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You’ve found your dream home and it’s everything you could hope for. Still, you want to make a few small tweaks to stamp your style on it. Your attention turns to the bathroom, but you don’t want to make any serious changes. Can you upgrade your bathroom without making big renovations or remodels?
Yes - and it’s rather easy too. Here are four very cheap bathroom upgrades that’ll improve this space without needing loads of work:
Fix up the grouting
The grout between tiles can make a bathroom look pretty old and worn. White grout gets dirty very quickly, so consider cleaning this for a start. Already, you notice a difference and the whole room seems fresher.
But, go one step further and use a grout colorant to change the grout color to something else. This makes maintenance easier but it also alters the interior design and makes your bathroom look much nicer.
Add hanging storage
Bathrooms don’t come with lots of storage space outside of vanity cabinets. This means the bath or shower is littered with shampoo bottles and all sorts of other stuff. Adding in some hanging storage will negate this, cleaning up your bathroom and improving its overall look.
It’s really easy to do this - just bang a nail into the wall or find a hook you can stick to tiles. From here, get baskets or shower caddies and you have more storage around the room. You can even hang plants in baskets to further improve the interior appeal!
Repaint your bathroom
Sometimes, the easiest way to upgrade a room is by repainting it. This is a low-cost task that shouldn’t take long in a bathroom because some of the walls will be covered in tiles. Consider switching things up and picking one of the best bathroom paint colors for this space.
If your bathroom is originally white, think about moving to a blueish-gray or subtle aloe green. A paint change immediately alters your bathroom’s appearance and will be a huge upgrade.
Swap out some bathroom fittings
Of all the ideas, this one requires a bit more work. Here, you take some of the bathroom fittings - like faucets or shower heads - and replace them with something new.
It sounds harder than it is - most replacements can be done within half an hour at most. This is a chance to upgrade the fittings to modern designs, which will enhance the look and feel of your bathroom. It also helps you get rid of any moldy or rusty fittings, so you can start afresh.
As an extra bonus, a new shower head fitting could improve water pressure and bring more functionality to your bathroom!
In conclusion, there are loads of ways to upgrade your bathroom without undergoing extensive renovation work. The ideas above can all be completed within a day, and you won’t need to knock walls down or remove massive parts of your bathroom. It just goes to show how small changes can have a very big difference in a room’s interior design.
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An eco-friendly home helps you save money and ensures a better future for everyone, including your children. Additionally, it will increase the resale value as buyers look for certain expected modern features. From LED lights to AI assistance, here are some changes you can make now.
Renovate Less Often
Home renovation is a booming industry, and we all like a change-up now and then. You can immediately make a difference by prolonging the time between renovations, which at the moment is around 15 years on average. Yet sustainable materials such as Mexican tiles not only look great in almost all decor styles, but they last for a very long time. These durable and stylish tiles last so long that almost all manufacturers offer a 50-year warranty as a guarantee.
An Eco-Friendly Home Uses LED LightsYou have probably heard this one a million times now, but switching to LED lights is a great first step to embracing technology and becoming more eco-friendly. LED lights use around 90% less energy than a standard bulb. But the great thing about these is that many brands offer smart versions to use with common systems such as Alexa. Why would you do this? Well, with smart bulbs, you can set timers and switch them off remotely, so no lights are ever accidentally left on.
Install Smart Meters and Monitors
Further to smart technology, smart meters are a great way to get to grips with how much energy you use. You can get meters and monitors for many products these days, including your gas and electricity supply, water tanks, and heating systems. When you can instantly see how much you use and compare usage, you can make more informed decisions as to how you use energy in your home. You also get more accurate readings which can translate to savings on your bills.
Use Renewable Resources at Home
Unless you are a survival expert and don’t care about modern conveniences, you need energy at home. And there are more eco-friendly options available than ever before. Some are more widely available than others, depending on where you live. These include the following:
- Solar panels are much cheaper than they once were and work more effectively.
- Rainwater harvesting tanks can take rain, store and clean it for use later on.
- Wind turbines generate power from wind, which is great for use in places like the UK.
