вторник, 26 января 2010 г.

Home-my-Home

Home-my-Home

One Family’s Ultimate Basement Transformation

Posted: 25 Jan 2010 10:09 AM PST

Before the basement redo, Stephen and Kristen Fealy were scratching their heads over what to do with their dull, four-walled basement with low ceilings and no natural light. Tired of the old sub-terranean dungeon, they decided it was time to check out affordable options to renovate the area into a useful addition to their home.

Interior designer David Harris, a partner at children’s furnishings company, Ducduc, helped out with 5 suggestions to transform the space into a play place haven.

#1 - Break Up the Space

To undo the basement's status as "toy graveyard," Harris divided the boxlike room into play, work and lounging areas. Adding bright oranges and blues helped to atone for the lack of natural light. Fun additions include a play table with a paper roll and crayons and art easels for painting.

#2 - Make it Fun for All

Stephen and Kristen admitted to spending as much time downstairs as up. The TV & reading corner is a hit with the entire family.

#3 - Look Into the Future

The room will be equally functional in the coming years as well. The chairs are height-adjustable, and future homework spaces are play spaces for today, since the family's twins are pre-school-aged and the oldest is just in kindergarten. Chalk- and corkboards are great to display photos and artwork.

#4 - Personalize, Personalize, Personalize

The stairwell holds the coolest wallpaper ever! It features preprinted picture frames to make an ascending collage of the family's memories.

#5 - Some Privacy, Please!

Remember when you were young and daydreamed of a tree house, playhouse or clubhouse like Spanky and the Gang's? Well, kids haven't changed so much, and nooks and crannies are still fun places to hideaway and play in. You may want to consider one for the adults, too.

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Wood Floor Maintenance: Preserve and Enjoy

Posted: 25 Jan 2010 09:00 AM PST

So, you’ve installed wood flooring in your home or office, and you want to make sure that they look as great as they did the first day you installed it, in the long term. It’s a common goal, and a smart one. After all, should it come time to sell your home, you’re going to want your wood floor to be an ally in helping you get a good resale value. You don’t want your floor to be faded, old, and bitter like a character in a Tennessee Williams play.

And there I go betraying my background as a former literature student.

In any case, here are a couple priorities to consider, and the first of course has already been stated. Preserving your investment in wood flooring is a good idea, be it the highest end solid hardwood floor, or the highest quality (yet most reasonably priced) laminate floor that you put in to suit your modest budget.

But second, there’s the balance to be struck between preservation of your floor, and plain and simple living in your space without worrying too much about wear. You’ve got a high-performing floor, either because it’s a hardy species in the case of real wood flooring, or it’s been AC rated for your space in the case of a laminate. You’ve made a smart choice in wood floors, so there isn’t too much to worry about, since you’ve done your research on where wood floors of the type you’ve chosen will thrive the best.

Yet to this last point, it makes sense to think about frequent foot traffic. Of all of the sources of wear your floor will experience over the course of its life, this is the area that will be the most pertinent issue in the long term. A lot of the time, if you haven’t got a policy in place, the damage will be too gradual for you to notice. But, your visitors (and potential house-hunters) certainly will.

So, here are three strategies to consider when it comes to thinking about, and managing, frequent foot traffic on a your wood floor surface.

1. Use mats at entrances and exits

2. Restrict footwear in house, especially high heels

3. Use of runners and area rugs

In the next few posts coming up, we’ll explore each of these strategies in turn to help you bring these two priorities of preserving an investment while not worrying so much about it that it affects the enjoyment of your space. Because once again, your first quality wood floors are designed to be tough, either by nature or by manufacturing expertise.

When it comes to your wood flooring, think of yourself as an ally, not a protector. And stay tuned as we delve a bit deeper on these three areas above to help you do that, and be that.

Cheers,

Rob.

Wood Floor Maintenance: Preserve and Enjoy is a post from: Laminate Flooring, Hardwood Floors and More from BuildDirect

Kohler's Assisted Living Toilet at 2010 Builders' Show

Posted: 25 Jan 2010 01:41 AM PST

Universal design was a major theme at the 2010 Builders' Show and Kohler delivered with their assisted living toilet, Fountainhead elongated one-piece toilet.

It was displayed prominently in their gorgeous exhibitor space and you couldn't help but press the buttons to see the seat rise and fall effortlessly. The toilet as all others in their display were working models and this toilet looks as if it was designed by engineers who saw form and function equally.

PermaFLOW - The No Clog Drain at 2010 Builders' Show

Posted: 25 Jan 2010 01:32 AM PST

We appreciate simple products that upon visual inspection are easy to recognize what purpose they serve. The PermaFLOW is one such product. Simply remove your current p-trap located below a kitchen or bathroom sink and replace it with a the PermaFLOW which will allow you to easily remove a drain buildup before a clog develops. This in turn eliminates the use of plunging, toxic drain cleaners and expensive service calls.

If your drain starts to slow down you reach under the sink and give the external dial a spin which moves the debris back into the water stream and you've got a clear drain again. This product is clear which also makes it easy to locate lost jewelry or valuables that may have fallen into a sink. Because it also eliminates the need for drain chemicals your home waste water will always remain much cleaner.
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