Archives for January 2017

Whether you rent or own your house, our interiors say a lot about who we are.  From the photos on our walls to the way we present our fruit in the kitchen, it all represents who we are at heart.

Telling a story throughout your home is really fun.  From the first step into your hallway through to your bathroom.  Gently clues as to what makes you happy, what makes you think, things you are passionate about and what you have done, give your guests a visual journey of who you are.  So let’s take a quick look at how you can include some conversation pieces throughout your home and show your guests who you really are.

The Hallway

Image from Kubiwka

Ok, think of your hallway as an introduction to who you are.  How well does it represent you today?  Is it a cluttered mess or a clinical ordered zone with one purpose?  Depending on the space you have to work with, a hallway should always feel like a welcome and entice your guests in.  Keep it simple and create focal points.  If you have space for a hall unit that can be sat on, add a few touches of colours that represent you, either through textiles such as cushions or through art.  A few well placed books are a great clue about your personality.  If you love travel, popping a couple of photographic books on India or New York are little subtleties that will draw the eye.  If you have a family, the hall is a great place to hang framed photos of your loved ones.  As people take off their coats and shoes they can see how deep your connection is with your children from the offset.

The Living Room.

This is the heart of your home and should be a place for company to understand what your passions are.  Think about what you want to say.  Using famous quotes as art on the wall can help your guests see if you are humorous, serious or thoughtful.  Larger bookshelves can display a wealth of information about you.  From cookbooks to novels and reference books.  It’s your way of saying, this is what I’m about.  Even your furniture tells a story, getting creative and adding drama like these pieces PlumGoose.com/noir-furniture/ will make a strong statement about your style and tastes.

The Bedroom

Probably the most personal room in the home.  We’ve got some inspirational ideas to help you create a fantastic room where you can let your secrets unfold a little.  It’s unlikely anyone is going to enter your bedroom unless you really care about them.  Think about what your walls say about you.  You could show your naughty side through playful exotic black and white photos or show your peaceful side with flowers, candles and beautiful bed linen.  You could even show your techy side with built in sound systems or a TV bed.  Or, your chaotic side! Messy bedrooms tell a story too!

It’s the small touches, the small trinkets, the small words that give people the biggest clues about who you are.  So get thinking and make your home shout “This is me!”

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Almost every family’s number one priority is their safety and security. After all, a man’s home is his castle, so there is no wonder we try to protect our home and all of our belongings inside. Not only that, though, but improving your home’s security will help your family stay safe. There are lots of ways a property’s security could be put at risk, from burglaries and intruders to flooding and fires. To make sure your home is as safe and secure as possible, here are some remarkable security tips and tricks.

Move Your Spare Key

Do you keep your spare key under your door mat or under a large flowerpot in your front garden? Well, this may not be as good an idea as you had originally thought. Sure, it will be useful if one of your kids leaves home without their key and ends up locked out. But there is one major downside. These days, many burglars and intruders are wising up to the tricks that homeowners use to try and keep them away from the property, and this is one that they have sussed out. Lots of burglars now know the common hiding spaces for spare keys. So rather leaving your spare out where it is easy to find, you should consider giving it to a neighbor instead. That way, if someone does end up locking themselves out, they can simply pop around to the neighbor and ask for the spare key to let themselves in.

Utilize Your Loft Space

Worried that you could lose a lot of your valuables and important documents if you were to ever suffer from flooding? If so, it’s a good idea to utilize your loft space as storage, and leave important items and belongings up there. As they will be very high up in your home, there is very little chance that flood water will ever reach them. This is also a great way to protect them from burglars as well. Most burglars won’t spend a lot of time in your home, and will just search for things on the lower floors. They won’t want to risk going so far up a home into the loft. After all, most people simply store all their junk in their attic or loft space! So not only is it the most flood proof area of your home, but it is also one of the safest from burglars.

Fireproof Your Documents

There is another big risk to important documents and contracts – a house fire! If you ever find that your house is on fire, there is only one thing you should do: get everyone outside to a safe area. You can then call your local fire department to come and deal with the blaze. Unfortunately, a lot of your possessions and belongings will be destroyed in the fire. People end up losing important documents, such as birth certificates, home leases, and bank contracts. Losing all this paperwork can be extremely frustrating as replacing it can be time-consuming and expensive. To ensure you don’t lose these documents, even in a fire, it could be worth investing in a fireproof safe. If you aren’t sure which safe is best for you, you can read an online guide to safes.

