Latest Designer Bathroom Ideas and How To Guides for your Home

More than any other room in your home, your kids’ rooms need to be practical and organised, yet fun and fresh.  The right children’s beds will not only ensure your kids get a good night’s rest, but can also help them keep their rooms clean and tie their bedroom decor together perfectly.

From bunk beds to canopy beds, sleigh beds to daybeds, wooden beds to metal beds in a rainbow of colours, finishes, and themes, you’ll certainly find a bed to make both you and your child happy.

Bunk beds are a classic space saver in rooms where two or more children sleep, while loft beds raise the sleeping surface off the floor, leaving room for a desk, dresser, toy chests, shelves, and bookcases below.  Combination or futon beds are ideal for older children and teens, with a twin bed on top and a convertible full size futon/sofa on the bottom.  A trundle daybed lets you hide away extra sleeping space when it’s not in use.  A canopy bed gives drama to any child’s room, while giving you the freedom to indulge in a bit of fantasy; a sleigh bed adds instant elegance.

Many children’s beds feature storage in the base to help organise thee room.  Clothes, socks, toys, games, and more can be tucked away in drawers under the bed right at child level, keeping these items off the floor and minimising clutter.

No matter what type of children’s beds you choose, letting your kids select bed linens and accessories will ensure they love their new bedroom.

An easy DIY job is laying laminate flooring. If the longest wall in the room you are working in is straight and true you can start immediately with the first row along that wall. Lay the first line with the grooved edge facing the wall and a plastic spacer in place every two feet. If the wall is uneven, lay out a line of laminate flooring and, touching the most prominent area, mark the line of the rest of the wall on the boards.

Get a scrap of wood the same width from the wall as the widest point, and use this as a guide to make a pencil mark along the length of the laminates. You should then cut the pieces with an electric jigsaw for ease.

As before, lay out the first length, separated from the wall by the spacer. Each piece of laminate will either snap together or be held in place with a little glue. Make sure you stagger the successive rows by about a foot so as to give them the appropriate look. You can now proceed to lay the rest of the flooring making sure to pack them firmly against each other.

Cutting around doorframes can be tricky, so either make a template of the section you need to cut out or saw a section off the architrave to the thickness of the board and push it underneath.  Once the floor is completely fitted you can then reattach the skirting boards or fill in the remaining gap with a half rounded moulding to hide the expansion space.

If you are in the market for a quality shower enclosure, you may have to look no further than a corner shower stall. In fact, it is a smart choice for a small bathroom, because they leave additional space for a bathroom vanity unit or storage accessory. As they are installed in the corner, this shower enclosure only requires two walls for its installation.

Corner stall shower enclosures are available in a wide variety and come with glass doors that have been etched, pebbled or set with wavy blocks for added privacy. The shower enclosures also come frameless, with very trendy right now look, or framed in materials like chrome, steel and aluminium for an updated look.

The corner stall shower enclosure gives a cosy look to a modern bathroom and can be installed as a home renovation project. However, you will need to purchase the shower pan, flooring and door. If you choose to build it from parts, you have the ability to add design features such as seating, shower trays, and other shower accessories such as built-in nooks or ledges designed to hold shampoos, soaps and the like. Another choice is the custom kit, which is a prefabricated piece that needs only the right place for installation. It comes as one solid piece, and the biggest issue will be ensuring proper drainage.

However, the method is secondary. The fact that you have chosen a corner stall shower enclosure for your bathroom demonstrates you are not only design conscious but budget savvy too. Corner stall shower enclosures can be a very economical choice.

Installing an underfloor heating system makes for an excellent DIY project if you are skilled at performing home improvements.  However, there are a few aspects of this endeavour that you should be aware of before jumping into the project.  The following is some advice to follow if you are planning on installing an electric underfloor heating system in your home.

