Bagelen (Sweet Crispy Dried Bread)

 Have you ever tried this snack? My husband’s friend gave us a box of bagelen a few days ago. For me, it’s an un-boring snack. The box is almost empty now.

Mellow Yellow

How to Save Money on Electricity

Sick of paying super high electricity bills? Saving money on electricity is becoming increasingly difficult given rising energy costs. Here’s how you can save money on electricity around your home or office and reduce your carbon footprint.

Kitchens

Kitchen appliances often use a lot of electricity. One of the key ways to save electricity is to upgrade your appliances to those with better energy-star ratings. This includes refrigerators, ovens, microwaves and dishwashers.

When you’re cooking at home, also make sure you use the correct-sized pans with larger burners, rather than smaller burners with the heat turned up higher. Other things you can do include defrosting your freezer regularly and using the dishwasher only when necessary.

Living Areas & Bedrooms

Living areas and bedrooms will use most electricity via electrical appliances like televisions and lights.

Switch off or unplug your electrical appliances when they’re not in use, especially the television – never leave it running when you’re not in the room. Leaving your TV on standby means it’s also using electricity, which you will need to pay for, so consider turning it off at the powerpoint altogether.

It’s also a cost saver  to replace your incandescent light bulbs with LED or fluorescent bulbs, which will create the same amount of light but use much less energy. Also remember to turn off lights when you’re not in the room.

Air Conditioning & Heating

Air conditioners and heaters use substantial amounts of electricity, particularly when used non-stop. Consider dressing cooler in summer and warmer in winter when around the house to reduce the need for these appliances.  In summer you could replace your air conditioner with ceiling fans where possible. In winter, to preserve heat, you could consider insulating your home or installing double-glazed windows. Remember to keep the doors shut of any room not being heated or cooled and keep curtains and blinds closed too, since much heat can be lost through windows.

Bathrooms & Laundries

One of the best ways to reduce your electricity bills is to install a solar hot water system for use in your bathroom and laundry (and also in the kitchen). Solar hot water systems use only 75% of the energy from regular heating systems and also reduce your carbon footprint dramatically.

Lights and electric fans should also be turned off when you’re not in the laundry or the bathroom.  When it comes to laundry, only use your washing machine when you’ve got a full load. If it’s a warm day, dry your clothes outside instead of in the dryer.

Outdoors

You may not realise it, but you could also be using a lot of electricity outside of your home. If you’ve got a pool, your filter pump will contribute to your electricity costs, so run the filter only when necessary or even just once every few days. You can also limit the amount of debris in your pool by using a pool cover.

If you have a heated pool, consider getting rid of your heater and replacing it with solar heating instead. This uses renewable energy from the sun and also eliminates the need for an additional electricity cost.

An Old Lady

Captured at my husband's home town. At that time, the lady's son fixed our car. During the car service, we're waiting at her home. It seemed that she loves to sit for hours at the porch -seeing the traffic outside.

The Weekend in Black and White

Using Designer Furniture in Your Home

Designer furniture in your home is a great way to add something special to your overall design. It is a great way to complement modern design elements such as polished concrete flooring or funky, bright coloured walls.

Whether you just want to buy a feature furniture piece or decorate your entire home with a particular designers range of furniture you need to know before you buy what you want from your home.

Complementing Other Design Elements

There is a big difference between having something that looks great and having something that looks great and is a useful part of your home. Most modern designers understand that a piece of furniture will not be a standalone element in a home and so they are designed to fit in with other elements. For example, using smooth featured furniture like a polished concrete coffee table works great to match polished concrete flooring such as HTC superfloor.

When you are buying designer furniture be sure to think about the overall design that you want for the house. While you will find pieces that you love they may not match the general theme or colour scheme of your home. You might also run into the problem that your designer furniture stands out too much in your home, and it will make the rest of your home look dull.

Keeping Within Your Budget

It is important when looking at more expensive designer furniture to make sure you have your budget set out. It is no use decorating your lounge room and spending your entire budget on a coffee table! Make a list of the rooms you will be decorating as well as the money you can afford. Then you have to list the types of furniture pieces that you will need to buy or replace.

Don’t forget you might have a little bit of extra money from selling the furniture that you currently have in your home. You can either do this on Ebay or simple placed a classified ad somewhere. You might also want to look to these places for specific designer furniture that others might be getting rid of.

Alternatives to Designer Furniture

For those of you who are on a budget and just can’t afford to furnish their home with the big names they might want to consider some of the copies. While originals are the best, many big name designers are copied quite quickly due to popularity. Or, you can also use shops like IKEA that specialise in bringing lots of designers to the public at a more affordable price. Even if they are not the biggest name designers you will still get modern furniture that will look great in your home for a much more affordable price.

Whatever it is you need for your home the idea of ‘designer’ can mean many things. However, it is more important that a piece of furniture fits in with your general home design than who might have designed it or made it. Keep your head when looking for these high-end furniture pieces otherwise you could end up with a high priced designer mistake!