to clarify that this is not a crusade against connected objects. But, as you are told regularly, screens and other bright objects are not your friends when it comes to sleep. So we forget the phone next to her bed or the TV in the room to restore the latter its primary function: a place of rest and serenity. And if you want to go even further, we advise you to ban all electronic objects from your room and protect yourself from this source of bad energy.

Change the air

Air your room with fresh air It is obvious that your room can be your cave, your little secret garden but, to fill it with good energies, it is enough for little. Just open your window regularly, to ventilate, let in the sun’s rays … and even if it is not there, you have fresh air. A small simple gesture that will bear fruit. I see you coming, you city dwellers: “my room overlooks the street, so your advice on the fresh air …”! So here is our answer, if you can access a window “court side” that is not in your room. Little trick, in addition to your room, ventilate the entirety of your apartment is also a good thing!

My room, a sacred place

As it is tempting to make the most of the spaces present in your apartment or house. With a room big enough, one would even think of installing an office … But what a mistake! As far as the bedroom is concerned, you have to choose to ban everything that could cause stress, especially work. So, nothing reminiscent of your job – be it folders, documents or even pro computers – can fit in. And we’ll tell you again, to make sure you do not miss out on it: NEVER install a desk in your room.

Simplicity as a priority

Clean your room for this last point, we do not go around the bush, for a room full of good energy, we get rid of the superfluous. Yes, we are talking about the trinkets that litter your shelves and your “war chest” piled up in your bedside table drawer. Here, we keep only the essential, any object that does not express the idea of ​​love or relaxation has nothing to do in a room. Take the opportunity to make a great spring cleaning.

We all want to have a wonderful house, but very often our enthusiasm to make it wonderful is quickly hindered for lack of funds. Yet, there are a few tips that can easily improve the value of a home.

Here are five tips that could improve the commercial and aesthetic value of your home without necessarily digging a hole in your wallet:

Paint the doors and windows: Add an instant facelift to your home by painting the doors and windows with bright, inviting colors. Use a good quality paint that will not deteriorate at the first change in the weather. Use colors in order to have the best visual impact.

Add greenery around your house: if you have a place to put a lawn, do it. There is nothing more attractive than having a well-maintained lawn at the point of entry. If you do not have enough space for this, buy some green potted plants and strategically place them all around the front of your house. You could also buy some seasonal flowers and enjoy their brightness.

Insulate your home: Whether its summer or winter, your electricity bill depends on how much energy you can make your home comfortable. Invest in an appropriate insulation system. In this way, you will need less air conditioning during the summer and less heating during the winter. In addition to saving a small fortune, you would also have the satisfaction of doing well for the environment.

Make your house a greenhouse: we are talking about doing an action for planet earth. How about turning your house into a green house? It means a place that works in tandem with nature, not against it. You have to make sure that your home associates with the environment as much as possible.

For example, you can install solar panels to reduce your energy and electricity consumption. If this is expensive, you can at least optimize your electrical installations by calling in a professional electrician. He can advise you on the best ways to adopt according to your home and your budget.

Some examples would be the recovery of rainwater, the use of solar energy, the production of electricity using dynamo, a vegetable garden for organic vegetables, using only biodegradable products and other…

Often, we tend to accumulate a lot of useless things. Clear your house if possible, and properly store the things you like and do not want to lose. Do not hesitate to do yard sales or a garage sale.

Make sure your yard and / or garage is free of clutter. You can also give things to others for Christmas, or for those who are less fortunate than you, make them happy with your gifts.

These are simple and not too expensive things that you can apply to your home to greatly improve its value.

Concrete is an integral part of modern society. Roads and bridges to the buildings in which we live and work, everywhere around you there are structures and infrastructure comprising concrete.  With concrete being used as a vital part of our daily lives, not many know the science behind the cement that makes it so strong and reliable.

Composition of concrete

Concrete is made ​​from more than one type of material, which is a composite material. The composite is formed with a filling material, which is an aggregate used to make concrete texture, and a binder or paste used to “glue” or unite the filling. Cement and water are the binder. The mixture of aggregates, cement and water creates the useful compound is known as concrete.

Cement

Cement is made of clay, sand, iron ore and limestone, burnt together at extremely high temperatures. Limestone must be removed and ground into small pieces. A mixer combines the small pieces of limestone, iron ore, sand and clay to form a powder of the four components. A rotary kiln into a cylinder, then burning this material composition for a maximum of two hours.

Water

When water is mixed with cement, a paste which binds all components is formed. The hydration process is a chemical reaction between the water and concrete components causing the concrete to harden. You must use pure water to ensure that the chemicals react properly and create strong cement. The relationship between cement and water is crucial for the production of useful cement. Too little or too much water can cause the cement to be too weak or unviable. Useful cement requires the perfect balance between the cement and water.

