Homelife 2011

HOUSE & HOME EAST ANGLIA

2011

Your essential local directory for home improvements and interiors

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Welcome to HomeLife, a handy pocketsized directory of suppliers and services for the house and home in your area.

A-Z OF ADVERTISERS HomeLife

04 Beam Ends is published by Thompson Media Partners 04 Butterfield Natural Stone Ltd, Unit 4, Avenue Business Park, Elsworth, 08 Character Coving Cambridge CB23 4EY. Tel. 01954 267696.

14 Coastal Glazing Publisher Sean Thompson (01954 267696) Sales Managers Charlie Roadley-Battin (07595 894578) 05 Colne Stoves & Fireplaces Darren Marshall (07826 628680) Stewart Hedges 33 Crowley Turf Supplies (07595 894557) Jim Leishman (01954 267635) 08 David Hall Bespoke Furniture Ltd Editorial & Design John Boston 32 Dorluxe Ltd Š Thompson Media Partners 33 Dream Doors 15 Dream Maker Bathrooms 21 Fieldens Ltd 19 Grove Lane Bathrooms 15 Hadleigh Kitchen & Bedroom Studio 04 Hardwood Flooring Studio 32 Home & Cane Living 09 Hyde Furniture 35 Ironglaze 08 JHD Interiors 36 Jim Lawrence 11 Kitchen Sense 29 Knights Country Kitchens 10 MattressMan 11 Nevelli 04 Norwich Kitchen Centre 18 Old Fashioned Bathrooms 08 Old Vicarage Curtain Company, The 10 Oriental Rugs 02 Partridges Homestore 18 Premier Marble 18 Simply Bathrooms 10 Sinclair Fabrics 11 Style Kitchens 15 Tile Studio 14 Tots to Teens Furniture Barn 28 Trowmans 25 Ultimate Flooring Solutions

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} DESIGN ADVICE } SUPPLY & INSTALLATION } AFTERCARE ...

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... for Solid, Engineered & Laminate Flooring

visitournewshowroom For the ultimate in wood flooring & expertise Open: Mon-Sat 10.00am–4.00pm 48 Gainsborough Street | Sudbury Suffolk | CO10 2ET Tel: 01787 881688 Email: info@thehardwoodflooringstudio.com Web: www.thehardwoodflooringstudio.com

Come & see our new 2011 ranges Please come and visit our stunning revamped showroom and talk to us about your kitchen project… and take the opportunity to negotiate a very favourable package from us.

The ultimate in kitchens, designed to order.

Complete kitchens start at £12,000+ The NORWICH KITCHEN CENTRE Showroom open 7 days a week (Sunday 2-6pm) 1 Market Place, Loddon. Tel: 01508 528196 www.norwichkitchencentre.co.uk

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The NORWICH KITCHEN CENTRE

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Interiors

Colour your HOME

Yellows bring warmth and light into rooms

Carefully applied colour in your home makes an immediate and lasting visual impact, giving off an array of mood-changing associations. Your colour scheme should complement the space and suit your personal preferences...

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efore you choose your colour schemes, always consider the space.

Dark rooms can be brightened up with light-coloured walls, accessorised with white voile curtains and plenty of green plants. Tiny rooms look more spacious with pale, cool colours, accessorised with minimal light-coloured furniture.

Boxy rooms cry out for a focal point, such as a feature wall contrasted with an attention-grabbing piece of furniture or art.

By understanding the qualities of primary and secondary colours and how they work together, you’ll have a better understanding of how to apply them in your home. Primary colours are red, yellow and blue. Secondary colours are orange, green and violet.

Deep, warm colours including red-violet, red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange and yellow give a room an intimate, cosy feel. Light, cool colours such as green, blue-green, blue and blue-violet make a room seem more spacious and elegant.

Pale neutral colours also have this effect.

The easiest way to colour your home is to start off with a relatively blank canvas, featuring fairly neutral shades on your more permanent fixtures and fitting such as sofas and floor coverings. These don't have to be boring. You can use rich but neutral colours like chocolate and versatile stone. These shades work wonderfully with an accent colour running through your homes accessories. You can use your curtains, cushions, lamps, candles, blankets, rugs and pictures.

Bright and bold, RED suggests vitality and aggressiveness. It is a great accent colour, making cold, open rooms seem more inviting and intimate. Deep, subtle shades of red such as burgundy and maroon are perfect for living rooms. Its complementary colour is green.

