Safety tips for stairs
Most home accidents take place on the stairs of the house. To avoid such mishaps, you should keep the following safety tips in mind. Make sure that your stairs are well lighted so that there is little scope for accidents. Always be careful while carrying heavy things up and down the stairs. Stairs and landing should always be clutter free and you should be extra careful while cleaning them. If you have weak eyesight, use glasses while climbing or coming down the stairs.
You can also minimize the risk of accidents by holding the handrails while using stairs. Carpeting the stairs is a good way to reduce their slipperiness. This will also act as a cushion in case an accident takes place. Avoid the use of stairs if you are feeling a little unsteady, either due to some illness or over consumption of alcohol. Do not run up and down the stairs in a hurry.
Bird baths – lovely garden additions
Have you ever imagined how nice it would be to wake up to the sweet chirpings of birds instead of the jarring sound of your alarm clock. If you think that such an occurring is possible only in an idyllic pastoral setting, you are wrong. You can achieve this in your home by adding a lovely bird bath in your garden. These will not only make for lovely garden additions but also help keep your garden insect free. You can either buy a beautiful stone bird bath from the market or make one yourself.
While traditional bird bath designs comprise a bowl and a pedestal, generally made of concrete, you can choose from a wide variety of designs and styles available in the market. You can also opt for bird baths made of glass, metal, plastic or mosaic tiles as per the style of your garden. Make sure that you fill these bird baths with clean water every day.
Landscaping for a small space
Landscaping for a small space can be quite a challenge if you have too many ideas about what you want to do in that little space. However, using some simple design tricks, such as including raised flower beds and container garden and applying the color theory can help you create an illusion of larger space while landscaping. Since containers are available in various shapes, sizes and materials, they are ideal to be used in small spaces. Moreover, they can be moved around conveniently to achieve different settings.
You can also incorporate eye-catching features such as fountains, ponds, bird baths or a water garden to enhance the look of your garden. Having curved walkways and paths also create an illusion of larger space as they are not in line with the straight lines of the backyard space. Anything you do to diffuse the shape of your small landscape area will achieve a similar result.
Choosing a porch design
If you are under the impression that a porch has to be big or dramatically designed to make an impact, you are wrong. The size of a porch should reflect the size of the house. Thus, a big house should have a spacious porch, while a small porch looks apt for a small house. Whether your porch is big or small, selecting the right design goes a long way in adding to the charm and beauty of your house.
An important decision to make while designing your porch is the selection of the roof style and columns. These should be in harmony with your home’s overall design and architecture so that a porch looks an extension of your house and not a different property in itself. A low porch wall framing is apt if you want it to be a private cocoon for yourself. For the deck, select a pest and rot resistant wood that is durable and long lasting.
Design your courtyard
A beautiful courtyard does much more than just adding value to your property. A well designed courtyard is an ideal place to relax with your family after a tiring day at work. It is also a good space to entertain guests in the evening. Just sit in your courtyard and enjoy the fragrance of the flowers in the air. There is no better way than this to rejuvenate a tired mind and body. However, you need to keep certain design basics in your mind while you plan the layout of your courtyard.
For instance, you should not include a seating area in your courtyard if it is too small. This will only make your courtyard look more cluttered. Similarly the flower beds, benches and lighting that you decide upon for your courtyard should go with the courtyard style you have selected. Random use of fixtures will break down the flow of the space and achieve disastrous results.
Modern flooring patterns
Different parts of the house have different flooring needs. For example, fire and water resistance and maintenance are the main concerns while deciding on the flooring patterns for kitchen. On the other hand, anti slip flooring patterns that have more friction is best suited for a kid’s room and bathrooms. Similarly, solid wood flooring is ideal to provide an elegant look to a living room, while a bedroom floor should look classy and at the same time be durable.
Carpet tiles are a good choice for bedroom flooring as they look good and last longer than regular hardwood floors. These look quite contemporary as well. Some other modern flooring patterns that you can check out while deciding about the flooring for your house are – mosaic tile patterns that either make use of different shapes or are available in a fan design, tiles with contrasting colors and strapped tile patterns. Whichever flooring pattern you choose, make sure that it is within your budget.
Bamboo flooring in kitchen
Using bamboo flooring in your kitchen is the best way to bring a little bit of nature into your home. Apart from the fact that it is quite easy to clean, it is also great to look at. Moreover, as bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants in the world, using the same for flooring is a good way to go green in your kitchen space. Bamboo is also a renewable product and can be reused for other purposes.
Additionally, bamboo flooring in the kitchens have the same or higher style quotient than hardwood flooring. It also has a better feel and is stronger than regular hardwood flooring. Whether you opt for horizontal grain bamboo flooring or vertical grain bamboo flooring, you can be sure that it is fire and water resistant. However, in case you have pets at home, surface scratches can be a problem for you as bamboo flooring is prone to scratching and denting.
Designs available in wooden doors
If you fancy having a wooden door for your house, you can choose from a wide variety available in the market. You can select between a teak wood door or a heavily paneled mahogany door for your front door. A door made of knotty walnut or alder wood is also a good option for a front door. A glass paneled wooden door also looks quite classy for a front door. Bi-fold wooden doors are apt for use in the living room. They are quite functional and look good as well.
In fact, their folding or stacking style enables to combine the living space with adjacent space. This wooden door style is perfect if you want your living room to open up to a small verandah. Wooden doors are also a good option for garages. These are energy efficient and long lasting and their steel frame provides them great strength and resistance against twisting or warping.
Advanced home security tips
In today’s unsafe world, it is extremely important to ensure the safety of your home against burglars and other forms of intrusion. Merely investing in a regular home security system available in the market will not make your home completely burglar-proof. It is important to take some additional steps to make sure that your house is completely safe.
Apart from buying a hi-tech home security system, you can invest in home security shutters for your windows that are made of aluminum or steel and come in various designs to suit your needs. These disable the entry of burglars through windows and even restrict the vision of the inside of the house for the passersby. You can also install motion sensors in your house that use infrared rays to scan everything that comes in their range to detect intrusion. The pet friendly version of these motion detectors can differentiate between human and animal movements to avoid false alarms.
Tiled courtyards
Courtyards can be given a Portuguese grandeur or a Mexican pristine feeling. It can have a state-of-art or pastoral touch. It entirely depends on the penchant of one building it. A tiled courtyard is a subject of dream. Tiles can create magic with the appeal of a place. It gives courtyards an illusion of space even while embellishing it in terms of visual beauty.
The courtyards can be held by great foliage and small fountains. These create a sense of warmth and greenery and mixes well with the concrete effect of tiles. Glass, ceramic or metal tiles are common. Perlite or mineral wool can also be used for tiles. For courtyard embellishing, tiles used are mixed comprehensively with sand, cement and an adhesive made of latex. Even stone floor tiles can be used to create a pristine yet unusual impact of being closer to the earthy shades of nature. Tiled courtyards certainly pack a punch if you can afford them.