Create a More Lavish Bath

It's time to talk about something personal: your bathroom. While what goes on in your bathroom is certainly private, how you design and decorate your bathroom walls themselves may be a public matter. Consider how many 'guests' have encountered your bathroom, both members of the household as well as relatives and guests. Whether your existing bathroom may be neat and tidy with a few decorative elements, or your bathroom needs a complete makeover, creating a luxurious bathroom can be accomplished with just a few minor changes and the right bathroom accessories.

Step #1: Create a Comfortable Throne
If you're going to be spending time in your bathroom, why not make it as comfortable and pleasing to the eye as possible? For very limited budgets, you can easily stencil or hand-paint an interesting pattern or design on the lid of your toilet seat. If you can afford to spend a few dollars, invest in a cushioned toilet seat pad. Some lid sets come with both cushioned seats and lids-providing comfort for your behind and your back simultaneously.

Step #2: Shower (or bathe) in Style
Whether you've got a small shower tub, or a spacious jetted bath tub, each could probably use some luxury-inspired upgrades. For shower stalls, replace old, low volume or leaky shower heads with new fixtures. Consider changing the finish of the shower head and faucet handles-instead of a shiny satin, opt for a dark, oil rubbed bronze finish. The dark colors give off a high-end feeling, especially compared to traditional white and bright shower stalls. Bath tubs can always be upgraded to include jets; the water propulsion is like a miniature massage you can enjoy each and every day!

Step #3: Treat Your Towel Like a Rock Star
Have you ever thought about how you treat your towels? Do you throw them in a hamper in the corner, drape them over the corner of your door, or do you hang them on a hook? Combine decorating with necessity when it comes to your towels. By installing multiple towel bars in a diagonal formation on your wall, not only will you be able to properly store towels, you'll also be able to decorate with interesting towel patterns. Instead of picking the same color for each towel, try to mix and match two patterns with one basic color. Rich green, brown, black and blue hues are perfect to accent both light and dark finishes throughout the bathroom and give the room a "spa" feeling.

Step #4: Don't Forget to Smell Good
Like any memorable experience, your bathroom should invoke all your senses. While the luxury jetted tubs and soft towels are great to the touch, consider the scent of your bathroom. If it's the main bathroom for your entire household, chances are, the scent is not all too pleasant. Be sure to have a light air freshener or wickless candle on hand at all times. Trying to mask odors with too sweet or strong a smell results in two bad smells instead of one; when choosing what scent, find something refreshing, not overwhelming such as eucalyptus, lavender, chamomile or citrus.

Step #5: Accessorize!
After adding a few decorative elements to your bathroom, it's time to make sure you have the necessary toiletries, as well as a few extras to make your bathroom more luxurious. Essentials include toilet paper holders, tissue boxes and toothbrush holders. Instead of typical models, choose stand-alone or sensor toilet paper holders. A self-cleaning stainless steel toothbrush holder will not only look sleek in any bathroom but also can eliminate germs on your bathroom sink. Other additional accessories include a television on a swivel fixture so you can enjoy your shows while soaking in the tub, or a fog-free mirror so you'll no longer have to wait to apply makeup or shave your beard immediately after you shower.

Amanda works for Your Home Supply (YHS) the definitive website for home improvement tools, and gardening supplies. Your Home Supply offers a wide range of products to help customers with common household repairs, as well as decorative accessories for the home. Visit them now at http://www.YourHomeSupply.com

Searching For Your Dream Home - Buying Property

First things first when looking for your dream home. Make a list of all the things you're looking for. With today's computers and search engines on the Internet it makes home shopping by keywords very simple.

Most real estate websites have boxes you can check off, if you're looking for a three-bedroom house with two bathrooms and a swimming pool. You simply check these items off, select the area you would like to search for homes and and you now have a list of homes to look at.

Some of these homes have virtual tours on the Internet, which allows you to go through most of the home before you actually visit the house. Modern technology has made searching for your dream home a virtual reality.