The colour of nature, GREEN is refreshing and pleasing to the eye. It makes dim rooms seem more vibrant by bringing a garden-like atmosphere indoors.

With its varying shades, green works in just about any room. Its complementary colour is red.

Stimulating, sunny and cheerful, YELLOW is associated with intellect, power and creative energy. Bright yellows bring warmth and light into dark rooms, and pale yellows make small rooms seem larger. It is also a great kitchen colour. Its complementary colour is violet.

Most BLUE shades denote harmony, peace, steadfastness and loyalty. While it’s appropriate for any room, blue is an excellent bedroom colour because it makes one feel comforted and serene. It can also soften rooms that are overbright. Its complimentary colour is orange.

Strong and majestic, VIOLET is a powerful accent colour. Pastel violets take on the mood characteristics of red or blue depending on which is more prominent in the shade. Lilac for example, takes on blue’s characteristics, while lavender takes on reds qualities.

Its complimentary colour is yellow.

ORANGE combines the energy of red with the intellectual associations of yellow.

Dominant and lively, orange is a vibrant choice for bathrooms and work areas. Peachy oranges have a delicate effect, while brownish oranges such as terracotta give off warm, cosy vibes. Its complimentary colour is blue.

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Q U A L I T Y

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Kitchen

Clever KITCHENS

A kitchen to love begins with a user-friendly layout. Award-winning kitchen designer Beth Veillette goes back to basics with a few essential rules‌ Kitchen shape The first step in designing your new kitchen is to visualize the potential of the space. It can be difficult to see past the existing configuration of cabinets and appliances, but that's exactly what you need to do. Try to imagine that you have completely gutted your old kitchen-taking it right down to the walls. Consider only the size and shape of the room as well as the location of doorways, staircases, and windows. You or your designer should create a scale drawing of the space and experiment with different arrangements of everything from cabinets to countertops to appliances to find the right layout for your new kitchen.

When floor tiles are placed so they run the length of the kitchen they visually elongate the space, as seen in this galley kitchen.

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This open kitchen feels slightly more grounded thanks to the crown molding at the ceiling and the wide baseboard trim around the island

The work zones When you think about it, every kitchen consists of many separate work areas. There's the place where you do your chopping and have your knives and cutting boards nearby, for example, and a cleanup station consisting of the sink, dishwasher, and trash receptacle. Even the spot where you stage groceries before loading them into the refrigerator is an important work area. The secret to designing a great kitchen is to think about all of the work zones you'll need, what each one requires to be efficient, and how they should work together.

For starters, that means creating a work triangle. When you're cooking, you use three components of your kitchen more than any others-the refrigerator, range (or

cooktop), and sink. So designers usually try to keep these essentials out of the major traffic flow, to put them relatively close together, and to locate each one at the point of an imaginary triangle. The work triangle isn't the only way to go, but it does offer the easiest access to these three essential kitchen tools with the least walking to and fro. Ideally, the three legs of the triangle should add up to 26 ft. or lesswith each individual leg measuring between 4 ft. and 9 ft. Once you've plotted out your work triangle, you can begin to design each of the individual work zones.

Extracts from Kitchen Ideas that Work, by Beth Veillette. Published by The Taunton Press. ISBN: 978 1 56158 837 4 Price: ÂŁ12.99. Available from GMC Publications www.thegmcgroup.com

This open kitchen feels slightly more grounded thanks to the crown molding at the ceiling and the wide baseboard trim around the island

The work triangle Your kitchen layout will be determined by two factors: the size and shape of your space and the placement of work areas within the room based on the work triangle, an imaginary line drawn to connect the refrigerator, sink, and cooktop or range. Ideally, each leg of the work triangle should be between 4 ft. and 9ft. long. Islands and peninsulas should not intersect the triangle by more than 12in.

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Bathroom

Spruce it UP! Modern bathrooms at their best are havens of tranquility, and a great selling point for a home... t their worst, bathrooms can be an eyesore and decrease the value of a home. For this reason, experts advise homeowners to spruce up their bathrooms, think of it as a mini project development that could add a sparkle to your home.

If you fancy renovating your bathroom either yourself or getting some help, stick to the rules and don't be self-centred in your design. Even though you own your home, you must always consider that potential buyer who will probably come walking through your bathroom door one day.

Interior design styles and bathroom fittings are a matter of taste.

Some people love baths and hate showers, some love showers and hate baths. Some like it modern, some old-fashioned. As will any renovation job, you should consider a wide variety of tastes when making drastic changes, such as removing a bath and fitting a shower cubicle in its place.

