Chez Home Ideas

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Improving the outdoor area of your home not only increases the value of your property but gives you a whole new space to enjoy. During the warmer months it is lovely to be able to spend time outside, whether doing some gardening, relaxing in the shade or cooking up a feast on the barbecue under the verandas. The look of outdoor areas can be improved with structures like pergolas, but you can also make better use of the space but building a handy shed or putting in a vegetable garden.

Verandas

Putting a veranda around your home will not only improve the look of your house but can create a whole outdoor room. Create an entertainment area by installing a veranda large enough to shelter your outdoor furniture and a barbecue area. By putting a veranda all around your home you can help keep your home cool in summer. A veranda will keep the sun off the windows, and along with having adequate curtains or blinds, you can significantly reduce the temperature inside your home.

Vegetable garden

Having a vegetable garden of your own will not only give you great pleasure but will help save money off your weekly food shop. Children will enjoy helping in the garden, especially if you give then their own plot to care for. Growing their own vegetables will also teach them valuable lessons in how food is produced, and if you have trouble getting them to eat their vegetables you might find it a lot easier if they have grown them themselves.

Pool

Putting in a pool will make a big difference to your outdoor area, especially if you can afford to put in an in ground pool. Choose a pool that suits your style of home and think about how you can make it look even better by adding features like rocks, a waterfall or a spa. Depending on the size of your garden you might want to build a pool house. Remember that you will need to build a safety fence as it is required by law.

Paving

Putting paving down around your outdoor area can improve the look enormously. Some sort of flooring is required if you are going to make an entertainment area, as you can’t have people walking about in the dust. Having paving in areas where you get a lot of traffic is a good idea, otherwise the grass becomes worn away and you end up with bare patches of dirt. A pathway to the clothesline or to the shed is worth considering. A paved area underneath the clothesline will help keep this area clean, particularly in winter as you can end up standing around in mud.

Play area

Your kids will love you forever if you put in a special play area just for them. Rather than just buying a swing set be a little more creative. Dig out an area for a sandpit and keep it tidy by using sleepers as a border. Make a proper cover for it so that the sand stays clean when its not in use. Build or buy a cubby house, or create a tree house. Get your kids to help you, they will be sure to have plenty of ideas about what they would like.

You can paint yourself into a corner without planning your home DIY project. Do not brush off the details when it comes to painting. Here’s what you should know before you go.

Pick Your Paint

The paint in your home may contain 2-3 times the pollution outside your door. Going “green” is a color decision and a lifestyle choice. Acrylic paint is hardy, with little scent, and cleans easily. Natural clay paints are popular in homes with an allergy sufferer.

Natural milk paints are a powder that requires mixing with water. They are one hundred percent natural and extremely durable. Oil-based paints have their own set of properties and techniques. Just make sure you use a paint rated for your surface and use.

Experiment First

Slow down to save time. Perhaps buy just a sample pot of your paint, and dab some paint on the wall and let it dry. Test all your colors and wait one day to see what it looks like dry. It may not be exactly what you expected and it is much better to adjust now than repaint an entire room.

Supply and Demand

Make sure you have the extra rollers, sponges, tape, trays, brushes, edges, gloves, and masks on hand. There’s nothing worse on any home DIY job than realizing you have to make a trip back to the building supply store after the paint is mixed and sitting out.

Protect and Serve

Fumes are not fun. Ventilate the room, use room fans, and take frequent breaks. Wear a fresh mask for every session and definitely use goggles when you tackle the ceiling. No one ever starts a toast with “here’s paint in your eye”. Paint fumes can affect your head and your lungs.

Get Edgy

Every time paint winds up where it should not you will spend extra time cleaning. You may even damage wood trim. Do not scrimp on your edging tools or tape. Always use painters tape to avoid paint seeping through, to avoid accidents, and create a good looking finish.

Floor Damage

Cover the entire floor. A few feet of drop clothes will not protect your floor from a dropped can of paint that splatters across the room. A roller tray that drops from a ladder will find unprotected floor space every time. Tile is bad enough to clean up after a spill and the problem is even worse with hardwood or carpet coverings.

The warm weather invites you to enjoy the outdoors, for this, the terraces as an extension of the house, become the privileged site for this feature. The art of decorating terraces, we can make better use of space and comfort.

These external environments are conducive to having friends, having breakfast, organizing family meals and romantic evenings, day and night. The allure of power away from the noise and agitation is doubly enjoyable if we do outdoors.

When selecting furniture for the terrace, we will use an aesthetic and functional, they should not be cumbersome, because it is not wasting space. Also consider the weather to be exposed. It is convenient to have tables and folding chairs that can be easily assembled and disassembled to prevent damage and save space, like an umbrella to shelter from the sun.

Tips for decorating terraces:

To decorate terraces, we must consider the materials they are made of our furniture and give them proper maintenance. Plastic materials need only cleaning, which is done with soap and water. They are very light and tolerate the weather.

Iron furniture, need painting to prevent deterioration, and they are strong and resistant to sunlight. With water, soap and ammonia, along with a bristle brush, keep in good furniture.

Tropical wood furniture is very resilient. To keep them moist, rubbed with a cloth soaked in linseed oil, a couple of times a year. Bamboo and spine are not as good resistance to sunlight and water, so that should be left to the elements. Clean with a cloth soaked in soapy water.

The most suitable furniture for the terraces is sun loungers, hammocks, garden benches, tables, etc.

To achieve this alternative space for the daily stressful lives, decorate terraces is imperative to provide them with every comfort, to feel like in the countryside, but in our own house in the city.

The order is necessary on our terrace, or else we run the risk of becoming a repository of old stuff, so we lose quality and comfort.

No need to put everything on the terrace, it is better to simplify and provide it with the things we do need. Also appropriate to use folding furniture, so that in one space can perform multiple functions.

As we are in the middle of winter and it seems that this cold will last a little longer, it is best to talk warmth to our home. Being next to a roaring fire and being hypnotized by the flames of fire is something so inspiring, what better idea to put one in the lounge. The fireplace warms us and makes our house is cozy.

And best of all, there are fireplaces to suit all tastes and budgets. The work is to warm with wood, gas-powered models, open fire or to feel enclosed with safety glass … even portable and ecological.

To choose it is better to know some details about each:

- Ecological Fireplaces: Renewable energy

These are the last thing on the market, are the environmentally friendly fuels such as denatured ethanol, a sustainable energy resource. It is a renewable energy and clean combustion and produces no waste so you do not need a flue and no installation that can be hosted anywhere. This makes for a great versatility of designs that are highly decorative and where you place there.

- Fireplaces with wood:

This type of fireplace is the most traditional and attractive but you needed to do work for installation. Cleaning and maintenance must be ongoing to prevent clogging ash shooting and encourage the proper venting. It is advisable to have security doors or windows to prevent embers jump us or we burn something that is close to us, so we must avoid having carpets, sofas, and carpets … closely to prevent accidents.

It is advisable to ventilate the room to make sure that there are no fumes and forces us to take a corner at home or abroad (if possible) to put the wood and it takes a lot.

- Gas Fireplaces:

The gas is another option to heat and enjoy the fire. Some are metal; they only need a vent to the outside diameter of 10 cm which avoids major projects. You can place recessed or free. They are very comfortable to use and maintain.