Category: General

Selling your house may seem to be an endless cycle of keeping everything lovely and tidy and making sure you can actually still enjoy living there. If you’ve read through lots of other hints about selling your house you’ll see that scents can be used to make your home smell more appealing. Some people suggest putting a filter jug of coffee on, or baking bread, but you could also do something as simple as light a candle! There’s some really lovely smellie candles about that you might enjoy having in your house. Amazon have 33% off selected candles and room fragrances at the moment.
Remember though a scented candle is no excuse for an underlying smell. They should enhance not be a distraction.
Clear out anything that smells – and that includes rotten old trainers or the dogs old blanket. Only clean pleasant things can be in your house whilst you’re trying to sell it.

scented candles at Amazon
A scented candle is likely to be more pleasant than a burst of air freshener at the last minute too.
Of course if you’re a particularly good cook then you could bake a tray of cup cakes for when your viewers arrive. Who could resist buying a house where you were given a cup cake? OK so probably lots of people could, but it’d certainly make the house stand out in their mind.

General house viewing hints for the start of the year – make sure you’ve put away all the Christmas stuff. Ensure any extra rubbish that’s not been collected yet is out of sight too.

This is a fantastic magazine for all fans of the show. Regular features on houses seen on TV, plus design articles and all sorts of new products for you to drool over.

How many times have you seen a radiator and thought “oh I like that”… A few times maybe. I love the really chunky looking ones like you used to get in schools. Really solid looking radiators look good in big rooms, but there are so many types of designer radiator.

A review of designer radiators at B&Q
In the photo shown on this page there are three radiators. One of them doesn’t even look like a radiator, you might be mistaken for thinking it’s a mirror. It’s a clever design, using the upright style of radiator in conjunction with a reflective surface that makes it something entirely different.

From a heating perspective you need to know the BTU you need. There’s a calculator for this which needs room sizes.The british thermal unit works out how much radiator power you need.
You need to know the type of room: whether it’s a living room, a sleeping area or another type.
You’ll need room measurements including height and information on whether it’s got french windows, double glazing or is north facing.
The calculator gives you a BTU/hour figure and it’s this that you need to know for each room you need a new radiator for.

They have over 180 contemporary radiators which means you’ll find something that suits your needs in a style you like.
You can search by colour, by brand or by style or finish.
There are several brands Accuro-Korle , Acova, Bristan ,Jaga, Kudox , Thermic , and XIMAX ,

I do like the more unusual ones but you’d have to weigh up which would suit your own house and style. If you’re looking for a radiator for a dark room then picking a reflective one would certainly bounce more light off. For limited wall space you can pick a narrow one.

Things to look out for – what will heat it

– hot water central heating systems means
– hot water heating systems and can also be fitted with an electric element
– Stand alone electric only – no plumbing required

Fitting an electric element means you can press a button and have a hot radiator without having your central heating on. A real luxury treat!

Ireland is set to have Mandatory alarms for carbon monoxide

THE MANDATORY installation of carbon monoxide alarms in all new homes is to be addressed by new building regulations being drafted by the Department of the Environment.

I have read somewhere about UK rental rules will be changed this year to ensure all rental properties have hard wired smoke alarms.

Win a farm – competition run by Covent Garden Soup Co. I’ve had two cartons and not won a farm yet though!


How fab would it be to win a farm worth £500,000?

A house in one of the most remote parts of the UK has been put up for sale.

The 181-year-old stone cottage renovated by fisherman Mick Simpson, 62, and his wife Joyce can only be reached by foot or by boat.

The nearest villages to the property on the Knoydart peninsula in Lochaber are nine miles away at Inverie, itself only accessible by foot, or by ferry.

Article on BBC – as haven’t tracked down the house. He’s marketing it himself so it’s not on rightmove

Buried ‘witch’s cottage’ discovered in Pendle, Lancashire

Engineers have said they were “stunned” to unearth a 17th Century cottage, complete with a mummified cat, during a construction project in Lancashire.

The mummified cat found could indicate it’s a non-witches house though
Ironically, non-witches would often brick a living cat into their walls during construction, believing that when the cat died in those walls, its spirit would attach itself to the home and protect it.

This amazing, but perhaps a little ghoulist, map shows every death on every road in Great Britain 1999-2010
A total of 36,371 people were killed on Britain’s roads between 1999 and 2010.

An interesting map that gives you details on road deaths. Whilst perhaps not directly related to buying a house, you might want to check out the area and spot any accident blackspots near where you live, or want to live.

I’ve seen several different types of wood effect floor tile, and this Gloss wood effect ceramic tile at Topps tiles is an interesting change from the usual floor tiles available. If you’re looking for an alternative to normal square floor tiles then this is something to consider. The fake wood look isn’t too bad and it’ll be more waterproof that wood would be so its more suited to areas like kitchens.

Topps also sell wood flooring suitable for dry areas in the home. Wood will be warmer than tiles.

If you think this colour is too dark for your kitchen then they have a range of other wood effect floor tiles in lighter colours, from light brown to a limed white effect.The arteak sand colour is light coloured and would look good in most homes.