How to Put Up a Floating Shelf

Assemble your shelf with the help of these 6 steps!

Step 1: The most important criteria you need to have is the number of shelves you plan to have and that is restricted by the height up to which you would like to go. In case you plan to have storage baskets too beneath the shelves, the lowest shelf has to be at least 90 cm above the floor. Then, you have to calculate the space between any two consecutive shelves, which would ideally be 30 cm to accommodate most of the books.

Step 2: Make sure that the area you want to use for hanging shelves is free from all hidden pipes, ducts and cables. You will find it very handy to use an electronic detector for the purpose.

Step 3: Now, place your first bracket against the wall and keep it leveled with the help of a level. While keeping it pressed against the wall, mark the position of holes with a pencil.

Step 4: Making use of a drill machine, make holes at the pencil-marked points. When buying floating shelves check if you are offered five screws, which may not be included in the shelf. Be careful to choose suitable screws and fittings, depending on the material of the wall. Screw the brackets to the wall.

Step 5: Try sliding the shelf onto the bracket to see if it is leveled, using a spirit level ensures that. If you find the results satisfactory, slide the shelf back from the bracket to facilitate positioning of rest of the brackets.

Step 6: Having kept all the brackets in place, you should slide the shelves on and fix them in place by using the small screws provided with the shelf. The screws are passed thru the pre-drilled holes provided at the underside of each shelf.

With that simple a procedure, do you consider hiring the services of a professional for fixing shelves!
Floating shelves form a very easy and interesting DIY project for one of the Saturdays and offer you additional storage space in a style of your choice.

 

I’m Moving And Need A New Mattress

I had to move recently, since my apartment was way too close to the street. The noise was coming from the cars, especially buses, was just too much for me. I found a good place just two blocks from my old place, which was cool. I hate it when I have to find new grocery stores, new laundry rooms ect. And there is one big plus in my new apartment/condo. And I’m loving it.

My bedroom is now much larger than my old one, so I can place a bigger bed now. I’m looking for a mattress that could suit my king size bed and I had to read a lot about it because I don’t know anything about mattresses or bed at all. I wanted to use Sealy mattress because I know my friend has long, that’s basically my only guide so far. I know they are very well known brand and that their mattresses are quite expensive. The thing is, I don’t want to have a cheap mattress that I will have to throw out in six months or so. My friend, that now has a Sealy mattress, used to have Miralux mattress that he had to replace in less than a year.

I have searched for a mattress review sites to figure out what people are saying about Sealy mattresses and other brands of mattresses in general. The things I discovered surprised me. I’ve found mattresses that cost more than $4000. I find that quite unbelievable. What can possibly be in a bed that costs so much? And do they put gold bars inside? I don’t think so.

I’ve found there are way too many choices when it comes to a good mattress. You can grab a latex bed, foam mattress, futon mattress, innerspring mattress etc. and there are plenty of options that I can’t even understand. But one thing I figured out, the fatter the mattress – the more you pay.

I wonder why are there so many layers in these mattresses. I am quite comfortable with the regular size mattress but it won’t be too soft. All these other mumbo-jumbo stuff just raises the price and that’s it. I don’t see the reason to pay $2000 for Simmons mattress or to pay the same amount for Tempurpedic mattress. I’ve found a good Sealy mattress, King Koil mattress and the queen size Serta bed. I’m still trying to figure out which one would be perfect for my new apartment. When I read through several more mattress reviews sites, I will make my decision. Until that, the sofa is my best bet

 

Buying the Best Shelf Or Wall Mounted Rack

With the shrinking size of modern houses and their designs, we all look for additional means for storage of items. Ideally, we want to save floor space and look for some kind of an arrangement that can go along the walls. Shelves and wall-mounted racks offer very practical, convenient and affordable means of having additional storage space. These are available in a large variety of materials and designs to suit almost any requirements. Nevertheless, you should keep the following in mind while looking for such accessories for having additional storage space.

The type of materials you want to store therein, largely governs you selection of rack or shelf. Specially designed wall mounted racks are available for storage of some of the common household items like CDs. DVDs or other small electronic durables. You get them for storage of wine bottles too. You can have straight shelves or those designed to fit into the corners.

Shelves or racks can be made of many materials and you should consider a material that goes well with your interiors. You may have them in wood, glass, and metal. They are available in many designs, but again you need to see that they don’t look out of place with the rest of the décor. The option of having floating shelves would be worth exploring. The advantage of floating shelves is that their mounting fixture is not visible and they give the impression as if suspended in the air. Wall mounted racks are generally made from metallic wire, though you may get a few designs in wood or plastic.

While finalizing your choice, you need to make sure of its quality and load bearing capacity to ensure that it can accommodate your intended items. Pay particular attention to the mounting brackets and check how are these fixed to the shelf. They should be strong enough to bear the full weight of your items without getting bent or knocked off completely.

In the unlikely event of your not finding a shelf or rack that meets with your taste and requirements, you could always make one as per your design. There is a large variety of materials available needed for making the same. Just go out and buy the mounting brackets of your choice.

 

If You Have A Dryer Vent, Clean It NOW!

My neighbor had a fire in his home recently, and the way it happened was really unusual. That’s what I thought at first. He didn’t clean his dryer exhaust. Yup. It seems this is a common problem, but he just didn’t know about it, neither did I.

I did a bit of research on clothes dryers, and this is what I found. Let me explain.

For example, lets create one hypothetical situation. In case dryer does not have any vent at all, then the steamy air would be captured inside and he would create big pressure. And the final result would be an explosion and the drying machine would be on fire. Luckily, dryers have a venting system but if the exhaust isn’t providing enough airflow, exactly that would happen. The result would be a breakdown and the dryer would caught fire. This is what happened to him, you know.

