Top Tips to Looking After Hardwood Flooring

When you first purchase hardwood flooring it adds the look of luxury to your home. There’s no denying that hardwood flooring is beautiful and radiant when it’s first laid down. The problem with this type of floor, however, is it can quickly start to look dull and dingy if it isn’t cared for properly.

In order to keep your hardwood looking the same as it did the day you first purchased it, use these helpful prevention methods:

1. Keep it protected from moisture

Moisture is the number one arch enemy of any hardwood floor and any contact with water needs to be avoided at all costs. If you happen to spill any water on the floor, for example, you’ll want to get it mopped up immediately so that there is no chance of any moisture reaching down to the floor.

You see, your hardwood floor comes with a protective coating but through regular use and sometimes abuse this coating can wear down. If you are rearranging your furniture and end up scratching the floor in the process, the varathane coating will have been compromised. This means that any moisture in the area can seep right down into the hardwood floor and cause water damage.

In order to best protect your hardwood floor, get it recoated every year with either a thin or thick new coating as needed. This way, you’ll know that your floor is being protected from moisture, which is its number one enemy.

Of course, if you do find moisture damage, it may be a case of replacing that section of floor. If you don’t feel confident in doing this, a carpenter will be able to sort it out. Find one in your local area online by searching ‘carpenters London’ for example.

2. Use the right cleaners

Since you have put a lot of money into your new flooring you may be thinking that you’ll have to use very expensive cleaning products in order to keep it maintained. This couldn’t be further from the truth and most of the expensive products on the market are only going to damage your floor rather than help keep it clean.

Use hot water to clean your floors and if they are especially dirty you can add a mild cleaning product to the water if necessary. Use a damp mop, never a wet one, to go over the floors to remove dust and other dirt on it. You don’t need to pay an arm and a leg for cleaning products for your hardwood floor since it is naturally shiny and glossy and only needs a simple cleaning to bring out the sheen once again.

3. Look at the bottom of your furniture

Now is a good time to walk around the room and make sure that all of the furniture bottoms don’t have any sharp edges on them. You may want to invest in some felt padding that can be added to the bottom of the furniture legs for extra protection. You can often find felt padding protectors at a dollar store that could literally save you hundreds of dollars by protecting your new hardwood floor.

The biggest part of maintenance is keeping an eye on your floor and picking up any spills as they occur while repairing any minor damages immediately such as small scratches. With regular preventative maintenance, you can keep your floor looking as good as it did the first day it was installed.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2017/10/top-tips-hardwood-flooring.html

How to Design the Perfect Home Bar

Having a home bar will give your space a sophisticated touch and provide you with a perfect spot for socializing. Most people decide to build a standing bar within their kitchen or to create an attractive drink-corner somewhere tastefully, where people already have a habit of gathering, such as the living room. If you live in a place that’s known for nice weather all year round, you might even consider the option of an outdoor bar. Although owning a home bar is just a subject of daydreaming for many, designing it doesn’t have to cripple your budget. You just need to invest in the basic equipment and of course - quality liquor. Here’s where to start.

Decide on the Type of Bar You Want

Do you want a freestanding bar or a built-in island? Do you aim for the vintage style, the traditional one, or you wish to give your interior a bit of a modern twist? Freestanding bars come in many different designs and they make a nice solution for those who want to bring in more flexibility to their space, but not by completely separating different sections of the room. They are typically made of composite wood or wood, although some more contemporary designs include glass and metals as well. On the other hand, bar islands are all about open spaces and utilizing the center part of your room. With just a few barstools, this bar island will become a perfectly casual centerpiece of any home party.

Mind the Storage and Appliances

Before definitely deciding on the exact bar you want, think about the amount of storage space you need, as well as the appliances you plan on using. Built-in cabinets are the most frequent choice here because of their practicality and an opportunity to display the drinks you have. They can be a bit pricey, which is why you might consider re purposing your bookshelves instead. As for the appliances, you need to decide whether or not you want to have a water hookup. This depends on your desired bar size, as well as its position within the house. See if you need a small refrigerator, a wine cooler, or a juicer - as all of these devices need electricity. This puts the position and the type of your bar in question. Apart from the aesthetics, you need a dry storage that’s protected from the direct sunlight.