- Remember the old adage “failing to plan means that you are planning to fail”.  This is especially true when you consider installing an underfloor heating system, whether it is a dry (electric) or wet (water) heating system.  Consider what electricity costs where you live in the UK because some areas are more expensive than others.  If the electricity is too costly, then you should consider going with a wet underfloor heating system.

- Depending on the quality of insulation that you have and the number of rooms that you are planning to heat, your usage will vary compared to other homes in your area.

- You can control the amount of energy that is consumed by installing an independent underfloor heating thermostat in each room that is going to be heated.  This is a very cost-effective measure as it will allow a lower temperature to be set in unoccupied rooms.

- Remember that as you are installing the underfloor heating system, the room that you are working in cannot be occupied and must be cleared of furniture.  You should install the underfloor heating system in the rooms that are used most often before those that are rarely used.

Once you have chosen the bed that is right for you, of the right size, bed frame, colour and mattress, you may also chose to fit a headboard to it. Headboards are a type of detachable bed accessory fitting to the top end of a bed. They can function as a decorative finish to the bed or as a functional addition to lean against when reading or watching television.

Decorative headboards, which may be too light or difficult to lean against, as in the case of a series of vertical bars, can transform the look of the bedroom space or act well in conjunction with existing furniture. Many headboards are suggested for addition to particular beds. When choosing your own combination, ensure the headboard and the bed will match, and that this combination works well in the bedroom.

Headboards can be made of the same range of materials as beds themselves, such as wood, cast metal and aluminium. Padded headboards, in which an additional layer of soft material fits over the solid framework, are the most common type of functional headboard. These are comfortable to sit against or to put pillows alongside. Padded headboards are commonly finished with decorated, patterned fabric or leather, fitting well with leather beds.

Headboards for children’s beds are often highly expressive and decorated, giving that little extra touch to a child’s bedroom. Of course, making the right choice depending on individual wishes is important for children as well as adults.

House insurance consists of buildings insurance, which you must have in place and contents insurance, which is optional, but recommended. Buildings insurance protects your building’s structure against fire, flood and other damage and the amount that it will pay depends on the cost of repairing the damage or rebuilding your property. For this reason if you have added any extensions or converted the loft you must inform the insurer so that the level insurance can be adjusted. Buildings insurance often also covers fixed items such as baths and fitted kitchens, as well as garden sheds and garages.
 
Contents insurance covers the replacement of movable contents in the house, such as furniture, jewellery and appliances. Some of these may also be covered when you take them outside the home, although separate travel insurance might have to be arranged should you take them on holiday with you. Indemnity contents insurance is the cheapest form, with an item of the same age replacing the lost or damaged one. If you are prepared to pay extra, ‘new for old’ insurance will provide for replacement with brand new items.

To compare home insurance costs, it’s a good idea to visit an insurance cost comparison website. Bear in mind that the cost of premiums can vary considerably between insurers and that if you combine contents insurance with buildings insurance you can reduce the cost. Accepting a higher excess will also drive the premiums down. The excess is the amount you yourself pay as a part of any claim made on the policy.

Shower enclosures or shower cubicles are the areas (usually small) in which people take showers. The purpose of the shower enclosure or shower cubicle is twofold – both to provide a place of privacy while so exposed, and also to prevent the water used whilst taking the shower from covering the whole of the bathroom floor.

Obviously, the first thing that needs to be considered before choosing a form of shower enclosure for your bathroom is the size of the bathroom in question. There are numerous kinds of shower enclosures, available in almost any size, so it is vital to choose one which will both fit nicely into your bathroom – while still leaving plenty of space – and which suits the plumbing in your bathroom.

Another thing to consider is the length of time you can expect the shower enclosure you choose to last for. Shower enclosures are generally quite expensive, so durability is a very important consideration – with a life span of at least ten years being the usual expectation for such an investment.

 The shower door needs to be assessed for the same consideration, as well as its efficiency in preventing water leakage; a rubber seal on shower doors is considered to be the best way to prevent water leaving shower enclosures and spilling out into the bathroom itself, while a metal door handle is always going to be more durable and long lasting than one made out of plastic. Thick frosted glass for the doors is the best option, for both durability and safety reasons.

