Better Home Club

With the myriad of flooring types available, shoppers tend to lean toward those that are most popular at the time. Unfortunately, this practice can cause a consumer to miss out on some great flooring options.

One of these hidden gems is cork flooring. Imagine a floor covering that is attractive, comfortable, environmentally friendly, durable and affordable. When most people think of cork, they think of a wine bottle or a cork board, and due to this lack of consumer awareness, this product is commonly overlooked. In order to appreciate this material, you really need to understand its unique characteristics.

Origin

Cork is actually the bark of the cork oak tree found in the Mediterranean. Portugal is the largest supplier with over 30% of the world’s cork trees and 70% of the world’s cork production. Every nine years the bark is harvested by hand with the average tree yielding about 4,000 corks.

The bark is honeycomb in nature, containing 90% air that can be compressed to 40% and then quickly returning to its original shape. This feature creates a natural shock absorber.

Benefits

Due to its air like composition, walking on cork is like walking on air. Its comfortable walking surface is perfect for kitchens where you are standing for lengthy periods of time.

Cork has a natural beauty with a rich, varying grain, similar to wood. It also comes in many different patterns and tile sizes from various manufacturers.

The same feature that makes the floor comfortable creates a natural noise reducer. It’s extremely quiet to walk on and reduces the impact if an object is dropped on its surface. It’s insulating effect make cork a great choice in a bathroom over radiant floor heating or even installed over cold concrete floors.

Cork is an environmentally friendly product in many ways. Since the bark from the tree grows back nine years after harvest, it’s a reusable and sustainable product. It also contains suberin, a substance that is resistant to insects, mold and protects cork from rotting when exposed to moisture. Suberin is naturally fire resistant and cork doesn’t release any toxic gases when it burns.

The durability of cork makes it a perfect choice for virtually any room in the house, including those high traffic areas. It has been successfully used in churches and other public buildings since 1898.

Disadvantages

Due to its resilience, heavy furniture can dent the flooring, so it’s important to use castors or furniture pads under table legs. Just as with wood, an excess of water can damage the finish. It shouldn’t be used where you have problems with moisture or flooding.

Costs

The cost of cork flooring compares to high-end laminate or hardwood and runs approximately $4 to 6$ per square foot.

Maintenance

Cork floors are extremely easy to maintain with regular sweeping or vacuuming. Damp mop the floor monthly with a mild detergent and very little water and avoid using abrasive or ammonia-based cleaning products.

The flooring requires up to five coats of urethane sealer, which will last several years. A dulling floor can be refreshed with another coat.

While “green” has become quite the buzzword when it comes to home building and design, what exactly it means isn’t always clear. There are a few standards for eco-friendly homes, but the term “green” doesn’t have a universal definition beyond being a color made by mixing yellow and blue. So how does a consumer know when a home the builder is calling “green” is actually built with an ecological focus, or at least enough of one to justify its price?

Some of the standards for ecologically minded homes include increased insulation. To be really energy efficient, a home should be insulated beyond the minimum local requirements. This includes floor insulation, which in some cases is built right in to the concrete foundation. In addition to the walls, floors and ceilings, windows should also be insulating. Therefore, double paned and/or vinyl windows are becoming the “green” standard.

Energy efficiency should be continued throughout the home. Low water use toilets are a must, and those that have different flush options are extra eco-concious. These options allow you to have a more efficient flush for solid waste, while liquid waste just gets much more conservative flush. Shower heads, washing machines, faucets and dishwashers can also be equipped to limit the water used without compromising function. Air conditioners, refrigerators, heaters and all other appliances within the home should be of the highest standard of energy efficiency. In addition, compact fluorescent lights should be used throughout the home, or replaced by LED lights wherever those are suitable.

Beyond energy efficiency, use of non-toxic, ar at least less-toxic, materials is important in “green” homes. Look for a home with low VOC paints. VOC stands for volatile organic compounds, which are toxins that gas-off from conventional paint. Remember the lighter the pigment, the lower the VOC’s, so white or off-white walls are healthier than some of the bolder, trendy colors. This is because it is the paint base that is quality controlled, but it is impossible to take the VOC’s out of some pigments.

Another finishing detail that is popular for eco-friendly homes is bamboo or cork flooring. Bamboo is popular because it grows so quickly. It takes about five years to grow bamboo to the right size to make flooring. It is versatile and comes in a variety of styles and colors. Cork is an option because it is sustainable to harvest – removing cork does not damage the cork tree, as it replenishes its cork bark every year anyway. Cork makes a lovely, soft and springy floor surface that is also naturally warmer than many other flooring options.

