19 Mar, 2024
3 mins read

Double the Elegance: Dual Vanity Bathroom Tips

Double the Elegance: Mastering Dual Vanity Bathroom Tips

Having a dual vanity in your bathroom not only adds functionality but also elevates the overall aesthetic. Explore these expert tips to make the most of your dual vanity and create a luxurious and organized bathroom space.

Maximizing Space: Strategic Placement

The key to a successful dual vanity setup is strategic placement. Optimize your bathroom layout by placing the dual vanity where it maximizes space and allows for efficient movement. Consider placing it against a wall or in a corner to open up the rest of the bathroom for a spacious feel.

Choosing the Right Size: Balancing Functionality

Selecting the right size for your dual vanity is crucial. Ensure it provides ample counter space for both users without overpowering the room. A balanced size not only enhances functionality but also contributes to a harmonious visual appeal. Measure the available space carefully to find the perfect fit.

His and Hers: Personalized Storage

One of the advantages of a dual vanity is the opportunity for personalized storage. Consider implementing separate storage areas for “his” and “hers” to keep toiletries, accessories, and personal items organized. Individual drawers or cabinets provide a tailored and clutter-free solution for each user.

Symmetry in Design: Creating Visual Harmony

Achieve visual harmony by incorporating symmetry into the design of your dual vanity. Matching mirrors, sinks, and lighting fixtures on each side contribute to a cohesive and elegant look. Symmetry enhances the sense of balance in the bathroom, creating a space that feels well-planned and intentional.

Vessel Sinks or Undermount Sinks: Stylish Choices

Choosing the right sinks is a significant aspect of dual vanity design. Vessel sinks add a touch of contemporary style, creating a focal point on the countertop. Alternatively, undermount sinks provide a sleek and seamless look, making the countertop easy to clean and maintain. Select the style that complements your overall design aesthetic.

Ample Lighting: Ensuring Visibility

Proper lighting is essential for a dual vanity setup to ensure visibility and functionality. Install well-placed, high-quality lighting fixtures above each sink to eliminate shadows and provide ample illumination. Consider fixtures with adjustable settings to accommodate different lighting preferences.

Quality Faucets: Enhancing Aesthetics and Functionality

Investing in quality faucets is crucial for both aesthetics and functionality. Choose faucets that complement the overall style of your bathroom while offering practical features such as adjustable water flow and temperature control. High-quality fixtures contribute to the luxurious feel of a dual vanity.

Utilizing a Central Storage Tower: Additional Functionality

Incorporating a central storage tower between the two sinks adds both style and functionality. This feature provides additional storage for shared items, such as towels, while creating a focal point in the middle of the vanity. Customize the tower with open shelves or closed cabinets based on your storage needs.

Integrated Outlets: Convenience and Practicality

Consider integrating outlets into your dual vanity design for added convenience. This allows you to easily charge electric toothbrushes, razors, or other devices without the need for unsightly cords. Hidden

3 mins read

Terracotta Tile Tips: Warmth and Style for Your Bathroom

Transform Your Bathroom with Terracotta Tile Tips

Terracotta tiles bring warmth, charm, and a touch of the Mediterranean to your bathroom. If you’re considering this timeless material for your bathroom design, here are some tips to help you make the most of terracotta tiles.

Choosing the Right Terracotta Tiles

The first step in incorporating terracotta tiles into your bathroom is choosing the right ones. Terracotta tiles come in various shades, from pale peach to rich, earthy tones. Consider the size, shape, and finish of the tiles to match the overall aesthetic of your bathroom. Matte finishes offer a more rustic look, while glazed terracotta tiles can add a touch of elegance.

Terracotta Tile Layout and Patterns

Explore different layout options and patterns to enhance the visual appeal of your bathroom. Herringbone, basketweave, or classic straight lay patterns are popular choices for terracotta tiles. The layout can significantly impact the overall atmosphere of the space, so choose a pattern that complements your design vision.

