Monday, June 27, 2011

Why vitrified tiles are a good option?



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Vitrified Tiles

Though many home-owners like to have hardwood flooring for their homes, they forget that it is not strong enough and cannot withstand high traffic. Though hardwood flooring looks elegant, it is quite delicate and requires a lot of maintenance to keep its appearance intact. For those who are looking for attractive alternative to hardwood flooring, vitrified tiles is a good option. Vitrified tiles not just look attractive and pleasing but also are stronger compared to hardwood flooring. They are much tougher than most other flooring options. With vitrified tiles, you can give your home a modern, new look that is hard to miss.
Vitrified tiles are manufactured essentially with the vitrification process which involves mixing 40 % clay and 60 % silica. This combination of clay and silica is termed perfect to form vitrified tiles. 
As a result of the process of vitrification, the end product is hard and non-porous. Being hard and non-porous, vitrified tiles easily score over other tiles like marble tiles and other stone tiles. Stone tiles and some of the marble tiles are porous and can get spoilt easily if there is much of water retention. 
Advantages 
Another good thing about vitrified tiles is that they hardly require any maintenance. Vitrified tiles are a perfect option in places which experience a lot of traffic as they are designed to be non-abrasive. Another unique advantage vitrified tiles have over hardwood and other types of flooring is that the designs for vitrified tiles are printed with soluble salts and can easily penetrate the surface of the tile to about 3 mm. This implies that vitrified tiles have their designs which are entrenched at a depth of almost 30% of the tile’s thickness.  With so many advantages, you surely cannot miss on having vitrified tiles for your home. 

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Two simple ways to save water in the kitchen

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All the activities in the kitchen are carried out by water and without clean water; the functionality of the kitchen remains zero. Be it cooking, washing or cleaning, water is required for each and every activity.  With water being used for a number of activities, it becomes important to use water judiciously. With the water crisis in different parts of the world, it is even more essential to save water and avoid wastage of water.

Washing process
Apart from leak-proof appliances, water conservation also depends on how you clean and wash the different ingredients. While washing vegetables, do not hold them under a running water tap. Instead, take the vegetables in a bowl and pour water in it and wash them. This helps to save a lot of water.
Leak-proof appliances
The first step towards saving water in the kitchen is to install only those appliances and accessories that come with a fixed guarantee and are from a reputed brand. Ensure that the pipes used in the kitchen are strong and designed to be leak proof. If the pipes have any leakage, then this can cause wastage of water. The market is filled with a host of appliances that guarantee no leakage but you should do your homework before you decide on any appliance for your kitchen. Apart from the pipes, it is also important that the taps that you select for your kitchen come with no leakage. Leaking taps can cause a lot of water wastage, reducing the amount of water in the main tank. Hence, always opt for taps that are completely leak-proof.
Saving water in the kitchen does not solely depend on the quality of appliances that you install but on your practices and methods on how you use the water. Water conservation is the need of the hour. 

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Ceramic tiles- Ideal tiles for your bathroom


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Ceramic Tiles
Selecting tiles for your bathroom can be a no easy task no matter how much easy it looks to be. Be it selecting floor tiles or the wall tiles, choosing a right type is important. Many people jus lay importance on the aesthetics and the beauty of the tiles, not giving much importance to the practicality. Apart from looking attractive, bathroom tiles should be suitable for your bathroom and should be practical in the given surrounding.

For your bathroom floors or the walls, you want tiles that are easy to clean, moisture resistant and durable. Ease of cleaning ensures you do not have to waste hours in the bathroom trying to remove stains from the tiles. As the bathroom is a place which will be attracting a lot of moisture, you want tiles that are damp resistant as the last thing you don’t want is someone slipping and falling down on the wet bathroom tiles.

Ceramic bathroom tiles

If you want bathroom tiles that provide ease of cleaning, durability and resistance to moisture, then ceramic tiles are an ideal option for you. If you are worried about the prices of ceramic tiles, then no need to worry as prices of ceramic tiles range from being very cheap to highly expensive. Depending on the type of tiles that you like to have for your bathroom, you can choose the price range for your bathroom tiles. Ceramic tiles come in different materials like porcelain, clay, shale. These ceramic tiles are fired at high temperatures till they become hard enough. Bathroom ceramic tiles come in a pool of different shapes, sizes, patterns, textures and designs. Some of the popular shapes available in ceramic bathroom tiles are octagons, rectangles, squares, diamond shaped tiles and hexagons. 

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Giving your kitchen the coffee shop look


Out of all the areas of your home, the kitchen is surely a heart of your home and it surely deserves much attention. You have probably spent hours in your kitchen sipping coffee with your friends and family. A new trend of kitchen décor that has been emerging lately is the coffee kitchen décor. This is considered to be one of the hot décor trends and is sure to jazz up the look of your kitchen. 


