3.29.2018

It's time to priortize your personal health

Many of us are guilty of not making healthiness a priority in our lives. Whether you’re busy at work or with your personal life at home, healthy living might be low down on your ‘To Do’ list. However, healthiness should be a priority in any lifestyle. It’s not just about looking after yourself today but ensuring that you have a healthy tomorrow too. At the end of the day, a healthier you is a happier you. It’s time to prioritize your personal health, and here’s some advice to help you with that.


Think about the food and drink you consume.
If you want to prioritize your personal health then you should start by improving your diet. Dieting is a very popular concept in modern culture, but not all “trendy” modern diets are necessarily that healthy. The important thing is not to simply avoid food. Yes, it’s important to cut out the junk from your meals, but you shouldn’t starve your body of the sustenance it needs. Think about including food and drink in your diet that will help to improve your health. You might even want to start drinking detox tea if you’re looking for a drink that can actively help you to lose weight. Just make sure that you’re getting the nutrients and vitamins that your body needs. You should be eating food that’s rich in protein for muscle strength, iron for energy, calcium for your bones, and so on.

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Bla


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Don’t be afraid to talk about your feelings.
We’ve talked about the ways in which you can improve your physical health and the effect this has on your mental health, but we haven’t talked about the direct improvements you could make to your mental state. It’s important to check in with your mental state on a frequent basis if you want to keep your mind healthy. You should talk to family and friends about problems that you’re having. You might even want to talk to a therapist if you’re struggling to deal with mental issues. It’s important that you confront your feelings so that you can start to work through them.

3.27.2018

Rustic Decor Ideas To Try In Your Home

When planning how you’re going to decorate your home, it’s likely that you’ve got an idea in your head about how you want the finished product to look. You may not however, know how to fully achieve the look that you’re desiring. These days, rustic is coming back into trend because it’s one of the best ways of making your home look cosy, and often takes less effort than any other type of decor to achieve. The great thing about rustic decor is that it often appears less than perfect, and it’s not a requirement to have things ‘symmetrical’ for the completed product to look nice. Here are some rustic decor ideas that you can try in your home to improve the ambience and help you fall in love with your home even more!

Consider sleepers

You may have seen when passing a train track these large wooden sleepers. If not, basically they are large wooden logs (or nowadays metal) that support the train track. These are great to add to your home for many different purposes, and they fit in great with the rustic theme. Here’s a few ideas on what you could use wooden sleepers for in your home:
  • A makeshift bench
  • Fireplace surrounding
  • Thick and unusual shelving
  • A DIY dinner table

The great thing about sleepers is that they are widely available at hardware stores all over the place, and don’t cost the earth either so they are a great way of adding an unusual, yet great feature to your home.

Add unusual but eye catching wall art

One of the things that can really finish off a rustic decor look is by making sure that the decor you’re hanging is unusual and eye catching. You could go for an historically correct Viking Shield to hang on your walls. While your theme is rustic, a viking shield would fit perfectly into the decor because it’s a part of history. Another idea would be to paint any wooden mirror frames and tap it lightly when dry to create a cracked and ‘rustic’ look.

Artex is king

Speaking of walls, rather than simply painting your walls with the colour of your choice, why not opt to cover your walls in artex to really vamp up the rustic look? Again, rustic looks don’t have to be perfect or symmetrical, so you won’t need to worry about making the artex perfect on your walls. If you’re not sure what artex is, it’s basically an easy to apply plaster that adds texture to your walls without any hassle. Just be sure that it’s definitely a look that you want to go for because even though it’s easy to apply, it can be troublesome to remove from walls once it is dry!

Rustic looks often consist of warm and natural colour schemes too, so if you’re stuck on ideas for what colour to paint your walls with then it’s best to stick to neutral colours or warming colours like wine and terracotta. Warm colours work well because they are close to natural brick colouring.

Use different materials

Another great way of making your home look rustic is by using different materials throughout your home (or in the room that you want to achieve the rustic look in). Things like metal and wood are a perfect way of creating a perfect contrast of materials.

You could also choose some throws to cover your chairs and settees with that have unusual and charming patterns on them. The whole idea of rustic comes from decor from decades ago, when people couldn’t afford to decorate their homes and had to make the most of what they already have. Of course, over time there have been changes made to the idea of a rustic look, but making your furniture look mismatched works well for the rustic look.