Pairing Terracotta with Complementary Materials

Terracotta tiles pair well with a variety of materials to create a balanced and harmonious bathroom design. Consider combining terracotta with natural stone, wood, or white ceramic fixtures to add depth and contrast. This combination creates a visually interesting and well-coordinated space.

Maintaining Terracotta Tiles

Proper maintenance is crucial to preserve the beauty of terracotta tiles in your bathroom. Sealing the tiles helps protect them from moisture and stains. Regular cleaning with a mild, pH-neutral cleaner ensures longevity. Be cautious with acidic or abrasive cleaners that may damage the terracotta surface.

Enhancing Natural Lighting with Terracotta

Terracotta tiles have the ability to absorb and reflect natural light, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere. If your bathroom receives ample natural light, use it to your advantage. Strategically placing mirrors and opting for light-colored accessories can amplify the brightness and showcase the terracotta’s warm undertones.

Terracotta Tiles and Bathroom Color Schemes

Consider your overall color scheme when incorporating terracotta tiles. Neutral colors like whites, creams, and soft blues work well with terracotta, creating a serene and inviting ambiance. Experiment with different color combinations to find the one that best suits your taste and complements the warmth of terracotta.

Creating a Mediterranean Oasis

Terracotta tiles evoke a Mediterranean aesthetic, and you can enhance this vibe by incorporating other elements. Consider adding wrought iron fixtures, colorful textiles, and potted plants to create a relaxed and charming Mediterranean oasis in your bathroom.

Terracotta Tile Installation Tips

Consult with a professional for the proper installation of terracotta tiles. The installation process may vary depending on the type of terracotta and the desired pattern. Professional installation ensures a secure and visually pleasing result.

Exploring Terracotta Tile Varieties

Terracotta tiles come in various varieties, including traditional Saltillo tiles, Spanish pavers, and handmade terracotta. Each variety brings its own unique character and charm. Explore different options to find the terracotta tile variety that resonates with your design preferences.

Terracotta Tile Bathroom Tips: Explore Possibilities

Ready to explore the possibilities of terracotta

2 mins read

Home Warranty – Valuing Your Possessions

A Home Warranty actually can be regarded as a type of insurance for home appliances. When systems or appliances break down, the concerned insurance company is bound to replace or repair the equipment. In general cases, the newer homes need not require any warranty as appliances need no replacement and cost of this type of warranties may seem a bit higher. But for ensuring the safety it is always advisable to rely on any genuine companies offering warranties for your home. Home is always a valuable investment and thus ensuring warranty to it seems to be more reasonable.
There are a lot of positive factors which follow on when you fetch warranty for your home. You are being offered with a peace of mind as even when the most major system or appliance in your home needs repair or replacement, somebody else will be paying the bills. In any cases you have the necessity for any repair services; all you need is to just make a call to the warranty company. You may just have to pay a genuine flat deductible cost to them. It never matters the number of hours required to fix the problem, you will surely get the services done. The main add up to all the facts are that it also adds the value for your home when you are to sell it.
A buyer for your home will surely be glad on knowing the fact that the entire appliances regarding the home he is about to buy has been insured. Once you signs up to get warranty it is also mobilized towards new owner of the home. Even though there is a small deductible charge for each repair incidence it never matters a lot. Moreover to this, certain companies allow its customers to report more than one problem as a single incident. Many of the companies don’t hesitate to replace the appliances and always try to repair the worst of the damages. But no company will ensure you repair or replacement if the fault occurs due to your rough usage and careless maintenance.
Choosing the best policy is a matter which is concerned only with you. The needs are always relative. This means that they vary with customers. So choose the policy which is the most beneficial for your needs. Reliability is also a matter of apex consideration. Seek the experience of the present and previous customers of the firms in the market which offer home warranty.…

3 mins read

Healthy Flooring – The Commercial Environment Issues

“Sick Building Syndrome” is no myth. Some commercial floor coverings are health hazards in several ways. They retain materials which should be removed, and are unhygienic. Some materials can contain various elements that trigger allergic reactions. The materials may deteriorate over time, creating actual physical hazards for users.

