Check the Decor When Installing Mirrors

Top Tip.....

The idea of sliding mirror doors is great, but make sure you have thought about the room and the décor that is in the room. If you have a patterned wall and crazy design on the wallpaper that is opposite the mirrors, make sure it is not too crazy as the wall paper will be reflected in the mirror as well as the wall. The effect of the mirrors could be reduced slightly by breaking up the doors with panels. This will break down the pattern that is being reflected.  The same can be said if you have a busy carpet.

Some Top Tips for Moving Wardrobes

Top Tip One - An obvious one – but empty them first, there is no point in trying to save time and end up with the entire contents on the floor as soon as you start to move the items.

Top Tip Two - If you are decorating and need to move wardrobes that have inbuilt Forsyth Glazing Sliding Doors make sure that if you need to move the rails keep all parts together, like screws and bolts. If possible, take a photo first to make sure you can remember all the elements 

Top Tip Three – Check measurements beforehand and make sure you can manoeuvre the wardrobe over tricky areas like the stairwell or that it will fit into a lift if needed. It is quite hard to move the wardrobe once you are in a position that you cannot get it back into the room it came from.

Top Tip Four – Make sure you have plenty of help on the day. Make sure there are enough adults who can comfortably lift the heavy item. This is important if you have more than one wardrobe to move.

Top Tip Five – Ensure you have the right removal van for the job if you are moving home. If you consider the length of your wardrobe, although a wardrobe can be broken down, it is not possible to completely break the length of a wardrobe down. Often the bulkiness can be overcome with taking wardrobe doors apart, but not the length.

Make Sure to Remember Series...Appliances

If you have recently brought a home and changed from renting, then you might need to buy appliances for the kitchen as aswell as the bedroom furniture and replacing the sliding doors on the wardrobes.

Ensure you allow enough funds to purchase the essential items such as washing machine, oven and fridge or fridge/freezer. These can be brought second hand, but if are doing this you often will not have the warranties on them. If purchasing second hand, check exactly what your household insurance covers.

Often stores will be helpful and offer advice on products and sales so you can shop around and get the best advice and price for your electrical appliances.

Allow enough time for delivery of your items. This is important if you have children as being without a washing machine and fridge is not going to help anyone settle into their new home and creates extra hassle.  Make sure the appliances are fitted as soon as possible and try to avoid a long wait between delivery and fitting as often, it is easy to see the contents and this can open up a potential theft.

Make sure to remember Series….Property Conditions

If you are renting or selling it does not matter, you need to leave the house in a suitable and respectable way. This will involve cleaning and making sure any repairs or general maintenance has been ‘made good’. If you were previously renting, this will mean that all the furniture and cupboards will need clearing out and sorting. 

This will include the wardrobe door units and furniture being wiped down if you are leaving furniture.

If purchasing a home from another buyer, they will have already listed what they are leaving and you will have a record of this. The house will also be left in a tidy way with all boxes removed and only the things that were recorded left. 

Make sure to get meter readings for the utilities as soon as you move in and send these across to the supplier.

Make sure to remember Series….Have Some Extra Money

When I started looking at houses I had a rough idea of budget in mind and made sure it was stuck to. One thing to remember is the deposit on a house is a significant amount of money. However, there are additional costs which as a home buyer you need to take into consideration before you rush out and use all your savings to buy sliding wardrobe doors.

You need to allow for solicitor fees, mortgage fees and then if your property will require stamp duty you need to make sure this is also paid. There are a lot of expenses that you are not always aware off when purchasing, but bear in mind you need to allow for these before you confirm what deposit you can offer.

Once you have made an offer and the mortgage application has gone through, you will have paperwork with exchange dates and completion dates. This is when you need to start looking at house insurance. Depending on the area you are living in this can be expensive so start looking around for quotes so you know how much you need to allocate and how much can be spent on getting designer sliding door wardrobes.

Make sure to remember Series….Get the Right Insurances

If you are moving into a home for the first time make sure you get advice on insurance and what you need. 