- Geothermal heating isn’t available everywhere but provides substantial heat.
- You can switch to renewable energy suppliers that don’t use fossil fuels for energy.
Of course, these all have an initial cost. But using just one of these methods can potentially save you some money while you make a great contribution to helping reduce carbon emissions.
Flush or Flushed?
We all have to “go” every day. But the toilet accounts for a large portion of a home’s water usage, around 30% in fact. You can make a small but effective change to this usage by installing dual flush toilets. These come with two rather than one flush system; one for, well, “one,” and one for “two.” These ensure that only the right amount of water needed is used when you flush, which not only lowers your bills but puts less strain on the public wastewater system.
An Eco-Friendly Home Using Virtual Assistants
Virtual assistants like Alexa and Google Nest are common these days because they have many great uses. Yes, they can switch on your lights. But the number of connected smart devices is growing and stands at over 50,000 from 5,500 manufacturers for Google alone. Devices connected to AI assistants can be controlled automatically. Alexa Hunches is a great way to reduce energy use, which will turn off devices, lights, or heating based on your usual activity.
Consider the Paint when Decorating
Not all 21st century methods of becoming more eco-friendly are based on tech. But there are some advancements to common tasks you can embrace. Paint is one of these. And as a homeowner or renter, you will probably paint a lot, especially if you want to extend the time between renovations. But as you may know, standard paint is very toxic for the environment and especially for children. Today you can get low-VOC paint made from harmless chemicals.
Summary
Waiting a bit longer between renovations is a great start to an eco-friendly home. But there are more tools you can use, such as AI and smart devices. Although there is an initial cost, you can embrace renewable energy at home, and even using non-VOC paint will help your efforts.
Stuck on your own room? I'll design it for you. See my online design services →
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Flat Rate Dorm Room Design via Online Design
Looking for help designing a dorm room or a college apartment room? Email your room dimensions along with pictures of the room & any existing furniture you want to incorporate and receive a complete room design which will consist of:
- a furniture floor plan layout (two options)
- furnishing selections (artwork, accessories, area rugs, furniture, & lighting)
- paint color swatches
- & a list of resources - all within your budget, which you can implement and purchase as your time & budget allow
Please reply to this email for more info, questions, or to forward pics and measurements.
Flat Rate Room Designs offered at just $500 per room. Payable via Venmo/Zelle.
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If you have a property of your own, you want to live in, or wish to rent out, you will know that it comes with a lot of hard work. Any homeowner or property investor has their work cut out. The stress of it all can sometimes get too much. If you don’t exactly know what you are doing in every facet, you might find yourself in a precarious position. You don’t have to be in this place, however. It can be a lucrative business if you do things correctly.
From the moment, you design your house for the moment you let it go, your creativity can shine as much as it likes. You can have plenty of extras while keeping things looking wonderful. As soon as you understand a few fundamentals, you should be good to go. You may not be able to do everything on your own, but that’s absolutely fine as the investment is worth the money. Here are a few pointers if you are wondering:
Have A Regular Maintenance Routine
It’s always good to be in the right routine, regardless of what you are trying to achieve. When it comes to looking after any kind of property, mainly a home, you should have everything in order. By no means should you have absolutely every aspect of it, but it’s good to have a plan in place. This kind of plan helps to keep standards high and helps you with day-to-day running. You’ll know exactly what to do each day and you’re run into fewer hiccups. You could even enlist help from cleaning services and other maintenance to help you out if you are struggling.
Repair And Upgrade Efficiently
At multiple points in your ownership, you will run into trouble and some tedious things will happen. This is an inevitable part of a property. If you prepare for this kind of thing, you will be in a much better place overall. This is because you will have time and money aside to deal with things efficiently. If you don’t prepare for these kinds of eventualities, you will be in for a shock when something big happens. Be sure to repair and replace pieces as soon as possible.
Think About Your Landscaping And Exterior
It’s not just the indoors that matters. The exterior and the landscaping of the entire property can do so much for first impressions. They will also do so much for the overall feel of the place. If there are a few things you can do regarding exterior maintenance, then it’s worth getting your hands dirty. If you have money to spend, it’s worth investing in the right kind of landscaping and gardening group. It’s amazing what these kinds of people can really do for your place.
