Whether you’re renovating an existing bathroom or needing to equip a newly built one; you’ll no doubt want to find a range of bathroom suites and furniture that both match the vision you have for your bathroom and what you can afford to pay. Of course everyone wants to find a bargain, especially in these days of economic downturn and credit crunches; and there are of course many great deals to be had by searching for things on the internet. Whilst you may well be able to find all manner of items in bathroom suites or bathroom furniture at very low prices on different websites - do you really want your bathroom ending up looking like a hotchpotch of bits and pieces from here and there? Keeping costs down is one thing, but ending up with something that simply looks cheap is a false economy, as you’ll soon be spending more money putting things right. A more sensible approach, and in the long run a more economical one, is to find an established and reputable supplier of bathroom suites and bathroom furniture that you can buy all your requirements from, at low costs, ensuring that they will all match and sensibly complement each other.

Bathroom suites.

Whilst you can buy separate bathroom basins, tubs, toilets etc, it’s usually much more economical to buy a suite of products. As a minimum in the UK a bathroom suite will include a bath-tub, toilet and sink, probably with a pedestal. Depending on the type of suite that you want to install you should be able to add to those basic items a shower tray with a cubicle and a bidet. As with most things the amount of money you pay will be reflected in the quality of the products you buy. However, for around £250 you’ll be able to buy a basic bathroom suite, suitable for any small bathroom. The more space you have in your bathroom the more things you’ll be able to include and, obviously, the more components you add the price will increase accordingly. Two other factors will affect the price - the design of the bathroom suite and the materials used to make them. In the UK we often refer to bathroom suites as - the porcelain. In lower cost bathroom suites you’ll probably find that the bath-tub itself is actually made from a plastic. Very cheap bathroom suites, like you might buy from one of the big retail park stores, can be made from very thin plastic - which is reflected in the very low prices that some people find attractive. However, you might prefer to pay a little more and, whilst still having a plastic bath, feel more confident that it isn’t such a thin plastic bath that it could easily crack! Of course, as the price of the bathroom suite rises you can expect to have a porcelain bath-tub as well as a porcelain sink and toilet. Having a free standing bath-tub in the middle of the bathroom is very popular at the moment. If you’re considering this as an option please do carefully measure and design your bathroom to make sure that it will fit sensibly into the bathroom - before placing your order.

Bathroom furniture.

Having bought and installed your bathroom suite no doubt you’ll want to dress the bathroom with cabinets, mirrors, stands etc. The current trend to have hand basins without a pedestal, usually fixed on to a surface, could determine the colour or style of other bathroom furniture you install. You’ll have to decide if you want bathroom furniture that is all of the same material, design and colour or whether you’re going to deliberately have pieces of bathroom furniture that complement each other. Unlike with the bathroom suite itself, if the bathroom furniture you buy doesn’t actually ‘work for you’, it can more easily be changed - so it’s not the end of the world. White bathroom furniture remains popular as it keeps that ‘pure and clean’ look we all expect in a bathroom. However, modern wood treatments, construction and fitting techniques mean that wood finishing on bathroom furniture can be just as easy to keep clean and make your bathroom look more individualised and contemporary.

Victorian also known as Victoriana, is the most favoured style used in Bespoke conservatories. It has a steeply pitched roof with luxurious detailing along the roof centre. It comprises of 3 to 5 panels of glass and displays more of windows than wood. During the Victorian period conservatories were used to grow exotic plants to thrive year round. However, Victorian style conservatories are not suitable for all homes. A conservatory has to blend in well with the rest of the house. Victorian styles offer bold and dominating features. If such a style is to your taste and compliments the rest of your house design then this conservatory style could be an option for you.

Georgian and Edwardian style conservatories are similar to the Victorian style. Victorian styles have flat fronts while Georgian and Edwardian styles have angular fronted conservatories. Georgian and Edwardian conservatories offer features adapted from the early Greek and Roman architecture. This style may appeal to an owner of a Georgian style home.

