Laminate it

I used to like wall to wall carpet, but after years of having to steam clean carpets because of pets and children? I'm a fan of laminate floor above hardwood floors. Laminate is much easier to care for and much easier to install. If you have ever spent weeks sanding down a hardwood floor and then coating it? You'll understand why laminate is easier to install. Water spilled or those pet accidents on a wood floor can create issues if it's not caught immediately, that's not a problem with laminate. There is really less cleaning time with laminate versus carpet when you consider no vacuuming or steam cleaning and for many it helps reduce allergen issues.

Pendants are not just for necks

When you see the word "pendant" you may think of a pendant necklace, or pendant earrings, but there are lots more pendants out there that do have one thing in common with jewelry, they do decorate. Looking at some of the pendant lighting fixtures will give you a good idea into how many different ways you can decorate your home with this style of lighting no matter your favorite decorating style. My personal favorite is some of the globe pendant style lighting.

Those cold winter nights

One of the things I don't like about winter is when it is time to go to bed, there is nothing appealing about getting into a cold bed where you shiver until you are finally warm enough to fall asleep. Rather than deal with an electric blanket, heated mattress pads work amazingly in creating a scenario where you get into a nice warm bed. If you get one with a thermostat you don't have to worry about later waking up feeling as if you are too warm. Stay toasty this winter.

:-)

Art Van Furniture to have three Grand Openings in one day

For the first time in its 51 year history, Art Van Furniture will Grand Open three stores in one day. On January 22, 2011, Art Van will celebrate the Grand Openings of 3 new stores with colorful fanfare and 4 contests in Auburn Hills, Petoskey and Onaway.

"This is not only a high point for Art Van Furniture," exclaimed Art Van Elslander, founder and chairman of Art Van Furniture. "It's also a milestone for the U.S. furniture industry. I can't recall any American furniture chain grand opening three stores in one day," added Van Elslander.

Company history is also being made with the opening of Art Van's first mall location at Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills. The 44,000 square foot store features a new lifestyle center court showcasing Art Van's four styles: Contemporary living, Casual living, Traditional living and Rustic living. The new store will also reveal a new prototype Clearance Center design and vertical furniture display spotlighting the best values and fashion throughout the store.

Great Lakes Crossing Outlets Grand Opening events begin January 22, 2011 at 10am and runs until 8pm. The first 250 people will receive a free gift. Ribbon cutting ceremonies emceed by television personality Christy McDonald will begin at 1pm. Grand Opening events also feature free food, family-friendly entertainment including music, clowns and costumed characters. Guests statewide can join in on the fun by entering one of 4 contests including a 12 month car lease, 60 inch HD Television, $5,000 shopping spree, or a trip for 4 to Disneyworld. "Anyone who is in the market for furniture or mattresses should shop Art Van on January 22nd," said Kim Yost, CEO of Art Van Furniture. "This is the day to buy! We will have amazing one-time offers throughout the state," proclaimed Yost.

Art Van's two newest northern Michigan locations will also Grand Open on January 22nd in Petoskey and Onaway. The three new stores add 200 new jobs to Art Van payrolls.

Decline in mortgage defaults reported

Data through December 2010, released today by Standard & Poor's and Experian for the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices, a comprehensive measure of changes in consumer credit defaults, showed a decline in monthly default rates for first and second mortgages to 2.93% and 1.74% respectively. Auto loans experienced the biggest decline this month to 1.68% from 1.76% in November. The bank card index declined slightly to 6.73% default rate.

"Default rates across the four major categories of consumer borrowing declined in December from November and from a year earlier. Nationally, consumers continue to gradually improve their financial condition," commented David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee for S&P. "Separately, data from the Federal Reserve shows that bank card credit declined through November. Debt-service ratios, the proportion of disposable income that goes to paying debt, continues to decline. On a regional basis, the five cities we cover suggest that the Sunbelt continues to see greater than typical default rates."

Speakers of the House

I bet you thought I was going to go political didn't you? Not this time, this is about a different type of speakers of the house, one that more people are probably fond of -- home speakers. The right home sound system can make your television or gaming experience better. Now that we have a Wii, we use it to watch Neflix through our television, with surround sound, it makes it a much better experience than back in the day when we would watch from the computer.

Cabling nightmares

Where we live now we don't have cable or dish television, we have a digital adapter that only occasionally gets in one station -- that's a horror story for another day -- However, the last place we lived, we decided we were going to get satellite television. We ordered it, the cable contractor showed up and we thought all would be well.

