A Year of Logo Fun

I have been reflecting on a lot of serious things that happened in this last year, but there is one thing that — most definitely — was not. Those of you who subscribe via feed readers or email don’t always see some of the stuff I do direct on the blog’s design, but over the past year, I decided to have a little fun with the logo. With each new holiday or season (or just whenever I felt like it), I changed things up to give my little duckling some personality.

Speaking of, did we ever decide on a name for this guy? I can’t even remember.

When I redesigned the site, I picked out a brand new logo to go with:

It was simple, and that’s part of the reason why I liked it so much. But it also meant I could do random things to it just for fun, like last December when I made him into Duckling Santa (which happens to be the same one that’s up on the site now):

December

In January, I gave him a party hat and confetti, but kept the snowflakes — even though it hardly ever snows here in Georgia, at least the site was festive!

January

Whenever there was a good opportunity, I kept the idea going. Valentine’s, St. Patrick’s Day, etc. I tried to take the “less is more” approach with most of them. ;)

February

March

Easter/April

(I know Easter was in March, but it was cute, so I kept it)

By the time my birthday and summer rolled around, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do regarding holidays, so I went with a more seasonal approach to last a few months (and not to mention, I spent a lot of that time outside and away from my computer anyway):

Summer

Football/Fall

And by December, we were right back to where I started!

It was kind of a silly exercise, but it was also a fun way to flex my creative muscles whenever I found myself hitting a design slump (it happens, and sometimes there’s not a lot you can do about it except push through!) and to see who noticed and left comments about it. A few of you really seemed to like it, so I think in 2017, I’m going to keep it going with some new ideas. They might get a little more obscure if I feel like having an inside joke or two, but I hope at the very least, it brought a few more smiles this year. Have a good one tonight, and I’ll see you all in the new year!

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from The Ugly Duckling House http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/year-logo-fun/

A Christmas Story: The Holiday Cookie Prank

If you’ve been reading this blog for a few years, you’re probably aware of our holiday baking tradition. It always takes place in Mom’s kitchen, all of us doing various levels of helping decorate (sometimes ahem, only doing quality control) and bake the various cookie types. This has also included some rather incriminating photos of me…

With permission, I shared two of those recipes in the last couple of years — my Granny’s favorite, kolaches, and my own personal favorite, hard-boiled egg cookies.*

*The name isn’t the most appealing, but they are delicious. If you don’t want to try them, that’s just more for me!

But this year, as my sister Em and I were rolling out the dough, my mom started talking about one of her favorites: anise cookies. She had made a batch of dough and intended on baking them along with the rest of the cookies we were doing. And it reminded me of yet another funny holiday story that I haven’t shared with you guys yet.

If you’ve never heard of anise cookies, they contain an oil that tastes like black licorice, making them the absolute worst possible cookie flavor of all time. Not to mention, their name always makes me have to pronounce them a second time with friends (“No. anissss, with an ‘i’.” Yes, I know what that sounds like. And yes, they do at least figuratively taste like shit.”)

Growing up, I always hated them. Why the hell did someone invent a cookie that tastes like bad candy? Merry friggin’ Christmas, let’s leave Santa a “treat” that would make even the jolliest want to stomp on our presents. There’s just one little problem…

If we use cookie cutters, they look almost exactly identical to my favorite cookies. They bake and puff almost the same. And for years, as kids, we decorated every cookie that came out of the oven with the same icing and sprinkles.

You can see where this is going. Mom would bake the various cookies in small batches and all at once, and we would go apeshit with covering them all in sugar. So, naturally, I would smell that all-too-familiar smell of my my favorite cookies baking in the oven, grab one that’s sitting on the rack cooling, take a BIG bite, and then…

Ewwwww. The cookie would immediately come tumbling out of my mouth in a fury of crumbs and a WTH?!? look on my face. And to make Mom laugh even harder, she never actually meant to prank me; I would just be unlucky sometimes. You would think I could at least smell the anise ones to distinguish them if they looked too similar to know by sight, but with a kitchen full of cookie smell, it was still too confusing for my weak nose.

