All In A Days Work

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Creating a more modern feel to your home interior needn’t cost the earth or involve structural changes. If your home is stuck in the 1970’s, maybe you will consider a renovation project that could be completed over just a few weeks. After all, you are trying to get a contemporary look; that doesn’t mean demolishing your home and starting again. Time passes by so quickly that often people don’t realize just how long it has been since any real changes were made in their homes. Yes, new paint will have been applied, or the house may have been rewired, but often that is as far as it goes. Many houses are stuck firmly in the era that they were built.

You will find here, suggestions that will help to give your home a more modern feeling without breaking the bank.

Floors
Modern homes these days do not make use of carpet as much as traditional dwellings. Laminate, or real wood flooring is the order of the day here. Its clean, sleek look is attractive and functional. If you have children or pets, you will find it easy to clean, so no more stains. This style of flooring is easy to fit, and the whole house could be covered in a few days.

Fireplace
If your fire surround is made of colored stone blocks, it is time to rip it out. A modern, wall mounted surround with a state-of-the-art focal point fire will look awesome in your new design.

Decor
Wallpaper seems to be a thing of the past in the most modern settings. Plain painted walls give a neutral background to a few select pieces of wall art that are arranged in blocks.

Bathroom
It is time to jazz up the bathroom. Anew modern suite is a must so the expense must be endured. Modern bathroom basins can be bought online for a fair price, as can the latest designs in taps and accessories to enhance them. In your sparkling new bathroom, wall and floor tiles are a must.

Kitchen
If the kitchen floor hasn’t been included in your lamination project, tiles will be perfect for it. The cabinets and drawers can all be modernised by fitting new doors and drawer fronts.  Kitchens these days are sleek and clean. Use modern shiny doors and new counter tops to hide all of the old cabinets. When changing worktops, use the old one as a template for the new.

Lighting
The greatest leap forward in lighting over the last fifty years is the invention of the LED bulb. LED lights cost very little to run thanks to low heat output of the bulbs. They are good for your pocket and good for the environment. They may be a little more expensive that other bulbs initially but easily pay for themselves over time. You will notice in any modern room that it makes use of recessed ceiling fittings. These can be dimmed and wired to separate circuits so different moods can be set using illumination. Use the smaller fittings in greater numbers for best effect.

If you are selling your home and moving to pastures new, a quick modernization may attract a higher sale price. But if you have done it for your own pleasure you can now relax in glorious, contemporary comfort. Go ahead, you earned it.

We are a nation of garden lovers. Thank heavens for the varied, and sometimes wacky designs that pop out of peoples imagination. The garden is a lifelong hobby for many people. They have worked, and watched their gardens mature, for decades, achieving a perfect balance with nature. Other people enjoy a contemporary, cutting edge garden design in marble and stainless steel among other modern materials.

This article is written for someone with. or thinking of starting, a young family and who has a plain back garden that can be sculpted to please and entertain their children for years to come.

Here are my top suggestions.

Winding Paths

Take a look at the image. Children will be drawn to those paths like moths to a flame. The paths are easy to create. Simply remove the turf from your lawn following your chosen design, place a weed resistant membrane down and then cover with gravel or stone chippings. I would, however recommend that the path be replaced with a hard surface such as crazy paving when you have more time as the gravel may keep finding its way onto the lawn, only to be hurled at your windows as the lawn is mowed. Crazy paving is a therapeutic and artistic pastime that can be worked on at your leisure with broken slabs from your local garden centre or builders merchants.

Sunken Maze

Armed with a spade and a chainsaw, you could give your children years of fun with their own sunken maze. This is how you create one using railway sleepers:

• Mark out the maze using string and pegs.

• Dig trenches for the maze down to a depth of a railway sleeper on its side, plus 3 inches.

• Line the bottom of the maze with weed resistant material and place a 3 inch layer of gravel down.

• Use railway sleepers to line each side of the maze walls. Cut with a chainsaw and fix them together with bolt-headed screws.

Make the maze as elaborate as you can as it is going to keep your children occupied for many years.

A few skips will be needed to remove the excavated soil if your maze is huge. You will find skip hire prices online or in local newspapers.

Underground Den

A deeper structure could be built into the garden using the same principles as for the maze. Excavate a large, deep hole. Line the walls with ever versatile railway sleepers and lay a few inches of gravel for the floor. Steps down to the hole can be created and the roof capped with sleepers too. As long as the sleepers are fixed firmly together for the walls, the structure is very strong indeed. There is one possible danger with and underground den; it could theoretically flood. Therefore it is advisable to build a door that can be locked as an essential safety measure. This is a great chance to make the entrance look like a cottage from a fantasy story. With imagination this den could look magical.

Build a Hill

A simple hill will keep your little ones happy for many years. Perhaps use the soil from the den and maze so there is no need to hire a skip. The hill is easy to create; simply pile soil up firming it as you go. Dont make the sides too steep, you will have to experiment with the soil you are using. Use either grass seed or, preferably, peg turf onto the mound to make it weatherproof and durable.

After completing these projects you will be able to sit back and watch your children do what they do best; play. You can’t put a price on that. Remember to photograph and film them for when you are old. It soon comes around you know.

picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/lindzgraham/4077327231/sizes/z/