Work Together With Professionals In All Areas
We’ve touched on this point, plenty already, but it’s worth reiterating. This is because they will do a much better job than what you can muster. This is by no means a negative thing because enlisting people with skills and experience will only make your life easier. Fundamentally, it’s a good idea to work together with a property management company that has seen situations like yours many times before. The competence shown by them can allow you to make plenty of money and to stay in a wonderful, functional property.
Stuck on your own room? I'll design it for you. See my online design services →
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There are many possible pathways to designing a wonderful house. However, for the most part, all of these avenues lead to the same goal - the ability to live in a comfortable, happy, healthy space. It’s not as if you’ll spend thousands on home design or renovating a property from the ground up to make it more inconvenient, drab, tiring, and uncomfortable to occupy.
So, it’s good to think about what we mean by the goals we aim at to begin with. If you hope to increase the natural light allowance of a property - why? Well, it helps the space feel larger, more comfortable, more beautiful, and open.
Let’s look at some of our other goals - comfortable, well that explains itself. Happy - that’s subjective, a consequence of achieving your design goals and having the house utility you desire. But healthy? Well, that’s an interesting point to discuss. To what extent can you design a house with health and well-being in mind?
In this post, we’ll discuss this pursuit at some length; hopefully yielding some usable insight:
Non-Toxic & Eco-Friendly Building Materials
It’s important to remember that whatever is healthy and sustainable for the environment is most likely healthy for you, too. Reclaimed or recycled materials can help lower the carbon impact of your house or renovations - reclaimed wood and recycled concrete serving as great examples. Bamboo is also being used for structural elements like wall panels thanks to its tensile strength and worth.
Hempcrete is a developing resource crafted from hemp fibers that can be a great concrete replacement and insulator. Of course, paint that uses limited VOCs will also release fewer toxins into the atmosphere. You can also invest in sustainable solutions for your household like solar panels making use of renewable energy. All of these efforts combine to eradicate the environmental impact of your home, which in itself feels great and certainly tips the scales in favor of a better society.
Ergonomics & Comforts
It’s also good to consider furnishings that are both comfortable to sit on and ergonomic. That might mean using chairs or sofas designed for your height if you’re a little taller or shorter on average, and office chairs that have been designed with lumbar support in mind.
Depending on the space you’re designing, you can alternate certain fixtures. You might prefer a wet room so you can easily walk into your shower each morning, or comforts could involve memory foam mattresses that conform to the shape of your sleeping position and allow a deeper sleep than you’ve ever known as a result.
Peace & Stress Reduction
Designing a house around stress reduction and peace might sound like a vague approach to take, but you’d be surprised. For example, fixtures that allow for the light trickle of streaming water over zen stones in your living room can be very calming and allow for meditative focus.
Great ventilation, air purifiers, and brighter colors also allows you to feel cleaner, as if the space is easier to breathe in and occupy. Stress reduction can also be developed purposefully - as crafting a small yoga room or reading corner you can escape to when you need to will really make a difference.
Also, you could work on the ambiance of the space, such as by implementing warming lamps at night to prevent overly clinical lighting, or implement hidden speakers and voice assistants so you can set the soundscape of the room, be that with zen music or light jazz, at any time of day.
Health Fixtures & Implements
Anything that helps you work on your health is, of course, going to affect your health within the household. For obvious reasons, you might consider a home gym, but you could also implement smaller purchases like orthopedic mattresses or seat cushions and armchairs as you need them.
You may even integrate steam showers which can function almost like saunas, which are great for your heart health and skincare, as exposure helps clear your pores. Depending on your own individual health needs, you may also integrate certain fixtures important to you. If an elderly parent is coming to live in your household, you might implement handholds near single steps up and down various areas of the property.
