How to Go Green in Your Home

Whether you want to go green in your home because it’s good for the environment or you want to save money, there are quite a few ways to achieve going green in your home without a lot of work. Here are some tips that you can utilize for greener living.

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Switch To Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

If your electricity bill is high, it might be because of your light bulbs. Incandescent bulbs generally expend a lot of energy and put out a bunch of heat as well. By switching to LED light bulbs, you’ll use between 25-80% less energy on lighting.

If you replace all of your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, you can save a lot of money over the course of a year. Also, your light bulbs will last about 10 times longer.

Turn Off Lights

A lot of wasted energy is caused from leaving on lights. Make it a habit to turn off lights when you leave a room. Instead of turning on a light, open up your blinds or curtains. You might find that natural light is enough and there is no need to turn on a light.

Unplug Appliances

Many of us leave our appliances and tools plugged in all of the time. You might be surprised to find just how much energy they can waste on 'standby' mode when they remain plugged in. This is especially true for kitchen appliances and other tools.

Use Appliances Efficiently

Another way to go green is by efficiently using your appliances. For example, only run your washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher when they are full. If you only have a few dishes, hand-wash them instead of tossing them into the dishwasher. Instead of drying the entire load of clothes, get a hanging rack and hang some of your clothes to dry. All of these things will reduce your energy use.

Opt For A Programmable Thermostat

In order to keep your house at a comfortable temperature, your air conditioner uses a lot of electricity. If you opt for a programmable thermostat, you can cut down on how much your air conditioner runs. This type of thermostat helps you regulate your home’s temperature according to settings that you create ahead of time.

Fix Leaks As Soon As Possible

If you look up at your ceiling and notice a brown spot, you probably have a leak. This often isn’t that big of a deal and it most likely comes from crawl space moisture. Look around your home to make sure that none of your faucets are leaking.

Grow Plants Indoors

No matter where you live, it’s possible to grow plants indoors. In fact, you can order plants that are meant to specifically be grown indoors. These plants can act as natural air filters, and some are also particularly effective at absorbing harmful pollutants emitted from carpets, furniture and electronic equipment.

You can also go one step further by growing some of your own food. If you don't have a lot of space or you live in an apartment, consider growing container plants. Tomatoes, carrots, peas and strawberries can also be grown indoors.

Recycle and Compost

By recycling and composting, you can reduce on waste tremendously. Place a recycle bin in your kitchen, garage, and other areas that seem appropriate. This will make it easier for you to remember to recycle. Make sure you educate yourself on which materials can be recycled. In general, you can recycle paper, cardboard, plastic, aluminum and glass.

In conclusion, there are a lot of ways that you can go green. By utilizing the above methods, you can make simple changes that will have a huge impact. Going green may take some time, but the impact will be beneficial in the long-run.

A Closer Look At Polished Concrete Floors

Choosing the right type of flooring for your home or business is extremely important. It will determine how long your flooring lasts as well as how much time, energy and effort you'll have to put into maintaining it. As a result, it is best that you look at the various types of flooring and consider your own needs as well preferred aesthetics. With that said, we will now take a closer look at polished concrete floors, the benefits of them as well as a few tips on how to properly maintain them.

Firstly, we will start with the benefits. These type of floors in particular are stain resistant. This is because the surface of the floor is densified and then sealed. So, even though the concrete itself is relatively porous, when it is polished, it becomes much denser so that it actually repels water, oil and various other liquids. This will ensure that no matter what falls on these floors, it won't actually damage it, which makes it a great option for high use areas.

Next, these floors are extremely slip resistant. You may think that because the concrete is polished and shiny, that means you can easily slip and fall. However, that is not the case and this is because the floor has been ground and flattened which results in the creation of more friction. These floors actually exceed OSHA's floor standards, so you can rest assured that you won't slip and fall.

Thirdly, these floors are also extremely cost effective and require a low level of maintenance. They are very easy to maintain since they don't need any stripping or waxing in order for them to maintain to their polished look. They are quite unlike other floors such as tile and linoleum which require a great deal of scrubbing to stay clean. Due to their low tendency to stain, they don't require as much manual labor to keep them clean. They even reduce your overall energy costs because of their reflectivity.