Upcycle your furniture

As mentioned above, when people couldn’t afford to decorate their homes or even buy new furniture they would resort to repurposing what they already have. So why not save yourself some money and upcycle furniture that you already have rather than forking out for new furniture.

It’s really easy to do, and often all you need is a screwdriver, a tin of paint, and a little bit of creativity. The great thing about upcycling your furniture is that you know that your furniture is now totally unique.

If you’re not very crafty minded, you can always search online or in magazines for some ideas on what you could upcycle your furniture into. They often have step by step guides too that are super useful!

Install a log burner

Finally, a fabulous way of adding a rustic and cosy feel to your home is by installing a log burner instead of having a regular fireplace. They add an immediate focal point to your room and are lovely to cosy up in front of during the winter months.

If you have a working chimney, then you shouldn’t have too much of an issue installing your log burner too as they connect straight to your chimney and away you go. One thing that you will need to be wary of is that you can’t just burn any old bits of wood. The wood needs to be dried out so that it will burn sufficiently and without letting off any bad smells. The great thing about burning wood is that having the supply by the log burner really adds to the rustic look too! Some people opt to burn coals which works just the same and creates a cozy glow in the room.

Try these rustic decor ideas in your home so that you can really achieve the look that you were going for! As you can see, achieving the look isn’t as hard as you might have imagined, and won’t cost the earth to achieve either!

Creating a relaxing environment in your bathroom. Here's how

I know what you might be thinking, is the bathroom really the right place to relax in? But there are studies that prove that taking a nice long bath or shower in the warmth can help you get into the mindset of relaxing, especially if you have had a tough day. But if your bathroom really isn’t that inviting at the moment then don’t despair. Here are some of the ways you can create a relaxing environment in your very own bathroom.


Invest in a new bathroom suite

A big change that you could make to your bathroom is to completely invest in a new one. Obviously this is the most pricey thing to do, but if you don't like the bathroom, it could be the only way to encourage you to spend more time in there. If it is a viable option, make sure that a plumber is the one to fit it for you to ensure that everything will be working as it should be. While it may be a pricey investment now, it can actually add on considerable value to your home, so it definitely could be worth the consideration.

Give it a thorough clean

If you can’t get a new bathroom suite then why not pay attention to the one you have and give your bathroom a thorough clean. Often just doing this can give you a new sense of love for your current bathroom environment, and certainly make it more appealing to be in there. Pinterest is full of remedies you can use to get your bath sparkling clean.

Create the right environment

If you want to relax it is all about creating the right environment. Consider what you might need and have in your bathroom and change things up a little. Perhaps invest in some new towels or a new robe. Maybe get some scented candles and scatter them around the room. Even changing other accessories to help the bathroom feel more relaxing or adding things like house plants to give it that spa feel.

Try new products for you and the bath

If relaxation is what you need then maybe you need some new products to help you do it. A nice relaxing bubble bath and a new face mask is often two places to start. You could even think about what you want to do to relax, so a new book to read in the bath or simply something to listen to like a guided meditation on your smartphone.

Download relaxing apps to listen to

On the subject of things to listen to, your phone is a great source for downloadable applications like meditations, audible books, or even relaxing music. Sometimes you need the distraction to keep you relaxed, and your phone can surprisingly do that. Try and avoid using it for social media or other distractions, but certainly for listening to something it could prove useful.

I hope that these tips help you to create a relaxing environment in your bathroom.

7 Tips for Parenting in the Digital Age



If your child knows they can trust you, they will have no trouble sharing with you. This way you have better chances of knowing what happens in their life without having to stock them. It will help you protect your child both offline and online.

Set the guidelines

Set the tech-use guidelines during a family meeting. You should have a clear picture of what you want to achieve. Ask your children for their opinion. Make sure you acknowledge and include their input. If they help set the rules, they will have less trouble following them. Remember to make exceptions for practical purposes and work purposes. You do not want to find yourself in a role of a constant police officer hanging above their heads.


Plan engaging family activities

If you insist on spending time as a family, which you should, come up with fun activities. They should be equally interesting for everyone. Try to do as many things you can together. When the weather is nice, take them outside. Aim to organize activities which are exactly opposite to spending time with tech, which is usually indoors without face-to-face social interaction.