I’m not proud of the learning curve on this one. It took us years before I stopped gambling with my 50/50 odds of getting the right cookie. I did stop taking such big bites, though.

I find it pretty hilarious that I would forget to prevent this issue so easily by the next time Christmas came around again. Eventually, our solution was to bake a whole bunch of mine and not ice them (I actually hate icing, so it worked out great) and would leave the anise cookies in a simple round shape (sans cookie cutter). They still look a little confusing when they’re all in the same cookie tin, but it’s now accidental-prank-free.

Do you have any funny cookie memories? I hope you’re all having a wonderful holiday!

The post A Christmas Story: The Holiday Cookie Prank appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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from The Ugly Duckling House http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/a-christmas-story-the-holiday-cookie-prank/

My Nearly-Naked Tree

This year: well… yeah. I think, based on what I’ve seen on social media, quite a lot of people have reached a consensus that 2016 hasn’t been our favorite year in recent memory.

Perhaps that, and for many of my own reasons why (which I’ll cover in my 2016 recap and not this post), I expected myself to go all out on the holiday decorations. I’m stubborn (duh, hi, have we met?), so I wanted to end the year on a high note: a last, big flourish of Christmasy-ness. Lotsa glitter. Silver. Gold. White.

Classic. Complete. Done.

And instead, I did what felt like nothing. I did about 3% of the things I thought I was going to do.

I started out ambitious; I put my tree up the weekend of Thanksgiving. I bought it for myself last year and was really looking forward to getting home from my parents’ house and immediately starting the holiday season. It’s pre-lit and snaps together in only three pieces (which I LOVE — I can’t find the exact one online anymore, so here’s the affiliate link for one that’s similar). I plugged it in, stood in the glow of the white lights…

… and basically didn’t bother to throw on a single ornament for all of December.

At first, I thought the usual culprit — procrastination — was to blame. Every day that I walked by my tree, I told myself tomorrow, and kept doing other things. I sorted through all of my ornaments for the color scheme I wanted to go with. I bought four new ornaments that coordinated with the color scheme I planned to go with. And yet, tomorrow. I left it as-is.

It was blank (well, almost, since the lights were already attached) and comforting. I could walk by, let my eyes glaze over, and just appreciate my nearly-naked tree. I put a skirt on it because it seemed silly without one, but that was it.

I did the holiday thing at other people’s houses and came home to doing my own, quiet thing. It’s actually been really nice to feel a sense of slowness at a time of year where everything else seems so rushed. I’ve been spending time with family, new and old friends, and neglected to feel bad about not throwing glitter on a year that I am not even planning to be friends with as of January 1st.

In hindsight, I’m glad I did things this way; my 2016 tree reflects my feelings about 2016 pretty well.

How I felt about 2015:

How I feel about 2016:

Yep… seems about right.

So, it’s not going to be in anyone’s pretty Christmas roundup or get pinned a million times, and that’s perfectly alright. Instead, I’m going to spend the rest of the season getting myself ready to bring on a new year with lots more in store (for example, in case you missed my comments in the sneak peek last week, I have been working with a brand on my laundry room makeover project and that big reveal is coming in January).

Have you ever put up a Christmas tree, only to not decorate it? I know I can’t be the only one, but I’m curious how many of you did the same or similar!

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from The Ugly Duckling House http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/christmas-tree-2016/

Gardening Tip to Make Your Neighbours Look Over the Fence (And Be Green with Envy!)

Maintaining your garden to a high standard so that it gathers admiring glances from all quarters is high on the list of serious gardeners. Take a look at these gardening hacks from Rattan Direct and make your neighbours green with envy at your gardening prowess.

#1 Know your garden, the soil and the climate

Cacti survive in arid desserts for a reason, which is why having them in a garden in a wet and windy corner of the UK will not see cacti thrive.

Knowing your patch of soil, whether it is acidic or alkaline and how you can change this, as well as making the most of the climate will help in deciding the best plants to buy and plant, as well as the best spaces in your garden for these plants to flourish. 

