Tag Archives: ~Home

Ways to Modernize Your Victorian Home 

Posted on by
3

The best part about older, traditional homes is their character. The aged interior and exterior characteristics often date the rooms and inspire a lovely sense of nostalgia. Victorian homes, especially, are known for their unique features, including complex and decorative interior trims, steep pitch roofing and asymmetrical architectural details. Still, there’s no reason why your Victorian home has to remain fixed in the 1850’s. Instead, there are many simple ways to modernize your old Victorian in a way that brings your rooms into the 21st century. Your new “Modern Victorian” home will look fantastic, emphasizing both the Victorian-era characteristics and some chic, contemporary designs, too.

Bring Your Fireplace into the 21st Century

Fireplaces will either instantly date or modernize a space. Victorian-era fireplaces can make a room feel heavy, dark and extremely traditional, so why not renovate it to make it look a little more contemporary? By installing a wall-hanging model that’s electric or ethanol burning, you can integrate a chic, simple design that will make the space look entirely fresh. Modern fireplaces, even in a room with other Victorian elements, will give the entire ambiance of the space a renewed feel.

Install Modern Light Fixtures 

Another way to showcase the old architecture of your Victorian home in a creative, 21st century style is to install modern lighting. While not all modern light fixtures will fit with Victorian designs, something that is more mid-century modern or Scandinavian modern will do the trick. Remember to mix old with new and new with old. Mixing the styles of lighting and eras will lead to a unique final product that flows together in a contemporary fashion.

Incorporate Cutting-Edge Artwork 

A final idea for modernizing an older home like a Victorian is to incorporate some interesting, engaging, cutting-edge art pieces. Picture this: You have a classic Victorian room that’s square and lined with dark wooden trim, and you add a colorful, abstract painting to the middle of a white wall. The artwork will instantly raise the level of your home’s aesthetic and make it more intriguing, rather than classical or predictably Victorian. Just because the architecture looks one way doesn’t mean that every detail in the interior of your home has to reflect the era.

By installing a wall-mounted fireplace, hanging some modern light fixtures and incorporating cutting-edge artwork, you can revamp your Victorian home and transport its interior design into the 21st century.

Tips From Pros: Choosing The Right Awning For Your Home

Posted on by
Reply

Source: unsplash.com

Providing shade for your backyard or front porch is one of the most important things during summer heats and there are several ways to do so. Planting a tree is the most cost-effective, some would even say the most elegant solution, however, it could take 15 to 20 years for a tree to fully matures and even then, it will cause a no small amount of additional maintenance on your property. As an alternative, some people decide to go with expensive wooden constructions or simple, cheap and inefficient method of using parasols. As a compromise, more and more people are turning towards the idea of awnings. Still, making a choice of the right awning for your home is not an easy one to make.

The location of the awning:

The first thing you need to consider when getting an awning is the location that it is about to take. Two most notable spots for an awning are just above the window or over your patio. The benefits of the awning in the first location are the fact that it protects the room from the direct sunlight, therefore resulting in a significant heat reduction.

Source: unsplash.com

During the summer, this helps reduce the amount of energy spent by your AC unit in order to cool down the room. On the other hand, during the winter, you might want to get as much daylight as possible, which is why the above-window awning should, almost always, be a retractable one.

As for the awning above the patio, in a situation where you have a wooden outdoor furniture, having this protection from direct sun ray exposure may protect it in the long run. In the above-discussed winter scenario, however, it is always advised to move your outdoor furniture somewhere else.

The choice of the material:

The next major choice you will have in front of you is the one of material. Apart from determining the appearance of your awning, this choice also determines the maintenance and durability of the awning in question. When it comes to the appearance, this is not a choice that can be made standalone. You need to take into consideration the layout of your home, the façade on its exterior as well as the patio it hangs above.

Source: burst.shopify.com

As far as the popular choices go, cotton, canvas, mesh and acrylic are the most popular choices. One last thing that the choice of the material determines is the price of the awning, while those determined can always get an appropriate solution from their local budget awnings Sydney retailers.

The shape and style:

While awnings are getting more and more popular solution for providing shade and covers in households, traditionally, they are most commonly used in front of stores or boutiques. This diversification of use for private households and businesses of various kinds has led to the situation where there are so many different shapes and styles of awnings. Rounded entrance canopy or gabled entrance canopy are most commonly used in hotels, traditional valances and quarter rounds is commonly used in front of stores. As for households, lateral arm or concave are styles that are used in most situations.

To retract or not to retract:

In the first section of this piece, we already went to length to address the advantages of retractable awnings, however, a lot of people prefer to go with fixed designs. Most common reasons for this are the fact that they are easier to install and much less likely to malfunction.

Source: unsplash.com

No matter how quality the installation process was, a retractable awning still functions with a help of a specific mechanism. Now, this mechanism consists of numerous moving parts, each of which might malfunction at one point. In this situation, you probably won’t be able to immediately fix a problem but would have to look for a professional aid. In other words, while retractable awning is clearly superior in many aspects, the ease of maintenance is clearly not one of them.

