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Frustrated With Your Home Style? Try These 3 Easy Tips

When you get the urge to design or redesign your home you find yourself wanting many areas changed. Your head is probably swirling with ideas for everything except where to start.

For those with a busy home lifestyle, you tend to look for a practical approach to be in line with the limited time you find yourself accustomed to. Those who live a hectic lifestyle can still find the right options to make the home much less frustrating.

Flooring

Usually, a busy household finds it much harder to clean as much as it should. It’s a balance of time and energy that is hard to get aligned, especially if everyone works or has commitments outside of the home throughout the day.

Therefore, the type of flooring you should implement within your home should be of low maintenance requirement. Having something easy to maintain during whatever time you have to commit to it does not have to be an expensive one. Luxury vinyl flooring is incredibly popular for those with limited time and protects against scratches and stains to ensure no extra time in fixing sections from pet or child incidents.

Quick-Step luxury vinyl is a very easy product to clean, with a quick sweep or brush from a mop or broom taking it back to its original look and feel. Vinyl flooring products across the market are complete with waterproof tendencies that make them perfect flooring throughout high water risk rooms and the vast number of styles available provide all with the desired look that is not just having it down for practicality’s sake.

Storage Options

To greatly reduce your time tidying up, ensuring that everything has its own space helps you to keep track of things when in a rush.

By having storage solutions throughout your home, you can easily tidy up quickly and able to find things a lot quicker if they have designated places. Having a storage box in the room for any kid’s toys that can be shifted neatly to a corner of the room and reducing the risk of trips, slips, and falls over them is a huge benefit.

Reducing magazine build-ups by replacing a coffee table with something that does not have an underneath shelving section greatly reduces paper build-up as well as those unopened pieces of mail that get lost within the shifting around.

Try Minimal

If you feel like the room is cluttered, then you may be a person who prefers space over personal comforts.

Wanting a regular declutter of your home may be behind your desire to change, with the urge to prioritise what you want and what you believe can be discarded. By creating space and finding a natural colour for the room, along with luxury vinyl flooring you can complement a calmer environment for you.

If you get easily frustrated with how your home looks, the key is finding the most practical solutions to make it better for longer.

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Bachelor Pad Ideas: Lounge Inspiration To Up Your Game

The living room (or the lounge, whatever you choose to call it) is absolutely essential in creating a positive first impression. Here are some cool bachelor pad ideas to exhibit a man’s greatness…

Avoid Cliché Colours; A Critical Bachelor Pad Idea

Often, guys tend to combine colours such as red, black, and white, or blue, black and white.

Break up the monotony with neutrals like grey and taupe.

Add some metallics like brass or chrome to add style.

Invest In Lamps

Relying solely on overhead lighting is the biggest mistake many people make.

According to Sweet Chaos Home, guys do not consider changing their fluorescent light bulbs, which they probably inherited.

Nothing kills a good vibe and the mood quicker than a long, harsh, and unforgiving glare of fluorescent ceiling lights.

Use additional sources of light such as table lamps, desk lamps, and floor lamps to create a warm and flattering light.

Also, you can reduce the overhead glare by installing a dimmer switch.

Bachelor Pad Ideas: Consider Using Leather Throughout

Leather is a widely recognised feature of a masculine living room.

It has the ability to simultaneously convey stature and style.

Leather reminds every gentleman that craftsmanship and comfort is balanced by austere aesthetics.

Therefore, using leather creatively to create a mix-and-match seating arrangement is a maximum magnetism in a bachelor pad.

It’s also easy to clean, and ages well!

Create Space For Entertainment

As a bachelor, you are likely to have visitors stopping by.

Whether you want to watch sport on the TV, entertain your bdsm dating partner (!), or play video games with your mates, an ample entertainment space is needed.

Do not congest your living room with too many objects, remove the things that take up unnecessary space.

Play With Geometry; Modern Bachelor Pad Ideas

Sometimes, introducing a few geometrical twists such as bold lines and accents might be the only thing you need to energise your living room.

Simple bachelor pad ideas like the use of geometrical shapes and patterns adds a sense of masculinity in a bachelor’s pad.