Camellias, for example, prefer a north-facing wall in a court yard and an acid soil, so there is no point planting them in water-logged, alkaline soil with continuous cold draughts irritating their tender stems.

#2 Water

Water is not a sustainable resource - cue downpours that last says, with flooding and horror stories, and yet we are told there is not enough of the wet stuff.

But, one of the key elements that turns drooping pansies into a flowery mass of colour is water. Whilst your neighbour’s lawn and borders become ever more parched during a drought, you can carry on watering your luscious blooms because you have water butts catching rain from all your down pipes. 

#3 Remove pesky weeds as soon as they dare pop their heads above the soil

They are a nuisance. They are everywhere. One minute, they are a tiny head, just popping above the soil surface and the next, it is running rampant across flower beds, anywhere where they can get enough of a foothold with their shallow roots. Weeds are not a gardener’s friend.

But this is the good news: it takes only a few minutes to whip these pesky weeds out of your soil before they get chance to not only become established, but turn to seed and spread them across your entire garden.

#4 Complimentary accessories

We are used to thinking of our gardens as place to be admired – from the house. We look out, admire the dancing blooms in the summer breeze and yet, we spend little time actually enjoying the fruits of your gardening labours.

This is because we don’t make it comfortable for us to enjoy. And when we do, we move back into the house as soon as daylight fades and the temperature drops. 

Make your neighbours green with envy with not only beautiful plants, but fantastic accessories;

·         Garden seating – from a practical garden bench to functional outside sofas, there are all kinds of options when it comes to garden furniture that suit all tastes and budgets.

·         Rugs, throws and cushions – ramp up the style and add splashes of fantastic colour with rugs, throws and cushions made from special material for the outdoors that don’t fade, shrink or spoil in the occasional rain shower or bright, bleaching sunshine.

·        Lighting – solar lighting has come on leaps and bounds since the first dim, last-no-more-than-30-minutes solar powered fairy lights from decades ago. There are all kinds of solar lights that make for a bright, romantic garden when the sun drops.

·         Fire pit – want to enjoy the night time garden with its scents and rustling wildlife but don’t like the cold? The fire pit is the perfect addition. Watch the flames dance and out of the corner of your eye, note the admiration in the eyes of your neighbours…

·         Water – gentle running water caresses the soul. After a busy day at the office, talk a walk in the garden and sit by your water feature, enjoying its soothing tones. Build a full-scale pond and welcome a whole new raft of wildlife in your garden or have a water feature, with water trickling down playing its soul-soothing tune.

#5 Plant in pots

Planting in pots is the perfect way to add colour, form and texture to a garden, softening corners and adding interest.

Keep garden pots of similar colours and shades to get a coherent colour palette running through the garden. Take time to consider the plants you will use in these pots too. Potted plants will need a little more attention, including a daily water – twice daily if the summer is hot – and bedding plants should be regularly dead headed to keep them putting their energy into flowering and not making seeds.

Rattan Direct have a range of garden accessories and furniture, perfect for dressing your garden and accentuating its glorious plants and design.

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2016/12/gardening-tip.html

8 Ways to Style Your Home on a Budget

Having a beautiful living space to come home to is one of the great pleasures of life, it can bring an untold amount of comfort and joy. For many of us, interior design may seem like an impossible luxury, but it doesn’t have to be. With a little creativity, you can create a stylish and beautiful space for yourself and your family.

Here are 8 ideas to get you started:

1. Color Coordinate

Color coordinating just a few objects can bring a room together instantly. Pick a few objects that are in need of an update and invest in a can of spray paint in a colour that makes you smile. This technique also works beautifully for a collection of simple objects, such as picture frames, vases, or candle holders.

2. Use Natural Elements

This can be as simple as picking some wild flowers and arranging them in a vase or as complicated as you like. Pressed flowers can be made to look modern in double glass frames, shells and driftwood can add a beachy feel to a bare room, and some sand and choice stones can create a zen space anywhere in your house.

