Wheel of George

Asda has just introduced their “Wheel Of George” colour selector which helps you decide on decorating schemes and choosing complimentary accessories.

We chose some products from their bathroom range using green as a strong colour influence. We love using green in a bathroom and this extract is taken from the design experts on the Asda blog:

The colour of cleanliness and clarity, green is a popular choice… Not only is it gender-neutral but it also evokes the feeling of relaxation and serenity. If you’re planning on painting the whole room in one shade of green, be sure to test out a patch in situ beforehand. With too little natural light, green can be very dark, cold and, with paler hues, almost grey. If you fancy adding just pockets of bold emerald, pine or lime to a room, start with a warm white or beige base. From there, beautiful green blankets, cushions and artwork will add rich injections of colour.

We have the complimentary shades of warm white, cream, beige and stone in abundance. Our bathroom has buttermilk coloured painted walls on three sides and an exposed natural local stone on the fourth. We have a plain white bath suite and there are slate tiles for splash backs – with wooden doors, floor and window sill. So, a perfect backdrop for our new lime green towels!

We then went about choosing some other accessories in whites, creams and naturals. The hyacinth storage containers and painted wire baskets with rope handles will provide much needed extra storage for all those bottles and jars. There’s also a sandstone soap dispenser and – for a touch of pampering and luxury – fragrant candles and diffuser, soft towelling dressing gown and faux fur-lined slippers.

We love the vibrant green with its layers of natural, neutral shade behind. We also like to introduce small pops of bright orange and amethyst into the space – provided in this case by sweet pea flowers, bubble bath and tiger!

Items featured:

lime green bath towels | dressing gown | mule slippers | soap dispenser

water hyacinth baskets | wire baskets | scented candle | reed diffuser

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Valued possessions

Legal & General has published an interesting article on how and why people (under) value their possessions. It makes for interesting and informative reading. Is something of value because of its financial worth, sentimental importance or how useful it is? We’ve given it some thought and have come up with a list of some of our most valued possessions.

Antique brass door knocker

You’ll see one of our first most valued possessions before you even enter our house. This antique brass door knocker was given to Adelle by her dad when she bought her first flat back in the 1990s. It has travelled the country with us and adorned the front door of every house we’ve owned since then.

Pair of leather club chairs

We were on the lookout for a pair of vintage leather armchairs for years. It was a case of ‘right place, right time’ when we eventually found them. We just happened to visit our local antiques centre on the day they came in. We had a budget in mind and the asking price was about one quarter of the figure, so it was an easy decision. We absolutely love them – their style & shape, the colour, the comfort – everything. They’ll be with us for life!

Vintage West German pottery vases

We buy & sell vintage homewares for a living, so have to be strict with ourselves with regards to keeping hold of items. We do live with certain pieces for a while sometimes. Well, we can’t live in an empty house can we? We have small collections dotted about the place – some temporary, some a little more permanent. Mid twentieth century design is an important area for us in terms of collecting, retailing & blogging. We like these 1960s West German vases with their amazing shapes & colours. They went out of fashion for many years, but are quite sought after again these days.

Antique candle dowsers

It’s not all mid century modern in our house though. We like to mix eras and go for traditional antiques too – their history and previous life is fascinating. This small grouping of candle dowsers look back to a different age when candles would provide the only lighting in the house. It takes a long time to accumulate these rare & unusual objects so they’re very precious to us.

Small antique table

We love country furniture – especially cute pieces such as this little 18th century side table with its richly patinated fruitwood top. They have so much character and their small size makes them very flexible to accommodate in different rooms – and easy to move!

Vintage handbags

Although most of them aren’t worth that much in monetary terms, Adelle would be devastated if anything happened to her vintage handbag collection. You won’t find any of must-have, thousand pound ‘It’ bags here. Each handbag is valued because it was either a birthday or Christmas present, a visual reminder of a day’s shopping in a nice town… or the perfect match for a going-out outfit.

Fudge

Probably our most valued possession – if indeed he would consider himself a ‘possession’. We rescued this handsome young man when he was one year old – and he’s now ten. He hadn’t been socialised with other dogs much when we got him, he acted as if every meal would be his last, he didn’t know that fast moving cars might hurt him, he had separation anxiety, the list goes on. Generally a bit barmy, but we love him to bits!

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Energy efficient options for cooling your home

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Staying cool in your home does not have to mean watching your energy bills sky-rocket or cringing over your carbon footprint. Depending on the climate in your location, around 20-50% of your energy usage will go towards cooling your home, accounting for around 5-15% of your carbon footprint. If you’re looking for new and innovative ways to stay cool whilst cutting back on energy consumption, we’ve put together a list of ideas that you might find useful.

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Personal cooling alternatives

Keeping our bodies cool is usually the main reason for wanting to cool a home, however it’s important to realise that keeping your body cool does not necessarily mean that you need to cool the whole area around you.

Ceiling fans – Installing ceiling fans and ensuring that they are set to circulate in the right direction to keep the air cool in the area is an energy efficient option. It’s a well known fact that a good ceiling fan can help you feel up to five degrees cooler in warm weather.
Take cool showers – Rather than turning on the air conditioning, it’s a good alternative to take a cool shower in the evening or late afternoon in order to cool your body down when it needs it the most.
Peppermint essential oil– Peppermint essential oil can be very effective to cool the skin when sprayed directly, however it’s recommended that you avoid using it near the eyes.

