I’ve found the PERFECT solution to my problem.  You see, I HATE cleaning and vacuuming the floor with a passion.  I can’t tell you how much I detest it.  But there was no way around it – if you want a clean house, you’ve got to do the work,  That was until now…

This Christmas I gave myself the best gift anyone has every given me – a Neato XV-11 robotic vacuum machine.  I didn’t know much about these things – well, it was sort of in the back of my mind that at some stage over the past decade or two the first prototype robotic vacuum cleaner was released but I didn’t know that they have evolved into something that was worth paying attention to and, even more, investing in.

The Neat XV-11 is simply amazing.  It’s SO easy to use – simply plug in its docking station, put it on the floor, press the bit orange button to wake it up, press it again to start it and stand back.  The Neato has a laser in its little “tower” and quickly does a 360 degree scan of the room.  It then creates a very accurate map of the room mapping all the borders as well as all the furniture and any other objects in the room.  If its a fairly big room it divides it in to smaller blocks, if not, it attacks the whole room.  It starts off by going round the perimeter and then, in systematic lines, like I would do it myself, it continues cleaning my floors.  It’s very smart – it knows exactly where all obstacles are and will carefully steer around it.  Neat, isn’t it?

My initial online purchases were small items.  I’m actually a bit of a collector, so I started out by picking up some things on eBay.  From there, I moved to Amazon (still my favorite), and I’ve also purchased from several other online stores.  I’ve found that the retail shops around my area don’t carry very much at all compared to what is actually out there for sale.  I’m willing to wait a couple of days for delivery if I can actually get what I want instead of settling for what I can drive home with that day.

The one thing I was always hesitant about buying online is furniture.  I recently bit the bullet and bought some chairs for my kitchen on Amazon because they were exactly what I had been looking for over the past few months.  They arrived safe and sound, and I’m thrilled with them.  I’d caution you however to be clear on terms when you order something big like that online.  Make sure that you know who will be responsible for shipping if something shows up damaged.  Any big savings would be lost if you had to pay to ship a set of chairs back to the manufacturer.

I’ll be posting more tips in the days to come as I work to get things really rolling around here.  Please be sure to bookmark 23 Water Street and stop back often, as I hope to have some good stuff up soon!

The kitchen counters and hanging cabinets are usually lined on the back wall and if there is still ample space for storage in the kitchen, an island counter in the middle can be installed. The cabinet frames are usually made from wood. The cabinet facades are the parts where materials and styles can be explored. They can be made entirely of one wood specie and have a uniform look all throughout the kitchen or they can be made from a combination of solid wood and laminated panels that resemble different stains of wood or metal surfaces. Stainless steel counters and hanging cabinets can also be utilized in the kitchen especially if you prefer a modern and industrial look for the interior of the area. Glass framed in wood or laminated panels can also make attractive cabinet faces. Colored, textured, laminated and smoked glass materials can be combined with other materials to create a truly diverse and unique kitchen cabinet design.

Each design element should conform to the overall interior scheme of the kitchen. The breakfast nook can be of a similar design with the rest of the kitchen or if a separate design will be assigned for it, the colors and forms should at least match with the counter cabinets and hanging cabinets. The banquet seat of the breakfast nook can be built-in to a corner wall of the kitchen or it can be made up of loose chairs and dining tables at the center of the kitchen or adjacent to the bar island counter. The style of the dining chairs and bar chairs can be similar or they can have contrasting designs as long as the theme of the kitchen interior is retained and consistent all throughout the area. The accessories such as the lighting fixtures, wall decors, fancy china and colored vases should enliven the ambiance of the kitchen through bright colors, attractive styles and amazing silhouettes. The window treatments such as the blinds and curtains should mimic the patterns and styles of the other prominent elements found in the kitchen. Designing your kitchen will be fun and exciting especially if you take the time to carefully consider the design and the theme that it will incorporate and embrace.