But, before making your final selection on a chosen model, read these five safety-focused suggestions that address children, pets, and the inclusion of professional electricians.

Home Safety: 5 Safety Rules for Automatic Gate Openers

Image via: Harold Leidner Landscape Architects

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Home Safety: 5 Safety Rules for Automatic Gate Openers

Survey the Area

Too often, small pets and children grow interested in automatic gates, resulting in preventable injuries.  Survey the area before operation, especially if your driveway is sloped and visibility limited.  It’s difficult to see small pets or curious children who race toward incoming cars at night or come around sharp bends.

Fix areas around gates with motion sensitive lighting, so drivers see what’s in front and behind them, easily spotting oncoming animals or nearby and excited children.

Make Access Difficult

Children grow curious, playing with gates and remote controls, so hide all hand-held devices and keep codes secret.  If your gate features a keypad, place a cover over it or opt for a rolling versus a fixed code.  Rolling codes continuously change to thwart computer hackers and those who grow privy to fixed codes.

Some integrate gates with alarm systems, so the proper authorities are notified when someone tries to tamper with a cover or types a wrong code.  Let thieves know of the added layer of protection, placing alarm signage on the front lawn of your property.

Image via: A Edwards

Hire an Electrician

Don’t let do-it-yourself ideas turn into should-have-hired scenarios.  Hire a professional electrician for proper installation, opting to get the job done right rather than worry about saving money.  Electricians establish necessary connections, and check they are safe and do not disturb previous resources running to and from the property.

Furthermore, electricians help identify additional needs or needless, vendor-suggested purchases.

Maintenance is Key

Internal components are integral to function but potentially hazardous when neglected.  Ask installers and manufacturers about maintenance and issues involving restrictions or prolonged wear.  For example, extreme snow and ice conditions may freeze components or obstruct rollers gliding along a track.  Knowing how the gate works helps troubleshoot during emergencies.

Discuss options with vendors, and do further research regarding options and unique models, such as maximum weight resistance, battery life, and direction of operation.  For example, gates opening away from the property require additional components.  Read about extended warranties; understand what components are covered; and know how to get parts for repair.

Find information at fencemakers automatic gates about custom-designed models fitted to your property and needs. Depending on model, you may require an external electrical outlet for needed power.  Some gates use solar panels to generate and maintain power.

Image via: Studio 6 Architects

Respect Due Process

Contact local governments and ask about related restrictions, permits, or paperwork.  Your gate purchase may require a visit from a private or government inspector.  Call real estate and insurance agents regarding improving the value of your home or saving money on home insurance due to installation.

Consult your lawyer about levels of liability and protection if others are injured because of a gate malfunction or unlawful entry attempt.

Mark Holmes is a father of four with safety always on his mind. When he’s not working on his large estate, he’s writing about ways to keep it safe and secure to share with his online readers.

For more outdoor home ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Your decor is just as unique as you are, and sometimes it’s hard to find house-ready houseplants that fit with your scheme. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can incorporate houseplants into your home and take advantage of the benefits they bring—extra oxygen and improved mood—no matter how you’ve chosen to decorate your home.

Image via: Eric Figge Photography

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Here’s how:

Analyze Your Decor

Every room is unique, but all styles share common and identifiable design elements. What elements does your room have? Is there a little English cottage and midcentury modern? Colonial and Moroccan? Oriental and Art Deco? There are so many combinations you could have in your home, so start with identifying the elements you have.

Now do your research and find plants that fit with those elements, and your color scheme. If your room has three or more elements, pick one element you want to emphasize; either the one that’s least emphasized or your favorite one—maybe you want to emphasize it more! If there are just two easily identifiable décor elements in your room, it’s best to pick two plants that fit with those elements; you could put daffodils and Persian Buttercups in a room that evokes both Wordsworth’s country cottage and a Moroccan bazaar.

Stage the Plants

Go into the room you’ve chosen the plants for. Where do you envision yourself putting these plants?