You can now look through the list and select the most appealing homes before you start driving around. Don't let the pictures of these homes deceive you on the Internet or MLS. Some of the descriptions of these homes can also be very deceptive.

When looking for your dream home, used every possible means available to you. This would include your real estate professionals, newspapers, magazines, search engines, internet websites, and don't forget about driving around your favorite neighborhoods. This is actually how we found one of the homes we bought.

Our real estate salesman gave us a list of homes to look at, while we were driving around, we spotted a home that caught our attention and we pulled in the driveway. To our amazement, the real estate saleswoman who listed the home lived a couple of houses down the street and was right there asking if we wanted to see the inside of the house.

Your family, friends, neighbors and people you work with, can also help you with your homebuying quest. You would be surprised at how helpful some of these people can be. I knew someone who found a home they really liked, knocked on the door and told the homeowners, they would be very interested if their home was ever put on the market. Within a few weeks, he was buying the home.

I'm not telling you to knock on everyone's door whose not selling their house, but you never know how or when you're going to run into the house of your dreams.

Greg Vandenberge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a home buying checklist to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

Don't buy a house without visiting, one of the best websites for home inspections. This website has thousands of pictures that deal with home inspection problems. If you're buying a house, check out this section on home inspection cover ups.

How to Create a Home Spa Experience From What's Already in Your Bathroom Wall Cabinet

Your bathroom wall cabinet could hold everything you need for a spa-like experience at an affordable cost. With the economy failing and jobs in jeopardy, having an inexpensive place to relax and unwind is more import than ever. People are cutting back on expenses, but still looking for a way to deal with a stress level that is sharply increasing. In times of plenty, spending a day at the spa is one solution. But in lean times, stress relief must be found other ways making at-home spa treatments the ideal solution.

Stocking A Bathroom Wall Cabinet With Spa Ingredients

Take a look in your bathroom wall cabinets. Do you have Epsom salts, lotions, candles, fluffy towels? What about foot stones, loofahs, razors? Gather them all up and plan a bathing session that is sure to relieve some of that stress.

It's easy to create a recipe for a fragrant bath experience that rivals those offered by the best spa. In a glass bowl, mix a cup of Epsom salts and a half-cup of sea or kosher salt with eight drops of your favorite essential oil and four tablespoons of baking soda. When you make your own, you can adjust the strength of the scent by increasing or decreasing the amount of oil you use.

The salts help relieve aching muscles, and the baking soda softens your skin. Choices for essential oils that are soothing and relaxing include lavender, patchouli and sandalwood. Use a quarter of a cup of this mixture in your bathwater, stir until the salts dissolve, and it will feel like heaven.

Run a hot bath with the luxurious bath salts you just created. Look in your bathroom wall cabinets for some candles to light. Roll up a towel to put behind your head, and soak the day's stress away. Play some soothing music and close your eyes. You will find that you have created an experience that couldn't be achieved at even the most expensive spa. Don't forget to turn off your phone!

More Suggestions For a Home Spa Treat

Another simple ingredient from your bathroom wall cabinet can be used in conjunction with a kitchen ingredient to create an inexpensive skin exfoliate. Combine baby oil and sugar to the consistency of your preference, and scrub from head to toe. Not only will you get rid of dead skin cells, you will moisturize your whole body at the same time. Try using raw oats instead for a more gentle effect.

One area you will want to pay special attention to is your feet. The extra special attention is well deserved and important. Why not mix up a foot scrub that you can keep in your bathroom wall cabinets for those days when your feet need the attention.

To make a low-cost foot scrub, simply mix together is four tablespoons of ground coffee along with three tablespoons each of almond or olive oil, ground cornmeal, and Epsom salts. Add drops of your favorite essential oil, and place the mixture in a jar that you can keep in your bathroom wall cabinets.

Your bathroom wall cabinet can be the source of hours of enjoyment. With these simple tips, you might never want to go back to the spa again!

