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Kitchen

4 Keys to a Clean and Organized Refrigerator

Keeping a clean fridge is very good and healthy for your family. When I visited my son in Los Angeles, I found out that the refrigerator in his home was really old. Old not because it was like 10 years old, NO! It was old because it was really untidy and unattractive. So, I decided to spring into action as a mother. I tried all sorts of ways to get rid of stains and smells and after about 4 hours, I was successfully finished.

The key to a clean and organized refrigerator is by constantly cleaning it. Not just cleaning it the normal way, but by applying tips and tricks to have a better cooling system. Below are some of the ways I successfully helped my son keep his refrigerator clean and organized.

Cleaning with Vinegar

Cleaning with Vinegar
One of the key ways in cleaning out your fridge is by using vinegar. Vinegar helps keep the surface of your refrigerator very clean while getting rid of smells. When I was cleaning my son’s fridge, I used boiled water (two cups), a cup of vinegar (probably white) and lemon essential oil (like 15 drops). You can mix all this in a spray bottle so it can be easy to apply when cleaning.

I Remove all the crispers then sprayed the mixture inside the fridge. I allowed this to sit for minutes, then I wiped the whole surface with a wet cloth. You can also do the same thing for the crispers and the shelves. Yes, I can take help from professionals, but I want to do it myself. You can contact and use Simply Maid here for getting your cleaning work done.

Setting the right temperature

Setting the right temperature
I found out about this when my son’s old freezer died. Refrigerators lasts longer if you set the right temperatures. Not does it last longer but your foods would come out probably fresher than the last settings you were using. The U.S. food and drug administration recommends certain temperatures for both refrigerators and deep freezers. They advised that your refrigerator is to be kept at a temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit while your freezers be always kept below 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

Using the crispers well enough

Using the crispers well enough
When going through the manual of your refrigerator, you will find out that the crispers have different settings for different types of foods. The crisper lets you set high-humidity for foods sensitive to loss of moisture and ethylene gas. These types of foods/fruits are:

  •  Cabbage
  •  Peppers
  •  Oranges
  •  Straw berries
  •  Watermelon

The low-humidity settings allow you to perfectly store foods that are not sensitive to moisture. These may include:

  •  Mangoes
  •  Plantains
  •  Apples
  •  Figs etc.

Making use of baskets to organize

Making use of baskets to organize
When I finished cleaning up my son’s refrigerator, I made sure I went shopping to help him get baskets to organize stuffs. These can be called organizer baskets. They are small and can be used to hold refrigerated products in an organized manner.
They can hold eggs, condiments and some other smaller products. I used these baskets to organize the smaller items in the fridge, then showed him how to organize and replace them back when he finishes using it. His refrigerator now stays organized and effective than ever.

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Home Improvement

Clean Air and Fresh Smells for Your Home

One of the main reasons that your home continuously smells so nice is that the air coming through is cleaned up by your air filters. The tight mesh weaving is used to keep incoming airflow clean so that you do not have to worry about any allergens or pollutants. This great for your home and makes sure that the air outside does not bring in any issues that could lead to lower air quality in your home. However, the air filters in your home become dirtier over time, and eventually require replacement. Otherwise, the resulting issues build and cause problems throughout your home.

Cleaning Up Airflow

The air filters in your home are capable of trapping and absorbing the particles that travel through air while letting fresh air flow through. This process means that your home stays smelling fresh and clean while becoming healthier to breathe. The filters ability to clean up incoming airflow is rated on the MERV rating system. This system actually rates the filters based on the tightness of their mesh weaving. The tighter the weaving, the higher the rating, but that is not always a good thing. Higher rated air filters run into the issue of having problems allowing airflow to pass through easily into the home.

air filters

The air filters in a system for your home are usually rated at more average ranges on the MERV range due to the tightness of their weaving. When the weaving is too tight, then air has trouble coming through and they become dirtier at a much faster rate. But you do not want the filter to have too low of a rating either or the particles will travel through without any problems. Either way, the filters become dirtier over time and require replacement in order to prevent the systems from struggling with pushing air flow through. The result of this extra effort being additional energy billing and repair damages.

