Preserving Flowers for Home Decor

For gardeners, the end of the summer means removing fading flowers and replacing them with a fall garden. If you can’t stand the thought of throwing away your beautiful, brightly colored blooms, not to worry! Zola has created an infographic that will help you preserve your favorite flowers and turn them into a beautiful piece of home decor. 

Here’s a few ways to transform preserved flowers into home decor: 

• Wall art 

• Coasters

• Candles 

• Sun catchers

• Pottery decor

• Vase display 

• Wreath

• Shadow box

Guest Post - 7 Workplace Interior Changes to Entice Employees Back

As the UK government eases the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, workplaces are slowly reopening. Despite this, the risk surrounding the virus transmission is still serious. Employees may feel concerned about their health and the safety of loved ones that they may come in contact with. 

Due to the uncertainty and the fear surrounding social interactions and indoor spaces, many employees may feel sceptical about returning to their workplace. Employers need to prioritise the health and safety of their workers. As a result, businesses will have to make changes to the interior of their workplaces to aid in the confidence levels of your employees about coming back.

If you aren’t clear on what changes to make, then we’re here to help. Here are 7 changes you can make to your workplace to help increase health safety. 

1. Declutter the workplace

The first change that you make to the interior of your workplace is removing excessive objects. If you have a lot of empty space in the office, the risk of transmission goes down. When your workplace has fewer objects and furniture, you’ll only have to worry about the cleaning and sanitization of fewer surfaces. 

Redesign your workplace to a minimalistic model, that way your workers will see the effort you’ve made and will feel safer. When you declutter a space, the objects that people could come in regular contact with become fewer. It would also provide you with the space to implement the distance of 6 feet or 2 metres between workstations. Decluttering the workplace will make your employees more comfortable about returning. It will also show your commitment to their safety and wellbeing.

2.Introduce outdoor shared spaces

Due to the high-risk nature of close spaces, companies have the opportunity to introduce the idea of outdoor shared spaces. If your office has a roof, patio, or terraces, then you can move the employees who need to work in groups to those spaces. Because outdoor spaces are less prone to transmissions.

You can also turn these spaces into breakrooms while using the indoor common-spaces for distanced workstations. This change is very likely to give more confidence to your employees when coming back. However, you can only apply it in areas with moderate temperatures during summer and Autumn. Hot and humid weather could negatively impact your employees’ efficiency. 

Additionally, as the weather gets colder, you’ll have to go back to indoor settings. 

3.More use of technology 

Technology has proven its worth, especially more during the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic. It’s because of technology that we were able to switch to work-from-home settings. Now that workplaces are reopening, it can be leveraged to make workplaces safer. 

Touch-free technology may be your best friend during this time! COVID-19 is transmitted through contact, so you need to eliminate as many options for touching equipment etc. as possible. Consider designating a budget for adding and implementing voice-activated systems. Touchless switchboards, automatic doors, and phone-controlled systems would ensure minimal contact in your workplace. 

Another creative way to cope with this situation is to introduce door-free designs. If automating doors is a cost you don’t want to bear, then getting rid of doors entirely may solve the problem. Removing doors between small workrooms will also increase ventilation and the circulation of air. They can always be put back on later down the line, if required.

Many workplaces already have sensor-flush toilets and sinks in bathrooms. If your workplace restrooms don’t have these functions, then this may be an ideal time to consider renovations. 

4.Advanced air filtration systems

COVID-19 is spread the fastest due to contact with the oral droplets of an infected person. Therefore, having a system that cleans out the air frequently and efficiently will reduce the risk of this transmission. Indoor spaces usually cause its inhabitants to share the air. Thus, installing and maintaining a state-of-the-art air filtration system will keep the indoor air clean of microorganisms. 

An upgraded air filtration system will reassure your employees of safety in the workplace. If you have an efficient HVAC system at your workplace, then you need to ensure its regular maintenance.

5.Protective equipment

Making the use of protective equipment mandatory inside your workplace is also a great way to ensure safety and satisfaction. High impact measures like providing sneeze guard glass to each worker could reduce the anxiety surrounding the return to workplaces. 