When you come to sell your home in the future, you will benefit by offering a wide variety of buyers the features they want

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without putting people off by imposing your tastes on them.

The plain fact is that most buyers want a shower as well as a bath, especially if you have a family home with baths needed for children.

Interior design experts and TV shows urge all bathroom renovators to install a plain, white bathroom suite. The law doesn’t demand this unfortunately, but current and foreseeable tastes do.

There are some stunning modern bathroom designs available but be careful in your selection.

The first consideration is continuity; design your bathroom so it's in keeping with the style of the rest of the home. Turning your bathroom into a modern masterpiece could seriously devalue a period home. The second, as previously mentioned, is designing it around the needs of the people likely to buy it in the future. Light is especially important for bathrooms. If you have no window, stick to light coloured tiles for both the floors and walls and install extra illumination, especially around mirrors. Make the most of any natural light by avoiding

curtains or blinds that fail to reveal the whole window when they are open. Europeans would shudder at the thought of carpet in bathrooms, and many Brits are now inclined to agree. They harbour smells, moisture and germs.

Always install easy-to-clean tiles or even sand-down and paint your floorboards - although you must fully seal the gaps so seek expert advice on how to do this correctly.

If you must feel carpet under your feet when you step out the bath or shower, include a rug or bathmat. Even on a budget, little touches will bring nice finishing touches to a bathroom design.

Opt for a stylish, understated look for a bathroom that will stand the test of time and the test of future buyers' personal tastes.

You can purchase good value white bathroom suites at all DIY stores. The money you saved can be used to upgrade the quality of tiles for floors and accessories such as heated towel rails, better quality shower units or quality tap ware. Future buyers will spot these little signs of added luxury.

Jakata Mirror £35, Glass Shelf £22, Square Tap £50, Square Sink £99, Towels from £8, Towel Storage £40. All from Next, 0116 284 9220 or 0845 4567818

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Flooring

Totally

floored A quick guide to choosing the right flooring for your needs

Design and zoning Floor colouring can change the feel of the room, and this is especially true when it comes to room size.

Use a light coloured floor to make a small room feel roomier and a dark coloured floor in larger rooms for a cosier feel. Flooring can define the various different spaces and function of areas around the home, this is particularly useful with open plan rooms. Dining areas can be defined with laminate flooring for example, while the adjoining sofa space is carpeted.

Function Wood and laminate flooring responds to moisture and heat. Take advice to find moisture resistance laminates if they are to be used in the kitchen or bathroom.

Bear in mind that ceramic tiles used on a bathroom floor will become slippery when wet. In kitchens, crockery dropped on tile flooring is likely to break and may also crack the tiles themselves.

Keeping costs down Wood-look laminate flooring designed to click-fit gives the effect of real wood parquet but is a fraction of the price. If you prefer to be able to change the look and colour of the room every few years and are less concerned with the lifetime of the carpet, the cheaper foam-backed carpets are a good option. Many carpet sellers provide an edge-binding service, this is a cost effective way to turn cheap carpet off-cuts into rugs.

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WHICH FLOORING? Hardwood flooring Hardwood floors, unlike carpets, do not harbour or collect dust and other allergy particles and for this reason wood floors are often recommended for allergy-prone people.

While hardwood flooring is generally one of the more costly flooring options, hardwood maintains its value over time and, if properly cared, for doesn't show the wear and tear some synthetic products do. Solid real wood can be re-finished for a longer life.

Tiles Tiles are always a good choice for flooring, they’re hardwearing, suitable for underfloor heating and amazingly versatile.

Natural stone tiles include limestone, marble and slate, or you can opt for man-made varieties, such as porcelain and ceramic. Large tiles make a room look more spacious, and using the same tiles on the walls and floors creates a fashionable, streamlined effect in a bathroom.

Laminate Laminate flooring is useful for heavily used areas of the home. Specially designed water-resistant laminates are available for the kitchen or bathroom. There's a wide choice of laminate flooring, many have sophisticated textured finishes that faithfully recreate the look of solid wood. For convenience, choose glueless laminate.

Handscraped laminates have the finish of real wood, they feature a woodgrain textured surface, are stain resistant and do not fade in strong sunlight. Wood effect textured laminates feature a durable, scratch resistant top-layer finish.

