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Five Things in Your Bathroom That Can be a Danger to You

Your bathroom is most probably one of the most relaxing places you can think of.

Many hours can be spent in here, lingering under a hot shower or lounging in a bubble-filled bath. It is hard to imagine that anything bad could happen in such a perfect setting!

However, as with most things, there can be a dark side to this story.

While you may be aware of obvious bathrooms hazards, such as slipping, there are other dangers that you may need to be on the lookout for.

To uncover these hidden perils and improve your safety around the house, here are a list of harmful bathroom threats that you may not be aware of:

Mould

One danger that regularly crops up in a bathroom is mould.

A certain type of mould called Stachybotrys can develop indoors even when moisture isn’t present. This can lead to breathing conditions such as the development of asthma.

However, mould like this can be prevented by ventilating and waterproofing your bathroom. If you’re wondering how to prevent mould for good then look no further than easy-to-clean shower wall panels and ceiling panels.

Toilet germs

Most people are probably aware that the toilet is not the most hygienic of bathroom features, but you might not be aware, to what extent.

When toilets are left uncleaned and are not disinfected regularly, they can be left prone to mass bacteria growth.

  1. Coli is one of the main bacteria types that can arise from faecal bacteria and can cause extremely painful illnesses such as diarrhoea and vomiting.

However, it doesn’t end there. Other diseases such as Influenza and Streptococcus can be found in badly-maintained toilets. If you didn’t have the motivation to keep your toilet clean before, you certainly will now.

As well as this, it is important to clean other bathroom features, as toilet germs can be sprayed around the bathroom when you flush.

Incorporating a waterproof wetwall into your bathroom will make the cleaning process an incredible amount easier. No scrubbing is required because there is no need for grout during installation – so you can say goodbye to hours of scouring away pink grime from between tiles.
Moisturiser
While they may do a great job of keeping your skin soft and wrinkle-free, moisturisers may be more trouble than they’re worth.

Certain moisturisers have been linked to skin cancers, specifically non-melanoma skin cancers.

It may not be time to throw them out just yet though, as this remains to be proved in humans, as results have only been obtained by tests conducted on animals.

Shampoos

You probably didn’t expect to see shampoo featuring in this article but yes, it’s on the list of bathroom hazards, as some types of it include chemicals called aldehydes – which disrupt the way bodies repair DNA faults – in their ingredients.

These chemicals have been linked with causing cancer, but can also cause various skin conditions too. These irritants will be evident due to red, blistered, itchy skin and scalp.

Cotton buds

When you use these handy household items to remove earwax, you may think that you’re keeping your body in tip-top condition.

However, you may not know that you can accidently push the wax in deeper, which in some situations can damage the ear canal. This can potentially lead to dizziness, or in extreme circumstances, loss of hearing.

Now that you are aware of some of the most unexpected harmful bathroom threats, it will give you the chance to avoid them.

Avoiding these hidden dangers or substituting them for safe alternatives should help to keep you and your family healthy and ensure that your bathroom is strictly for pampering and relaxing.

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Tips for Stylish and Practical Interior Lighting

When it comes to building a new home or redecorating an existing one, there are lots of important aspects to consider. One of these is lighting. Each room should have the appropriate type of lighting as this will affect the appearance of the colour of the paint on the wall. Here are some things that you should keep in mind when you are picking interior lighting for your home.

What type of lighting do you need?

The first thing that you should consider are all the tasks that you carry out in that room such as reading, studying, or painting. These are all tasks which require good lighting as you need to be able to see properly, without tiring your eyes. For example, in the kitchen, you should have overhead lighting on the countertops. This will make it easier to cook and to read cookbooks at the same time. In the bedroom, you should focus more on ambient lighting that creates a comfortable environment. If you are the type of person that reads in bed, then you should also have lamps located on either side of the bed. Dimmers are also a great thing to have as they allow you to change the intensity of the light according to your requirements. For example, you can dim the lights for movie night but increase light for studying.

What size and colours to pick?

There are very many different types of lamps out there. You should consider the overall design of the room when picking the colour and size of the lamp. For example, if you have low ceilings then you shouldn’t get a lamp or lamp shade that hangs low, or is very big as tall people will constantly be bumping their head against it. When deciding on the colour, you should consider the overall colour scheme in the room and try to make it match. Also, consider the style in the room, is it retro or modern? The lamp that you pick will look most effective if it matches the overall style of the room; otherwise, it may look out of place.