Spend tech-time together

If you are worried your child spends too much time playing video games, join them. It will instantly go from a loner activity to a social one. Apart from playing video games, you can do quizzes, learn things, and watch movies.


Decide who gets a smartphone

There is a great debate about whether it is good or bad to let your young children own smartphones. The fact is that they are a part of a digital era and mobile devices are the way digital kids stay in touch. You should not make your child into an outcast by not letting them use a phone.  If you want to limit the use, you can get cheap outright mobile phones they could share by switching sim cards Alternatively, you can get prepaid, no contract plans to limit their use by limiting the balance.


Tech-free times

Apparently, staring at a screen can interfere with your sleep. This is why you should determine that no-one is allowed to use tech about an hour before they go to bed. Also, if you want the family activities to be a success, make it a rule that only the parents can carry their phones. Since this would make you an exception, explain that it is in case of an emergency and children tend to have fewer emergencies. If you want to, you can set the on how much time in total they can spend online or in front of a computer a day. However, it could be hard to keep track of, and should definitely not be the only rule.


Tech-free zones

Similarly to that of time, create zones within your homes where technology is not allowed. These should probably be the bedrooms, and the dining room. Make sure that all the technology is out, and that the rules apply to everyone.


Control content and privacy

These are the two elements of tech-use which bring the most malice to your child - Exposure through personal info, as well as, exposure to inappropriate content. Warn your child not to share any personal info online, and review their accounts to make sure they took your advice. Also, use a Net Nanny or a similar system to limit the type of content they have access to.
Stay well informed of the news in the tech world and the options available to your children. This is the only way you can know what you need to protect them from.  Also, you can protect them best by setting a good example yourself and allowing them to have an insight into your tech-related activities. It is then more likely they will be willing to be fully transparent with you.

3.26.2018

How to easily incorporate fitness into your life

It can be difficult to include fitness into your lifestyle for so many reasons. Maybe you have a full-time desk job a busy family lifestyle and multiple responsibilities to uphold in your life, and it so easy for something like fitness to fall by the wayside. Although we all know that being active is good for everyone and is essential to leading to a healthy, balanced and happy lifestyle it can be difficult to incorporate these habits into our lifestyles. It is not impossible though, and with a few changes here and there you can easily fit some fitness into your everyday life. Read on to find out how you can start leading a healthy lifestyle, and what kind of fun things you can try out.

Become More Organized

Fitting in fitness is difficult when you have so many responsibilities, but becoming more organized is a great way to fit some of your activities in. Knowing what you and your family are doing in the week when you are doing your weekly shop, and when you can fit in exercise or an activity will help you become more active. Try writing your weekly schedule down or organizing the calendar in your phone and figure out when you can go for a run or for a swim. This will help you fit things in, and can be a great way to kickstart that healthy lifestyle we all one.


Change Your Transport

Although many people need a car to get to work or drop the kids off at school in the morning, using alternative transport when you can help incorporate fitness into your lifestyle. Walking to the shops or to town can be a good way to do this or even cycling too. Although buying a bike or an adult tricycle can be an expense in the beginning, you will save money by not buying petrol as much and using your legs to power the bike! It can take a bit of time to get used to cycling on the roads or footpaths but once you know how to navigate the roads you will be cycling everywhere in no time at all. This can be a great way to get about and is an easy way to include some physical activity into your everyday life.

Move About More

This might seems like strange advice but we are all very used to sitting in one place without moving, so remembering to move around more can really help. This could be anything from making sure you walk around the office every half hour and stretch your legs, to taking the stairs or the long route to work when you have time. Going for a walk on your lunch break can be very beneficial to you and your body.

Here are just a few ways you can start to incorporate more moving and activity into your life. You don’t have to make any huge changes, you just need to plan your time more and do things a bit differently.

Your summer body begins in Spring


If you want to drop a few pounds and look fitter than ever before this summer, then you need to start prepping for your summer body right now spring, if you haven’t already.

It’s fair to say that your summer body starts in the spring and the sooner in this season that you start looking at your diet and exercise regime, and making tweaks where necessary, the better shape you’ll be in when summer finally rolls around. The best thing about taking action now is that you won’t have to do a panic crash diet just a few weeks before summer like so many people end up doing each year.