Take Care of the Details

If you want to save up a bit of your money and avoid cluttering your bar, you can opt for glassware that is multifunctional. For example, invest in a 12-piece wineglass pack and pick those suitable both for drinking red and white wine. As for the barware, you’ll be needing a cocktail shaker, muddler, jigger, an ice bucket, and optionally - straws and decorations. It’s also good to think ahead, so try finding a quality bar runner as these absorb the spills and ensure the bar surface stays protected. You can also use coasters or cocktail napkins to make your bar area more elegant and give it a personal touch. Subtle lighting is advisable to create a cozy and warm atmosphere. Depending on the overall style of your interior, you can even opt for a neon signs, similar to the one in the Tom Cruise movie “Cocktail”.

Choosing Liquor

To make an impressive bar that has almost everything, you don’t have to own dozens of different brands of vodkas or expensive whiskies. Stock the essentials. If you want to make cocktails, the most popular ones contain gin, vodka, rum, and bourbon. Whiskey sours are also a usual part of the cocktail drinking menu, as well as tequilla. Pay special attention to vermouth and bitters, as they will help all the flavors blend together. Try having other mixers on your hands at all times. These include soda, juice, coke, and some type of tonic water. Salt, pepper, lemon, oranges, and grapefruits should also be around. You can also search the web to find some drinkingrecipes and keep them near until you get in the hang of it.

Are you ready to design the home bar of your dreams? Keep these tips in mind and enjoy creating a great personal space for all of your sip-lovers!

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2017/10/how-to-design-perfect-home-bar.html

Is the Housing Market Ready for a Tech Disruption?

While the Silicon Valley is still the technology hub of United States – and from the look of things, it’s going to stay for decades to come – it doesn’t mean things aren’t happening all across the country. In fact, real estate startups are starting to pop up around the US.

And with CBRE’s acquirement of Floored back in January, it not only shows that real estate startups are starting to reach a maturation point, but also that technology is finally starting to make some waves in the real estate industry.

Why Did We Wait for So Long?

For your average home buyer, the impact of technology on the real estate market is still not exactly visible – but trusts us, it is in fact there. You just need to squint a little bit to really see it. However, unlike in many other industries out there, consumers still heavily rely on other people rather than applications to find what they want.

According to NAR’s Real Estate in a Digital Age report, people work with a real estate agent roughly 88% of the time to find a property they want. Although the initial process may start online, people still turn to the advice from a trusted agent when it’s decision-making time.

And that’s just one of the reasons why the housing market has been so resistant to changes. Here are a couple more reasons why people strain from technology in this particular industry:

·         Despite all progress, real estate is still mainly local and knowing the neighborhood has value;

·         Local brokers usually have the monopoly on property through the MultipleListing Service;

·         Most people don’t understand the information they are presented with so they need assistance from real estate agents;

·         Overly-complex contracts, mortgages and closings make potential buyers more comfortable working closely with an agent, even if his fee is expensive.

The State of the US Real Estate Market

In addition to the reasons we listed above, the market in the United States pretty much different from any other market in the world. For instance, thanks to the intervention for the US government, the fixed-rate mortgages are almost universal in all of the states and locals, which is not so common in the rest of the world.

And that’s not all. The Mortgage interest-tax deduction is also a valuable part of country’s tax code and last but not least, the standard 6% commission for brokers in the country is much larger than in any other country out there – which you can see on the international property catalogue Tranio. Basically, our market is inefficient to say the least.

The Disruption Has Already Begun

You’re probably thinking, since people are so dependent on real estate agents and since the market is so specific, the housing market will stay the same for a long time, right? Wrong… You’re about to see that the housing market is not only ripe for a tech disruption but that some changes have already begun. And here are a couple of things you should have in mind:

·         The Demand for Lower Commission Rates

This is not a new issue by any stretch of imagination. For example, just take a look at this 2005 Times article that talks about a variety of flat-fee and even about the possibility of discount brokers. And these complaints about the broker fees continued well into 2010s.