Mix Traditional And Modern Touches

Incorporating pieces from different eras in the living room is a great way of defining your sense of style.

According to Frederic Schwartz, an architect from New York, using paintings, cowhide rugs, and zebra chairs with curtains made with the reverse side of a Kravet fabric gives a natural blend of both modern and traditional mix.

Choose The Right Furniture

Whether it’s for parties discussions, watching favourite TV shows, or just chilling with some friends, let your furniture be the ultimate centrepiece.

Use industrial wooden shelves to display your books and magazines.

To Conclude…

Represent your personality with the use of neutral colours, geometric patterns, leather, and well-chosen furniture.

Remember, don’t clutter the space, and light the room well.

Use the above bachelor pad ideas and let your living room represent the personality of the person who lives in it!

Now, let’s move onto the bathroom…

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Personalised Housewarming Gift Ideas

Here are some ideas for great personalised housewarming gift ideas.

When a friend or family member moves into a new home, you can always expect to be invited to some kind of housewarming party.

As is the custom, guests are generally expected to bring a gift for the new homeowner to help settle them into their new living space.

That is when the challenge begins for the attendees!

You don’t want to get something that your friend or relative already has four of.

You also don’t want to give something that is probably a duplicate of another person’s gift.

The best solution to this problem is to go down the customised route by getting a personalised housewarming gift.

It’s a great idea because it shows you’ve thought about the recipient, and used your creativity to gift them something unique.

Picture Cushions

Your loved one’s new home is probably going to be in need of some furniture and furniture accessories.

A great gift to give is a cushion that is personalised in some way.

This could either be through a site that offers photo fabric printing onto the cushion cover or perhaps using a site like Font Bundles where you can download a special font free to use.

With those two options in mind, you can create a special customised message that really carries some meaning.

Printed Coffee Cups

We all love a good set of coffee cups to enjoy with breakfast in the morning, dont we?

Gifting a pair that have names or initials on them can be a really fun and quirky housewarming present.

They are an item that will get used every single day and they will feel even more special to the person because of their personalised nature.

Monogrammed Napkins

Hosting a dinner party is possibly one of the best aspects of living in your own home.

Nothing is quite as fun or classy as being able to hand out fabric napkins that are monogrammed with your name or initials.

Think about this kind of gift if you have a friend or family member who you know loves to entertain people at weekends.

They are a great gift idea for people who like to show off and be a top-class host.

So much better than paper or plain fabric napkins!

Photo Collage

Is the new homeowner somebody who is very close to you?

Then it is highly likely that you will have lots of different group photos from throughout the years.

Find a beautiful frame and arrange some of the best photos into a nice collage.

Your loved one will be able to hang it up somewhere in their new home.

It is an easy, but pretty way to add some personality to a new house or apartment.

Do You Have Any Other Ideas For Personalised Housewarming Gifts?

No matter which type of gift you settle on for your own friend or family member, the important thing to remember is that it is the personalisation of the present that is the winning element.

Can you find something that has a personal connection to the recipient?

The gift always means a thousand times more in terms of nostalgia and sentimentality, and shows you really care.

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Nursery Inspiration: How To Personalise Your Baby’s Room

For nursery inspiration, look no further than this article to create something truly personal.

Along with making sure you have everything you need, you’ll want to create the perfect nursery.

Bringing home baby is a fun and exciting time, no matter if it’s your first or fourth, or even more!

Here are our top tips for how to personalise your new arrival’s nursery, in ways that are truly unique!

1. Display Your Family Heirlooms

Obviously you don’t want your mother’s silver china in the baby’s room.

But family tradition is important, and you should use that in your nursery inspiration.

If you have a baby blanket or favorite baby clothes left over from your own childhood, it’s a great way to start building a tradition.

The baby doesn’t have to wear your hand-me-downs! But hanging them on the wall is a nice reminder of where he or she comes from, and their place in the family.

2. Personalise Your Baby’s Wardrobe With Monogramed Clothes And Blankets

Monograms are a great way to personalise your baby’s room, because you can put them everywhere.

You can monogram blankets, monogram clothing, even create a monogramed wall print.