If you’re sold on getting your body summer-ready this spring, here are a few helpful pointers which should help you to see significant gains and improve your body in the next few months:

Get in the Right Mental Space

Whether you want to lose a few pounds, shed significant weight or just tone up a little so that you look even better in your summer wardrobe, the first thing you need to do is to get into the right mental space. You need to psych yourself up and find your motivation for improving your body. Do you want to be able to run around more with the kids this summer? Do you want to look amazing at that important summer wedding? Do you want to feel more comfortable on vacation? Work out why you want to make changes and then work out a sensible plan for achieving your goals and you will stand an excellent chance of succeeding.

Clean Up Your Diet

Next, you’re going to want to take a critical look at your diet, Are you eating too many sweets? Do you finish every meal with dessert? Are you eating at McDonald's every week? If you’re putting junk food and excessive amounts of sugar into your body, then it is not going to be as light, toned or healthy as it could be. That means that you will need to clean up your diet if you want to achieve your personal dream body by summer.

Eating clean means replacing heavily processed foods with whole grains, lean meats, fruits and vegetables, and legumes for the most part. This will enable your body to work most efficiently and effectively to lose weight. Furthermore, by looking after your gut with these foods and with supplements like Bio X4 (check out the Bio X4 ingredients), you will begin to feel more healthy overall. 

Cut Your Calories

If weight loss is what you’re after, then you will need to work out your basal metabolic rate Then, you need to ensure that the calories you take in are around 500 less that your BMR or that you burn off at least 500 calories if you want to see at least 1 pound of weight loss each week. If you find it difficult to achieve the necessary calorie deficit, a product like the weight loss premium pack from Isagenix can help you to get on the right track and stick to your limits. Calories in vs calories out is a really important part of weight loss, so you need to get this right.

Start Lifting

One of the best ways to improve your health and fitness, lose weight, tone up and burn calories is to lift heavy things, Do this three times a week for between 1 hour and 90 minutes and your body will be tighter than ever before, and if you need to lose weight, you will find it much easier to do so.

This summer is going to be the best yet!




Things You Need to Do Before You Move into Your New House


Organization is a key thing behind every successful moving. If you start your preparations in time and set up priorities based on the workload each session will require of you, it can be a smooth sailing experience. Otherwise, you are facing total anarchy. If you are not the type that knows how to efficiently self-organize, read on to find out what are some basic but useful things you need to know before you move into your new house.
Switching utilities
Once the deal is settled and you have a concrete closing date, time is of the essence when it comes to switching utilities. The first thing you should do is contact the utility companies in order to organize a fast and efficient service switch. If you are moving into a completely new household or a home that was vacant for quite a while, doing this at least a month before the big move is crucial.



A matter of internet connection
Here is another important tidbit you need to take care of if you plan to enter a fully functional household. Some people equate this to other utilities such as telephone, heating, etc., but we are all aware of the fact that the internet has turned into a whole different beast you need to tackle. As you may well know, internet service providers are like superstars – it is hard to reach their technicians and it’s nigh impossible to get them to come to your household. Most of the time, they can be booked at least three weeks in advance, so you need to start making those calls roughly at the same time as you are organizing the utility switch. Otherwise, you might move into a new household that has no internet, which will introduce you to a whole lot of frustration and trouble.

Start with the things you’ll easily part from
Moving your stuff is a gargantuan endeavor that needs to be broken down into segments. First you need to start off with the things you’ll easily part from. Even if you are the neatest person in the world, after several years of living in one household, you will end up hoarding a lot of stuff you don’t need. You can pillage your household of all the useless trash you have tucked away in the darkest corners of your rooms and contact the most efficient company for rubbish removal in Sydney to take care of the heavy lifting for you.

