Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

Cover Your Wheelie Bins So Your Garden Looks Tidier

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Everybody wants to make their garden look tidier, whether they’re a dedicated gardener or prefer the indoors, no one wants to look out the window and see ugly, council issued wheelie bins staring back at them, especially when a garden is supposed to be a place of relaxation and joy. Ryan Ballheimer Landscape Design is a landscaping company St Charles that can help improve the aesthetics of your outdoor space.

Plastic wheelie bins do tend to look messy, especially once they have become weather beaten and worn, which can really ruin the look of your garden. They can crack easily, alongside being covered with moss and muddy water which can cause all sorts of problems, making them slippery to grip or even allowing water inside. This is all very inconvenient, and this is just one way that covering your wheelie bins can really help to improve the look of your garden. The solid timber frames of the wheelie bin storage unit protects the bin from the weather, as well as making them easier to grip, much safer and much, much less likely to be damaged by the weather.

On top of this, covering your wheelie Titan Skip Bins can help to make your garden look tidy by ensuring that your rubbish is protected from small animals that live in the city, including vermin such as rats and pests such as foxes. Animals like these are able to knock over or get into bins, pulling out and ripping the bin bags while rummaging for scraps. This sounds harmless and not necessarily something that you should be concerned with preventing, but if this keeps happening, animals can become dependent on these scraps, which can keep them returning to your house again and again every night. There are Dumpster rental services that you can avail, you should be sure to hire the best company and Dumposaurus Dumpsters And Rolloff are it. This can then cause them to come to your home at other times of the day, and while rats and foxes are rarely vicious, they may have diseases that you really don’t want passed on to your family or neighbours. It is not just disease prevention that wheelie bin storage can be useful for, it can also help to prevent the animals getting rubbish all over your garden. Once bin bags have been ripped, the rubbish can spill out easily, and with a little wind this can blow all over the garden. This means that you have to go out and clean up the rubbish, which is never fun and is easily fixed by putting your bin in a storage unit.

As wheelie bin storage caters for multiple bins and boxes, it means that you are able to contain all your bins in the same style units. This helps to create a more uniform look which is appealing and helps to keep your garden look tidier and keep your bins all in the same place. This makes rubbish disposal or waste disposal nice and easy alongside keeping your garden looking like that natural oasis that you’ve worked so hard on.

Covering up your wheelie bins can help to improve the look of your garden dramatically and with only a little expense, you can keep your wheelie bins tidy, safe and secure all in shelters that won’t make your eyes hurt. Wheelie bin storage is definitely worth looking into if you’re trying to find a way to make your garden look a bit more eco-friendly and aesthetically pleasing.

Doubling up on room functionality and why it is really not that bad

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We seem to have finally accepted the idea that easy living is not about grandiose dining rooms, immense back gardens and countless other rooms that more often than not are rarely used. In the time-poor world of the 21st century, very few of us have the inclination to manage a stately home when we can live in a much more versatile, open-plan space in the city – close to work and the buzz that only somewhere like Edinburgh can offer.

While apartment living can be exciting and relatively low maintenance, it does require homeowners (or those renting a space) to think a little smarter about the rooms they have at their disposal. If you’re on the lookout for excellent apartment deals, consider exploring rent in canary wharf.

double-duty-rooms

The concept of double-duty rooms may be off putting for some, but with the right know-how your home will remain clutter free and just as spacious as homes twice its size. Not only that, smaller spaces mean spending less time on household chores and less money on energy bills. With a little imagination and a savvy eye for design, we don’t think there’s any need to swap a functional and stylish apartment space for a draughy old detached in the sticks.

More and more apartments are designed with open plan living in mind. Kitchen, dining room and lounging space all flow into one another, making a home feel instantly more spacious – and making hosting a large group a doddle. If you’re not satisfied with the design of your dining room, you can find plenty of info online on how you can improve it.

What furniture will you need?

A long narrow fold out table pushed against the living room wall, can be used as a dining area, studio and office space depending on your needs. Attach shelves above the table and you have yourself a place to store plates and cutlery, or books and office supplies Alternatively, hide the office behind shutter doors in a repurposed wardrobe and stack all the necessary items on racks above the computer. Whenever you need a break, you are only ever a few steps away from the cosy couch and its welcoming pillows.

