Category Archives: Reviews

Six clever hacks to make your ceiling appear higher

Everybody loves a large room that has plenty of space,and if you have recently bought a home for this reason through the support of conveyancing solicitors Maidstone Sam Conveyancing then you will want to make the most of this.

If you feel like your home is not as spacious as you would like it to be, you may be settling for lower ceilings and a narrower room. Using the right tricks, you can make your ceilings appear higher, making your living space more open and inviting. Take a look at these six tips to make your ceiling appear higher.

Choose The Colour Carefully

Ceilings painted in light shades appear to have more height. White, cream and pastel colours are best for lower ceilings as they reflect the light, making the ceiling look like it’s further away.

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Rely On Your Lighting

If you have low ceilings, steer clear of pendulum lights or lamps and focus on wall lights instead. Wall lights illuminate the entire wall and ceilings, making them appear higher than they actually are.

Choose The Right Furniture

A room can seem higher if you select the right furniture. Stay away from bulky pieces and finish your room with simple, airy pieces of furniture, keeping it as minimal as possible. To add an extra touch of glamour to your room, take a look at ceiling roses. Having ceiling roses adds a classic touch to any ceiling.

Optimise The Wall Design

Paint your walls a brighter colour to make the ceiling appear higher. You may even want to opt for vertical stripes of colour that will make the entire space seem taller. There are a lot of design tricks for walls to make the room appear larger and taller.

Add Curtains For Extra Height

The right curtains can make your windows seem a lot larger and make the ceiling look higher. To enhance that feeling of height, opt for floor-length curtains and hang them as high as possible. You can also have sheer curtains to let in more natural light and add to the space in the room.

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Accessories For Finishing Touches

There are a lot of other accessories beyond curtains that can make a room appear taller. Mirrors are great for adding to an open and bright effect. Even picture frames and art hung in the right place can help you with the space.

When you should consult with a Brand Strategy Agency.

Brand strategy agencies work with businesses at varying stages of their development. This could be soon after launch, at the point when the business is looking to grow further or when a new product or initiative is being developed. It is important to make sure that you have an idea of the goals and objectives you have for your business so you can share these with your chosen agency so they can help you in achieving these.

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Once you have established your concept of your new program or initiative, it’s time to hire a strong branding specialist to guide you through the implementation. The branding specialist should be well versed in your field and able to bring you insight into how you can reach and maintain your ideal customer. In addition to your branding, the agency should help you with your execution. They are a partner in your success, because they are the voice and face of your agency. Their goal is to ensure that your concept is communicated clearly and your brand strategy is executed correctly and in an organised way.

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If you’re ready to make your next marketing investment, it pays to consult with an experienced creative branding agency such as Really Helpful Marketing. It’s a collaborative process that helps create brand awareness and a productive strategy for your company. Before making any commitments, evaluate your company and conduct market research.

The many benefits of relining your drains

Pipeline resurfacing is the best way to rehabilitate worn-out waterways at home. This procedure allows you to repair pipes without having to dig out old pipes. This saves you from expensive and time-consuming procedures such as digging up old or broken pipes. Relining uses epoxy resin pipes. These are installed in the existing sewer and allowed to heal the existing broken pipe. Resin pipes must be suitable for the size and route of the old channel for rehabilitation to be effective. After this is done, this procedure increases the flow of water through the piping system. Pipeline resurfacing has several benefits.

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Minimal Landscape Disruption

When you have to dig a water channel to repair the affected part, it causes a huge upheaval in the landscape. Plants that may have aged and developed will be destroyed. Ground covers that are installed such as terrace steps, concrete and other materials must be removed, all needing to be replaced after the repair is complete. It can often take sometime before the ground surface fully recovers. All of this adds to financial burden. Relining means far less disruption occurs to the surface. This is a convenient way of rehabilitation that helps keep your home in good condition. For more information on Drain Lining, visit https://www.wilkinson-env.co.uk/sewer-repairs-drain-lining-concrete-cutting/

Cost effective

Relining will save you a significant amount of money.  It also requires less labour as the pipes do not have to be lifted from the ground. You don’t need to spend a lot of money to replace material that is damaged during excavation. Upheavals in previously developed areas can be expensive businesses. Restoration of disturbed natural cover also adds to overall costs. Given the time needed to grow up, you will be better off if you are replacing broken pipes at home rather than digging.