For our final indoor consideration, eco-friendly homes will use more natural fabrics such as wool and cotton for carpets and window dressings.

Outside the home leaves plenty of room for “green” considerations, too. Xeriscaping is a popular means of landscaping utilizing plants native to the area being built in. These plants are naturally drought-resistant because they are acclimatized to the local environment, needing less watering and maintenance than lawns or beds full of foreign flowers.

Another “green” outdoor trend is utilizing permeable paving stones. These actually absorb water, which then is naturally filtered through the earth and goes back into the ground-water supply. These avoid the toxic run-off that can be caused by water rushing over cement and into drains, carrying oil and exhaust residue straight into the drainage system, which ultimately ends up being a nearby body of water.

If a home you are looking at is being promoted as being “green”, don’t hesitate to ask the builder about some of these features. If they don’t measure up, don’t buy it.

There are a lot of things that go into creating the perfect home theater that many people may never consider when purchasing individual components, pieces, and parts. A good home theater is much more than a place to go and watch television at night; it is a movie and television viewing experience. You need to make sure that you are creating a room that is not merely comfortable for one or two people but for everyone that will be enjoying the opportunity to view movies, films, or television in this room.

One way to ensure that everyone will be comfortable and easily able to view the screen and consequently enjoy the experience you will also want to pay close attention to the seating you choose for your home theater. There are many different seating options for the average home theater system. Some of the most popular at the moment is what is considered the ‘theater recliner’. In fact, many home theater lovers prefer watching movies at home for the comfort of the seating alone. I do however recommend including options for people to put their feet up (my number one complaint when it comes to going to actual theaters). Most theater recliners allow this option.

The theater recliner is appealing to many because it has armrests for each person and a place to hold your drinks. You do not have to set tables in between, the seats can be lined up next to one another and you can enjoy each others company while watching your favorite movie or television show. There is nothing like enjoying the theater atmosphere in the comfort of your home.

In addition to the theater recliner, if you want a more retro feel in your home theater or to set up ‘bistro’ tables you can opt for lounger chairs in your home theater. This is great if you plan to have a lot of pizza night movie experiences or have small children that need a table in order to eat and watch television or movies or even to enjoy other quiet activities while you are enjoying movies and television. It’s a great way to bring a nice family feel to your home theater.

If the seating types above are anything but appealing to your sensibilities you just might find that there is no place like home for watching movies and nothing more comfortable than a nice big comfy couch. I personally love the comfort of a big soft sofa with warm snuggly blankets, especially in the wintertime for enjoying movies. It’s a great way for the kids to pile up together and enjoy serious cuddle time while watching the latest Disney flick or even Saturday morning cartoons. Who wants to invest a small fortune on a home theater that isn’t used for everyday viewing at any rate?

If you want to make your home theater exceptionally kid friendly you can opt for some funky furniture for your little ones to enjoy. This will keep everyone happy, no one fighting for a favorite seat, and a much more peaceful movie viewing experience all around. If you want to be the coolest parent on the block you can include some extras of this trendy special kid furniture for those times when visitors are present.

There are many things involved in building the perfect home theater system for you and your family. Creating the perfect comfortable atmosphere in which to enjoy your theater is a great way to make this room the most often used room in the house and bring the family together each and every night for something other than dinner. If you want to experience even more from your home theater seating be sure to include storage for pillows and blankets close at hand for those nights when a little extra warmth or a pillow to hide behind is just what the situation merits. Have fun trying out the many options for home theater seating and choose the seats that you feel will work best for your family.

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For good calibre bed data a site that is managed by somebody like a bed manufacturer will certainly be perfect, Some of the many interior design newsgroups and blogs may also be wonderful resources for discovering good quality bed tips and info, these type of places might easily answer some thoroughly precise questions concerning items such as wood and iron beds or wrought iron headboards.

Say you are actually looking for heavy duty bed frames or adjustable tempur pedic beds, without a doubt these type of products might very well not actually be widely available on that many portals, try to ensure that you employ your PC favorites button whenever you carry out this variety of bed focused research, your important info should be treated with the greatest of care.

For consumers searching for items such as king size beds or futon bunk beds, you would be wise speaking to a mixture of home furnishing specialists in advance of your search, you could be searching for a special item like a youth loft bed or even wood working plan loft bed yet because of a lack of advice choose the wrong product.