There is some insurance when you have to take out before you can exchange contracts and then some when you complete. I knew about insurance and that my home would need to be insured, but wasn’t sure of the level that was needed. I had insurance to cover my belongings and furniture as I had recently purchased a bed and wardrobes with sliding doors. I didn’t want these damaged and not replaceable.

If you have never brought a home before the mention of insurance for accidental cover and then water damage cover can have your head swimming in minutes. I found great advice online with impartial information sites. I also invested in the services of a broker who was able to help with what insurance I needed against what was desirable.

Make sure to remember Series….Check Pets Details

If you have animals that are micro-chipped and registered at the vets make sure you update any details on their files and collars. Animals are not as easy to move as furniture as they will need planning and settling in unlike some doors or wardrobe doors that will simply need re-hanging. 

Ask your vet for advice before you move your animals to their new home, so they can advise on the best way and you are aware how their behaviour might change for a couple of days. They will also feel more comfortable if they know that someone is there while they are settling into their new home.

A vet might offer advice such as bring familiar items from the old house to the new house or the best way to show the cats their new surroundings and how they will settle in quicker.

Make sure to remember Series…New Delivery Address

If you have purchased new furniture or washing machine make sure you remember to include the full address of your new property. If you are having items delivered such as new new sliding wardrobe doors or bookcases you will need to be there to sign for the items. Make sure you arrange a date when someone can be in to sign for the items.

If you have previously used online shopping for your groceries, DVD’s or electrical items, make sure you update with your new delivery address when you have moved in. This is something that sounds like an easy task, but often forgotten until you are waiting for your order. This can apply to book clubs, store addresses or anything that will have a delivery address. 

If you are renting or moving out of home for the first time and still keeping your banking details with your parents address, make sure your furniture and any furniture features as the delivery address and not the card registered address. Otherwise parents might wander when they ordered a sliding door wardrobe. You will also be responsible for re-delivery or trying to move the furniture yourself.

Make Sure to Remember Series..Moving Date Confirmed

This is a series of posts on all the things to remember to look at or do when moving home. It is important not to forget or get too stressed when moving or starting to empty wardrobes and be able to close those large wardrobe doors.

 

Get a confirmed moving date first. If you are in a chain or first time buyer you need to make sure that you can book a removal van if needed or know when to book time off work to move. If you have holidays booked make sure you have made your solicitor aware and you can work around this. If you start to book removal vans without getting a confirmed date this might need to be changed and you will end up stressed as you cannot confirm anything.

Different Style of Houses - Bungalows

The final installment in our different houses series has to be the bungalow. There are other forms of homes that range from three storey houses through to lighthouses and barn conversions. I have focused on the main houses that we tend to look at when purchasing.

The bungalow is often associated to those who cannot get up stairs easily. This means the elderly or disabled. This is not always the case though and often a bungalow can be a great investment as everything is on the ground floor and this automatically makes moving furniture easier to do, so that wardrobes with sliding doors will be easier to get in the accommodation. 

Often bungalows can invest in french doors or patio doors to bring the garden into the house. Patio doors are great for letting in a lot of light, but as a potential buyer, make sure they are using security locks and consider the safety aspect of glass doors if you have young children running around the house.

Different Styles of Houses - Flats and Grounds

There are of course a few other considerations to make when looking at flats and it is something that I didn’t think of until I was viewing a flat myself. Depending on if you are buying an upstairs flat or downstairs there is the noise level to consider. Ground floor flats may well have to consider the noise generated upstairs. If your neighbours are moving their furniture around, that wardrobe unit with a sliding door system can create a lot of noise that will be echoed downstairs. It is one thing to have noise next door, but when it is above you it might get hard to live with. Even if neighbours are friendly and considerate, the noise of children crying, the TV on too loud or people coming and going banging doors can all be heard through the ceiling.

If you are on the top floor there is the consideration that everything you purchase from shopping to furniture needs to be carried up those stairs. If you have brought furniture, check it can get up those stairs or that walk in wardrobes with sliding doors might need to be built within the room and not remotely constructed outside of the bedroom.

