Remodeling / Posted on

GUIDE TO MOVING ABROAD

Are you moving to Sydney, Australia? There are many things to organise, so it is recommended to call an international removal company instead of a company that organise removals in Sydney to manage all the preparation, logistics, transport, but also the customs clearance of your goods to your new home.

Preparation phase

Normally a furniture removal company sends one of their advisers to your home to assess the amount of furniture and belongings to be moved, as well as any objects and goods to be considered: fragile, works of art or even a vehicle.

They will help you to establish a valuation for furniture and personal effects. In addition, they will offer transport insurance solutions to cover your goods for the duration of the move, from packaging to delivery to your new home. They can also insure the value of the move (the price of the transport)

Before loading, you must also sign a “moving consignment note” which summarises the chosen general conditions of transport. The staff will also use a packing list that details the contents of each of your boxes and parcels.

Depending on the mode of transport chosen, whether by road freight or by sea in containers and then by truck, your moving company will use adapted packaging techniques during the collection and loading of your goods. Maritime transit requires precautions with loading, because the containers are subjected to the roll of the boats which transport them. In the same way, vibrations that are poorly handled by bad packaging can create perforations in the furniture. Specialised movers are there to prevent these transport risks. Packaging and experience are paramount! Did you know that the temperature of a sea container exposed to the sun can reach 90°C?

Importing goods and furniture beyond a certain period of time or permanently entails border entry fees. It is therefore important to set up customs formalities specific to each destination. With years of experience, your removal company will know the local specificities of many non-European countries and will inform the customer. They will also support connections between freight forwarders and correspondents through their network of international partners. If you plan to live abroad only for a short time, the alternative solution of furniture storage is recommended.

Transportation of your goods

There is no fixed transit time, but in general it takes about 1½ to 2 months for Asia, 4 weeks for North …

Home Furniture Ideas / Posted on

Best and Most Popular Types of Recliners for Ultimate Comfort

When it comes to ultimate comfort and relaxation, there is no alternative to recliner. It goes without saying why it has been the first choice for households for decades. There are different types of recliners available to choose from. If you want to replace the old chair or buying a new recliner for the first time, let’s discuss the common types of best recliners 2018.

Rocker Recliners

These recliners are like rocking chair. You can have rocking motion when you keep it in upright position. These are the best choice to nod off to sleep and they are the hottest favorite chairs for nursing mothers. They can rock the baby to sleep and then turn them into recline position once they asleep. Both mother and baby can get some nap.

Wall Huggers

These recliners are also known as ‘Wall Savers”. These are designed to take only small space. It will need around a foot of space behind chair to recline properly. Recliners can be heavy chairs and large enough.

Swivel Recliners

As the name suggests, these recliners provide 360o motion without getting off the chair. This feature is very handy in office chairs. Some recliners also come with rocker feature.

Lift Recliners

It is a specialized chair which reclines and helps user off the chair. It guides the person on their feet from sitting position. It is good for those who cannot stand up from chairs, especially post operation patients, elderly, and those with bad backs or hips and weak knees. These types of recliners are made with sturdy materials and they have powerful motors. They come in different strengths and sizes for all body types.

Massage and Heat Recliners

These massage chairs are specially designed with recline feature. But these are not recliners. When a chair is positioned in upright position, it looks like a chair. Massage and heat recliner has vibration and heat options to vibrate the back area and heat up. Some chairs also have foot rest and seat rest areas. But these don’t provide the same benefits as typical massage chair. But they provide vibration and heat to the body which is very relaxing and cozy.…

Home Furniture Ideas / Posted on

10 Tips to Buying Property in Spain Safely

By: Adam Panoramic

The prices of property in Spain have dropped drastically – some by as much as 35-50% – making them the same as the value in 2004. This is bad news for sellers who will be selling the properties at a loss but great news if you are looking to buy property in Spain at the moment. “There is a wide choice of properties to choose from ranging from townhouses, luxury villas, beachside apartments, fincas and commercial properties,” says estate agents in Menorca, Spain.

The international press has covered the problems that have tainted the Spanish property market including instances of ‘land grabbing’, people who have purchased illegal properties and those who have been hit with liabilities that they weren’t aware of before purchasing.

A question being asked by everyone at the moment is whether it’s safe to buy in Spain? We’ve put together some guidelines to consider when deciding whether Spanish property is for you:

1. Read up on the Spanish Laws

You must realize that the property law in Spain is very different from the ones in your home country. You should be more careful and cautious than you would have been in your own country.