3. DIY

Over the past few years, the internet has become a gold mine of Do it Yourself tutorials. So, take a look at what you could use in your space. Do you have a chair that could be reupholstered, access to wooden pallets, or an old dresser you are not using anymore? You can find countless projects for little to no cost that will add style to your home and maybe even teach you a new skill!

4. Update Your Lighting

 

The quality, placement, and accessories for your lighting make a huge difference in the atmosphere of your home. While beautiful lights may come with a huge budget, good discounts can be found online. Check different stores that offer voucher and discount codes, say LED Hut Ltd., has some beautiful and inexpensive options.

5. Thrift Shop with a Theme

Thrift shopping suddenly becomes chic when you shop with a collection in mind. Gather together half a dozen vintage teacups, frames, lace doilies, small plant pots, or plates and, suddenly objects that seemed out of date look fashionable and new.

6. Fake a Headboard

This tip might be the easiest and most effective on the list. With a small pot of paint and stencils, you can a mattress on the floor look like a bed fit for royalty in a style and color that fits your sensibilities!

7. Use your Jars

 

Jars are a great organizational tool and they come free with your groceries! Making them look gorgeous is a cinch, just wash the labels off and paint the lids to match your decor or with chalkboard paint! You can use them to display your loose leaf tea, buttons, and spices or find something decorative to fill them with, like twinkle lights, origami stars, or tea lights.

8. Mix and Match

 

If you are living with a dining room or serving set that has seen better days, consider trying to find inexpensive individual pieces that share a common theme instead of investing in a new set. A mixed set of beautiful thrift store plates can look much more charming than a standard set as can an eclectic mix of wooden dining room chairs or stools.

 

from Home My Heaven: Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2016/12/style-your-home-budget.html

Laundry Room Sneak Peek!

Selecting Outdoor Party Lights for Fun andFunctions

When you organize any party or function in your home, its decoration is very important. In order to make the atmosphere vibrant a lot of lighting is used so that it sets the right atmosphere and at the same time enhances the location too. No matter whether you are planning your party in the outdoor area or in your garden, the lights can make a huge difference to your decoration. With its help, you can give a fresh touch to the place thereby making it your gardens dazzle. There is a wide range of outdoor party lights that you can go for from the simple ones to the funky style, ranging in different colours and shapes. You can get them in different sizes as well, so depending on the needs one can opt for the best ones available. 

As there are a lot of options available, it will be easy for you to complete your decoration and augment the place. Even your boring place will become beautiful and eye catching thus setting the mood of your party or the function.

Get attractive and cheap outdoor party lights

Even if the budget of your party is limited, still you can opt for outdoor party lights. These lights are quite affordable and you can buy from a huge range of options as well. In order to avail the cheap ones, you can take the help of the internet where you will find a massive collection of all types of lights. There are a number of websites and online portals which have a superb collection of lights you are looking for. You can explore the options and place the order so that it gets delivered on time.

The internet is full of such outdoor party light providers, and you refine your search with keywords so that you are able to find the right type of lights that you are looking for. Also, the pricing is quite low as compared to the market and you can discover trendy collections that you may like here. So why not head towards the internet where you have the latest collection of the outdoor lights coming your way.

Christmas outdoor party lights

As the Christmas season is fast approaching you might be planning for a party. The outdoor lights can be a fabulous option as it will not only enlighten the place but make the festival splendid. So rather than going for the same boring lighting, why not try something unique this Christmas. The outdoor party lights in funky shapes are quite in trend and can be used to adorn your homes as well as the garden areas. You can either hang them around or install them in fixtures. It is entirely your choice to decide which option is more feasible to you keeping in mind your budget as well.

You can also use these lighting for your dancing area where you can create a perfect environment to groove. The lights come in appealing colours so one can easily choose sparkling shades to make the place look like a great one. The best part is that such lights outshine your party and that is why they are very popular for special occasions. So what are you waiting for, do not waste your time but explore the internet for the mind-blowing collection of the outdoor lights for this Christmas season?

