Have you been dreaming about creating a perfect guest retreat in your basement, giving good use to wasted space? If you have then you may have come across a very common issue in basement remodeling. That is that the sewer line or soil stack is simply too far away to accommodate the plumbing. Well, there go your plans for a guest retreat. You obviously can’t host guests comfortably without a bathroom.
Don’t despair so fast! There is a new innovation available in the toilet industry that allows you to install a complete bathroom virtually anywhere. Not only in a basement but also under a staircase, in a closet or the garage, even in the most unlikely situations nothing is impossible with the Saniflo Upflush toilet System.
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Ten years ago, bamboo flooring was almost unheard of in the United States. Now it is becoming a popular alternative to traditional hardwood.
Bamboo is technically a grass that is flattened and coated with a laminate product to form a solid-surface flooring. This engineering process
brings strength and durability to the material.
Bamboo is not for everyone, but it is certainly an option worth considering if you’re in the market for hardwood floors. Here are a few of the reasons so many homeowners are opting for this once-rare material. [click to continue…]
The idea of starting afresh, cleaning up, organizing, finding new inspiration, these are all the things to love about the start of January. However, January itself, can be a dreary month. It does follow three back-to-back holidays and December after all! After a period of intense excitement, it’s just tough to compete and fill it with anything even remotely as fun or festive. It’s also wintry and cold and can start that dreaded and impending cabin fever. So, to keep yourself sane and on track to find some home improvements, I like to take a look at my “green” living every January and see what I can focus on for the month. This year, I turned to the kitchen. If you’re looking for some extra ways to green up your kitchen or simply to green it up at all, here are a few things to consider.
Image Source: Pinterest.com
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Adding a few small touches to your bathroom can make a world of difference for you and your guests. Here are a few tips to open up the bathroom space, even on a smaller budget.
1. Light and Mirrors
The best way to make a small bathroom area look large is to create the illusion of space with lights and mirrors. Install recessed lighting and glass that faces each other to create a hall-of-mirrors effect. By bouncing the light and images around the bathroom, it will grow in size without removing any walls.
2. Don’t Chop It Up
In smaller areas you can’t afford to not utilize all your space, so don’t block your bathroom into smaller sections. For instance, buy a glass shower door that’ll open things up instead of hanging a curtain that closes off your tub.
3. Decorate and Organize
Since you’re decorating a small space, you can’t hide anything. Place a few candles around your tub, and hang a small, decorative towel from a hook. Also, make sure you organize. Use a bath caddy and occupy every corner of your cabinets to relieve the counter of clutter. If you have too much clutter to store, you should consider buying a medicine cabinet to help hide your things.
4. De-Clutter the Floor
No matter your floor type, covering it up can make a room feel smaller. Remove your magazine rack by the toilet, and find a place to store your plunger. Instead of laying a bathmat on the floor, fold it and drape it over the tub’s edge.
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The impact a bathroom can have on a home is remarkable. For many reasons the bathroom has transformed from an obscured room relegated to the far back corner of the home into one of the most important and often luxurious parts of the house. A scruffy dirty bathroom can turn off a potential buyer faster than anything else. And, the opposite is true as well; an attractive bathroom has the power to radiate its charm throughout the whole house and has proven to increase resale value.
There are endless ways to improve a shoddy bathroom, from a complete overhaul to a few small changes that make a huge difference. Here are a few tips on how to easily improve your bathroom, whether for your own enjoyment or to increase the value of your home.
- A bathroom, like any other room in a home, must have a focal point. The focal point is what will attract the most attention, catching one’s eye right away. Whatever the focal point of your bathroom is it has to be striking. I often use the bathroom vanity to create a focal point. It’s a good choice because vanities are available in every size, shape, style, color and price. There are endless gorgeous options and finding one that is perfect for you should not be hard.When shopping around for a bathroom vanity keep in mind your lifestyle and needs. If you are in a small city apartment for example the vanity may be your only option for storage in the bathroom so you will want to get something with an adequate amount of drawers and cabinets. [click to continue…]
There’s nothing like curling up in front of a warm, cozy fire on a cold day. But in order to enjoy this luxury, it is important your fireplace be safe and properly maintained. Read this list of tips to help keep your family safe, your fireplace running efficiently, and your gas bill at a minimum.
Safety
- It’s important to remember a fireplace is not the same thing as a furnace. Fires should only be burned for short periods of time (five hours or less).
- While using the fireplace, crack a window to avoid smoke accumulating in the room. The air will be sucked up the chimney.
- While burning a fire, make sure the glass is open to allow air to circulate through the chimney. However keep the screen closed at all times to keep sparks from jumping out.
- Place a nonflammable rug directly in front of the fireplace to prevent sparks from damaging your floor or carpet.
You’ve chosen your new fire now you’ve hit the part you most dread – choosing the correct fire surrounds. It can be a difficult task as fire surrounds don’t generally come cheap and if you get it wrong you could entirely ruin the appearance of your room (no pressure then!). Proceed to read for some advice on different fire surrounds which are available and how they could fit into your home décor.
Stone
Stone fireplaces are arguably one of the most popular surrounds for the modern home. They have modern connotations and their subtle yet classy design makes them a timeless classic for the contemporary home. Widely available in limestone and marble, they generally consist of a handful of neutral shades of different stone.
Perfect accompaniment: For a minimalistic feel with a touch of romance, decorate the hearth with miniature tea lights.
Brick
Bricks create the feeling of a country home, so if you have a quaint cottage in the countryside then a brick fire surrounds can help you to continue this traditional style throughout your home. Often seen in country pubs, they are an absolute must-have if you’re opting for a traditional home that oozes comfort.
Perfect accompaniment: To continue the country house style, have a stack of wooden logs as a natural decoration next to the fire. [click to continue…]