Making changes to workstations should be another step that you take. For example, installing glass panels around individual workstations in addition to the 6 feet distance is another cost-effective change that you can make.

Change the design of workstations so that employees don’t have to sit in a face-to-face setting. The more space there is between the workers, the better. Normalising the use of sneeze guard glass in small spaces will help reduce the risk of transmission. 

6.Distribute office space and working hours

Make use of as many shared spaces in your workplaces as possible to install distanced workstations. You can also distribute your workplace into several smaller units in different areas instead of having one headquarters where everyone has to show up. This measure could ensure that employees don’t have to travel long distances to reach their workplace. Instead, they can go to the office near their area of residence. 

If you can’t afford to sustain a distributed workplace, then you can cap the number of employees that can work on shifts at a time. It would be ideal to limit the use of your workplace to 30% of its capacity at a given time. You can hire office fit out contractors to help you in spacing out your office. 

7.Hygiene & Cleaning Protocols

It’s vital to standardise new cleaning and hygiene protocols at your workplace. Before calling your employees in, send them a list of safety and preventive protocols that will be implemented in the office. That way, your workers will come prepared. Moreover, it will send a positive message that you’re taking their health and safety seriously. 

Author Bio

Bryony Shaw is the marketing executive at Spectrum Interior, a leading office design company, offering washroom fit out and office fit out services in the UK. Her aim in life is to transform as many interior environments as possible into highly beautiful and functional spaces and make all incumbent dysfunctional eyesores a thing of the past. Synchronising the marketing, sales, purchasing and project management teams, she likes to listen to the needs concerning absolutely anything interior.

Top 5 Home Décor Tips

If you have recently enlisted the services of an NYC mover or other moving service in your city or locale for that matter, it is safe to assume you are considering tweaking the décor in your new place to better reflect your tastes or personality.

Home improvements like this are often better struck when the iron is hot – you know, before you start settling into a daily routine.

There is no shortage of home décor advice out there, but these tips take you right to the very basics of it. After all, spaces (never mind rooms) differ; so do preferences. So, what may be good for Madge may not work for Andy.

That in mind, here are some tips on how to decorate your new home without emptying your wallet.

1.     Eliminate the Clutter, Crap and Chaos

Humans love familiarity, but your home (and sanity) will be better off without the crap.

If you brought along the clutter from your old pad, you might want to cut it out from your life, and there is actually no better time than now.

This is one of the few single-biggest things you can do to your home to give it a fresh look, and the good news is that it can take you as little as a day to sort everything out. OK, probably a week for some of us hoarders.

The Marie Kondo method is a good place to start – if an item no longer warms your heart, then out it needs to go.

Strip everything to a bare minimum and start from there.

2.     Rearrange

Another often overlooked aspect of home décor is rearranging the furniture we already own.

Good home décor is not just about disposing the old and replacing it with the new, you see. Sometimes, all we need do is work with what we have. And the results might surprise you.

Try a different setup with your existing furniture – swap the end table to the opposite side of the chair; put your bed on the opposite wall; rearrange the living room and adopt a completely fresh layout...

When moving very large items, don’t forget to factor in the lighting and placement of wall hangings and artwork.

3.     Apply a Fresh Coat

A fresh coat of paint can breathe a new lease of life into even the most humdrum of spaces. You don’t need to hop onto the ‘paint of the year’ bandwagon. Work with colors that really do it for you, although sometimes going unconventional can awaken parts of us we didn’t know existed.

Just make sure to try out a hue you aren’t too sure about first! Many stores offer sample paint bottles.

In addition to the walls, other areas that could do with some fresh paint include plant stands, end tables, flower pots or vases, and even the back of book shelves.

4.     Accent Colors and Accessories

Assess the space you want to spruce up and select some contrasting colors to add some life to it. This need not be on the walls but rather, could come in the form of tieback ribbons on curtains, placement items that come in a contrasting hue etc.

Simple accessories like pillows, throws, and art and decorative objects can also punch up a room and give it some nice pop.