And then don’t stop packing
After you have hired moving trucks and settled on the date, you need to continue packing every single day. If all the boxes begin to get in the way, designate a room for all the moving stuff. Pack your closet last, and a day before the moving truck comes, use your own vehicle(s) to transport the basics into your new home. If you unpacked some essential and crucial items in advance like pajamas, jackets, toothbrushes, hair brushes, soaps and shampoos, it will be easier to start functioning in your new home even though it will become packed with unopened boxes and unwrapped furniture.
Details people tend to forget about

Do not forget to top it all off with handling some crucial details people tend to forget about during the whole ruckus. Cancel your subscriptions to magazines, newspaper and all other home delivery services. Change your address and leave the new one (including your new phone number) along with an email to your closest neighbors and your landlord in case something arrives anyway. Update your friends and family with your new contact information. Finally, do not forget to check your household once more for possibly overlooked switches and other electricity-related stuff that can end up causing a hefty bill, or worse – a permanent damage to the house (such as fires).
Picture this – shabby cardboard boxes stacked to the ceiling, cupboards and shelves piled into corners to leave at least some elbow space for moving around and a whole lot of headache due to unorganized drawers. This is what awaits you if you keep procrastinating on those packing sessions, weekend after weekend. The key to good organization is discipline. Apply your worth ethic to your moving clean-up and the entire ordeal will be over before you know it.


3.21.2018

Thinking about the future: 3 challenges we should all try at least

Life is full of magical moments and mysteries to be discovered, yet many of us still live a fairly sheltered life when it comes to challenging ourselves to be the best version of us that we can. It’s all too easy to be overwhelmed with negative thoughts and doubts about your own capabilities, and it’s not uncommon to find it hard to see yourself in a better place in the future. However, with some hard work and dedication anything is possible. We recently sadly lost Professor Stephen Hawking due to his motor neuron disease, and as you probably already know, he never let his problems get in the way of what he wanted to do, so there’s no reason why you can’t too! Here are 3 challenges we should all try at least once in our lives.


One of the biggest challenges that we can face is to take the leap and become a homeowner. Compared to a few decades ago it’s now extremely hard to get your foot on the property ladder, but once you do it’s totally worth all of the hard work that you’ve put in to get yourself there. Many people shy away from it because they don’t have all of the information they need, but luckily we have found this great guide on real estate for dummies that can explain everything you need to know about becoming a home or land owner. It might take a good few years of saving but once you’ve achieved it, you’ve given yourself a little bit more of financial stability for the rest of your life!

Children are a wonderful part of the world, but they are certainly not an easy part of life to deal with. It’s hard to explain what being a parent feels like truly because you can never understand it until you are one. You can go from being mad as hell to crying with love and joy in a matter of seconds. It’s hard work but it’s the most rewarding challenge anyone can achieve in their lives!

One challenge that many people shy away from is to start their own business. It’s a daunting thought having to take control over so much in one go, but if you’ve got the passion and the drive for it then it’s all worth it when the profits begin rolling in. If running your own business sounds like something you’ve always wanted to do, get yourself in the know about what it takes to run a successful business and take the leap! Life is too short to regret not doing something in your later years!

There are of course, many more challenges in life that we should all try, but being a homeowner, having children, and running your own successful business are the top three that people should be considering as they are the most rewarding things anyone can do. Remember that even the sky doesn’t limit your capabilities, and you can do this!

Fitness Tips for a Strong and Healthy Body


               

Since we were little, we’ve been taught about the importance of a good diet and exercise. But when you’re a kid, you don’t think about looking like your favorite Instagram model. And let’s be real – you shouldn’t think like that when you’re an adult either. The whole point of eating right and exercising is to have a great body: one that can carry you through your daily life, help you recover from disease and injury and walk you up those three flights of stairs. So let’s see how you can actually get that body that will help you achieve your goals in life with ease.

                        Habits are the key

Doing an impossibly long and difficult workout only once biweekly is, besides impossible, very ineffective. You need to have good habits that will become a part of your daily routine – and not something that you put in between your daily tasks. The easiest way to do this is to find a time every day, or every other day, when you will get some exercise in. You can go to the gym or simply follow a workout video at home, but you want to make sure you are sticking to that routine, no matter what. This is why group classes are a great thing, because they are always at the same time, you pay in advance and you want to go and catch up with the other members of your group. Besides having a regular exercise routine, you want to have a healthy eating routine. Of course, there are exceptions to these habits, like when you get sick or go on vacation, but if you stick to it most of the time, then the times you sway from the routine (unless you let it get you off track completely) don’t matter that much at all!