Installing New Home Air Filters

During the ordering process for  new air filters you will be asked several questions in order to gauge just what air filters you will need. These questions include size and MERV rating, the former you will be able to read form the system owners manual and the latter being commonly in the average range. If you do not have the manual, then check the cardboard edge of the old filter for the numbers and use them to order new filters of a similar size. The new filters that come in are usable upon arrival, so all you need to do is swap out the old ones for the new. Afterwords, be sure to check on the filters since they may need to be swapped out as often as monthly.

Steam Cleaning

Dust building up over time is an inevitable part of living anywhere. No matter how clean we are, our floors will eventually start to show signs that dust and dirt are present. An easy way to combat this is a steam cleaner, which allows you a quick, effective method of cleaning floors that doesn’t involve getting on your hands and knees.

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Home Improvement

How to Decorate Your Apartment to Give It a Luxury Look

When it comes to design, luxury does not have any specific look or style; you just have to combine different elements properly to achieve a luxurious feel. More often than not, luxury has to do with branding and quality. If you want your apartment to look luxurious, you need to choose extravagant shapes to create a perfect balance.

If you can afford to live in luxury apartments like these DTLA luxury apartments you should also check out these luxury apartments in Northridge CA, apts for rent in Alder. Alternatively, follow these tips to create a luxurious look in your apartment:

Choose Unique Coffee Tables

Choose Unique Coffee Tables
A coffee table is one of the most important elements in any home’s décor. Therefore, you need to choose a great coffee table to achieve a luxury apartment look. Because this piece of furniture is placed in areas where people do not hang out, you can buy one to make your apartment stand out and seem luxurious. You can top off the table with a stunning decorative piece or a good table setting.

Make sure that you buy the right size of coffee table for your space. If you buy a table that is too big, your space will end up looking too congested, which will take away from the luxurious feel that you want to create.

Embrace Quality Rugs

Embrace Quality Rugs
The right rug can make a dull apartment look unique and much bigger. You should choose a rug with incredible patterns but do not go too crazy. The rug still needs to fit in with the rest of your décor. Classic rugs can make your floor look more expensive than it actually is. Moreover, a rug will keep your apartment looking chic and feeling warm at the same time.

Use Elegant Light Fixtures

Use Elegant Light Fixtures
Lighting plays an important role in the décor of any home. This is because it makes everything look naturally better and brighter. You should bring some sparkle to your apartment by installing a unique lighting fixture.

Do you want to go for a bold look? You should choose a custom-made chandelier or pendant to make your space look more sophisticated. However, if you are going for a simple yet classy look, you should go for some wall lighting, which infuses simple details that work every time.

Decorate with Mirrors

Decorate with Mirrors
People associate mirrors with appearance and beauty. However, you should also learn to associate them with good décor. Mirrors will add a pristine and classy look to any apartment as long as you keep them clean. To make the best out of mirrors, you should opt for irregular-shaped ones because they ooze sophistication. If you want to create an illusion of more space, you should hang the mirror directly opposite a window.

Display Incredible Artwork

Display Incredible Artwork
Art is synonymous with luxury. In the past, only the richest people in society could afford to attend music shows and art exhibitions. Despite the major changes in the art industry, people still associate art pieces with wealth.

To make your apartment look luxurious, you should display beautiful pieces of art that draw the eye. Paintings and sculptures will work best for this purpose. Just be sure to distribute them in the important areas of your house such as the living and dining rooms. You should also light up your artwork well to make it the focal point of any room.

Conclusion

The above decoration tips will make your apartment look more luxurious no matter how cheap it is. Instead of blowing your budget on a luxury apartment that could be too expensive for you, you should just decorate your affordable apartment in a way that makes it look expensive.

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Home Improvement

Do’s & Don’ts While Redesigning Your Home

Many factors influence your desire to redesign your home- your personal taste in colours and designs, the need of the family members, your budget, type of property (rented or owned). Based on these factors, the decisions can be made more clearly. You can hire best architect in ahmedabad But there are some do’s and don’ts that are universally applicable while redesigning your home.

