DIY Home Improvement Tips for Christmas

Christmas is almost here. The time is to get everything up and running in the home to make sure nothing comes in the way of you and a fantastic Christmas celebration. Here are some of the DIY tips to make your place ready for the festivities.

With winter holidays and Christmas fast approaching you should be working overtime to make your home look all set for the festive season.   Although you can hire an interior designer or professional for this task, the best option would be to get yourself in the thick of things. With a little assistance from friends and family members and application of creativity you can also make your home look like as if it was done by an experienced professional. Here are some of the DIY tips that will help you in your endeavor:

Start early: Instead of leaving everything to last minute, as many of us like to do, one must start the preparations at least two weeks prior to Christmas. There is a lot of work that will require your attention and with distant family members and friends coming over to visit your place, the last few days before the festival would keep you extremely busy. Therefore, it is wise to start early.

Get rid of the clutter: Christmas is a time when even the most spacious of all homes can start feeling a little cramped. Having a house full of guests, visitors, and gifts can suddenly make you gasping for more space. There is no fun in living at a place where you cannot walk without bumping into furniture or a guest. Rather than offering a welcoming space, it can seem unfit for any kind of celebration.

Although it doesn’t imply that you start on major renovation spree, but you can certainly do something about it. Start with taking a look at the rented home in an objective manner and figure out the objects, piece of furniture whose absence wouldn’t make much difference. Evaluate every item on the basis of its requirement and you will be surprised at your own discovery. There will be plenty of items that can be discarded or at least removed for the time being.

Clean the place inside out: The next obvious step is to clean each nook and corner of your home. Most of us do not engage in deep cleansing exercises on the pretext of less availability of time. The fact that it is Christmas time and soon your home will be swarming with guests gives ample reason to have everything look at its best. Whether it is carpet and the upholstery or cupboards and attics, make sure to leave nothing without one round of deep cleansing.

 

The fireplace and Christmas tree are the main center of attraction

 and therefore require more attention

The fireplace: To ensure your own safety as well as of your guests give special attention to the fireplace and the surrounding area. Install a screen in front of the fireplace so as to keep the sparks from flying towards the people sitting beside it. Also keep removing the ashes regularly as they also present a fire hazard. Clean the chimney and hearth and remove any trace of old fuel. Use of dried woods is recommended instead of gasoline or any other highly inflammable liquid to start the fire. 

The Christmas tree: In addition to the fireplace, the Christmas tree will be another center of attraction in your home. There are two options in this regard. Either you can choose an artificial tree, in which case it should be fire-resistant or you can go for a live tree, the freshest of the lot on which you can lay your hands.   A good way of identifying a fresh Christmas tree is that the leaves are green needles that are hard to pull from the branches and should not break when you bend them between the fingers. The placement of the tree is also important. To be on the safer side keep it away from the fireplace and heating vents. Water it regularly to keep the tree as fresh as possible.

Saurabh Tyagi is a new media enthusiast with professional experience as a blogger. He keeps an eye on the top real estate trends across the country and pens his thoughts for leading online publications on topics related to career, technology and real estate.

 

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Changing Matrimony Trends in India

Do you plan to get wedded to an engineer, doctor or an architect? With merging boundaries and changing perceptions, the basic steps of selecting a spouse undergo a shuffle. Now a day’s occupation of the prospective partner becomes a key factor for marriage. How the matrimony trends witnesses’ transformation in India, let’s take a look.

Overview

With everything changing across the globe, the parameters of finding a future mate have also changed over the decades. Especially in countries like India where the youth is turning more career centric. They look for a partner who belongs to the same profession that not only ensures compatibility in the personal domain but also on the professional front.

Witnessing the changing scenarios, even the matrimony sites have undergone relevant modifications and created a section where the profession of the candidates plays an important role and the customer profiles are differentiated on the basis of the occupation one is engaged in. This facilitates easy search as the business or the service industry one is absorbed in is the matter of prime concern.

It has been common now days that engineer boy looks for an engineer girl, a doctor may look for a doctor and a businessman would prefer to get a future partner from the same background. Though the opinions may differ at times but the maximally “same profession” becomes the parameter for finding a future partner. There are several reasons for this transformation.

Profession Oriented Wedding

Anxiety Factor

There were days when an educated girl and a well settled boy was the criteria on which the nuptial bonds were established but over the period of time the boost in the job market and better employment opportunities becoming available, the prospective bride or groom takes a step ahead to probe details about the profession of the future mate.

It’s not like that love has disappeared and money rules the marriages today instead the partners are more cautious about their future stability and wish to get wedded to the partner who either works in same office or in similar profession. For example considering a case of businessman matrimony, a businessman may find difficult settling with a girl in service industry. Difference in work shifts, job profiles, work pressure and a discrepancy in background of the profession may create rift between them. To overcome such mental agonies, the youth today prefer marrying the partner of sharing the same professional background.

Compatibility

It can be immense relief if the wedded couple works in same office. Imagine you can meet your partner at frequent intervals. Apart from it, sharing meals, attending parties and similar organization policies ensures more compatibility. You can plan your holidays and leisure trips accordingly.

More than half of the daily time is spent in doing office work. Getting a support of your partner in the professional arena increases the compatibility of the relation and boosts understanding levels.

Helping Hand

Think of the situation where you and your spouse handle the same business. You not only have your best person around but also a reliable helping hand. There are times when jumping on a particular decision in the business becomes difficult, you can always seek help from your spouse as he/she belongs to the same industry.

Future Stability: - Everybody wishes to grow and expand. Therefore working partner has become the need of the youth today. It ensures an earning hand, better savings and a bright and stable future. Monetary stability is big concern. A partner from the same background can resume business activities in your absence, handling crucial decisions pertaining to business planning and expansion.

Sharing Drives: - How about sharing drive with your beloved each morning? Going to office will never be dull and boring when you have the best person in the world right beside you. 

Author Bio: - Subhadra Bhadauria is a passionate writer for famous matrimony siteJeevansathi.com. She is a regular blogger and holds keen interest in matrimony writings. The writer has done her mass communication and deals with novel writings in diverse fields.

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A Monkey with Long Sticks

It’s a quick shot –captured from a car. I saw a monkey crossing the street using long sticks that called egrang here.  I had no chance to see the trainer / owner, the monkey was ‘walking’ alone. It’s my first time to see a monkey doing it. I felt sorry for the critter. Was the monkey happy doing it? Too dangerous, I think.

 

Can you see it? Is the man waiting across the street is the owner?

The monkey seen in Bandung (West Java, Indonesia) last Sunday when we visited the city. In Jakarta (capital city of Indonesia) any monkey show has been prohibited. Sorry for unclear pics.

My late entry for Camera Critters  and brand new

Saturday's Critters

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