Is the room warm? Good, that’s as it should be. Is there a lot of direct sunlight? If not, that’s okay; you’ll just have to buy some grow lights to give your plants the light they need.

Decide how you want to stage your plants in one pot? A series of three? One long box? Think about it, picture it in your mind, and buy your pots according to the picture you like the most.

Image via: Joshua McHugh

Pick a Pot (or Three?)

Potting is an important step—a poorly chosen pot will stick out like a rat in any room. Don’t just go with the (likely green) plastic pot it came in—make the effort to find a pot that works as well with your décor as the plant you have chosen.

You must begin with the end in mind when choosing pots. Look at the room and decide

You can look at craft and other home goods stores, you can look at thrift shops, you can look online—there are so many cool places to find unique containers for your houseplants! Depending on what you have in mind, your planters and pots may be easier or more difficult to find; midcentury modern is much easier to find than, say, Victorian.

Then simply repot your plant, either completely or by putting the first pot into your new pot. And now you have lovely houseplants that fit with your décor!

For more home decor ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Your home can be a challenge to keep clean and when considering to hire a home cleaning service, you may not know where to start. If you are looking for a domestic cleaner, review these tips to assist in your search. Cleaning your house can be a timely task, which can be very tiresome, but it doesn’t have to be like this as you can arrange for a domestic cleaner to be your savior.

Image via: Martha O’Hara Interiors

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Tips to Consider when Hiring a House Cleaner

1. When finding the right cleaner for you, it is important to have realistic expectations and treat them with respect. If using a reputable agency you will not need to worry about experience and knowledge of the cleaner.
2. Remember you need to buy suitable cleaning products to obtain the results you require. You also have to bear in mind that leaving piles of washing up and ironing will not lead to high standards unless you are delegating more time to the task.
3. When you decide to have a cleaner you should help save time and money by being specific about what needs to be done around the house, this will allow you to organise the cleaning without having to pay for extra hours.
4. Before the cleaner comes think about picking up clothes and dirty glasses around the house and try to organise the dirty washing so the cleaner can spend more time on cleaning instead of clearing up.
5. So always think about your priorities and remember a small list is always more helpful as you will be able to organise your cleaning in a more effective way.

 Image via: Feldman Architecture

Leanne is the author of this post and is researching domestic cleaning in Tunbridge Wells, Kent and the UK.

For more home cleaning tips on Stagetecture, click here.

Today, there are limitless options. From wood, metal, pvc, and more, fencing is now an architectural feature of many outdoor homes. If you are looking to buy fencing panels? try www.edecks.co.uk. There are many varieties and reasons to choose the right fencing for your home and security and privacy needs.

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Here are some fencing options and ideas that will suit every homeowner’s needs and styles:

Do you need privacy?

Assess your needs. Do you have a dog that you need to keep contained in your fenced yard, or do you simply want some extra privacy? If you have these needs, then you will want to look for tall fencing that is made of solid wood or PVC materials.   Wooden fences can be installed in quite a few manners to reflect your tastes and needs. For example, the wood tops can be scalloped to give a pretty country look, or for a more modern appeal have the wood straight and streamlined with square caps on the tops of each post. There are also quite a few PVC-style fences that allow privacy and can suit both modern and classic tastes, depending on style and color choice.

Light up your fence:

A really great way to highlight your new fence and add some extra landscape lighting is by adding lights to the caps of your fence posts. There are plenty of choices at your local home hardware or fencing retailers; solar fence caps that run on solar energy are a perfect choice and can be found in numerous styles and colors.

Picket fencing:

Maybe you crave the classic look that a picket fence can give your home. Picket fencing is classic and will never go out of style. However, picket fencing is best left as a small addition to the front of your home and is mainly meant to add curb appeal – it is not really an option to keep a large dog in or for increased privacy.

Chain Link:

Chain link fencing is probably the most affordable option.  However, it doesn’t add a whole lot of curb appeal. But if you are on a budget, you can install a chain link fence and then beautify it with climbing plants. Within one summer season you can hide a large part of your chain link fence with a climbing plant such as clematis, or climbing roses.

