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General Article

Scented Candles in Home Decor

Scented Candles in Home Decor

When I went through the car wash and the attendant asked me what scent I wanted to be sprayed into my clean car, I was always a bit shy about choosing one. Did I want a “new car” smell, or lemon, or mint? My confusion was in not knowing my own preference – and that, of course, is the #1 rule of choosing the right scented candles for home decorating.

Although there are generally accepted associations with particular aromas, the greatest association is your own. The sense of smell is one of the strongest links to memory. A fragrance that may bring pleasant memories to one person may remind another person of some bad experience. That’s why selecting a scented candle for someone else can be a little tricky!

Major hotel chains and airline companies have learned the importance of fragrance and have incorporated their own designer scents into their lobbies and common areas. They know the importance of associating good experiences with the memory of their brand. Realtors have long known that baking cookies during an open house makes the house feel more like “home”.

Interior decorators have even found that the perceived size of a room can be expanded with floral and fresh fragrances that emit the smells of the out-of-doors and springtime. A room can be made to feel warm and cozy with certain food and spice aromas.

Here is my list of general associations:

Autumn – cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cranberry, and ginger – evoking the memories of Thanksgiving

Winter – evergreen, pine, spiced cider, peppermint, baked apple, and orange – remembering Christmas

Spring – chocolate, floral, fresh linen, berries, and citrus – Valentine’s Day and Spring Fever

Summer – melons, tropical fruits, peaches, pears, cherries, flowers, and cappuccino – Vacation Dreams

Anytime – lavender for relaxation and happiness, vanilla for lessening of desire for sweets, peppermint for an energy boost and headache relief, and baked goods and coffee because they always smell great!

I have found that my favorite aromas are food related, so I like vanilla, chocolate, coffee, pumpkin pie, pink grapefruit, lime, and lemon meringue. My dish washing detergent and car wash options are easy for me now and I have scented candles with my favorite fragrances around me at home.

When you find your personal fragrance preferences you can indulge in your favorite memories with the help of quality scented candles. One warning: You can over-saturate your senses to the point of no longer being able to smell a particular fragrance. Change it up a bit and you’ll make the most of your candle choices.

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General Article

Choosing Your Bathroom Faucets and Fixtures

Choosing Your Bathroom Faucets and Fixtures

If you’re planning on remodeling your bathroom, or you’re building a new one, one of the most important decisions you’ll make is the type of bathroom faucets and fixtures you’re going to use. There are many different types to choose from, and a wide range of prices to go along with them.

One of the first things you’ll have to decide is exactly what fixtures you want. Will you be installing a bathtub/shower combination, a separate tub and shower stall or just one of the two?

Do you want to add a bidet to your bathroom, or stick with the more common fixtures – here in North America at least. And will you be using a vanity with a sink in it, a pedestal sink or some other type of sink?

The amount of space you have to work with will be one deciding factor here. If you have a small bathroom, you may not have enough room to have a separate shower stall, so a tub/shower combination might work best. Or, alternatively, you might not have enough space for a bathtub and a corner shower stall would be better.

Sinks are another fixture where you can save some space. Corner sinks, wall-mounted sinks and pedestal sinks are all relatively compact alternatives to the standard sink & vanity.

Once you’ve decided on your fixtures, you’ll have to choose the style of faucets you want. There are a wide range of styles, finishes and materials for bathroom faucets, to fit practically any style you might be using in your design.

You’ll also need to ensure you get faucets that will fit the existing plumbing if you are renovating a bathroom. Unless you want to replumb the bathroom as well. If you’re replacing a double-faucet system, with separate hot and cold taps, you’ll probably be best served to stick with the same setup for your new faucets.

Designing your bathroom can be an exciting project but it can also be easy to go overboard and spend more than you planned. Make sure you consider all your options carefully before you start doing any work.

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General Article

A Review on Bathroom Renovation

A Review on Bathroom Renovation

If there is one cost effective place in your house to renovate, it must be your bathroom. To add onto that, it has many benefits to your investment once done. It is hard to let any renovations to your bathroom to go unnoticed.

Therefore, if you are doing some renovations, you should have some of these tips in mind before proceeding.

For starts, you should come up with a budget figure that you are willing to spend and cling to it. Most of the time, if you know the scale of renovation to carry out, getting a rough figure is not a big deal. This needs to be done early before you start the purchasing process, otherwise, you may easily cross your budget limit.

These plans must be ironed out well before anything. You have to work according to a certain strategy so that you do not tear things apart and wonder what next, when you are already halfway through the process. Do not be hasty if you do not have a plan.

A pennywise idea about renovation is to do all the work you can do by yourself. This will save you a good amount of money. There are a lot of costs that are involved in getting people to do certain installations. Why spend that if you can have this done by yourself?

However, if there is work that will need professional help, have it done as much as you can before calling in the pros. This will save you a great percentage of the process.

Since the jobs are therefore in two bits, the difficult ones and the easy ones, leave out the hard stuff to be done for you. This will save hourly fees.

