Tuesday, October 20, 2009

12 ways to make your home cool

Give your home a light and breezy feel with this easy Do-It-Yourself ideas.

1 Let your room breath. Put away clutter. Clear up areas for easy access and passage.
2 Ventilate. Open windows to let the cooling and air breeze in.
3 Bare your floors. Put away area rugs and carpets and expose your wooden floors. Bare floors help make a room feel light and airy.
4 Allow natural light to come in. Use glass curtains for a brighter room or plain light-colored drapes for subdued lighting.
5 Wake up on crisp, neutral-colored cotton sheets. Nothing beats the feel of pure cotton bedding in summer.
6 Paint your walls a light shade. Pale colors, particularly white, create a cool and bright feeling throughout a room.
7 Cool the eyes with fresh flowers and greens. Real flowers and foliage never fail to soothe and refresh the eyes.
8 Freshen up with soft, absorbent towels. Feel the summer heat being wiped away as you dry yourself with soft, absorbent cotton towels.
9 Maximize light. Mirrors helps reflect and spread light throughout the house.
10 Make full use of glass. Use sleek glass vases, instead of ceramic ones, for a lighter feel.
11 Take the indoors out. Dine outside and bask in the sunny and breezy weather.
12 Bring the outdoors in. Create the feel of a summer getaway without stepping out of your home.

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Monday, October 19, 2009

How to choose the Best Plants for your Garden

After some talking about how to beautify and secure our homes, let us talk another way in doing it so. In our homes, a garden is a plot of ground where plants are cultivated. The flowers or vegetables or fruits or herbs that is cultivated in a garden makes as satisfied with this activity.

Most often we buy plants on impulse then find there is nowhere in the garden that really suits and matches them. Carefully examine your garden before buying plants to see how much sun and shade it gets or simply whether the soil is well drained or waterlogged and whether your aspect is sheltered or unsheltered. You'll then be equipped to go and buy the best plants for your situation;
  • shade-loving plants for the sheltered areas
  • sun-lovers for the warm spots
  • drought-resistant plants for the parched areas which may be either sunny or shaded
  • swamp plants for the poorly-drained parts.
That is not all! Test and examine your soil first to determine the pH level of your soil and what kind of nutrients you need to add. This will come up. Is the soil acid or alkaline? Most plants like better soil that is slightly acidic. There are some that must have alkaline soil to grow. You can alter the soil's pH level but it's much easier to simply plant for the soil you have.

You neither are nor ready to plant. That’s almost. Will you plant in groups or separately? If you buy 'one of everything' your garden may seem rather spotty, group plantings is organized, harmonious and you can diverge the color for interest and importance.

Remember to place your chosen plants around the garden bed in their pots to before planting to see how they will look. Re-arrange them until you are satisfied. Grouping plants in sets of threes or fives usually looks better than planting in groups of even numbers. Make sure that you have a motivating combination of colors and textures of plants. Tall plants should go to the back or the centre if your garden will be viewed equally from all sides. Keep in mind to keep your plants away from trees. The roots of trees are fiercely competitive and will steal all the nutrients and moisture meant for your flowers and other plants in your garden.

Choosing the right color scheme is one way of maintaining the harmony and accord in your garden. Imagine the color of the flowers when they are in bloom. Some colors may clash with others, but can still be planted side-by-side if they have a different blooming season. Foliage color is also important. Many flower plants have silver, grey or purplish foliage that is just as attractive as the flower. This means that they are still attractive well past the blooming season and so have added value.

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Thursday, October 8, 2009

Basic Knowledge about Home Surveillance System

Every home owner installs home security systems for identical basic reason: to safeguard our home, even our garage, our valuables, and for the most part, our loved ones. The cost of losing your precious belongings or having your family’s safety at risk is only secondary to the cost of an alarm system.

Whenever you are interested in safeguarding your home with a surveillance or security system, grasp first the concepts of the ever changing technology. You can find several home surveillance systems to choose from, making it in your best interest to learn all you can. The majority of them are not tricky to install or monitor providing that you have the right guide for the installation process.

Sometimes it can be nearly impossible to ask the right questions or complete your goals without first finding yourself overwhelmed by possibilities. There are many alternatives and “what ifs” to any home surveillance system. Choosing which type is best for your home can be a bit easier if you know what the product is which one will work the best for you.

It is known that closed circuit television and several other types of electronic devices are much more common these days, and easier to operate than ever before. They are also more affordable as well and becoming more and more popular with home owners. The basics behind closed circuit systems lets you know that the signals the camera picks up are not broadcast through the air but instead sent directly to the monitor which can be observed from virtually anywhere at anytime.

Being more familiar of the basic concepts involving home surveillance systems can make more sense of the language when you talk to salesman and other people in the trade. If you are not familiar with any of the technology or systems at hand, you won’t know what salesman or others in the trade are talking about when you inquire about your home surveillance system.