Do’s

DO’S REDESIGNING YOUR HOME

1) Travel to get inspired

Travelling is the best way to get inspiration. Even a walk around the city will give you ideas about colour contrasts, placements, mix-and-match décor, and trends.

2) Dramatic Colour in Small Space

Deep, moody and dramatic hues can create beautifully sophisticated and luxurious rooms. You may want to avoid them for the busy rooms of your house, but they go absolutely stunning in smaller areas like a pantry. Small kitchens with the dramatic colour scheme is in trend too

3) Make big patch test for colours

Whenever you do colour patch test for your walls, make significantly big patches, that can be seen (and judged) from larger distance from the wall. This helps in better choice and eliminate any chances of disappointment after the wall is fully painted.

4) Follow your instincts

Instincts can play a major role in redesigning your home to perfection. If your instinct does not agree over a selection of leather sofa, just because it is in trend and every house has it, then do not buy it for your own house.

5) Address the needs of disabled if any

With all the excitement of redesigning your home, do give some thoughts into making the house accessible for disabled family members and friends. Put rubber floors in the rooms for better wheelchair mobility, install walk-in baths or showers (click here to know how to choose between the two), put motion sensitive lights for their independent moving in the house.

6) Install higher Doors and entrances

Higher the door opening between the rooms more is the sense of openness, lightness, and grandeur. They are more welcoming, and their grand look can be intimidating to your guests.

Don’ts

DONT’S REDESIGNING YOUR HOME

1) Say no to white when you have kids or pets

White rugs, upholstery or any other white décor should be kept off charts if you have kids or pets at home

2) Compromise Seating

With the intention of keeping your room spacious and sparse, do not compromise on seating. There must be appropriate seating, based on the type and size of the room.

3) Hold yourself to splurge on great décor pieces

Instead of saving money for buying a large number of “OK” decorative pieces, invest in a single great-quality piece; this single piece would uplift the ambience of your place. It may seem heavy on your pockets in the beginning but will be worth in the long run.

4) Ignore architectural details

Never turn a blind eye to the existing structure of your house. You can hire best structural consultant in ahmedabad. They will guide you for new structure design of your home.You may have been inspired by a modern house and their décor, but you must be flexible to change the design for your house from yesteryears. The whole room must hang together.

5) Make a room too rigid

Designing your room with all functional and simple items is not recommended. It should have a balanced décor with functional and funky furniture and decorative items. This adds excitement and fun

6) Push out of limit

It feels great when you do not have money constraint while redesigning. But just because you have enough to spend, doesn’t mean you should do it. The success is in achieving the highest with the use of minimal resources. It will inculcate the good habit of saving money for those uncertain future needs.

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Home Improvement

Easy Tips for Safer, Cleaner and Better Looking Home

How often do we look around our rooms and wish for a cleaner, clutter-free home? In the daily hustle and bustle of our lives, we often lack time to keep our homes as clean, beautiful, and safe as we would like. But is it really safe to forego proper cleanliness and security due to lack of time? How safe is such a home for the kids? It is not necessary to buy new furniture or spend hours on dusting to make your home look clean, beautiful and safe for kids daily. We bring you some simple tips and tricks to get better looking, more secure and kid-safe homes without wasting much time.

Keep Your Home Cleaner and Clutter Free

Keep Your Home Cleaner
You need not make every inch of your home squeaky clean every day. But do make sure to quickly dust and wipe daily. Use handheld vacuum or broom and all purpose spray or wipes. Keep your floors clutter free and make a habit of throwing away unimportant things that you will never use. Always clean the bathrooms and make sure there are hand soap, a hand towel, and toilet paper accessible. Simple habits like using air fresheners, putting dishes directly in the dishwasher, and taking the trash out daily will make your home cleaner and more hygienic.