Two years ago, the Washington Post reported on the DANGER report, which rocked the whole industry with the acknowledgement that people are now demanding lower rates and that brokers all across the US are responding to the demand with new pricing models that are expected to become common in the next 5 to 10 years.

While people still need a real estate company to discuss the details of the purchase – especially when it comes to a commercial property, which tends to be more complicated - information out there, people simply need less from real estate agents. Simply put, agents are less essential than they’ve been before.

·         The Upsurge of Real Estate Apps

According to a 2015NAR survey, around 40% of first-time buyers look for properties online as a first step in the home-buying process. But the Internet is just a part of the story – ever since the introduction of the iPhone, home-sale data has been set free.

You know the saying – if it exists, there’s an app for it – and today, you can find a number of useful real estate apps like Zillow, Redfin and a dozens of others with just a few clicks. What’s more, these apps can help you right there on the spot, while you’re still looking at various properties.

For example, you can just take a walk around a neighborhood and use Zillow to see what homes are for sale, what they cost, what was sold at  what prices. You can even get a virtual tour and see the pictures of the interiors. To cut a long story short, a simple app can now provide you with all of the information an agent can for a one-time fee or in some cases, completely free.

·         The Amount of Available Data

Let’s back at Zillow once again. If you’re selling a house, you can easily use Zillow’s database to sell your house a lot faster. You just need to register at their official site to do it and the process is surprisingly quick and the best thing about it – it’s completely free.

You just need to search for homes similar to your – with the same number of rooms, the same proximity to schools, with an updated kitchen, so on and so forth – and use that information to create two separate lists. One should be a list of homes similar to yours and the other made up of homes sold in the last year or so. This will allow you to see what is currently at sale and what sold in the past.

These two price ranges will help you find a sweet spot in between and help you sell your house quickly. This is just one of the many ways consumers could use a huge amount of data out there to deal with their real estate problems without any intervention from a real estate agent.

The Bottom Line

In the end, you can clearly see that new technologies are changing the housing market as we speak. Not a day goes by without a fresh new startup popping up, promising to bring a new wave of innovation in the world of real estate. And we all have to agree that the tech revolution is inevitable in the real estate market, whether some people like it or not.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2017/10/is-housing-market-ready-for-tech.html

How to deal with moving

House moving is one of the most stressing experience that human beings go through. This is because you are leaving behind a huge part of you, for example, your friends, neighbors and your family members as well. You also need to pack up your belongings find a vehicle to help you move, and we cannot forget the activity of finding a pleasant home in your new town. Although this is an experience most of us would not want to go through, here are some tips to keep in mind and help you on how to deal with moving if at one time you will require doing so.

Tips on how to deal with moving.

1. Get familiar with your new area.

Before you leave your current home, gather enough information about your new home to have an idea of what to expect. If you have kids, you can also research on the best nearby schools that you can enroll them in. Write down what you love to do maybe on the weekend and research to see if your new hometown has the facilities that offer or will cater for your needs. This will make it easy for you to locate such services once you move there.

 

2. Visit your new home.

This is an essential guide for those with kids. Before you pack from your older house, take your kids to the new home and show them around the house that they will be settling in soon. You can also bring them to a nearby mall located in the town you are moving to, to see if they will like it or not. This helps prepare the kids to part ways with the current home experiences and also helps them to adjust once they move to the new home since they had seen it previously. You may notice that the kids like the new home more if the area has enticing features.

3. Hire a reliable removal vehicle.

Don't just hire any removal car that you find online or you are referred to. Focus on looking for a company that will make the process easy and faster such that you don't end up draining all your energy and emotions trying to organize the employees. If you opt to research online on the best companies to hire for removal purposes, choose the company that has enough experience and excellent customer service. You can find such companies on http://www.suprememanvan.com.

4. Involve your kids in the process.

Make your kids part of this process since it makes the entire process to be easy and smooth too. You can request them to help you in packing their clothes, toys and marking the packed boxes. The kids can also assist in the new home by organizing their closets.