Situational variables:

Finally, in some situations, it may not be so easy to make the right choice seeing as how there may be a number of situational variables one needs to take into consideration. For instance, you may, or may not, need some side panels or an awning that stands at a certain unorthodox angle. Furthermore, there may be a series of obstacles like tree branches you might need to either prune or work around. In any case, each of these variations will make the price of the installation a tad more expensive.

Source: unsplash.com

At the end of the day, making the choice of the right awning for your home can be incredibly difficult, yet, there is one thing you must always take into consideration – it isn’t something you’re supposed to again for quite a long time. You see, this is one of those choices that will stick with you for years and decades afterward, which is why you need to be extra cautious while making it.

 

Messy Home: How to Keep Your Things Organized

Posted on by
1

Where did I put that appointment card? Have you seen my favorite blue shirt? How on earth did the keys end up in the fridge? If you frequently find yourself asking these (or similar) questions, or you simply want to declutter your life, then this article is for you. It contains simple steps on how to organize a room with too much stuff as well as some useful organization tips for your home, to help you get organized and stay organized!

pexels-photo-245207

PART ONE: Getting Organized

No, organizing is not shunting piles from one room to another, and neither is it shoving shoes under the bed. The easiest, quickest and most painless way of organizing your home is to tackle one room at a time. Each room can be divided into smaller, manageable sections, such as the floor, closet, pantry, draws, and tables – then give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back as you achieve each of your goals.

Get rid of everything you no longer need – As you progress from room to room, first make piles of anything that you no longer need, including paperwork, clothes, utensils, and ornaments. These items can be donated, passed on, recycled or thrown out. The creative soul may wish to repurpose or upcycle – extra mugs, pots and empty shoeboxes are ideal for creating a new and improved storage system.

Add extra storage – Corners, high places, and other hard-to-reach places are often wasted space that can be exploited for storage with the simple addition of bookshelves or cupboards. This is a great chance be creative with many ingenious storage solutions available, such as rotating cupboards in corners, nooks under stairs and floor-to-ceiling shelving. Raising the bed onto a plinth with roll-out drawers or adding a loft may also be viable options. If you still feel that your home is bursting at the seams, consider building a garden shed or renting a storage container off-site.

Give every item a home – This important step allows you to tidy quickly and efficiently later on, setting you up for success in PART TWO: Staying organized.

Use labels – If you think you might forget where things live (or know that other people will), labeling draws, boxes and those repurposed mugs is a quick, simple and stylish solution – and is one of the best ways to organize a cluttered bedroom.

pexels-photo-271734

PART TWO: Staying Organized

Identify problem areas and times – Mess is commonly encountered at the dining room table after breakfast, on the living room floor at Christmas and in the closet all year round. Once identified, you can then create a system and routine that works for you.

Create systems – For doing laundry, dishes, rubbish, recycling and any problem areas identified. For example, you could consider using a drying rack, multiple washing baskets or a composting system.

Form habits and routines – As with any skill, keeping your room clean and organized all the time needs to be practiced regularly (yes, it can be classified as a skill). Soon, your systems will become productive habits that will save you time, energy and stress in the long run. This may be always making the bed in the morning, sorting the mail as soon as you come home or clearing the dining room table immediately after dinner before sitting down with a hot cup of cocoa as a reward.

Make a list for errands, shopping, and chores – A chalkboard, whiteboard or tear-off notepad can be a stylish addition to your kitchen décor and ensures you will never again have that awful sinking-stomach feeling when you discover you forgot to buy more cereal. It also allows clear communication between roommates/family members, so you are informed when they do use up the last of the cereal.

23646046104_f642b812a7_o

Image Source: Sacha Chua via Flicker

Create lists of daily and weekly chores – This could include washing dishes, vacuuming and cleaning the bathroom/toilet.

Draw up a job roster – If there are multiple people in the house sharing the workload, try drawing up a “chores wheel” consisting of your daily and weekly chores. This way, everyone knows exactly what is expected – and has a deadline. The same method can be applied to just you if you need some extra motivation.

Stock up on cleaning products – So there are no excuses for a missed rotation on the job roster!

Schedule in down time – You have deserved it! Whether you love reading a book before bed or attending sunrise yoga classes, make time to enjoy the satisfying and liberating feeling of being organized!

Family Handprint Artwork

Posted on by
Reply

This is really great. A little work to plan it all out and this could be a great addition to your wall – and a sure conversation piece. First get a tracing of each persons hand and cut out. Lay them in a pattern on stretched canvas. How many colors will you need? Whats your background color? How do these colors co-ordinate with each other? .. with your home decor? Is it going to be a gift? Here the colors are painted – but you could cut circles from fabric, wall paper, construction paper. You could also place each persons name under hand print. I would also create a date.

Raggedy Ann & Andy Terra Cotta Pots

Posted on by
Reply

I don’t have the plans for these but anted to share them. They would be a bit of work but love the idea of them sitting on a garden border like this. Your little ones would love to visit the garden with you with this characters like this to visit.