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How to Make Your Property Into a Pad

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Every guy I know has a secrete yearning to own a ‘pad’. When you’re young, successful and single, having a bachelor pad that shows off your success and your sense of style can serve not only as a great way to impress friends and potential partners, but also as a reward for all your hard work and validation of your success. Having a great flat that has all the bells and whistles means you’ve ‘made it’ and it’s a sure fire way to be the envy of all your friends and colleagues.


But how do you make a flat or a townhouse into a real bachelor pad? Here we will look at the secrets to making your flat say ‘success’ and ‘style’ even if you aren’t actually bringing in the mega bucks yet.

Minimalism

The first thing you need to focus on is creating a minimal design that doesn’t feature too much clutter or crowd out your spaces. Many people who want to have the best looking homes will make the mistake of decorating them with as much as they can find and stuffing them full of trinkets and items, but all this does is to dilute the impact of each thing on display and make the space look untidy.

Living Room with Bamboo Garden

By having just a few items on show instead you can make sure you choose only your very favourite belongings to display which means the average quality and value there will be greater. Furthermore this will create more open space which makes the rooms look larger and thus more luxurious (and more relaxing to spend time in).

Light

To further make your space look larger you should try and open it out as much as possible and use large windows and light colours to ensure lots of light gets around the room. This will make everything look instantly cleaner, instantly bigger and instantly more relaxing.

Using an open plan layout can also help with this and that’s a great way to make a space look modern while enabling you to entertain. An open plan kitchen that is nevertheless separate from the main room will allow you to cook and prepare food while guests relax on the sofa, or to eat your cereal on the counter while you watch TV before work.

Flooring

A wooden floor or concrete floor is a great way to avoid patterned or coloured carpets which date and stain and also a great way to make your home easier to keep clean.

Technology

Having lots of technology in your property is a great way to make it seem more luxurious, more automated and more modern. A big TV has long been a mark of success, but other smaller elements like having a tablet computer on a coffee table or a more advanced shower with multiple shower heads and settings can also sell the fact that you’ve spared no luxuries.

Taste and Variety

Wall Plates

To have a real pad you shouldn’t just be trying to demonstrate your resources but also your taste and lifestyle. Choose some items to display then that will show off where you’ve travelled and your hobbies and interests, but again keep these more minimal – so that means one piano or guitar, or just one tribal mask from your gap year. These also serve as fantastic conversation starters.

Attached Images:
  •  License: Creative Commons image source
  •  License: Creative Commons image source

Susan Lewis is a home maker and has bought her first home recently. She says that Investment in Property in Melbourne is on a high these days as a huge number of houses have been sold and bought.

How to Come Up With Amazing Ideas for Your Garden

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For many of us coming up with a layout for our garden is a speedy and routine process. In most cases we will go with the normal design conventions that gardens tend to feature (a patio, a lawn and perhaps some flowers around the edge) and will be happy to keep our garden pretty much the way it was when we moved into the property.

Of course doing this though means that we won’t be taking full advantage of the space, and would mean missing out on many of the great opportunities that a garden presents. Here then we will look at some ways that you can come up with a garden design that will be more creative and that will help you to take full advantage of the space.

Look Around

Of course the first thing you can do to get ideas for your garden is to look around other gardens. This will mean visiting friends, looking around garden centres, or just browsing images of gardens online in order to get a feel for the kind of thing you like and that you might want for your garden. You may find a garden that you want to practically replicate for yourself, or you might just spot particular features and items that you want to use instead. Either way, this is a great place to find inspiration.

Use a Mood Board

(moj) FLAJER / (my) flyer

In any interior – or in this case exterior – design, a mood board can be a very useful tool for coming up with a design you’re happy with. Essentially a mood board is a collage that you create by taking images, photographs and words and attaching them to the page. This way you can start to come up with a general ‘theme’ that you want for your garden and start to get an idea of the colours, the features and the ‘style’ that you want to employ. If nothing else this is a great way to communicate to your landscaping contractors the kind of feel you want for them to work from.