If you’re crafty, creating monograms out of cardboard isn’t impossible.

If you fee like you need a little help with templates, there are plenty of options online.

You can download monogram svgs cheaply from Design Bundles, which is an awesome online marketplace perfect for this kind of project.

3. Create An Interactive Baby Book By Making A Scrapbook Wall

Speaking of templates online. If you’re a scrapbooker, keeping your baby’s firsts is very important to you.

Create something special for your baby’s bedroom or playroom with an accent wall that doubles as a scrapbook.

You can fill it with family photos, a growing chart, or go even further.

Add your first ultrasound as a print on the wall.

What about your baby’s birth announcement?

For the ultimate personal touch, check out the affordable font and design packages at Design Bundles to get a variety of prints, fonts, and graphic patterns, perfect for your baby’s room.

4. Check Out DIY Sites For Nursery Inspiration

If you’re crafty, there are plenty of patterns for creating a homemade baby mobile.

Handy with a needle and thread?

A felt mobile takes no time at all, and you can customise the color and design to fit that perfect dream of a nursery you have in mind.

If you’re less confident in your needlework, try a papercraft version, like this one from Motherly.

Not only will it create something totally unique for your baby, but it’s a great way to get older siblings excited for preparing for the new arrival!

5. Welcome Little One With Family Footprints

When your kids are tiny, you want to record everything.

Creating a footprint cast of your new baby is a great way to immortalise how tiny they really are!

But for something truly special, get the whole family involved.

What about recording everyone’s footprints?

Whether you do it with a plaster cast kit, or simply roll out a piece of paper to create a mural or border around your baby’s room, have fun as a family, and record how small (or how big!) the whole family is, once you were finally all together.

Bringing home a new baby is an exciting time for everyone.

You want to record every magical moment as a new family, and revel in the one-of-a-kind experience of your child.

Embrace your baby’s unique spirit with these personalised nursery décor ideas.

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Monogram Design: 5 Ways To Personalise Your First Home

As Reese Witherspoon once said, “If it’s not moving, monogram it”.

It makes sense, because subtle and elegant monograms can transform a purely functional item into something fun, personal and attractive.

So, here’s a list of the 5 ways in which Monogram Maker can help you personalise your first home together.

Moving into your first home together is exciting.

It’s a milestone for your relationship.

But interior decorating can be time-consuming and difficult.

You’ll find a wide range of home décor items such as vases, flowerpots, candles, pillows, towels, rugs, frames, and storage boxes.

But as much as you try to match every item with your style and preferences, something seems to be missing.

How To Create Stunning Monogram Design

You can add monograms to a variety of home décor accessories, kitchen-wear, and fashion items.

If you’re looking to add a unique feel to your home, consider monogrammed items such as blankets, pillows, towels and plates.

Here are a few ideas to get you going…

Blankets

A warm and soft blanket is perfect but when you add a monogram with your first or family name, it sends a special message.

At Monogram Maker, it’s easy to personalize your blankets.

They’ll look stunning in your bedroom, piano room or living room.

You can snuggle up in a beautifully decorated blanket and watch tv or read a book.

Pillows

You can customise your pillows with a special message or your name to add a personal touch to your bedroom or living room.

You can add any monogram to your bedroom pillows or to décor pillows for your lounge.

Towels

You’ve noticed that luxury hotels always add the first letter of their name on towels.

It’s to increase brand awareness and make guests feel like home.

But you can also use the same tactic for your new home.

Make it cozier by adding monograms to your towels.

Loafers

Whenever you’re around the house, slippers always come in handy.

So, add the first letter to your name to yours.

It’ll help you distinguish your loafers from your partner’s.

Use any colour you wish but also consider the style and colour of the lettering.

Plates

Eating off monogrammed plates makes the experience more exciting.

You can compliment your meals or events with uniquely customised and beautifully designed plates.

Make every morning breakfast or late evening dinner a special event.

But make sure your plates are made of durable materials such as melamine, so they last longer.

Wrapping It Up

Moving to a new home together is a special event.

And you can make your house cozier buy purchasing or customising your interior décor accessories.

