How to Protect Your Home From Rain Water

Your house is the only thing that protects you from all kinds of weather conditions, especially rain. We can call your home, your shield. Especially during rainy seasons, you should take extra care of your house exteriors.

When you are sitting in your home clean and dry, your house is more susceptible to the water damage. Hence, you should always take some safety measures to protect your home during monsoon seasons if you want to increase your property's life span.

Protect your home

Sturdy roofing: If you install worn out or missing roofing materials for your home, the water will easily seep in and damage your house structure. Therefore, always consult with professionals for any roofing related services. Also, you should inspect your roofing twice every year, but if there is any severe storm you should always check your roofing. Look for molds or any water marks underneath your roof.

Exterior Paints: Run a quick check on your exterior paintings because heavy rainfalls are very dangerous for. If you find bubbling, cracking or peeling in your exterior paints, repaint the affected area with quality paint that has the tendency to resist water.

Foundation: Again, run a quick check the foundation. Repair all the cracks to avoid water from leaking into your home. First concentrate in the large cracks. They need immediate attention and repairing.

Basement: Now the next thing you need to inspect is the basement. If there is a water leakage, you will find signs of water seepage. Check your carpets for any wet spots. Don't forget the corners. You can also sniff your walls for molds and mildews behind your walls. Take appropriate steps to remove all these unwanted things from your wall. Hire a professional if the problem is serious. Molds and mildews feed on your walls, and if they get inside your house, it can cause health problems. Call a professional pressure washing company to clean each and every corner of your house exteriors.

Gutters: You should always clean your gutters to eliminate any dirt or debris. Or else, the rain water will back up and damage your house again. Window ledge, decomposed boards and water leaking into your foundation or your basement are some of the common problems you will face with clogged gutters.

Downspouts: Lastly, check your downspouts to see where the water is being dumped. If your downspout is dumping water 5 feet, then use gutter damage to dump it further.

When taking care of your house in the raining season, do not ignore the damp on your outside walls otherwise, it will seep inside. Also, if you want to get your exteriors painted for before the monsoons, go for modified paints with silicon because they repel water and you can enjoy the weather worrying about your walls at least.

Cleaning Tips: Oriental Rug

Oriental rugs are meticulously crafted carpets obtained from India, Turkey, Iran, Southeast Asia or any other region in the Middle East. The rugs have been shown to greatly alter the feel and character of a living space and as a result you should take great care of them.

One of the best ways of taking good care of the carpets is by cleaning them when they get dirty. You need to note that the rugs are made from different materials; therefore, they don't have the same cleaning methods.

If you have a wool rug, you need to be cautious in order to prevent fading and running. You need to note that soil that has been deeply embedded in the carpet can't be easily vacuumed.

If you have to vacuum, you should do it without the beating brush. The best way of removing the dirt is by sweeping. If dirt stains are left after sweeping, you should use a detergent to remove the stains.

If you have a handmade rug, you need to note that dirt and dander usually don't get deep into the rug since the carpet is usually tightly wound; therefore, to clean it you only need to undertake regular vacuuming.

It's recommended that you regularly clean your rug every two weeks; however, if you can't vacuum your handmade carpet, you should throw it over a banister or rail outside your house and beat it using a broom. This is to loosen the material.

When cleaning the homemade carpet, you should avoid steam cleaning it. This is because hot water and steam tend to loosen the fibers and as a result damage the carpet.

The best way of going about it is cleaning the carpet using a mild soap detergent and cold water. You should avoid using harsh cleaners or chemicals to clean the carpet.

If you find an animal accident such as vomit, urine, or fecal matter on your carpet, you should flush the rug immediately with cold water in order to disperse the material. After doing this you should dab the carpet with a dry rag.

Animal accident materials often have acids; therefore, you should use mild ammonia solution to clean the affected area. To dry the area you should use a hair dryer or fan.

If you are having trouble cleaning your oriental rug, you should consider hiring the services of a professional cleaning company.

Before you entrust a given company with your carpet, you should do thorough research and ensure that the company that you want to hire has the right equipment and expertise.

You should also ensure that the company has the ability of undertaking proper rug repair in order to maintain the carpet's original value.

Five Ways to Not Get Buyers Interested in Your House

Tired of serious buyers traipsing through your house after you put it on the market? Offering you that pesky money for your house? Here's a surefire way to ensure that no one at all expresses any interest in buying your home with tips seen in real online listings.

1. Firstly, don't clean your house. Preferably, don't clean anything for months before taking the pictures. Your pictures should highlight just what kind of dire need your house has for a good thorough washing. Make sure to include as many cobwebs in your pictures as possible. If you can't get your house good and dirty, try taking the pictures in poor light so that people can't really see the rooms clearly.