5.     Create Visual Symmetry

Most people buy decorative items in matching pairs – which subconsciously brings balance and serenity to a room.

When you don’t have pairing partners and are working with dissimilar items, try matching up these items. For instance, a shorter lamp to coordinate with a taller lamp on a book stack and so on.

Guest Post - 6 Small Upgrades That Will Surely Make a Big Difference in Your Home

There's no better time than now to play around with the look of your home. But it can be challenging to commit to massive upgrades or renovation projects in your home.

Nonetheless, there are still many simple ways that people can change or upgrade their homes and again feel a huge difference.

To help you change your home in simple but effective ways, try out these six small upgrades yourself.

Paint your walls

If you're looking for a quick and easy home project that will freshen up the look of any space in your home, you should look at your walls.

No matter what room you're planning on changing up, you can completely alter the feel of a place by changing the colors of the walls themselves.

All you need would be paintbrushes and a bucket or so of the chosen color of your room. You can choose different colors, but make sure that you stick to a paint color that you won't hate once it's all over you finished.

If you do end up not liking it, the great thing is you can change it all over again.

Decorate your windows

Windows are an underrated part of any room when it comes to small decorations that create a big difference.

Windows can make a massive difference if you make the right changes for it. One thing it can do is it can make your home look bigger and grander than it is, all with a simple trick.

All you need to do is to hang your curtains as close to the ceiling as possible.

By making sure your curtains are as close to the ceiling as possible, you lengthen the look of any room. It catches the eye and drags it up to the ceiling, making the room look larger than it does.

Refinish kitchen cabinets

You don't need to do a significant overhaul of your kitchen to feel that you made a significant upgrade. Sometimes, all you need to do is pay special attention to particular areas.

For example, all you need to do in the kitchen is to do a bit of refinishing to your kitchen cabinets to make it feel more upgraded.

Your kitchen cabinets serve as a background to the kitchen and are usually a very understated thing. Yet, they can be more than that if you make the right move.

You can repaint your kitchen cabinets and completely change up the feel and look of your kitchen. As long as it matches with everything else, it's going to look like a massive upgrade.

Install backsplash

Another part of the kitchen that could use more tender, loving care from you would be your kitchen backsplash.

The kitchen backsplash's purpose in the kitchen is to protect the walls from all sorts of liquids involved in the cooking process. Aside from that, it can serve as a decorative focal point.

Thus, if you don't have on yet, consider installing a kitchen backsplash. One that's less generic than your usual to make a splash in your kitchen.

It's a pretty simple renovation, but it can tie the whole kitchen together and make it more together.

Light up a room

A simple upgrade that anyone can do that will make any room look and feel refreshing is by playing around with the lighting.

If you let in more natural light inside areas of your home, it will look warmer and inviting. Plus, the light will also make any room look more spacious, especially if you place mirrors in the room's strategic areas.

If you have a room that's more for relaxing and winding down, you can invest in dimmer lighting to get the mood going. But if it's a part of your home where you do plenty of activities, like the living room, you want to make it as bright as possible.

New front door

If you want to make a significant change to your house without committing to a renovation project, consider installing a new front door.

The great thing about getting a new front door is that it improves not only the look of your house's exterior but also the living room or reception area. It's a simple change, too!

According to Service Pros Auckland Builders, all you need is to choose a different style for your front door. You can even hire a professional to finish installing a new front door for you in no time.

Soon, you'll find the effects of having that new front door give your home.

Conclusion

When you change your home, it feels like you're getting to know your house once again. It feels like you're starting with a fresh slate and can help you get a new and exciting vibe from your home once again.

With the six small upgrades listed above, you now know that you don't need large renovation projects to get that feeling from your home once again. Try them out and see for yourself which ones made you feel like you've got a brand new home!

About the Author - Jacky Xu is the Chief Operating Officer for MaidSailors.com, an Airbnb cleaning service provider in New York. Maid Sailors provide a wide range of cost-effective, yet high-quality cleaning services that are sure to delight their customers.