There are also other designs of bespoke conservatories such as lean-to, p-shaped, and lantern styles. Lean-to conservatories include rectangular roofs which lean on to the main property and are set at one angle. It is a simpler construction as compared to other conservatory designs. Lean-to conservatories are also known to be called sun rooms as well as studio rooms. P-shaped styles comprise of more space and combines both the Georgian and lean-to styles.

The glass used in conservatories is highly advanced and engineered specifically for conservatory use. The two types of glass commonly used are polycarbonate and Celsius glass. Polycarbonate glass is a special brand of transparent glass and is designed to provide maximum exposure to sun and light. Polycarbonate glass is easy to install in diy conservatories and is relatively inexpensive. It retains the heat during the winter and removes unwanted glare.  Celsius glass is unique because it is not made like standard glasses which are fragile and poor heat insulators. Celsius glass is designed to contain the thermal heat in the winter and has a micro coating to avoid overheating in the summer. It also has a blue tint to avoid glare and is easy to clean when it comes time for spring cleaning.

Before considering a bespoke conservatory ensure you have the budget to see the project through to the finish there is a conservatory price guide at What Price that is certainly worth a look at to give you a rough guide of the kind of prices you will be paying for such a project. It is also important to consider the foundations for your new bespoke conservatory. Resources such as the page at DIY Doctor.org are worth reading to ensure the vital part of laying the foundations for your DIY conservatory project is done correctly.

There are many factors to consider when adding a conservatory to your home. Make sure you research your project thoroughly and plan all stages of the work to be done including a full costing of each stage. This will ensure that you arrive within budget and allow for a relatively hassle free project.

Although my drawing isn't perfect you can see what I've done here well enough to create your own plans for the bar.

My kitchen for all that its serviceable is also very small and has room for minimal extra furniture after the basics.
There was, however one vacant area, beneath a sunny window and I wanted a breakfast bar.
Being a middle aged kid, who was raised with the “eat in kitchen” thing happening, where we all shared discussion and arguments over breakfast, I wanted at least some means to eat in the kitchen as opposed to the adjacent dining room and I wanted some room to store a few extras..
But I also wanted something more.. I wanted a bit more fridge space.. My refrigerator sits in a pantry separate from my kitchen, but thats not always convenient and I thought.. Hey.. heres what I can do..
So heres what happened in my kitchen this winter.
I got my breakfast bar, and then.. had a couple brainstorms and took it back apart.. and started again.

Materials List.
*6 foot section of counter, with a splash, standard width of about 2.5 feet.
*One cabinet, purchased from a yard sale, with the lazy susan inside.
4 1 by 2’s about 6 feet long
one mini refrigerator
assorted drywall screws ( yeah I know.. not what you’re “supposed” to use.. but effective, easy and inexpensive.
8 L shaped brackets about 2 inches on each side of the L shape
Two bar stools, lower type, about 26 inches.

I built a frame over the small fridge, raising it up,from the floor about two inches, and also leaving about a six inch space between countertop and the top of the fridge. Also making sure that I had room with the countertop to open the door, and that it was level with the cabinet to assure the countertop laid level. I secured the frame to the fridge on two sides and extended the frame to take in the cabinet.

Mine is set against a wall on the back side, under a large window so that the natural light pours in.
I also hung apendant lamp over one end of it.
I ran power to it bu attaching to an existing electrical outlet.
I secured the frame to the floor using the L shaped brackets on the inside of course
and secured the countertop to the frame on top in the same fashion.

You can, using your imagination, make yours far better than mine..It takes no time at all.. an afternoons entertainment, its fun, its easy and it looks wondeful.
It gives me the added counter space, additional refrigerator room thats convenient in the room I’m cooking in and it gives me a place to take snacks or small meals.

The total cost for it?
79 pounds for the mini fridge
15 pounds each for the stools
15 pounds for the cabinet
25 pounds for granite remnant countertop.
25 pounds for wood and hardware.
Total cost for a lovely addition to my kitchen, about
150 pounds.
Try buying a breakfast bar with a built in fridge for 150 pounds>
Not going to happen.
Get creative.. Explore the possibilities and then just do it.

The technique of ragging paint off or ragging on, isn’t at all difficult to do and creates a rather, broken color effect that works well for creating country style decorating, old world decorating and has made some of my French country rooms just stand up and out..