Research

Researching what’s possible in a garden and the kinds of additional features and things you can get for them is another way to expand your horizons and to come up with new ideas. For instance you may never have heard of the ‘office pod’ which is essentially a pod that you can place at the end of your garden to create an enclosed working space. It’s very modern and very cool and completely changes the way you view what’s possible in your garden. Likewise researching the plants you can grow in your climate and your soil can help you to get a realistic idea of what you want to grow in your garden.

Sketch

Less involved than a mood board but just as useful is to simply sketch out some ideas, and as you start to find the features and the items you want for your garden you can use a sketch to come up with an actual layout and a plan for where you want them all and how they’ll work with your larger design.

Attached Images:

Sharon King is a home improvement expert and says that it is a great idea to try new things while designing. She also says that you can take help from landscaping company while designing your garden.

5 Overused Decorating Trends You Should Avoid

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What’s old is sometimes new and what’s new can sometimes get old. While a design trend may be hot, there comes a time when you should move on. Whether it’s a room completely covered in chalkboard paint or a room filled with reclaimed “treasures”, some trends have been done to death. The following are just five overused decorating trends you should avoid.

Stereotypical Design

Stereotypical design has been a problem since the first homeowner added a tiki bar to their basement. People think that they can just throw a symbol of a culture in the room and create the style, but it isn’t so. Instead of trying to recreate Mexican flare with a sombrero, study the colors and design of Mexican culture and create a room doesn’t look like a Mexican restaurant.

Chalkboard Paint

There’s no denying the fact that chalkboard paint is a cool addition to almost any room. Unfortunately, people have taken this trend to the extreme. Instead of painting your entire child’s room in chalkboard paint, boarder off an area to make it look like an actual chalkboard. This would be a great place for him to keep notes about upcoming sports practice or tests.

Above the Fireplace TV Mounting

Let’s get one thing straight. A fireplace should be the focal point of a room and it should never have to compete with a TV. Not to mention that the heat of a fireplace can shorten the lifespan of your precious TV. You can opt to focus your seating arrangement on the fireplace, but still have comfortable access to the TV or you can create separate seating areas.

Disconnected Design

Stop trying to make your bedroom look like a posh hotel room. A room should be designed with your interests in mind. The room should scream your name, rather than looking like a room that can be seen in hotels across the country. Choose design elements that relate to you. You might start out with a bold paint color or even base your design off a beautiful duvet.

Reclaim Overload

There’s nothing wrong with salvaging that piece of furniture from the flea market and making it new again. A reclaimed piece can add character to an updated room. When the room is nothing but reclaimed pieces, it starts to look more like a thrift store than a chic living room. Be careful not to fall prey to reclaim overload.

There are so many wonderful design trends to choose from. Instead of choosing one that you’ve seen on TV numerous times, why not choose something new or even create your own design?

About the Author: Armand Heitland and his wife spent a lot of time planning their home decor. They recently found contemporary sectional sofas from gowfb.com and have had a few classical murals painted directly onto some of their entryway walls.

Zip it Up–Top Tips to Protect Your Plants from Winter’s Cold

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With winter at its peak, you’ve probably never thought of tending to your garden. However, keep in mind that the cold temperatures this season brings can be difficult on your plants. So to make sure that they’ll make it through the winter, it’s never to late to zip them up so that they can brave the cold. You can also do other gardening chores this season that will ensure you’ll have a healthy garden as spring approaches. Here are some of the best tips to accomplish such things.

Around the garden

If there are remaining potted plants outside, wheel them in a sun room, shed, greenhouse or garage. Although they may not be at their best indoors since they won’t be receiving sufficient sunlight, the shade will ensure that they’ll make it long enough to survive through the winter.

Don’t forget to rake around your garden for fallen leaves because if you leave them be, they can cause heavy damage and may even serve as a breeding ground for diseases come spring time. Likewise, it might be the worse chore for winter, but you still need to do some weeding since weeds don’t take vacations. Most weeds are undergoing their flowering and seeding stages during winter, so before they spread their seeds, uproot them to save yourself from future weeding.

Trees and Shrubs

For your trees and shrubs, it’s all about covering them up against the cold and pruning. If snow has built up on the branches of the trees, make sure it doesn’t turn into ice by knocking it off from the branches using an upward motion to prevent the limbs from breaking. After you’ve done this, you can prune most of the shrubs and deciduous shade trees around your garden, but avoid pruning flowering trees.

