House Cleaning With an Organized Twist

Posted on by

If you are tired of your house looking like a tornado swept through it then you need to do what you can to get it back into proper order. You will not mind when company drops by if you do! House cleaning may not be your idea of fun but it is something that is inevitable, regardless of whether you live in a huge home or a small apartment. For the sake of your health, safety and sanity you need to clean and tidy the home you live in!

If you groan at the thought of house cleaning then you need to make a plan. Create a schedule for yourself. For example decide you will clean give the kitchen a thorough cleaning on a Monday and the bathroom on Tuesday and so on. It is advisable to clean in small blocks of time more frequently than to do a big clean of your whole home once a week. You will keep your house cleaner if you tend to it more often. Doing so will also mean you do not have to spend as much time all once on your house cleaning duties.

Take a look at each room that needs to be cleaned and do an inventory of it. Look for the problem areas and from there figure out what you need. Is a broom your best friend in this case, a mop, a vacuum cleaner or a sponge? Or do you just need a rag and cleaner to get the room looking its best? Once you have taken a close look at the room you will know exactly what you need.

The amount of house cleaning that needs to be completed will vary from room to room. It will also be determined by whether or not the room is a high traffic room and what activates take place in the room, such as eating, sleeping, relaxing or playing.

Sometimes clutter is what is causing your residence to not be as clean as it could be. If you are afraid to open the linen closet for fear that you will be attacked by bedding then it is time to sort through the items that you have stored in the closet. You don’t want any area of your home to be busting at the seams. House cleaning can take many forms. At times it is more about tidying up than cleaning up dirt or dust.

Whether it is a hall closet, a drawer in the kitchen or a corner of your basement, if it is cluttering up the area as a whole then you need to spend some time doing some old fashioned sorting. You may be surprised to find many items that you have not used in a while or did not even remember you still had.

If you clean better with music on then choose some songs that will lift your spirits and get you into a cleaning frame of mind. Choose lively upbeat songs that will allow you to shake your hips and move your feet faster as you work. In this way you will associate good feelings with cleaning your home and making it look fantastic!

How Much to Spend in Bathroom Renovation

Posted on by

Pondering on how much to spend in a bathroom renovation is much like looking at your self in front of the mirror. What you face right now is something you’ll have to see everyday unless you make a change. You know that how you take care of it reflects a lot on your personality.

How much you are going to spend in a bathroom renovation depends significantly on what it is you truly want, why you are doing it, and how much you are willing to spend on it.

So what exactly do you want? Are you after a small-scale or large-scale renovation of your bathroom? There is a big difference in cost between simply upgrading your fixtures and accessorizing your bathroom as against redoing its walls, changing its tiles, and checking its plumbing and electrical status. Will it be a do-it-yourself home improvement project, or are you contracting out the labor particularly for electrical and plumbing jobs? You have a control on the cost of fixtures and accessories you purchase based on style and brand. However, you have little control on the price a contractor will charge for his labor and services. This is where you could go overboard.

Why are you doing it? Are you renovating because you want to increase your family’s comfort in the home in which you live in, or is it because you have to increase the value of your house which you plan to resell? In both cases, the bathroom will admittedly remain one of the most frequently-used and occupied rooms within your house. The bathroom renovation had better be finished and well done. Are the basic necessities your priority, or will it be an artsy touch-up for the room? Hot and cold water, a functioning toilet, sink, and bath, an exhaust fan, and a dry bathroom floor free from leaks and slips are basic amenities. On the other hand, a fresh coat of paint or new moldings and borders would repair those cracks and stains on the bathroom wall.

The bottom line would be how much are you willing to spend on it? Is there money already set aside for it, or are you still saving up for it? Whether it’s savings from your income or money from your short term loans, you’ll have to make good use of your funds. You can’t afford to waste time, energy, and money.

The best way to figure out how much a bathroom renovation will actually cost would be to have a plan and prepare for it. Clean your bathroom, and free it of clutter first. Conduct your own objective inspection, and identify the good points of your existing bathroom as well as its problem areas. Search for desired designs online or through magazines, and visit store displays and bathroom galleries for more ideas.