                        Balanced nutrition


There has been so much talk about different diets, eating plans, and food rules, but if you are simply eating several balanced meals that contain the fuel you need for your body and not much else – you will be on the right track. However, if you are working on building up muscle strength or body stamina, then your workouts might drain your body, and you will need something extra to replenish it. Before you go to the gym, it is a good idea to prepare a smoothie that is full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidents and add some good protein powder to make sure you have something that will get you through that workout. You can drink half before you start, for energy, and then drink the second half afterward, to help your muscles heal and regenerate. Alternatively, if you do not want to take extra protein, you could consider a more well-rounded supplement powder - you could check out these MCT Wellness reviews to see if this is something that could be a good option for you. Additionally, you might also want to consider introducing other supplements into your diet to give your body an extra boost where you feel it needs them. Nowadays, thanks to supplement manufacturers like SS Nutra, it is possible to purchase a wide range of bulk supplements so be sure to do some research online to find the best types of supplements for your needs. Ultimately, if you are not sure whether your diet is good enough, you can visit a nutritionist to evaluate it and see if there are some things you can improve.


                        Change your workouts regularly


One mistake people often make is getting stuck in the same workout routine. When they first do it, it is hard, but every next time it gets easier – and after a while, they can breeze through it like it’s nothing. But this doesn’t mean that your body has reached a higher fitness level, it just means that it got used to the workout so it isn’t doing you any good anymore. Try to make your routine different every time. It can be by raising the number of reps, but ideally you will often switch between exercising different muscle groups, training your stamina and endurance. If you’re not sure how to change the workout yourself and hit all the major muscle groups, you can do an activity like swimming, which constantly trains your entire body, or you can work with a trainer who will guide your hand through the world of fitness and exercise.

Having a fit, healthy body is possible for anyone, as long as we remember that a fit body doesn’t look a certain way, and isn’t defined by a certain number. Being healthy is far more important than anything else that a fit body can offer, and as long as you keep that as your main focus, you will be motivated enough to achieve any goals you may set for yourself. So don’t wait for the next season or even next week. Get up and start working for a healthier lifestyle today.

Quick and Budget-friendly Home Improvement Ideas

 

After the year that saw lots of activity in some of Australia’s hottest property markets, explosive housing prices have geared-down to a trickle in Melbourne and even reversed in Sydney. Much of it can be attributed to new policies adopted to safeguard some of the economy cornerstones – property prices and debt levels. Figures from property data group Corelogic show that in 2018, the national median house price index declined most severely in Sydney and Darwin and moderately in Melbourne and Perth. Their head of research, Tim Lawless, said that the transition had been driven by capital cities. Faced with such prospects, homeowners looking to sell are finding new affordable ways of making their properties more attractive to buyers. Here’s a list of six most effective, yet budget-friendly projects that increase the appeal of your home.

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Interior trim and paint

Create an awesome two-colour combination by adding one of two simple trim lines - chair rail or crown moulding. A painted trim is easier to install, as you don’t have to cut perfect joints – a bit of paint and filler can make them look perfect. Make a new chair rail 60-70% of the width of your baseboard by using a two-piece combination that mimics the windowsill and its apron. Centre it at one-third of the wall height. Choose a crown moulding profile that is 30-40% of the baseboard width. If you wanted to give your room a total refresh to go with your new trim, you could consider painting the walls a totally new color to really change things up. If you know what you want, but are nervous you won't be able to go a good job, and are worried about getting paint on the trim, you could search a site like My House Painter to find a local painter near you who will be able come and do this work for you. It's amazing the difference simply changing the wall color can make, so it's definitely worth considering if you are wanting to do something quick that has a lot of impact.

Little bathroom makeover


For under $500, you can create an amazing change in your bathroom. Not everyone can go the whole hog with natural stone, but a new granite vanity top is an affordable alternative. Home centres and similar stores will have them in stock, with prices depending on the size. The makeover is complete only with a new faucet set and mirror. The key is to order all the pieces and not start with the project until they all arrive. Inspect them for flaws, which unfortunately aren’t uncommon. If you need to repaint the old vanity, use spray paint for smoother finish and to avoid brush marks.