With this advice, we hope you’ll see that designing a house around the priority of personal health and wellbeing is absolutely a valid approach to take. At any level of its design, renovation or construction from scratch, fixtures, utilities and even decorations or additions can be a great way of improving health, and all combined, will have a major impact
Stuck on your own room? I'll design it for you. See my online design services →
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- It falls within your budget
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There is no denying that houses are expensive, so it is critical to find a property that you can afford when house hunting. Thankfully, you can get an online mortgage quote to find out how much money a lender is willing to give you by inputting a few pieces of information. With this sum in mind, you can know which home you can afford and which options to pass on, bringing you a step closer to your ideal home. Your dream home needs to fit your budget to avoid buyer's remorse and prevent falling into financial trouble.
2. You can imagine living in it
Many experts agree that it is always easier to picture yourself living in your dream house once you walk in it, whether you are a first-time homebuyer or not. Therefore, if you can already see yourself modifying the backyard in a certain way or using the shed as your home office, it is a clear indicator that you want to live in that space and should buy it immediately.
3. It checks all your boxes
While it is unlikely that there is a home out there with everything on your wishlist, your dream house will check many of the critical boxes. Therefore, a place with the most superficial interior and exterior features you fancy is undoubtedly your dream home. If this home is in your desired area and is close to important places like hospitals, shopping centers, your office, and schools, you can also consider it your dream property.
4. The home inspection goes well
It is common knowledge that a professional inspection is crucial when buying a home, irrespective of how great the property seems. These inspections can uncover any pre-existing issues that can affect the home's price and even your zeal to purchase the property in the first place. Consequently, if any of the 9,914 home inspectors currently employed in the country uncovers no nasty surprises after checking the property out, you can consider this a great sign to proceed with your home buying efforts.
5. You can't stop talking about it
It isn't uncommon to share the good news with others when you are delighted. Therefore, if several of your conversations with relatives and friends keep circling back to the highlights of a particular home, it likely means you are unconsciously in love with it. A direct comparison between two or more houses is one thing, but bragging about a specific home signifies that you already feel possessive.
It’s Future-Proofed Perfectly
If you have found a home that you feel is exactly what you need, one of the aspects will be that it kind of dots to your future needs. If the property you desire can evolve accordingly, you will be able to spend many years of happiness in this place. Future-proofing your home is like being able to see into the future. Whether you are starting your career or starting a family, you will need your home to be perfect for the years to come.
You'll be able to picture how things are going to look in the future regarding every room in the entire place. Longevity is such a huge deal when it comes to any property. Fundamentals such as the HVAC system are crucial, for instance. You'll know when to get a well-maintained Air Conditioning Repair Service in order to save the future of your home, too, for example. Future-proofing and looking at potential upgrades can be vital to your happiness - and if this potential home has that potential, it may be for you.
Stuck on your own room? I'll design it for you. See my online design services →
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A Promotion
The first thing that we’re going to say is that it might come in the form of a promotion. There are times where you have to work your way from the bottom up, until you get to the top! Every step in the ladder is gaining you new experience that you can add to your portfolio, making it a fantastic learning opportunity for you.
You should always be working towards the next promotion, always looking for the next step, and figuring out what you need to do to get there. You’re not going to get it every time, but you’ve just got to keep pushing through.
Starting Your Own Business
Another thing that you should consider doing is starting your own business. This is not going to be easy, but if you’re finding it hard to work for someone else, or you have a fantastic idea for a new company, then you should follow this idea. You are going to need to think about all of the things that you need like a business office, employees, money and more. Then, down the line, you’re going to need things like an IT service, marketing, and potentially things like gips consulting, but that’s a long way off.
Moving Abroad
Last but not least, you could consider moving abroad for your career. In some cases, moving abroad could be the opportunity that you have to move your career forward as this is where the next step is. We understand that this is not for everyone, and some people may not see this as a good thing, so it’s something that you should only agree to, or apply for if you think that it’s right for you.
Moving abroad could be a brand new adventure for you, and you get to learn more about the business and how it’s dealt with in a completely new place which looks great on your resume.
We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that might happen when you decide that you want to push your career to the next level. It’s something that you are going to need to work for, and we highly recommend that you keep track of all of the achievements you have made, so when things get tough, you can look back on these and see how far you have come. We wish you the very best of luck!