As you can see there are a lot of choices to meet your individual fencing needs, with all these options, you can have fun creating a functional yet appealing outdoor landscape.

For more outdoor ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Green roofing represents an excellent way to contribute to the environment, while also having extensive individual benefits for your property and a surrounding area. Green roofs consist of an area that is either completely or partially covered by vegetation, which then acts as a self sustaining eco system. Different types of green roofs are available, from intensive roofs that almost completely cover a space, through to semi intensive and partial roof coverings. Some of the key benefits of green roofs include their ability to improve property insulation, as well as their water storage and heat reduction features, and their general longevity. The details of these benefits can be found below.

Image via: Houzz

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1 – Better Insulation and Less Emissions

A green roof provides much more comprehensive insulation for a roof, and reduces the amount of energy lost through natural convection. In this way, a green roof is better at restricting the amount of harmful CO2 released into the atmosphere.

2 – Self Contained Eco Systems

A functional green roof can act as a self contained eco system for plant and wildlife. Able to provide an alternative to wildlife adaptation in built up urban areas, a green roof can be managed to allow for natural plant and wildlife cycles.

3 – Water Storage and Run Offs

The vegetation that comprises a green roof can be used to soak up water and provide more efficient run offs. In this way, the amount of water that is normally lost through concrete or brick evaporation can be absorbed and processed by plants into gas.

4 – Waterproofing

As well as storing water, green roofs also act as an excellent way of waterproofing a property. Leaks and cracks in a roof that might lead to gradual fragmentation can be replaced by more natural absorption and run offs, which will reduce long term repair costs.

5 – Reduces Urban Heat

Green roofs provide solution to the problem of urban heat. Built up heat in an urban area can translate into damaging gases and smog. By absorbing heat and producing oxygen through vegetation, a green roof can help to produce more rainwater and general atmospheric moisture.

6 – Durable Life Spans

Green roofs tend to last much longer than conventional roofs. Their water and heat absorption rates mean that they are able to withstand direct sunlight and rainwater in more organic ways that manmade materials.

7 – Energy Efficiency

A properly maintained green roof will be highly energy efficient. Less heat will be lost through the roof due to cracks and natural convection, meaning that significant energy savings can be made.

8 – Filters Gases

The natural processes enabled by a high level of vegetation means that potentially noxious gases can be reduced in the area around a green roof.

Image via: Apartment Therapy

9 – Reduces Noise

Vegetation acts as an excellent natural insulator for noise. The more a roof area is covered, the better the reduction will be for a property.

10 – Improves Aesthetics

A green roof can be one of the most striking sights within an urban skyline. As biodiverse sights, green roofs also add colour and attract wildlife to a building in a safe and eco friendly way.

Currently writing for roofing solutions company Bauder, Matt Mynors is a freelance copywriter writing on environmental issues and topics such as green roofing and product recycling.

For more green living ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Next Tuesday, March 20th is the official first day of spring. Whether you are taking a formal spring break to get away on a family trip or you just escape to your backyard, I always think of homes that are relaxing and comforting. Beach homes come to my mind first because they epitomize a relaxed living style, where the views and the water are your main focus, and resting seems like it would be the ultimate in a beach home.

Image via: Luxury & Glamour.Tumblr

Today, I thought I would show you some of my favorite beach homes to inspire you to take a much needed spring break this spring. You deserve it!

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Relaxing nautical interiors

Image via: HGTV

Sweet bedroom dreams

Image via: House of Turquoise

Hanging boat bed… how cool is this!?

Image via: The Fancy

Relax on your porch…

Imagevia: Coastal Living

However you choose to welcome in the spring season take in the beauty of nature and take time for yourself!

For more spring ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

7 Essential Property Maintenance Tips

A home is a large investment and if neglected, the property will pay no dividends if you ever decide to sell. Good property maintenance is essential no matter if you are a new homeowner or just interested in real estate investing. If it’s properly maintained and improved, you will see high yield returns and avoid costly repair bills in the long run.