All he did was drill a huge hole in our living room since we wanted and paid for two boxes, and left the cable that would go from the living room to the bedroom. He said that if we wanted it ran, we'd have to pay him extra or call in data cabling installers. Never mind that the agreement stated "2 complete installations" and we weren't talking about a difficult endeavor, there was an attic crawl space that went from one end of the apartment to the other.

While the company promised to send out another installer, we then discovered they lied about the ability to get local channels -- which was one of the reasons we went with them. So, we just canceled the whole thing, and were charged for the damage to the living room wall, when we moved out since they never made that right.

Moral of the story? Make sure you are dealing with an experienced Structured Cabling Contractor and if there is damage? Document it, it makes it easier later if you get the run around when it comes to repairs.

Restoration after damage

While you may have storm damage insurance you really don't stop to think about the different steps required to try to restore household items damaged from a storm or some other incident like smoke damage from a fire.

Take family photos, you need someone who specializes in photo restoration services austin or anywhere in the nation. Not having an expert makes the chance of the photos being destroyed forever much more possible.

Beyond storms and fire damage, things that may seem simple are a part of cleaning and restoration, like leather cleaning tips austin -- you can't just drop a leather coat into the washing machine ... Not if you want to wear it again.

This time of year you may also be regretting it if you didn't make use of a visit to have your air duct cleaning austin,tx or here in Ohio. It's not too late if the dust is driving you to sneeeze ...

You've got mail ...

We've lived at different addresses and in different neighborhoods, but I personally prefer a scenario where we have a wall mount mailbox for a variety of reasons.

One is security, having wall mounted mailboxes -- especially one with a lock is more secure than having a mail box at the end of your driveway. We've had several incidents where something was delivered and stolen, which creates a huge hassle in trying to have money credited back and/or the item re-delivered. The wall mount mailboxes at least make the box closer to your house.

In our case, the dogs start barking as soon as they hear the lid to the house mailboxes opened. It also affords better weather protection when you have a covered porch, this time of year in other houses it was not uncommon to end up with soggy mail if the post man didn't shut the front door of the street mailbox. The only thing worse than having items stolen from your mail is mail that's not legible ...

Is there a new mattress in your future?

If you are planning on replacing your mattress this year, many are turning to memory foam mattresses over traditional mattresses. Several of my family members swear by the difference in their sleep comfort levels with a memory foam versus their older mattress. It's something that's on my list of future purchases, if now is the time for you? Here's information on a memory foam mattress sale that can create not only sweeter dreams but sweet savings.

:-)

Mortgage rates move up this week

Mortgage rates moved up notably this week, with the average rate on the benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate rising to 4.71 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.36 discount and origination points.

To see mortgage rates in your area, go to http://www.bankrate.com/funnel/mortgages/.

The average 15-year fixed mortgage increased to 4.07 percent, and the larger jumbo 30-year fixed rate did as well, settling at 5.29 percent. Adjustable rate mortgages were also on the rise, with the average 5-year ARM climbing to 3.74 percent and the average 7-year ARM jumping to 4.08 percent.

Good news regarding the U.S. economy alternated with European debt worries and tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Despite ample nervousness among investors – a condition that would typically drive rates lower – mortgage rates posted a notable increase for the second time in three weeks. The November employment report due Friday Dec. 3 could be the catalyst for the next move in mortgage rates, with evidence of solid private sector job growth fuel for higher rates.

The last time mortgage rates were above 6 percent was Nov. 2008.

A nice romantic fire

Nothing brightens a home more than a cheery fire burining in the fireplace this time of year. It can also be a great additional heating source for a room. Yet many of us don't have a traditional fire place or we may not want to burn wood. There are alternatives, like Gas Logs which can easily be purchased online at Hansen Wholesale.

They specialize in selling R. H. Peterson Real Fyre Gas Logs which are believed by many to be the best in ventless ventless Gas Logs and vent required logs. Hansen Wholesale even offers systems that come with a remote, so you can instantly create that romantic fireplace moment while still cuddled on the couch (or loveseat) with a loved one.

Prices vary which means they fit almost any budget. They also have a very helpful Gas Log FAQs for those of you who have used gas logs years ago or are new to this alternative choice over a woodburning stove/fireplace.