The overall effect you get from ragging paint

To Rag you are going to use a thinner paint or a glaze, on top of a base coat of pain, then, using paper towels or sometimes plastic trash bags to get a different texture, your going to rag some of the paint back off the wall while its all still wet, which will give you thath textured, dual tone effect that works so well in living rooms and dining areas.

If you change the pressure that you use when you are ragging paint off or on, and how hard you press on the paper towels, you’re also going to make small variations in the patterns that appear when the paint is applied or removed.

Step one involves the brushwork

Two different colors of blue, as you see here, when raggged over top of a white base will create a cool feeling, like a cloudy september day.

Half the fun in doing something like this is experimenting to begin with.
I take a couple sheets of poster board, draw in room walls about a foot by a foot, and then paint them, and rag them off or on to test what the overall effect is going to be using samples of the paint which most companies will give you, or you can purchase for about a half pound cost.

You do want to make sure that you use alkyd paints, because they are far more translucent than the latex, being more dense and sometimes too rapid in the dry time.

The second step is the paper towel, the actual ragging off of the paint

Here’s what you’re going to need to Rag your walls.

Alkyd or latex primer
Low lustre enamel paint for the ragging
Low lustre paint for the base
2 3 inch paint brushes
4 or 5 rolls of paper towels
1 gallon odorless mineral spirits
2 large containers for paint mixing
Plastic sheeting
Masking tape.

DIRECTIONS:
make sure that you plastic your floors as the thinner paint tends to sprinkle more readily.
Mask off the woodwork and keep the area well ventilated.

Cover your wall with one coat or the base color and let it dry, then do a second coat if necessary.
Using a separate container, dilute the ragging colors with mineral spirits,(or with water if its latex) mixing well until it is something along the lines of heavy cream. consistency

Work in a 3 ft x3 ft area and I think you will get better results.. Start at the top and put on your ragging colors with brushes, alternating and overlapping the colors that you selected.
Use short strokes and do it randomly. don’t worry if it looks messy.. I was aghast when I first saw it but thats the way its going to look.l .Cross my heart it won’t stay like that,.
Working faster now, while the paint is wet, wad up your paper towels and press into the paint, so that you make the base color show through it.

REWAD your paper towels very frequently because the paint will start to build up on them and make them not work so well.. when they are completely wet with paint, toss them and start again..Honestly the sections you finish are going to look fairly consistent..

Repeat the steps until all the walls are completed.
Tips:
Bribe a friend to help you.. it will go faster and you won’t have to worry so much about the paint drying before you rag it off.

Want something a bit less simple? this is called the Ultimate computer chair

Now, sit down in a few chairs. Do your feet rest flat on the floor? If not, the chair is the wrong size. How comfortable is the seat in depth and width? Bear in mind that how you feel now and how you might feel in a few hours can be dramatically different. You need to be able to sit easily with your back against the rest, and the chair should allow for some forward/backward tilt adjustment. While you’re sitting also check out the materials. Is the fabric easily cleaned? Does it have a sturdy weave that also feels comfortable to your skin? Is there enough padding on the chair? And what about those arm rests – do you arms rest comfortably on them when your shoulders are completely relaxed? If not they’re not set properly for you. Now stand up – what size is that backrest? If it’s not at least 12” wide, it’s not going to be comfortable for long term seating.

A bit more traditional office and computer chair

Once you’ve found several chairs with all the right requirements for healthy sitting, you can then judge the style and price that’s right for your home office. Good shopping!

There are so many which have been reputed to make problems with our health, and several other things. Whats the best thing to get and why?

Cordless phones offer so many styles that you can get anything you want to match your decor

Well first does the phone system have one base or several. The multi-base units are great for households with teenagers. Additionally if you can’t find one phone where you are, there’s always another elsewhere that you can reach! Or, if you don’t want several bases how about a headset so you have two free hands the whole time you’re talking, or maybe a speakerphone function?