Now, we will take a quick look at how to actually maintain them. It is best that you dust and mop these concrete floors on a daily basis. This will help to remove any dirt or grime that may be on the surface. It is best to use a microfiber pad when cleaning since these pads are much more effective at trapping and removing dirt. Next, you should use a wet mop on the surface at least once per week. All you will need is a mop and any type of floor cleaner. If you have a commercial concrete floor, then it is best to use an automatic floor scrubber. The cleaning solution that is used should be neutral so that it doesn't react with the floor. It is essential that you avoid using any acidic cleaners since these will tend to damage and eat away the floor. Lastly, it is best to renew the shine of your polished floor at least once per year.

In summary, we have just looked at the benefits of polished concrete floors as well as how to maintain them. These are a great option for both the home and business as they offer a great look while being extremely easy to clean and maintain.

Design Inspiration and Tips for Building Your Dream Italian Kitchen

There are so many considerations to take into account when you are designing Italian kitchens. Not only does it need to look elegant, but also be ergonomically-designed. It also needs to suit your personality and unique preferences.

Are you looking for kitchen design ideas and inspiration? Want to see how some of the best examples of modern Italian kitchens look? Look no further! Here are some great kitchen design examples that will fire up your creativity right away, plus some expert tips to get you started in the right direction!

Ready? Let’s dig right in!

6 Excellent Examples of Italian Kitchen Design:

1.   This elegant looking kitchen has premium quality bar stools placed along the island area. Its dark colour scheme nicely contrasts with the white coloured walls. The lighting fixtures and other accessories add to its already elegant, urban look. The floor balances out the dark colour scheme by using a wooden texture.

2. This warm wooden kitchen can take your breath away. It has Mondrian-inspired cabinetry and pendant lights along with some vintage Scandinavian armchairs. Sounds like a recipe for elegance, doesn’t it? Of course, it does! Regardless of whether you are building a townhouse or a bungalow, kitchens like these are sure to add beauty to your home.

3. This simplistic yet elegant looking kitchen inspires many! It has Moroccan floor tiles that add warmth and contrast to the white coloured surroundings. The dark coloured chairs are also a great addition, along with the paintings and artwork. The window panes and lighting fixtures ensure the kitchen space stays bright and lively all day long.

4. The glamorous-looking kitchen is a dream haven (for the owners, of course). It has got a cool, modern, and urban vibe to it. It has utilitarian kitchen units made of plywood. Slim-profile worktops top everything off in contrasting black. Certainly, a great place to wind off after a long day of work, have a couple of drinks and maybe some snacks. What else would you want?

    5. Call it a kitchen or a kitchen extension, this monochrome, crisp, and modern kitchen space is definitely created by some very creative kitchen designers. They have placed white brick tiles behind the cooker to go with the white-painted bricks placed on the wall. White facets have been created by painting the surfaces adjacent to the black shade, creating a beautiful contrast.

6. Another beautiful kitchen in this list, this one has the perfect combination of features and textures to please the eyes. From the exposed brick wall to the marble kitchen island, this kitchen is a piece of art in itself. During the day, this kitchen space is flooded with bright sunlight, thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows that open towards the garden.

Bonus Tip: Work Only with Expert Kitchen Designers

Yes, most important of all, if you are planning to build a kitchen that’s flawless and lasts for generations to come, make sure you work with a reliable kitchen company that understands your needs and preferences. Such a company will provide you with all the required information and all the possible options when it comes to designing your dream kitchen. You can share your ideas and preferences with their kitchen designers, and leverage their expertise to build a beautiful kitchen space for your family.

Want more kitchen design inspiration?

Nothing is better than visiting a kitchen showroom when you want to design your dream kitchen. Want to know the best part? Having kitchen designers around who can understand your requirements and preferences is so much better than just surfing online all by yourself.