Vinyl Ideal for kitchens and bathrooms vinyl is waterproof, easy to maintain and hardwearing. Cushioned vinyl versions are comfortable to walk on. If you are after the look of a natural material, but don't have the budget, vinyl is a cheaper alternative. Many are designed to resemble wood, marble, stone and metal, all for a fraction of the cost. Vinyl tiles are an alternative to sheets, these are available with self-adhesive backings and are fitted by simply peeling off the back and sticking down.

Carpet There’s nothing like a carpet for generating a cosy feel to a room, carpets also help to insulate, cutting down sound and providing extra warmth. Heavy use rooms need a hardwearing, close-pile carpet, rooms with less traffic can accommodate a deeper pile, softer carpet. Carpet tiles are useful for children's rooms and play areas as they are easy to repair and replace, simply remove the damaged tile and replace with a new one.

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Tiles

TILE style Andy Draper, manager of Tile Depot in Bedford, tells us how to achieve the latest design trends with tiles... iles are now popular in rooms all over the home for their practical surfaces and constantly evolving design flexibility providing more choice and versatility than ever before with vivid colours, sophisticated patterns, interesting visual effects and tactile finishes.

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Natural stone and stone-look porcelains and ceramics are still, and always will be a timeless favourite for creating a calming bathroom atmosphere and for blending with the warm tones of wood in classic kitchens. However, the emergence of bold colour, pattern and texture allows for more expression and deeper personalisation.

Cappuccino Polished natural stone wall and floor tiles, from ÂŁ4.49 each at Tile Depot

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Bathrooms are no longer just a practical place to wash. 21st Century bathrooms are stylish and innovative with furniture in various modern finishes and a wider choice of statement baths, shapely basins and beautiful taps. Colour is no longer injected via the suite; the preferred choice of white provides a blank canvas for mosaics or bigger and bolder tiles with raised prints, wallpaper patterns and vivid colour palettes to really make an impact, used for feature walls or to create or enhance focal points. The Isadore range from the Laura Ashley collection, available from Tile Depot stores, is an excellent choice for fantastic focal points and feature walls with its selection of white tiles and a bold floral pattern in black on a contrasting white background.

Isadore floral ceramic wall collection, by Laura Ashley, from ÂŁ2.20 each at Tile Depot

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Tiles

The evolution of the modern statement kitchen has bought with it a whole new world of design flair with patterned and brightly coloured cabinetry, appliances and accessories and we offer a wonderful range of sheet glass splashbacks and upstands, available in a wide choice of vivid colours and striking finishes. Meanwhile, kitchen wall tiles have become more sophisticated and mosaics diverse in colour and texture.

In store, our selection includes a finish to suit every kitchen - from purely aluminium through stainless steel with glass and natural stone to foil and metal-effect finishes, such as Iron Touch from the world-renowned Dune collection and our Memory range with its decor tile of ceramic and metallic mosaics.

Metallics are bang on trend at the moment, highly desirable for

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Fiber range of ceramic wall and floor tiles, from ÂŁ2.29 each at Tile Depot

contemporary homes. For bathrooms and other living areas, our 30x60cm Elements Titaneo porcelain tile is superb; rich in browns and bronzes, smooth with a highly seductive metallic finish.

Black and white is once again fashionable. In smaller bathrooms, bumpy white tiles are enjoying a re-found popularity for their simple, stylish design flexibility and reasonable cost.

Today's modern twist on the traditional classic bathroom is large rectified whites for smaller grout lines and a sleek finish with deep blacks, such as our Galaxy Black Granite with sparkles for added interest and in the kitchen, our 20x60cm Fiber range in black or white provides a striking contrast and with a pattern of small dots, creates depth and interest; co-ordinating 31.6x31.6cm black floor tiles are also available.

Tile Depot provides a massive selection of ceramic, porcelain and natural stone wall and floor tiles as well as wooden flooring, grouts, adhesives, tools, trims and accessories to take away today.

Tile Depot offers a Samples service and its Price Promise ensures Bedford, Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas of the very best value in tiles and tiling products.

All available from: Tile Depot, 35-37 Ampthill Road, Bedford, MK42 9JP 01234 327998 And: Tile Depot, Grampian Gate, Winterhill, Milton Keynes, MK6 1BH 01908 234210 www.thetiledepot.co.uk

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Décor

Fuss free

ways to DECORATE If you have just splashed out a small fortune buying your dream home, the chances are that funds are now pretty tight. That is nearly always the case for first time buyers, who once they have moved into their new nest must think about how best to decorate and furnish it without breaking the bank.

First think about decor.

It’s amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do.

