Re-New White Effect by Perwoll Liquid Detergent

Personally, I never thought of using liquid detergents. It's just that ever since, I have become accustomed to buying and using powdered detergents. However, one thing made me realize that some habits are meant to be broken – and I'm sure glad I took the chance! Since I discovered the re-new white effects that Perwoll Brilliant White liquid detergent offers, I knew that this fascination with the brand is bound to last for years.

Home Decoration Ideas for Valentines Day

Valentines Day is fast approaching and more often than not, we ladies find ourselves picking our brains for ideas on how to decorate our homes for the occasion. We all tend to get a little crafty always sometimes , looking for inspirations from one blog to another written by crafty Moms who unselfishly share photos, tips and tutorials of their projects... and it can get really tedious.

There are various decoration ideas we can do that can help us make Valentines Day even more special. In fact, Pinterest is full of them! But it can be hard to sift through every one of them to find things to do that you didn't already try in the past. It's hard to stay inspired, too.

So to help you decide on which decorations to use and perhaps even learn something new, I've compiled 5 of my favorites. Read on below for some of the prettiest decor ideas that you can do yourself for Valentines Day! Be inspired!

Flowers: Make it perfect! A hint of bright red or pink blooms in a bouquet or centerpiece helps create the Valentine's Day mood when strategically placed. Fresh flowers are perfect - you can use roses, tulips, carnations, orchids, sakura - place them in a basket, base, glass, pot, cones, beaker or a test tube even. Or you can DIY artificial flowers made of paper or fabric. The possibilities are endless!
 

Banners or Buntings: Make it festive! Aside from paper, you can also use fabric (like burlap) for making a Valentines Day banner or bunting. Prettify with washi tapes in bright colors and beautiful patterns, felt or doilies and hang them in bakers twine with arrow clips - there you have it!

Sweet Treats for the Sweet Tooth: Make it delightful! Back in High School, I always look forward to February 14th because of all the cookies, candies and chocolates I get. Put them in a gorgeous plate, box or jar and place it in a table as a centerpiece.

Frames: Make it memorable! Frame your family photos and embellish with ribbons or flowers to make it romantic. You can also make framed art with different materials. Perhaps print your favorite love quotes and put it in a frame? You can choose to be simple or extravagant. It's all up to you! 

Lights: Make it romantic! Light the candles, dress up and play soft music - who wouldn't be in the mood for love?

Which Valentine decoration idea is most inspiring to you? Do you have any other favorites not on this list?

Washing Machines from Tesco

We are a small family of four composed of myself, my husband AP and our kids D and Little K. We are a work-at-home couple who are going through a lot of difficulties lately, but there is nothing as challenging as doing the laundry. We have no house helper or a regular washerwoman since two years ago; there are no laundry shops near the vicinity as well, so my husband and I perform the daunting task ourselves. I admit that the husband is more talented than me as far as washing clothes is concerned, though, so he does it more often.

We generate an average of 80 to 120 pounds of clothes that need to be washed every week, and sometimes more when bed sheets, linens and curtains are included. Our current schedule for washing them is on Saturdays and Tuesdays. We do have a 3-year old washing machine with dryer but I was thinking, what shall we do if it suddenly gets broken?

It’s not covered by the warranty anymore and it underwent too many repairs already. It’s old and battered, and I’m afraid that it will eventually give up on us sooner or later. The husband got the muscles to wrestle all our dirty clothes and make them clean, bright and smelling heavenly once again, but unfortunately he has other tasks and chores to do and doing the laundry by hand will eat up his entire day. And he would not let me do them! No, he would not. 

So for my peace of mind, I began looking for a replacement at online shops and appliance stores last night. As they say, prevention is better than cure and I'm a firm believer! A variety of washing machines from Tesco seem to suit the needs of our household, with a wide range of brands, capacity, speed and other features to choose from. I also found machines that are supposed to work quieter than our noisy one. But I have to take the price in consideration, too, as I do not wish to exceed my budget for household appliances for the current year.

Hopefully, we get this laundry issue sorted out soon so we can both manage our time effectively when at home with our kids. I’m getting used to not having a helper around because taking care of the kids by ourselves makes me feel good somehow. Their smiles and laughter invigorates me. Indeed, family is the real and ultimate inspiration of any WAHM. 

Have a great day!

Interior Lighting - Tips and Ideas

New homeowners often overlook the design aspects related to lighting, even though it does more in terms of setting the mood of a room than most of the other elements. It is, therefore, important to plan the lighting design for your home with the help of a professional when the construction is going on.

Purpose

Lighting has to be decided on the basis of the purpose for which the room is going to be used. Some of the aspects that you have to take into consideration are:

• Will there be a television, computer or other appliances
• Will you read a book, newspaper or magazine when you are inside the room
• Whether you will be relaxing in the room or doing tasks such as dressing, studying or cooking
• Who will be using the room for a major part of the time

If the main residents of the home are likely to be elderly people, then the lighting should be sufficient for their aging eyes.