Knowing when you need to look at healthy flooring

There are a few classic signs of problem flooring:

People getting repeated minor infections affecting respiration.

Dank or dusty smell in the building

Discolouration of carpeting

Sunlight shows a lot of dust in the air

Very dry, stale environment

Other problems include:

Chemical issues with degraded carpet glue and polymers

Fumes may be absorbed by carpets and released by heat

The natural process: Material gets tramped into the carpet over time. This very fine material is dust, often in surprisingly large quantities. It builds up, eventually getting released by pressure from walking on the carpet.

Chemical issues: Some carpets are synthetic polymers which adversely react to heat, in addition to the natural dust situation. They may release fumes of their own in response to excessive heat or exposure to sunlight.

Health and flooring issues

The dust is a potential source of infection and the fumes are chemical irritants. Microbes brought in on the dust, pollen grains, viruses, and other problems caused by the large amount of micro-particulates in the air can all create health problems. This dust can be a serious irritant, and may affect even people without allergies regularly.

The classic signs an individual is affected by a sick carpet are:

People regularly getting minor infections

Coughing

Dry throat

Sinus conditions

Irritated nose and throat symptoms

Old carpets, particularly heavy weave broadloom, absorb enormous amounts of material over time, and even repeated steam cleaning and shampoos won’t help much. (In some cases, these carpets literally produce mud when steam cleaned.)

Environmental considerations

Environmental considerations for carpet flooring are all practical responses to local conditions.

The issues are:

Durable flooring suitable for the space

Carpet cleaning

Modern design

Good product life

No problems with materials

Sustainable flooring.

One result of research into the issues of carpet health was to look at the life cycle of carpets, and produce sustainable flooring. Modern carpet tiles have individual structural backing, not depending on an underlay, for example. That means the dust can’t sink through the carpet and form increasing deposits underneath, making cleaning these carpets far more effective from the start. They also have much better seals which prevent accumulation of materials.

Choices and options for healthy flooring

You’ll find you can get good quality modern modular carpet tiles which can cover all these issues very effectively at reasonable cost. Modular tiles allow for replacement of carpet in high usage areas with minimum fuss, and prevents problems created by wear and tear. This is the optimum health result, straightforward, quick, efficient and reliable.…

3 mins read

The Negative Side Of Epoxy Paint

If you are researching different types of garage flooring, then you probably came across the epoxy paint solution. Most of these articles tell you about all the benefits of this method, but what they don’t tell you are the problems. One huge problem that many consumers face with this product is the installation. If you don’t put a sufficient amount of time into your prep-work, then your garage flooring will not come out well. The problem with epoxy is that there are too many things that will interfere with its bond to the floor. To make sure that your epoxy paint bonds well with your floor then you will need to follow some precautions.

Before you start anything, you need to do some serious surface preparation. If there are any chemical or oil stains on the concrete, make sure they are removed. If there is any part of your garage flooring that is stained with any product, then the epoxy paint will not bond well with that spot. Also you must be sure your garage floor is completely dry. There can be no moisture coming in contact with your floor what so ever. Even if your floor appears dry, it still may contain moisture. A way to test for hidden moisture is to tape a piece of plastic to a section of your floor and wait for a few days. If you see water near the edge of the tape, then you know that there is water coming up from the concrete which will affect the epoxy paint significantly. Also if the floor was previously painted, then all of the paint must be removed even if you have to ground down the floor to do it. The preparation for an epoxy paint job can be long and tiring and there is still a chance of failure.

Reasons For Failure

If the humidity of your garage is not perfect, then there is a chance that the epoxy will fail.