Where to buy lamps and their fixtures?

There are lots of places to buy lamps, fixtures, and lamp holders. Spares2You is a great place to buy everything that you need for installing lamps. Sometimes when you buy a lamp shade, it doesn’t come with the lamp holders or cables that you need. To avoid going home and finding out you don’t have all the parts you need, you should read the information on the box or consult with a store employee before making the purchase. If you are installing the lighting yourself, then make sure you consider all the safety precautions and don’t put yourself in harm. Electricity is dangerous and when in doubt you should consult a specialist.

When picking the interior design features in the room consider the purpose of the light and the overall design of the room. This way you will surely pick lighting that is practical and compliments the overall design of the place.

overall design of the room. This way you will surely pick lighting that is practical overall the room.

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Making Your House Feel Like Home

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Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to get your home to feel like it really is your own. This takes getting used to what you bought and accepting the thing that were built into the home. Lots of time this is difficult because there are things you just don’t like or are simply uncomfortable with.

In that case, the only real option is to call in a professional and do some remodeling. With this strategy you can make your home have the exact look and feel you like and you will truly begin to feel at home.

Here are a few things you can do to make your house feel like home:

New Paint

Picking the color of your home gives you the chance to put your stamp on it. Choose to start with the exterior and pick a color you will be ecstatic to see when you come down the street. Many older homes have bland or dull colors while newer homes have a variety of browns, blues and even pastels. Pick from a palate you love and make a not so obvious choice. You may find something you never thought of and have your spirits lifted. Use a professional painter and call in a contractor to put in outdoor lighting that can enhance the color at night. A few sconces in the right places will work wonders.

In the interior, you can make each room its own special place with paint and wall treatments. See which works best and do not be afraid to be bold. One room might be begging for wall paper while another might need a just off white paint to compliment the art work you have. Or, you might want a similar color scheme throughout the house. Remember here also to put in the right lighting fixtures. So call your contractor and have him place lighting where ti works best in the room.

Replace Windows

Older windows can do so much to darken a room. Older and smaller homes tend to have small windows limiting the amount of natural light and air flow into the room. Having the right windows makes everything better and brightens your mood. So bring in a contractor and go shopping at Community Builders Tulsa to take a look at which windows throughout the house need to be replaced for maximum effect. Also put some focus on upgrading window treatments. You can opt for full-height shutters so you have more control over the light and warmth that enters your home and additional privacy, or just change curtains and drapes. Either way, you will make a big difference. 

Change the kitchen

The kitchen is becoming the hangout place in most home but unfortunately many of them simply are not built for it. These means people are constantly running into each other there. Look at expanding the size and functions of your kitchen to make it the most comfortable. Knock down an unnecessary wall and put in an island to make it gorgeous and change cabinets and appliances to make it more functional. You can make major changes at various price points and it all starts with your desire. 

New Flooring

Dingy carpets can really dull down a living spaces. Today people love wood so put in a hardwood floor for a sleek and contemporary appearance. These days flooring has come way down in price and gone way up in options. Choose a light floor color to brighten a room or a darker color to make it look more elegant.

Finally, place your things around the house. Adding personal items like pictures, pillows and rugs gives you a sense that your house is your home.

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How to Save Money When Decorating Your Home

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Having moved anatomy new home around 2 years ago I knew that given the outlay I had made on the home itself, any decorating would have to wait. The house however felt really old and tired and kind of made me a bit depressed when I got home from work each night. I sucked it up for around 6-8 months before deciding that I had to take action.

Now I knew that I would not be able to create something that Restoration Hardware’s Gary Friedman may be proud of but nonetheless I did my best, and it all worked out pretty well. If you are looking to give your home a makeover on a budget, here are some tips for you to make it work.

D.I.Y.

The first thing to mention about redecorating your home on a budget is that you can forget about hiring professionals to do anything, unless you have to fix gas pipes or electrical wiring. The cost that you would have to pay for a painter and decorator to come in could well be used on a new item of furniture, some paint or even a new carpet. In truth, this was the first  time that I have ever done any decorating and other than time, it cost me nothing, if you are going budget-style, DIY is the way forward.

Piece by Piece

Don’t expect to be able to radically makeover your home in the space of a few short months and in order to do the best job on a budget, you should do it little by little. Start off with the most commonly used rooms in the house such as the living area and the kitchens, then take your paintbrush into lesser used rooms like spare bedrooms and bathrooms.