Most cordless phones include volume control, redial, and fast dial. Many also have built in answering machines. No matter what, however, digital technology is the way to go as it decreases interference and improves overall security on the line. Working in conjunction with your telephone company these types of phones are set up to accept caller ID, if you need it

A basic cordless phone with answering machine

Some nice features to get if you can include a lit dial pad so you can easily see numbers in the dark, a hand set locator for when the phone disappears into a couch or chair, a back up battery function so it will still work during a power outage, the ability to switch between “land lines” and “internet” (also called VOIP) and date/time stamps to help track calls for business purposes.

Finally, before you leave the store make sure you can return the phone if for some reason it doesn’t work in your area. Some homes have interferences that cannot be helped that also impede effective phone reception. In this case you’ll want to be able to get your money back.

A simple outdoor stove

An outdoor stove, given the right stove, can be portable, able to be moved about at will, or placed in one spot and left there, to be used as a permanent heater for a gathering place for your company or family while the outdoor fireplace offers an unparalleled elegance to where ever you place it and will permit you to use your patio or seating area far into cool weather, if not winter time itself..

An elegant outdoor fireplace in the seating area

Open air heaters permit the fire to be seen from all sides, yet screen the sparks from flying about to cause damage or injury, and allow for warmth on even the coldest nights.

We installed a patio stove last fall, on a porch that was covered, but not completely enclosed, because, as many find themselves doing, we were rather stuck with the doldrums of not being able to get out and spend time outdoors in the wintertime. Using your patio in the wintertime isn’t always a thing thats comfortable, given snow or rain, and we wanted to be able to sit outside, to be comfortable and not get wet. With the small outside stove installed, it was far more comfortable to sit outdoors, to watch the snow, breath in the crisp clean air, the porch roof prevents our getting wet and the heat kept us all fairly warm.. so we found that we could use our porch even in early winter.

As you might imagine, this one is more costly but certainly worth it in terms of atmosphere

Nothing is more fun than being able to be outdoors with a blazing fire, and seeing snowflakes falling down around us while we cook out in mid winter., reminscent of a skating or skiing trip, you can spend your time around the fire.

An outdoor stove or outdoor fireplace  can be placed not only on a patio, but also in a select spot in the garden as well. It can be used to make wintertime seem like summer, to draw the family out of doors on cooler, yet still reasonable evenings, to share some time together.

It can also be used to promote atmosphere, with the various styles available that will go with nearly any patio or garden decorating style. Most garden or patio stoves provide that the flames are viewable from all sides.

If you’re in love with your patio, but don’t use it as often as you’d like because of the drop in temperatures that the seasons offer, try installing an outside stove and see if it doesn’t help to keep you outside a bit longer in the year.

When I began designing smaller gardens, the questions I asked were met with, “well color is of course most important” and ” the most important element is size” and “Whats best is to take into account making the garden bloom in all seasons”, “well shape means everything”. I’m sure you get the idea..

Every element of a garden is important

It’s utterly and abjectly confusing to be bombarded with conflicting advice and conflicting ideas when you are new to the craft and already confused.

The truth is that all of those things are important and there is no.. single.. element that will make your garden delight all of your senses.

An herb garden needs to be designed not only to offer the best light for the herbs, and for assuring that you get maximum yield, but also to put them into some kind of shape and style  where you have ready access to get the herbs cut for use without stamping on the rest, as well as for scent, color and in some cases, to deter natural pests in a natural way.

Flowers on the other hand, have several  color  and design styles that can be put into play, depending on what you want from your garden.

You can use a  one of several color schemes, such as:

Monochromatic colors, meaning taking one color and using it to make the entire garden, using several shades or tints of that color, or moving through them progressively, making the whole garden seem to flow in the vision.

An example of a monochromatic color scheme

Analogous colors,  which means, moving through two or three colors that are close to each other on the color wheel, such as orange, red and yellow. This works well in that the transition from one color to the next is usually an easy one, that looks pleasing to the eye.

 Complementary colors, on the other hand,are just what they say.. Complementary. This style of decorating and design, uses two colors that are directly opposite, or diametrically opposed on the wheel, such as red and green or yellow and purple.  It contrasts well and is quite striking when done but it can also, if over done, or the contrast is too great, create nothing short of a cacaphony of color that isn’t pleasant to view.

