3 Alternative Things to Sit On For Your Home
There’s a lot to be said for sitting down on a comfy sofa, putting your feet up and stretching out to enjoy a night in front of the TV. For most households, a three-piece suite from the local household furniture superstore is enough to serve your living room seating needs, but how about the rest of the house? And what happens when you need some overflow seating during visits from friends or when you throw a party? Here are 3 alternative things to sit on that are secure, extremely versatile and look pretty cool too.
Beanbags
Still consider beanbags as overblown floor cushions that are manufactured from cheap material and difficult to get out of? Obviously you have not been introduced to the Fatboy range.
Beanbags aren’t just additional seating options for the living room, they can be used as a sofa replacement in student digs, a chill-out chair for a teenager’s bedroom or even a spare bed if you want to put up your mate overnight. Have one or two of these cool seating options convenient for impromptu events or any time you’ve got more visitors than your permanent seating can cope with.
Hammocks
The simple mention of the word conjures up images of hazy summer days, swinging between two trees beneath the shade of branches while enjoying a long, cool drink. Yet isn’t a hammock just for the warmer months? In fact, it’s not. And before you ask, no you won’t need two trees to tie it to either – at least not with modern hammock technology because a steel-frame manages things.
A hammock can easily be placed in the house as out and should you be short of furniture in your conservatory it’s ideal. When you do need to take it easy in the great outdoors, or when you need something a bit more comfortable than the standard bistro chair and table set in your garden, then a hammock is a good substitute.
Gaming seat
Okay, this one may appear like it’s simply for the gamers and geeks but as a substitute seating choice it’s as adaptable as they come. Should you be of the Playstation or Xbox generation then you may be all too familiar with sitting forward on the sofa, straining to get nearer to the action. Instead of attempting to drag your sofa a couple of inches closer to the box, pull up a gaming seat.
Not only will a gaming chair take care of your comfort while challenging the latest level of Halo, it’s versatile enough to turn into a footstool or an occasional seat for social events if you require further places for friends to park their bums.
The Dual Fuel Aga
So you want an Aga cooker but you don’t want an oven that relies on heat storage. You want a gas stove and electric oven but you want the look of a traditional Aga. If this dilemma sounds familiar, or perhaps you’re just in the market for a new conventional oven, the dual fuel Aga cooker is the perfect solution.
Aga has recognised their iconic range cooker is no longer just the oven of choice for countryside living. There is also a demand among city dwellers and those living in smaller properties but sometimes space or energy supply will not permit a larger heat storing Aga.
The gas and electric Aga
When you want a cooker that complements both traditional and contemporary styles of kitchen, and you want the versatility and efficiency of a conventional oven, then the duel fuel Aga should be considered as a serious contender.
As the name ‘duel fuel cooker’ suggests, it is a combination of gas fired burners and an electric Aga oven. This type of oven, known generally as a ‘conventional oven’, is the most popular in the homes of Britain and across the world. Duel fuel has become the common choice due to the versatility that multifunction electric cooking can offer, along with the controllability and quick reaction of gas fired burners. Recent research suggests that people with duel fuel cookers also see a decrease in their energy bills.
If you’re familiar with the look of the heat storage Aga range cookers then you’ll know the housing is cast iron, the surfaces are protected by enamel and the oven doors are side opening with slam-catches. The conventional Aga oven offers that same classic build and with a variety of options to suit your needs.
AGA Cookers – Q&A
Until you’ve owned an Aga it can be difficult to fully understand all the benefits these range cookers can offer the home. However, what any Aga owner will tell you is that without a doubt once you’ve got one, you won’t want to use any other cooker again.
Potential Aga owners will have any number of questions they want answered before splashing out on one of these iconic range cookers and the best way to get those answers is to visit an Aga showroom where you’ll find experts on-hand to give you all the details. In the meantime, here are just some of the most common questions and answers to help you decide.
Caring For Your Knitted Garments
Whether you knit garments yourself or you have received a gift of a hand knitted item you need to know how to care for it properly so the natural fibres stay in the best shape possible. Hand knitted garments take time to make and show the talent of who made it. You do not want that talent to go to waste by reducing the life of the clothes. Caring for items created with wool knitting yarn takes some special care that is not necessarily difficult, but needs to be adhered to in order to preserve the garment.
Type of fabric
The type of care that is required will depend greatly on the type of yarn. If you have an alpaca fibre you will need to care for it differently than cotton. Hand dyed yarns will need additional care in comparison to natural fibres. If you are the one who made the outfit, check the label on the skein of yarn for any special instructions. If you received it as a gift and it is possible, ask the person who made it what it is made of and how it should be cared for. If you are unsure, handle it as if it were regular knitting wools. Regular wool should be hand washed using cold water and lain flat to dry, making sure you shape it before it dries. Washable wool can be washed in the laundry as can cotton, linen and ramie, using the gentle cycle. Synthetic fibres can be laundered with the rest of your clothing.