Opinions on HUD to ads and more

The ways you can share material that you blog, and make a bit of revenue at the same time continues to grow. You can learn about adsense revenue sharing and the opportunities as far as where you can blog and earn revenue.

You can also find a variety of other things, even things like how to find HUD apartments for rent in your area. There is a huge amount of information out there related to social services.

Even advice on selling structured settlement can be found on the net. You should always look at the credentials of the person who is giving advice, especially if it's not anecdotal in nature. That written, at times we can learn from the experiences of others as far as what to do and what to avoid.

Life without a disposal...

I've grown accustomed to living without a dishwasher, since the kitchen in our home is really too small for one anyway. However, I miss having a garbage disposal. Almost every place we lived before had an Insinkerator disposal. Which made life much easier [well except for a few potato peel incidents] since most of the members of this household don't do a good job in scraping off their plates before putting them in the sink. It was also easer to deal with errant straws and other objects accidently dropped down the drain. On more than one occasion I've had to plunge the kitchen sink, only to discover straws...

And the sign said....

When you think about address signs you may think of the traditional sign that is attached to your home, but as you can see by the picture shared in this post, there are other ways to let people know where you live. Some are fond of the more traditional address sign or just the house number. House numbers can be simple, decorative and/or reflective.

With the internet there are hundreds of possibilities when it comes to finding just the right address plaque for your home's style. You can add an additional message as the pictured sign has, or your name or just your street and house address. Many of the signs are made from recycled material, which means for those of you who are environmentally conscious? You have options to decorate your home while still being kind to Mother Earth...For those of you who are cost conscious? Look for special deals of the day and free shipping offers...

Finland's most popular mailbox goes world wide

You may not be familiar with bobi mailboxes but they are made by Bobicompany and are reportedly Finland's most popular mailbox. The company went world wide and are considered by many to be the best in contemporary mailboxes. According to the company, the Bobi and the Bonbobi are the two most popular designs and are USPS approved for use in curbside delivery in the USA.

There is more than one style and a variety of different color options with a bobi mailbox. I'm personally a fan of the red ones, I think it would make a nice addition to most homes, though the navy blue one that they offer is also a great color option for those of you wanting something different than the traditional black or steel mailbox.

Container gardening

Even if you have a yard where you could plant a traditional garden, there are advantages to the use of a container or a window box garden. One recent example, we have a small yard, but one where I could plant a traditional in-the-ground garden, but I've opted to use garden window boxes. A huge storm was coming, that would have wiped out a traditional ground garden because there was a large amount of hail in the storm.

All I had to do was make sure my containers were closer to the house so the window flower boxes that contain my herbs were not damaged and neither were my tomatoes that are container planted. My herb garden in window plant boxes are easy to maintain and very easy to take whichever herbs I want, quickly and easily.

Donna Karan your home...

I could spend hours shopping on the DonnaKaranHome.com website. Dreaming of the various combinations of items that are sold there that I would use in my dream home in my mind. Where changing the color of a room is possible within moments as I browse from screen to screen finding a scheme I like better than the one before.

I've probably redone my dream bedroom in my head hundreds of times, debating which style of bed frame I'd like and which Donna Karan Home bedding design would be "the one."

Even the bathroom of my dreams would have amazing bath accessories with a huge garden tub (with a jacuzzi of course) and a separate stand up shower. It would of course not be the only bathroom, since a dream house would have to include a scenario where there was not just one bathroom for our household.

Window shopping on the internet can be the things dreams are made of....

A little log cabin in the woods...

There are times I dream about getting away from it all, especially times like now when things are a bit stressful. I picture a cabin in the woods, preferably a log cabin, with rustic furniture on a small front porch...Where I would sit and write, finish that book I've been working on for some time. Where I would be completely alone to enjoy nature and solitude...No phones, no internet, though electricity to power my computer would make the book writing easier.

:-)

All in a cluster...

You may not stop to think about cluster mailboxes but chances are you travel down to the end of your street or another nearby location to one of these CBU mailboxes each day to get your mail. More and more communities are turning to community mailboxes instead of delivery of mail right to your door.

It's done for a variety of reasons, one is security. Your mail is protected by a key so there's no worry of someone taking your mail or packages. This started out years ago with apartment mailboxes and commercial mailboxes. It's much faster and easier for a mail carrier, especially in areas where there are no sidewalks. Granted there's no guarantee this will ever help the price of postage to decrease, but the security aspect alone is worth it for many.