The easiest way to tell if a bed website may buy be able to assist you with your particular bed search, say for example a adjustable twin bed is your specific item, is to try and see if the website contains a categorized bed directory and an amount of bed write ups, if indeed it does incorporate these types of things finding the bed you require will be easy, if however the particular site is targeted at a general home furnishing subject then the chances are you won’t pinpoint your necessary bed targeted help.

It has to be said interior design is a subject that spans a vast assortment of diverse bed items including heavy duty bed frames and adjustable tempur pedic beds, say that you wanted expert assistance on any area of beds, lets suppose a product like futon sofas, this may possibly be sourced via bed expert.

Many sites will have detailed categories targeted at beds, should a person require a full over full wooden bunk bed or a wood bunk bed plan you just locate the most appropriate bed section.

Consider also when you search this region of home furnishing it is possible you may very well be overrun with a considerable number of truly varied search engine results, such gems as and king size bed frames may though be very relevant to your requirements.

Want to Stop a Third of the Energy Loss from Your Home?

Many people dont insulate their basement walls because they mistakenly believe that the soil outside does the insulating for them. Unfortunately, soil is not a good insulator and heat loss from your basement can account for over one third of the total heat loss from your home.

Done properly, basement insulation will not only reduce heat loss, but it will make your basement warmer, drier and much more comfortable.

There are two main ways to insulate your basement interior insulation and exterior insulation.

For interior basement insulation, you can use any of the main types of home interior insulation, including fibreglass batts, rigid foam board and spray foam. Having a metal or wood frame of studs will help support the insulation and give you a place to attach drywall or panelling.

You should install a moisture barrier over the bare wall before adding the stud frame and insulation. Also, add a vapour barrier over the installed stud frame and insulation before adding drywall and panelling.

For exterior basement insulation, you must excavate the soil around your home so you can get to the outside surfaces of your basement walls. Cover the entire surface of the wall with a layer of waterproofing material before adding rigid insulation. Metal flashing and a protective cover must be installed over the insulation to make sure moisture does not get between the insulation and the basement wall.

Before installing any kind of basement insulation, you need to fix any cracks, leaks or other moisture problems. Moisture can seriously damage your finished basement and the problem is far more difficult and expensive to fix after a basement is finished.

On the inside, moisture and vapour barriers will help reduce condensation, but they do not prevent water leaking through wall cracks. A basement waterproofing system is the best way to make sure you do not have moisture problems from any source.

On the outside, install a drainage system when insulating the wall. Again, waterproofing your basement will protect you from water damage.

The trained basement waterproofing professionals at Clarke Basement Systems know how to make your basement dry and get it ready for your basement insulation inside and out.

Motion lighting is very convenient security platform for homes. Solar motion lamps take the benefits to the next level with more efficiency and reduced utility bills.

Motion Lighting Using Solar Power

Motion sensor lamps can be an excellent choice for your home. These lamps offer the security of having a bright light shine into the eyes of any would be intruder, thus deterring them from staying on your property. There are several different types of motion lamps available for the protection of your family and home, but the best option by far is to use solar motion lamps.

Solar power is a clean and ecologically sound alternative to electric, battery and other sources of power. There is no pollution produced, no non-renewable resources used, and it costs far less than other power sources. Even if you dont choose to use solar power for all your household needs, you can still help the environment by choosing solar motion lamps. Every small bit of solar power used decreases the worlds usage of less ecological methods.

Solar motion lamps work by collecting solar power during the day through solar cells located on the light. This solar energy is used to recharge a battery (usually a NiCad rechargeable battery), which in turn powers the lamp at night. Some models of solar motion lamps include solar panels that are strong enough to collect energy even in overcast conditions, making the lamp even more useful. Motion lamps also have settings to customize. You can set the duration that the lamp shines when it detects motion (any where from .5 minute to three minutes), as well as being able to position it so that it can detect motion up to 90 feet away. The trigger for the motion lamp is a passive infrared motion detector that is safe for use around all people and animals, and does not require additional high tech equipment. You also have the choice of mounting your solar motion lamps on a post (this will be provided) or on the side of your house or garage.

Solar motion lamps usually use a strong LED lamp. LEDs are an excellent choice for solar lamps because they use far less power than traditional bulbs and halogen lamps. Motion lamps are built with weather resistant materials, so they can be left on your homes exterior in all types of conditions.