Ethical Cooking Gifts & Tips
You might say that ‘ethical cooking’ is a strange term but when you think about it you’re probably already following a set of ethics every time you cook a meal. There was a time when free-range eggs were the exception rather than the rule, now of course it is frowned upon to be buying eggs laid by battery hens. If you take a look through your cupboards and you’re likely to find fairtrade or organic products. However there is more you can do. If you, or someone you know, is a keen amateur chef then there are plenty more ways to make cooking even more ethical including buying ethical gifts for the budding Gordon Ramsay in your life.
Ethical cooking and dining
Whether you’re cooking the family meal or you’re having a dinner party for friends, there are a few easy steps you can take to ensure a successful and ethical dinner:
Double Glazing Cost Comparison
We’ve all heard the hullabaloo about global warming and climate change. And whether you believe it or not, the fact still remains that you can save on your utility bills and help do your bit against pollution by undertaking some simple changes in and around your home. This can include installing Double glazed windows – where two sheets of glass are separated by a thin vacuum (or gas-filled space) to reduce the amount of cool or warm air entering or leaving your house. Double glazing can mean in winter your heater is not wasting its time by warming the air only to have it escape through the glass in your windows. Or, cool air filtering into your house won’t need to be heated, thus decreasing your bills. The reverse applies in summer. The cool air is kept in, and the warm outside air is kept out. When you think about it, it makes sense. Even if you don’t care much for saving the planet, you will more than likely care for the money leaking from your pocket – and double glazing can help stem that flow.
Joanna Perry Hand Painted Murals
I create original hand painted wall murals to enhance any room. I’m based in Cheshire and cover the whole of the county and the North Staffordshire area. My contemporary and children’s murals at www.kidswallmurals.co.uk are an exciting and original alternative to wallpaper as well as a cost effective solution to re-decorating a room.
Whether it’s to theme a nursery, update a child’s room or enhance a living space, you can have any style or design, tailored to suit your specific taste and budget.
The Design
As an experienced muralist, all of my murals are drawn free hand with no stencilling or projections involved. This allows me to transfer your ideas directly onto the wall with no scale or design restriction. I can work to all scales and budgets, producing either simple colourful wall murals to enhance a style of room – or completely theme a room in intricate detail. No project is too large or too small, and every project is treated with the same personal care and attention. When producing an interior scheme I can either translate your specific ideas directly or if you would prefer I can produce imaginative design creations for you. You may already have a room decorated and decide you want to take details from a border, curtains or duvet cover and create a mural to finish the room off.
Healing Problem Houses
We’ve all heard someone say ‘that’s a sad house’. Either more than one person living in the house has passed on, or people become sick. Perhaps the house has seen more than its fair share of divorces or arguments. It may be known locally as a ‘haunted house‘. The atmosphere surrounding the house is negative, and no-one seems to know why. Maybe you own such a house and want to sell. Or maybe you’re tired of being sick all the time. The good news is: there is a cure, and it will work.
Look After Your Leather
Leather has traditionally been used to give the feeling of luxury to automobiles and furnishings. Hand-built cars and furnishings were trimmed in leather and exotic woods. This tradition continues today on the production line, but as production techniques have changed, so has the leather, it is now much thinner and needs more careful care. In addition, leather is now tanned with recyclable materials which reduces process times and waste by-products, but also results in the attractive "smell" traditionally associated with quality leather being lost.
The need to care for such leather finishes has lead to the creation of specialist leather care products such as Liquid Leather which clean, soften, protect and restore all leather articles from jackets, handbags and saddles to car and domestic seating. The Liquid Leather products are available with Scotchguard ™ for water and dirt repellence and the latest formulation even adds the traditional "smell" to new and old leather products. A full spectrum of leather colours can be treated with Liquid Leather and the range also includes specialist leather furniture care products such as Scuff Master leather dyes which are able to cover unsightly "scuffing" or rubbing that can often result in areas of heavy or continual usage.
Hooks Are No Longer Boring
Three things you need to know about me.
- I am clumsy.
- I live in a teeny tiny apartment.
- I love hats.
The second of these means I need storage that allows me to tuck things away where no-one can see them, and that does not take up too much room. The first means that I tend to bump into things (or drop things). Door knobs are my favourite, and my upper arms are a tribute to the many door knobs in my humble abode. The last means I need places to hang my hats. But with the clumsy situation taken into account, anything too sticky-outey just results in more black and blue testimonials.