Author Archive | Jennie Lyon

Get your place up-to-date by making it sustainable, yet as stylish as possible. Don’t worry you don’t need to spend a fortune re-doing up your living space. In 2020 it’s more fashionable to minimize your consumption and in turn your spending. You can give your place the refreshing touches it needs to reflect your character while reducing your carbon footprint at the same time. Have fun with your decor and create a more unique, yet timeless look with a combination of vintage and more personal additions. 

Art Attack

Have a look online or in vintage or second-hand shops for unique pieces of artwork. Choose the ones that best reflect your sense of humor and personality. Vintage posters are in style and always create a timeless look if you’re stuck for ideas. Vintage advertising can be really fun and quirky. 

If you’re feeling brave enough, why not create some art yourself? You can go to a painting or drawing workshop to learn the basics if you’re not an expert. If you don’t feel up to it yourself, why not ask a friend with a more artistic touch? Something more personal will definitely add a lot of character and sentimental value. You could create a piece out of recycled materials again, or photos, if you’re not feeling very inspired. 

Collectors’ Items

Collecting is actually considered pretty trendy nowadays. Pick something that interests you. There are many cool things to collect this year such as old tech, vinyl and music memorabilia, toys and basically anything vintage. You can set up areas to display your collection, for example, an old record player in the corner displayed next to your collection of vinyl. Bookshelves are also a great way to display your collection of books and these familiar reads will make you feel more like yourself in your home. Hipster-types tend to go for old video consoles and technology, such as typewriters and other household machines. Go for something that reflects your interests, however, and don’t worry about following the crowds. 

Lighten up

Nothing is more important to interior design than light. Learn how to use light to your advantage, both natural and artificial. This year it’s all about staying as sustainable as possible, this will more often than not, also save you a lot of money. Replace your existing lightbulbs with LEDs as these will last you a lifetime. Stick to white or lighter colors for the main walls and ceilings. This will help to light the room. Put up wall lighting or sconces to highlight more artistic features. These could be interesting artwork for example, or parts of the architecture, such as naked brickwork. Lower hanging ceiling lights are trending at the moment, these can also be used as a feature piece. Look for some cool lampshades in a second-hand shop near you, for a cheaper and more individual look. You don’t need to worry about matching as you can get a collection of feature pieces and fun items. 

Throws and Pillows

Add some comfort to your living room and bedrooms with second-hand rugs, carpets, pillows, and throws. This can help to create insulation and warmth as well, particularly carpets as you won’t lose as much heat through the floors. Again you can go for the second-hand option and find some cheap bargains. Choose patterns with white or lighter lines to help to throw light around the room. Color schemes trending this year are navy against white, natural blues and greens and soft pinks and peaches. Go for as wild a pattern as you like. As for patterns in 2020, anything goes so choose whatever best suits your personality.

The only way is upcycling

Overspending on lavish or ostentatious furniture is not the done thing anymore. If you really wanna show off your living space, you’ve got to decorate it yourself with recycled materials. Get creative by refurbishing with used fabrics. Choose your favorite designs to spruce up your chairs, sofas, bedding, and cushions. Upcycling is trending massively this year. If you’re feeling able to pysch yourself up for a bit of a project why not give it a go? Get your friends to join in or look for a group or a workshop near you, if you need a little bit of help or inspiration. 

Here are just simple ways you can make your home match your environmentally-conscientious life changes this year. Now you can get back to your ev trip planner and mapping out your next big journey as an eco-warrior. 

Are you looking to renovate your home? Whether you intend to sell the property soon or give it a fresh new look for your own enjoyment, make your upgrades good to the Earth rather than harming the environment. Here are the basics for eco-friendly home improvements.

Get More Space with This Genius DIY Project

If your kitchen is lacking the cupboard space you want, then repurpose an existing piece of furniture you’re not using. Why not turn that old bookcase into shelving for the kitchen?

By sanding it and then applying no-VOC paint, you can easily turn a shabby bookcase into a useful storage space for extra pots and pans or dishes.

New Laundry Appliances

Are you tired of looking at the old washer and dryer each time you walk into the room to do laundry? If so, it might be time to upgrade them, especially if they’re more than 11 years old, which the typical lifespan of an appliance like a washing machine.

By replacing them before they stop working, you’ll save yourself having to deal with mounting piles of dirty clothes while awaiting the arrival of the new appliance. As for what to buy, look for an energy-efficient washer and dryer pair, specifically one that uses less water and less energy.

Increase Natural Light

If you’d like to see more natural light in your home, focus first on the greenery outside. If trees and shrubs are growing over windows, for example, then you’re missing out on sunlight that could be shining beautifully through your kitchen and other rooms.

Once you clean up the greenery, the next step is to clean the windows with streak-free techniques from a reputable provider like window cleaning durham. By increasing natural light, you’ll likely find that you don’t have to turn on light switches as often as before and also that the sun streaming through the windows heats rooms well.

Recycled Countertops

If you’re itching to replace the outdated kitchen countertop, choose an environmentally-friendly version for the new one. Composite paper countertops are a great way to do precisely that, and they look terrific too in your kitchen.

