May 21, 2012

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Don’t waste space in your home

April 2, 2012 By Danielle J

Many people find that their homes have rooms that get little or very occasional use, and yet they don’t have enough room in the rest of the house for what they want to do. For example, how often do you really eat in the dining room and how many days of the year does it sit there, museum-like, in a state of readiness for the next big occasion like Christmas or Easter?

With modern lifestyles, the traditional dining room gets less and less use, unless you make a real point of dining in there regularly. But if that all seems like too much trouble compared to sitting down to eat at the table in the kitchen, why not use the dining room for something else?

Dining rooms can make great home offices for example. You can easily change the furniture around in there to accommodate a desk and computer and perhaps a bookcase, too. It’s easy enough to run a phone line in there, or just use wireless connection to the internet.

Or you might want to do away with the dining table altogether, especially if you have one in the kitchen  or conservatory, and use the ‘dining room’ as a second sitting room. If this is the case, then you just need to pick out one of the many sofas that you see on sale these days and perhaps add a nice new rug and you’ve instantly got an extra living room. This can be really useful if you have older children who like to watch different things on TV or younger children who could do with more space to play with their board games etc.

Check out Harveys furniture store for ideas on how to revamp your dining room into a space that gets used 365 days a year and not just on Sundays!

Filed Under: Decorating, Home Improvements Tagged With: , , ,

Making the right improvements to sell your house

February 27, 2012 By Danielle J

As anyone who has experience will tell you, moving home can be a stressful time. This is especially the case if you have found your new dream home and are now in a desperate rush to quickly sell up and move.

If you have put time, effort and love into your home then the last thing you want is to be ripped off by selling at a lower price than you would like because you’re in a rush. So, to ensure you not only sell quickly but sell at the right price, make sure your home looks at its very best when you show around potential buyers.

Investing in a few key home improvements now could end up making you money in the long run when you sell your home for the price it deserves.

Starting in the kitchen, if your kitchen units, appliances or furniture are very old and battered then you may want to consider investing in some reasonably-priced but good quality kitchen items from a stockist such as Wren Kitchens. This isn’t to suggest that you pay for a brand new fully-fitted kitchen of course, but a few key pieces could make all the difference to the look of your kitchen and therefore how much you ultimately sell your home for.

You can take this approach to home improvements and apply it to all of the other rooms in your house. Rather than refitting everything, a few new additions or replacements and a spot of DIY here and there may be all that is needed to improve the look of your home and impress those potential buyers.

Putting in a bit of effort now and spending a little bit of money could end up saving you thousands when you get the asking price you were hoping for.

Filed Under: Decorating, Home Improvements Tagged With: , , , ,

Make your house a home

February 15, 2012 By Danielle J

Have you ever noticed how some people can have the most beautiful house in the world – but it doesn’t really feel like a true home?

And have you also noticed how often the reverse is also true?

You may find someone living in a really run-down area in a mediocre house, but from the moment you walk through the door you just know it’s a real home. It just has that certain something about it that yells happiness, contentment and a secure, contented nature at you.

There are so many programmes on the TV these days that concentrate on the house rather than the home. Rather like trendy magazines featuring rich celebrities and their cars and houses etc., it’s as if the programmes are specifically designed to create envy and dissatisfaction with oneself. People see it and want it – no matter what it is; everything rom cars, to clothes, to physiques and yes, to house.

You really have to dismiss all this kind of nonsense from your mind or you will never achieve true contentment. There will always be people with more than you have – which is of better quality – and if your nature is to feel envious of them, you must either decide to deal with it or face a life of continual discontent as the desire for more, bigger and better will never go away. The problem isn’t in the stuff – it’s in you.

Nevertheless, our homes are very important to human beings – whatever they look like. And it’s natural to make every effort to make them be a home – filled with things we love rather than those which are there to try and impress other people.

A cheap dining table and chairs that you happen to love for some reason you just can’t articulate – is a far better purchase than the best set money can buy that you’re continually worried about scratching and which is there to impress.

Similarly, if you love sitting in front of a fire in your scruffy old recliners on a cosy evening in – but they don’t quite match up to the “Jones’s” furnishings, who cares if you don’t? No-one is really judging you but yourself. So relax, be yourself – and, more importantly still, be true to yourself.

Filed Under: Home Improvements Tagged With: , , ,

The Overstated Importance of Location

January 30, 2012 By Danielle J

Location, location, location: the one true answer to buying or selling a home, or a worn-out cliché? While location is important, it’s not the “be all and end all”, and that’s a good thing for sellers because it’s the one thing they cannot change. If a property is in an undesirable spot, price and marketing come to the fore. Instead of dropping the price, a good estate agent might revamp their marketing strategy to include other positive aspects. If the price is right, and the package is marketed correctly, you can sell a house no matter where it is located.

Certain buyers may have particular needs that your property meets well, and which are more important than its location. For example, a potential buyer may have a disability and therefore favour houses geared towards this with wheelchair access, walk in showers etc. Other buyers may be looking for somewhere as a second home during the week so that they can avoid a long daily commute, in which case, proximity to popular secondary schools would not necessarily be a priority.

If you have a property which is partly suited to the elderly or people with mobility needs – such as a bungalow – and you wish to update these aspects prior to putting it on the market, it is worth getting some professional advice from an experienced firm like Mobility-plus.co.uk, as to what can be improved without undertaking a large, expensive project.

Before making any alterations to carpets, wallpaper or any other aspect of your home, it is worth getting advice from your estate agent as to what is worth doing and what is best left. Many sellers make the mistake of replacing their kitchen in order to modernize the home, only to choose kitchen units that potentials buyers don’t like and would want to rip out!

Filed Under: Home Improvements, Property Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Balcony Business

January 29, 2012 By Danielle J

If you are lucky enough to have a balcony in your home and even more lucky, to have it in your bedroom then it might be pretty much unused apart from on the sunniest days of the year. To get the most from your balcony space here are a few novel ideas of what to do with your bedroom balcony which you might not have thought of before…

  1. Sunbathe in the altogether. As long as you are not overlooked, what could be more decadent than a bit of nudey sun worshipping?! Make sure you apply a high factor sun lotion everywhere though to avoid any sore spots.

  2. Start your day the continental way. Get up early and energise yourselves with an al fresco breakfast in the bright morning sun. A café table and chairs will look pretty and your croissants will have never tasted better.

  3. Get into bonsai. Gardening may not be your thing but how about some pretty little trees or maybe an herb garden which will fragrance your bedroom beautifully too and supply the cook of the house with fresh ingredients.

  4. A place for peace and quiet. Scour the best bed sale you can find for a day bed or chaise longue and position it facing the windows and doors to the balcony. Enjoy the view without worrying about getting cold.

  5. Midnight feast. Stay up late for a film or a chat and then take a mini picnic onto the balcony for a romantic nibble by moonlight. Add champagne for a real taste of the glamorous life.

  6. Sleep under the stars. On warm nights push your latest pride and joy from www.bensonsforbeds.co.uk out onto the balcony and sleep outside. Pretend you’re on a luxury yacht or glamping!

  7. Special occasions. Whatever the weather cuddle up outside under a blanket and enjoy a firework display from the best seats in the house – magic.

Filed Under: Home Improvements Tagged With: , ,
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