An Example of complementary color schemes in gardening

The bottom line is, that in gardening, all of the elements of design, shape, textures, colors  are important, as well as assuring that you’ve got something planted that will keep your garden blooming all year, such as in a circular garden, plant some  spring bulbs in the front, surrounded by perennials in the center and perhaps fall blooming flowers toward the back of the garden.

Be guided by fashion, and design, but don’t be a slave to it.

If you love violets and lady slippers, then grow them..   at the end of the day,  although you want your garden to look nice, you are the one who needs to be pleased with the flowers, the design and the planting of it.

Do what feels right to you.

While they are typically seen as being somewhat delicate and very difficult and demanding to grow, the truth is that in many cases they aren’t, but are a hardy addition to your garden if you add the right variety for your particular environment and climate.

The showy lady slipper will be hardy in many areas

Most orchids do require a more warm, moist environment, so growing them in pots, where they will be able to be moved may be your best bet if you live in a climate that is subject to striking changes in both heat and moisture, however they are still able to be grown to fit into any landscape.

An orchid requires about 12 hours of light each day, as well as protection from the direct sunlight and its frying heat, but it also requires some decent air circulation, so select a spot where you are able to provide it with those things, and with a reasonable amount of care, you’re going to be successful in your efforts.
There are many orchids, some occuring naturally in even North America that are hardyenoug tobe grown outside, whose roots will winter over and return the next spring.
One of these is the showy lady slipper.

You want to plant terrestial orchics in a climate or environment that mimics their natural one, such as outside, under a tree or in a woodland area, while if you grown them inside, a terrarium might be the perfect solution for them, in that it will mimic the forests environment with the right conditions for the orchid to flourish.

As seen on wikipedia, some of the many types or orchids that exist

Orchids that you choose for potting require some special soil which might include the bark of fir trees, moss, tree ferns, perlite and some charcoal.
use a plastic pot, so that it will hold the moisture better, since clay pots permit them todry out too rapidly.

potting may include fir bark, moss, tree fern, perlite and charcoal.
Use plastic pots that have drainage holes in the bottom, as clay pots will permit the plant to dry out too rapidly.
For the best blooms, you will want to fertilize with orchid specific fertilizer about every three weeks.

Orchids love humidity, so mist them each morning very lightly.
If you use some care and common sense, you’re going to find that orchids, far from being impossible to grow, are actually quite easy and hardy.

The great news is that with all the new ones on the market, there are actually a ton of them that you can choose from, up to and including building your own, however,  if you aren’t the handy type, lack time, or even lack ambition, there are literally hundreds of styles and materials on the market in wood firepits for your yard or garden.

Fire pit styles are available that will go with any theme

A wood fire pit is nothing if not a necessity for the back yard.  Nothing says outside and summer like the smell of the wood fire and the flickering of the flames as the kids roast marshmallows, or the hot dogs roast.

For safetys sake, no matter where you live, having an outdoor fire is so much more sensible when you have it enclosed in a contained space.

While you can make your own firepit, simply by excavating a hole in the ground and ringing it with stones or building it up to the level you want it and adding a fireproof bowl in which to burn your logs, you may also find one of hundreds of styles that sit above ground to be appealing to you as well.

I personally fell in love with the brass and iron ones, since they are reminscent of the old medieval styles that appeal to me so much.

This firepit seems to have a medieval ambience

The ready made fire pits feature a vast array of attrractive styles and materials and much as you consider your style when decorating the indoors, you will want to do the same when selecting  a fire pit for the outdoors as well.

The styles range anywhere from decorative, medieval, old Roman looking, rustic, traditional or even contemporary.

The best material to get for a premade fire pit at the moment is stainless steel, given its resistance to rust, and its hardiness when faced with hard use and the elements that can present themselves to it in the outside world.

Another choice for your consideration is copper which is my personal favorite.

Like any other accessory that you will purchase for your home, don’t buy the firest one you come to, but shop around. A firepit, when it comes to enjoying your back yard, particulary in the evening time, is more of a neccesity than an accessory.

IF you don’t own one, chances are that before long, you’re going to find yourself thinking its time to go check them out.