All the while, keep asking yourself the above questions, and answer them based on your own needs and abilities. Only then can you arrive at an estimate of how much to spend in a bathroom renovation.

The Advent of Contemporary Furniture

Posted on by

Contemporary furniture was a break away from previous designs in that it provided a more accessible form of quality design, with its unique styling and use of cheaper materials. Prior to the contemporary furniture movement, items tended to be sought for their grandeur and as a result of this, furniture was crafted to such extremes that the more desirable pieces were far beyond the reach of the average consumer.

With the advent of contemporary furniture came a new opportunity to bring beautifully designed, simple, yet functional pieces into the mainstream – although for original or iconic pieces, you can still expect to pay a fairly hefty sum. Fortunately, because there seems to be no end to the popularity of some of the earliest and most iconic pieces of contemporary furniture, it’s easy to find amazing reproductions that are almost as good as the real thing.

Contemporary furniture broke away from the traditional form, shunning the historical influence that had been relied upon for so many years. Instead, designers looked to inject a feeling of freshness, creating items that were almost futuristic in their conception. The clean and simplistic lines of contemporary furniture were not the only things that changed. During the late 19th century and early 20th century the West were finally welcomed to trade with the Japanese, and the country’s striking designs were embraced by famous contemporary designers such as Eileen Gray and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Furniture started to become more clever, with care and attention being given to its function, form and features, the blend of which made items far more appealing and versatile. The Eileen Gray side table is a classic example of this, created at the request of her sister, for a table that could adjust to fit on the bed, thereby providing a ‘breakfast in bed’ option. It is also probably no surprise that many contemporary furniture designers of the time were also architects – the form of this furniture definitely takes on advanced, almost engineering-type qualities, often resulting in contemporary chairs and tables that seem to defy the laws of gravity and the expected conventions of furniture as a whole. It is certain that this was largely achieved by the creator’s understanding of design on a wider scale, as well as the many different types of materials that were being adopted.

Prior to contemporary furniture design, items were hand-crafted, predominately from wood, which meant that pieces were vast, heavy and expensive. Cheaper woods, such as plywood, and other materials including stainless steel and plastic went a long way to bringing conceptually creative furniture to the masses – and its enduring popularity proves that they designers got the formula just right.

Floor Mats – Now With More Rubber

Posted on by

OEM floor mats are not always made to strict quality standards. They can often get worn out in a matter of months, fraying at the edges and sporting deep wear spots under your heel. The good news is that they are easy to replace. The even better news is that there are many quality manufacturers out there who know how to make a floor mat out of high quality nylon that can withstand the abuse.

Available options include OEM replacements, custom logo floor mats, super plush carpeted floor mats and even some high quality rubber floor mats. OEM replacements are usually the entry level, mid-grade floor mat. They are a no-frills, get the job done floor mat. Logo mats are usually made from higher quality fabrics than your OEM mats, providing you with a more durable mat that adds a customized touch to your interior. Vehicle logo emblems, NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA and military logo floor mats are the most common types, however it is possible to find custom logo floor mats available for special order. Plush carpeted floor mats are the top-of-the-line; up to 48 ounces in weight and made from premium nylons, these mats will last forever and can even reduce the amount of road noise in your cabin. Most carpeted mats are available in various colors, the most common of which are black, grey and tan.

Rubber floor mats, on the other hand, are a whole different animal. These mats, also commonly referred to as All Weather floor mats, are often quite thick and they will have some sort of a tread on them. This tread gives your feet traction and allows dirt, grime, snow and water to run off your feet, but stay out of your carpets. If you live in a climate that sees a lot of snow, a high-walled rubber floor mat will do the best job protecting your auto carpet from mildew-inducing moisture. Rubber mats can often work as a complete floor liner, giving you 100% coverage on the carpet that really sees foot traffic. These rubber floor liners are usually a 1-piece custom molded mat, however it is not uncommon to find them in a 3-piece overlapping design. The more versatile 3-piece design is used to accommodate irregularities in the floor, like having a center hump under the carpet or to help make provisions for stick shifts and center consoles.