Home Management

Archive for April, 2011

Most concern must be given to the choosing of your bed we do spend more than a third of our lives there, even if we are asleep for much of that time. What we’re lying on affects our bodies, the quality of our rest and, ultimately, how we feel and think. A saggy old bed with eventually damage your spine. You should have a new bed every ten years, and then as good as you can afford. Mattresses are either foam old-fashioned stuffed or interior sprung. A good bed base will prolong the life of your mattress; some sort of base is a necessity because of the amount of moisture you lose during the night. Beds that fold away are both more comfortable and less expensive than they used to be avoiding ones that crease up the mattress.

The position of the bed is all important out of draughts, and so it’s easy to make. If you want to include seating in your bedroom but there’s little room, you could raise the bed on a plinth and have a step round it to use as a bench, covered with carpet or floor cushions. Or raise the bed right up, add a ladder and have your seating underneath. In either case you can build your own unit or, for seating buy widely spaced bunk beds and use the one down below as a sofa with loads of cushions. Although not strictly necessary, most of us like a chair in the bedroom even just a low stool to sit on in front of the mirror, or something to throw a shirt on. A light near the bed is a good idea, and adequate lighting for making-up your face.

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Are your bedrooms unused for much of the day? If so, perhaps you could consider transferring some hobbies or activities there and relieving some of the pressure on the living room. It is certainly a very good idea for children and teenagers. But even if you are going to keep it just for sleeping and dressing, you will need to consider a few things first: practical problems like whether there is a socket near the bed, if you have enough storage, how important it is to soundproof and whether you’re sometimes going to have to put up other people. If it isn’t only your room, you must consult the other occupant – his or her taste in decoration may not be the same as yours. The style of your own bedroom is intimately personal and you will relax best in surroundings that you feel are really you. But do a bit of homework first to find out the possibilities; then be wholehearted about what you think is right, whether it’s sensual, crisp, dramatic, and bright or subdued. The bedroom is the one place where you can probably take out an old fireplace with no regrets. If you bedroom is small, keep your furniture as low as possible. Also furniture on legs, rather coming right down to the floor, will add a feeling of spaciousness.

The Décor

There are two rules that it should look relaxing and be flattering to your skin. Strident pattern and harsh colors are probably best avoided. But even if you stick to something plan and muted, you don’t have to be terribly practical since, unless it’s a teenager’s room, it’s unlikely to take anything like the wear and tear of the rest of the house. Your carpet, for example, can be of an inexpensive quality or something long-haired and pale and, since you don’t have to worry about smoke, water and grease, you can choose less fiercely practical wall coverings or possibly even indulge in wall hangings. You should give a little extra attention to the ceiling as it’s one ceiling in your home you’re likely to lie and stare at. You could wallpaper or paint it to match or contrast with the walls, or have a decorative frieze where wall and ceiling meet. For the adventurous, there’s stenciling, freehand murals, stars to stick on, even a four poster bed. Sound insulation is often a major consideration in the bedroom a fitted carpet, cork-lined walls and double glazing are ideal.

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Your home is for living in a place in which you can feel as relaxed as possible, so it should be happy, comfortable, and attractive to the eye but not overpowering, while providing for your individual needs. It should create the atmosphere you want so that you are able to say “There’s no place like home”. Articles on home improvements can be very irritating when your budget is even more limited than the designers’ favorite shoestring budget. You don’t often read much about ordinary houses worked on by the people who live in them, such as people in rented flats and terraced houses.

You may not want or able to create, a gallery from your attic, but sometimes such ideas can start you thinking along lines you’d left unexplored. If you can bring a fresh eye to bear on your home, look at its problems and its good points in a clear, unbiased and even unconventional way; then you will find that new, exciting and not necessarily expensive ideas will emerge. Although you can achieve a great deal by redecorating, making some new curtains and so on, you might have to undo your work if your basis are wrong. That might mean rethinking and starting again from scratch to achieve the effect your want. Perhaps you should consider major change before you start to think of redecorating. You have four elements of combine: the character of your home plus the needs, priorities and personalities of the people who live there.