Monograms are the perfect solution to personalise the items around your house such as pillows, blankets, towels, loafers, and kitchen accessories.

Every room in your home will have a unique touch.

What’s even better is that monogramming your household items is fun.

Unleash your creativity and both you and your partner will soon feel more comfortable and relaxed in your new house.

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Nautical Style Bathroom Inspiration: Styling Tips & Hints

Inspired by the ocean, a nautical style bathroom creates a breezy yet romantic atmosphere.

Nautical design elements are ideal for this room because they evoke a clean, invigorating feel.

Here’s how you can bring a breath of fresh sea air into your home.

Nautical Style Bathroom Colours

One of the best ways to start is to make the main colour in your bathroom a crisp, cool white.

This immediately gives the space a fresh and airy feel.

For accents, think ocean shades.

Soft sea-greens and aquatic blues; sandy golden shades, too.

The neutral light brown of driftwood.

You can go bold with stripes of white, navy and vivid red, or subtle with waves and ombre colour fades.

Reflective or iridescent effects hint at ocean treasure or mermaid scales.

Inspiration Gallery

Motifs

There are any number of nautical motifs you can include in your bathroom.

First of all, you can incorporate prints and images as part of your decor: sea-scapes, beach photos, artworks showing ships and boats.

You can also choose shower curtains, bath towels and other accessories with a nautical or ocean themed design: ships, anchors, starfish and more.

Wall art showing words relating to your theme, such as “bathe”, is another good option.

Textures And Materials

Matte paint can give a soft, gentle feel. Contrast this with shiny, glossy textures: gloss paint, enamel, polished copper, brass or steel.

Aged wood is perfect for a nautical theme; think driftwood or rough planks.

The more raw the surfaces look, the more they’ll lend themselves to your theme.

Keep finishes simple and allow the natural beauty of the materials to come through.

Lime-washed wood, the warm patina of aged brass, woven rattan accents: all of these can evoke a sense of peaceful simplicity.

Salvaged wood of any kind makes an excellent addition to your nautical themed bathroom.

Use it with plain or striped mats as a floor covering; panel your walls or the sides of your bath.

The great thing about reclaimed wood is that any damage immediately becomes part of its charm.

Decorative Elements

A great way to immediately suggest a nautical feel is to include some porthole mirrors in your decorative elements.

Round mirrors, preferably with thick frames in brass or polished copper, can convey a strong sense of being at sea.

You can choose smaller accent mirrors or go all out and replace your existing bathroom mirrors with large circular ones.

Inexpensive objet d’art and ornaments are easily available: think shells and dried starfish, model boats, ship-anchor ornaments; small dishes of pebbles and sea-glass.

Style Tips

It’s very easy for this kind of design to become cluttered so be sure not to overload any part of your bathroom with objects or decorative touches.

You don’t need to overdo it – less is often more.

A good approach is to pick a section of the bathroom, such as a single wall or a niche, and keep the more dramatic elements confined to that space.

Take An Inspiration Trip

Are you lacking inspiration, or finding interior design a bit overwhelming?

Poole, UK has some brilliant inspiration for nautical style interiors and exteriors.

The streets are lined with beautiful beach houses, with feature surfboards on glass balconies, beach-hut style elements, and washed-out seaside colours.

Visiting Bathroom Showrooms Poole or any other seaside town has to offer is also a great first step when planning nautical style interiors.

Where Do You Get Your Inspiration For Interiors From?

We love Pinterest, and we also gain inspiration from everywhere we go.

The colours of the crisp fallen leaves on an autumn day spent walking in the woods.

We take inspiration from hikes around lakes and up hills in the summer.

We watch the sun reflect on water, and wildlife take comfort in their surroundings.

Graphic design inspires us too. Logos, printed materials, paper finishes and die cuts all get the mind flowing, and graphic design translates to interior design very nicely.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Comment below…

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At Home Teeth Whitening: Does It Really Work?

There are so many at home teeth whitening products on the market at the moment. It’s hard to understand which one to go for.

I’m a childminder by day, so I needed a quick bathroom routine in the morning.

I’d heard about teeth whitening strips before, but I hadn’t realised that you could get them in the UK.

