Lo and behold! It’s winter! Home Improvement Ideas for Your Home

Are you feeling trapped indoors during the cold, long winter months? Flicking through old magazines, watching re-runs of old sitcoms on the TV and being a couch potato while munching on bag after bag of potato chips? Why not get constructive and do something to brighten up your living space (AND your mood) this cold season? These home improvement projects are easy and sure to cozy up your home in a jiffy.

Repaint your house

Do you find the existing paint in your house rather drab? Mix things up with a brand new paint job! Always think of the mood and feel you’d like to create in the room before deciding on a new color. You might want a bedroom to be soothing and relaxing or intimate and restful. The rule of thumb is to go with soft, cool colors for a soothing ambiance and stronger, brighter colors to add drama.

Re-carpet your home

There’s really so much you can do with carpeting- your choice of fabrics, colors, designs, patterns, shapes and sizes are endless; giving you ample room to go out all out with your home improvement plans. If you’re yearning for change, consider bold patterns and block colors to add life to the room. Conversely, if you already have bright and vibrant furniture, you could tone it down by adding a neutral or pastel shaded carpet. And for all the cold mornings when you want to avoid slipping out of your warm bed and onto the cold floor, you could add a rug or a carpet under a bed!

Decorate your mantel!

The cold season happens to coincide with the festive season of Christmas! This is a perfect opportunity to change things up a bit when it comes to decorating your mantel. Bring out old family albums and frame some of your favorites. You could use large, wrought-iron frames or simple and elegant wooden frames depending on your choice. Bring out the candles (and candle-stands to go with them!) and arrange them on your mantel. Large vases with season’s flowers (poinsettias! Mmm-hmm) could adorn the top of these surfaces. Come Christmas, you could string some lights and satin ribbons around them. Families with young kids could pin up their Christmas stockings too!

Get your windows replaced!

The cold season is a perfect time for window replacement. Think about cozying up in a window seat with a warm cup of coffee and your favorite book. Beautiful bay windows could make a fabulous addition to your home and think of all the warm sunlight you’re letting in! Opt for energy efficient windows and save on the energy and heating bills associated with the winter by keeping the heat in!

Add insulation to your home

In the winter you want to save energy and increase your comfort. After all, you DO spend most of your time indoors! So start with insulating the attic and upper basement walls. Seal up all the places from where cold air can flow into the warm space of your home.

The cold season is a perfect time for home improvement projects. Not only do you get to pretty up your home, but you also get to add to its value. Now that you know this, don’t wait to start on your home improvement project!

About the author: Althea Crowe has worked for 6 years as a real estate agent.  Her interest in interior decoration and home improvement led her to pick up practical tips on home repairs and renovations. From replacement windows and doors to siding, roofing, landscaping, re-modeling patio rooms and sun rooms, Althea shares her knowledge through articles that she hopes will provide her readers with the information they’re looking for.

Parking Practicalities at Gatwick Airport

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This article provides a helpful guide for all those wishing to use parking facilities at Gatwick Airport. Offering a concise and clear outline of what options are available this is just the thing for travellers in a hurry. For both long and short stay information read on.

When it comes to making the most of a holiday or taking the stress out of an important business trip it helps to have thought ahead about where best to park and what parking option suits your travel needs most.

Parking at Gatwick Airport is made simple and easy with a range of options open to travellers, including a regular booking service to help avoid problems on arrival. With each car park carrying a Park Mark award visitors can be assured of a high quality service and secure parking facilities.

Short stay

For short stay visits passengers can park close to the terminals, with multi-storey options providing sheltered parking with CCTV monitoring. For short stay parking at Gatwick airport that comes with added convenience and ease consider using the parking areas allocated at both North and South Terminals. These spaces are especially useful if you're picking up friends or relations. Car park 3 (orange) is the nearest to arrivals in the South Terminal and car park 6 is the nearest to arrivals in the North Terminal.

For those needing a quick place to drop off friends or family there are parking spaces near the terminal forecourt. However this is a drop area only and it is worth noting that no waiting is allowed. Visitors to these car parks benefit from better rates in the evening, with parking after 5pm and up to 2am in the South Terminal Short Stay Car Park costing just  12.50. Special rates are available for stays of less than three hours, although these parking rates require advance booking.