Pre-Planned

Although decorating little by little is a good idea, it also makes a lot of sense for you to have an idea of what the other rooms in the home are going to look like before you get started. The reason for this is so that you can pick up pieces for the room ahead of time. For example I knew that I wanted a marine look of my bathroom, even though I wouldn’t be decorating it for some months. I was in a  flea market on vacation and I saw all of these cheap maritime antiques so I was able to pick them up and they look great in my bathroom. Plan ahead, pick up bargains.

Hacks

If you have a look across social media channels such as Pinterest, or even do a quick Google search for interior design hacks, you will find huge amount of creative and smart ideas to give your home a beautiful look, without spending crazy money. From up-cycling tips to how to make your own furniture, you can find loads of great ideas which will save you plenty of money on your design project.

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How to create a modern kitchen

For most homeowners, the kitchen is more than just a place to cook and prepare food. In the right circumstances, a kitchen can be a hub of conversation, a place to bond with place and family, and a space that is perfect for personal creativity.

Of course, if you want to make the most out of your kitchen, then you’ll need to make sure that it’s properly styled, and protected. Just as it’s important to consider the matrix of what’s covered in home warranty plans to ensure your home is protected in the future, it’s also crucial to make sure that you have a kitchen design in place that’s capable of standing the test of time.


  1. Start by looking at colors

Perhaps the first, and simplest thing any homeowner should think about before they start creating a stunning modern kitchen, is what kind of colors they want to use to demonstrate their unique personality and sense of style. The power of color can transform your kitchen more quickly and easily than you might think. For instance, a drab white kitchen can be completely transformed with just some stylish patterned tiles on the backsplash, and a fresh lick of paint on the cabinets.

For a bold experience, try using contrasting colors like green and purple, or blue and orange. On the other hand, if you want a more subtle and homely effect, pastel shades are always a good bet.


  1. Choose practical accessories

While you want your new modern kitchen to look incredible, it’s important to remember that there’s more to a great home space than just aesthetics. Ideally, you’ll want to pack your kitchen full of tools and accessories that make it easier for you to get the most out of your space. For instance, hidden cabinets can give you extra room for storage, while ensuring that you don’t ruin the overall look of your kitchen.

Remember, when choosing accessories for your kitchen cabinets, it’s a good idea to pick colors and styles that fit seamlessly with the design you’re trying to achieve.


  1. Don’t forget the flooring

It’s easy to overlook the power of a beautiful floor when you’re creating a modern kitchen from scratch. However, a boring or dirty floor can easily draw attention from the designs you’ve spent so long perfecting.

Try to strike a balance between choosing a floor that looks incredible with your chosen color scheme, and something that you’re going to have an easy time of cleaning and maintaining. After all, the last thing you want is to end up spending all of your weekends scrubbing your kitchen jut so that it can continue to look it’s best.


  1. Get plenty of light

Light is an important feature in any kitchen and something that shouldn’t be overlooked at any cost. Not only does light ensure that you can be safe and confident in the kitchen when you’re cooking and preparing food, but it also helps to draw attention to all the modern design elements that you’ve implemented into the room.

Try and get a good blend of both natural and artificial lighting. That means investing in plenty of spotlights and LEDs, as well as ensuring you have a large open window space available too.


  1. Choose the perfect countertops

Finally, while everything from the paint on your walls, to the color of your cabinets can have an impact on the way your kitchen looks and feels, it’s important to remember that few things are more appealing in a kitchen than the perfect countertops.

Where possible, try to choose a material that you can trust to stand the test of time. You’ll want something that looks great, but also has the durability to withstand things like hot pans, and other forms of wear and tear throughout the years. Granite and marble are particularly good for these reasons, but there are plenty of options available.

Making your modern kitchen

The right modern kitchen has a lot to offer today’s homeowner. From a place to relax with your friends, to a location where you can enjoy exploring some new hobbies, a kitchen can be a fantastic area packed full of love and creativity. However, just like any space, a great design can help to make your kitchen really inspirational.

With a little care and attention, your modern kitchen could transform your entire home, and give you a focal selling point when it comes to getting on the real estate ladder.

