PLAYGROUND COTTAGES HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS.

Completing a Family Room.Posted by admin on March 10th, 2010

Do you know what makes or breaks a family room? It is not how big (or flat) the TV is, whether you have a speaker with sound surround, a home theater system or gaming consoles. It is how big, comfortable and cozy the sofas are!

What you see are sofas from SofaSofa (http://www.sofasofa.co.uk/).

From left to right (clockwise): Fixed Cover, Loose Cover, Traditional leather, Contemporary Leather Sofas

Admit it! The first thing that makes you comfortable in a family room or in any house is the sofa. Members of the family spend such a huge amount time in there – it’s where most family bonding moments occur. So it is no surprise if families spend endless amounts of time looking for the perfect sofa, and grab it even if it would be out of the budget.

I personally like a family room with a mix and match set of sofas. I really am not a fan of leather sofas – but it would be great if you have toddlers because spills can just be wiped clean and the sofa will be all brand new. I would love a sofa with a loose cover, simply because I am practical – I admit I am fickle-minded and there would be times I would like to change the look of a room. With a sofa that has loose covers, it would be easy for me to change looks, maintain the covers and have new sofas every now and then!

This Hadley 3 seater sofa has a great shape, it looks so comfy too:

House Plans for Us.Posted by admin on March 10th, 2010

We might just push through with the impossible dream after all.

That is how determined the husband is to have us move out into a home we can call our own by next year. He is right, we are not getting any young and we need to make sure that whatever we invest now we can finish before we die. I do not want to burden our kids with loans we never got to fully pay. So we have been talking (sometimes, debating to be honest) over home plans and how we want to execute our house plan. We do not take this lightly, this is our home, something that we will be living with maybe for the rest of our lives!

And we are seriously considering doing that. We love talking about future plans. The things we like in a house, the style, the type of furniture. In fact, the husband even got architectural magazines for us to pore and browse over.

There are very nice prepared house plans at HousePlansandMore.com – you wouldn’t need an architect for it!

I really hope our house plans will push trough next year. If not next year, the year after next.

Beautifying your Garden With ChimesPosted by admin on March 9th, 2010

A sprawling lawn with beautifully landscaped gardens and trees can be your own paradise right in the confines of your home. This is one of the reasons why most couples with kids prefer to invest on a house and lot than a condo unit. Surrounding yourself in open air, with greens around the house is not only therapeutic, it can make a refreshing and peaceful view.

A cousin of mine recently had their built and they decided to keep the huge mango tree in the middle of their lot. They built their house on the side and had the rest landscaped. We go there for picnics all the time. The tree has been a huge relief during summer and heat is unbearable. During Christmas, it is adorned with Christmas lights and lanterns. They even bought wind chimes to make the tree more attractive. Garden wind chimes are an excellent way to provide character and charisma to outdoor spaces. Not only are they pleasing to the eyes and music to the ears, they are considerably cheaper than most garden accessories. For example, bamboo wind chimes are very cheap because of the material used. Yet they remain to the be the most popular choice among wind chimes because the bamboo provides a great accent and blends with garden surroundings.

But if you would like to invest on them you should consider getting metal or aluminum wind chimes. They produce more harmonious sounds (some are even programmed to produce certain keys or notes) and metal ones do not rust, a plus when placed outdoors where they will be subject to extreme weather conditions.

In summary, having your patch of green right inside your house is not only eco-friendly, it is aesthetically pleasing and refreshing to the senses. Adding one more visible element, the element of air through wind chimes, is just icing on the cake.

House RepairPosted by admin on February 25th, 2010

So my mom and I were talking yesterday and we were talking about the little things we need to have to make our closets more orderly. It is cheaper to buy than the rv repair they need to do so we dealt with that first. I really want to finish my son’s room, hopefully next week and have cable installed so I can finally invest on a washing machine and a new dining table. The expenses are endless!

Eco-RoofsPosted by admin on February 18th, 2010

Have you seen the garden in the roof of Reese Witherspoon’s San Francisco apartment in the movie Just Like Heaven? That is the trend nowadays of modern houses, they encourage the building of ecoroofs.