Beautify Your Home with Simple Tricks

Beautify Your Home
Spacious, clutter free homes always look more beautiful and well-kept. Make innovative storage drawers under the beds, etc. to store away the extra clutter. Make sure the furniture is less and functional. Using pretty printed curtains and plumping the pillows makes a lot of difference. You can use shower rods to hide away annoying wires and give your home a unified look. Using mirrors on closet doors, etc. give an illusion of space and refresh the interiors. A touch of the natural with a houseplant or some fresh cut flowers adds beauty, warmth and liveliness to your homes.

Don’t Take Home Security Lightly

Home Security
There are various security options available that can help you keep your homes secure even when you’re not around. Installing security cameras, peepholes, window stops, and automatic door lockers can go a long way in keeping you safe. A good home automation system is another way to make your home look always occupied. Use motion sensor lights, trim overgrown bushes, and ask the neighbors to clean your mailbox when you’re away. These security devices and simple safety precautions can help you breathe easy when away from home.

Child Proof Your Home

Child Proof Your Home
Household injuries are one of the top reasons for kids visiting the E.R. each year. As they say, prevention is better than cure. Some simple child proofing tricks include putting candles, matches, harmful medicines, and electronic devices in their cabinets or out of reach for children. Install child proof locks to drawers and cupboards, safety gates on stairs, toilet locks, and anti-scalding devices on faucets and shower heads. Using fencing around the pool, outlet covers, and anti-entrapment drain covers can help you keep the pool child proof. These child proofing tricks can make your home more secure and safe for children.

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Home Improvement

Benefits of Using a Garden Hose Reel

There are very few things in the world that is as pleasurable as water your beloved plants and see them grow up. It keeps our mind fresh and healthy. Also, it is a very simple and stress-free job. However, sometimes it becomes difficult to water the plants, especially if you have a large garden.
The reason is that you cannot water with a can, you must need a hose, right?

Dragging a hose across your garden is not an easy task, rather it is annoying as well as precarious. And sometimes the hose kinks which is really an embarrassing moment. To prevent these problems, you can use Garden Hose Reel. There are a lot of benefits of using Garden Hose Reel. Here are a few benefits.

It prevents knotting

It prevents knotting
The first benefit of using a garden hose reel is that it prevents any kinds of knotting. This is also called kinks. This happens when the hose folds and when it happens, the water cannot passing through. I’m sure you know how irritating it is. If this happens, you need to straighten the hose and fix the problem in order to let the water flow. But when you use hose reel, there is no chance at all that your hose will kink.

Safety

Safety
Just think about it. How many times you have stripped down accidentally when you are watering the plants? This usually happens because the hose forms a shape of lump on the field. For this lump, you can trip over it easily and this can cause a serious injury as well. And what if there is a lump and your child is playing there? Can you imagine the risk? Well, to prevent this kind of risk and ensure safety, a hose reel can play a significant role.

Hose reel increase the longevity

Hose reel increase the longevity
In general most of us use the hose during summer and spring for gardening and the rest of the time we use it for washing our cars or play water fight in our families. This continued use can put the best hose under pressure. That is why it is important to keep them in a good shape. But without hose reel, it is almost impossible for you to keep the hose in a good shape.
If you just put the hose in the yard, the chance is high that your hose will be greatly damaged such as leaking, kinking and many more. But the hose reel ensures that your hose will not tangle, curl, and kink and thus it enhances the longevity of your hose.

Save time

Save time
With the hose reel, you will be able to finish your task in a shorter time. The reason is that the reel will keep your hose in the right position and help you do your job perfectly. Also, you can control the hose better with the reel, no matter it is a large hose or a small hose.

Looks great

Looks great
Imagine a scenario. You have a nice yard, but an organized hose is put in the yard, how will it look? I am sure you will not be pleased seeing this. On contrary, the cart will help you to keep the hose organized. In addition, if you leave the hose in your garden for a week, it will damage the vegetation for sure. Using a reel enables you to easily organize the hose and keep it in a right place.

Conclusion

So as you can see, there are a lot of benefits of using a garden hose reel. This makes the use of hose very easy, enhance the efficiency as well as the longevity of the hose, and keep your garden safe, and finally, it enhances the beauty of your yard as well.