Mood

Both natural light coming into a room and artificial lights provided can have an impact on the mood of a room and its function. You may have to control the lighting to some extent through various means. For example, the carpets and furniture may lose luster if bright afternoon light falls into a room. Babies may find it difficult to sleep in a room that is too bright. You may have to control the natural light if you want watch a projection or flat screen TV.

Types

There are several types of lighting fixtures that can be used. Ceiling fixtures are used to provide general lighting and focus on the central portion of a room. There are ceiling-mounted single lights, track lights, chandeliers, pendant lights and recessed lights. Once fixed, it is difficult to relocate these lights. Pendant lights help to break the monotony of lighting. Further, they do not eat into valuable space. They also double up as task lights.

You can use lamps to not only provide lighting, but also work as decorative objects. These lights are referred to as ambient lights. Some examples are table lamps, plug-in night lights, spot lights, floor lamps and torchieres. Fixtures such as sconces, cove lights, etc., are fixed to the wall.

Accent lighting helps to highlight a painting or any other object. Spot lights or art lamps can be made use of for this purpose. To carry out activities such as cutting vegetables, cooking food, reading, etc., you have to make use of tasklighting. The lights used for this purpose consist of recessed halogen lights, under-cabinet lights and pendant lights.

Lighting used for decorative purposes includes candles, oil lamps and paper columns.

Factors to be Considered

It is important to use the right kind of bulb with any fixture so that it serves the purpose for which the room is to be used. To give you an example, incandescent bulbs are most often used in lamps. These bulbs are specified in terms of the wattage they consume. In the case of incandescent lamps, 90 percent of the power they consume is radiated as heat. Alternatively, you can use halogen, LED and compact florescent bulbs.

Right Location for Lights

Typically, three levels of lighting are to be provided. Ceiling, recessed and track lighting provide general illumination. For creating drama or mood, you can make use of pendant or wall lights. For decorative effects and for certain tasks such as reading, table or floor lamps can be made use of. Lighting used for enhancing the architecture of the room can be placed anywhere: above a book cabinet, under a plant and over paintings or objects.

Kitchens: A Design for Life

The way we use our kitchens has changed greatly over the past half century to reflect the shifting nature of our work and domestic lives. Creating a kitchen that is fit for purpose has been a concern of kitchen designers and homeowners for years – but how has kitchen design responded to the different purposes we’ve used our kitchens for over the years?

Kitchen designers in the 1950s sought to present their kitchens as standardized, utilitarian visions focused solely on productivity in the preparation and cooking of food. The famous ‘standard kitchen’ – until that point, the extent to which kitchens were furnished with appliances had varied wildly – provided hot and cold tap water, a kitchen sink, a refrigerator and an electric stove.

Even in the 1960s – when new shapes and designs were possible as plastics and other man-made materials became widely adopted – designers focused on the kitchen as a place for cooking.

Although the modern kitchen may retain cooking as its central use, many of the homeowners we spoke to see the kitchen as ‘the heart of [their] home’ – a place for socializing, hosting dinner parties and working from home as much as for food preparation. As an independent kitchen company we’ve found ourselves increasingly designing multi-purpose kitchens.

One of the easiest ways to create a multi-purpose kitchen fit for use in 2013 is a kitchen island. It provides an excellent food preparation area, as well as an ad-hoc bar for the serving of food and drinks. They allow home cooks to interact with guests while preparing food.

Islands can be small or large, and are available in a range of colours and shapes, which can be mixed and matched to create something unique and visually stunning.

U-shaped is another design that is increasingly popular at the moment. With at least three different work surfaces, the shape is ideal for designating different areas for different purposes. For instance, lowering one of these surfaces creates an ideal area to prepare food with younger members of the family.

Many professionals find their kitchen a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of the rest of their home, and it is not uncommon for the kitchen to become an ad-hoc workspace. Once again, U-shaped designs are ideal – although if you’re going to be perched on the end of a work surface then you’ll need to make sure that your laptop has access to electrical sockets for when the battery is running down but the emails aren’t! There are a number of recessed, pop-up sockets that are ideal for fitting into a work surface for this purpose.

The kitchen in 2013 is used for different purposes than those of our parents and grandparents. It’s therefore more important than ever to think ahead and be honest about what you may or may not use a kitchen for when planning it. Most kitchens can be adapted after having been built but it is always best – and cheapest – to accommodate this work in the original plan of the kitchen.

Second Nature is a leading independent kitchen company based in the UK. Their expertise has been rewarded with multiple awards from within the kitchen design industry.