In addition, home improvements tend to propel certain neighborhoods into the desirable category. As a result, property values increase as well. From an economic standpoint, home improvements can bring increased markets for homes in that area, which leads to a more prosperous community.

Image via: Spring Ville Construction

Obviously, the price you will get for your property investment will be determined, ultimately, by how much a potential buyer wants your home. So if you keep your house well decorated, clean, and well maintained you are much more likely to get top price for it when you decide to sell.

So how can you decide between do-it-yourself (or DIY) renovations vs. hiring a contractor?

Do-it-yourself (or DIY)

If the idea is to make the most money you can for any real estate you invest in which it is you can save a ton of cash by doing much of the essential home maintenance yourself. That is, of course, if you’re handy with tools and have the experience in home renovations. However, if you are not knowledgeable in electrical wiring, plumbing, heating systems, and architecture wiring your property investment or cutting through that walls may cost you more repairs in the long run. In this case you should seek help from the professionals. If you do choose to DIY your home; don’t skimp on the materials. You don’t need to buy the most expensive flooring and kitchen cabinets, however, home decor that looks good is typically also easy to maintain and it will be durable.

Paying a contractor

If you plan to pay a contractor to do your home maintenance, take care to choose one with a reputation for price and quality workmanship. There are several ways to check a contractor’s references, including:

• Ask the contractor for former costumer references
• Do a search through your local Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau or local consumer protection agency
• Visit the contractor’s place of business
• Ask for a contractor recommendation through wholesale suppliers
• Ask friends and relatives to recommend a contractor

Once you’ve decided to DIY or hire a contractor, follow this list of essential property maintenance tips to keep the value of your home growing:

Image via: Home Interior Designs

1. Essential home maintenance tools:

Regardless of it you hire a contractor or DIY home maintenance, all home owners should have the basic tools on hand including a range of screwdrivers, a hammer, pliers, a measuring tape, caulking, special pliers to strip wires for rewriting plugs, a standard wrench for plumbing leaks, insulation, and gaffer and masking tape. You should also keep a decent ladder on hand for cleaning gutters and for roof and window inspection. Chose a ladder that reaches the very top of your house and keep it safely locked up in your shed or basement when not in use.

2. Essential home necessities:

In addition to the tools above, you’ll also require home consumables like extra fuses and light bulbs, washers, sink and pipe unclogger, grout filler and various screws and wall plugs.

Image via: About.com

3. Walls:

The skeleton of your house may endure surface cracks or damage to the wallpaper or paint. Repair any widening cracks as soon as possible. Likewise, keep an eye out for damp or dry rot in your walls especially in the bathroom. You want to ensure that moisture and condensation isn’t settling into the walls by installing a ceiling fan. Small dents and scratches can be easy DIY repairs using new paint or wall decor.

4. Windows:

Check your windows regularly for condensation or leaks. Be sure to wipe away any excess condensation and caulk any leaks. You should also paint wooden windows yourself every three years (minimum) to prevent and restore weather damage.

Image via: Pitut

5. Floors:

The floors in your property will get more damage to them than any other surface especially if you have pets or children, or if you’re doing renovations in work boots. Try your best to keep the carpets dirt free and the hard wood floors unscuffed by keeping mats by all entrances, asking visitors to remove their shoes, and cleaning scuffs and spills quickly. Before you sell, you may also want to rent a carpet steam cleaner or get a professional steam clean service to do it for you.

6. Plumbing:

Tighten any dripping taps with a handy wrench, and check pipes and taps regularly.

7. Electrical:

Basic maintenance, like replacing plugs, can be done on a DIY basis. Just adhere to caution by turning off the power source before you tinker. Any serious problems or major installations should be looked at by a qualified electrician.

Heather J. Sanchez is a freelance writer who enjoys analyzes the truths, debunking the myths, examining the legalities and exposing the trends of real estate investing with her articles. As the owner of multiple rental properties, and flipped houses, Heather believes that Real Estate Investors help put money back into the North American economy. She knows a good real estate investment and a lemon when she sees one and she’ll always provide the solid statistics to back up her facts on why you should invest.