It’s better not to go for anything too fussy; keep it clean and simple and add splashes of detail with the occasional throw, textured cushions, strong statement artefacts and wall decorations. Even an eyecatching ceramic bowl filled with fruit can give a room designer detail.

Many big furniture stores sell end of line items and have sections where they keep slightly damaged, but very inexpensive models.

Also keep in mind that most furniture stores periodically

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sell off used furniture when they get rid of showroom samples or floor models.

Ask about both possibilities when you shop. If you have any wholesale furniture warehouses in your area, consider stopping by.

Buying wholesale furniture is almost always cheaper than buying retail.

When looking at used furniture - or any used furnishings - don't think of what they look like now but what they could look like with a little TLC. Maybe that coffee table wouldn’t look right your living room as it looks now, but sanded down and stained and it will look quite different.

When looking for home furnishings, try to think outside the box. You might not want to eat off that set bright pottery plates but they might make colourful wall hangings.

Unless you have a large home, select furniture and accessories on a

small scale. They’ll fit into most spaces as you move them around in your home.

Storage is in short supply in most homes. Select furniture pieces that offer drawers or hanging space, such as a chest of drawers or an armoire.

When furnishing a living room or family room, choose two-seater sofas rather than one huge sofa. They'll be easier to move and can be used forming a corner seating area opposite each other to create a conversation spot, or separately in different rooms of your home.

Select a pleasing natural or neutral colour such as tan, camel, navy, dark green or black for upholstered furniture pieces. This will be your anchor colour.

Make sure the fabric is durable so it holds up under years of use.

Gather together a collection of pillows, fabrics

and accessories that harmonise with your anchor colour. You'll be able to change the look with the seasons, giving your furniture a new, fresh look throughout the year. On a green sofa for example, you might choose yellow floral pillows for summer and camel tapestry pillows for autumn.

Buy lamps, vases, side chairs and pillows in pairs.

They’ll add symmetry and continuity to a room.

When you’re arranging furniture try to use furniture or accessories in unexpected ways, such as a loveseat at the end of a bed or a big dresser that holds videotapes and DVDs.

Don't be afraid to experiment. Find what works best for you in your present situation. If you've selected items with versatility in mind, you’ll end up with an arrangement that's just right.

Flea markets and charity shops can be a great source of inexpensive, one-of-a-kind interior decorating materials.

If you fall in love with a piece of discount furniture, bare in mind that moving it can be an issue. Some vendors will deliver, but only at the end of the day in the case of a market and only for an additional fee.

Don't be afraid to bargain.

Flea market vendors expect it, and with a little negotiation inexpensive items can become even cheaper.

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For more information please contact Hayley or Gemma OfďŹ ce: 01787 277914 or Mobile: 07771 665717 Knights Farm, Stoke Road, Clare, Suffolk CO10 8HH www.knightscountrykitchens.co.uk Showrooms @ Trowmans, Long Meford CO10 9JR & Debden Antiques, Nr. Saffron Walden CB11 3JY 29

Bedroom

A bed of ROSES

Bringing hotel luxury into the home... otels have come a long way from chintzy guest houses and bland A road motels. These days we all lust after weekends in bourgeois boutique hotels in European cities or luxuriant spa weekends in the English countryside. And with our new found love of the hotel has come a passion for turning our homes in to approximations of our favourite bolt holes. But how does one turn hotel inspiration in to reality without finding themselves living in a Travelodge? It's all about taking your favourite aspects of the luxury hotel and making them work for your home, finding practical but indulgent solutions which suit your lifestyle and make the place you live in to your own little sanctuary.

We all have different ideas about what makes our favourite hotel special - some of us hanker after the simple exoticism of a top African safari lodge such as the incredible Singita Sweni in Kruger National Park, South Africa whilst for others getaway chic comes in the shape of uber-modern London hotel The Sanderson and yet others crave the olde

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worlde charm of Babington House in Somerset Whatever your idea of the perfect hotel-at-home one thing is key: it's got to ooze luxe. Which means using the best materials you can afford, piling throws on to beds, using underfloor heating in bathrooms and choosing furniture which looks and feels top quality.

Before you start creating your own suite spend time in your favourite hotel if you can, or just pore over websites and brochures which can give you a feel for the look and the kind of items which you won't be able to miss. You'll see that in most hotels the furniture and decorative items are minimal, the design - even when outlandish or surprising - is still somehow understated. While it's easy to imagine turning every room of the house in to an

approximation of The Ritz the simplest, most sympathetic rooms to bring a touch of short break chic to are the bedroom and bathroom where relaxation and luxury are paramount In the bedroom remember to tone down colours to muted, earthy shades or patterns to simplistic stripes or florals.