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Indoor home cooling

Check for drafts – To help seal the cold air in, you can apply weather-stripping, silicone caulking or foam sealant to doors and windows relatively cheaply. Insulating any electric switches or outlets, attic doors or crawl spaces is also effective.
Solar attic fans – Installing a solar attic fan will help to cool the hot air in the space, making it easier to cool the home and resulting in your home energy bill being up to 10% cheaper per year.
Increase insulation – Increasing the insulation in your attic, keeping your walls well insulated and installing double-glazed windows will all help to save energy by trapping more cold air indoors.
Close curtains – Keeping curtains closed can help to deflect sunlight and keep the room cool.
Use alternative cooking methods – Using the oven or stove in the afternoon or evening should be avoided as this can greatly increase the level of heat in the home.

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Outdoor home cooling

Plant trees – Planting native, deciduous trees will provide a shade for your home from the hot summer sun. In the winter, they will also serve as a solar heating option for your home when they shed their leaves.
Solar screens – Using solar screens on the outside of windows can make a large difference, and are definitely worth investing in. They are also removable, meaning that you can take them down in winter.

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Energy efficient air conditioning use

Although every effort can be made to cool yourself and your home without switching on the air conditioning system, there’ll be times where eliminating using the air conditioning may be impossible. Knowing how to use your air conditioning wisely is important to be energy efficient and get the most out of your efforts to keep your home cool.

Exhaust other options – Before turning on the air conditioning it’s important to make sure that you’ve tried every other possible method to cool your home.
Consider a small evaporative cooler – These use water blown through wet pads in order to cool the air.
Maintain regularly – Annual, proper maintenance of your air conditioning unit is essential in order to be energy efficient.
Replace old models – If your air conditioning system is over ten years old, investing in a newer, more energy efficient model can result in halving your energy consumption.
Keep it clean – Ensuring that the area around the outside compressor unit is clean will increase air circulation and provide more efficient home cooling.
Check air ducts – Climb into your crawl spaces to check for any drafts coming from the air ducts, as insulating them will decrease the loss of cool air and increase energy efficiency.
Close doors – Closing the doors around your house will help to keep the cool air trapped inside each room, especially if you have a two-storey home or high or vaulted ceilings. However, you should also consider your thermostat placement in order to avoid inaccurate temperature gauging.

Have you got any great tips for home cooling that you’d like to share with us and other readers? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

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Moving house hints & tips from the professionals

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Thousands of people move house every year in the UK and most of them find the task to be mammoth and one that causes a great deal of worry, anxiety and stress. You can make the process of moving house a lot easier on yourself if you take some advice from people who know all about the ordeal and understand how to make it go as smoothly as possible.

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Use self-storage

Before moving house, it’s wise to decide which items you’re going to bring with you, which you want to dispose of and which you’d like to have put into storage. Make a note of this and call in the self-storage experts way before the removal van shows up. This way, you’ll have cleared the things that you don’t want to take with you to the new house. And so, by the time the movers come to collect your things, you can simply tell them to take everything. This way, the process is less confusing and time consuming.

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Change your address in advance

According to long distance movers in Dallas, you should change your address well in advance of the moving day to avoid missing any mail. Some of the important ones to tell include your bank, place of work, utility companies, insurance companies, council tax office, doctor and dentist. You may want to change it on your favourite online stores too such as Amazon and eBay so that any deliveries you order will show up at the right address. Don’t forget to do the same with any subscriptions to which you’re signed up. To be on the safe side, you can pay the Post Office to redirect your mail to prevent anything going astray. This is a good idea because you can’t rely on the new residents at your previous home to forward it on to you or to keep hold of it for you to collect.

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Start packing early

According to the BBC, you should calculate how many boxes you need in advance so that you don’t run out halfway through packing. They also suggest that you ‘don’t completely fill large boxes, as they will be too heavy to move’ and that you should use sturdy packing boxes for heavy items in case the box falls through and damages your belongings. Packing early will ensure that you leave yourself plenty of time to get things sorted out before the move. The process of packing the contents of your entire house routinely takes far longer than anticipated. It’s a good idea to pack one room at a time and label each box so that the unpacking process will run a lot more smoothly.

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Pack a ‘moving day’ box

Pack a special box or boxes containing items you’ll probably need to access as soon as you get to your new place. Cleaning products, phone chargers, pet food – and don’t forget your kettle and tea & coffee making supplies!

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Before the move

Before you move into your new home, it’s advised that you do a good sweep over the property. Give it a good clean and then make sure to check utility meters, take readings and make sure the electricity, gas, water, smoke detectors and such are in proper working order. Prime Location advises movers to contact your solicitor if you arrive at your new home and find that items that were included in the sale (curtains, carpets etc.) are not present. They also suggest that new residents should consider getting any door and window locks changed on your new property because ‘you never know who the previous owners may have given spare keys to in the past.’

Hopefully we’ve helped lessen the anxiety of your upcoming house move. Best of luck in your new home!

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H is for Home Harbinger

Category: around the house

Wheel of George