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information on advanced excel course, visit http://www.WGWoodProducts.com/.

I Can't Wash the Mold Off the Walls - Mold Repair

If you have mold growing on your bathroom walls, ceilings or any other walls in your home and can't seem to remove it, that's probably because it's underneath the paint. This might not make any sense, but if the mold continues to grow back, it's probably growing between the paint and the drywall or plaster.

This is real common around moist areas like your bathroom or even behind your stove if you do a lot of cooking with pots that are releasing steam, you could have a moisture problem and moisture attracts mold and mildew. If the steam is condensing on the back wall, behind the kitchen stove, you could find yourself stripping the paint or even removing the drywall to fix the problem, correctly.

If the mold is growing behind the paint, the only way you will be able to fix this, right, is to remove the paint and treat the drywall for mold. This might sound like a lot of work, but there is a simpler way, but not a more effective way.

You can simply clean the wall with chlorine or bleach, leave the area that you treated alone for a few days for until its dried out thoroughly. Then you can simply paint over the area with a semi gloss or high gloss paint. Flat or satin paints could actually absorb enough moisture to start growing the mold again. A semi gloss or high gloss paint will act like a water resistant barrier and help to prevent moisture from soaking into the wall.

Now here's the bad news, the mold hasn't gone away, you're just sealing it in the wall or ceiling. Eventually you could start to see a dark spot under your newly painted wall repair. This will tell you, that the mold is growing underneath the paint, that you just applied and probably even underneath the layer of paint, you painted over.

If you're having problems keeping the mold away, there's a good chance that it's growing underneath the paint. Clean it the best you can with bleach or chlorine, read the directions thoroughly before using these products and if the mold keeps coming back, you can paint over the mold or remove the drywall, re-plaster it and then paint over it. You have a couple of choices.

Always try cleaning the mold with bleach first and if the problem is in the bathroom, you could always leave the door open while you're showering to prevent moisture buildup in the bathroom. Open a window or turn a fan on, keep the moisture out until you know for sure mold is gone.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

What is Mold and Toxic Mold Pictures

Greg Vandenberge is a General Contractor, published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development.

Replace & Repair Leaky Bathroom & Kitchen Faucets

Everyone dreads having to repair anything in the bathroom, because oftentimes, the solution involves more than a bottle of Liquid Drain-O and a flush of cold water. Also known as "leaky bathtub faucet," this refers to any major clogging problems, a drop in water pressure, or a bathtub faucet leak.

A certified plumbing company should come in and do an inspection and fix any major problems after giving you an estimate of the damage. If left unattended, the problems bathroom faucets can lead to are more than just inside the bathroom. There have been lawsuits and even divorces over the neglected leaky bathtub faucet. Overall, neglecting to fix your bathroom faucet will lead to a higher water bill (with less water pressure!) and further damage to supply pipes and your entire bathroom function ability. This can even sometimes result in pipes inside the walls to leak and cause water spots throughout the walls.

Here are some tips on how to replace and/or repair a bathtub faucet, bath shower faucet and bathroom sink faucet:

Pry off the cap of the bath faucet if you think there is less water pressure coming from the faucet. Unscrew the handle to get deep inside the faucet to check if there is any blockage you need to remove. Clean the aerator if necessary, which is the small piece at the tip of the spout that can get blocked over time. After cleaning all the parts, put back together and test to see if there is any improvement. This applies to any bath faucet you have in the house, from the kitchen faucet to the single-lever bath faucet.

If you are having a leaky bathtub faucet, get the bathtub faucets make and model and to a Home Depot or any hardware store to purchase the appropriate bathtub repair kit. Remove the bath faucet's existing ball, packing and springs and replace them with the new ones in the kit.

If you have tried cleaning the parts and bathtub faucet and it still does not seem to improve the water pressure or the leak, you may need to replace the bathtub faucet entirely. Or the problem may be something more than just the bathtub faucet. Now is the time to call a certified plumbing company. The company can come in to repair your leaking bathtub faucet, changing bathtub faucets or do any necessary bathtub repair.