How about visiting our luxury kitchen showroom in North London? We are sure it will leave you nothing but impressed at the quality and variety of the materials we use for designing our clients’ kitchens. From bespoke joinery and kitchen islands to best-in-class kitchen accessories and lighting, our showroom will offer you a wealth of inspiration.

Regardless of whether you live in a townhouse, a cottage, a stately home or a small flat, there's something for everyone at Multiliving kitchen showroom in North London.

So, what are you waiting for? Contact us right now! We are looking forward to seeing you at our North London showroom!

7 of the Best Promotion Ideas for Retail Stores

Cutthroat competition between retailers isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact, it’s likely to become even more severe. Here are 7 great promotion ideas for your retail store.

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1. Put a Loyalty Program in Place

Customers in loyalty programs are 100% more likely to return. You’re encouraging repeat visits by creating a rewards program. One good example is a sticker or punch card loyalty program. This gives customers an incentive to keep coming back to your business.

You could opt for a mobile solution instead of traditional paper punch cards to make your operation more appealing to younger customers. There are a lot of online platforms who offer this service.

Keep the program as simple as possible no matter how specific your business is. Everyone is very busy these days and might not be able to decipher your complex meaning, catch your joke or read your unique sign. It’s best to keep it short, simple and concise in almost all retail and point-of-purchase environments. A POS system(by POSQuote.com) would prove pivotal to this end, also helping manage your loyalty program.

2. Target Review Websites

Today, lots of businesses gain traffic via review sites, especially Google and Yelp. Explicitly targeting this traffic with promotions specific to review sites helps drive traffic through the door. It also motivates the customer to have a good experience and, in turn, leave you an excellent review. Yelp makes this especially easy by allowing you to publish deals on your review page. Those show up on initial searches by people on Yelp.

3. Improve Your Online and Digital Marketing Professionally

Professionals can help you augment your online presence by means of digital solutions, website design, display ads, search engine marketing and optimization, digital listings management and other services. Other things you might want to look into include social campaign creation, social ad campaigns, and management and monitoring.

To this end, you could host a competition on Facebook, Instagram, or another social network and interact with your consumer base. This is a good way to maintain existing customers’ loyalty and gain new ones.

This approach has been applied in practice with great outcomes by many companies, including the fashion retailer QKiddo. The company makes accessories for children. They invited followers on Instagram to participate in a competition, which involved asking families to send pictures of their children. The company reposted them on its official page. Then, all competitors tried to invite people to come to the company’s page to like their pictures, whereby one vote was awarded per like.

At the end of the competition, the company counted the number of likes. The child with the most likes won and got a luxury handmade accessory. There were hundreds of visits during the four-day competition, and visitors also clicked the web link to check the website and bought accessories from the company.

Sell All Your Products Online

One way to increase sales and promote your products is to sell them both at your physical location and online. Some sites let you create a gorgeous ecommerce store so you can sell to customers irrespective of their location. E-stores have the added benefit of integrating with POS systems and the main payment processors. Your inventory is automatically updated when items are sold. Depending on the provider, your e-store could make it possible (and easy) to sell your products on Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and more, all through one central dashboard.

4. Employ Seasonal Merchandising

To promote services and products all year round, create special decorated seasonal and holiday displays and change them at least once per month. As you clean and dust, move your displays and products around. Make sure last-minute product displays are available at your checkout counter or reception desk and are changed every month.

5. Enter into Local Partnerships

Some of the best promotions happen when local retailers enter into partnerships in their neighborhood or city. This might be perceived as working with competitors, but it is recommended because it brings awareness to shopping in your area to locals. If you bring all local retailers together, no matter what they sell, to support local traditions and events – ex. a local choir or fall – it will pay off because there is strength in numbers in competing against major franchises.

6. Build Personal Relationships with Customers

Personal interaction with customers helps create relationships and encourage long-term customer loyalty. Your marketing can be a natural continuation of this, which means you don’t always have to be selling. Send out anniversary greetings, thank you and birthday emails, and other relationship-building communications.

