CrossTeam Properties Offers Advice on Home and Garden Improvements

Do you struggle to get a good night’s sleep? There are a few basic tips, that if implemented could help you to sleep better and in turn feel refreshed and relaxed, as well as being more alert and productive.

Probably the most important consideration to take into account is your bed. Choosing the right bed is key to getting a good night’s sleep; the bed must not be too soft, too hard or too small and provide you with adequate support that is both comfortable and relaxing.

Going to bed and waking up at a similar time each day will also help to programme your body and provide you with a regular sleeping pattern. Your bedroom should also be as quiet and dark as possible and have a steady temperature i.e. not too hot or cold.

Sleep experts recommend that you also cut down on stimulants such as tea and coffee, particularly in the evening, as these can affect your sleeping patterns and could prevent you from reaching a deep sleep state.

Another good tip is to try and relax before going to bed, this will help both your body and mind. If all of the above doesn’t help, or you still cannot sleep, don’t lie there and worry about it; get out of bed and do something that is relaxing, then when you feel sleepy again head back to bed.

Themed bathrooms are really only limited by your imagination. Yes, the Princess’s Playground, New England Beach House, Starfish or Sea Horse themed bathroom is available to everyone. However, before you rip everything out you need to think things through carefully.

If you live alone, then obviously it is entirely up to you, but if you have others in the household, then they may not be too happy about their bathroom ending up looking like a shrine to Arsenal, so some discussion and dialogue needs to take place with everyone in the home.

It may also be a good idea to keep things fairly flexible. For example, you may want to sell your home or your tastes may actually change, so if things aren’t too drastic, you can soon revert to a more conventional look. Try to keep the bath panel neutral, but the toilet seat, curtains or blinds can all be replaced quite quickly and cheaply.

A themed bathroom will also say quite a bit about you and will give away a lot about your personality. It will subject your personal design tastes to outside scrutiny and people will perhaps make comments that may not always be positive. If you are something of a shrinking violet and don’t take criticism well, then it is perhaps best to stick to a more neutral design. On the other hand, if you really don’t care what people think of your bathroom and you are dedicated to your own particular style, then a themed bathroom could be right up your street.

When designing or updating a bedroom in your home, you may be thinking about fitting built-in wardrobes. Built-in wardrobes can provide much needed space in a bedroom and are especially useful for odd shaped rooms and alcoves. There are three different types of built-in wardrobes, which are full carcase, timber framed and sliding door wardrobes.

The full carcase wardrobe is similar to a standard wardrobe in that it has a top, bottom, two sides and a back panel. There is normally a small gap between the top and bottom of wardrobe and the room; this is boxed in with panels to give it the built-in appearance. The full carcase wardrobe usually features levelling feet on the bottom as floors are often unlevel, and the doors hang from the side panels.

Timber framed wardrobes have a base, but no sides or back panel and are constructed on site from bottom to top. The downside of having timber framed wardrobes is that when you open the door you see the room’s walls, but these can be lined before work is started. The door can be hinged to the side or the front of the frame.

The sliding door wardrobe normally has doors that span from the floor to the ceiling, which are on runners so they can slide easily from side to side. This type of wardrobe is very versatile and can be set out to the specific needs of the user. The interior of the wardrobe can be either timber framed or boxed in and drawers can be fitted; this does not change the look of the front as the doors slide on separate runners.

Memory Foam was originally designed for the NASA space project, to help absorb the pressure that the astronaut’s bodies faced when exiting and entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Memory foam proved to be very successful and it was soon recognised by the health profession.

Memory foam is now used in many hospitals all over the world, and helps to prevent bed sores that are common if a patient is lying down for a substantial period of time. Due to advances in technology and affordability, it is now common to see memory foam mattresses in ordinary homes and these help millions of people to relax and have a good night’s sleep.

Ordinary mattresses can often be hard and can cause uneven pressure on the body, making it hard to get a proper night’s sleep. Because of the way that memory foam is made, each foam cell responds to the shape and temperature of your body providing an equal amount of support for your whole body.

This is particularly beneficial if you suffer from back problems or impaired movements, as the memory foam supports the whole body, relieving pressure. Memory foam also quickly regains its shape when not in use.

Memory foam is now available in many different thicknesses and sizes, ranging from 1 inch thick mattress toppers to full memory foam mattresses; so it is easy to choose the right one to suit you.

The range of bathroom furniture available is now almost as wide as the furniture you can buy for other rooms of the house and you can even have a built in television.  These offer the latest in design innovation and will ensure that you are able to catch up on your favourite programmes, whilst you enjoy a long, luxuriating bath.

Screens are available as standard, up to forty inches and can be made bigger than that if you have a large bathroom.  They are flat screen with a very slim and sleek profile, offering a fantastic picture.  When not in use the screen actually looks like a mirror, so it is not too obvious, but is actually just another design feature.

All bathroom televisions are waterproof (for obvious reasons) and most are also fitted with a screen which is heated, so that when the steam from your bath hits the screen, it does not mist up.

Installing a bathroom television is very decadent and adds another dimension to the bathroom, transforming it into more of a living and relaxing area. You can enjoy having nothing to do, but lie back and enjoy the sensations of your bath and your television programmes. Even the remote controls float, so that you do not have to keep searching for them underwater if you drop them and they are also shockproof and smashproof, making them very durable and resistant to the humid temperatures you often get in bathrooms.

Unsurprisingly, they are not cheap, but then luxury like this is worth paying for, so if you can afford it, why not treat yourself?

