CrossTeam Properties Offers Advice on Home and Garden Improvements

Choosing a bath is worth taking time and trouble over, so avoid the temptation to be rushed into buying one. Think of how it will look in the bathroom and design around it.

If you have a family with small children and limited space, a two-person bath may well be the best option. However, there are a couple of things you should consider first.

Most important is the size of your water tank. A double bath or corner bath inevitably uses more water than a standard model. Baths are filled with hot water at roughly a ratio of 2:1. Therefore it is important to determine the capacity of the bath and equate it to the size of the water tank. Nobody wants to bathe in a half-filled bath, so work out the economics of investing in a new water tank. Failing that, you could buy a water heater that only serves the bath and leave the existing one to heat water for other domestic uses.

Another option may be a Sok bath, which is very deep. Additionally, it is fitted with a type of chromotherapy that allows you to experience different colours as you soak. 

However, it does take up a lot of space and you would need to check that your bathroom has sufficient electrical capacity to cope with the demands placed upon it. One major plus point for this type of bath is that it ensures the bathing experience is one of total relaxation. 

A further option is the traditional freestanding bath. This is freestanding and very capacious. Sitting in the middle of the bathroom, means it takes up space and if you like your bathroom neat and tidy, the sight of exposed plumbing may be a drawback.

Most of us are not fortunate enough to have a spacious bathroom with a large amount of storage space. This is obviously a problem, but with some inventive thinking this drawback can easily be turned into an advantage, stylistically at least.

First of all, thoroughly appraise your bathroom. Forget conventional notions of bathroom cabinets situated over the lavatory and so forth. These might look good on paper, but in practical terms are next to useless. They can also give the bathroom a peculiarly disproportionate look.

Shower curtains are a good place to start. Choose a style that features pockets sewn on to the bath or shower facing side. These are ideal to hide away razor blades, shampoo and soaps. If you are concerned that the curtain has a lumpy look, invest in a double curtain rail. Simply hide the ‘storage’ shower curtain behind another, perhaps more expensive one.

Hanging baskets are another good space saving device. There are plenty of clip on baskets on the market that can be readily hung from a towel rail. They are perfect for storing anything from a hairdryer to your washing gear.

Wine racks are another item that can be pressed into service in the bathroom. Rolled towels fit neatly into the bottle holders and make for a highly original decorative feature. Try painting the rack a complementary colour to your shower curtains and bathmats.

Finally, if you have children, where better to store their toys than a foldaway laundry bag? Leave the wet toys to dry, remove and tuck the bag away.

Space is always a problem in a family home and nowhere more than in the bathroom. In particular, mornings can be a nightmare. Yet with a little careful planning there are simple ways to maximise the space in the bathroom and avoid full-scale family arguments.

Try dividing the room into clearly defined sectors. Separating the shower enclosure and bath into its own space and doubling the sink capacity is a useful aid to increase the number of people able to use the bathroom at any given time. Another idea is to create one long vanity unit, again with a double sink and installing a continuous mirror along the wall is another. Walling off the toilet is a good aid to privacy.

If you have small children, safety should be the watchword. Be sure to include a small step to enable them to get in and out of the bath safely. Non-slip bath mats should be included both inside and outside of the bath.

Be sure to fix safety catches on the toilet seat. If the children are slightly older and trusted to shower on their own, adjustable showerheads should be fitted as standard.

Perhaps the most important safety point is to place the medicine cabinet at as high a point as possible and always fit a childproof lock.

If these criteria are borne in mind, then sharing a bathroom may not be quite such a nightmare after all. More importantly, everyone will be safe.

Sideboards can be used to provide more storage space either in the living room or in the dining room. As pieces of home furniture they have been around for centuries and their main use has always been for storing dining ware such as cutlery and crockery. The flat top is also useful for displaying photographs or ornaments.

Buying a new sideboard for your living room or dining room will not only provide more storage space but will also improve the decor of the particular room. Sideboards can match with the design of the dining or living room whether the design of that particular room is contemporary, traditional or modern.

The use that sideboards are subjected to is dependent upon the design. For instance there is the buffet table style sideboard and it would go without saying that the top of such a sideboard would also serve as an extra tabletop for dinnerware, as well as the food and drinks that are on the menu for that particular occasion. A buffet table style sideboard is very economical in terms of space and also comes with drawers, which makes it very appropriate for storing small items such as table linen or silverware.

There is also another kind of sideboard which resembles a buffet cabinet. This type of sideboard is bigger and more spacious and will provide lots of storage space for crockery and cutlery. This of course translates to the fact that it uses up a lot of floor space. The table top buffet cabinet type of sideboard also serves as a buffet table.

A conservatory gives you the sense of being connected to nature. In it, you can be close to nature while being protected from different weather conditions such as wind and rain. Yet, since conservatories are prone to high heat loss, the chill of winter will surely affect this usually pleasant pastime. An easy solution to this is installing a good conservatory floor heating system.

A good conservatory floor heating system is what is needed so conservatories can be used all year round. The most ideal form of heating system for this kind of structure is Electric Underfloor Heating. This kind of heating system produces radiant heat that keeps heat-loss low and allows temperature customisation in specific areas in the conservatory.

The Conservatory Floor Heating Cable Kit is most ideal for those with ceramic floor-tiles, while the Conservatory Floor Heating Mat Kit is the heating system for conservatories that need high heat output, such as Sunrooms. Installation of the Mat Kit is painless since it can be laid even on areas with irregular shapes.

These heating systems emit high heat especially meant for conservatory needs. Their power output reaches 150 – 180 Watts per square metre. They are only suitable for floors made of stone, tiles, marble, or similar floor materials. It’s imperative that these heating systems are laid on top of a concrete slab, or better yet, on Marmox Insulation. This is a kind of insulation board ideal to use with electric underfloor heating that is laid beneath tiles. This reinforced, high-performance insulation board should be laid prior to the floor heating for timber-floored conservatories.