Wallpapered accent wall


Since the country-wide interest for wallpaper has been reborn, stores have been offering an enormous range of choices, some of them with staggering prices. Far from having to cover every single wall to achieve the effect – if you cover only one wall, even an expensive wallpaper or fabric will turn out to be affordable. Wallpapers are an exceptionally good choice for rooms with plain walls, slim baseboards and window trims. Make the best choice by taking a photo of your room to an interior-design store and ask a specialist to help you with the options.  

Improved curb appeal

Even if you’re not in the market for selling, a good-looking and inspiring entry can impress your guests, please the neighbours, and most importantly, make your home a nicer place to return to after work. You don’t need full landscaping and an earthwork makeover. Simple solutions like a brick walkway border and an interesting light fixture or a quirky house number can instantly lift improve the look of your home. Focus on your front door, maybe a new paintjob, hinges and doorknobs. While you’re at it, consider hiring a reliable locksmith Meadowbank to upgrade your front door locks – an affordable improvement with lasting results. 

$0 cabinet remodel

Worn out kitchen cabinets? Why not ditch the doors completely and open up to a new contemporary look. They have built-in shelves that can take all your kitchenware, but also make your kitchen look bigger. This is an improvement that literally takes only a screwdriver and a little patience to complete. However, if you want to make a true change, coat the exposed shelves with bright paint that stands out from the cabinet walls. 

Landscaping made easy


You don’t need a team of professional landscapers to make an eye-catching change. Even a single afternoon of landscaping can transform the appearance of your backyard. Pick up a few small native trees or shrubs, along with some pretty flower bulbs. Just make sure you choose perennials, so you don’t have to re-plant them every spring.  Instead of re-planting the whole garden, create an appealing scenery with a few select pieces. There are plenty of landscape design plans on the Internet, as well as dedicated landscaping apps to help you with ideas.

Whether you are preparing your house for a stream of potential buyers or simply looking for an affordable improvement this spring, quick and easy micro-makeovers like these are all it takes to make a positive change.

 

3.20.2018

Tiny tweaks that will improve your sleep environment

Our bedrooms should be an oasis in the storm of life. They should be the place that we can retire to when things get a bit much, and we just need to rest and recuperate. However, if we are truly honest with ourselves, are they like that in real life? Probably not, but that doesn't mean they can't be. In fact, there are some tiny tweaks you can make in your bedroom that result in it being a much better environment for sleep. Just read on to find out what they are.



Clear Clutter

Very few people enjoy living in a cluttered environment, and if you ask them about it, they will always say they prefer and tidy and organized space. However, real life can often get in the way of this and because of lack of time, and a normalizing of the clutter some folks can stop seeing it. This is problematic in the bedroom because once they start to block the mess out, it gets left there and can continue to build up and cause a negative sleep environment.

That is why it is vital to make time every few months to remove any mess in the bedroom space. If you aren't sure what counts as clutter, it can help to use an organizational system like the KonMari method. Although, as a general rule anything that is being stored rather than used or displayed can be packed away or got rid of entirely.

Abolish Allergens

Another aspect of improving your sleep environment to be aware of is the problem of allergens. Allergens are particles that can cause a negative reaction in the body, just by coming in contact with it. In fact, there are many of these within the bedroom, such as some cloth fibers, dust mites, and dander particles that can cause those that are sensitive to them to react. Something that can interfere with their ability to sleep and rest.

Happily, there are some ways of dealing with them as well. The first is to pick a something like this hypoallergenic mattress that is designed to repel dust mites. It can also be useful to ban pets from the bedroom area to prevent dander getting onto the covers, and don't forget that you can use a HEPA air filter to remove any airborne allergens as well. All actions that if taken can significantly increase your chances of getting a better and more restful night's sleep.

Lights Out

Last, of all, our bodies work on an internal clock system that is known as a circadian rhythm. This is something that responds to the change from day to night and is why we find ourselves becoming more sleepy when it gets dark.

There are even some things that you can do in your bedroom to encourage this rhythm, and so make it a much better environment for sleep.

In particular, a tactic that can be useful is to use blackout curtains to prevent any light getting into the room. Such curtains are helpful because no matter what time of year it is your body will still respond to the darkness of the room and feel more sleepy. Which is, after all, precisely what you want from an effective sleep environment!








































































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