Hope these lights enlighten the festive mood and also seek the attention of your guests. So go online to buy them and bring them home today at reasonable prices. Give your place a new touch with the simple yet classy outdoor party lights.

from Home My Heaven:Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2016/12/selecting-outdoor-party-lights-for-fun.html

Uk Home Improvements Idea

Basic or integral parts of a Home’s infrastructure are wiring, home security, flooring etc. After completing all these basic parts, think about some cool and useful features that you can include in your home, which will glamorize the whole look of the house.  A creative and useful feature can be Atrium. 

Atrium is actually a large open place(Air or Skylight covered) surrounded by a building. It was a very common feature in ancient roman houses, though modern atria is a product of 19th-20th century's architectural development. 

Photo by Lee Ann Marienthal Gardens - Discover contemporary patio design inspiration

Photo by Urbanism Designs - Discover midcentury deck design inspiration

 

 

Many homes in South America and Europe design around a central courtyard. This is a wonderful open plan, brings a garden-like environment inside, and creates a huge amount of privacy in the separate "wings" of the surrounding square.

One of my favorite design concepts is, A skylight roof, or, with enough cash, a retractable sun roof, makes this a perfect foundation for a happy home.

You can keep,

A commercial air curtain above all entrances and windows, appropriately decorated to blend in.  These preserve temperature differences, so are energy savers - but, most importantly, keep bugs out when you have doors and windows open.

A washable mat spring floor for the kitchen can be useful.  If you're going all out on this, you're going to want to entertain in this house - that means kitchen staff (or lots of time in the kitchen for the owner).  Save backs and knees with flooring that is shock absorbing and eases tension, so the 12 course meal doesn't feel like it took the 15 hours it did.  In all honesty, all professions that require excessive standing should have this.  This includes hair stylists, surgeons, cashiers, loading docks, etc.  Huge, huge benefit.

"Farmers sinks" in the kitchen - giant one basin (not split basin) sinks, with faucets that are high and can be removed.  Once you use one, you'll know why these are mandatory in life.

Photo by Redbud Custom Homes - Browse traditional kitchen ideas

Vacuum ports and central vacuum are nice. It makes cleanup much better without a dustpan - even when you're vacuuming.

By stilesquinn - See more Home Design Photos

A brick oven, especially as an outdoor grill. You will never eat inside again.

Photo by BrickWood Ovens - Look for traditional landscape design inspiration

Photo by EASYdesigns - Browse traditional patio photos

There must be a very large closet for clothing, consider rotating racks or revolving racks instead of adding floors. The novelty of a multi-floor closet is nice, but no one really wants to climb stairs to get their clothes. Especially over age 50.

 A secret entrance/ exit 

Window seats that are actually comfortable. People love being next to the light of windows, but the cushion on a box concept and its many variations generally suck. Build something with actual support as if it were furniture that happened to be a fixture, not a fixture that happened to be furniture. You can keep a wildflower garden. Not the horticultural beauties everyone usually raves about, but the open prairie flowers that you only notice when you're driving by and happen to glance over at the right time. No one thinks about these, but they never fail to impress.

Photo by Adam Woodruff + Associates, Garden Artisans - More contemporary landscape ideas

Photo by Designing Eden llc - Look for modern landscape design inspiration

An indoor/ outdoor "fairy garden"

 A small space, a balcony or patio, that is mostly enclosed by plants, fruit trees, and contains a water feature, like a small fountain. Sometimes people put those zen sand boxes in there, too. A small, very private, very quiet little place.

Photo by Groundswell Design Group, LLC - More traditional landscape ideas

If the garage is below the house, or kitchen is not at entry level, a dumbwaiter. I can't seem to get all of the photos to attach here in the app. Really love the ideas and gorgeous photos from others - this is a wonderful question and commentary line!

All these suggestions are from Alexandra.

from Home My Heaven:Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2016/12/uk-home-improvements-idea.html

Top Tips to Solve Damp Problems in Your Home

Building pathology has established that damp, if not treated, can damage the structural integrity of your home. Damp has two main forms:penetrating damp, where the water leaks, or seeps through the walls, and rising damp,where the water in the ground passes through the damp proof course of your house and enters the lower parts of the walls.