2. Research the Liabilities Associated With the Property

Acknowledge the fact that the property you are buying might have some liabilities and could be connected to a state infrastructure project. If there is an infrastructure project around your property, there is the risk of losing a proportion of the land.

3. Familiarise Yourself With the Spanish Property Keywords

Make sure you understand the Spanish property law before you go hunting for a property. You should know the relevance and meaning of Urbanizado, Fully Urbanizado or Rural to fully know where the property you are interested in falls under.

4. Invest In An Excellent Lawyer

Invest some time in searching for an excellent lawyer. The conveyancing should be done by the lawyer and nobody else. There are some characteristics that the lawyer should have, namely that he/she is: independent (of the agent, developer and the seller), fluently speaks your language, is a specialist in conveyancing, fully qualified with high public liability insurance. All the assurances and advice you get from your lawyer should be in writing.

5. Make Sure to Have All Documents Translated into Your Language Before Signing Anything

Don’t sign anything at any point in time until the …

Bathroom Remodel Ideas / Posted on

8 Small Bathroom Ideas That Work

By: Juhan Sonin

Let’s face it – bathroom layouts, as opposed to kitchen layouts, are not easy to pull off at all. Now, small bathroom layouts are even more challenging considering the space limitations. If you have a small bathroom and are short on ideas on how to spice it up then you are definitely in the right place. Every design element in a small bathroom should have a purpose and be functional in some way or another to create a space-saving sanctuary

To assist you, we have compiled some of our top bathroom makeovers to show you evidence of how small bathroom ideas can be implemented. Here is a look at 8 small bathroom ideas:

1. Mirror Walls

By adding a mirror to an entire bathroom wall can help to enlarge the look and feel of a small space. This can work really well along one wall of a narrow bathroom or above a vanity unit. Mirrors act as excellent reflectors of light meaning you can spread the light that comes from windows and light fixtures across the entire space.

2. Wall Mounted Toilets

If there is space in the wall structures of your small bathroom, it is possible to build in a toilet tank and then mount the toilet onto the wall in order to save on both legroom and floor space. If it is not possible to mount the toilet onto a wall, you can try adding shelves on top of the toilet tank to create additional storage. You can also consider extending your vanity top to form a narrow ledge.

3. Lose The Bath

The truth is that baths take up a lot of space (approximately twice the space) when compared to typical showers. If you can lose the bath, you can save on a lot of valuable space and significantly open up your bathroom. Showers can be used by everyone from family members to guests. If you integrate a hand shower, you can also give your pets a nice bath every now and then. However, if you really need the tub (because of bathing small children or other reasons) you should consider getting a low profile bath that does not consume a lot of space.

4. Frameless Shower Panels

Most people are not very fond of shower curtains. Shower curtains stick to your body when showering and are difficult to keep clean. Shower curtains …

Home Improvement / Posted on

Are Solar Panels and Energy Storage a Viable Solution to Reduce Electricity Bills ?

By: Alan Levine

Solar panels can do an awesome job on sunny summer days. However, you can’t expect them to produce as much energy on a dark and freezing winter day. The good news is that you may be able to store your electricity for the future by linking your solar panels to a home battery. This growing trend has been followed by Tesla and Nissan, both companies launching their own home battery brands. Unfortunately, none of them is really affordable just yet. In addition, Ikea has launched an offer of solar panels and an energy storage bundle, which they claim can save up to 70% on your annual electricity bill.

Energy companies have reacted to this trend by selling packages of solar panels and home batteries to homeowners willing to reduce their electricity bills. Residential construction companies such as Woodhams Group have also noticed a large influx of solar panel incorporation in their building plans. We’ve studied their offers, and the way home batteries work, so we are able to tell you what you need to take into consideration when making your choice.

What Are the Home Battery Options?

A home battery is an energy storage system that enables you to save the energy you produce or take from the gird, in order to use it at a later time. This energy can come from solar panels or wind turbines, but it can also be captured from the grid at the lowest price times. Powerwall, Tesla’s home battery, is one of the best in its class, as it links to a special app that allows you to see how much energy you’ve stored. Tesla’s energy storage solution costs about £5,900 and it appears to be maintenance free and almost totally silent.

Nissan’s battery, xStorage, is slightly cheaper in its basic variant, but also has a lower storage capacity. Apart from these two major players, Varta has its own home battery, which is about the size of a dishwasher, and which claims to be able to give a household complete energy autonomy. Whether this is true or not, only actual users can tell. You may want to search for user reviews on discussion forums and in other similar online communities before buying one brand or another. In addition, you should contact the representatives of each company, and ask them for more details about the features and the benefits …