Aggregates

Aggregates are another component used in making concrete. They are materials such as sand or rocks that are added to the mixture of cement and water. Since cement is the most expensive part of manufacturing of concrete, adding the cheapest concrete aggregates gives you more for less. The final product is approximately 70% to 80% of the aggregates. Choosing a type of aggregate concrete depends on the type you want to produce.

You can create dense and strong concrete using dense aggregates. Similarly, the use of soft and porous aggregates, like sand, creates weaker concrete with less wear resistance. Like water, the good aggregates must be pure. Any impurities in the aggregate could interfere with the chemical reaction needed to make concrete or cause it to be weakened.

A bedroom should be a place of relaxation. Choose a paint striking can make a big impact on the look of a room and how you feel in it. But before taking the brush, look what are the colors of paint relaxing invoke a sense of tranquility and ensure a peaceful sleep at night.

Blue

More than any other color, blue can relax the senses. But not just any tone. To get the best rest, choose pastel colors like blue for painting instead of choosing bright colors like blue wather on the walls of your bedroom.

Green

The color of spring, green, can be relaxing and cool at the same time, which makes it an ideal choice for the bedroom paint. Choose fresh pastel colors instead of the rich and flashy to get a feeling of peace tones.

Yellow

Yellow is said to be striking and sunny instead of relaxing, but the right shade of yellow can give a calming effect. Consider a warm honey tone or soft butter yellow to enhance the relaxation factor bedroom.

Purple

It is known that the essence of lavender induces sleep, but so does the color. The muted tones of purple, lavender as both lilacs, are ideal for a bedroom.

Neutral

The neutral warm colors can help create a cozy feeling. Whether you opt for a beige colored paint (also called beige) color as land, remember to sleep well choose subtle shades. You can use white, but choose a tone like eggshells to keep a calming look rather bare.

A small room bathroom sometimes needs some renovations to make it look not only larger, but also to feel part of the house. Small bathrooms are less expensive to remodel, compared with one principal, but the values ​​depend on factors such as the extent of the work of remodeling, plumbing and decoration. As with any project of this type, get a permit from the city planning office or building and make sure there are no specific rules that your bathroom should meet to be approved.

Paints and supplies

Painting is a quick update and refreshes a bathroom method. You can do it yourself or hire a professional service. The most obvious material needed for this project is the painting, but it is not alone. Baths require semi-gloss latex paint formula resistant to prevent mold growth behind and above the surface of the paint. At the time of writing, the average gallon (3.78 l) of this kind cost US $ 20. In addition to this, you need rollers, brushes, edging tool, masking tape, tarps and paint tray.

Tile floors

You must remove soils and obsolete or mold in a remodeling project tiles. Ceramic tile or stone are durable versatile choices, but are expensive in terms of product and labor. A cheaper alternative is vinyl, but you need a high quality to achieve the look and durability of a tile. The average cost ranges from less than US $ 1 to over $ 12 per square (0.09 square meters) feet, according to Lowe.

Toilets, bathtubs and toilets

If the bathroom is very outdated, oversized accessories such as toilets, bathtubs and toilets may also need replacement. Measure the space bathroom before asking the price of great accessories because unless you go to extract and expand the walls, your new furniture should be similar in size to the old. As this publication, you can expect to pay over $ 400 for a new basic bath, up to US $ 300 for a toilet, and US $ 70 to over $ 400 for a vanity, when you replace all the great accessories bathroom, buy similar styles to match.

Plumbing and accessories

The change of faucets and bathroom accessories can update without the high cost of replacing large appliances. Replacing a faucet, for example, it is a rapid modernization that makes a big difference in the bathroom. The average cost ranges from US $ 20 to US $ 200 at the end of this publication. The style, size and materials affect the cost. The updated fixtures in the bathroom, such as handles, light switches, lighting and mirrors are additional costs that an owner can expect to pay in a remodel. When you have a very tight budget, try to remove and repaint parts of taps, as an alternative to replacement.

Facts and Figures

The cost of bathroom remodeling may vary depending on the extent of the modernization and the actual size of the bathroom. In 2010-11 a report of cost versus value of the magazine “Remodeling”, said the average price for a change of a medium sized bathroom, had a cost of between US $ 14,000 and US $ 18,000 depending on the area which the house stood.

It included a bathroom of 5 x 7 feet (1.50 m by 2.1 m) with a complete renovation of the interior. The value, however, was estimated at just over $ 10,000 as a national average, if the owner had intended to sell the house after completing it.