This is a collaborated blog post. I’m hoping I can start blogging my regular content very soon 🙂
If you are looking to move onto pastures new, then you are probably dreading the idea of a house move. Moving home can be stressful at the best of times, but with a brood in tow, this can be even more palpitation inducing. Throw a fixer upper into the mix, and you might feel like you are on the verge of a panic attack every ten minutes. However, fixer uppers can make wonderful family homes – you simply need to have the time, commitment and money to complete the project. Take a look at this guide to work out if you have what it takes to make a fixer upper your forever home.
If you are working full time and you never seem to have ten minutes to yourself, how on Earth are you going to manage a project of such mammoth proportions? And yet people do. You could choose to make better use of your time, heading to your fixer upper at evenings and on weekends to ensure that the project is ticking along nicely. As a project manager you will need to manage tradespeople and your budget effectively to ensure progress continues to be made. Alternatively, you can relinquish project management control to a professional who will organize your site effectively. This allows you to enjoy time with your family and remain committed to your full time position while your fixer upper is completed.
Commitment
If you are the sort of family that moves home every two years, a fixer upper might not be for you. Depending on the state of the property that you buy, it may take a year to get it up to a habitable standard. If this is the case, you may have to commit to living in rented accommodation, or you might need to camp out in a caravan on site. This requires a high level of commitment and needs vision to see it through. You must always have the end goal in your sights during the
winter time when you have no hot water and you’re freezing inside your campervan.
Most importantly, you need the finances to be able to take on such a mammoth project. Completing a home renovation is expensive at the best of times, but throw a fixer upper into the mix and your contingency will need to increase. You may need to employ appliance repair services for the old stove that you don’t want to get rid of. You might need to call upon a structural engineer to certify your building work. Or perhaps you need to spend a little more than you thought replacing the roof. Unforeseen eventualities always crop up as fixer uppers are so unpredictable. However, if you manage your finances effectively, you can complete the project to a budget and still have equity within your new home.
Taking on a fixer upper isn’t for those people who want an easy life. However, for those families who crave a forever home that they have put their hearts and souls into, a fixer upper could be just what they’re looking for.
I’m back again with another contributed post. Hope you all enjoy and I can’t wait until I can finally start blogging myself again.
Before children, your home would have been your pride and joy. Taking ownership on how it looks each day and managing to keep it clean and tidy for longer than an hour. With children, however, it can be difficult to keep your home looking stylish and designed. With toys getting in the way and the accumulation of stuff, it’s easy to see why some families lose their love for the home and settle for it to become lived in. But it doesn’t have to be that way. With that in mind, here are some tips on how to create a child friendly modern and contemporary living space. It’s possible when making the right choices.
The use of glass is a real modern touch for a space you are designing. However, with children running around you may have dismissed the idea of incorporating glass features. But using them on staircases and as barriers is a great way to add durable glass and get that modern look you are after. It could also create a feeling of open space which works well in smaller areas.
Minimalist approach
Clutter accumulates when you have children. There is no hiding away from that. But with clever storage solutions you can keep things organised and create a more minimalist approach to your home decoration. Keeping toys tidied away and regularly sorting through them is a great tip.
Socialise your living spaces
Modern family life is busy, so create your living spaces with that in mind. You want those rooms to encourage you and your family to stop and take a moment to be with one another. Large sliding doors ensures you get as much natural light as possible and positioning comfortable sofas to capture it is a great style tip.
Make better choices when it comes to furniture
It’s a fact that children can get messy quickly. So make sure you make informed choices when it comes to purchasing furniture. Leather sofas are a very modern feature so choosing something that is durable will work from both a style point and practicality. You also want to think about avoiding sharp edges on furniture.
Add personal touches
Modern living may not want clutter, but that doesn’t mean you can’t inject your personality into the decoration. Adding pictures and frames is a lovely way to do that. You may want to come up with a quirky approach to creating a feature wall and use photos and frames.
Be bold with your choice of colour
A modern and contemporary living space isn’t all about white washed walls and no colour at all. You can be bold with your styling and it’s a top tip when it comes to children. Stains from crayons and food are going to happen. So bold colours for things like rugs or on feature walls is a great way to disguise those stains.
Let’s hope this has inspired you to create a modern contemporary living space the whole family can enjoy.
Today we have a collaborated post, hope you all enjoy 🙂
Let there be light.
Throughout history, people have always been fascinated by light. Some of the most iconic monuments in the world were born from the obsession of countless civilizations about light.