The epoxy needs to cure quickly because if it doesn’t then blistering can appear on your floor.

If salts from the concrete come in contact with the epoxy as it cures, then it may bond incorrectly.

When a surface becomes too hot or cold, then it can expand or contract. These slight expansions can cause the paint to crack which will ruin the look of your flooring.

Depending how far you have gotten in your research, you may know some good alternatives to epoxy. One very good alternative is rolled garage flooring. Rolled garage flooring is very durable, easy to install and clean, and it even offers anti-fatigue benefits. Rolled garage flooring comes in a very wide variety of styles and colors so there is a good chance you will find one that you love.

Advantages to Rolled Garage Flooring

The only steps needed for preparation is a sweeping. It is recommended that you clean up the dirt and spills before putting in the carpet but it doesn’t need to be perfect.…

3 mins read

Bright Ideas For Lamps and Lamp Shades For Frugal Home Decorating

It’s not the light of the lamp that brings out the best in illumination, it’s the lamp and lampshade. Here are some simple frugal home design lamp ideas to give that old lighting standard a new look. Let’s start with the shade: Did you know you can paint most any fabric and paper shade with either a commercial spray paint or a home made spray paint application? The home made formula consists of 1 part paint (latex or craft) to 10 parts water. Measure the parts based on the size of a standard plastic spray bottle. All you need to do is choose your color and apply it in one or all of these decorative applications.

– Tape off diagonal lines or stripes with painter’s tape. -Create some basic stencils creating your own designs or browsing your local craft store. -Instead of spraying on paint, apply the paint with a sea sponge to give it an entirely different look.

Be sure your shade is dusted before you get started so the paint will adhere solidly. All paint aside, another way to give that shade a fresh designer look is to apply dark paper silhouettes to the inside of a lighter shade. Create a seasonal lamp shade accent by changing the shape as appropriate. For example, place stars or Christmas tree silhouettes during the Holiday season. Rabbits or egg shapes will look just right for Easter. Simple floral leaves, stems, and any shape you might need can be downloaded from free click art web sites.

Be sure you don’t allow the loosely tacked silhouette which is taped to the inside of the lamp shade be too close to the light bulb. Now let’s take a look at the base of your lamp. Here is where creativity is unlimited. It’s simple to create a lamp base out of almost any sturdy 3 dimensional shape:

Yard Sale Vases

Large Soup Mugs

Bowls turned upside down

Terra Cotta pots

Books That have been glued together in a horizontal stack

Wooden boxes with your decoupaged touch

Teapots

Antique Bottles

Anything!

Most of your home made bases will need a hole drilled at the bottom or on the side to run the cord down and through. Unless you have an old lamp shoved in storage somewhere that you can take apart and reinstall to your new lamp, you will need to purchase an inexpensive store lamp kit. This kit provides all the hardware and electrical parts you need to put your lamp together.

The other tried and true frugal home design option to resurrecting a lamp is to paint the base. Here again the choice of application is really up to you. Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

Guild

Decoupage

Etch

Stencil

Add colors that accent wall art

The most important point to remember when planning to paint your lamp, is to buy paint that is suited specifically for the the type of object; glass paint for glass, metal for metal, …