Conservatories give us the sense of relaxation only nature can give. But this privilege can be taken from us by the winter chill. Having the perfect conservatory floor heating beats this hindrance.

From steam showers to bath shower combinations, there are plenty of different options today that will add the convenience of a shower to your bathroom.  As you look around at the various options you will notice that the price tags on these showers can get very expensive.  In some cases it makes sense to spend the extra money for a fancier shower but it is not always necessary.

One of the more convenient options available is the bath shower combination.  This is a particularly good option if you have young children that require the use of a bath while still providing you with a shower as well.  Installing a bath shower combination does require that you have a bit of extra space in your bathroom.

If you simply want to add a shower to your bathroom, an enclosure with a shower tray is also sufficient.  This option is great for small spaces and is frequently less expensive than a bath shower combination.  For many, the versatility of a shower enclosure makes this a very popular option.

A notable feature that can be a downfall to the shower enclosure is that they do not have back walls.  This means you will need to prepare your wall with something like tile before installing the shower enclosure.  A way around this is to buy a shower cabin.  This provides you with everything you need including the shower itself and back walls.  The price tag is obviously higher but if you are not sure how to prepare your bathroom walls for a shower enclosure, this is a great option.

Office furniture requirements are usually determined by the budget, the amount of office space available and style. In organisations with more than one employee, the furniture purchased should enhance efficiency, productivity and team spirit.

Before going out to buy office furniture it is important to do thorough planning beforehand. This will reduce the risk of making a bad purchase which might end up being returned. It is also important to start purchasing with the basic furniture first and then gradually add more.

The logistics of delivery of the office furniture is also something that needs to be carefully planned. Typically office furniture for most organisations is usually ordered from several suppliers which obviously means that there will be varying dates of delivery as well as modes of delivery. And since the delivery and installation of the furniture takes time, it is important to have specific deadlines so that the normal work progress in the organisation does not suffer. There should also be some allowance given for delivery delays or other unexpected circumstances.

When buying office chairs, the shape and the size of the people who are going to be sitting on them is most important. Comfort is also important especially if the users are going to be sitting on the chairs for lengthy periods of time. Thus office chairs which have controls that change the tilt angle or the tension tightness can enhance the comfort of those who are going to be using them. That is the reason why heavy use chairs, which are suited for people who remain seated at their work station for hours on end, such as call centre workers, programmers, and receptionists come fitted with a synchro-tilt mechanism which reduces stress and fatigue.

Having a bathroom cabinet fitted is great way of improving how a bathroom looks and also enhances the functionality of the room. You can either opt for a bathroom cabinet that is ready-made, that you might fit yourself, or one that is custom-made by a joiner.

One of the main reasons why you would need a bathroom cabinet is to make better use of the space available, especially if it is a particularly small bathroom. By installing such a cabinet, the smaller essential items, such as personal toiletries, which usually take up a lot of space (usually the end of the bath or the windowsill), can find a proper home. If you are a person that likes rooms to be clutter free all the smaller items in the room can be stored in the cabinet, even the soap dish.

In a small room, the bathroom cabinet can be placed above a toilet, making the maximum use of space. It also makes sense to ensure that the cabinet comes equipped with its own towel rack at the bottom. Alternatively, a freestanding bathroom cabinet or cupboard can be placed behind the entry door if there is sufficient space.

While there is a wide range of ready-made bathroom cabinets available on the market, a custom-made one is more likely to make the most efficient use of space. Your cabinet can then be as simple or sophisticated a piece of furniture as you wish. It will help you to organise the bathroom clutter, which is after all, their basic function. If you decide to go for a custom-made bathroom cabinet, the person to talk is a local joiner who will work to your design and the exact measurements that you provide.

With all the time that we spend in the bathroom every day, it makes perfect sense to design it in a way that keeps space considerations a priority. A good way to do this is by designating certain areas of the bathroom for particular uses. Think about the most important functions of the bathroom and set aside different areas for each. You can for example place the sink and washing area closest to the door for easy access, with the toilet and the bath further in to ensure utmost privacy.

All this is easier done if you have a lot of space on hand of course, but even with a limited floor area, there are several ways by which you can keep a spacious, airy feel to the bathroom. You may opt to have the shower and tub as a single space for instance, and you can design the toilet to be just one part of the bathroom without the need to have its own confining wall.

With regard to bathroom accessories and fixtures, you can have them built flush into the wall, thereby lessening the space that they take up in the rest of the room. Bathroom furniture can also be built into the walls, or in the case of drawers and chairs, simply slide into the wall when not in use. 

Also try to plan for your future needs with regard to how it will affect the available space. When adding a bidet for example, keep in mind how much space it will occupy, and plan your design accordingly.

Bed size is one of the most important considerations when planning the purchase of a new bed. This is all the more important when you have young children, as more often than not, they will want to climb into bed with you on cold mornings. You should then buy a bed that will not only fit you and your partner comfortably, but will also leave plenty of room for those occasional “visits” by the little ones.

If space is a primary consideration, you may opt for a divan bed as opposed to a regular bed. Divan beds can be quite large and a typical king-sized one will provide just as much room as a double bedstead.

Buying the base is another thing entirely. You will definitely want to go down to your local bed emporium and check out as many different types of bases as you can. Make a list of your preferences, such as if you want the bed to be solid or firm, or if a softer feel is what you are after.

If you just do not seem to have enough space in your bedroom for all the odds and ends that somehow keep piling up, you may want to consider looking into beds with drawers installed under them. It functions not only as a great space saver, it will give you a place to store things you want to keep handy and yet out of the way.