Beyond Know How

Don’t you love those old movies that have these huge spiral staircase features in the foray of the home? I know I do. I really think that these are the most beautiful things to put in a large home. I may never end up with a home like this but I really do appreciate looking at them and dreaming about a life inside of one. I do understand that being wealthy may be not all it’s cracked up to be. I understand that you are not always happy whenever you have everything you want but I do like thinking about it. The funny thing is you don’t really have to be wealthy to have a spiral staircase. All you really need is to have a fairly large home or a need for outdoor spiral staircases on the side of your home. A spiral staircase can take up a fairly large amount of space and it is required by law that you have another a normal staircase in addition to a spiral one. So a big house would be useful.

Karastan is a very famous brand of are rugs. They produced their first rug in 1928 and this signal the first time that a machine rug could be of the same quality as a rug made by hand. Karastan rugs have a reputation for their extreme durability. Evidence for this is when they conducted an experiment at the 1933 World’s Fair. Over 5 million people walked over a Karastan rug in the main foyer and then the company cleaned one side and left the other dirty. People were amazed that the side that had been cleaned restored the rug to make it look just like new. This shows just how durable these rugs are and how easy they can be restored to look like new after extreme abuse.

Changing or cleaning your furnace air filters regularly is a good idea for many reasons. It will save you money on energy bills and keep your air clean. What many people don’t know however is that there is a serious danger to not changing your furnace filters. If your filters become very dirty it compromises the health of your family members. If your furance filter is so filthy and clogged that nothing can even get throught, the absolute worst case scanrio is that the furnace can catch fire or actually explode. While it is rare for such a thing to happen, it is best not to take any chances and clean your furnace air filter regularly. You’ll be protecting both your furnace, your family’s health and your pocket book.

One day my dream is to have a house that has the best closet organizers in every room. I look forward to the day where I can go to a built-in closet that has all of the pullout drawers and all of the special shelves for my shoes. I don’t even want a traditional closet. I want a room probably the bathroom that opens up to a space that will be a wall of built in closets. I hate feeling claustrophobic in my closet and it keeps me from being in there for very long and it makes it more difficult to keep things clean. I really think that doing this will also greatly increase the value of my home. I really like the idea of there being a place for everything to go into. I don’t even mind getting rid of some things so that this dream can become a reality.

An outdoor fireplace is simply a base made out of stone or brick with a hollow column built on top.  On one side of the hollow column there is a rectangle cut out, where fuel sources can be burnt.  Classically, wood is burned for warmth and to cook on.  While most have fireplaces indoor, outdoor fireplaces can be very enjoyable, especially if you really like to be outside.  Frequently the weather might be inherently nice outside, but just chilly, such as in the early spring or late fall.  An outdoor fireplace can provide direct warmth, and the heat that radiates from the bricks provide supplementary warmth.  They can be made in a multitude of materials, most common being brick or a variation of stone.  They can also be very elaborate, or very simple.  There are a lot of options, but however you were to go, you would certainly enjoy it.

photo credit: Lorenz Walthert

Adding blinds to every window of your house can be a more expensive job than you think. When you think about it, most houses have at least five or six windows; some have as many as ten or more windows.

If you figure that a decent blind will set you back $100, and multiply it by the number of windows in your house, you could easily be spending between $500 and $1,000 dollars just on window blinds for your house.

Which is why, if you have any sense, you’ll be shopping around for some great deals on cheap blinds or, as the trade much prefers to call them, discount blinds.

Cheap doesn’t mean low quality though, if you know where to look. Make sure to check out things like discontinued stock, or clearance sales to make sure that you don’t just get low quality blinds that are made in bulk.

photo credit: MattLake

Q. My house has lots of windows and the carpet is beginning to fade where the afternoon sun beams through. Is there anything we can do about this?

A. Firstly, you could try filtering the sunlight coming in the windows with window tinting, another option is to install sunscreen blinds, and depending on your situation, awnings can be most effective. Most homes may need a combination of all three to achieve the desired result.

Something that not many of us are aware of is that the winter sun is more damaging on our furnishings as it is much lower in the sky.

The ultimate solution would be to use a solution-dyed nylon carpet. The choice in these is amazing, many coming with 10 to 15-year wear/fade and stain warranties.

The reason a solution-dyed nylon carpet is so resilient is because the yam is dyed while in a liquid state. Solution-dyed nylon carpets are less likely to break down over a period in the sun as opposed to a wool carpet, which is a natural fibre. It is important not to confuse these new carpets with the old nylon of the ‘80s, which are still available.

Solar lights

photo credit: Rocker_44

take the energy of sunlight and convert it to electricity.  The electricity is then stored in a battery within the casement of the solar light and at night is used to generate light from the lamp.

During the day the light does not shine due to a light sensitive switch which keeps the solar light turned off if there is sufficient natural light already.  The solar lights will come on automatically and continue to shine until either there is sufficient light to trip the light switch once more or the battery is drained.

In practice it is usually the latter as the battery has sufficient energy to only keep the lamps shining for six to eight hours each night. This does not tend to be a problem however as this would be the early hours of the morning and thus a time when most folk were safely wrapped up in bed.

Adding a walk in shower to your home is a really good investment. Not only will this type of shower give you a tremendous amount of relaxation and pleasure but it will also add to the value of your house whenever it comes to selling it if that is what you are thinking about doing in the future. There are many decisions to make whenever you are installing a shower like this. What type of showerhead do you want? What style of tile are you thinking about? Do you want to incorporate a decorative tile as well? Are you thinking about adding built-in cabinets and a seat to sit on? What type of doors will you have? You may even decide that she would like to have the capability of turning your shower into a sauna, which is actually quite popular these days. These are all things that you’ll have to answer when considering the installation of walk in showers. There are many decisions to make but you will definitely enjoy the addition of a walk in shower.

There are many reasons why you need a patio umbrella for your home. The most obvious reason is that it helps shade your patio table and allows you to sit outside without getting hammered by the sun. Another reason is that it is a great decor piece for the outside area of your home. When people come over you want them to see a well decorated home inside and out and the back patio area is a major showpiece for many homeowners.

Now there are many styles of Patio umbrellas on the market depending on your style, color and fabric choice. Most all of them have a warranty on fabric against sun and rain. Your better brand names such as Sunbrella will have better warranty and durability but their price tag. The internet will have your best selection of discount priced outdoor patio umbrellas for your home.