Home Improvement

The layout of a kitchen can have the largest impact on its functionality so it is vital to get it right.  One of the best ways to start the design process is by initially using a number of template kitchen layouts and then adapting them to suit your space, requirements and budget.

Galley Kitchens
One of the most straightforward kitchen designs is a galley kitchen, making them well loved amongst younger people and first-time buyers. Generally this type of kitchen can be designed and fitted using standard styles and sizes, making them low budget and cost effective.

Although galley kitchens are generally the smallest type, they also tend to be the most functional to go around due to the fact that all areas are within easy distance to each other. Preparation, sink and cooking areas tend to be parallel to each other along the same wall, which makes an effective production-line format to the kitchen. This also means that the other wall can be used for storage and as a general worktop.

L shaped kitchens
These are the most common shaped kitchen, and are often finished with a tall oven or fridge-freezer at the ends of the run. L shaped kitchens also provide various storage options, given the various corners, Le-mans and magic corner wireworks are well loved choices.

L shaped kitchens are ideal for those with a young family due to the fact that they often provide enough room for a breakfast table and thus make the room multifunctional. Areas such as this often work well for younger children by providing enough room for eating and playing, whilst still offering a dedicated dining room reserved for adults.

U shaped Kitchens
With a U shaped kitchen there is easy access to the main areas of preparation, washing and cooking. Whilst these shaped kitchens often do not allow enough space for a table and chairs, they tend to function well by allowing generous space between the areas. As a result, this shape kitchen is a well loved layout for older families, and shared houses.

Island kitchens
Island kitchens are one of the most well loved kitchen layouts, providing a practical and functional layout, especially when teamed with a bank of tall units with built in ovens/multifunctional ovens, tall fridges and freezers. When designed with all areas of preparation, washing and hob cooking in front of you, islands are easy to work around and also provide a very sociable way of cooking. Islands also work well in multifunctional living spaces, where there may be a combined living/dining room.

These kitchens are well suited to larger rooms, and often require a generous budget due to the additional resources required such as a granite worktop on the island.

Double island
In larger open plot spaces such as converted barns/chapels, secondary islands can be used to divide the open plot space and provide an additional worktop. Usually the main island is used for preparation, washing and hob cooking and the secondary for entertaining and additional space.

Given that these type of kitchens are suited to larger spaces, they are often designed as part of a bespoke project. This ensures that the finishes are considered as part of the whole house, with stainless steel, glass and even muraspec (decorative panels and wallcoverings) often chosen to complete the look at the back of the island.

Whilst the layout of a kitchen is dependent on the room size and shape, there are a few key trends. The most apparent of which has been a shift from conventional shaped kitchens to a reduction in wall units. Shallow tall storage units which are the depth of a wall unit but are often built from the floor to ceiling, are becoming increasingly well loved as they allow customers to see everything being stored as well as helping minimise any worktop clutter.

As open plot spaces continue to increase in popularity, designers are often adapting to make an overall finished look first and then working backwards along this theme to ensure that the layout works and looks the part. This often means using completely integrated appliances wherever possible to minimise the impact the impact that the kitchen has on the room as a whole.

But, to ensure that your kitchen caters for all of your requirements it is advisable to discuss your layout with a specialist designer.

Starter cubes, used by hydroponic growers, as well as soil gardeners, are comfortable growing media for starting seeds. Made of inert material, starter cubes provide perfect support to the plant and its rhizomes. The cubes are capable of retaining water, but they do not supply a plant with any nutrients, unless the latter are dissolved in the water. Nowadays, there are 4 types of starter cubes: Organo-Cubes, Oasis cubes, Rockwool and “peat pots”. The most well loved among the gardeners are the first three kinds of cubes (Organo-Cubes, Oasis cubes and Rockwool), while “peat pots” lose their popularity due to their tendency to accumulate too much water, which can spoil the seeds and the seedlings. Oasis cubes, Rockwool, and Organo-Cubes, on the other hand, retain water along with enough air, which prevents the medium to be too moist.

Preparing hydroponics starter cubes for the use depends on the type of the cube you have. For example, Organo-Cubes are ready for use, while Oasis cubes and Peat pots should be soaked in water (with pH adjusted to 6 – 6.5) before use. As soon as the cubes are saturated with water, they should be left to drain a bit, and then they are ready to be used. Rockwool is different, since it has high pH. Therefore, it should be soaked in water with pH adjusted to 5.0 in order for this acid solution to be balanced to the pH level required for the plants normal growing. These cubes should be soaked in water approximately for 24 hours, followed by the drainage prior to the use. 

Having done these easy manipulations, the seeds can now be planted. Small holes about ¼ to ½ inch deep should be made in the cube with a tip of a pencil or a pen. Then seeds may be place into the holes and covered with some cube material from around those small openings.