Turn around quickly

Much less time is needed to replace the pipe than it would if you dug and repaired. Relining also allows you to rehabilitate pipes in hard-to-reach areas more quickly. Fast turnaround time helps reduce installation costs. It also helps restore the environment to its original shape more quickly.

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Add Endurance

Adding epoxy resin pipes to the old pipes strengthened the piping system. This is because you end up with two pipes in one unit. This also eliminates weak points and connections in the piping system. This provides a higher efficacy piping system.

Safer

When land surface is disturbed, it poses a risk to the population. Trenches, holes and piles of debris can easily cause accidents. Movement around the area becomes difficult. Children and pets are very vulnerable. A better choice is to use drain lining services to maintain a safer environment.

Add Value to Your Home

The drainage system is one of the main focus points during home inspections. A well-designed system guarantees high efficiency in drainage services. Relining strengthens existing systems which increase drainage efficacy. This is a boost for home values.

Are young people driving less?

Anyone over the age of 30 can remember how turning 17 was a major deal. It meant driving lessons could begin in earnest. Driving meant freedom and adventure. We had all grown up watching Hollywood movies about road trips, coming of age and adrenaline-fuelled excitement. Many youngsters couldn’t wait to get their hands on a steering wheel, turn up the music and drive off into the sunset. Driving can still give us that frisson of excitement whenever we get behind the wheel, despite the ever-growing congestion and tailbacks.

To avoid this two-wheeled freedom, many worked part-time or even full-time jobs, scrimping and saving for their first second-hand or even third-hand motor. The fact that it was an old banger didn’t matter so much as the fact that it was a car!

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Sadly, those days seem to over. The current generation of youngsters don’t seem to have the same love affair with the car as the ones who preceded them. A recent report from the Department for Transport states that the numbers of new drivers has significantly declined over the last two decades. Back in the early 90s, almost 50% of 17-20 year olds were driving. The figure is now more like 29%.

Various reasons are cited for this decline, among them financial pressures, increasing motoring costs, no reason to grow up as quickly and of course, the rise of the digital world. Why would you need to escape in a vehicle now when you can escape into a world of virtual reality and online gaming? Of course, for the 29% who are motoring, learning the basic skills of car maintenance is just as important so you can pass your MOT without too much stress each year. For a Gloucester MOT, visit http://swiftfit.uk.com/gloucester-mot/

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Whilst financial hardship is totally understandable, we have had a recession and Brexit and the re-introduction of university tuition fees, it does seem a shame that a certain wanderlust has been lost. Learning to drive used to be empowering, a rite of passage and a chance to be independent for the first time. No more relying on lifts from parents or standing at bus stops in the rain.

Looking on the positive side, the less drivers there are, the less air pollution there will be. Air pollution is a huge problem and one that will be eased by less cars on the road and the introduction of more electric vehicles. However, to encourage youngsters to learn the skill of driving is still important and here we might need to get imaginative. Even if they don’t own a car, they could hire one when the need arose. Groups of young people could club together to buy an eco-friendly vehicle, car share it and spread the cost.

Beauty Tips for the Mother of the Bride

Wedding days are of course about the bride and groom but there are other family members on show too. After the bride, all eyes will be on the mother of the bride, so you’ll want to make sure you look almost as good as the bride if your daughter is getting married this summer. Here are some top tips if you’ll be doing your own make-up for the big day:

Primed to go

Using a primer is one of the top tips for smoothing out skin tones and helping make up to last longer during the day. You use a primer underneath foundation to smooth and firm up the skin. If you’ve been suffering from hot flushes, don’t apply any moisturiser on the big day, just apply some primer instead. Of course, if you want to splash out for such a special occasion, you might consider having a botox treatment to smooth out those lines and look amazing. For Botox Gloucester, visit http://doctorkate.co.uk/

Correction

Planning a wedding can be stressful and if your skin isn’t quite as glowing and flawless as you’d like it to be, consider a lightweight foundation or face tint but avoid heavy foundation. Too heavy and you’ll simply accent any lines even more. Face tints are ideal for minimizing the look of fine lines. Apply a light concealer under your eyes, not too heavy or the delicate under skin will look older. For dark circles, concealers in a peach shade can help and still look natural.