Stonehenge, in the UK, has been deliberately oriented to catch the summer solstice sunrise between the open arms of the horseshoe-shaped arrangement. The Coricancha in Peru was built on the orders of the Inca emperor and dedicated to the sun god. Its walls used to be covered in gold, which made this particular sun temple shine like the real thing during the summer solstice.
Travellers to Mexico can enjoy the mesmerizing Mayan architecture by visiting some of the most famous sun pyramids. El Castillo was built to cast the shadow of a snake during the spring and autumn equinoxes.
And if you still need convincing about the role of light in human culture, you only need to tune in to any archeologist adventure movie. There is always a scene where the hero needs to open a door by using direct sunlight.
We live in a world of light. It’s easy to understand why. Sunlight is detrimental to the growth of fruit and vegetables, so for our ancestors, there could be no life without the sun. Throughout history, civilizations have tried to please the sun, treating the star like a divinity who would take its power back at the first frustration. Temples, sculptures, and other architectural displays serve a purpose; showing their appreciation of light. Nowadays, we seem to have lost our way and forgotten about the importance of light. Maybe it’s time to make light your priority at home. After all, nobody wants to live in the dark!
Did you know that when it comes to window-related search terms, the preferred keyword phrase for homeowners is not about letting light in, but keeping it out? Indeed, blackout curtains, thermal curtains, and curtains that keep the cold air out are some of the most popular search terms, according to Google and Bing. Why don’t we want to let more natural light inside our home? The answer is simple: Many households struggle with insulation problems and therefore, are trying to take back control over their indoor comfort. There is no easy solution unless you invest in quality windows and doors replacement, you won’t be able to keep your home fresh in summer and warm in winter. The first step of bringing more light into your household is to make sure that you can make things as comfortable as possible for everyone.
Change your light fixtures
There is more than just natural light in your home. You also need to look after your lighting arrangements, from light bulbs to installations. It doesn’t take much to transform your energy consumption for a start. LED light bulbs are a popular and effective option to cut down costs. Additionally, smart light bulbs can adjust their brightness throughout the day. After all, nobody enjoys a light shock when getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. A programmable smart system can make sure your light changes throughout the day and stays pleasant. But don’t just replace your light bulbs, when you can give your light fixture a trendy revamp. Old fixtures can feel tired and creates a dark atmosphere, regardless of the bulb.
Help your body get back to a natural cycle
When you can summon light at the touch of a switch, you can trick your mind into believing night is day. Indeed, your brain reacts to the lights around you, whether natural or artificial. Therefore, sleeping in a dark bedroom can make it especially challenging to wake up feeling refreshed. Light-blocking curtains can mess up with your sleep, forcing your brain to believe that it”s too early to get up. Additionally, a bedroom without blackout curtains can remain light until the middle of the night in summer, which is just as problematic. Your brain doesn’t know it’s night time, and therefore you can’t sleep. The ideal solution to help your brain to relax is to combine blackout curtains with a wake-up light alarm clock that can simulate sunrise. Your mind feels refreshed in the morning because the light activates the natural sleep cycles.
Change your habits
You can trick your brain into waking up in the morning using light. However, not everything you do with light is going to benefit your brain. Indeed, if you create an environment where you are exposed to a lot of artificial light during night time, you can dramatically affect your circadian rhythms. The circadian rhythms, or chronobiological clocks, have been relying on the sun, the stars and moon to develop sleeping routines for millennia. The introduction of artificial light in our lives is relatively new, but it has already shown negative consequences. When your circadian rhythms go haywire, your body can get sick, from metabolism issues to obesity disorders. While modern lifestyles don’t let you take full control of your sleeping times, you can help your brain to stick to its cycle by keeping the house lights dim at night and reducing the use of electronics before bedtime.
Understand the dangers of a light-bathed office
Don’t be fooled into believing you need to surround yourself natural sunlight to stay happy and healthy. Indeed, everybody knows the direct sunlight exposure is a major cause of skin cancer. You wouldn’t consider going outside without adequate sunscreen protection. However, when it comes to your interior, skin protection is rarely part of the routine. Most glass windows can’t filter harmful UV rays out. Therefore, if you sit by the window at work, you need to make sure your skin is protected.
It’s a safe environment for your houseplants
Last but not least, light creates a positive environment that sustains life. There is no plant without sunlight. But the principle also applies to your houseplants. Creating a space that is bathed in light gives your potted greens room to grow and bloom. And, believe it or not, but you need houseplants in your home. They purify the air, reduce stress, and lift your mood.
Bringing more light into your home is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, light is nourishing in many ways to your plants and yourself. But on the other hand, if you don’t manage it carefully, light could damage affect your health significantly. Let there be light, yes, but let there be light savviness too!
