Emmanuel Fonte | Music | Art | Leadership
If music be the food of love, play on. Emmanuel Fonte website is about music, art, real estate, architecture, design and decor. Occasionally, I talk about my other passion, hockey.
When you’re buying a new house, there are so many things on your plate that it’s easy to forget about what will happen after moving day — but those first weeks and months are often just as hectic as the move itself! When the movers have left and you finally have the place to yourself, it’s time to start making your house feel like home. Here are 10 ways to make that happen, sooner rather than later.
A well-planned island layout can allow a smooth workflow and provide a comfortable space for preparing and cooking food. Islands also frequently provide space for dining, working and storage. But while a well-planned layout offers much enjoyment, a poorly planned island can be frustrating. This is particularly true if there is insufficient space for an island to begin with. If you’re considering a kitchen island, follow these tips to help you decide whether you have enough space to make an island work for you. And if you don’t, discover what else you can try.
Are you a pencil-lover or would you rather take your class notes with a keyboard? Classrooms and computers are more entwined than ever. Today’s infographic is all about the relationship between students and technology.
The bathroom vanity is a special part of the home, but one that can sometimes get overlooked. In a primary bathroom, it can be the central hub for many important parts of our self-care and the true workhorse for some of our daily routines. For this reason, bathroom vanities need carefully selected lighting that lives up to its full potential. There are many options to choose from, all of which work in different scenarios and can be used together to get the best of both worlds. Read on to find out how to pick the right bathroom vanity lighting.
From guest columnist Patrick Young http://ableusa.info/
A senior is treated in the emergency room for a fall every 11 seconds. What’s more worrisome, a senior dies from a fall every 19 minutes. While these statistics are scary, there are things you and your family can do to help prevent falls from happening. Ranging from lifestyle changes to home modifications, here are some of the main ways seniors can prevent falls.
Exercise
Regular exercise helps maintain muscle mass, balance, and flexibility, which, in turn, increases mobility and significantly decreases the risk of falling. There are plenty of exercises you can do at home to help your chances of falling, but fitness classes also come with the benefit of socialization and supervised training.
If you are a Medicare subscriber, you may be eligible for Silver Sneakers, a program that provides access to 13,000 fitness centers across the country. Many Medicare Advantage plans, including those by Humana, offer this perk. If your plan doesn’t cover this, you could consider switching to one that does during the next enrollment period.
Decluttering
Many seniors have a tendency to let their stuff accumulate as time goes by, which often results in a borderline hoarding situation. This is not only unpleasant, but it is also potentially deadly.
Clutter greatly increases the risk of tripping over something, so a big decluttering session is a matter of health as well as aesthetics. Even better, a more minimalist home is also a healthier environment for your lungs and your mental health.
Grab Bars
It may not seem like it, but the bathroom is the most dangerous room in the house, as water, soap, and smooth porcelain make for a huge slipping hazard. One of the easiest ways to counter this is to install grab bars next to the bathtub, shower, and toilet. A plastic non-slip mat on the bathtub or shower floor can also be a big help.
Non-Slip Flooring
This is an obvious one, but it’s still worth mentioning. Certain floors are more prone to cause a slip or trip than others, so it’s a good idea to take stock of the flooring in the house. The Spruce recommends softer materials that will somewhat cushion a fall if it does happen, and in particular warns against tile, which is hard, potentially slippery, and easy to trip over.
You should also watch out for rugs on hard floors, which can easily slip or bunch up. Use double-sided carpet tape to keep them in place. Also, any elevated transitions between rooms should be flattened to reduce the odds of tripping.
Lighting
Poor lighting is a huge fall hazard since it increases the risk of tripping over unobserved objects. Luckily, it is also one of the easiest to remedy. Simply make sure that all areas of the house have adequate lighting at all times of day, with particular focus on heavy-traffic areas like hallways. Note that adequate doesn’t necessarily mean bright — you want even, consistent, preferably indirect light, rather than anything with a strong glare.
Nutrition
The link between nutrition and falls may not be obvious, but it is very much there. A lack of appropriate nutrients can make falls more likely by reducing strength and balance, and they can also make a fall more dangerous by making bones more fragile. Furthermore, a lack of Vitamin D has been directly linked to increased fall risk, and a lack of vitamins that help eyesight can cause similar problems when faced with poor lighting.
Making sure seniors are consuming a balanced and nutritious diet, maintaining a healthy body weight, and taking any necessary vitamin supplements will further protect them from falls.
Prevention is easy and pain-free — treating a fall is not. The above steps have the potential to not only make a senior’s life safer and more comfortable but to outright save it. The best part is that many of them also come with additional mental and physical health benefits, further improving a senior’s quality of life.
Everyone loves redecorating, but when you follow the trends too closely, you run the risk of spending time, energy, and, more importantly, money, on looks you’re likely to get sick of in just a few months or a year. Creating a timeless, classic look is a great way to give your home an air of sophistication. It’s also great for adding a timeless quality to your home. If you’re looking to upgrade your decor into something stylish and functional that you can love for years to come, try some of these timeless tips to get the right look for your living space.
From guest columnist Simon Bennett
1. Use Neutral Tones
A truly timeless style is all about subtlety. Neutral paint jobs are always timeless, and avoid making the room look dated in a year or so. Taupe, off white, and grey are timeless classics that keep your room looking clean, bright, and fresh, no matter the style you’re going for! Using a nice, bright white or off-white also gives you a minimalist feel, and helps the room feel less cluttered and closed in. An off-white or taupe will stop the room looking too modern, while still giving you that timeless feel.
