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Update your home with trendy furniture this spring

April 30, 2017 by admin

After a long, cold winter, the renewed warmth of spring not only invigorates our spirits, but our creativity as well.

As you go around the house cleaning, design ideas may come as you subconsciously review your home’s setup, making a trip to your favorite modern furniture store in Orange County inevitable.

What should be on your must have list? Below, we’ll float a few suggestions that can make your home the castle it should be.

Complete your living room with a sweet sectional sofa

Want to add a lounging option to your living room that everyone will love? Make this the year you finally get that sectional sofa you’ve always wanted but could never justify – until now.

Now that you got the means, go ahead and spoil yourself. Sectionals encourage a seating plan that is more social, but the segment of the couch that juts out forward from the rest are their best attribute by far.

Allowing you to stretch out and relax like royalty, it will be the scene of many impromptu naps in your immediate future.

Add a corner bar in your dining room

If you are looking for a fun way to spice up dinner parties and holiday gatherings, the addition of a subtle but stylish corner bar is a great way to do just that.

Perfect for home owners with an empty corner in their dining room/nook, it is the perfect place to show off your mixology skills in front of a captive audience.

Many bars have a slim footprint, making them easy to place, have ample shelving beneath the worktop for plenty of liquor bottles, and are put together with materials that give off an understated elegance that will make them mesh well within your dining space.

Revamp your bed setup

For many, the bedroom serves a practical purpose. Yours might do a great job lulling you to sleep, but know that it can also be the inner sanctum you deserve.

By picking out a bed set that imparts design principles to the headboard, the frame, the linens, and the pillows, you can flip your bedroom around from a place where you merely get sleep to a luxurious den you’ll have trouble leaving in the morning.

Get a home office chair that matches your personality

Do you ply your trade at home? It’s time you got an office chair that resonates with who you are as a person.

Whether you choose a high-sided leather chair that screams big-time corporate CEO, or an art house seat that lends credibility to your identity as a creative professional, there is a seating solution out there with more impact than that sad chair you picked up for $99 at Staples two years ago.

Be known for having the sexiest fire pit in the neighborhood

Love entertaining neighbors, friends, and family members in your backyard? Go upscale with your fire pit this year, and you’ll have people thinking you won the lottery.

With models on the market that put up a flame through a polished concrete table, you’ll have a stunning outdoor centerpiece that will make guests feel like they are chilling in the backyard of their favorite Hollywood celeb.

Why is there a foul odor coming from my drains?

April 11, 2017 by admin

You’ve given the kitchen a complete cleaning, and yet you still smell some lingering odors. Puzzled? Try sniffing the drains. A lot of mysterious kitchen smells are coming from hidden sources down in your pipes.

From Los Angeles to Sydney, plumbers are often called for this simple problem when you can easily take care of it on your own.

The Causes

There can be a few reasons why you are getting bad odors in your drains, though the main one is that there is a blockage or clog of organic material that smells. It’s not enough to actually block the water flow, but even a small build-up of food waste can start to rot and that’s what you’re smelling.

In particular, this can be a real problem if your kitchen sink has a garbage disposal. Food waste constantly gets clogged in it, and without proper cleaning, it will start to smell.

There is a small chance that you may have a more serious problem with sewage, but it’s highly unlikely. The best approach is to clean out the drains and see if that fixes the problem. If not, then call the plumber and see if there is more going on.

How to Get Rid of the Smell

Now that you have an idea why there are odors coming from your drain, you can take a few simple steps to get the problem cleaned up.

As we mentioned, garbage disposals are a special concern for drain smells. Let’s deal with that first. A popular technique for cleaning disposals is to take a handful of ice cubes and/or a quartered whole lemon (rind and all) and run through a cycle. The chunks of ice will break away any food clogs and the lemon will remove grease as well as freshen up the smell.