Sharing a flat will also come with grounds maintenance. This is something that is paid to keep the grass mowed and any maintenance for the building repairs.

Renting flat accommodation first appealed to me as the space that I would have to maintain was low and a comfortable living space that I could call my own. In some cases, as an added bonus, flats will have parking or garage parking within the price so be sure to look for this and enquire.

Different Styles of House Series - Flats

I did look around a lot of flats for one person or even for two people. These are great places to start with. There are a few minor problems which you need to consider when looking at flats though as I found out. One thing, is that space to extend is not available so if you are planning on a new family member or getting a pet then a flat might not be for you.

I found that a flat is often suited to one person or a couple. However, buying a flat entails more that you are purchasing a home, but you will not be buying the whole building. This will mean, in most cases, the flat is leasehold, rather than freehold. This means that buying and selling your flat is not as straightforward as selling a freehold. This is not to say that flats are not desirable, as people want to get on the ladder, but something to bear in mind if you are selling in the future.

Space within a flat is tight and can often result in purchasing some great space saving furniture, like what we have featured in our other posts. Classic and large wardrobes with sliding doors for example might not be possible, although is a great saver if you are trying to organise bedroom furniture.

If you have existing furniture, check if the flat is going to be furnished or unfurnished when considering the property. If you need to factor in new furniture, this is something that you might need to replace or purchase. A classic bed frame might be great, but if struggling up the stairs is not. Also moving bulky furniture is not something one person wants to be considering, so you may have a wardrobe with a sliding door option but if it won’t fit on the landing, then it might be time to look at other options.

Different Style of Houses - Detached

This house is similar to the semi detached style of houses. This style also allows for development and renovation to the existing structure, so if you wanted to extend a bedroom or bathroom this is possible. Often buying a detached property, potential buyers look at the scope for development for a walk in wardrobe or re-designing a bedroom for sliding door wardrobes to make use of that ‘odd’ space in a room.

One of the major benefits is the fact you do not have to worry about noise from neighbours coming through the walls. If you purchase detached, your home is detached from other buildings. This obviously does not extend to outdoors and it is still best to get on with neighbours and consider the noise levels, but you can relax knowing that if you want to enjoy that song, you can turn the stereo up a little bit.

The noise reduction will not continue to the different levels of the house though. If you want to make use of all the room in a house, why not think about rooms directly above the living room and consider the walk in wardrobes or a smaller room to make use of space.  If you are purchasing a home have a look at all the rooms, as I did and try to look at them with a blank canvas and with no furniture so you might be able to utilise furniture such as sliding wardrobe doors.

Different Style of Houses Series - Semi Detached

This style of house is popular for those who might already be on the property ladder. If you are looking to move to a bigger house with more options to extend those rooms and even create a walk in wardrobes with sliding doors, then this is an option for you. One of the benefits to semi detached houses is that they provide an option to extend onto the back or at least you can apply for planning permission and look at options if you need a bigger place or home/office. 

The style of semi-detached houses also provides a garden, or a small area to relax outside. This is something which can be extended onto. But I have found it is worth looking at your potential purchase and size of garden to how long you have time wise to manage it. If you are at work during the week or have activities that see you using the house during the weekends then a massive garden with lots of plants might start becoming more time-consuming.

Look for something that is easy to maintain such as an area mainly lawned or even slabbed. If you bedroom overlooks the garden, the last thing you need is to look out over the garden and see a jungle of weeds everytime you get something from your walk-in wardrobe with sliding doors or if you are sitting down and relaxing.

Different Styles of Houses - Terraced House

As I have been looking around at different houses I have noticed the difference in space and layout between the different properties from a flat to a bungalow and even terrace houses. There are houses which as soon I looked at, I felt at home and some houses just didn’t feel like ‘home’. I had a good look at a range of houses though as it is always best to view a range to see what you can get for your money and see where you can make use of any sliding door wardrobes.

Terraced House
This style of house tends to be popular as they are affordable and quite common. This style tends to be associated with areas close to a city or town centre. This is not always the case mind, but a lot of areas close to a town or city will host a lot people who can make use of public transport. Unfortunately the style and interior design planning can vary, with some terrace houses having one large living area and some having two small living areas and a kitchen on the end of the property.