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Kitchen  Décor


Coffee kitchen décor 
When you use the coffee kitchen décor to décor your kitchen, remember that your kitchen will automatically transform into a trendy and a comfortable zone. You surely want your kitchen to just not look appealing but also be practical to use. One of the unique features of the coffee kitchen décor is that it gives your kitchen a unique popular café look which would surely be envied by your neighbours. If you do not wish to give your kitchen a popular café kind of look, then you can settle with the vintage appeal to give it a classier, diner look. Whatever style of décor you choose, the coffee kitchen will surely not disappoint you and you will be pleased to see the transformation of your kitchen. When you are using the coffee kitchen décor for your kitchen, you have the liberty to choose almost any colour scheme that you like. This is one of the rare features of this décor. With this liberty, you have a good chance of creating an aura of a coffee house in your kitchen without requiring spending a bomb on getting in various appliances or simply painting the kitchen. The colour of café au lait is very popular and gels with any theme if at any point of time, you get bored of the coffee theme of your kitchen.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Get to know more about taps

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Taps
Taps are an all important accessory of any bathroom. Bathroom décor comprises an eclectic mix of different styles and designs of taps. Selecting right kind of taps for your bathroom creates a visually pleasing effect, be it a traditionally styled bathroom or a contemporary one. Taps come in attractive finishes and designs and they are considered best in elegance and utility.
Taps are an integral part of bath accessories as they are used for a number of purposes. A bathroom is rendered completely redundant without a proper set of taps. With modern technology making swift strides, taps are designed keeping in mind the latest market trends. Taps are cleverly designed and exhibit an example of utility and simplicity. These pieces blend effortlessly with the theme and colour scheme of your bathroom. If you are wondering about the prices of these exquisite taps, then worry not as these taps are available in the market at affordable rates so you can easily afford them.  Even with low prices, you will not be limited with options as taps come in diverse weights, sizes, finishes and shapes.
If you are looking for designer taps, then cross-water taps are a good option.Cross-water taps have handles that provide a comfortable grip and have smooth finish lustre. Cross-water taps are such that they can be easily handled by the old people as well as the kids. These taps are popular because they come with uniform water release feature and are strictly tested to give an error-free performance, resistance from corrosion, high quality, super design, resistance from abrasion and durability. Apart from taps, mirrors are an all important accessory of any bathroom. Mirrors for bathrooms come in different varieties like frameless mirrors, illuminated mirrors, semi-framed and framed mirrors. The type of mirrors we choose for our bathroom reflects our aesthetic tastes and choices.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Affordable ideas to do up your kitchen

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Kitchen Flooring
You may not believe this but as a home-maker, you spend most of your time in the kitchen. The kitchen is a place where you have casual chats with your family members, prepare food for the entire family and thus, having a right look and design for the kitchen is extremely important. Since you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, you surely would like to have a new design for your kitchen every few months. However, that may not be possible considering the high costs involved in remodelling the kitchen. However, this is not the end of the world for you as there are many décor ideas which are not just affordable but also easy on the pocket. Today, kitchen décor ideas have made custom –made to suit any type of kitchen ranging from modern, traditional or a country kitchen. 

Décor magazines
For handy kitchen décor ideas, you can scan through various lifestyle and décor magazines to get an idea of what are the designs and themes that are trending in the current period. However, you should stay away from such magazines that are only about pictures and offer no advice on kitchen designing. Seeing the attractive pictures in the décor magazine may lure you into adopting one of the designs for your kitchen, but it is also important that the particular design that you have selected suits your kitchen size and type.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Tiles for commercial establishments

When it comes to choosing the flooring for commercial spaces like malls and restaurants, you have to be careful that you choose the right type of flooring as the flooring meant for residential spaces would not suit commercial establishments. Places like malls and shopping centres have to cope up with heavy footfall throughout the day and at the same time maintain a safe and comfortable environment for the patrons. Hence, the requirements for commercial flooring are completely different from that of regular flooring. Here are a few considerations before your look for commercial flooring.


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Commercial Flooring


Illusion of space

When looking for tiles for commercial spaces, look for those that can create an illusion of space. Most malls and shopping centres have tiles in greys and beiges as these are supposed to be most neutral of all colours. While looking for tiles for commercial establishments, the most neutral shade is chosen. However, times are changing and more and more innovative designs are coming into picture. These innovative designs for floor tiles are now being taken as an integral part of the floor design process. Opting for carpet tiles for commercial flooring gives you a chance to create flooring that is truly unique, custom-made to suit the area’s colour, taste and mood.

Durability

When looking for tiles for commercial spaces, remember that it is practically not possible to replace the tiles every few years. Hence, for commercial spaces, you need tiles that are extremely durable and have a long shelf life. Places like shopping malls will be exposed to heavy customer traffic and thus the tiles should be able to withstand the load and should be resistant against damage. Apart from damage, tiles for commercial spaces should be resistant to general wear and tear. For commercial spaces, you can opt for carpet tiles that have a dense loop pile construction which can be used along with vinyl flooring. Remember that when it comes to durability, hardwood flooring is the last option you should consider as it is not known for durability.