3 mins read

Versatile Performance Flooring

A wooden dance floor is the choice of most dance studios, and for good reason. Seasons of durability and great looks are what keep these types of floors installed for dance purposes. In order to offer as many different types of dance classes at your studio and to increase revenue, you will need to think about how the performance flooring affects the type of dance being performed on it, and how certain types of flooring can enhance or hinder the dance.
All wood dance styles should be of the sprung dance floor type. What this means is that above the bottom sub floor rests a cushioning layer of product. It might be foam core, or other soft materials. Above this is placed the top wooden dance. This makes it possible to dance in a room that might not have sub flooring suitable for dance, such as concrete or other hard surfaces. A sprung wood dance floor provides the resilience that a dancer’s body needs when jumps are performed, as well as when percussive movements of the feet and legs upon the floor are performed. This type of sprung wooden dance helps to prevent tiny stress fractures and other stress injuries to the legs and joints from happening, making for a healthier dancer over time.
The type of wood used can also have an impact on the type of dance performed. For a good tap dance floor, you want a very live floor that offers a lot of sound naturally, without the dancers having to pound their feet hard on the floor to get any sound out of it. This is why hard woods such as maple are an excellent choice for a tap dance floor. Just the opposite is true for a ballet dance floor, where you would want the sound dampened rather than enhanced, so a softer wood would be preferable in this instance.
A ballet floor or a tap dance will often be finished with urethane, which is a coating used to protect the wood’s surface from damage. The top finish coating plays a role in speed, or slipperiness, of the floor’s surface. A tap dance will need a medium speed urethane finish. This helps the dancers to execute tap moves more easily, without the likelihood of twisting ankles due to too much traction on the floor’s surface. You can also use slow to medium urethane finishes for a ballet dance floor, but adjustments to the dance shoes will need to be made. You typically do not want a very slippery floor surface for a ballet dance floor, due to the lifts and jumping involved, which would be quite dangerous on a slick floor. The dancers would need to use rosin on the medium speed ballet dance, but could eliminate the rosin when working on pointe on the slow speed floor.
More information is available about ballet and tap dance floor choices from a manufacturer of sprung wood floors.…

3 mins read

The 4 Most Common Septic System Problems

Septic systems are designed to process human waste and decompose it anaerobically over time. Most of the time they function perfectly, but much like any system with some amount of complexity, they are prone to some problems. Here we discuss the common septic systems problems.

Functioning Septic Systems

Septic systems break human and organic waste down into their constituent parts. The bacterial decomposition results in the formation of solids, liquids and gases. The solid part of it settles to the bottom of the tank, where it remains until it is removed by a septic tank pumper (which should be every 1 to 3 years). The gases and liquids are regularly released from the tank vents and pipes.

Almost every household has used their septic system as a dumping ground for non-organic waste. From plastic objects to tampons, people flush a wide variety of objects down the toilet, which the septic process was never designed to handle. These objects, if they do not block the pipes, make it to the septic tank and just sit there taking up space. These objects are non-biodegradable the bacteria cannot decompose them and they can only be removed by pumping the tank out.

Four of the most common problems with septic tanks are as follows:

Excess water being sent to the septic tank. Excess water is never good for a septic tank because it makes the solids overflow through the vents and pipes, which then blocks them. The blockage can completely stop the system from working and cause a backup into your house.

Sending paint thinners and solvents into the septic tank. These are toxic substances which are not good for the soil of the system, where they will finally find home because they are non-biodegradable too.

Using too many household detergents. These detergents contain phosphates, which are helpful in algae growth. Algae can block pipes and then make the septic tank overflow.

Flushing non-biodegradable products down the toilet (mentioned earlier). Non-biodegradable substances need to be regularly pumped out of the tank just because bacteria cannot decompose them.

How to solve common septic system problems:

Use a lesser amount of water than you do normally to solve the problem the excess water problem. There are various solutions to easily reduce water consumption. You can find some examples at your local hardware store.

Do not dispose of non-biodegradable waste into the septic system. At all. Ever.

Do not use the common detergents; instead use liquid soaps and gel soaps which do not contain phosphates.

Do not dispose of toxic substances like paint thinners and solvents into the septic system.

Finally, have your septic system pumped every few years. One to three years is the duration advised by the experts as an acceptable amount of time between pumpings.…

3 mins read

Designing Your Home Made Simple With These Easy Tips

Embarking on an interior design project is a big and often scary undertaking. Most of them do not know where to start. You are very lucky; this article will outline some ways you can liven up your home.

A good tip for interior design is the use of the room in question. For kid’s rooms, you want something more colorful and fun. Use more subdued colors in a library where serenity is the goal.