Solar motion lamps are an excellent way to keep your home and property safe from intruders and other problems, all while being cheaper and more green than other choices. If you need just one or many, the solar powered versions of motion lamps are the easiest choice for your lighting needs.

The best possible location for the average home theater would be a basement room that allows very little or no natural sunlight to sneak into the room. There are so many things you can do in a basement that simply intensify the theater experience of your average home theater. From actual stadium or theater seating to rope lights that line the side of the walls (where it meets the floor) for low ambient lighting that will not distract from the screen or cause any unnecessary glare. Out of the many things you can choose to enhance your home theater, lighting might actually be one of the most important as well as the most often overlooked.

If you are fortunate enough to have a basement, this is an ideal location for a home theater but don’t despair if you live in a climate that isn’t exactly conducive to home basements. Even in the sunshine basement there are steps you can take in order to prevent too much light from affecting your home theater experience. Some good ideas with which to start would be to purchase black out curtains that prevent sunlight from creeping into your room. This looks much better than the old fashioned quick fix of placing aluminum foil over your windows for sure.

Even within your room if you’ve taken the time to make sure natural light isn’t creeping in you may find that poorly placed lighting adversely affects your viewing pleasure. When installing your home theater system you need to pay careful attention to both natural and artificial light at different times of day in order to see how they affect your ability to see the television (this is particularly important if you have a projection television) as well as in order to see if there is any glare on your television screen from light peeking through your curtains or from lamps and overhead lighting within the room.

Recessed lighting is a good option for most home theater rooms as is rope lighting as I mentioned above. If you have this type of lighting you can see well enough to move around without interrupting what is taking place on your television screen. Additionally, low lighting in the room makes the actual television become the focal point of the room whenever it is on and the overhead lights are down.

If you are creating a home theater themed room you might find some of the interesting film era wall sconces of great interest. These sconces prefer low levels of light that are unlikely to interfere greatly with what is happening on your television screen. You can find all kinds of wonderful sconces in a wide variety of themes. It makes sense that with home theater lighting playing such a pivotal role in the overall enjoyment of the home theater experience that many businesses are being created simply to fill this need within the lighting industry.

Some will argue that the television you choose for your home theater is wildly more important than the lighting in the room by far. I tend to disagree. If you do not take care to insure that the lighting in the room isn’t appropriate it is unlikely that you will be able to fully enjoy the television you selected. For this reason I always think you should keep your current television for a while, test it out with the lighting and invest in proper lighting before making an investment in a bigger or better television to add to your home theater system.

All things when it comes to a home theater are relative to personal preference as are all things in life. Take the time to seriously consider the affect that the lighting in the room that will become your home theater will affect your ability to see the movies or television shows that you enjoy so much. Once you have the perfect situation when it comes to lighting you will be amazed at how much more you actually enjoy your home theater.

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One more time I am having the problem of book cases. What should I do? Should I go ahead and buy or should I build or should I leave all the thousands of books I have in boxes? You know why I am worried? I am moving once again. This is what happens each time I move. I am always in need of a new place of abode that would provide some sanity and where I can stay permanently. I have to move each time either because of a crazy landlord or a roommate who is drunk, passive, aggressive, crazy or even a thief. I really hate going through the stressful packing process. My books now stay in boxes during this period where I am not sure if the home is permanent or at least long lasting. I only put those I need on bookcases that are even makeshift bricks and boards. Some cases they are milk crates or cardboard boxes.

Finally, you can join me as I breathe a sigh of relief. Now, I am about to buy my own house. After living away from Mommy and Daddy for twenty-nine years and after moving from one house to the other thirty-something times, I am going to be getting my own house. I am now happy for my poor books as now they can get a breather too. Thankfully they have escaped the mold, bookworms, etc. What I will do now is to put them respectfully in book cases. Should I put them on built-ins? How about on prefabricated book cases? I have lots of choices, but I am also faced with the next dilemma of – which book cases style will go with it. There are endless options, really, especially when one considers the interior decorating styles such as the modern, French, Mediterranean, etc. There’s also the baroque and Goth and traditional and mission and eclectic, etc.

I seem to prefer the sturdy and understated of the Mission Style book cases. You know why? These bookcases came into existence way before the first bookcases were ever made. Today they take their influence from their purpose and their history. For Mission Style furniture, this is utilitarian at best.