5. Take care of yourself.

Moving is stressful and can lender you to forgetting about yourself and health especially in the case where unavoidable circumstances are forcing you to move. But you need a lot of energy during the moving day and organizing your new home so take good care of yourself and eat healthy meals. Accepting the move will also make things easy and less stressful for you.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2017/10/how-to-deal-with-moving.html

Enlighten your outdoor garden space with rattan garden furniture

What can be more wonderful than welcoming your guests for alfresco lunches during summers and springs? And yes, what better than to deck up your outdoor recreational space with rattan garden furniture. They are a great choice when you want to look for something different than the regular indoor dining tables. So, renovate your garden space with the super stylish and highly functional rattan garden dining sets.

How to deck up your outdoor space with rattan furniture?

Rattan or should we say natural rattan is now overpowered by synthetic rattan in terms of popularity and use. Over the years, the love for rattan outdoor garden furniture has only increased, thanks to the manufacturers who discovered HDPE that offers extreme versatility, functionality and above all looks extremely stylish and lasts longer than you could think of.

The first consideration that you should pay is the space for which you are thinking of decking up with rattan furniture. For the conservatories and the patio, you can well think of corner sofa sets or even a table and a chair or even a cube set would look awesome. Well, if it is garden space, then first measure the space and then look for the furniture.

The options in dining sets are immense. You can pick from round dining set, square, rectangle, cube or even corner set. if you just want to achieve a cosy space wherein you can soak in the sun reading your favourite book or spending some close moments with your friends or loved ones, you can well consider sofa sets where you can unwind and retire for the day bed. Day beds are also becoming quite popular for you need not require any parasol and you can still beat the sun and enjoy a small nap.

It is apt to call rattan outdoor garden furniture “Bold and Beautiful” for it is manufactured from the best quality HDPE. You can leave them outdoors for the entire rain even if it is raining, snowfall or harsh sun rays. Rattan furniture bravely faces all the vagaries of nature and still maintains its shine and elegance.

Today’s rattan furniture comes in various colours too. it is not just natural hues from which you have to make a choice, but today you can choose from black, grey, white and silver as well. If you want more colours, why not have colourful scatters that you can change as and when you want. The cushion covers are removable and even washable too.

At Brooks Rattan Garden Furniture, outdoor rattan garden furniture not only comes with extensive range but with the promise of best price and free shipping. Moreover, you also enjoy an extended 10 year all weather guarantee on the entire range.

Outdoor rattan garden furniture is definitely a stylish and at the same time an intelligent investment for the home owners who want to give a different look to their outdoor recreational space.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2017/09/outdoor-garden-space-rattan-garden-furniture.html

Does Artwork Enhance a Home?

Way back in the mists of time, prehistoric man created cave paintings using naturally sourced materials, presumably to add a bit of ambiance to his home. As the centuries rolled on, man invested in paintings and sculptures to decorate his home. He sought out talented individuals and commissioned works of art. By the time the 20^th century came, the development of mass-market printing techniques enabled artwork to be distributed to the masses. Mrs. Jones at 49 Acacia Avenue couldn’t afford to buy a Van Gogh painting of sunflowers, but she could afford a nice fine art reproduction print in a pretty frame. 

Of course, not everyone appreciates artwork. Some people have no interest in hanging paintings or prints on their wall. For them, the idea of browsing art galleries and buying a painting doesn’t appeal. They would rather hang a 4K HDR top-of-the-range television on their wall and stare at that all night. Well, each to their own, but in case you are ruminating on the question of whether artwork enhancesa home, let’s discuss.

What’s Your Personal Taste in Art?

You don’t need to be an expert to appreciate fine art. We all have our own personal taste in art. Some people love realistic landscapes whereas others prefer modernist abstract paintings. Try to imagine how the world would look with no pictures, no advertising in magazines or on the screen. The world would be a very different place. 

Art is known to relieve stress, which is why it is common to see artwork in hospitals and medical centers. Sure, staring at a painting of a cute puppy is probably not going to make your toothache go away, but it might distract you for a few blissful moments. 

Art Soothes Stress

The fact is, people instinctively feel better when they can look at artwork. It helps us to relax, soothes a fractious mood, and creates a sense of harmony, in much the same way that listening to music does. Researchers have also found that artwork in offices enhances productivity, which is why many businesses pay a lot of money for fine art paintings on top sites like fineartamerica.com to hang on their walls! 