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There is a main gas tap neat the meter. In emergency turn this off to isolate all gas appliances. If you smell gas, turn of this tap and notify the suppliers. If you suspect a slight leak, dab any doubtful joint with soapy water. Any bubbles will indicate a leak. Besides general cleaning of a gas stove, examine the burners. If there are round holes, tapper a piece of wood to poke them clear. If there are slots, use a stiff brush to clean them.

When clean, all flames should burn blue with a clearly defined lighter blue cone inside. If there is any yellowing of the flame, heat is reduced and there is a greater tendency to produce soot. This can be removed by increasing the air to the burner. There may be an adjusting screw under the supply part of the burner. If not, ask the gas board to adjust the burner. If the burner can be lifted out, occasionally wash it through with hot water after clearing the holes. If a pilot jet fails, it is probably blocked. Use a fine wire picker to clear it, but not a pin or needle, which might damage the jet.

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Electricity comes into the home via a main switch and a meter, with sealed fuses, all provided by the supplier of electricity. The main switch is off when it is down and the electricity supply for the whole house is then cut off. Switching off here is the safety action in an emergency. The amount of electricity used is recorded by a meter in kilowatt-hours. The simplest type to read has a row of figures. Ignore fractions at the right and read the five figures from the left. An older type has six dials with hands and each reading. Ignore the one giving tenths. Read the others in turn from left to right. If a hand is between figures, read the lower. Put your reading together as a five figure number. A disc turning below the dials indicates that electricity is being used.

Fuses and Cutouts

All electrical equipment is protected from overloading and damage by fuses or cutouts. The whole system is protected by the suppliers fuse and they must be notified if that fails. Other fuses are in the circuits and are usually located near the main switch. More fuses may be in plugs. A fuse is a piece of wire that will get hot so that it melts and breaks the circuit if it becomes overloaded. Occasionally a fuse may blow for no apparent reason. Turn off the main switch if you examine fuses. A fuse may be replaced, but if the new fuse blows, the cause of the trouble must be discovered. If it is not obvious, get an electrician.

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Cracks or splits in wood can be glued, providing the glue can be spread fully on the meeting surfaces. The glue should be the strongest obtainable if the trouble is not to recur. Avoid general purpose glues. Buy one intended for boats and follow the directions, as these glues are strong as well as water proof. If good penetration of the glue into the split is doubtful, screw across head comes inconspicuously on an inner surface. Always drill a clearance hole for the neck of the screw, then a smaller hole for the threaded part. Use a countersink bit to let the screw head in level. If a glued joint has come apart, does not put new glue on top of the old as it will not bond. Scrape through the old glue to expose wood fibers. It helps to draw a fine saw sideways across the wood to roughen it before regluing.

Modern glues do not require tight cramping, but the surfaces have to be brought closely together. With framed furniture, such as a chair, rope tied across and twisted with a piece of wood to tighten it, can act as a cramp. If a joint has loosened, but cannot be opened enough to clean and reglue, a strengthening bracket can be screwed on, inside the framing where it cannot be seen. A triangle of wood could be sued at the corner of framing under a life out seat. Slope the screw holes towards the corner so they draw the bracket in. Metal repair plates can be bought, or an angle bracket, like a small shelf support, can be used in a corner instead of a wood bracket. For a flat repair there are straight and L-shaped plates, already drilled.

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If upholstery cloth has been torn, the easiest repair for a section that is not under strain is to sew a patch to the inside of the upholstery. Cut a piece of cloth that will overlap about 25mm all round. Pass it through the tear and position it with the end of table knife. Use the knife or a tapered piece of wood to push through latex adhesive. Spread it around and press the edges tightly, so that it penetrates woven fabric. If the material is plastic limitation leather, use an adhesive intended for PVC.

Fray the edges of a cloth patch before sticking it down, and round the corners of a limitation leather patch. If the plastic patch is thick, thin the edges by sanding underneath. If the tear or cut tends to pull open there will have to be some stitches as well as a patch. Use stout thread and zig-zag stitches if the pattern will not show them up too much. Do this over a patch if possible, but in some places it may be easier to stick the patch on to the outside of the upholstery, although it will then be more obvious. It may be possible to cut a piece for a patch from a turned in edge of the old fabric or the bottom of the back.

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