Monthly Archive: December 2021

A modern house with snow-covered front lawn and a leafless tree decorated with lights, representing front yard landscaping for winter

home improvement

December 21, 2021

Front Yard Landscaping for winter

Having an attractive curb appeal all year long can be a challenge, especially in areas with cold or snowy winters. Still, when the colors of autumn fade, your front yard landscape doesn’t have to...

home improvement / Interiors

December 8, 2021

Modern Entrance Hallway Ideas and Inspiration

Let’s check out some of the most exciting and modern entrance hallway ideas. It’s never easy decorating an entrance hall, particularly if it’s narrow or small. In today’s post I’ve pulled together some of...

home improvement

December 7, 2021

Best Way to Make a Stress-Free Move

When you need to move out, you need to pack a lot of stuff. Your belongings may include kitchen items, decorative items, furniture, electronics, and many other items. You need curtains, sheets, and tape...

December 1, 2021

Tenant Receives £4,800 from Landlord Due to Little-Known Law Change

A tenant whose landlord overcharged their tenancy deposit received the refund they deserve, thanks to the Tenant Fees Act that was implemented in 2019. According to the legislation, tenancy deposits should be at a...

I think you'll agree that we all love our homes and love to improve them as much as we can. While the percentage of people who regularly do DIY has fallen in recent years that doesn't mean we are not interested in how our homes look – we are just less keen on doing the hard work ourselves. But whether you are a DIY fan who can turn their hand to anything or someone who prefers to sit back and let the decorator or interior designer work their magic we hope you will find some inspiration here.

If you are keen on colour or prefer neutrals, love natural beauty and texture, or super perfect finishes; whether you are an upcycler on a budget (I think that's many of us really) or able to splash out on designer items and beautiful unique art we are all drawn together by our love of all things in the home (and the garden too).

And if you are moving house we love to talk about that too – the excitement of a new place – new colours and finishes to choose, maybe some new furniture. And just the excitement of a new outlook from the windows, new plants sprouting in the garden (if you are lucky) and a new area to explore are reason enough to go through all the stress of the house buying process, packing up our things, entrusting them to a removals company or even shipping them off to self storage, and then unpacking all over again at the other end. But it is definitely worth it if you are fortunate enough to have found a better house for your needs and wants. And our pro tip about self storage if you do choose to use it for long-distance moves or simply to help with the logistics of the move is to use one that has a collection and delivery service. Whatever method of moving all your household possessions you choose to use don't forget to compare removals and storage prices and services from several different companies.

So why not read some of our posts and better still get involved by commenting and sharing…

It seems that Brits are still obsessed with owning their own homes even though the level of home ownership is now at its lowest level since 1986. We Brits love updating and improving our homes and you can’t really do that in a rented property – the most you can do if your rent is add some cushions and new bed linen. It’s also one of the reasons why 97% of older people want to stay in their own home and have either homecare or live-in care rather than go into a care home. However, “Generation Rent” is growing as more and more people are being forced to rent privately because they cannot save the level of deposit required as a down payment on a home of their own.

The large deposits now required by banks and other lenders make it hard even for those on a good salary and with sound personal finances to buy a home. Since the desire to own our own homes is still strong many young people are turning to parents, according to financial experts at Solution Loans, who will often act as guarantors for guarantor loans to raise a deposit. Or they will lend the cash for a deposit in order to provide their offspring with the security of home ownership

When you're updating and improving your home remember to consider your own health and the health of our environment and planet. This is the expert advice from my pal Eric over at Eric Land Mentoring and he knows his stuff about all thing eco-friendly.
Factor in easy ways to recycle, for instance; have a large compost area in the garden and rig up a water butt for watering plants. Make living healthily and in an eco-friendly way esier for yourself. Maybe even grow some of your own fruit and vegetables if that rocks your boat (have to say that it's hard work but ça vaut la peine)
The vast majority of people want to create a home for life, if they can. That's why so many older people want to stay in their own home (see www.liveincarehub.co.uk)and not move into a care home. So think about the future when creating a happy, healthy home.