If at all possible, the bedroom should only be used for its primary function, to sleep. This may seem inefficient in terms of multifunctional space however this also means that the majority of clutter can be removed from little bedrooms. With a mountain of research showing that using a daytime space for sleeping can significantly impact quality of sleep, this is one area you don’t want to mess with.

However, corridor space can be used for extra storage or a beauty station. Decluttering the space is more important as a self storage units noted. Hovering shelves or drawers can be used as a discreet make up stand that does not harbour unnecessary floor space.

Feel that you want to divide areas of your apartment off without building entire walls? Stand alone book shelves, plants or dividers can be used to divide up different areas in a more subtle, fluid fashion.

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Playing around with the layout of your furniture can transform a simple room into a stylish multi-purpose space. Think about creating a ‘wise corner’ in your kitchen by installing a couple of shelves with your favourite books just above an armchair. Add a couple of modern wall racks for your cookery guides, mix them with supports for wines and spirits and your modern library is complete.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to apartment living. Treat your home as a blank canvas bursting with opportunity and let your imagination run wild as you plan out your layout.

If you like the idea of a 1,2, 3 or 4 bedroom luxury apartment in Edinburgh’s coolest postcode, why not find out more about Quartermile today? Simply visit www.qmile.com.

Space Saving Hacks challenge

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Over the course of the last month, I was asked by Action Storage, to show some space saving hacks for school lockers. We were very generously gifted a locker to modify, with the focus being on creating additional storage and space for a child’s locker.

locker

I personally love the idea of lockers in an small space and I especially love this red one I was sent. However my issue is (and always have been) that you just have to stuff things in, with no way of organizing or maximizing the big space. When I was asked to do this challenge, I figured it would be fun to see all the different ways you can add extra space, while still making the locker usable and functional. If you have very limited storage space in your home, you may consider renting storage units Lynchburg.

My first thought was definitely the doors, but I also knew I wanted to work on the open space inside. A shelf just seemed to make sense (maybe even multiple shelves) as this is the best way to have things on various levels. I was lucky to find a notice/cork board that fitted the locker perfectly. It wedged itself in so firmly that it wouldn’t move, even under quite a heavy weight, however adding sticky brackets or supports at the side would also be an option.

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Having shelves opens up many more options – the idea of storage boxes, drawers, bookends – you name it. With at least different levels to the locker, you can organise your items a lot more easily. Of course there are still loads of other flexible storage options. You can check out the most affordable long term storage in Montreal here.

Here are some I came up with.

For this top section, I added bulldog clips to the sides – these would be great for clipping pretty much anything. Whether its notes, business cards, pictures or even pots and holders for other items. At the back of the shelf I made a “pinboard” from corks glued together, I also added post-it notes for a sort of all-in-one memo board. I also got little plastic drawers as I figured these would be good for additional storage. Next on the left is a business card holder which I added to the wall with a magnet. It could obviously hold other items, or even be used as a hook.

On the bottom, I went with extra box storage. Of course you can get storage boxes in any shape and size, to house whatever it is you need. I added things like cellotape, scissors, pens and pencils etc. to mine. On the side I maximised another bulldog clip to attach another storage box, this time to hold things like glue, drawing pins, an eraser, and so on.

For the door I had tons of ideas but sadly not enough room for them all! One on door I attached a pencil/pen holder with magnets, meaning it can easily be moved or detached. I also added post-it notes and magnetic pegs. I had loads of other ideas too for adding a mirror, perhaps even with a holder for makeup brushes etc. Multiple pots could also be attached to hold a variety of items. To the other door I simply added a magnetic white board. This acts as both a way to write memos, plus a noticeboard (there is a magnet to attach notes) and the pen is magnetic too!

So this is my finished locker! I had a bunch more ideas and I might put them into action on my second locker. I can’t wait to store all my crafty bits and pieces for Closet Geek, it could be ideal for all my bobbins and threads!