Buy the biggest and best bed you can afford which fits in to your room and use plain linen, adding personality with touches including throws, cushions, bedside lamps and pieces of art. The bed should be the centre of the room while other furniture should be kept to a useful minimum. Add a good TV and a selection of your favourite DVDs and you need (almost) never leave again. The bathroom should make the least of the toilet and the most of the bath or shower cubicle (if you only have room for the latter).

A large ball and claw or modern sculptural bath is an easy way to get the hotel look whilst tiles which seamlessly blend from walls to floor are a tried and tested hotel trick. Fluffy towels, top quality taps and the best toiletries complete the effect.

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COMPOSITE DOOR FROM £489 + VAT

711881

COMPOSITE DOORS

Stonham Barns, Stonham Aspal, Near Stowmarket (on the A1120 tourist route, 1 mile from A140 junction) Opening times Mon-Sat 10:00 - 5:00 Sun 10:30-4:30

BI-FOLDING DOORS

CONSERVATORIES

PVC-U WINDOWS FROM £56 + VAT

NEW - NOW STOCKING A FULL RANGE OF PVC-U PLA

ORS O DO I T A P M FRO AT V + £489

STIC BUILDING PRODUCTS Free Local Surve y & Free Local D elivery

Local Company, Nationally Recognised TRADE COUNTER

30 Pinbush Road | Lowestoft 01502 567744 www.dorluxe.co.uk OPEN MON - FRI 8am - 5.30pm, SAT 8am - 12pm

32

Suffolk NR33 7NL

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Energy DIY

Energy

efficiency You’ve got the bio-fuel car, you recycle your cans, bottles and paper and you even grow your own vegetables. But is your home as energy efficient as it could be? nefficient products such as fridge freezers and dishwashers could be causing you to sport a giant-sized carbon footprint. So how can you improve your home's energy efficiency and ensure that home items you buy in future are good for you and good for the environment?

There are several giveaways that you're losing heat. Mould and mildew or high humidity can be an indication of water leaks in your toilet or pipework, meaning you use more water, or in your roof, windows or walls, which means that you could be losing heat. Fix leaks and you could save on water usage or heating bills. Leaking air conditioners can also be a real energy-efficiency problem so do keep checking pipes for drips.

Old appliances can be extremely inefficient meaning that as well as damaging your green rating your energy bills could be sky high. Items such as fridge freezers made before the mid 90s won't have been efficiency rated and should be replaced with a new appliance boasting a good energy efficiency rating. Replacing your clothes washer with an energy efficient equivalent will not only

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Switch off TVs instead of leaving them on standby

save enough water to fill three home swimming pools and save enough money to buy a dryer too!

Many homes are so poorly insulated that they lose heat endlessly throughout winter meaning ever rising fuel bills to keep the family warm. Replacing worn insulation is a must and thanks to improvements in technology is a job easily and fairly cheaply done without professional assistance or safety equipment.

Double glazing also cuts down on heat leaks and should be fitted by a Fensa qualified window fitter. Remember to get in contact with your local council to check whether you qualify for government grants for insulation.

It’s a well-known fact that TVs

and PCs left on standby waste electricity. Additionally, turn all appliances off at the wall to keep waste to an absolute minimum. If every appliance in every home was rated energy efficient it would save endless amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. This is just one reason to ensure that future purchases bear the energy efficiency sticker, which guarantees maximum efficiency rating.

While checking your own home is easy to do and can prove invaluable in saving money on your fuel bills as well as ensuring that your carbon footprint is minimised the government website actonCO2.direct.gov.uk provides a free to use carbon calculator which, with the aid of just a few details from your home can calculate your home’s carbon footprint and offer great targeted advice on reducing your emissions and saving money too.

When carrying out DIY don't forget to consider the green credentials of materials you use and dispose of unwanted building materials appropriately wherever possible reuse or recycle and use sustainable woods and other building goods so that your home, old or new can be as green as the rest of your life.

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HOMELIFE

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Handcrafted home furnishings

Lighting Curtain Poles Soft Furnishings Furniture Ironwork

Call 0844 414 1665, email sales@jim-lawrence.co.uk or visit www.jim-lawrence.co.uk Showroom at The Ironworks, Lady Lane Industrial Estate, Hadleigh, Suffolk, IP7 6BQ 36