The environment is in shambles and everyone is scared and stressed about it (probably the reason why most people need deep wrinkle treatment as early as late twenties!), and the ecoroof is one of the little ways to help out. Plus your house won’t be as hot during the summer – a totally win-win situation!

An ecoroof is a vegetated roof system used in place of a conventional roof. Ecoroofs are comprised of several layers that include a root barrier, waterproof membrane, drainage, soil system, and plants. Similar to landscaping your yard, the viability of any ecoroof is dependent on many variables such as climate, exposure, soil and plant type, and initial maintenance. With those variables in mind, there are many design opportunities to transform a conventional roof into a beautiful, functional and beneficial space.

Bed and Beth IdeasPosted by admin on February 3rd, 2010

What has been keeping me occupied the past few days? I have been adding finishing touches to our rooms as I have unearthed a couple of decorations I can use around our clutter-free (finally) room. I still have yet to decide (and order) the big brother’s study table and double deck-bed though. Lack of budget and my fickle-mindedness really go hand in hand together.

I also bought some bathroom accessories and toiletries last weekend while I was in the grocery and was disappointed to find out it won’t fit into our little basket in the bathroom. We really can use a nice vanity in there. So far, a search on bathroom vanities – contemporary and white, my preferred style – yielded these results:

I really like the second picture for a powder room, I love the fact it hangs on the wall and the round vanity mirror offsets the corners. The third picture would look better if they were white but I love the sink! The first image reminds of a 1950’s bathroom – very vintage and chic.

This one is very nice too:

I love the open shelves with baskets and how wide the mirror is! Once we have our own house I will really fight for a big bathroom, because I really want a small closet for our towels and linens. Beside that will be the space for towel warmers! I really like the stainless steel ones, it reminds me of bathrooms in five-star hotels:

But these one would be more organized (it also keeps things hidden):

Look at how diverse towel warmers are these days, they can really make interesting designs i the bathroom already:

Imagine the spiral towel warmer having different colors of towels, they would really be an eye-candy! Of course, for me, I would prefer my towels be white.

Bathroom and Kitchen Remodeling DreamsPosted by admin on January 26th, 2010

I have blogged about being tied down with the current state of our house’s kitchen and bathroom as we are renting. Frustrating as it maybe for me who spends a lot of time in the kitchen and considers the bathroom my private haven, I just make do with what we have and try not to get irritated every time water spills from the sink because it is too shallow and water spills over the bathroom tiles because there is no separator from the shower and toilet.

If I were to choose, I would be using glass sinks for my bathrooms. Yes, it would be plural because when we have our own house, I will fight for my own bathroom (even if it is technically in the master’s bedroom). I know I will be pushing it if I gunned for his and hers bathroom sinks as well. I saw a very nice glass vessel sink that would be very appropriate for what I had in mind.

I saw this over at MR Direct Inc and I love that they included the specific sizes in every item. This particular crystal glass sink comes in many colors too. Wouldn’t that be interesting to use in a powder room?

Curtains or Blinds?Posted by admin on January 19th, 2010

We have been thinking lately whether we would replace our curtains with roller blinds. It is cheaper to get blinds and easier to clean if you think about it because curtains, while it may look cheaper at the onset, may actually cost more considering you need to have it laundered every now and then.

I am just apprehensive as I really am not excited about plastic or wooden blinds. Plus the pleats of the usual blinds might get destroyed as we have a toddler in the house. Roller blinds like these one would work though:

Lovely BathroomPosted by admin on January 16th, 2010

I love the wood + shade of green that was used.

This would be better if there would be a his and hers sinks and this adjoins to a walk-in closet, don’t you agree? I am wishing for a white tub as well (I might as well wish for some  belly fat reduction since I am wishing!).

Care to tell me what’s the name of that lovely shade of green? I am loving it.

Source.

This Is Cozy.Posted by admin on January 16th, 2010

I love this kitchen. It looks lived-in. The clutter is a design in itself – and most of all, it is something I can envision us living in!

Back when we had no bed, I should have converted our mattress into something fun like this:

The colors – red, green, yellow and some orange are just too inviting. I wouldn’t dare play with those colors but they look good together in these photos. If only houses can be treated as easy as acne with differin. Everything is so much expensive these days.

Source.