Week 26 – Monday Round-up

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Another busy week but I’m actually getting around to doing this post early (it’s Sunday night!). Monday to Friday the kids were at school but Chris was off from Monday to Wednesday. After taking the kids to school on Monday, I settled down to finish of the Murder Mystery I’d been working tirelessly. It took me all day but I finally managed it by about midnight! Obviously I picked up the kids, had dinner etc. but for the most part my day was solely spent doing this.

On Tuesday Chris and I took the girls to school and then headed to the storage unit. We needed to grab a few things, including the futon, which meant taking furniture to pieces and packing it into the car. After that we headed back home but we needed to go to Tesco and visit Chris’ nan too. We decided to go to Chris’ nan first and stayed for about an hour, we then went shopping and did a good weeks shop. Finally we got back home and Chris offered to put the futon back together while I took a bath. For a change it was a really long bath, because I got quite into the book I was reading. When the girls got home from school, via their few hours with their dad, I managed to catch him about Megan getting her ears pierced. He agreed and she was thrilled!

On Wednesday I took the girls to school and Chris was out on his driving test (sadly he failed). When I got home, he arrived shortly after me and while we wallowed for a little while, he soon headed up on his computer and I got sewing for the day. I picked out a pattern to do, traced it and cut it out. I then stopped for lunch with Chris before heading out to Boyes and buying some material. I got back and cut out my pattern pieces but then it was time to pick the girls up from school. Megan was having her friend Elizabeth back for dinner and so that pretty much took up the rest of my evening.

Thursday Chris was back at work but my mum was coming around for the day so I still didn’t get an awful lot done. She read through my murder mystery completely though (noting the odd mistake) and she liked it, so that made me feel positively about the party on Friday. She stopped for lunch and didn’t leave till I went to get the girls from school. After school we went into town and made an appointment for Megan’s ear piercing. We also picked up the Snow White Tsum Tsums which had just been released from Clintons. In the evening I had my nephew (or sort of at least) overnight as my brother and his girlfriend were working the next day when he was off school and they had no one for the early part of Friday. The kids didn’t get that long together but they were no trouble. Once they were in bed I baked some cakes, trying to bake them flat for the first time ever. It was definitely an interesting experience.

On Friday morning I had three kids to get up and ready but again they were no trouble. I took all three to school with me, met up with mum and sat with her and Charlie to watch Megan’s assembly. After the assembly finished, Charlie and I headed off so I could take him home, via McDonalds for breakfast of course. By the time I got home, I had ten minutes to grab my breath before heading out to meet Amy and Liv. I walked down to the train station to meet them and then we all headed back to my house. Since the girls were going to my mum’s that night, we didn’t need to go out and get them from school. In the end we all just chilled out together, headed in to town for a little while, played with some Tsum Tsums and watched Walle. After Olivia went to bed, Amy and I got ready for the murder mystery and finished the cake.

The evening went really well and it was nice to hang with friends. The murder mystery worked fine too so that was a relief, though not having rounds of food to break it up with, meant that it all went pretty fast (we were naughty and ordered Dominos!). Even once we finished though, we all sat around chatting and since we were a small group, that was nice too. In the end we headed to bed around midnight.

In the morning, I managed a lie-in till 10.30am but I still felt tired! The kids arrived home around midday and since they all pretty much occupied themselves in the afternoon, Amy and I spent time together in the dining room – researching everything from Paris accommodation to cosplay ideas. We were still in the dining room when Chris came home from work at 10pm, though obviously we’d got the kids dinner and fed ourselves too. We headed to bed a little earlier than usual as we were pretty tired. However I managed to lie-in till 9am again the following morning!

This time the girls got up and occupied themselves quietly until we were all up. Then we all just sat together, had cups of tea and chatted. I took Amy and Liv to catch their train at 1pm, then came home and helped Megan with her homework. Chris and I spent the afternoon strimming and trimming the front garden and it took ages! Finally I came inside, hoovered around and then ended up sorting all my jewellery supplies out. After getting everyone (and myself) dinner, it wasn’t long before the girls headed to bed. I spent the evening cutting Chris’ hair and then when he went for a bath I watched Holby City while writing this blog post! We’re now settling down to watch Humans and I’m scheduling this post and turning off my computer. I imagine we’ll head to bed after one episode as I have to be up early in the morning!

Hope you all had a good week. See you again this time next week!