At Home Teeth Whitening Strips Review

I’m trialling some at home teeth whitening strips by Pro Teeth Whitening Co. which you can find on Amazon, Boots, and their own website to name a few oulets.

I chose the strips because they contain natural ingredients, were veggie, and contained no peroxide.

Something that was very quick and easy to use, with no mess or fuss was important.

I have a few teeth that are not my own (!), and some staining, so I was intrigued to see what would happen.

The Trial…

The strips were very easy to use, and surprisingly, they partly disolved as the 30 minutes passed.

They cause less mess than you would think, and you just brush all the charcoal residue off your teeth when you’re done.

There’s no particular taste or sensation, which I was surprised about.

The Results…

Now for the part you’ve been waiting for… the before and after pics!

Hopefully you can see the results for yourself in the image below.

At Home Teeth Whitening. Pro Teeth Whitening Co. Charcoal Strips Trial

My teeth following the trial have felt and looked cleaner, and most of the staining has faded.

For an affordable little packet of charcoal teeth whitening strips, the results are great!

It does take some commitment (14 days x 30 mins per day) to get the results, but I think it’s worth the effort.

Especially as you can easily do it whilst you blow dry your hair, or make breakfast for your kids.

Want Whiter Teeth Yourself?

What do you think to the results? I’m very impressed, myself, and I’m going to get some charcoal powder to use to keep up the good work.

If you’d like to try any of the Pro Teeth Whitening Co. charcoal teeth whitening products for yourself, you can use a code over on Amazon [WHITENING] that will get you 10% off the current retail price.

I think you’ll be surprised by the price… and the results!

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Homes & Other Important Things To Talk About Before Marriage

These days, most of us live together for a while before the talks of marriage come up.

We know each other rather well already and will, hopefully, be quite familiar with our future spouses – so why do we have to have these conversations before getting married?

While you might have lived together for years, there are still many things that will happen in your future together that you should have talked about first.

These are the things we don’t really focus on too much while we’re still young and relatively care-free but that we, as fully grown adults, should have discussed at one point.

Here are a couple of the most important things to have discussed before you start on the rest of your lives so that you avoid those misunderstandings in the future.

First: Talk About Children

Sure, you either want children or you don’t – so what else is there to talk about?

When we choose our partners, we tend to think at least subconsciously about the things that would make them a great parent.

You’ve already chosen them for their stunning looks and ability to laugh at stupid things but there are, in fact, other things to being a parent besides from everything they might pass down genetically.

How do you think their parenting style might be, for example?

Will your overly laidback upbringing crash with their stricter and more traditional upbringing or will it be the perfect mix your kids will need?

While you don’t have to agree on everything, it’s important to have talked through this so that you know where you stand.

When you do have kids, it’s all about being united, after all, and not teaching them different things behind each other’s back.

Next: Discuss Finances

So far, you probably have a good understanding of how your SO views finances – and if you don’t, you’ll definitely have it after the wedding.

Some people don’t mind spending a lot of money on fancy Bijou wedding venues and diamond wedding rings while others feel like they could easily do without the ring and the expensive wedding.

Everyone is different, in other words, and you need to know where your partner stands when you plan your future together.

Most couples argue about finances (mainly house finances) above everything else and the more you understand your partner’s point of view, the easier it’s going to be to steer clear of these arguments.

When you know each other and understand your partner, it’s a lot easier to be empathetic and on each other’s side, after all.

Discuss your plants in terms of savings as well whether you’d like to keep your finances combined or separate – and keep his or her opinions in mind when you’re about to make a financial decision.

Being married is, after all, all about being a team and teams will always consult with each other before making any big decisions.

Try to get these conversations over with before the big day and you’re going to save yourself a lot of headaches, arguments, and frustration in the future.

Images by Pexels.

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Play Room Designs: Creating The Best Space For Your Children To Play In

As a parent, there’s nothing you want more than for your children to be able to play and grow safely within the comfort of your own home. While not every room in the house is suitable for your children to play in, you might choose to create a play room for them that’s completely free of any dangers so that they can play and you can watch them learn and grow into their own person. Here’s how you can create the perfect haven for your children to play in.