2. Next, leave all kinds of belongings out in the open, scattered around is best though stacks of things like old newspapers works well here as well. If you can, pile so much stuff in each room that you're taking a picture of that you can't really discern what the room is supposed to be used for. Showcase just how many pieces of furniture that you can get in each room. Don't restrict yourself to items that belong in that room either, the more random the better. Don't give anyone a hint as to what the room is actually used for by the contents.

3. Take only pictures that highlight areas that require repair, poorly designed elements, or if you don't have any of those, shots that show expanses of blank walls. Don't allow any of the interesting elements of your home to show at all. Only show the least intesting angles of your yard as well or that pile of garden debris or junk that you cleaned out of the garage you're going to take to the dump.

4. Whenever possible take your photos from odd angles or even with a fisheye lens. Photos taken from close to the ceiling will make all your rooms look like only a hobbit could live in them while shots taken from near the floor will make all your furniture seem to loom over you. Distortion is the name of the game here, don't be afraid to take shots down staircases to show just how treacherous they might really be, even if they aren't.

5. Make sure that when you have all your pictures, you write up your listing with misspelled words, using poor punctuation, and either no capitals or ALL capitals. Nothing says "I'm not a professional" like a lack of proof reading.

All joking aside, when you decide to put up your home for sale, you will want to make sure that the pictures show a clean home that is free from clutter. A buyer is likely to think that if a seller can't be bothered to clean and tidy their house for something as important as putting it on the market it is likely to have not been maintained well either. The text that accompanies your pictures should be clear and concise and proof-read for mistakes. For even better results, consult a professional real estate agent in your area for expert advice and tips on selling your home.

Tips: How To Increase The Value Of Your Home Cheaply

If you are planning of selling your home you should highly consider increasing the home's value in order to sell it at a higher price. The good side is that you don't have to spend a lot of money for you to improve the value. Here are some tips on how to increase the value of your home inexpensively.

Clean and de-clutter your home

A clean house will look appealing to the buyer and as a result you are able to sell it at a higher price.

The first thing that you should do is to make your home spacious. Here you need to eliminate any junky and unnecessary items. For example, you should get rid of any battered furniture and papers.

Once you have removed all the junk, you should now clean the house. When cleaning you should pay close attention to the areas that are rarely cleaned such as baseboards, heating vents and grout.

To be on the safe side you should ensure that every area of your home is thoroughly clean and there are no stains. If you find that you are having trouble with the cleaning you should consider hiring a professional cleaning service to help you out.

Paint your home

Paint tends to brighten your home. Paint also makes your home appear well cared for. For ideal results you should ensure that you first patch up any holes before you apply the paint. To give your home a silky smooth finish, it's recommended that you apply a primer coat.

When choosing the finish for your home, you should ensure that you consider the condition of your walls. If your walls have some imperfections such as dents or cracks, you should use eggshell finish paint.

When painting the house you should pay close attention to the kitchen and bathrooms. This is because these are the most important areas that buyers look at for them to decide whether to buy the house or not.

Update the curtains and blinds

Curtains and blinds are cheap thus affordable for many people. To increase your home's value it's recommended that you go for modern curtains in the market.

Although, increasing the value of your home aids in increasing the home's cost, you should be very careful when buying the materials. This is because you can end up spending more money than what the market gives you back.

Book now: our latest Style Safari

Good news: we're holding another of our popular Style Safaris - a day of design-store tours and expert briefings guided by HOME editor Jeremy Hansen - on October 18.

The all-day Style Safari experience includes visits to five Auckland design stores, briefings on the latest international design trends at each destination, and lunch at Cibo. 

The October 18 Style Safari includes briefings on new furniture arrivals from the teams at Studio Italia, Simon James Design, Matisse, Backhouse Interiors and Corporate Culture. 

You'll be transported between each destination in luxurious vehicles provided by our event partner Mercedes-Benz. It's a hassle-free way for you to get ahead on all the latest design developments and to see what's in stock and on order in Auckland's best design showrooms.

Numbers on the Style Safari are limited to 50, and our last event sold out quickly, so purchase your tickets now. They're available for $95 from Eventopia - click here to reserve your place! 

Meet the Architects on September 11 at Auckland Art Gallery

We're delighted to invite you to Meet the Architects, our free evening where you can hear some of the country's best architects in conversation with HOME editor Jeremy Hansen and see slides of their recent and upcoming projects. We're hosting the event with our Home of the Year partner, Altherm Window Systems.