Do you know the sort of materials that you are going to use? If you can, buy all these and store them instead of letting the professional contractor run the show. Even if they are reliable, a good number of them will inflate the prices to get the better of you.

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General Article

Corner Bathtub – A Striking Design Choice

Corner Bathtub – A Striking Design Choice

When selecting a bathtub for a bathroom renovation, one possible option is the corner bathtub. These tubs offer some special design advantages, and can give your bath a unique and stunning look.

This type of tub is often selected to solve design problems. This can be effective in a small bath to better utilize space. When doing a bathroom renovation of a vintage home this can be of particular advantage.

Many older homes have oddly shaped bath areas. When renovating, and in order to keep the cost of the renovation under control, it is often better to work within the space as it is. When there is oddly shaped space or a peculiar alcove, it can often be used to advantage with the addition of a corner tub and give a spectacular result.

Installing a corner bathtub into a large jutting alcove can often create a stunning focal point in an otherwise ordinary bath. Many of these tubs have a large deck which presents the opportunity for either adding decor features to spice up your bath, or choosing among many different types of faucet systems that will further enhance the finished decor in a bathroom.

A small bath can also benefit from the addition of a corner bathtub, this is especially true if the space has an irregular shape.

Corner tubs these days are made of durable materials that hold up well over time, giving long service and good looks in lightweight materials that will diminish the load on bathroom flooring structure.

A bathtub can be selected in either a standard type soaking tub, or one that is fitted with whirlpool jets offering many directional functions and focusing on different areas of the body, special lumbar back rests, and armrests for an invigorating Spa-like experience.

And, some models can even be fitted with doors, if a shower is also something that is needed.

Diverse finish options are also variable, catering to your own personal preference or color needs within your decor.

When considering the design advantages of a corner bathtub, the choice between a standard soaking tub or a whirlpool tub, the additional decor and design advantages of a large tub deck, all the new durable and lightweight materials available, optional finishes, the advantages it offers in an otherwise difficult bathroom renovation, a corner tub can indeed be a wonderful and pleasing design choice.

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Home Maintenance

Homeowners Should Take Advantage of This Recession by Doing Home Remodeling Projects

Homeowners in this economy have seemed to put the brakes on doing any remodeling growth to their home. But in all essence, this is the time for homeowner’s should take charge and take advantage of the recession by implementing home improvement jobs to their home, therefore getting a substantial return on their investment, which is a sure thing.
Since World War II, the United States has never seen such a down market in the real estate business. All the while, homeowner’s are waiting patiently for some kind of sign for our economy to move upward again. Homeowner’s are scared to enter the market place and suffer a big loss. But while waiting for the economy to improve, homeowner’s should definitely take advantage of this slow time. To increase the appeal of their home, home remodeling historically guarantee’s a definite return on investment on their home. For those homeowner’s who want to eventually sell their home, there are some things that they can get done on their home now and be a step ahead of the game later.
On the Exterior of the Home: A neat and nice landscape most always is the first thing that a potential buyer will see when they come to look at your home. Why not invest in your yard? Design your landscape early and plant accordingly, this ensures your yard will be ready. This also gives the plants time to mature and establish themselves to look their best next year and every year after that. Painting the exterior of the home and painting the trim gives the home a new, polished look. New paint is a great return on your investment. Replace the siding if painting is not an option for you. Rotten siding is a noticeable eyesore to potential buyers and also welcomes into your home a number of different rodents and insects just waiting to take refuge in your home. Replace the roof with a top-quality shingle. Broken shingles, missing shingles, and miss-matched shingles take away the beauty of your home. If the roof is fairly new, but is leaking in sots, fix the roof leaks as soon as possible.
As for the Interior of you home: Painting the inside of your home will there again gives your home a brand new, fresh look and also gives you a secure continuation of return on investment. Remodeling the kitchen and bathroom(s) are essential in bringing your home’s value and beauty up to speed. Updating these most important rooms is important because these rooms are the most used by almost everyone who visits or lives in the home. Depending on the style you choose to remodel and decorate them, it will bring certain flair and add contrast to your home. Take advantage of your attic space. Many people have a lot of clutter and like to hoard items that are either out of date or things that they really do not need anymore. Clearing out rooms with clutter will give your home more space and will give your home a more impressive and roomier atmosphere. Repair and/or replace all the plumbing and electrical outlets and, if need be, wire or re-wire your home to be more energy efficient. To update your most prized investment, replace your windows with beautiful Sheffield Windows.
Now is the perfect time to do this. Hire a professional carpet cleaner to come in and clean all your carpets, or if you want to mix things up a bit, replace all carpet with hardwood floors. Hardwood flooring is beautiful, lasts a very long time, and is simple and easy to clean and take care of. Replace your light fixtures. This is a very small change, but a very positive change it is! Changing light fixtures puts a whole new spin on the room, makes light hit in all the right places, giving the room a beautiful, dimensional spectrum effect. All of these possible home remodeling jobs can add years to your home, not to mention adding incredible value to the home and giving you, the homeowner, and a substantial return on your investment. Your home is your biggest investment you will probably make in your life, make it one that not only you will love and be proud of, but for others as well to love and to call home.