For that reason, you should always do your best to learn as much as you can about the terms and subjects of home surveillance system. It is actually easier than you may think, as long as you keep it simple. Once you have built the foundation, you’ll find it easier to learn more.

1. The first thing to know is that the camera is responsible for all images that are displayed on the monitor or captured. The performance of the camera will vary on the reflected light available on the area that you are surveying, the quality of the components that you are using, and the overall performance of the camera. Some cameras are high quality, while others can be very poor and lack in direction.

2. Overall quality with a home surveillance system however, will greatly depend on the weakest area of the chain. To get the most from your system, you should always make sure that each and every component is of the same quality. This way, you can get great display images without having to worry about shoddy quality. If you do your research and compare, you can even get great quality at very affordable prices.

3. When you select the home surveillance system that you will be using, you should always take the time to research and compare. If you understand the basic concepts of home surveillance, you’ll have a much easier of time of selecting your equipment and components.

4. To make the best decision possible, you’ll need to look at certain areas of home surveillance systems, such as the illumination, lighting, resolution, sensitivity, and the video signal that is sent to the monitor. The quality will vary among the different options you have available, which is why you should always look for the best system that you can afford. This way, you’ll have the surveillance protection you need for your home at a price you can afford.

Good luck to your quest in protecting your love ones and your valuables that you have invested into your homes for a long time. Build your home and make a move to protect it. Visit YellowPagesGuide to know more on DIY.

image: axes2.com

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

When to need a locksmith?

Locksmithing, as the name implies, is the assembly and designing of locks and their respective keys. Before we can observe from most TV programs or movies in which intruders were making off with costly jewelries and other jewels. Then nearly all the law-breaking persons were eventually hunted down back to the local locksmith who did the service all of the homes. But in today’s real life, it is not always a mirror image of TV Programs. There must be times in our lives (in which I am also) when we misplaced or totally lost our house’s keys, locked our car keys inside the car, or have to change locks because of some life-changing event like buying another home.

Now you will be puzzled of the conflicts that you have observed or have been experienced. There are times that you will trust those companies whose services are intended for this purpose. You will ask then the question; how do I select a right locksmith for my needs?

The following will be your guide for this reason:
  • Decide on Before the Emergency. The very most accommodating approach is to find a locksmith in prior to needing them. We all know that they will have access to our home, car or business; it is a very crucial decision. I am pretty sure that you want someone who is trustworthy, recommended by previous customers, and with membership in professional organizations.
  • Offered Services. Is the locksmith well trained and experienced in all types of locking systems? Are they trained in security systems, able to service and recommend solutions to your security needs? Will they provide a free estimate for the work you need done? Do they have a price list for emergency services? Will they provide a list of references from recent customers?
  • DIY. If you are just an observer, there is a wide range of lock sets available at your local hardware that is relatively easy to set up as replacement sets for existing ones. The task is more difficult if for example you are adding a new deadbolt lock to a door that has never had one. The same stores sell a door template kit that is a U-shaped bracket that clamps to the side of your door and comes with a hole-saw for both the knob mechanism and the bolt. Most of the stores will make another key to your lock set if you bring the key cylinder or the whole lock set to them.
  • Additional Concerns. The locksmiths can recommend superior quality locks that are of good quality than you might purchase at a local store. The majority of local retailers sell locks with 5 pins in the lock cylinder; locksmiths generally supply locks with 6 or 7 pins that are also considered "pick-proof".
  • If you have chosen to select a locksmith, it is a good idea to keep their contact number in your wallet, cell phone, on your fridge and in your cars or to any important and valuable organizers.
In our lives, we have not to like in needing for locksmith service. But life has a way of biting us at times, and it might be a wise idea to check out what services are available in your area. But always be safe and be curious to who you are calling. Just look for the yellow pages guide for more.

image: http://reoprosolutions.com/services

Saturday, October 3, 2009

5 steps to a clean garage workshop

When you got home you just park your car in the driveway and you still have to work on your projects in the back yard. If you don’t use your garage for its much designed purpose and reason, why not turn it into a tidy workshop?

Refer to these five steps to turn your garage in a perfect small home workshop:

1. Create your own workbench from an old door some sawhorses or scrap wood.

2. Mount a pegboard on the wall to store your tools. It would be an impressive idea to mount it above your workbench. Strategically place pegs according to the type of tools you will be placing on the board. After hanging your tools, trace around them with a marker so you will know where each one goes. This way you can trace and figure out what you are looking for.

3. You can use old jars for keeping nails, nuts, bolts, screws and other small items.

4. Make a storage box for the rugs because they tend to build up in your working area.

5. Make use of a small tackle box for transporting items such as screws and nails as you move around the place.

The garage area can have this cool look if you just know how to utilize it. Make it as one of your chic place aside from just using it as a parking. Make it tidy to have a better output.

image: cartoonstock.com