These houses tend to create a ‘long’ style with rooms going backwards, rather than side by side with a hallway or any reception rooms. These houses will continue upstairs with narrow stairs and bedrooms. Bear this in mind when looking at furniture, especially purchasing anything new like wardrobes with sliding doors as these might not fit up the hallway.

The only problem I have found with a lot of terraced house style accommodation is the lack of parking. A lot of the houses will be close to public transport routes so homeowners will not need to worry about car parking spaces. This is something that I have found, so if you have a car consider car insurance when you are looking at your next home.

Clothes Rails As Alternative Wardrobes

One of the quick and easy ways to store extra clothes is to use a clothes rail. These tend to be stored in the spare rooms or in the corner of the main bedrooms. These are great for hanging clothes that are in temporary need of a home, but probably not good for long term storage.

I have found these tend to be in use more in spare rooms or if homeowners are organising a car boot and want to hang the clothes on a rail.

Clothes rails have not covering at all and cannot a lot of weight, so only ideal for short term use or hanging light cotton clothes. Wardrobes are designed and built to hold more clothes and the wardrobe doors, either sliding door wardrobes or traditional open doors keep out the dust from the clothes a lot more than the canvas or open clothes rails.

Canvas Wardrobes For Teenagers

I have seen many houses and many bedrooms that belong to children or teenagers. The difference in furniture within these rooms is clear to see. The obvious reason for this is that tastes change, children grow up and their needs and clothes space changes. If you imagine that that a teenager might not appreciate an antique wardrobe but still needs somewhere to hang those clothes.

The option of canvas wardrobes are popular as they are simple to construct and can be adapted or colour scheme altered with another canvas colour. These wardrobes do not have slide wardrobe doors in the same sense as there is no solid runners or unit for the doors to be hung onto. It is important to note that whilst canvas wardrobes make a cheap alternative, there are some problems which I came across when asking the homeowner about them.

• They attract dust, so if you have someone with an allergy to dust, these are not the best wardrobes.
• They can get dirty quite quickly from hands touching the same areas of material on a regular basis. The covers can come off and be washed but you need to aware of this when purchasing.Traditional wardrobe doors do not show up the dirt as they are wood or glass.
• Not very sturdy, so they definitely cannot be moved around too much.
• Finally, they do not hold a huge amount of weight so they are ideal for small children, or as an extra wardrobe for a teenager, but not ideal for main wardrobe as jeans, jumpers and tshirts soon become too heavy for the rail.

The Glass Wardrobe Doors

Following on from my blog post about walk in wardrobes I have viewed a lot of bedroom décor that has included wardrobes with sliding doors. This creates a really airy space as often the doors are from floor to ceiling and if they are made up of frameless glass these can be really effective. The only problem I discovered with these doors is that you need to position the bed and other furniture so you are not continually catching your own reflection.

The doors can also be hard to keep clean and smear free if you have small children. It might also be an idea to make sure they are not tempted to play too rough close to the doors incase the doors smash, crack or get scratched. This would be a disadvantage to having these doors as one crack would need the whole door replaced.

I would love to hear your thoughts on these type of doors though and how easy they are to keep clean?

The Walk In Wardrobe Design

The walk in wardrobe is something which is proving a popular choice as I come across houses what are limited on space. This is a great option if you have an awkward size room with a space that can be made use of.

Sometimes a full size wardrobe is too big and bulky to fit into gaps, but a space can be created as a walk in wardrobe complete with wardrobe doors that can either have a effective sliding door mechanism or open outwards if there is room.

In some instances, a smaller room next to the bedroom has been made into a storage room complete with sliding doors and walk in wardrobe experience. This is a great way to utilise the room and prevent it from becoming a junk room or just another storage room.

Different Types of Wardrobe Doors

As I have been looking at the different houses and the different ways in which space is created within them, one thing that is always interesting is the different range of furniture and how that has been adapted to the style of room and person who is using the room. For example, an antique wardrobe would look out of place in a teenagers room due to the usage and design of the wardrobe and wardrobe door solution. I started to take an interest in the different types of wardrobes and how contribute towards space and décor.

