Redecorating Your Bathroom on a Budget

Like any room in your house, bathrooms can start to look worn and outdated after a few years, but often a lot of the jobs involved in redecorating this type of room are more labor intensive than other more basic rooms in the house. Most bathrooms have certain fixtures and fittings such as baths, sinks, tiles and toilets that can be expensive and difficult to replace, but there are ways to spruce up your bathroom without spending a lot of time and money:

The suite – it was once the latest thing to have bathroom suites (bath, sink and toilet) in pastel colours, but this has really gone out of fashion and will make a bathroom look outdated whatever you do to the rest of the room. Therefore if you do have one of those coloured bathroom suites then one of the ways you can instantly refresh the decor is to replace this with a plain white suite. You can get great deals on plain white baths, sinks and toilets from both trade and DIY suppliers.
Tiles – retiling a bathroom can be a big, expensive job, but you can freshen up the tiles that are already there by giving them a really good clean and then re-grout them, which is a much easier and cheaper task than replacing them and will give the bathroom a clean, fresh look.
custom-bathroom

Flooring – flooring in the bathroom can get easily worn, but as these are normally small flooring areas it is not too expensive to completely replace this. If you have carpet think about replacing it with linoleum, which is long lasting, comes in a wide range of colours and designs and is cheap and easy to lay down.

Paint – sand down the skirting boards, cupboard doors and window and door frames and freshen them up with a couple of coats of glossy white paint. You could also think about repainting the ceiling as well, as this can really brighten up your bathroom and maximise the natural light. If your walls are painted, and you afford it, think about giving them a fresh coat as well and this could be a good time to choose a new, more daring colour scheme.

Blinds, shower curtains and bath mats – if you are a really tight budget then just replacing the old shower curtain, blind/curtains and bath mats can really brighten a room up, and you could also think about buying some new matching towels as well.

Basic Feng Shui – The Art of Arranging your Furniture

Feng Shui is a complex theory, and involves many different principles that are designed to make living and working spaces more positive for each individual, by balancing energy (Yin and Yang). It takes many years to become a professional Feng Shui consultant, and a complete Feng Shui house makeover would first involve working out your Kua, which is the number that determines which factors are best for you individually, and is based on a simple system of using your birth date (from the Chinese Lunar Calendar) and your sex, using this calculation:

Males – 10 minus the last two digits of the year you were born (if two digits add these together until they are one digit)

Females – 5 plus the last two digits of the year you were born (if two digits add these together until they are one digit)

Your Kua is important when working out factors such as the way your head should point to whilst you are sleeping, which is very important in Feng Shui, as north, south, east and west or all assigned different properties in relation to your Kua. The majority of Kua’s have westerly affinities and so arranging your bed in this direction is luckiest for most, with the north and south bringing more disruptive influences:

Kua 1 and 4 people – you have an affinity with the east, and the direction of southeast is thought to be the luckiest, and a good direction to face your head whilst you are sleeping. Avoid west or northeast directions as these can bring harmful influences your way.

Kua 5 person – if you are male, you will have an affinity with the northeast, if you are female then it will be for the southwest. The opposite directions will bring trouble and difficulties if used by the other sex.

There are some basic Feng Shui principles that can apply whatever you Kua, and these are simply and easy to use in your own home

Mirrors – these are both good and bad in Feng Shui, as they deflecting and absorb harmful influences, but they are uniformly thought to be negative in bedroom spaces, as they interfere with the flow of chi (energy) whilst you sleep. If you do have a mirror in your bedroom, move it or hand a cloth over it when you are not using it, and do not face it opposite a door or window (it will reflect all the energy coming in).

Windows – energy comes into your house through the windows, and so they should be clean and clear of clutter, with the drapes pulled back during the day.

Corners – corners funnel negative energy, so avoid putting any seats here and instead deflect negative energy by placing a positive object in this space, such as a plant or glass cabinet.

