6 Different Ways To Improve Your Bathroom

The bathroom presents a moment of privacy where we care for some of our most basic needs and get ready to tackle the day. So, you can improve your life by making it as ideal as possible. Finding ways to improve your bathroom can help you prepare for the day and put yourself in the right headspace. To that end, here are six different ways to improve your bathroom.

Add Plants

Adding a bit of foliage to your bathroom can help breathe a new sense of life into it–literally. Not only do plants add a bit of color to a bathroom, but being around nature is naturally pleasing to us. They’re great for starting your day off right with a positive mindset. Just ensure your bathroom gets enough natural light so that any plants you bring into the bathroom will receive ample nourishment.

Include Art

A similar but different way to improve your bathroom is to hang works of art on the wall. You don’t need an expensive Picasso or anything of the sort. Instead, try checking out your local thrift stores for pieces of art that appeal to you or elicit emotion from you. This will make the walls of the bathroom much more interesting to look at. It will also add a touch of your personality to the room.

Extra Storage

For a more practical addition, adding extra storage options to the bathroom can help make a cluttered bathroom feel tidy. These can be traditional things like cabinets or items that are a bit more creative or uncommon, such as jars and baskets. You can use these to hold your toiletries.

New Towels

When not in use, towels are just as decorative as they are practical. If your towels are beginning to seem worn out, or you just want a change of pace, new towels can contribute a spa-like feel to the bathroom. Depending on the color of your bathroom, your towels’ color can even serve as a pleasing contrast.

Tile Designs

Maybe you’re looking for a bit more character in your floors or walls. Tiles are an excellent addition to any bathroom. Typically, you might include them in the shower or a backsplash for the sink. Tiling can be as simple as minimalist subway tiles or as audacious as 3D hexagon tiles. You’ll never feel starved for choice.

Fresh Paint

Of course, if tiles aren’t your thing, there’s always the tried-and-true option of repainting the walls. Color alone influences our mental and emotional state, so a fresh coat of paint can help promote a happier and healthier lifestyle. If anything, it’s an inexpensive way to get some change in your life.

Creative Ways To Add a Pop of Color to Your Interior Décor

When I was a young teenager, I had sparkling aspirations of the type of apartment I’d have when I was older. I imagined painting poetry on the walls and filling my home with colorful, beatnik furniture. Boring home décor? Not for me!

Of course, as I grew older, I found that my dreams faded with my lack of time and lack of design know-how. But it’s still possible to find creative ways to add a pop of color to your interior décor to create the boho home of your thirteen-year-old dreams.

Painting the Architecture

The most obvious way to add a pop of color to your interior décor is to add a little paint to the walls—an accent wall, a mural, or my idea of painting Shel Silverstein verses on my bedroom wall. But architecture goes beyond the walls. For example, that eyesore of a radiator in the corner can become an artistic focal point with a little paint.

Some other architectural pieces you can dress up with paint include:

• Fireplaces

• Millwork

• Doors

• Stairs

• Pillars and support beams

• Rafters

Add a Little Art

But sometimes you have to ask yourself, why do the work of painting the wall—or other bits of your house, as it were—when someone else has already painted a canvas?

Art is a fantastic way to add pops of color, and it needn’t end with adding a characterless print to your wall. You can hang one large piece or a cluster of smaller frames to create a gallery wall. Otherwise, you can add tapestries or statues to a space for a truly eclectic look.

Fun With Furniture

We often think about the fact that furniture has color, but we don’t often think of it as a candidate for adding a color pop. That’s because furniture often lies on the neutral end of the color spectrum. But you can mix things up by buying some vibrant statement furniture. If you can’t find it for a reasonable price, you can always liven up an old piece with some bright paint.

So, my apartment doesn’t look like the set of the coming-of-age movies I watched as a kid. But that doesn’t mean I can’t breathe a little life into my current surroundings. And if I can add a little color to my space, you can too.

5 Modern Decorating Tips to Design Your Home Office

You can work in style from your home office.

You deserve more than a desk and chair in a corner. Why? You'll love to work in an office that mirrors the style and comfort of your home.

Tips for designing an office at home

1. Designate a space

Your home office will be where you spend the majority of your time, so don’t limit yourself with space. To preserve your guest room, you can squeeze a small desk into a closet.

Consider traffic flow and how you can withstand distractions. Are you more productive in the midst of bustling activity or in a private space? A private area with plenty of seating is essential for clients who will be visiting your office.

2. Do not sacrifice form for function

Your desk, shelves, and storage should be functional. Before you buy furniture, think about your workflow and the items that you use most often. Then look for pieces that are beautiful and practical.

Your home office furniture should be a complement to other rooms in the house, not a "soulless cubicle". Warm wood, soft, comfortable chairs, or a loveseat, are great options for traditional home decor. Modern metal furniture or artistic pieces can be used in a contemporary home office.

3. Invest in a great chair

Your office chair is a place you spend hours in. A beautiful, ergonomically-correct, comfortable seat will make your workday more enjoyable.

4. Give yourself a view

When you look up from your computer, position the desk so that you can see something interesting other than a wall.