The material is paper or wood-based fibers, with resins that are free of petroleum-based resins. The pigment is natural too, which means you can feel good about the minimal impact your upgrade has on the planet. Plus, if you like the way this project turned out, you could even use the composite paper approach for shelving and desks as well!

Other Ideas for Eco-Friendly Home Improvement

That’s just a few of the ways to go green with your home reno projects. If you want additional inspiration, how about installing LED lighting?

This efficient lighting option is coming down in price and coming in many different designs. Also, consider low-flush toilets when it’s time to replace the existing ones; they use less water, so you can feel good about conserving a natural resource, all while enjoying a lower water bill.

Look around the rooms in your house and see what needs improving, as well as how you can make it a green experience.  

We are very fortunate to now be living in a digital world, where we can remotely do anything we want. We can turn up the thermostat at home from our smartphones. We can check in with the kids by tapping into the live cameras in the house. We can even unlock the door from a distance, or video call Australia from the U.S. We have the capability to do so many things remotely these days, so why is it that so many employers don’t go for remote working?

When you’re spending your time clocking in long hours at the office, the last thing that you want to do is to face a commute all the way home again. Commuting adds hours to your day and it can really prevent you from feeling motivated and ready to work. You don’t have to get behind the wheel of a car and get into an accident because you’re exhausted from driving and working. The other massive bonus of working from home? It’s how much fuel you’re going to save! Working remotely saves you the money on gas, and it saves you pumping those fumes out into the atmosphere. One of the best arguments that you could give your boss is that you can save the planet – just a little bit!

 Working from home adds a level of flexibility that you cannot get in an office, and there are plenty of scenarios in which working from home is a great idea. You can make the most out of your personal injury claim from the accident you had while exhausted by working from home and earning without commuting. You can even relax and work from home around your children, which not only saves you money on your commute, but on your childcare, too.

All you need to know is how to get your boss on board. Shall we take a look?

• Research. You need to approach your employer with all the good things about remote working. You should include the fact that you can cut your emissions with your lack of commute to work – it’s a bonus if your company has a mission to be a greener business! You should also check out the employee handbook to know whether it’s an option already and you just don’t know about it. You have to be able to rebuttal any argument, so look at all the negatives, too and figure out how to argue against them.
• Plan. Look at what you are currently doing and what your responsibilities are all about, and then figure out how you can translate these to a home office. For example, you may find that a lot of your duties can be done in the home. Always have a list of how you can do them from home and communicate this to your boss.
• Meet. You want to sit down with your boss properly and discuss this as a matter of concern. Explain how your commute is affecting you and your home life, that you are worried about getting into an accident through sheer exhaustion. Explain how you plan to stay motivated in a home office and ask them to consider your role and the fact you don’t have to be in an office for it to work.
• Negotiate. Your boss may not be keen on your working from home all the time due to the fact that they need you in the office to meet and plan with your team. So, offer alternatives. Think about offering to be in the office three days a week with the other two days at home to start with. 

Sometimes, employers need to see this work in practice, so offering a trial run is going to be a good way to assure them that you plan to be just as productive.

Maths questions from past papers are an essential aspect of revision. For many children, these periods in their life are the first exam condition tests they experience. Given this, it is important that, as well as doing well and achieving their potential, they can come away with a positive view of the experience as a whole. To achieve this, it is important that the idea of undertaking exams is second nature and that preparation, including using maths past papers, starts early and is integrated into the children’s normal routine. 

Of course, when it comes to past papers, we certainly do not recommend wasting lots of paper! You can read this on how to recycle paper the right way for more details. 

Understanding The Role Of Maths Past Papers

Years of research have shown that when it comes to revising for any exam, it is important to start early. Cramming, although it works for a small minority, overloads the brain and can increase anxiety while reducing the actual amount of information retained. When it comes to younger children facing exam conditions for the first time, the experience of the exam itself is just as important as remembering the facts, techniques, and methods that have been studied. This is one of the ways in which past maths questions can help. 

If children are introduced to the form of the paper early, they become familiar with the layout, question styles, and answer spaces they face. Parents can ensure that they are providing the right stimulus at home with recognized and approved past papers. Past papers are also a great way of finding gaps in children’s knowledge and understanding. 

Once these areas are highlighted, teachers, tutors, and parents can work with the child focusing on maths questions and answers that the child lacks confidence in. If you’re not confident in helping your child, tutors can assist. Remote tutors using the likes of https://setapp.com/apps/gifox can show how children should answer questions. 

Having access to a range of past and sample papers also means that children can be prepped for the different types of questions that could be asked. This is important as, if they are only taught one form of a question, they could lose marks simply because they did not recognize what a question was asking them to do. 

Reducing The Stress Of KS2 Maths Reasoning Questions

One area where children definitely need to experience a range of question types is KS2 maths reasoning questions. Reasoning in mathematics can take many forms, and it is crucial that children experience as many of these forms as possible, so they do not experience stress, anxiety, and panic during exams. 

Using a range of past papers with different maths questions KS2 allows children to experience the different ways in which reasoning questions can be worded. They can see that while the wording changes, and different situations are used within the questions, the methods needed to solve the questions remain consistent. The question needs to be decoded, and the specific mathematical parts of the question found and understood. Once the child has understood how to determine the important information, they can work on solving the problems and presenting their workings and answers.