There is even a statistic that will assure you how valuable good vent really is. In US, there are 16,000 drying machines being swallowed by fire due to improper ventilation system. The statistics then say that every year those fires cause $84 million in damage. Bad maintenance and lack of proper repairs are number one cause of these accidents. Dirty ventilation systems are primary cause of all household fires in US! Do you need a bigger reason for you to take care of drying machine vent.

I know what you think, one more little thing to worry about. But it is what it is guys. Good night now!

 

Window Curtains For the Bathroom

There are many options available for window curtains for the bathroom, but you need to take into consideration the size and location of your bathroom. The primary function of curtains here is to have utmost privacy, whatever be your style and taste. At the same time, you would like to have circulation of air and let in some breeze. Buying bathroom curtains is also important to block any kind of breeze. While choosing an appropriate style, you need to consider the color and overall theme of the bathroom.

Generally bathrooms are provided with small windows but the larger homes do have bigger windows. For the common sized-windows getting a color and style to suit your taste is no problem. You should take care of the direction of sun falling on the windows. In case the windows happen to face the sun, it is desirable to go for darker shades of material. On the other hand, windows that don’t get sufficient sun may be adorned with white or bright colored curtains.

Needless to remind you those bathrooms are humid and get steamy. Obviously, you should look for fabrics that are waterproof and mold proof, enabling them to dry faster. In case you already have a theme or a color scheme for the bathroom, you should look for something that jells with the existing arrangement and colors to add to the comfort and its looks. Fabric of the shower curtain should help you in choosing a similar fabric for the curtains to matches with it.

Having ensured your privacy and decided on the kind of fabric you need, you may go ahead with the designs available. If you already have a theme for your bathroom, try to seek an extension of the same, else now is perhaps the time to have one. Some house owners like to have one solid color all around the bathroom with tiles and marbles in the same color and black is quite a favorite solid color. Such a theme allows you to go for very fancy curtains.

 

Save Yourself By Using Sun Blocking Curtains

There are plenty of draperies whose main goal is to beautify window frame and provide atmosphere to your rooms, blackout curtains have one target – to keep the light out of your room. Cutting the light at the window brings a lot of advantages , but we will talk about that later.

Usually we are looking for drapes or for our home, and mostly they are transparent to a certain degree. Those drapes are also allowing light to enter, as well as making possible for people to see inside. In case we wish to completely say no to incoming light with drapes and create ultimate privacy in your room, the best way to do that is by purchasing blackout curtains. Most of the time they can hang on our window frames by themselves, but they are very easily attached to the already present curtain by hanging them on the existing curtain rings. Blackout curtains can be hung in different styles such as using velcro or just by sewing the lining to the drape we have installed.

Often purchasing blackout drapes in general is hard because these form the main point to the atmosphere of your home and there are various possibilities in styles. It is valuable to be sure of the quality of blackout drapes to create effective blocking out of light. Attaining blackout curtain linings is a solution that gives more efficient alternative to using shades as shades do not always block the sunlight.

They are not just a more efficient alternative than shades, we may also use blackout drapes and linings for several different benefits. They block outside light sources and reduces noise for more resting sleep, save our furniture from sun exposure, they improve computer visibility by reducing glare, and they also as well as insulate against heat and cold. You can as well see, there are plenty of reasons to get yourself a blackout curtain.

First and most valuable reason is the sleep. We all know that there is a vast number of people who suffer from sleep deprivation. Also, great number of people needs to sleep during day because they are busy during night time. Nap times are also popular among business women, seniors and kids. Blackout drapes are more then helpful when it comes to creating peaceful atmosphere.

Some other reasons we will find interesting is that we receive better use of our home theater systems. As you know, when light is shining onto our TV screens, it will diminish the clarity of the picture, whether it is a movie, a cartoon or news. This is especially the case with plasma TV owners. When you invest in a technology that is geared to provide best best view, you don’t wish incoming light to reduce the picture quality. To make sure, buy blackout drapes.

There are several details you need to be aware of when you are choosing your window curtains. It’s not anything like color and measurements. Heading to buy some blackout linings, take a look at the material first.

Always decide first do you want them as a main point or you want blackout drapes to blend in your room. Now, you are free to visit a special shop and make your purchase.

 

Should I Get a Queen Size Heated Mattress Pad?

One of the very common maladies associated with present day life style of most of the people is pain in the back. Well, it is realized that apart from many other reasons that may cause it, a very common cause for it is sleeping on an uncomfortable mattress that fails to provide your back the much-needed support while sleeping. Insufficient or disturbed sleep adds to the severity of pain.

On an average a human being spends seventeen years of its life in sleeping. Yet, most of us tend to overlook or continue to remain ignorant of the importance of having a proper mattress for a comfortable sleep, essentially needed for rejuvenating our body. If you are considering the use of a queen sized heated mattress topper, you would find this article worthwhile. Here’s how you can benefit from such a mattress.

1.Popular: the product has been tried and found useful by thousands of people. On conducting an online research of your own, you will come to know if the product will suit your requirements and is worth investing your money into it.

2.Size: Usually, the size of a queen-sized mattress is sixty inches long by eighty inches wide. Now, that’s a very comfortable size, as you will not be required to squeeze yourself into a small bed. The size provides sufficient room for a couple to sleep without disturbing each other while asleep.

3.Aches And Pains: The most important advantage of sleeping on a queen-sized heated mattress pad is that you are able to adjust the heat to a comfortable level. That goes to provide your muscles with the right amount of heat that goes to relieve you of the pain.