Many people are now opting for underfloor heating rather than standard central heating as it has several benefits for the consumer. 

Operating an underfloor heating system can often work out to be a cost efficient alternative to other types of heating.  Using water underfloor heating can be a cheaper alternative as the water is heated to a lower temperature than in a system that uses wall mounted radiators.  This system also runs more quietly than conventional central heating. 

Underfloor heating is often installed as standard in newly built homes, particularly in small buildings.  It allows maximum use of space without radiators taking up wall space.  This also means that radiators are not gathering dust and are not causing problems when it comes to decorating a room. 

This also offers health and safety benefits, as there are no hot pipes or radiators for people to burn themselves on and the fixtures will not harbour dust mites which may be irritating for those who have allergies.  Having to cover radiators defeated the object of having heating as it meant that the heat was restricted. 

When floor heating is used in rooms such as kitchens and bathrooms which are prone to wet floors and condensation, the user will find that they will dry out much more quickly and damp will be less of a problem. 

Having underfloor heating is an advantage to home owners as potential buyers will often see it as an unusual feature that adds value to a property and will offer long term benefits.

Wood is a very popular choice for beds, and understanding your options lets you find the perfect wooden bed for your room.

Different woods give a different look, so knowing the types of wood most commonly used to build furniture will help you choose a style that suits your decor.

Mahogany, oak, pine, cherry, maple, walnut, and rosewood are all popular furniture woods.  Finishes and stains range from dark espresso to light honey, painted to natural.  Hardwoods like oak, walnut, and mahogany are usually used to make high-end, solid wood furniture and beds, while softer woods like pine and cedar are used by many budget manufacturers to create veneered or particleboard pieces that are more affordable.

Cherry is a reddish wood known for its strength and durability.  Maple is a popular choice for painted beds.  Oak is very heavy and strong, and carves extremely well so it’s often used to create ornate headboards.  Pine is lightweight and evenly textured, though its durability and knotted surfaces make it ideal for rustic beds.

Wooden beds provide a wide range of style options for any decor.  The sleek, elegant look of a raised platform bed is well-suited to modern design; many platform beds also include built-in storage.  Dramatic wooden canopy or four-poster beds certainly make a statement in any room, and draping fabrics over the canopy can tie a room together.  A sleigh bed can be modern or traditional and is perhaps the most versatile wooden bed.  And, of course, classic wooden bunk beds are a great space-saver for any child’s room.

Living in the cold climate of the United Kingdom, central heating radiators are an essential part of any household. Bathroom radiator designs, however, have come a long way from their bland, cold, purely functional origins. In recent years, however, radiator designers have realised that there is a large consumer demand for radiators that do more than just warm the house, but also compliment the interior decoration of it in surprising, colourful and tasteful ways.

The old fashioned white rectangle radiator has slowly but surely disappeared from the majority of British households, replaced by an almost unending choice of radiators in all colours and many sizes and shapes, including some truly bizarre and memorable ones such as spirals and whorls, and even some that resemble kinds of abstract works of art! This newfound wide variation of designer radiators also means that not only can you have a more aesthetically pleasing and imaginative kind of radiator, but that you can have radiators in different shapes, styles and colours in every room of the house if you so wish, for example children’s rooms can be adorned with designer radiators built in the shape of animals etc.

A bathroom radiator is essential and bathroom radiators come in many styles and colours. The variety of shapes and sizes has enough impact above and beyond mere style, of course – it also means that they can fit into almost any area of the room you wish to have one in. Modern radiators also heat up a lot quicker than the old fashioned models due to their use of materials such as aluminium and stainless steel as heat conductors. Searching through a radiator suppliers website such as UK Bathrooms will give a good idea of what designer radiators are out there and help you to make the perfect choice for your home.

Designer radiators have truly taken the radiator into the 21st century; a designer radiator can add an element of class and sophistication to any room.