Hanging art on your wall is a form of self-expression. We are drawn to artwork that “speaks” to us on a subliminal level. You might not understand it, but it doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate it. Art often provokes strong emotions, some positive and some negative. Choosing artwork for your walls gives people an insight into your personality. If they don’t know you that well, they can glean things about you from the type of artwork you like. 

The Finishing Touch

Artwork adds a finishing touch to a room’s décor. Think of a print or painting as the icing on the cake. Bare, naked walls are plain and uninspiring, but a colorful painting hung in a prominent spot invites conversation and enhances the room immeasurably. 

You don’t need to be an expert to buy art. You also don’t need to be wealthy. Look for fine art prints or work created by local artists and select the pieces that you love the most.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2017/09/does-artwork-enhance-home.html

7 Hassle free tips when moving house in Sarasota

Are you planning a move to Sarasota, FL? Maybe you have to relocate for work or an irresistible business opportunity. Perhaps you are in the military or there is a serious health issue in your family. Whatever the situation, you do not have to compound things by stressing over the move, which is a common response. Instead, here are seven moving tips to make packing up your life and embarking on a new journey hassle-free.

1. Plan Ahead

As anyone who has moved can tell you, the process of relocating your home and family to a new location can be thrilling, frustrating, exciting, and angst-filled all at the same time. The best way to avoid chaos during a move is to have everything planned out in advance and contingencies in place if problems arise. Start packing as soon as possible and know what items will be going with you. Then, you can make arrangements for donations and decide how to dispose of other unwanted and/or unneeded items. Maybe family or friends can benefit from your hand-me-downs. It is also a good idea to contact moving and storage companies inSarasota well in advance to ensure services and/or availability on the desired moving date(s).

2. Compile a List

When moving, you want to make sure that everything is documented. As such, prior to packing your first box, you need to develop a record keeping and tracking system. You should also save it to your computer for future reference and/or if problems arise. You can organize via labels, numbers, stickers, or some other coding system to track the contents of your home. If you are on a shoestring budget and/or your family has been devastated by the recent hurricanes in Florida, then even a simple notebook could do the job. No matter what system you use, every box, suitcase, and/or storage container should be marked according to the record keeping system.

3. Find Plenty of Packing Materials

When preparing for a move, you must have plenty of packing materials. This means stocking up on boxes, tape, labels, stickers, and other essential items. The best places to find boxes include liquor stores, grocery chains, recycling centers, etc. They usually have an abundance of clean boxes of varying sizes that are free for the taking. If you are fond of online shopping, save your clean shipping containers or ask family and/or friends to save theirs for you. In a pinch, you can also purchase clean boxes that are suitable for packing. Instead of spending money on bubble wrap, consider using blankets, newspapers, sheets, etc. to cushion fragile items and keep them safe.

4. Keep Important Papers Within Reach

All personal information and important papers,such as personal ID, credit cards, social security information, recent bank records, etc., should be kept within reach. You should have a special container or place for these items and know where they are at all times.

5. Keep Cherished Items Out of Reach

As with number 4 above, any family heirlooms and cherished items should be given extra care and attention. They should be kept out of harm's way and moved by their owners if possible. If this is not an option, the movers should be notified in advance of their significance and extra precautions should be taken to ensure their safe transport.

6. Compartmentalize Your Belongings

In preparation for a move, you should take the opportunity to sort through your belongings and decide their fate. The simplest and most effective way is to compartmentalize your belongings into four sections--Keep, Sell, Donate, and Trash. As you are going through your home and packing up, this strategy should be employed in each room.

7. Downsize Your Life

A relocation presents the opportunity for new beginnings. Consider the benefits of downsizing as you go and the potential profit that can be made from selling off unwanted and/or unneeded items.

As we addressed in this article, there are many ways to help make your upcoming move easier and more efficient. These tips can assist anyone with their relocation--whether it is in Sarasota, across town, coast-to-coast, or another country. Consider these strategies for a hassle-free move when packing up your possessions and embarking on a new life.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2017/09/moving-house-sarasota.html