 
The event is being held at the Auckland Art Gallery Auditorium at 6pm on Wednesday September 11. Entry is free, but please RSVP to Ashleigh Webb, awebb@bauermedia.co.nz, if you're keen to come - it's important we manage numbers so we can fit everyone in. Architects who attend get 15 CPD points.

Here's who'll appearing on stage:

Nicholas Stevens and Gary Lawson, designers of the Home of the Year 2013, will talk about the winning house and their exciting upcoming projects, which include a medium-density residential development in Auckland, and a theatre in Hawke's Bay. 

The Headland House by Stevens Lawson Architects. Photograph by Mark Smith.

Aaron Paterson and Dominic Glamuzina of Glamuzina Paterson Architects (recent winners of two NZ Institute of Architects' New Zealand Architecture Awards) will talk about their Lake Hawea House, a finalist in the Home of the Year 2013, as well as other upcoming projects. 

The Lake Hawea House by Glamuzina Paterson Architects. Photograph by Patrick Reynolds.

Sally Ogle and Ben Mitchell-Anyon are the designers of The Dogbox, the Whanganui house that was a finalist in the Home of the Year 2013. They'll be talking about designing and building that remarkable house, as well as the other projects they've got coming up. 

The Dogbox by Patchwork Architecture. Photograph by Paul McCredie.

The talk will run from 6pm and finish about 7.15pm. Please come along - it's not only a talk for architects, but for anyone who's interested in design. We look forward to seeing you there.

Our new cover: Fashion Houses

Behold! Our new cover, which New Zealand subscribers should receive today and which will hit newsstands on Monday. We hope you like it. It's a photograph by Sharrin Rees of a beautiful Sydney home designed by expat New Zealand architects Chris Adams and Bianco Pohio (who are also, as you'll see, experts at creating beautiful, calm interiors).

In the photo, the blue 'Clip' chairs are by Lorenz Kaz for Bedont, and the '91' table is by Alvar Aalto (who also designed the teaware on the shelf behind). The blue vase is by Bitossi. 

This issue is our annual focus on the connections between fashion, architecture and interior design. Some of the homes we've selected for it are owned by people in the fashion biz, and others were chosen because we think they say interesting things about the directions architecture and interior design are heading today. 

We're really pleased with the issue and hope you like it too. Thanks to photographer Sharrin and to Chris and Bianca for helping us create such an arresting cover. 

We'll preview more of the issue's content for you in our posts next week. Have a great weekend. 

We like: Milse's sweet treats at Auckland's Britomart

We like the sublime, sweet offerings of dessert restaurant and patisserie Milse (pronounced 'Mil-say', and is Gaelic for 'sweet') as much as we like its dramatic interior. 

The cocoon-like space in Auckland's Britomart opened recently and supplies desserts to neighbouring Ortolana restaurant as well as hosting diners at tables of its own, and offering takeout. 

The space was designed by Cheshire Architects. HOME editor Jeremy Hansen spoke to Nat Cheshire about the design, and to Milse's executive pastry chef Brian Campbell about the amazing food. These photographs are by David Straight.

HOME What was your brief for the space, and how did you go about filling it?

NAT CHESHIRE, CHESHIRE ARCHITECTS Within this left-over back-alley space we needed to offer an immersive and transformative experience, shaping spaces around some of the most ambitious dessert cooking in the country. We were inspired by the Arabian history of dessert-making to create an interior that folds together the crystalline structure of sugars and the delicate tracery of carved wooden moucharaby panels.

HOME How does it feel to be in the space?

NAT CHESHIRE The goal is a world of quiet delight within a chaotic left-over geometry surrounded by service lanes and delivery trucks outside. Milse has a cave-like intensity within the quiet complexity of its filigree surface. We hope this means it feels like another world entirely.

HOME I remember people eating their feelings at Death by Chocolate in the 80s. How is Milse different from the dessert restaurants of that era?

BRIAN CAMPBELL, EXECUTIVE PASTRY CHEF I think people are now eating a lot more casually – it’s the norm to restaurant-hop. Our approach is to focus on the best of seasonal products as well as showcasing premium ingredients such as chocolate and spices to give people an amazing dessert experience, whether they’re eating in or taking away.

HOME What’s your favourite thing on the menu at the moment?

BRIAN CAMPBELL I like the passionfruit and apple salted caramels.

NAT CHESHIRE I am trying to eat my way through everything, one hemispherical salted caramel gelato cake at a time.

Milse is at 27 Tyler Street, Britomart, Auckland, ph 09 368 9487 (no reservations accepted).