Guest Post: Setting The Valentine’s Day Mood

Valentine's Day has always been a good occasion for couples to challenge their imagination and prepare a special romantic dinner at home. This calls for a lot of preparation, shopping and a bit of imagination. Setting the right mood and atmosphere might seem challenging but there are a few ways to seal the deal and have a fantastic romantic dinner that only happens once a year. There are tons of supplies specific to this period of the year available but knowing what to pick makes the difference. Red, white and black are the main themes that will create the right kind of atmosphere for all couples that wish to share their feelings and celebrate Valentine's Day. To make sure that things are right, there are five major tips that everyone should follow.

1. Setting The Table

Not only what you put in the plates is important. A properly arranged dinner table for such a special occasion should focus on red, white and black. Solid black or white dinnerware is very popular. Red glasses can be added to complete the color mix. This combination is not set in stone. Some might appreciate the glamour that black and white patterned dinnerware brings.

2. Flowers

There is no romantic dinner if flowers are not used to decorate the room and the table. Roses are excellent for this occasion and just like with the table preparation, white, red and black are the desired colors. Red roses symbolize love while the white ones are considered to be a symbol of purity. To avoid making it look like a cliché, the flowers should be placed in a tight, single-colored vase, preferably white, wrapped with a black ribbon. The color of the ribbon and the vase can be switched depending on how they fit the overall décor of the room.

3. Candles

Almost all romantic movies with a dinner scene have flowers and candles as part of the romantic décor. Candles might seem like a cliché but their effect cannot be denied. The pale light always deepens the romantic atmosphere in the room. The room lights should be dimmed to intensify the effect of candles. The thing with candles is that all colors work just fine, since there are so many great choices online, in stores and nowadays even in malls. As far as scented candles are concerned, one thing is to be considered - scents should be mild and pleasant, so one should keep this in mind when selecting candles for the occasion. Sometimes, the flowers in the room should be enough.

4. Room Decorations

The table might look great but the room must not be neglected. Glass bowls filled with red candy can be placed here and there. As mentioned above, red should be an overall theme across the house which should be easy to accomplish with some pillows, flowers and vases. However, heart shaped objects should be avoided as they tend to leave the impression of poor taste in terms of decorations and a cliché-istic tendency.

5. Paper Decorations

Paper can be used to make decorations for Valentine's Day. Since everyone loves the old black and white love movies, getting some still scenes of couples and printing them can add a touch of style. Personal photos can also be printed in black and white for the same effect. Additionally, presents can have paper tags with love messages written on them.

Games to Encourage the Kids to have Fun Cooking

This is a guest post by Cormac Reynolds.

Give your children some inspiration to want to start cooking by giving them fun things to do in the kitchen.  Pretend to your kids that you are finding it very difficult coming up with things to cook in the kitchen and ask them to think of ideas.  You never know they may surprise you and make you a lemon cheesecake or some other indulgent dish.

Some kids are just not interested in cooking so in this case introducing them to cooking games can be a way of getting them to experiment with cooking. 

Let’s look at some easy cooking games that the kids will enjoy:

3 Foods 1 Dish

This is a fun game for the entire family.  The idea of this game is to pick three items and put them into a basket or even a bowl and cover them.  When it comes to cooking a dish let the kids pick one item out of the basket and they have to use it in their next dish.  Who knows if there is a lemon in there, you may get a lemon cheesecake.  The surprise element adds a touch of fun.

Name the Spice

Another fun game for both the kids and adults!  Choose a number of spices and allow the kids to add these to a dish.  Foods to cook include soup, spaghetti bolognaise, and chilli to name a few and allows a variety of spices to be added.  This is where the fun begins.  When it is time to serve the food it is the family’s chance to guess the spice or spices that have been added to the food.  The person that wins and guesses the spice correctly can win a prize.  Maybe first slice of pudding!

It is important to note that only spices that will go with the foods are included, because before you know it a bottle of chilli could be added to your dish. 

Challenges are Good for Kids

It is providing these challenges to your children that can get them excited about cooking.  What child does not like playing games?  Cooking can be fun and allows your child’s imagination run wild in the kitchen and see what recipes they come up with.  Who knows they may be the next Junior Master Chef. 

When it comes to desserts, we have mentioned lemon cheesecake, but there are so many creative recipes that allow kids to be creative.  Get them to make cupcakes and let them decorate the cakes themselves with sprinkles, icing and sweets.  Let them make their own designs and then enjoy eating them afterwards.

Not only will the kids enjoy playing the games in the kitchen but they will enjoy spending time together as a family.  It is this quality time that will be welcomed by all members of the family, while also allowing them to feel comfortable within the kitchen environment.

About the Author: Cormac Reynolds loves food and enjoys much of his time in the kitchen. He works at Anchor Dairies.