Creating The Perfect Haven For Your Children To Play In

Eliminate sharp edges

The first thing that you should be thinking about is removing anything that could be a potential sharp edge for them to fall into from the room. This includes tables, cabinets and large chairs. This will prevent you from having to worry about them accidentally tripping over and hurting themselves. Doing this will also allow you to not have to constantly be in the room while they are playing, meaning you can enjoy some me time and catch up on your favourite TV shows.

Add little details to enhance their play

It’s very likely that your children have an immense amount of toys to play with already, but adding little details to their current toys can enhance how much they will get from their toys for their imagination. For example, things like dolls house accessories will allow your children to reenact what they see their parents doing with toys, and it will really encourage imaginative play. Another idea would be to put a rug on the floor that can be used as a race track to push their cars around. These are widely available online and also in many toy stores too. Little details like those will allow your children to get the most from the toys they already have!

Build storage

Rather than having removable storage that your children could potentially knock over and crush themselves with, consider building storage that is fixed to the wall for them so that their toys can be neatly put away until they need to use them. This will also eliminate the chance of them hurting themselves even more because the storage unit will be attached to the wall.

Use light and neutral colours

This is a great tip if you have children of both genders, this will save any arguments about the colour of the walls and will also keep the room looking light and airy. Depending on the ages of your children you could put up artwork accordingly or even paint on a wall mural that will compliment the room.

Use play mats as flooring

You can get your hands on play mats that come in tiles to lay down on the floor. Not only will they keep the floor nice and soft for hours of fun and safe play, but they add colour to any room which will increase imagination and fun.

Consider these five ideas and you will find yourself with a perfect haven for your children to play in!

All images by Pixabay.

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6 Ways To Transform Your Cellar

Many older houses have got basements. And many homeowners completely ignore them, aside from perhaps dumping old furniture and other bulky items when we’ve run out of storage space. For many of us, thinking of basements conjures up images of horror films, and if you were to walk into a dark, damp, unloved basement unprepared, you might feel a twinge of terror. But, this is a tragic waste of space. Your basement is a huge area of your house that has many uses and if well converted can make a beautiful space, without any horror film connotations. Here are six fantastic ways to use the area.

Wine Cellar

If you don’t fancy having to do too much to the basement, a wine cellar could be the perfect solution. Have a nice flooring installed but leave the brickwork exposed and just add some shelving and perhaps a table and chairs for tasting.

Dining Room

Renovating your basement to create a dining room takes a little more work, and you may want to check out Evolution Money for financing options as well as seeking a home improvement company. But, you could quickly create a trendy dining room, perfect for welcoming guests to your home. This could be the ideal solution if you enjoy cooking and hosting dinner parties.

Bedroom

When we are looking at expanding our families, we often consider a loft conversion to add an extra bedroom to our homes as a way to avoid having to move. But, we rarely think about the basement. Perhaps because of the lack of natural lighting down there. Depending on the position of your home, you could add a window to the space. Find best designs at EZ Window Solutions. A basement can make a cosy bedroom, especially cool for teens who want to show off when they bring friends home. Just remember to get some heating installed.

Office

More and more of us today are working from home. Even those that don’t, often spend time working from home, or pursuing hobbies and interests that can make us a little extra cash online. While working from home can seem like an ideal solution, many people find it hard to concentrate on work with so many distractions. So, they seek to add a home office. If you don’t have a spare room to use, your basement could be the perfect option. Lighten the room with bright lighting and white walls. You could even add a toilet or a small kitchen area so that you don’t have to keep coming upstairs, breaking your concentration.

Studio

A basement is also an excellent solution if you have a keen interest in art, music or photography and need a quiet space to work. All you need for this is to clear the area out, add some lighting options and a heater, and then a large table and any equipment that you need.

Library

A basement can easily turn into a gorgeous, cosy library space. Line the walls with shelves full of books, add some lighting options and a small reading nook with some comfy seating and a table for a drink. Perfect.

Whatever space you’ve got in your basement, utilise it. Don’t make the mistake of leaving it to ruin.

All imagery from Pixabay.