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Home Improvement

These Additions Will Make Your Home Look New

Living in the same house for years can get boring. It might feel like you need to do something to give your house a new look and thus you might consider home renovation in Richmond VA. At times, making simple additions like building a deck or adding a sunroom can amp up the entire look of your house.

The exterior of your house is something that makes the first impression on people. Thus you should make sure that you pay heed to the way your house looks from outside. In this article, you will learn about a few additions you can make which will instantly make your house look new.

1. Deck

Deck
Building a deck is the best way to utilize the extended backyard space of your house. A deck will instantly make your house look spacious. You can go for various types of decks depending upon the available space. You can decorate your deck area as per your liking.

Arrange seating area on your deck so that you can host parties, spend time with your family or simply sit back and read a book. Installing a deck will also increase the value of your property.

2. Sunroom

sunroom
The sunroom is the perfect way to add more functionality to your home. Sunrooms are pretty affordable and they also add a great value to your house. Sunrooms are very versatile and easy to maintain. You can even use your sunroom to workout when it is nice and warm.

They can also be converted into a green room. It will bring more light into your house. You can also use it as an extended living room. Simply contact your home improvement contractors in Richmond VA and they will guide you regarding different types of sunrooms possible in your available area.

3. Roofing

Roofing
As you know that the roof of your house is the part which gets exposed to the harsh weather conditions the most. Thus, it is obvious that they tend to look weary soon. In order to give your home a new look, you can change the roofing of your house. There are various roofing options available on www.smallwoodrenovations.com
You can choose between Three Tab shingles, Architectural shingles, and Designer Shingles.

All these have a different look and feel so you can decide what suits you the best.

4. Window replacement

Window replacement
While upgrading the appearance of your home. You must know that replacing your windows might be a really good idea to change the appeal of your house. Your windows are what frame your house. Thus, make sure you choose the right shape and pattern of the windows. If you want to increase the natural lighting in your room you can install bigger windows. This will also increase the airflow and it also has various health benefits.

When your windows look old and shabby, your entire house looks less maintained. Thus, it is important to repair or replace your windows when required.

5. New doors

New door
If you feel like your door is unable to close properly, too noisy or even looks shabby- it is time to change your door. You can go for various detailed designs at your door. This will beautify the exterior of your house. You can choose from various materials such as a wooden door, glass door, and also add details like mini curtains to make your door look more aesthetic.

A wooden door with carving will look really vintage and add a royal touch to your house. Match up the windows with your door designs.

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Office Design

The Importance of Having Stylish and Comfortable Office Furniture

The 21st century is the era of computers. Most of the business is now getting done online. There was a time where the largest part of the world’s economy was depended on the industrial units. Today, with the IT sector booming and nearly all financial matters getting solved on the computer, offices have become a crucial part for the organizations to generate revenues. Before few years, nobody was serious about creating a perfect office, but today, the mindset of the owners has changed. They want to provide a comfortable working environment for their employees and so they are focused to have quality office furniture in their premises.

Today, the furniture is not only about the comfort, but it is all about a style, a theme that represents your business. The furniture is used to impress and to break the melancholy of the routine work life. When employees enter the office they need to stay there for hours. For many of them, it is their second home. They spend nearly half of the time of the year inside those walls of office, so to give them a great working experience is a responsibility of the employers.

The office furniture should be stylish, comfortable and functional. Small business with small offices can make the best use of space when they choose the furniture considering all these factors. From the reception area to the meeting rooms and workstations, everything should be given equal importance.

Office Furniture

There are endless options for those who want the finest pieces of furniture in their office. So it is important to narrow down your criteria. You can fix your budget and style and then look for the available options.

If you want to have modern furniture in your office then you can go with using more glass and steel as they occupy less space and looks elegant. However, this option doesn’t solve your storage requirement very well. You should opt for having separate cupboards or racks for storing files, stationery items, server, etc.

If you love traditional wooden furniture then also you have some of the classiest options. You can use stand-alone desks for the cabins of executives and managers and install wall mounted or call center pods for the rest of your employees. Choose a color theme with of two or more colors as that will give your office a complete look. Some of the owners decide to go with the colors of their company’s logo to create a connection in the theme.