There are some things you can do as a home owner to get rid of damp and mould, but in the most serious cases, work may need to be done by professional builders to rectify the problem.In this article, we share some tips for getting rid of damping your home. 

Damp Problem

 This picture is taken by Tim Gillin, dated 29 August, 2007 

 

Penetrating damp

If the damp or wet patches on the walls are higher than 5 feet, then your outside walls have lost their weatherproofing qualities. Inside, the room probably has a stale, musty smell and your curtains, furnishings and some clothes may feel damp and also smell.

Your outside walls will probably be cracked, the render may have come away from the walls and the paint will be flaking. This is the reason why you have damp inside. Damp patches can often be found behind furniture, at the back of wardrobes, and where the paintwork is flaking away or has become powdery.

The best way to cure penetrating damp is to apply a damp-proof exterior wall coating.

Rising damp

Rising damp normally happens if the damp proof course is not doing its job or there isn’t one. It can also be caused by air bricks that are blocked so that air cannot pass through, or if muddy water has collected up against the walls of the house and breached the damp proof course. Using a shovel, move the mud away from the walls and make sure it does not build up again.

Builders can fix a faulty or missing damp proof course by injecting a special chemical compound into the low sections of the walls. They inject into drilled holes along the wall that are around 5 inches apart.The chemical dissipates around the damp proof course level, settles inside and becomes a barrier that prevents moisture from penetrating the walls.

 

Damp problem in Home

Ventilation is crucial

Mould spores don’t like fresh air, so even if it’s cold outside, start by getting some fresh air into your house.If your bathroom has mould, this means the ventilation is poor so you should open the windows after having a bath or a shower. This allows the wet, damp air to dissipate in the air rather than condense on the colder wall tiles and the ceiling.If your bathroom windows have trickle vents, then make sure they’re open.

This picture is taken by Bryn Pinzgaue. This plasterboard got a lot of damp and mould problems. 

Mould cleaners

Buy the very best mould cleaning liquids that are available on the market and clean the areas of mould thoroughly. Many people think that using a mixture of bleach and water is a good idea. This is fine for bathroom or kitchen tiles but using bleach on a porous surface like a brick or a drywall only removes the discoloration and not the mould itself – instead, use a mould cleaner.

Buy or rent a dehumidifier

Using a humidifier is a short-term solution for getting rid of moisture and damp in the air, inside your house. Only use it when you’ve had work done to stop the cause of existing damp. Humidifiers can be rented at reasonable prices or you can buy your own.

 

Damp problems in Home

New fabrics and clothes

If your home has suffered from penetrating damp or rising damp, then it’s very likely that your carpets, soft furnishings and bedding will have a dreadful musty smell and feel cold and damp to the touch.Damp and moisture eat away at the fibres in fabric and cause the awful smell that’s practically impossible to get rid of, so it’s probably best to replace these items with new ones.

Seal tiles and regrout

Mould growing in bathrooms, wet rooms, utility rooms and kitchens is a very common problem in homes in the UK. Mould spores are dangerous and can cause illness if they’re inhaled. Bathing and showering produces a combination of humidity and moisture which normally evaporates into the air if there’s good air circulation in the room. But if there’s no air because the windows are closed, then water will settle on the cold wall tiles, walls and ceilings and mould will start to grow … and once started, mould and mildew can grow at a very rapid rate.

To prevent this happening you should spray the walls with a dedicated antimicrobial solution, then seal the grout lines of the tiles with two coats of grout sealer. Thereafter, make sure the bathroom has a good flow of air, in and out. 

Written by Dakota Murphey, a freelance writer working alongside Hutton and Rostron for information for this article.

from Home My Heaven:Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2016/12/top-tips-to-solve-damp-problems-in-your.html

How Healthy Is Your Home Improvement?