For more information visit: http://www.bathfaucets.info

Tile Grouting Tips For Your Bathrooms, Kitchens and Floors

Isn't tile grouting supposed to be simple, if you read the directions and watch a couple of videos? What could make tile grouting so difficult? Grouting your tile isn't that difficult, by the time you're done reading this article, you should have a pretty good idea how to grout your floors, bathrooms, kitchens and anything else that requires tile.

I used to have problems grouting tile, but after I read the directions, I became a grouting wizard. This sounds hard to believe, but after reading the directions on the tile grout bag, I became a grout master. I know, you the type of person who never read the directions, you simply add water, mix and start grouting.

It's time to change your thinking about, whether or not the directions will be helpful. Whether it's about grouting your bathroom floor or putting together your home barbecued. I read one thing on the grout bag and it changed my entire grouting career.

The grout should slake. After you're done mixing the grout, you should wait between five and 10 minutes to let the moisture soak into the grout mix. Do this once, and you will never go back to mixing your grout and applying it, as quickly as possible after it has been mixed.

For more information on grouting, remodeling or home repairs, I would recommend reading books on home improvement and home repairs. Some of these books can make a big difference in your home improvement abilities as a handyman. I would also recommend reading more articles, there's plenty of information about tile and grouting, all over the Internet.

Click here if you are looking for some more Bathroom Remodeling Ideas

If you're really interested in basement remodeling and repairs, you should click on this link Home Repair Tips. Get some great home repair advice that can make a big difference on any of your home remodeling projects.

Greg Vandenberge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

Thanks for reading the article

Builders Can Help With Bathroom Projects

Home improvement television shows are inspiring all of us to pick up a hammer or a glue gun and make our homes showplaces. After all, they make it look so easy on television. It can't be that hard, can it?

Well, in honesty, it can be hard. There's a reason why contractors charge so much. But, don't despair. you can learn how to do it yourself. What it takes is practice. By starting small and tackling smaller projects, you'll gain the confidence and knowledge to go after the bigger projects.

One great place to start is the bathroom. Bathroom renovations are often small projects that have big potential. In fact, the small size of the room will make it less intimidating for you. Replacing tile in a bathroom is less daunting than in the rest of the house.

Of course, many people want to increase their bathroom's size because it is too small. If that's the case in your home, it's okay. It is not all that hard to enlarge the space. Often you can do so by merely taking out a closet or dividing wall. This is not as intimidating as it sounds, as long as you plan for it. (For one thing, make sure it is not a load-bearing wall you are taking out.) Once that closet or wall is gone, you can redesign the space however you wish.

Before you start bashing out walls, do talk to builders and home improvement store staff. They can help you learn how to use various pieces of equipment or figure out an option you had not considered. Also look on the internet and check out community colleges for courses in what you need. There is a lot of information available to help you get the job done. By fulling preparing in advance, you will be more comfortable with what you are doing.

Don't be afraid to hire a builder. It's often better to hire a professional and get a quality job done than try to attempt it on your own. Doing it yourself may just mean more money spent down the road to fix mistakes.

You will also be aware of the costs involved in the project at hand. Home improvement professionals can help you budget the bathroom of your dreams while keeping costs down.

One thing to remember in any home improvement project: work always takes longer than you expect, especially if you work full-time. This is true whether replacing a bathtub or a kitchen island counter. Often a project will take up your nights and weekends, adding tension to your home. Don't worry, it will pass when the work is done, but be sure to be patient.

When you get to the end of your project, not only will you have a nicer bathroom. You may find you've also learning a thing or too: about bathrooms, about home improvement and about yourself.

Being particularly passionate about kitchen cabinet islands, Eric Slarkowski was editing plenty of short articles on this specific topic. You can find his articles on kitchen island counters at http://www.kitchen-cabinets-tips.com and various other sources for kitchen island counter knowledge.