For the drain with no disposal, you have to take a less vigorous approach. A simple trick can be pouring a full kettle of boiling hot water down the drain. The heat will almost instantly melt any grease, which is usually the glue that holds food clogs together. When the clog washes away, the smells go too. This is a great and easy technique that you should do every week to prevent any problems rather than wait until you smell something.

Another trick is to pour vinegar down the drain, as the acid will kill a lot of bacteria that can be causing smells. For a stronger approach, pour about half a cup of baking soda down the drain and then follow up with the same amount of vinegar. The fizzing will break up small clogs and free any food build-up.

And don’t forget that drain basket. It’s a great tool to keep food out of the drain, but it can get pretty disgusting itself (especially the bottom side that you don’t see). Give it a good scrubbing once a week to keep it clean and smelling fresh. If you don’t have a drain basket, that could be part of the problem since all sorts of food bits and other material is ending up down in the pipes. Try getting a strainer basket and see if it helps with future smells, just give it a wash now and then.

Transitioning from Traditional to Eco-Friendly: Yes You Can

March 2, 2017 by admin

Source

When you think about changing things at home to make it more eco-friendly, what comes to mind? A montage of CFL bulbs and solar panels probably just played in your head, right? That’s totally normal. And it is usually why many people only think about making changes instead of actually making them: there are so many options and ways to change that choosing feels overwhelming. Let’s take a look at some that are easy to manage and that you can do right now.

Call Your Provider

Here’s the good news: the federal electrical grid requires power providers to incorporate sustainable and renewable power into their municipal supplies. This means that you are already getting at least some of your power from renewable sources. That’s great! If you would like to use only renewably sourced power, however, you will need to contact your provider and make that change. It often means paying a little bit extra every month but if you live in a state with a deregulated energy market you can often shop around for deals. Many states have sites designed to help you compare and contrast plans–click here for an example that is local to Texas.

Windows Windows Windows

Take advantage of natural light as much as possible. Arrange your furniture to allow you to use daylight for reading and working for as much of the day as you can.

Usually, this is where energy experts will recommend that you replace your windows with newer energy saving alternatives but that is costly and window replacement can eat up a lot of time. Instead, treat your windows yourself with film! You probably already know that covering your windows with clear plastic sheeting or film can help you dramatically reduce heat leaching during the winter months. Did you know, though, that there is also film that you can install during the summer months that will absorb heat and keep it from turning your windows into giant magnifying glasses? It’s true! Users report that using heat absorption film during the summer reduces the temperature in their homes by 10 degrees or even more–even though they let in just as much light!

Creative Cooking

A fireplace is a great source of heat during the winter. It can also be a great source of heat when you want to do some cooking. While we wouldn’t recommend cooking every meal in your fireplace (especially if you’re cooking for more than a couple of people), using it for a couple of meals each week isn’t a bad idea. You’ll get to use your camping cook gear year round!

Another option is to use your grill–yes, even when it is cold–to cook meals. This reduces your power consumption and, in many cases, helps you eat more healthfully.

Lighting Matters

CFL bulbs are not that much better than incandescents. Sure they use less power, but they also contain mercury, which is bad for the environment. The best bulbs you can use are LEDs. They’re bright, they don’t take forever to “warm up” and they use a fraction of the energy that incandescents and CFLs use. They are still pretty spendy, though, so don’t run out and buy a bunch right now. Simply replace your bulbs as they burn out.

Using solar powered lights is another good idea. You can use these in your yard and on your porch to reduce your power consumption. You can also repurpose them into indoor lighting devices. They won’t light up a whole room but they’re great for creating some ambiance.

Plant Some Stuff!

Even if you live in an apartment you can do some gardening. You don’t have to plant anything big or super high maintenance, but having plants is always a good idea. They can help scrub the air and, if you plant herbs, spices, veggies, fruits, etc–can reduce the number of trips you need to make to the grocery store, which helps reduce your carbon footprint.

These all might seem pretty basic but ask yourself: have you put any of these basic ideas into practice yet? Starting small and basic is the best way to build momentum for larger changes later on, so get to it!