Home Furnishing Stores: Interesting Tips To Consider

Are you in the process of buying your first home?  If you are then of course you will need to furnish it.  However, after spending so much on the purchase of your property you may be limited on funds to buy furniture for it.  As you will soon discover when looking for furniture there are many different kinds of home furnishings stores where you purchase what you want.

However, why limit yourself to going to the usual stores locally it is also worth considering looking online for what you need as well.  You may well be surprised to find that the item of furniture you want costs quite a lot less online than if you were to buy it locally.  This is because in many cases the sellers online like act as a middle man for the manufacturer so they don’t actually keep stocks of these goods.  Instead when an order is placed with them they send it to the manufacturer who will then arrange for the furniture to be shipped to you directly.

Also when it comes to saving money on furniture it is sometimes worth considering waiting until the home furnishing stores have sales on.  Although this may mean waiting until the summer or winter you could end up getting the perfect dining room suite for your home at a fraction of what you would have originally paid.  The great thing about waiting for the sales is that the pieces being sold are the ones that are the end of season and are being replaced with much newer much more expensive items.  So for the stores to actually make room for these new products they will often in some cases be willing to negotiate just so that they can free up more space.

Of course when it comes to furnishing a new home why limit yourself to furniture that is already to just put in a room.  Why not consider using home furnishing stores where the need to put the furniture together yourself is worth considering.  As you will soon discover when it comes to flat pack furniture because the stores are able to keep large quantities of the items in stock they can then reduce the prices they charge.

One company that has proven how popular flat pack furniture has become in recent years is IKEA.  This Swedish company was founded back in 1943 and has now become the worlds largest furniture retailer.   However, the style of furniture that this company has to offer may not suit all tastes but for first time buyers is the affordable solution when it comes to furnishing their new home.

When it comes to buying furniture for your home from home furnishing stores you need to take into consideration how large the rooms are.  Whats the point of buying a queen size bed for a room if then you find you cannot get any other furniture into it.  So make sure that when out looking for new furniture for your home or searching online you have the rooms measurements with you at all times.
Are you in the process of buying your first home?  If you are then of course you will need to furnish it.  However, after spending so much on the purchase of your property you may be limited on funds to buy furniture for it.  As you will soon discover when looking for furniture there are many different kinds of home furnishings stores where you purchase what you want.

However, why limit yourself to going to the usual stores locally it is also worth considering looking online for what you need as well.  You may well be surprised to find that the item of furniture you want costs quite a lot less online than if you were to buy it locally.  This is because in many cases the sellers online like act as a middle man for the manufacturer so they don’t actually keep stocks of these goods.  Instead when an order is placed with them they send it to the manufacturer who will then arrange for the furniture to be shipped to you directly.

Also when it comes to saving money on furniture it is sometimes worth considering waiting until the home furnishing stores have sales on.  Although this may mean waiting until the summer or winter you could end up getting the perfect dining room suite for your home at a fraction of what you would have originally paid.  The great thing about waiting for the sales is that the pieces being sold are the ones that are the end of season and are being replaced with much newer much more expensive items.  So for the stores to actually make room for these new products they will often in some cases be willing to negotiate just so that they can free up more space.

Of course when it comes to furnishing a new home why limit yourself to furniture that is already to just put in a room.  Why not consider using home furnishing stores where the need to put the furniture together yourself is worth considering.  As you will soon discover when it comes to flat pack furniture because the stores are able to keep large quantities of the items in stock they can then reduce the prices they charge.

One company that has proven how popular flat pack furniture has become in recent years is IKEA.  This Swedish company was founded back in 1943 and has now become the worlds largest furniture retailer.   However, the style of furniture that this company has to offer may not suit all tastes but for first time buyers is the affordable solution when it comes to furnishing their new home.
When it comes to buying furniture for your home from home furnishing stores you need to take into consideration how large the rooms are.  Whats the point of buying a queen size bed for a room if then you find you cannot get any other furniture into it.  So make sure that when out looking for new furniture for your home or searching online you have the rooms measurements with you at all times.