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The Eyes have it

Eyes that look more youthful can be achieved by doing away with any beige or brown eyeshadow and using charcoal, navy, plum, deep green or lilacs. If these feel too bright or bold for you, combine a touch of charcoal with taupe or ivory. Don’t think you’re too old for shimmers either as these are a great way of livening up eyes.

To give your eyes a bit more definition in photographs, choose a black or bluey-black waterproof mascara and not brown. A few false lashes along the base of your lash line will make your lashes appear much fuller and still natural. Don’t forget to softly define your eyebrows too.

Be Cheeky

Dusty rose shades are more flattering for your cheeks, but the decision comes over what texture to use. Creams will give a dewy appearance while powders will provide a satin finish. Either choice will give you are brighter, more youthful appearance for your complexion. Remember that blusher shades in pastel can look too chalky and browns will make your face look more drawn.

Pucker Up

To stop lipstick from feathering into those fine lines around our lips, try a lip base before adding any colour. Use a lip liner to define your lips in a lip coloured pencil, not the lipstick colour. The good thing about doing this is that should your lipstick fade during the day, you won’t be left with an obvious outline. Avoid going too dark with your colour for fear of looking too hard but too beigey and you’ll appear to have no mouth in photos.

How Bringing Your Own Device Is Changing the Way All Work

More and more businesses are allowing their employees to use their own devices for work purposes. This has many advantages for business and for workers, but it also raises problems and highlights the need for testing items for safety.

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The BYOD Boom

The idea of adopting a bring your own device (BYOD) strategy has really taken off in recent years. Research earlier this year shows that 74 percent of organisations either have adopted or are planning to adopt a BYOD strategy.

It’s easy to understand the attractions, employees get to use a device they’re already familiar with, and businesses save on the cost of providing hardware – even if they choose to subsidise staff to buy their own kit. It also means that those visitors to your company will be able to utilise their devices while they sit on the Reception Chairs that you sourced from companies like https://www.bestbuy-officechairs.co.uk/reception-chairs/ whilst they wait for their meeting to begin.

It’s also indicative of the general shift towards mobile devices and this means that software companies have to produce new mobile apps to allow their systems to be accessed from a wider range of devices. This means much more work in testing systems to ensure that they work on a wide range of devices.

Risk vs Reward

Of course while there are tangible benefits from adopting BYOD there are also risks involved. Businesses need to be aware of these and take appropriate steps to ensure that their valuable corporate data is secure.

The rise of BYOD gives malware writers extra opportunities to access sensitive data, using the employee’s device as the weakest link. Therefore, it’s important for any company allowing staff to use their own devices to have an appropriate security policy and supply security software if required.

There are increasing numbers of mobile device management (MDM) solutions on offer. These solutions streamline the whole process of allowing access on mobile devices. By using a secure app store it’s possible to control which packages employees are allowed to install. MDM solutions can also ensure that work and private data are compartmentalised, and allow sensitive information to be remotely wiped should a device be lost or stolen.

Like any new technology or practice, BYOD has the potential to streamline business operations and make for happier employees with a better work/life balance. However, there are also risks, so it’s important that IT and business managers are aware of these and take appropriate steps to manage them.

Reviving your Home Room by Room on a Budget

If you are a bit bored during lockdown and tired of staring at the same old stuff, why not give your home a bit of a refreshing makeover. The best thing is you don’t have to spend a fortune to make your home feel refreshed and revived – there are loads of great ideas that you can use to breathe a new lease of life into your home and make spending time there much more enjoyable!

Kitchen – Many people think that you need to put in a brand-new kitchen to revive a tired old kitchen, but this is not the case at all. You can give your kitchen a much more up to date look by simply changing the fronts of your cupboards. Changing the colour of the units by painting them, as well as the handles can give your kitchen a completely new and fresh look.

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Living Room – Making a living room look like a different room is easy – it is all about the accessories. Look at specialist companies such as Laskeys Tewkesbury blinds company to get some new curtains or blinds on your windows, and change your cushion covers and ornaments to give you a completely refreshed living room to spend time in.

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Bedroom – A bedroom should be a place to relax and escape the stress of the day and get a good night’s sleep. Get some comfy and cosy bedding as well as super soft cushions and throws to make your bed as inviting as possible and add some indoor plants too to create an even more relaxing atmosphere to your room.