You have to be careful about health risks of Home Improvement/DIY works, especially when there is asbestos. Mesothelioma is a rare and dangerous form of cancer caused by asbestos exposure. In 2013 about 50,000 people had mesothelioma and 34,000 died from the disease. Rates are higher is United kingdom, Australia and much lower in Japan. Commercial use of asbestos increased the rate significantly. You can visit this link of mesothelioma claims to know more about it.

This informative inforaphic is made by Slater and Gordon.Click on the image to see large.

from Home My Heaven:Home Improvement Blog http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2016/12/how-healthy-is-your-home-improvement.html

My First Visit to a Lumber Yard

How to Protect Your Hardwood Flooring from Sun Damage

How to Protect Your Hardwood Flooring from Sun Damage

Few things are more beautiful than a well-laid, brand-new hardwood floor made of the finest oak, maple, birch or other wood. A hardwood floor can last a very long time, and there are still homes from the Colonial era that have their original floors. But as it is with so many other things in the home, direct sunlight is a hardwood floor’s enemy. How can a homeowner protect their beautiful and pricey hardwood floor from the sun?

Hardwood flooring

Why the Sun Causes Damage in the First Place

Sunlight on a new floor is pretty, but over time a homeowner will notice that the wood’s rich color starts to fade or sometimes darken in ways the homeowner doesn’t care for. This effect is even more unpleasant if it only happens to a part of the floor that’s not covered by a rug or furniture. The planks or tiles may even dry out and crack. This is due to the different types of light the sun delivers into the house. Ultraviolet light causes discoloration. Infrared light is experienced as heat and that heat can cause the wood to deteriorate. Even a floor that’s sealed will have trouble surviving the ravages of a lot of ultraviolet and infrared light working together.

First Solution

The first and probably best solution is to install the hardwood flooring in a place that gets little direct sunlight. This can be a hallway or a room whose windows face north. But many homeowners want to enjoy a room with both a hardwood floor and lots of natural light. In that case they can:

Install Windows With Low-E Glass

Low-E means low emissivity. This type of glass cuts down on the amount of infrared and ultraviolet light that gets into a room without cutting down on visible light. Low-e glass has an extremely thin coat of silver or other low emissivity substance and limits the damaging ultraviolet and infrared rays that hardwood floors can be exposed to. Films that do the same thing as low-emissivity glass can be directly applied to the windows and cost considerably less.

Move the Furnishings Around

It may be a good idea to rearrange the furniture and area rugs in a room to make sure that all areas of the floor get the same amount of sunlight. If the wood has to fade, it should all fade to the same color. If this is not

possible -

Cover the Windows

Curtains, drapes, shutters and Venetian blinds can all be employed to keep the hardwood floors from sun damage. If the homeowner can’t stand to live in a house where the windows are covered all day long, they can be covered when the sun is at its strongest. This is usually between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Some of the newer blinds or shutters are motorized and come with a timer. Because they open and shut or rise and fall by themselves, the homeowner doesn’t even have to bother with them twice a day.

Install Awnings

Awnings add a touch of elegance to the exterior of a house, and they have the benefit of stopping the UV and infrared rays before they even come in through the windows. Awnings can come in a wealth of styles and materials that complement the house. They can be stationary or retractable.

Refinish the Floors

Floors can be refinished before the sun damage gets too severe. The one problem with refinishing hardwood floors is that it can’t be done endlessly without eventually causing more damage, and engineered wood floors tolerate even less refinishing that solid wood floors. Refinish only when necessary.

These few techniques will go a long way in keeping a hardwood floor looking its best for decades.

You can read this article about Bamboo flooring versus wood flooring. 

Bio - This guest post contribution is courtesy of MacDonaldHardwoods, a Denver-based hardwood flooring company. Macwoods has been a long-standing resource for prefinished wood flooring also offering hardwood cleaning and installation. If you're in Denver area, be sure to check out their hardwood flooring installation classes.

from Home Improvement Blog: Home My Heaven http://www.homemyheaven.co.uk/2016/12/how-to-protect-your-hardwood-flooring.html