The natural light from a window is the best, but you can also hang a picture or place your chair so that it faces the door. To control the light entering your room, consider sheer and blackout curtains.

To reduce eye strain and headaches, ensure that your office is well lit. Place the computer monitor in a way that it doesn't glare from overhead lights or windows. A small lamp can be placed on the desk to provide task lighting.

5. Inspire Yourself

A mini-shrine is a collection of favorite knickknacks and framed art. It can be a photo of your children or a piece of art that inspires you to make things happen. You might find inspiration in a Paris print or a picture of your children to remind you that it's all about them.

These decorating tips can make your work-from-home experience more personalized and enjoyable. Spending time working at home does not have to be boring and bland. Level up your home office design so you can do your work with comfort and ease.

How did you decorate your home office? Let us know in the comments!

Guest Post - Easy Ways to Deal with Foul Plumbing Odors

You enter your kitchen or bathroom and smell something unpleasant. You empty the trash and clean the entire room, but the stink is still there. Then it hits you – it’s coming from the drain.

Luckily, there are methods of dealing with plumbing odors that are simple enough to do on your own. 

If you observe other issues aside from the smell (like leaking or water back-ups), though, it would be best to contact a reliable plumber in your area immediately for quality plumbing repair.

Common Causes Smelly Drains

Sinks and shower drains are notorious for developing foul odors that can make the entire house stink. There are plenty of things that can go wrong underneath, possibly caused by:

1. Trapped Food

One of the most common reasons why your kitchen sink stinks is trapped food. Scraps and other organic material can get flushed down your drain. When they get stuck, accumulate, and decompose inside the pipes, they can cause nasty odors.

2. Gunk and Bacteria

Aside from food, grease, hair, and other gunk are likely to get washed down and clog your drains. Over time, they will attract bacteria and may release foul odors.

3. Sewer Gases

Do you smell a sewage-like scent coming from your kitchen or bathroom drain? This may be due to an empty P-trap – the U-shaped pipe under your sinks. Empty or dry P-traps allow pungent sewer gases to rise.

This problem usually occurs in sinks that aren’t used very often.

4. Clogged Vents

Plumbing systems are equipped with vents, which serve as escapeways for trapped gases, so they don’t leave unpleasant odors in the room. When these vents get clogged, trapped gases have no way out and usually leak out through the drains.

5. Plumbing Issues

Issues in the plumbing system (such as leak, missing traps, and rotting tubes) can cause unpleasant odors to seep from the bathroom drain or kitchen sink and into your home.

How to Eliminate Foul Plumbing Odors

No matter how careful you are with what you flush into your drains; some food, grease, and other particles can still inevitably get washed down your pipes and cause unpleasant odors after some time.

What can you do if this happens?

Here are four simple but effective ways to eliminate the smell coming from your plumbing system:

1. Boiling Water

Sometimes, all that a smelly drain needs is a good hot flush.

All you have to do is pour boiling water down your drain and then follow up with cold water after five minutes to flush away any grease and gunk that might have been stuck in the pipes. Easy, right?

The heat from the boiled water can help melt hardened dirt and other particles that might be causing the smell coming out of your plumbing. Habitually pouring hot water on your drains will keep it from stinking and clogging.

2. Hot Vinegar

Do you know that vinegar can help you de-stink your drain?

Yes, white vinegar is a fantastic deodorizer and it has disinfecting properties as well. Pouring a cup or two or hot vinegar down your drain and then running cold water for 60 seconds afterwards to rinse can take care of that funky smell from your sink or shower.

For better results, repeat the process one more time or as necessary.

3. Baking Soda

Remember that volcano project you did in school using baking soda and vinegar? As it turns out, it works quite well for foul-smelling drains, too. In fact, it’s one of the most popular tricks for getting rid of kitchen and bathroom smells.

Here’s what you do:

Dump a cup of baking soda into the drain. Let it sit for 15 minutes, then pour two cups of boiling hot vinegar. Let it pop and fizz for another 15 minutes and then wash everything down with hot water.

You can also substitute the vinegar with half a cup of lemon juice, but you’ll have to wait for an hour before rinsing it.

4. Drain Snake

Clogs are often the culprit behind plumbing odors. But some clogs are tougher to clear than others.

If you’re dealing with hardcore clogging, you may want to bring out (or purchase) a drain snake. It’s a plumbing tool that unblocks drains by breaking up and removing clogs.

To use a drain snake, remove the drain plug then slowly feed the snake in and crank the handle. Once you feel a resistance, turn the snake slowly to break up the clogging. When there’s no resistance anymore, pull the drain out and run water for a few minutes to flush everything.

Can’t Get Rid of the Stink?

Have you already tried the tips and hacks we’ve listed below, but still no luck? That could mean the problem is a lot more complicated than you think.

If your plumbing gives off a rotten egg/sewer-like smell or the odor is accompanied by water back-up, quit the DIY and call in a plumbing professional. Let the experts handle the problem for a better and more permanent fix!

Author:

Rachel Watson is the Senior Content Editor of Precision Air & Plumbing, a full-service HVAC, plumbing and home performance contractor operating in Chandler, Arizona. Rachel enjoys yoga and writing articles about how to make home living more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.