Office Furniture

Some offices have funky office furniture. If you want to maintain the professionalism and also want to add some creativity to your office then this can be a good option. A comfortable and stylish furniture is easy and affordable to install. If you have any special requirement then you can customize it.

There are a number of reasons why one should focus more on comfort. Studies have clearly shown the side effects of sitting for long hours on regular basis. However, when employees have to, they should be in a comfortable position. The chairs and desk need be selected considering this factor. It reduces the risk of developing neck pain, shoulder pain, and other related health issues over a period of time.

Buying furniture online is getting more and more popular. There are two major reasons for it. One is that a customer gets to choose from a wide range of products and the second reason is the awesome discounts related to it. So if you are looking forward to buying furniture online then you should visit Thedesigneroffice.co.uk as they offer great discounts on their stylish and quality furniture range.

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Furniture

The Role of Office Furniture in the Office Redesign Process

So you’re looking to redesign your office. You have specific goals for the space, but maybe you’re not sure how to get there.

That’s fair – redesigning an office is no simple task!

It’s incredibly important, though, that you understand the key elements of office design.

And while it may come as a surprise, the most important of these elements is almost certainly the furniture you choose and its arrangement.

Let’s look at what makes office furniture so vital when considering how to better use your space.

Furniture is flexible

Almost any piece of standard office furniture is available in dozens of sizes and multiple colors.

This alone should make furniture’s value in the redesign process very clear.

Whether you’re looking to move into a smaller office or to get more mileage out of your current space, changing out your furniture is one of the simplest ways to do so.

And of course, with the trend toward modular furniture, that flexibility has gained an entirely new dimension.

Furniture is flexible

So while the overall dimensions of your office might not be changing, everything that fills it is available in innumerable varieties – which is good news, because among other things…

Furniture sets the flow

Furniture sets the flow
One reason you might be considering a redesign is to improve the ease of movement – or “flow” – when getting from one point in the office to another.

Leaving enough room between workspaces or tables could make or break your employees’ ability to get around efficiently.

Of course, you can also use furniture to limit the number of walkways – minimizing pathways can help you maximize the functional space in your office.

Whatever your movement goals are, always be sure to make test runs through your proposed layout – and look to rearrange the furniture if things still aren’t turning out right.

Furniture defines function

Furniture defines function
It sounds simple, but when you think of a room with a specific function, you also think of the furniture that goes into it – a table in a conference room, for instance.

There’s a converse of this, though: The furniture in a given space will determine what your employees do there.

This includes tables and desks, of course, but also pieces of furniture with more specific functions – filing cabinets, for instance, can become obstacles if left in workspaces rather than a dedicated area.

So if you’re looking to improve the organization of your office, make sure you’re putting the right amount of the right kinds of furniture in their corresponding places.

Furniture creates an environment

Furniture creates an environment
Furniture lets you dictate how employees work in a particular space.

For instance, long tables with bench-style seating might make your employees more likely to socialize and potentially collaborate during their workday – and if you want that to happen, you can create the environment for it just by choosing the right furniture.

You can also make your office space static or dynamic depending on the portability of furniture – of course, modular furniture plays a role here, as well.

So whether you want to create a collaborative or private environment (or both!), your choice of furniture is essential.

Furniture gives your business a personality

Furniture gives your business a personality
Consider your clients. What kind of furniture are they seeing when they enter your office, and what does that make them think about your business?

It’s important to know your clients well, of course – a corporate type might expect a standard-looking office and consider quirkier layouts to be unprofessional, whereas another client might be intimidated or put off by stuffier styles and welcome more color and life.

It’s also important to note that symmetry can positively impact your emotional state, and furniture can quickly balance a space – so use it strategically.

Conclusion

To say that furniture is an important component to consider when redesigning your office is an understatement.

Given its flexibility and its role in defining the very nature of a space, you should always be considering how to better use your furniture to create an office space that works optimally – for everyone in it.