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, & Stagetecture’s YouTube Channel, click here.

Wherever you travel you are likely to pick up inspiration for your home. Whether it is a trip to Las Vegas or a vacation to Europe, traveling is a great way to jazz up the interior of your home. Sometimes inspiration for design can become stale, but by adding some foreign influences into your decoration you can create a completely new look for your space.

As many of you may know, French design has been creeping into the designs of furniture for the last few years and many of the components of shabby chic have come from the country. The white furniture and simple styles scream luxury and elegance. Other European countries have their own styles and simply visiting some shops can open your eyes to the world of foreign style.

Image courtesy of Hint of Truth

By traveling further afield to Africa and Morocco you can pick up some great pieces to add to your home. Rugs, lanterns and carvings will give a tribal theme to your interior design. Another added bonus is that the items that you pick up on holiday will inevitably be cheaper than at home.

You can even take inspiration from many of the great cities in the United States; Hollywood, New York and Las Vegas have their own unique personalities. By taking some of the design inspirations from different periods in the cities’ pasts you can infuse your own design with the vitality of the city. Las Vegas, as an example, is full of glitz and glamor. By adding a neon sign, on a smaller scale than seen in Las Vegas obviously, you can bring some of the fun into your home.

Image courtesy of Cococozy

In the end whether you take inspiration from home or abroad, the moral of the story is the same. By taking the culture and style of a region, country or city you can create an exciting and unique home interior.

For more travel ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Happy DIY Saturday! From water conservation to spending less money to run water in your home, saving water is essential. Today, see how saving water can be made easier by installing technological plumbing fixtures in your home. From low flow toilets and shower heads to Energy standard appliances, these tips will help get your home saving water and money.

You Tube video – How to Install a Low Flow Showerhead

Guest Blogger – How technology can help save water at home

70.8% of the world’s surface is covered in water, a fact that is wheeled out whenever we’re trying to put some context into our place in the planet. The volume of water on our world is apparently there to humble us in realization of how small human coverage of the earth is, to demonstrate how unique the earth is in its ability to sustain life, and even to make us aware of the great dangers of global warming and increasingly erratic weather patterns.

But it’s a figure that can be quite damaging to the ecological agenda. Similar to how colder winters are making people question the notion of ‘global warming’ by simple word association, the fact that there is so much water on the earth is a thorn in the side of water conservation. There’s so much water out there, why do we need to be careful about wasting it?

A Quick Why and How

Of course, thinking about it for a bit will give you an obvious answer, and suggest a trite old saying. Water is everywhere, but the drinkable stuff is in the minority. Depending on where we are in the world, the amount of rain falling from the sky is somewhere between inadequate to not quite adequate when it comes to providing an urban population with the water they need to live.

Clearly, this makes water conservation imperative in areas with low rainfall (deserts and polar regions). But the fact that rainfall is undependable in all areas and that it never completely covers demand means that everyone should practice water conservation. This is because conserving water is actually more an issue of conserving energy. Water may appear free but purification, storage and transportation require that electricity is involved. The more water we all use, the more electricity we must use. Oh, and if you’re not convinced, remember there’s money involved on metered water supplies!

So what can you do? There are many ways in which you can change your habits to conserve water, but they have quite similar underlying principles. If you want to use less water, leave your taps running less: run bowls to do your washing up, don’t leave your taps running when brushing your teeth. But some things you can do are down to the appliances you use. So choosing the right fixtures and fittings can help you save water, energy, the environment and your bank balance.

Low-Flow Toilets

Such is the demand for low-flow toilets, it’s actually quite difficult to buy one without the widely hailed dual-flush technology. Lever flush toilets have seemingly had their day as people have accepted that a single flush is excessive for every bathroom visit. If you still have an old model around, perhaps it’s time to replace it?