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Tips For Spicing Up Your Home Before Christmas

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Have you been thinking about doing up your space somehow but you aren’t sure where to start? Maybe you’re moving and you need to get some of your belongings from A to B but don’t want to rent a van you drive yourself or hire a moving company to do it for you. Moving and decorating are two of the most stressful things homeowners seem to experience, and for good reason. Needing to organise everything on moving day or when getting decorating started is a pain enough without needing to organise how to get things around.

Picking Stuff Up/Dropping It Off

If you’re simply looking to spruce up an area of your home or garden and are hoping to add some furniture to the fold, then consider picking up a fetching new piece at a local garden centre or charity shop. The problem with some charity shops though is that they don’t deliver, making it difficult to get that prime piece home to its new spot amongst your flowers in the garden or alongside your couch or chair in your front room. This is where Shiply comes into it, with their website acting as a price comparison location for numerous local people who act as a man with a van type delivery services, making moving an object from A to B easier than ever.

Fast Decorating Tips

For those looking for a quick makeover for their house without upsetting the balance too badly, consider the addition of a feature wall. A feature wall is a single wall of a room such as a kitchen, dining room, living space, bedroom or bathroom where you use either paint or wallpaper to create a themed or brightly coloured wall that is purposely decorated to stand out and bring light and colour to the room. This can be done to coordinate with a specific piece of furniture or a specific piece of decoration. There are literally dozens if not hundreds of wallpaper patterns that make great feature walls, so check them out online or at your local hardware store and take your pick!

Moving Day Blues

Everyone hates moving day and all the hassle it has associated with it. Make your moving day seamless by hiring a man with a van in addition to getting friends to help you move your things from A to B and stop worrying about all the time that goes into ushering things back and forth. This way, especially if you’re working on a time constraint, you can get your new house set up while the man with van and your friends or family help move the contents of the house while you start setting it up. You never know – doing it this way might just have you kicking back and enjoying a cocktail in your new home by supper time!

So whether you’re looking for someone to help you move or you’re looking to get a new piece of furniture delivered to your place in time for the holidays, consider hiring a man with a van service, especially through Shiply where you can price compare then and there!

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Hacks To Keep Your Wood Floor Looking Brand New!

If you’re lucky enough to have wood flooring in your home then you’ll know what a wonderful addition it can be. But what about when life starts to take its toll and those stunning boards of timber start looking worn and scuffed. Not to mention the hammer they take if you run a busy family home, which is why we’ve researched some of the best hacks to keep your wood floors looking super-sleek and as fresh as the day they were installed.

These methods are super easy and best of all, they cost very little, if anything at all! From things that are really simple to concoctions that you wish you’d have thought of, here’s our favourite home remedies for wood floors:

Lets start with a common problem in wood flooring, dents. Although they don’t pose a major threat to your decor they can be quite irritating, so just how do you combat this? Well, your trusty household iron is the key to this one. That’s right, the cure for all things creased can now help to remedy against dents in your wood floor, mental eh?! Now, this technique is advised for floors without a finish but it can be applied to some finished woods, it just depends on the type. Of course if it does effect the finish but gets rid of the dent then the area can always be sanded and refinished. This is a really easy process to complete and can be done by even the most amateur DIY fans. All you have to do is wet a piece of kitchen roll or a cloth, then set your iron to a medium-high setting, place the cloth on top of the dent then put the iron on top. Hold the iron on top of the wet cloth and make small movement in an up and down motion, this should allow the wood to absorb the water and result in the fibres in the wood to expand to where they originally were. Try to do this for a minute, or until the cloth is dry and check the wood at the end, hopefully it should return to its original state.

As mentioned earlier, kids can pose a bit of a problem when we have nice things. This next tip goes out to all the parents who have had to suffer at the hands of a permanent marker. In fact it is every parents nightmare, looking down at your lovely wood floor and see a giant squiggle of permanent marker.. for some it may feel like all hope is lost, but fear not! The solution is closer than you may think, in the form of your good friend; toothpaste. The toothpaste should be regular white paste, not the gel stuff that’s super expensive, simply apply the paste directly onto the mark and then rub using a damp cloth. We would advise rubbing the area for a good few minutes or until you feel that the cloth can easily slide along the wood, then rinse the cloth that you have been using with water and wipe the surface until the toothpaste is no longer visible. The marker stain should now have disappeared, if it hasn’t then repeat the steps until it does.