2. Mix Up Old and New Styles
A great way to create a timeless and classic look that is unique and still speaks to you and your personal style is to mix up the old and the new. Take a look around some antique shops for some great inspiration in classic design. Refurbishing old design pieces is another great option, like turning an old mirror into a picture frame, or an old door into a coffee table. Restaining and repainting is a lot cheaper than continually updating your furniture styles. And classics like leather furniture never go out of style, and come in a wide variety of modern designs
3. Keep Color In Your Accents
So you know to stick to neutral, natural tones for a timeless look that will never go out of style. But that doesn’t mean you can’t embrace fun colors and patterns that are completely on trend. The trick? It’s all about the accents. Don’t spend the money upholstering your couch in this year’s must-have color. Instead, get some throw pillows that are easy to swap out when you move on to next year’s trends. Don’t go with an accent wall in that ultra-bold print everyone is talking about. Instead, find a great set of floor-length curtains that give you the same effect. For a quick update on shelves and end tables? Swap out handles and fixtures. Show off your personality in the smaller ways throughout your home, and avoid blowing money on big-ticket items you won’t use past a season.
4. Spend On Your Big Items
Related to that, be sure to spend your decorating budget on lasting, timeless pieces. Think about how you use your space to decide which items are the star of the room. In an open-plan living space, you’ll want to spend your money on a great table set, something neutral and lasting, as well as a cozy couch set. We’ve already talked about the value of leather furniture. It’s easy to clean and repair, it’s functional, and has a timeless design look in styles and color to suit any budget and taste. A good shelving unit to function as a room divider and keep your home clutter free is an option, or you can go for a built-in, which will add resale value to your home, and keep everything in its place.
5. Choose Pieces You Really Love
Just because you’re going for a more timeless and classic appeal, doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Look for statement pieces that might not be exactly on-trend, but absolutely speak to your personal style. A big, bold area rug in a pattern or color you know will get plenty of play in your home can really pull a room together. Mirrors help make the room look bigger and brighter, by bouncing light around. The right statement frame can add a classic design touch, and so can the right lighting. Check out your local flea market or antique shops for a chandelier that suits your taste, while still providing a classic design element.
Hitting the right balance in your home décor is no easy task. You want something unique, that speaks to you and your family. You want to stay on trend with color and detail. But who can afford to update their home décor every season? Even once a year might be pushing it for some budgets. Sticking with the classics is a great way to keep your home looking tasteful and stylish. And it doesn’t have to mean keeping things bland and boring. If you follow these tips, your home will have a beautiful, classic design that is as versatile as it is stylish!
From our friends at TechWyse.com: Guide to a successful YouYube Ad
From guest columnist Kaelin Waters kaelinwaters@gmail.com
When it comes to furnishing your home, it can be easy to over-spend or tempting to cut corners to save cash. American’s spend an average of $15,215 on furnishing a three-bedroom home. While it’s fine to try and reduce the cost of creating a comfortable home, there are certain household items you shouldn’t skimp on.
Sofas and Couches
Disposable furniture is bad for the environment and your budget in the long run. Great looking couches at low prices can be enticing, but they are rarely as comfortable as they look. Similarly, second-hand couches can have broken supports, stains and even bed bugs. Ensure you have a comfortable place to relax that won’t hurt your back after a long day at work and invest in a quality couch.
Mattresses
A quality mattress is key to creating the haven of relaxation and comfort that should be your bedroom. While the bedframe can wait, you’ll need a mattress right away and a good one if you care about your health and mental wellbeing.
Quality sleep is integral to your physical and mental health. A poor-quality, cheap mattress won’t give you the rest you need to make the most of your day and enjoy your time off at home. Choosing the right mattress should include consideration of more than just price. A quality mattress should support you while you sleep – relieving pressure on muscles and joints, promoting airflow to keep you cool while you slumber and allow you to move freely without disturbing your partner.
In the Kitchen
How we prepare our food is almost as important as what we choose to eat. Pitted, burnt or flaking non-stick applications to pots and pans are bad for your health. Aluminium, nickel coated and copper cook wear have been associated with a number of health risks resulting from the metal compounds dissolving into food when used for cooking. Worn, pitted and scratched posts and pans are the worst culprits and should be replaced with high quality pans – you’ll have fewer cooking disasters and safeguard your health.
Knives are also worth spending a little more on. Low quality knives are more prone to damage as they often lack the tang that attaches to the handle and have thinner blades that can break when trying to cut through harder foods like pumpkins. Quality knives remain sharper for longer and are far less dangerous when it comes to working it the kitchen.
Keeping Things Clean
The cost of household appliances can vary wildly, and while price sometimes makes minimal difference to quality, there are certain appliances that you’ll be pleased you spent a little more on.
Vacuum cleaners don’t only keep our carpets and floors clean, they also have the ability to affect air quality in our homes, trapping allergens and microbes and stopping them from being released into the air indoors. It’s worth spending a little more on a quality vacuum cleaner to be sure it can do this job properly.
Spending a little more on the dishwasher is likely to get you one that does its job reliably well and even gives you more space to stack dishes after a family meal. What’s more, the higher priced dishwashers are also quieter.