A bedroom is one of the most important rooms in your house, as it will be the first room you see when you wake up and the last room you see when you go to sleep, so it is important that it is designed properly. The shape and size of a bedroom will in some ways affect the design, but that does not mean you cannot put your own personality and characteristics into the design.

The first thing you should do when designing a new bedroom or updating an old one is to draw out a floor plan. Measure the room dimensions thoroughly, including all the alcoves and draw them to scale on a piece of paper. If you have any furniture that you want to put into your new bedroom, measure and draw them to scale. You now will have a scale drawing of your bedroom and the furniture to go in it, all you have to do is experiment moving your scaled furniture around the drawing till your happy with it; this is easier than doing it for real.

Once the layout of your new room is done it is on to decoration. This stage of the design is entirely up to you, but bear in mind that lighter colours tend to make the room look bigger, whilst darker colours seem to enclose the space. When decorating the bedroom it is important to consider the flooring; if the flooring is to be kept it is essential that you put some sheets down to protect it from splashes or spills.

Start with the ceiling first; this is the most difficult part of the decorating process as it involves standing on ladders and extending your arms for long periods of time. Once this is done, move on to the walls and fixtures; leave the flooring till last if possible to minimise paint getting onto it.

Now you are ready to move your furniture in and lay back and enjoy your new bedroom.

Even the most minimalist and stark of bathrooms requires at least some decorative items.  This could be spotlights or a sleek mirror, if you are enjoy a minimalist style.  If you want to create a very warm and relaxing ambience in your bathroom, why not consider using some rose petals in a small bowl?  Or you could place some candles near the bath, so that you can relax in candlelight, whilst soaking away the stresses of the day.

But decorative items can also be functional.  For example, instead of having bars of soap, you could have very modern and stylish soap dispensers, which you can just fill with your favourite liquid soap.  Small boxes or cupboards can really complete the look of a room, which can double up as storage or why not think about having some kind of freestanding cupboard in which you can store more bulky items such as towels.

Whilst it can be tempting to ‘cut corners’ and buy any kind of box or cupboard, it is worth investing in ones which are suitable for use in the bathroom and which will not be damaged by the steam or humidity.

Even bath brushes, which you can use to exfoliate or improve circulation, can be displayed as a decorative feature, bringing warmth and interest to a room, whilst also being very practical.

So buying items to decorate your bathroom is not just about a few shells or a quirky toilet roll holder; it is about creating an atmosphere which reflects your own individual style and taste and the small details actually complete the look, so do not forget about them.

The four poster bed is regarded by many to be the king of beds. A four poster bed as the name suggests, has a vertical column or post in each corner and usually features a rectangular panel called a tester or upper fixed to the top.

The primary function of tester or upper was to hold bed curtains, which would surround the whole bed keeping out the cold and providing a good night’s sleep.

The four poster bed dates back to around the 13th century and were owned by the rich and noble. The wealthier the family, the better the bed and many of the early examples seen today are carved with intricate designs out of the finest hardwoods.

As building techniques and draft exclusion methods began to improve, the need for a four poster bed became redundant, with many people in the 19th century choosing much cheaper post-less beds.

The popularity of the four poster bed has seen revival over the past few years, and is once again a popular choice for its traditional and extravagant appearance.

Country bathrooms are those that are designed to look very simple, yet be warm and relaxing. They may have more ornaments or ‘bits and pieces’ than a minimalist bathroom and instead of using angular and ‘sharp’ pieces of furniture, the whole emphasis is on rounded, gentle and soft.

Country bathrooms also feature very neutral shades, which are warm and lean towards the earth range of colours. For example, you can normally expect to see warm beiges, cream, browns and some rustic colours. Wooden features, such as bathroom cabinets and wood veneered bath panels are also often used in country style bathrooms.  Sometimes a textured painting style is used on the wall to replicate the rustic walls of old country houses and cottages, but this can be a little too purist for some people.

Though the colours may vary, the overall style is more about relaxed living, rather than having to be dictated by a particular design ethos. 

Country bathrooms are well suited to homes that are quite relaxed and may be an eclectic mix of old and new, modern and antique, since the country look can be easily encapsulated by both modern and older items and accessories.

Modern, minimalist bathrooms will often use white and hide any clutter away, while the country look will allow the clutter to exist, but not take over. Not everything has to be old or authentic in the way it would be in a period bathroom, so this is a very relaxed and laid-back type of design.

Once you have decided to redesign your bathroom and you have planned out the type of suite you want along with the furniture and the fittings, then there are still some practical issues to consider; after all, you will be spending quite a bit of money on your new bathroom, so you want to make sure that when it is finished, the bathroom actually ‘works’.

Practicalities which need to be taken into account are the type of flooring you wish to install and the ventilation required. Flooring is important because it will really influence the final look of your bathroom and it is important that it is both water resistant and slip resistant, whilst looking good. Carpets can be used in the bathroom setting, but they can suffer from being less resistant to water and can, around the toilet, sometimes end up looking a little stained.  Most people opt for a flooring material which is not carpet.  Tiles or linoleum are a safe choice, but check before you buy that it is resistant to water or else it will soon need to be replaced.

Ventilation is also very important within the bathroom setting, since you will be creating steam; through using a shower or a bath and you need to get rid of this steam very quickly.  Opening windows is an obvious way of creating ventilation, but obviously this may have security implications, particularly if you forget to lock the window again. So a mechanical fan may be the answer and it can certainly help keep your bathroom free from condensation, or even any strong odours, so is certainly worth consideration.