Check around if there are newly planted trees, especially those with thin barks, and shrubs that you forgot to wrap. If there are, cover their trunks from the base up to keep moisture at bay. Then, build wind breaks around trees and shrubs that are not protected. Position poles on the ground, making two sides of a triangle. The triangle’s tip should be positioned on the spot that receives the most wind. Then attach a burlap or cloth around the posts, but make sure that it doesn’t touch the leafy parts. This will protect the trees and shrubs from freezing.

Indoor plants

Although your houseplants may not be totally exposed to the perils of winter, they still require special attention so that they will not succumb to the cold. Hence, check all of your plants for pests or diseases. If some of them are affected, treat them with organic products to prevent the pests or diseases from spreading.

When watering the houseplants, do it minimally. The water should just be enough to saturate the soil and drain through the container holes. Make sure not to over water the plants, or else they’ll end up soaking in standing water that can damage their roots. Also, take the time to turn plants every other week so that all the foliage will receive sufficient sunlight. And during extremely cold nights, draw down the curtains or blinds to protect the plants on your windowsills against the cold.

This guest post was penned by Ericka for http://www.steelbuildingsdesign.co.uk/. Ericka is passionate about learning and sharing information about gardening. She is also fond of writing articles about home improvement.

Why Aphids And Ants Are Common Garden Pest Problems

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A common garden problem that many homeowners have is the infestation of ants and aphids. When these two pests are present in a garden, you can expect the damages to be serious especially when they are not treated immediately. While aphids have a preference to stay in a certain location to drink the sap of plants and excrete honeydew, ants on the other hand are always on the move, constantly feeding and they are also known to be very aggressive towards other insects and even humans when disturbed. It may seem incredible that aphids and ants can live together in one location, but as each benefit from the other, their relationship only makes sense. As such, eradicating them from your garden is important if you intend to have a healthy and presentable garden.

The Incredible Relationship

Aphids feed on plant sap and they then eliminate amounts of sugar in the form of honeydew, in order to obtain the amino acid content in the sap to enable them to build proteins. The honeydew being eliminated by the aphids is a moderately concentrated solution which is irresistible to ants and other pests. As such, ants feed on the honeydew without attacking the aphids, but they have been known to attack those that may feed on aphids, in order to protect the aphid colony. Ants are aware that they can feed abundantly when aphids exist. Aphids in turn, are able to thrive and feed in peace knowing that the ants will protect them from predators as long as honeydew is always available.

How Aphids And Ants Feed

Aphids feed by lining up along the stem of plants and on the plant buds, then pumping sap into their guts from the plant’s cells. The sap not being rich in amino acids, but being rich in sugar is expelled by the aphids by passing it unabsorbed through the digestive tract. This expelled sugar is known as the honeydew.

Ants on the other hand feed on a broad diet, expect plant stems and leaves. They can feed on fruits, seeds, insects and different organic matter. Once with amino acids and when they find an abundant supply of sugar, ants will collect and store the sugar as their food supply during the winter.

In order to receive the supply of honeydew, ants and aphids have a unique way of communicating. Aphids have a section on their abdomen called cornicles that look like the rounded heads of ants having two antennae and pointed chins. When ants stroke the abdomen of the aphids, they do it in a similar way of how they stroke the head and antennae of their fellow ants. After stroking, aphids release drops of honeydew, which the ant swallows and carries off to the nest after feeding on a few.

Ants are very useful to aphids and when the number of aphids is great in a garden, you can expect the number of ants to be great as well. Ants do not cause any direct damages to a garden, but they allow aphids to exist when they prevent predators from feeding on aphids, just so they can feed and store honeydew. In order to get rid of aphids in a garden, it is essential that ant control is applied first before dealing with the aphid infestation.

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Attached Images:
  •  License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://mrg.bz/NYb1m4

Valerie Williams is a freelance writer specializing in natural forms of pest control as well as the effects different pests have in gardens. She regularly contributes articles to websites where reliable Preventive Pest Control professionals can be consulted.

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