Reducing the drain on your wallet caused by monthly utility bills can coincide with making your home a more comfortable place to live in. Now, who would dare to say no to such a wondrous bounty? No one, and having a home energy audit is probably your best bet when it comes to making smart choices about the practical improvements that will optimize your house’s energy use. If you decide to have your home go through an audit, get in contact with certified professionals. RESNET and the Building Performance Institute (BPI) are entities most trusted and respected for the certification of home energy professionals. These are the folks best able…

The increasing awareness of the benefits of energy efficiency has lead many homeowners to seek home repair grants and energy efficient mortgages to help pay for the costs of repairing and upgrading their homes. In many cases, these repairs can save money in the long run on reduced energy costs, especially if grants or tax incentives can help to pay for some or all of the repair work. However, it’s important that homeowners are cautious through every step of the home repair process. Receiving a grant to make your home more energy efficient won’t accomplish much if you don’t do the right work. This is why it’s so important for…

Hanging pictures in your home is a very personal and warm way to decorate your walls. Whether you decide to frame and hang pictures of your family, photographs you have taken yourself, or even artwork, creating one area for all of this can be inspiring. Most people hang and place photographs on various walls and shelves in their home. By creating a gallery where you can hang everything together in one place, you can create a unique area in your home. With the right frames and hanging positions your gallery can really become a work of art. Before you begin actual work on your gallery, you will need to purchase…

Bamboo floors: it’s something that everyone should look into if they’re remodeling or building a home for the first time. There are several benefits that come with this purchase. First and foremost, bamboo is earth-friendly. It’s actually the fastest growing plant on earth, with strength compared to that of steel—in addition to being a great renewable resource. Another bonus? Some bamboo cuts up to 12 tons of carbon dioxide per hectare. Bamboo affects the water as well. It reduces rain runoff by a large percent, helps prevent massive soil erosion and keeps twice as much water in a watershed, thus lessening the impact of pollution. These are only some of…

The majority of bamboo found in American bamboo flooring is made from strips of mature bamboo poles.  The outer skin and nodes of the wood are removed before processing, and then the bamboo strips are boiled in lime to remove the sugar and starches.  You can get your bamboo in two main colors, natural, which looks more like beech wood, and carbonized, which bears a strong resemblance to oak.  The bamboo strips can also be darkened through a process called carbonization, in which the bamboo strips must undergo steaming in a specific controlled pressure and heat.    Not only does bamboo flooring cost look beautiful, but it also has several…

If you are considering selling your property, remodeling the bathroom is a good way to add value to it and could be the deciding factor in selling it. But before you embark on such a project there are many factors to take into consideration in order to make it a success. • Have a budget Work out how much you can afford to spend on the project. Try to keep the cost 10% under the budgeted amount and keep that 10% as a contingency plan. • Look at what needs to be changed Do the tiles and fittings need replacing? Do you want to change the placing of the fittings?…

There is nothing worse than walking around with no socks on and hitting a patch of solid flooring that sends chills up and down your body. Ok – that might have been a bit of an exaggeration but its not a pleasant feeling and should be avoided at all costs. Under floor heating is a luxury that many people think they cannot afford even though it is certainly not as expensive as they might think. If you have a lot of hard surfaces as opposed to carpet, this might be something worth looking into. Although it might be a luxury to have warm floors in a house, there are certain…

Many people have trouble finding quality furniture that is not only comfortable, but suitable for semi outdoor areas that encounter the elements on some basis every day. These can include sun rooms and screen porches. Wicker furniture is a great way to decorate these spaces and still keep an affordable budget. It is also very light and easy to move around the room. Though wicker furniture is very durable and well made; for a more ridged and a little different design work, many people turn to rattan furniture because it comes fully assembled and is made of superior quality materials. Rattan furniture is good for both indoor and outdoor use and you…

One thing that is overlooked as one of the most important parts of every household is the linen. No one realizes that they are using irritating cheap linens until they decide to make the switch to nicer higher quality fabric. One of these linens that people hesitate to replace is the tea towels. Most people have tea towels that have tea towels that are five to ten years old and have been uses to clean up a million messes. Many of them are also made of some cheaper synthetic material that barely absorbs any liquid. It is important to get new tea towels fairly often to keep you kitchen free of…

Many people have outdoor patio or garden space that they would like to furnish but are afraid that they cannot find any comfortable and affordable furniture that can withstand the weather. However wicker furniture sets are now available that are specially treated to do just that. These are stylish and incredibly comfortable wicker out door furniture sets that are treated with special resins to combat the wind and rain. They also come with comfortable weather resistant cushions that allow you to enjoy your garden when the weather is nice and not have to worry about your furniture getting damaged when it rains. This also saves you from the hassle of having to move your…