It was only after the 17th century that book cases became purposefully crafted. This was when the English readers discovered the need for keeping and collecting books. That led to the use of bookcases in colleges and libraries, and homes of scholars and book lovers, according to the compilers of the Antique Collector’s Dictionary. The reading and researching world have since picked up and passed on the book case building culture. For example, Georgian breakfront (a.k.a. wing) book cases were built). These were followed by “upper stage glazed” bookcases. Then there were the Regency period dwarf bookcases.

The 19th century ended with the Mission Style bookcases, as part of the practical Mission Style sets of furniture. They can now be found in most homes, all thanks to the connection and influence of the Arts and Crafts movement that is spreading. This movement was of course, engineered in the 1920s by creative beings such as William Morris, Gustav Stickley and Frank Lloyd Wright. Today, the book cases that are the best choices are those that have simple lines and are constructed solidly.

A variety of websites will publish selected pages for beds, if a consumer should require a futon bunk bed or a wood and iron sleigh bed simply locate the most appropriate bed section.

With the right method bed knowledge may easily be accessed extremely rapidly, if you take your time when implementing your bed research and you will not go far wrong, if you require specialized advice on merchandise like metal futon bunk beds then see if you can find a number of specialist bed reviews.

For consumers searching for items such as king size beds or futon bunk beds, you would be wise speaking to a mixture of home furnishing specialists in advance of your search, you could be searching for a special item like a youth loft bed or even wood working plan loft bed yet because of a lack of advice choose the wrong product.

It is a fact that your town library can be an ideal place to get hold of info on bed products, advances like the web can cause us to neglect the many other home improvement resources that are presently freely accessible to all of us, take advantage of such sources of free bed data, good bed product knowledge can very often be hard to locate.

If you will be buying something like a king size water bed mattress it will not always mean purchasing from a bed or bedding associated website, say you are residing in Puerto Rico for instance, a bed internet directory ought to be able to provide you with the relevant contact information of regional bed suppliers who might just be able to assist you to find the bed you need.

A sizeable number of bed focused searches might certainly have led you to a bed or home improvement targeted portal, searches like “deals on heavy duty bed frames” or “low cost adjustable twin beds”, the main trick with any bedding site is to go directly to the site category map, if you do this you will not be side tracked because of bed reviews which are not connected to the bed you require.

This bed search tip is especially valuable, instead of simply using a research term like “beds “, you should make use of a more specific search engine phrase such as”bed and bedding suppliers” or “antique bed dealers”, in doing this your results are going to be highly targeted to your particular bed needs

Because of the web, access to a whole bunch of bed details can give you guidance on any number of great many items, say you want a particular product, lets say a twin metal bunk bed, you may be wiser looking in a interior design or bed portal, these sites will contain specific categories so locating a king size iron bed, metal frame bunk bed or possibly a full full bunk bed should not be a problem.

A typical U.S. family spends more than $1,600 a year on home utility bills, yet making some simple changes around the home can save money and make heating and cooling systems more efficient, according to World Energy Solutions, a publicly traded energy services company based in St. Petersburg, Fla.

By evaluating facilities and equipment, World Energy Solutions (symbol: WEGY) helps businesses lower their utility consumption and maintenance costs and extend the life of their equipment.

“Many of the energy-saving strategies we use for our commercial customers can also be applied to the home,” says Benjamin Croxton, chief executive officer of World Energy Solutions. “There are many common-sense, low-cost and no-cost ways to lower your home energy use as well as many new technologies that can be applied to your home’s energy-consuming systems.”

Here are some tips from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy on things homeowners can do to make their homes more energy efficient:

* Turn down the temperature of your water heater to the warm setting.

* Use energy-saving settings on refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers.

* Use compact fluorescent bulbs, which can save three-quarters of the electricity used by incandescents. First to be replaced should be any 60-watt to 100-watt bulbs that are used several hours a day.

* Have your heating and cooling systems serviced in the fall and spring. Duct sealing can also improve the energy efficiency and overall performance of your furnace or central air conditioner.

* Clean or replace furnace, air conditioner and heat-pump filters.

* Assess your heating and cooling systems to determine if you should replace or retrofit them to make them work more efficiently to provide the same comfort, or better, with less energy.

“If your home’s central air-conditioning system is over 10 years old, a new state-of-the-art system can save you 30 percent or more of your home’s air-conditioning expense,” says George Walker, air-conditioning expert with World Energy Solutions.