Include several patterns or textures into a room when you are designing it. Textures and patterns draw attention to the detail of your room and can really accent any smooth surfaces you have such as wood or glass. If you’re making a contemporary room, you must use textures and patterns.

Seriously think about your financial situation and what your budget is for interior design before you spend the money. It is never a good idea to start something that your budget may not ultimately support. This can help lower your anxiety and stress levels when designing your new space.

Placing all the artwork in the room at eye level allows it to be shown to its best effect. If you hang it anywhere else it can destroy the delicate balance in your room, and even make your space look smaller.

A good interior design tip is to make sure you’re always following up on the latest style trends. You never want to be someone who looks like they been living in the past, especially the 70’s, with that old tacky wallpaper. See what others are doing to their home nowadays.

Hard surface flooring can cause a room to feel cold and hostile; to warm it up, use large area carpets or throw rugs. Ensure you rotate the rugs on a regular basis in order to evenly minimize wear and tear due to traffic. Quick spins or changing the spot can help your rugs continue to look new for a longer period of time.

It’s very common for a home to have at least one small room that needs to feel larger than it really is. If you want to make your small spaces appear larger, use light and bright paint. Dark colors in small rooms make the room look even smaller that it is.

Consider how long you are planning to live in your current home before making it too personalized. If you do not plan to live there for another five years, you might want to design your home in a neutral fashion. What you might consider awesome might turn off a potential buyer later on.

Decorating a basement is completely possible. Basements tend to be cave like in appearance. Go ahead and give your basement a better look with brighter colors and by adding in a mirror or two.

You should now be more prepared to begin making some changes on the interior design elements of your home. Things don’t have to be hard. Begin with the information you read about here, and before …

3 mins read

Interior Design Tips That Will Have You Decorating Like A Pro

Very few things will gratify a home owner or apartment dweller more than a successful go at interior design. From choosing the furniture to arranging accents, interior design can be really fun. Continue reading to learn great advice that will help you make your home look like something that a professional did!

How the room will be used is a consideration to take into account when planning a room design. For example, a colorful palette of primary colors is well-suited for a playroom or child’s bedroom. Those same colors wouldn’t be appropriate for an office, however.

You want to maximize the space you have when adding a home office. Lighting is essential to work spaces, along with a comfy chair and desk. You need to focus on creating an office where you will love working. This also means improving the look of your space.

Think about how much light is available in a room when you are considering your design. If a room doesn’t have that many windows, you might want to go with a lighter shade of paint or wallpaper so that the room doesn’t seem like a cave.

Get rid of all of your clutter before executing your interior design plan. Every house can use some cleaning, closet-emptying, and clearing out dusty items no one misses. Think about donating items or selling them at a yard sale.

When you are redesigning a child’s bedroom or playroom, make it fun! This will help them to feel comfortable instead of designing the room the way you would like. Make sure that everything is easy for them to access. Look at it as your kid would and get rid of possible hazards.

Be creative when using framed pictures. Remember that they are also a design element of your room. They do not all need to be properly lined up with one another. Try your best to put up angles and patterns. Altering white spaces can improve the mood of any room in your house.

When you are creating a plan for interior design, do not go off the deep end. Yes, a bit of personality is welcome in any home, but steer clear of trendy choices and crazy accessories when choosing permanent fixtures. If you want to sell in the future, unusual decor might deter buyers. If you simply cannot stop yourself from putting your stamp on the property, be sure that your decor is simple to remove.

If you have the desire to increase the amount of light in a room, add mirrors so that they are across from your windows. Use a large mirror to reflect light, making it appear as though there are two windows in the room. This will brighten the room.

No matter where your starting point is, you can take your rooms to amazing places. Interior design projects bring out the inner artist in anyone. Hopefully this article has provided you with some fresh ideas you can put to use around your home to create …