7. Mind your Advertising

Sending the wrong message is one of the worst mistakes you can make in retail promotion. Having poor-selling items, a very low discount on a good-selling item, or out-of-season merchandise will produce little traffic. The whole point of advertising is to get customers to your store, not just buy the one discounted item.

Lack of signage is a common problem in this respect. A lot of great shops go unnoticed because of poor or no signage at all. Very often, you’ll have a great shop selling lots of wonderful things, and then a tiny little sign on cardboard indicating its existence, which is not noticeable if you’re driving past in a car and sometimes even if you’re walking past. You have signs that were blown over by wind, rolling around in the dust by the side of the road.

To have a successful promotion, you need very effective, noticeable signage that will attract attention. Stanley Tan, Digital Marketing Specialist at Selby’s, writes about one time he walked into a store because it had a sign saying “Closing Sale.” There were a lot of great designer brand products in there, wines and perfume beautifully presented in glass boxes. It emerged the shop had been there for decades, but never had a single sign, so nobody really noticed it until it was closing down and put a closing sale sign up.

Related source: Operating an eCommerce Business during this pandemic

Conclusion

Thank you for reading! Good luck with your promotion and tell us what you think in the comments section below!  

Is It Time to Change Your Mattress: The Tell-Tale Signs

Buying a new mattress can be a very stressful affair. Not only is it an expensive purchase that you will be stuck with for a long time, but also the amount of choice and variants is enough to get anyone’s head spinning.

However, an alternative is sleeping on a mattress which no longer suits you and needs replacing. How do you tell if your mattress needs to be changed?

We asked mattress professionals at Mattress Makers to tell us what you should pay attention to when determining whether your mattress needs to be updated. Here’s their take on the topic.

Your Mattress Is Old

Even if your mattress seems to be fine, if it’s over ten years old, chances are that you will need to replace it soon.

That’s why it is good to have some foresight and see what’s around. If you have an adjustable bed, you may damage a regular mattress, and you would be better off buying a specialized adjustable base friendly mattress which can bend with the bed.

Old mattresses lose a lot of the properties which made it good in the beginning, and you will progressively have poorer quality of sleep on it, even if you may not notice it at first.

You Don’t Sleep Well On It Anymore

If, however, you do notice that you don’t sleep as well on your mattress and you wake up less rested or even in pain, it is most likely that your mattress needs changing.

Sleep is incredibly important for all we do, and not getting enough of it, or getting poor quality sleep will certainly impede your life and your productivity.

It’s Squeaking

Apart from the way you feel when you sleep on your mattress, there are some visible and audible cues which you can use to determine that your mattress is at the end of its service time.

Spring coil mattresses used to be really popular, and still are for some people. However, the bad thing about these mattresses is that after a while, the metal coils inside can rust and lose their elasticity.

This brings about several problems, but the most obvious one would be the squeaking every time you make a move. This can really put a dent in your sleep time and quality, especially if you or a person you share your bed with move a lot during sleep.

There Are Springs Sticking Out

In the more extreme case of the ‘old spring col mattress’ scenario, some of the coils on your mattress can actually go through the protective soft cover and start sticking out of the mattress and poking you.

You don’t need a mattress expert to know that it is high time to change it if this happens to you.

It Has Sagged

A bit more subtle visible problem, and one which you will certainly feel as back and neck pain, is that your mattress has sagged somewhat. The loss of elasticity of your mattress caused by material fatigue will lead it to slowly deform where it is pressured the most – in the shape of your body in your favorite sleeping position.

At first, it might seem irrelevant, but as the deformation becomes bigger, you may start experiencing some discomfort, such as back pain and difficulties getting out of the indentation in your bed in the morning.

You Have Allergies

Mattresses can be an ideal home for dust mites which feed on dead skin and hair cells. These little critters are everywhere and aren’t harmful to us. However, they can trigger allergies or asthma attacks because they produce fine dust.

New mattresses tend to have some hypoallergenic properties, but as the mattress gets older, those properties get lost and your allergy or asthma problem may return.

Buying a mattress can be a costly purchase, which is why people tend to put it off. However, if you have noticed some of these signs, you might be better off preparing for getting a new mattress soon.