Long stay

For secure long stay options the Long Stay North car park is the perfect way to keep things simple and easy. This car park is located close to the North Terminal and provides high levels of security, including regular patrols, CCTV and security fencing.

It might be worth booking a space in advance, however it's possible to turn up on the day of your departure. Once you've parked, taken your keys and are ready to find your flight, all you need do is wait for the coach to take you to the terminal. Coaches run every ten minutes and take around five minutes to get to the terminal.

Alternatively, make the most of airport hotel and parking deals and stay the night before you travel to ensure you are fully rested and ready to enjoy your trip. With budget and luxury hotels available there's a deal to suit everyone.

Safe and secure

No one takes security more seriously than Gatwick and with well maintained, well-lit and well staffed car parks it's easy to feel happy and relaxed before you start your journey. For complete peace of mind make the most of the valet service offered on site.

Simply drop your car off at the valet area and walk straight in to and through, your check in. On return your car will be ready and waiting for you. Keys are kept safe and secure by fully insured staff.

With so much care and attention to detail Gatwick demonstrates it's listening to customers and delivering what they want. So before you travel take a little time to think about what you want and what suits you best and plan your trip with this in mind.

AUTHOR BIO

Anna Mathews is a regular contributor to holiday and travel blogs. Covering topics such as safe and secure travel and self catering breaks abroad Anna has a breadth of knowledge that includes travel to and parking at Gatwick airport. Not one to simply listen and learn, Anna writes from personal travel experience.

Tree and Wires

Trees and wires are common roadside views that we usually see from a moving vehicle. Seemed ordinary, but it can look wonderful in B&W, I guess :)

The Weekend in Black and White

 

How to Organise Your Shed

For many of us, the garden shed becomes something of a dumping ground for all manner of items, from tools and gardening equipment to bikes and old cans of paint. It's therefore pretty easy for it to become disorganised and messy.

So, what is the key to keeping your shed neat and tidy? The answer (probably not surprisingly) is installing the right kind of storage units.

There is a staggering array of options out there, so think carefully about what you keep in your shed before you start looking for the right way to store it. Here are a few suggestions of ways in which you can organise your outdoor storage space.

Consider size ...

The best place to start is by looking at the size of your shed and deciding what it's practical to store in it. If you plan to use it as a workshop as well as somewhere to keep your tools and gardening equipment, make sure you allow sufficient room for this and think about installing a workbench, if you haven't already.

You'll want to utilise as much of the space as possible, so think carefully about how to arrange your shelves and where you'll store larger items.

Be innovative ...

Shelves are the most obvious way to organise all your belongings, but there is a host of other storage options on the market. For example, racks are a great solution for keeping gardening tools like forks, rakes and spades in order. You can buy a wall-mounted rack if you've got the room, or pick up a stand that can be positioned in a corner and hold all these items when they're not in use.

Metal sheds, meanwhile, are ideally-suited to slat wall storage solutions. These are essentially grooved panels that are fitted to the inside of the shed that can then support shelves, racks, rails, hooks and other kinds of storage.

They're incredibly versatile, as you can move the various shelves and things around or swap them for different options as your needs change.

Buying small storage boxes for all those little fixtures and fittings like screws, nails and picture hooks is a great way to organise all your spare DIY parts and make them easy to find when you need them.

Consider additional storage ...

If you also use your shed as a place to keep things like logs for an open fire, it could be worth looking for an alternative space in which to put them, thereby freeing up a bit more room in your shed for tools and other odds and ends.

A garden log store is the perfect choice, as these are not overly large and can simply be positioned directly next to your shed to give them extra shelter. Typically, this type of product provides a covered area that will protect your wood from the elements and help keep them tidy too.

Bikes are another possession that is often kept in a shed, but as these tend to be quite bulky they can take up a lot of space. Buying a separate garden storage box that is large enough for bicycles is a great way to not only move these items out of your shed, but also to keep them secure.

This kind of storage product can be purchased with locks, giving you extra peace of mind that all your cycling gear will be safe when it's not in use.