Low Flow Shower Heads

Water wastage seems to be a natural consequence of operating a shower. But there are still options for using less water when you shower. Euroshowers do a ‘Shutoff Shower Head’ with an easily pressed switch to stop the water flowing whilst you lather up. Other manufacturers offer flow selection so that you can reduce the flow to when you only need a light sprinkling!

Hands Free Faucets

Hands free faucets have been in businesses and service stations for years, and now they’re finding a place within the home. Often designed to be stylish and to coordinate with the sleek, seamless modern basin, they’re the ultimate hygienic solution and, of course, you’ll be using a lot less water thanks to their automatic start and cut off.

Label Appliances

Energy standards vary from country to country, and there are several labels worth looking out for. In the EU, energy labels are awarded from A to G. UK appliances also have Energy Saving Trust ‘recommended’ stickers and are only given to select appliances. Energy Star is the US equivalent. It is imperative to find washing machines, dishwashers and other water using devices that use little energy, since over time the money you save on purchasing an inefficient model will be outstripped by the money you spend running it.

Steph Wood is a blogger who writes regularly for Splash Direct, a UK-based Bathroom Furniture company.

For more water saving ideas for your home on Stagetecture, click here.

Courtyards in homes are a beautiful addition that many don’t take advantage of. Whether you want to add one on to your home, or it is already present, but you want to enliven it. Today, my Guest Blogger gives tips for brightening up your outdoor home with a courtyard.

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It doesn’t matter how big or small your outdoor living space is, you can create a lush courtyard for yourself. When you bring the emptiness to life, you may be surprised at just how much more time you spend out there. Nature is addictive, it has a way of drawing you in with its beauty and then the more you’re surrounded by it, the more you long to be around it.

What’s Your Vision

Even if you basically have a drab concrete courtyard right now, you can create something spectacular with a little planning. Think about what you would like your space to look like. Is a Zen garden with moss and bonsai trees your style or would you more appreciate a French bistro vibe. Of course, you can always create a fun tropical and tiki environment as well.

Prepare Your Space

Your first step is to clean up the space. This probably is not the most exciting step but it has to be done. Don’t just pile refuse and junk to one side and think that you will deal with it later either, clear it away! If you have a lot to get rid of, you may need to rent a large trash container that you can fill and then have picked up.

Next, you will probably want to cover the cement or asphalt surface you likely have. Stones, pebbles, bricks and pavers all work great. If you are not looking to invest quite that much energy into laying materials, buy one or two decorative outdoor rugs and no one will notice what’s underneath.

Make Use of Your Space

Most courtyards are pretty small so you want to make use of every little bit of space you have. Chances are, you don’t have room for an actual garden or flower bed but you don’t need one. Make a raised bed or use containers. You can find containers super cheap at garage sales or flea markets. Alternatively, you can buy those inexpensive, boring plastic containers, get some outdoor paint and paint your them to match the rest of your decor.

If you have walls around our courtyard, hang baskets with ferns or plant vines in containers and permit them to grow up the wall. If you have a balcony overhead, use it to hang pots of flowers.

Natural Elements

Don’t underestimate using natural elements like boulders and rocks. You can drop a few decorative stones in your plants or even create a small rock garden. These offer a very Zen atmosphere.

Add the Extras

Every outdoor space really should have some type of water feature. Whether you add a small solar fountain or a bird bath is up to you but water really has a way of naturally invoking tranquility.

Lighting is an important feature as well. Solar lights are ideal if your space is completely shaded or a small gel fireplace would do the trick as well. If you do have a wall, hang string lights or paper lanterns.

A nice piece of wall art is another great idea. There are paintings available that look just like prints you would frame for the inside of your house only they’re coated to stand up against harsh weather and bird droppings.

Every space can be turned into a lush, inviting and relaxing wonderland, even a balcony! If you live in an apartment, you may be surprised at what you can do with that balcony if you let your creativity take over.

 This is a guest post from My Garden Hammock. A site dedicated to the humble hammock with some great tips on choosing a hammock bed for the garden or even to replace your bed

For more outdoor living ideas on Stagetecture, click here.