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When we watch those TV shows set in sunnier climates with vast expansive (and expensive) villas, we can certainly reel off a number of benefits of being in those climates and tentatively look at how prices in certain countries. But when we dig deep into the weeds of moving to another country, we've got to ask ourselves if it is truly worth it.
Is It Financially Viable?
One of the top priorities for most of us is if we can do it properly and actually be better off. There are a number of ways you can do this. Firstly, you can look at the general exchange rate and do a like-for-like comparison based on your lifestyle and general expenses. Any currency calculator can give you an insight into if you would be better off, but of course, there's a number of variables that play here. There's the cost of living in that country with regards to things like the food, but you could also benefit from digging deeper beneath the surface and seeing if there's financial incentives to living in that country.
For example, in Puerto Rico, there are a number of tax advantages of owning real estate, such as not paying most federal income taxes for half the year but there's also other community-based benefits on top of this. The Act 20 and Act 22 real estate initiatives in Puerto Rico provide grants to non-profit organizations to give back to the Puerto Rican community so there could be an extra benefit of finding somewhere that may cost around the same as what you are spending where you are but looking at the bigger picture you might be better off in many other ways.
What is the Process of Getting Into That Country?
Moving to another country is stressful enough as it is, but we also need to look at the process in the round, and depending on where you want to go, the rules vary. It can also take a lot of time to become a naturalized citizen of that country. For example, in the United Kingdom, you can apply for citizenship if you have lived there for at least five years and have what is known as settled status. There's also the fees for becoming a British citizen.
Generally, when you are looking to go to another country, the toughest part is definitely filling out the forms and it can take a long time to get everything lined up. It is a massive task to do this, which is why you need to ask yourself if you feel moving to another country is worth your while. When we think we want to move to a sunnier climate after being on vacation there, we can easily become swept up in that vacation feeling. It's a very simple thing, but you've got to determine if it truly is worth your while going through the immigration or emigration process.
Will You Experience Culture Shock?
If you are looking to set up a whole new life somewhere else, why do you want to do this? If you are looking for that permanent vacation feeling, you might be surprised as to how life will feel once you truly settle into a place. Lots of people go far away so they can enjoy the sun, but there comes a period of time when they don't feel like they belong here. Lots of us have this nomadic sensibility, especially if we go traveling all of the time, and if we look at other people's houses in warmer climates and we think that we want a piece of that, we are neglecting the most common aspect of our emotion when moving to another environment, namely feeling homesick.
If you feel in your heart of hearts this is where you are meant to be, the culture shock can still creep in. This is why you've got to be aware that these things will happen, but it won't be like this forever. There's always solutions to minimize the culture shock sensibility, for example, joining an online expat group. You can find other people who were in the same position as you a few years or a few months ago. It gives you an insight into how to feel more at home where you are and also make friends in the process. Of course, we also need to remember that moving to another country is about embracing that culture. We can always feel like the outsider or the foreigner, and it is important for us to do our bit to make this place feel more like home by throwing ourselves into cultural traditions and showing people that we're not on the defense, but are actually looking to make this place a home rather than just a long-term vacation destination.
How Will It Benefit Your Soul?
As grandiose a question as this is, you need to ask yourself if this is the right thing deep down. Lots of us love the idea of moving to another country for essentially superficial reasons, for example, the glorious weather. But moving to another country is a big decision, and we have to come to the conclusion if what we are doing is going to actually benefit us deep down. Moving to a different climate is going to come with a number of health benefits, especially if you move further afield to Hawaii, but there's also the big question of if you will ever feel at home there.
So if you are looking at properties in a far-flung location that you want to take advantage of either financially or as a vacation home, you still need to ask yourself if these things will truly be worth your while or if you are just investing in something that is yet another distraction in your life. Moving to another country comes with a lot of benefits - financial, emotional, and many more - but we've got to decide if moving somewhere else is truly worth our while. Many people have done it and returned home, but others have certainly made a success of it. You've got to ask yourself some of these major questions.