It is best to keep the seed cubes moist, but not wet, always preventing them from staying in the water. The cubes do not need light until the seeds germinate. Similarly, no nutrients are necessary for the plants until they have their first right leaves developed. In this case a diluted nutrient solution

Generating between 65 to 115 lumens of light per each watt of consumed electricity, metal halide grow light lamps are considered to have high efficiency. MH lights produce light, which is very close to the natural sunlight with the rich blue spectrum. Due to this, MH lamps support vegetative growing in the most desired way – when plants have many leaves on the stem with small internodes.

Structurally, metal halide lamp is a vacuum glass tube. There is also an arc tube inside, filled with mercury and other metals in iodine form. Under the influence of electric current, those metals start to generate light and heat intensively. Though metal halide bulbs can be either transparent or coated with phosphorus, the first type is more preferred for the indoor gardening, since it produces very bright light.

There are different sizes of metal halide lamps, starting from 70watts and finishing with 1500 watts. But 250w, 400w and 1000w are modifications, most commonly used in hydroponics systems gardening. In order to make MH light to work, it is necessary to use a ballast, designed for a particular bulb size. Ballast is, in fact, a transformer, which decreases voltage to some predefined amount.

The lamps can work only in the positions they were designed for. Those marked with BU or BD should be used only in vertical position; while those lamps, which carry HOR sign, are for horizontal application. Besides, there are also universal (U) lamps, which can operate in either position. 

There are also many different styles of metal halide lamps available on the market today. Along with typical or regular MH bulbs, there are also Super Bulbs, which can produce up to 10-12% more light than ordinary bulbs.

Regular metal halide bulbs should be replaced after about 18 months or 9500-10000 hours of use. Super bulbs are less durable and should be replaced more frequently – approximately after 12 months or 6500 hours of use. These recommendations apply if grow lights will work 18 hours daily.

Well-known for frameless is the motto at Glass Direct Australia so they know what they’re talking about when it comes to frameless shower screens.

At Glass Direct Australia they know that no two bathrooms are the same and everyone has different wants and needs. That is why they take fantastic pride in being able to offer you a flexible design service that will ensure you get the most out of your bathroom renovation.

Frameless shower screens have become a well loved choice for many bathroom renovations as they bring light, air and space to often small bathroom areas. They also reflect the Australian lifestyle perfectly and are a contemporary addition to any home. At Glass Direct Australia they also believe that frameless shower screens offer you and your home a purely timeless elegance that no other bathroom trend can offer.

The aesthetic appeal of a frameless shower screen is obvious but the other breathtaking features cannot be ignored- Space, Air, Light!

With a Frameless Shower Screen design you will make greater use of the space you have as they make an illusion of space with their invisibility. This feature allows your room to breathe and not feel stuffy or overcrowded. It also allows for attention to be drawn to the other features of your bathroom.

Have you ever walked into an older style of bathroom and felt claustrophobic? This feeling will be abolished as soon as you install a frameless shower screen. Not only do they give your bathroom a sense of openness but also a sense of airiness.

The clean, uninterrupted lines of a frameless shower screen allows your bathroom to be filled with light as there is nothing to interrupt the suns rays as they stream through your windows.

When designing your bathroom from scratch or if doing a renovation remember that an understated design is often the best design theme and with a frameless shower screen you will certainly get more for less.

Why go and spend a fortune at the nursery on new tools, when there is probably a wealth of unused stuff tucked away unused in your own kitchen, or someone you knows kitchen that will more than adequately do the exact job you want, without having to spend a cent.

Just make sure that anything taken from the kitchen really is not wanted there. As well as the fact that such stuff is on a one way permanent trip out to the garden shed.

Here are just a few suggestions of stuff that are useful kitchen refugees,

Ancient dinner knife for digging weeds out from between concrete sections or pavers.

Ancient kitchen fork for light weeding in around tight places or where you do not want to disturb root systems that are close to the surface.

Excellent sharp kitchen knife or a pair of kitchen scissors are fantastic fro dividing up clumps of plants, or for taking cuttings off of a branch.

Kitchen tongs can be used to pick up thorny cuttings or to help you repotting thorny plants like cacti.

Serving tray or placemats to keep things organised or for carrying produce, cuttings or even weeds.

Potato Masher for pushing past a thorny plant or rose.

BBQ or Carving Forks for digging out stubborn rooted weeds and root vegies.

Kitchen funnels for pouring various liquids into containers or for accurate pouring around plants. or to get seed or even small screws & nails into storage packets or bottles.

Chopsticks make fantastic small pot stakes (metal and wooden skewers work too), or construction sets even for some jobs.

I’ve seen bamboo placemats and chopsticks cut down to make scenery pieces for bonsai planters, along with ancient aquarium ornaments.

Set of measuring cups and measuring spoons are fantastic as scoops for fertilizers and potting mixes.

Icecream or soup scoops for measuring and scooping potting mix in around new potplants.

Egg rings and biscuit cutters for shaping growing fruit just for fun, or as a simple handheld hoe for light weeding in around plants.

So theres a few things which can obtain a second life out in the gardenshed and garden, nstead of being stored for years in a drawer, or being thrown out or passed on to a charity store.