One of the main wardrobes that I saw was the traditional wardrobe that comes flat packed and is designed to be constructed within the room it will stand. There are benefits to this in that the cost of the wardrobe is often less that the heavy duty, quality wood wardrobes, but they can only be move occasionally and are not designed to be moved frequently as this may affect the structure and presentation of the wardrobe, such as the wardrobe doors not completely closing due to it being dragged across the room too much.

Sliding Doors Will Save Space in Bedrooms

Moving home into a smaller place can cause a lot of space issues as the double bed that sat perfectly in the last house no longer fits into the room that was going to be the spare room. There are quick fixes such as limiting the number of bedroom units and try to get units that can attach to walls and storage boxes can hold a lot of bits and bobs without having to be based on the bedroom floor space.

There is the option to purchase furniture that has sliding door systems to reduce the need to allow space to open a door, which can save space and open up the room more.

If this is your first home, why not think about furniture that can be adapted and reduce in size when needed such as sofabeds. Alternatively, consider beds that offer draw space within the frame to reduce the need for storage units within the bedroom itself.

Is there is an area of the bedroom in which nothing ‘fits’ consider making this into a walk in wardrobe and you can install sliding wardrobe doors which would be effective in creating space and making the room look bigger.

Kitchen and Dining Space Saving

Some houses will have a separate room for dining and some kitchens extend into one room as a kitchen/dining room. If the kitchen is large enough, the household might want to eat in the kitchen and this will involve purchasing a kitchen table. This seems an easy task to start with, until you start to think of how many people will be using the space to eat? How frequently will the table be used? Can we save space with no-one is eating at the table? 

These are great questions to ask and the solution is often a fold away table, like the one shown here. The great option here is to also include the chairs underneath the table as an extra space saver.

 

If you are going to using the chairs and table on a regular basis then the size of the table will not matter, but if it something that is only going to be used at Christmas then make sure the space available is utilised well. 

Kitchen Space Created With Sliding Doors

Example Utensils Rack

Space is essential in any house structure. There are various kitchen ideas to save space and even more so, worktop space that is important. When planning a kitchen, designers need to be aware of making sure the main 3 points of cooker, sink and fridge are at a perfect triangle and all within easy walking, standing distance to each other. Depending on the design of the kitchen, the utensils can be stored on a rack close to the cooker, where they are used most.

Some kitchens have taken an approach to have cupboards and make use of small spaces with space saving sliding doors that push and close. Kitchen cupboards tend to be opened in the traditional way, but more and more kitchen designs are included deep drawers and cupboards that can be opened easily and also close to give the kitchen a stylish look and feel and reduce the need for door handles.

The kitchen is one room which needs to be as clear as possible, especially if you are cooking and moving around with hot dishes aswell. There are also the obvious hazards to be aware of such as the cookers and hobs and liquids heating on the hobs that might spill.

Coffee Tables For Space Saving Ideas

There are some great space saving ideas for furniture so regardless of the size of room that you are trying to furnish. Companies seem to be offering space saving solutions as standard, as they appreciate that homes can become cluttered and it not always possible to move house to create extra space.

Lets start with one of the more popular space saving ideas of the coffee table. The designs for these have changed from the simple base to storage solutions for newspapers and books. A lot of coffee tables have inbuilt drawers or simply a shelf under the main surface.

We like how this stylish and modern design of coffee table lifts up and extends to create an additional space and also storage underneath, but without the drawers.

A great space saver for the lounge, come back to the blog for some ideas on space saving in the other rooms of the house, such as wardrobes with sliding doors and fold away tables.

Not Sure About This Idea Though...

As I've begun my home search I've not yet come across this idea that was featured in the Daily Mail. I think that although this apartment looks stylish and impressive, I would prefer the privacy and normality of a conventional bathroom suite.

Image source from Daily Mail article

Just wondering what the other rooms in the apartment look like?