Urban Home and Garden Center

Five DIY Home Repair Disasters

03 May 2013 by Admin

Do it Yourself can be a great way to save money – and you get the sense of satisfaction from knowing you accomplished your project, whether it’s is minor kitchen repairs or a major insulation installation. That said, there are a lot of home repair projects that should only be performed by professionals because of their level of difficulty or danger. There are a lot of horror stories about DIY projects that went awry and caused all kinds of difficulties for homeowners. Undoubtedly many of these people needed to call professionals to fix the mess they had made – defeating one of the primary reasons to consider DIY in the first place. Here are some of the most egregious home repair disaster stories out there.

Holes in the Wall: DIY homeowners can make holes for electrical or cable lines which are bigger than necessary, but then what do you do? One homeowner stuffed such a hole (5 to 10 inches) with insulation and then, when air continued to leak in, sprayed it from the outside of the house with foam insulation. Of course, they soon needed to hire a handyman to fix the problem which bits of spray insulation started to drop into the room. Other homeowners have caused trouble by not knowing where they were drilling. You can create a hole in the other side of the wall, sever a cable, or spark an electrical disaster if you don’t know what is behind the wall when you start to drill.
Duct Tape: The stuff is known for how versatile and useful it is, people even make clothing and purses out of it. However, despite what some people think, it can’t fix every home repair dilemma. Handymen have seen duct tape used to install a shower head, join vent pipes together, or in place of drywall tape. It’s also not a good idea to use duct tape to seal the cracks in a home’s exterior walls, reattach broken washing machine parts, hold on a loose door handle, hold together broken furniture pieces, repair tears in the upholstery on a desk chair or sofa “repair,” and hold in place the broken corner of a floor tile. Yes, homeowners have tried all of the above.
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Category: Blogging, Home Tags: Home and Garden, Plumbing Leave a Comment

Flos Lighting

07 Mar 2013 by Admin

Flos lighting at Geoffrey Harris is one of the London retailer’s most popular and successful brands. It is also one of the most diverse. From the Flos Tatou series to the Glo-ball, Flos have commissioned various international designers (such as Patricia Urquiola for the Tatou and Jasper Morrison for the Glo-ball) to create a lighting range that hits on all points of the design spectrum. They are responsible for some of the most iconic and recognisable designs in modern lighting.

The company’s genesis was the result of collaboration between the Italian Castioglioni brothers in 1971. A series of dynamic collaborations followed, such as the one with esteemed designer Phillipe Starck in the late 1980s and Antonio Citterio, to name but a few. This tradition of collaborating with some of the most convincing talents in contemporary design has unsurprisingly produced great and revolutionary designs. It is as if Flos were itself a talent scout, sourcing the best in class to create flawless products. Here are a pick of some of Flos’ finest pieces and collaborations:

–The Kelvin

Conservatories – Great for Plant Lovers!

17 Feb 2013 by Admin

Over the past few years, the British weather has somehow become even more erratic than it used to be; this has led to some slightly cooler summers and has in turn increased the popularity of the traditional conservatory.

If you’re a gardener, you may prefer being on your knees with your hand cultivator running through the soil, but it turns out that you may be able to benefit from a conservatory as well. There are a number of types of plant that will be simply unable to grow in the garden, due to the unpredictable, often cold weather, but will likely flourish in the warm glow of a conservatory.

Here are some things that you, as a plant lover, will enjoy from a new conservatory.

Views of the Garden, All Day, Every Day

The main advantage of a conservatory is that you can sit in it and look out at your splendid garden, even when the weather doesn’t permit actually being outside. For example, if it starts to rain but you were hoping to spend some time in the garden, staying in the conservatory gives you the illusion of being out there, whilst keeping you warm and dry – much better than simply looking out the kitchen window!

Even on a typical sunny summer day, the conservatory can be put to good use – relax in your conservatory furniture, put your feet up, open a good book and bask in the warmth and sunlight! Open up the door and let the breeze roll in and you’ve cooked up a beautiful atmosphere, reminiscent of a Mediterranean coastline.

Disney Princess 20 inch Singing & Storytelling Doll Belle

09 Jan 2013 by Admin

Hosted by NYSavingSpecials, Your Fashion Resource, Barbara’s Beat, Rude Mom, Creatively Cheap & Constantly Crazy, Magical Mouse Schoolhouse, Kelly’s Thoughts On things, Heartfelt Balance Handmade Life, Stay a Stay at Home Mom, The Dirty Floor Diaries, SmartySaver.