The next home-remedy cleaning method comes in the form of a favourite British drink; tea. You may think this is a bit of a strange one, and we did too when we first encountered it. But using tea as a DIY cleaner for your wood makes a lot more sense than using something acidic such as vinegar, which is what tends to get recommended by most cleaning and life hack blogs. So just how do you use tea bags to clean your wood floor? Well, lets start by boiling 2 to 4 tea bags in just over a litre of water, the longer that you leave the tea to brew, the darker and more effective the cleaner will be. This probably goes without saying but if you have a lighter coloured wood then you may not want to let the tea brew for as long, in contrast to this if you have a really dark wood then let the tea brew for longer. Once the tea is boiled transfer the liquid into a small bucket or even washing up bowl, then soak a soft cloth in the liquid before removing it and wringing it. Please note that the cloth should be damp as oppose to wet, this just speeds up the drying process. Once damp, wipe the floor in the direction of the grain on the wood, then sit back and wait for the results!

Last but not least there are also some measures that you can put in place to prevent your floors from any further damage. Aside from the regular “place a rug” or “ensure shoes are removed” advice, we also have a few little tricks to help protect your floor from everyday scuffs and scratches. If you have any furniture on your floor, lets say a dining table and chairs for example, then why not consider putting socks on the legs if you’re entertaining for the evening. That way when the furniture is being pulled and moved around it shouldn’t scratch the floor, plus it will make for a great talking point. If you would like something a little more subtle there are other measures you can take. One of them being wine corks, which you may throw away instantly.. but you shouldn’t! You can cut the old corks down and place them on the end of your chair and table legs, which not only protects the floor but also stabilises any wobbliness too!

So there you have it, just a few easy and cheap ideas to help you protect your wood floor.

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A Guide To Choosing The Right Flooring For Your Home

Don’t look at your house as a whole; consider each room individually based on its function and this will make it much easier to select the right type of flooring. Your hallway, for example, is a high traffic area, people are in and out all the time, wearing their shoes, if you have dogs, or a pushchair, you’re going to need something hard-wearing and washable. It comes down to more than simply looks. Below are the most popular types of flooring, their pros and cons, leaving you to decide on a personal level, which rooms they’re best suited to.

Hardwood.

There’s no denying the beauty of a real wood floor, the different grains and shades, imperfections adding to its natural beauty and unlikely to ever go out of fashion, it’s a classic. It’s sturdy and long-lasting, is warmer under foot and looks great. However, in an area with moisture, solid wood boards can move, if you live in a flat I would avoid as it is a noisy floor and it can scratch and stain. In the busy areas such as in front of the sink, or oven it will show wear and tear. Yes, you can re-sand and stain it, but, it is a pretty messy process.

Tiles.

There are a few types of flooring tile, the main two being ceramic or porcelain.

Porcelain tiles are pretty maintenance free, extremely hard-wearing, it’s very difficult to chip or scratch and is extremely hygienic as it can be cleaned with anything. That being said, porcelain is cold to stand on for any period, can be extremely slippery when wet, and if a chip or crack was to occur they’re unrepairable on an individual basis.

Ceramic tiles work out cheaper than porcelain, they come in a range of designs and, like their more expensive relative, are hygienic and easy to clean too. However, they aren’t quite as durable as porcelain and so need to be laid on a completely flat, solid floor or they will crack. Again, they are cold under foot and chips will be more obvious as the colour is only on the surface.

Vinyl.

This is a great budget-friendly option and comes in a vast choice of finishes, replicating woods, stones, mosaics. It is easy to clean and water resistant. The thin, hard vinyl is very robust but if you opt for the thicker, spongier type be wary that it can dent. It is comfortable to walk on and can even be laid on top of an existing floor. But, vinyl does have a relatively short life-span, it will fade when exposed to strong sunlight and, if damaged, it is unrepairable, so you must be careful.

Carpet.

Carpet can be as inexpensive or extravagant as you want it to be. In many different colours and patterns, it’s a go to option for most rooms in the house. Comfortable and warm under foot, a lot of carpets are now durable and can be cleaned or even stain resistant. Not a good idea in the bathroom where it will absorb moisture and become damp and mouldy in time, or the kitchen due to food spillages and oil.

There are, of course, more flooring choices to consider, these are simply a selection of the more commonly used options. Remember to consider the logistics but don’t choose something you don’t like just because you’ve read it serves a better function. You have to live with it after all.

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