Get Adequate Insurance

You can insure almost every aspect of your life these days, and your home is no different! Even though getting an insurance policy isn’t going to prevent anything bad from happening, it will help you deal with the aftermath a lot better. That’s because you won’t have to worry about any financial loss caused by a burglary, fire, or flood. An insurance policy that covers your property and belongings from flood or fire damage will payout to help you replace lost belongings and pay for building repairs. You can also insure your home and possessions against theft and burglary. For example, if a burglar takes your TV, your insurance policy should pay out a sum of money that you can use towards replacing it.

Install Burglar Deterrents

There are a few items that you can add to your home’s exterior that will act as deterrents and will put burglars off entering your property. For instance, as soon as a potential intruder spots a burglar alarm on your home, there is very little chance that they will try and break in. That’s because there is too much risk of the alarm going off and attention being drawn to the house. The same goes for CCTV cameras. If there is a visible CCTV camera on your property, no burglar is going to risk getting caught on film! There is one downside to installing CCTV and burglar systems onto your property, though. And that is the huge price tag that they often come with! If you want to save a bit of cash, you can always see about getting some fake alarms and cameras. These are often a lot cheaper than the real deal, and most intruders and burglars won’t be able to tell the difference!

Form A Neighborhood Watch

There is safety in numbers, and you will be able to club together with people in your local area to make your neighborhood a much safer place to live. Lots of neighborhoods are now organizing their very own neighborhood watches. There isn’t much you need to do once you form one. It’s just about being extra vigilant and investigating any suspicious behavior that you may see. This will also help to protect families from floods and fires, as neighbors are often the first people to notice these damaging events. And everyone will be able to team up to help people recover after suffering such a terrible disaster. So, what are you waiting for? Why not call a meeting with your neighbors this week!

You and your family should never have to live in an unsafe home or area. Hopefully, all of the above tips and tricks can help you enjoy a very safe and secure, and ultimately happier,  life!

Staying in a hotel is a bit of a luxury for many of us. When we are running a household (and that’s a full-time job in itself) most of the time we are happy to fall asleep just about anywhere after another long and tiring day! As a result of this, our bedrooms can tend to fall apart. They become simply a functional place to sleep in and wake up in – there’s nothing all too homely about them, let alone luxurious. But what if you could have that hotel feeling right in the comfort of your own home. No one should ever dread going to their bedroom because it’s either not welcoming, or simply full of mess. Here are a few ways you can bring hotel luxury to your own bedroom, and hence feel renewed and refreshed every single day.

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Keep it clean

Yes, so the bedroom is just another room for you to clean in your role as a busy mom, But you may actually be surprised at how good you feel after you have put the effort into looking after your own personal space. You never walk into a hotel room to find mess all over the floor and the surfaces- and if you do, you ask for a refund or an upgrade! So taking five minutes out of your day to put things away in your room can save you a lot of stress. After all, no one wants to come home after work and sit in a messy environment. It really isn’t conducive to relaxation. Invest in some good storage options (under the bed is always useful) and make a mental note that everything has its place.

Take care of your bed

Be honest: how many times do you leave for work in a morning with your bed an absolute mess? A piled-up duvet, scattered pillows and a sheet that’s coming off the mattress… not exactly that premium hotel look! It might seem like a waste of time to some people – after all, we only get back into our beds at the end of the day – but having a freshly made bed can really make a huge difference to the whole room. One way to encourage yourself to do this is to invest in some good quality bedding, such as Plumeria Bay Comforters. You can stop short of the hotel chocolate on the pillow – but there’s no better feeling than climbing into a well-made bed at the end of the day.

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Keep the essentials close by

As they are known as a place to de-stress, hotels tend to have all the relaxing essentials close by. It is easy to recreate this aspect in your own room, by simply lighting a few candles and having a few pampering items at the ready. It doesn’t need to be anything extravagant – just some nice hand creams, a facial cleanser or a face mask will do. But having these kind of things nearby will tell you that it’s now time to relax, just as you would when visiting a hotel.