Another strategy is to focus on a human-centric design approach by choosing materials or components that may be interacted with and can contribute to the household’s physical and emotional experience as a whole. While selecting décor or furniture, it’s necessary to consider how the item will work with other chosen items, if it’s capable of enriching the intent of the space and how it will interact with the space’s natural elements, such as air, sound, light and temperature.
For additional design tips on engaging each of the five senses, please see the accompanying resource.
Graphic created by Nicole Franco.
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Starting with the exterior, some red flags homeowners may not notice until they become a problem are related to the gutter system. While practicing routine upkeep, look out for pooling water, peeling paint and sagging or damaged seams. These warnings may indicate repair is needed to help properly direct rainwater runoff, or that the house might benefit from having a gutter protection system installed. If faulty gutters aren’t addressed in time, it could lead to leakage and subsequent water damage or mold growth both inside the home and out.
Graphic created by Guided Solutions.
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Is your bathroom décor out of date? Do you want to make a change but lack the means to do so? Not to worry, you don’t need to try and tackle a hefty remodel to get a new, modernized look. Below are a few ideas to change up the design and give your restroom a budget-friendly refresh.
Updating a bathroom can not only make it feel more like your own but, according to a popular magazine, it may help upsell the home as well. Along with an updated kitchen, modern baths are highly desired in the housing market and often have an almost 100% ROI. If you’re renting, it’s still possible to give it a personalized touch with wall décor, linens and more to make the room more relaxing and refreshed.
For additional ideas on aesthetically restoring your restroom, please see the accompanying resource.
Graphic created by Modern Bathroom.
Santa Cruz Homes For Sale
Monterey Homes For Sale
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We are always looking for ways to make our home and family safer, and while we can certainly invest in security systems, there are some simple things we can do in our home everyday to make it a bit more security.
#1. Keep your valuables locked up.
The odds that your home will be burglarized are pretty low but how easy is it to find your valuables if you do get burglarized? Keeping jewelry and valuables in a convenient spot will also be convenient for criminals so consider a commercial container, home safe, or a hiding place it only you know about. Also, take pictures of all of your valuables for insurance purposes just in case.
#2. Get a professional alarm system.
Most high and luxury homes and condominiums in Miami have security systems but they're not for the Uber rich. Anyone can own a pretty inexpensive alarm system these days whether it's entering a simple security code on your entrance and exit to the home or a full-on video monitoring system with cameras inside and outside.
#3. Add outside lighting.
Don't make it convenient for burglars and criminals to access your home. Keep bushes trimmed away from first-floor windows to prevent any hiding spots and add lighting in darker areas around your home. Motion sensors are great for this and just a little bit of a deterrent will definitely keep burglars at bay.
#4. Make sure all of your locks actually work.
Check your locks at least once a year to make sure they work correctly on all doors and windows.
#5. Make sure you know who has keys to your home.
Anytime you buy a new house you should have the keys remade with a new lock. You never know who...
A shower is a great choice for a tiny home bathroom if your goals in the space are to save water and have more room for other things. How do you set up a tiny shower in a tiny home?
Here are some tips for setting up a shower in a tiny home
What You Need to Know About Tiny House Plumbing
Setting up a plumbing system for a tiny home is much easier than a standard-sized home, but there are still some things to make sure you know before going about it. The part that will require the most effort is the planning and organization of all the needed components.
Plumbing for Homes
Hooked Up to Local Water/Sewer SysteIf you plan to have your tiny home on the grid, which means hooked up to the local water system in your area, your plumbing will be very similar to that of a standard home. There are two ways to get water inside of a tiny home that is connected to the main sewer line.
Hook it Straight into the Main Grid
The most thought-about option would be to create a system that is hooked into the city’s main water supply. For this option, you will want your tiny house to be built on a permanent foundation. This allows all of the plumbing to be placed in a permanent and safe location under the home.
Plug the Home into a Water Source RV Style
Your tiny house can still be mobile and access main water hookups in the same way that RV’s do at an RV park. For this plan, you will need to have an external spicket or tap which can connect to an outdoor tap using a special RV water hose. When you plug your hose into an exterior water source you can easily draw water from this source for your entire home.
Plumbing...
Some of us would consider the probability of not having homeowner's insurance, like paying for health and utilities. Such expenses are annoying, but we cannot avoid them. Despite this, have you ever wondered if you are paying too much for insurance? The problem with bills such as insurance is that we do not always think about saving after accepting them.
Homeowner's insurance policies vary due to a number of variables. Some of these variable influences how cheap or expensive an insurance policy is and identifying what to look for is essential. Luckily, it is not difficult to save on incentives by taking time to assess your current properties and the company's offerings. However, you should not sacrifice crucial coverage that could take a toll on you later to save a few coins in a short term. Here are some of the excellent tips that may help you save on homeowners insurance.
Related: Can you lower your homeowner's insurance?
Security
Consult your company on what you will do to cover your home from natural calamities and other risks. For example, you can save on your premiums by putting buying more robust materials, reinforcing the roof, or placing storm gutters. If you live in an old home, update your electric, plumbing, and heating systems to reduce fire and water accidents. In addition, you can get discounts for at least five percent if you install a burglar or fire alarm.
Identify what the company can cover and what it cannot
You should note that standard insurance policies do...
Cooling Roof for a Cool Price
California sunshine is beautiful but in parts of the state the summer time temperatures can reach triple digits in the summer months. New building technologies however can turn your roof in to an inexpensive way to cool your home. Engineers from the University of Colorado in Boulder have developed what is referred to as a “scalable manufactured meta-material”. Simply put, it is an engineered material with superior properties even nature can’t make. This new material acts as a kind of air conditioning system, with the ability to cool even when the object, in this case your house, is under direct sunlight. The saving come from the fact that cooling your home this way takes zero energy and zero water consumption.
New Building Material Easy to Apply and Cost Effective
One of the truly unique things about this new roofing material is that it is a glass polymer hybrid material that is a mere 50 micrometers thick.
To put that in to perspective, it is only slightly thicker than the aluminum foil you use in your kitchen. Commercial builders will find this material cost effective and easy to apply. It can be manufactured and placed on to rolls. The cost savings, and ease of application will, if it has not done so already, trickle down to the home owner.
How does it work?
This eco-friendly material is applied to a surface, like the roof of a house or even a thermoelectric power plant, and keeps that structure cool by reflecting solar heat back in to space. It also allows the building surface to shed heat naturally. It requires no electricity like a home air conditioning unit,...