What does a florist actually do?

It goes without saying that one of the most important things for a florist is that they actually like flowers. There is no point in having a job surrounded by all things flowers and foliage if you aren’t that interested in flowers and aren’t partial of a flower arrangement or two. This is why Gloucestershire Florist https://flowershedtewkesbury.co.uk/ enjoy their jobs.

Florists don’t only sell flowers, they are also highly creative individuals who will make floral arrangements for a variety of functions and gifts, such as valentine’s day and Mother’s Day bouquets as well as funeral wreaths and wedding flowers and corsages. Some florists also provide arrangements for local hotels and businesses so that guests and customers can enjoy the delights of a nice floral centre piece all year round.

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The arrangements that are made can be as small as a bowl of flowers to fit on the centre of table to a larger living wall display or floor standing podium filled with flowers and foliage. It is important that florists have some knowledge of how to care for the plants that are in their stores and how they will look next to other items in the arrangements. With weddings in particular couples will be looking for some guidance on which flowers will look best in a bridal party bouquet along with those that will complete their chosen colour scheme for floral arrangements during the ceremony and for the wedding breakfast and evening gathering.

You may also find that some florists will create arrangement for local floristry competitions with some also competing in national events. This is where they can really stretch their creativity and not only display their plant knowledge but also their design skills. Taking part in these types of competitions can help to elevate a florists business and will then hopefully bring in more business.

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Plant care is another element of a florists day to day tasks. This is much more than just making sure that the flowers are placed in fresh water regularly. The varieties of flowers being cared for will include everything from native flowers and foliage to more exotic species that may require more care. Using flowers for arrangements needs careful timing as you don’t want the flowers to have started to wilt by the time the arrangement is presented and equally you don’t want buds that have yet to flower. This is where the knowledge and skills of the florist come into their own.

 

Interesting facts about our tongues

Our tongues are incredible muscles that help us eat and talk and they are what allow us to taste our foods and distinguish between one flavour and another. The way the flavours are introduced, either from raw ingredients or Flavouring Manufacturers such as Stringer Flavour doesn’t have an impact on the way our bodies process the information from our tongues.

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Here are some interesting facts about our tongues.

From the epiglottis (a cartilage flap in the mouth at the back of the tongue) to the tip, the length of the tongue is measured. The average tongue length of an adult man is 3.3 inches (8.5 cm), and the average tongue length of an adult woman is 3.1 inches (7.9 cm).

There are no distinct areas for the human tongue to distinguish sweet, bitter, acidic, salty and savoury tastes. The so-called “tongue map” is based on dodgy research published in 1901 by a German scientist named DP Hanig.Taste buds actually have 50 to 100 receptors for each taste.

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There are 2,000 to 4,000 taste buds in total for the average adult. Every week, the sensory cells in the taste buds responsible for the way we experience taste refresh themselves. Some individuals have more tastebuds than the rest of us. They are known as Super-tasters. That doesn’t mean that they’re connoisseurs o rhave the refined palettes of top chefs, but that means that they’re very susceptible to bitter tastes.

How a Vegan Diet can Benefit your Health

Being a vegan is easier than ever before – you can now easily fit a vegan diet in with your lifestyle, you can even follow a vegan bodybuilding meal plan like this https://www.vivolife.co.uk/blogs/news/a-big-maca-mistake-gelatinsed-vs-raw-maca-powder  if that’s your sort of thing!

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One of the main reasons that a vegan diet has become so popular, is the health benefits that many people can have when they switch over to a vegan diet. Of course, when you are cutting some foods out of your diet it is important that you ensure you are getting all the right vitamins still, so may need to take supplements – but here are some of the amazing health benefits you can enjoy from following a vegan diet…

A vegan diet can reduce our risk of many types of illness, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and some types of cancer. A vegan diet that is rich in antioxidants means that it is generally a much healthier way to eat, and it is a great way to keep our bodies in the best condition.

As well as keeping our bodies healthy, it also can help with our moods. Because it is much healthier it means that we benefit from less hormone fluctuations and a more stable blood sugar level meaning that we don’t get tired as easily.

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If you are trying to lose weight, a vegan diet is a great way to help with this. Unlike fad crash diets, it is a sustainable way to achieve a healthy weight.