Home Weekly Magazine

US $2.95

BRING THE OUTDOORS INDOOR Benefits of indoor plants

Kitchen layouts that fit your lifestyle We give you the top 5 options

Painting your bathroom has never been easier Tips for getting the best results

1

Editor in Chief Salymar Pérez Executive Editors Doriluz Gonzalez Steven Vallellanes Managing Editor Kristy Claudio Photography Director Eva Santiago Associate Editors Sahelí Ubals Amanda Jusino Assistant Editors Coralys Rivera Juhwonette Hernández Art Director Marcos Cruz Correspondents Edgardo Rosario CFO/Publisher Bryan Matos Assistant to the CFO Roderick Marin Advertising Sales Manager Christian Baerga Front Desk Receptionist Marcos Acevedo Web Site Salymar Pérez, Journal LLC

2

CONTENTS.

4cover 4. Five Benefits of Indoor Plants 5. Paint your bathroom right 6. Find the kitchen layout that fits your lifestyle

6

Popular kitchen layouts

• Style your living room

(4) http://www.bayeradvanced.com/articles/5-benefits-of-houseplants | (6) http://www.hgtv.com/design/rooms/ kitchens/5-most-popular-kitchen-layouts-pictures | (5) http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/03/beautify-your-bathroom-with-a-paint-job-that-lasts/index.htm Designed by: Salymar PĂŠrez

5

How to paint your bathroom

3

Indoors

When you embellish interior spaces with houseplants, you’re not just adding greenery. These living organisms interact with your body, mind and home in ways that enhance the quality of life.

Breathing Easier

When you breathe, your body takes in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide. During photosynthesis, plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Adding plants to interior spaces can increase oxygen levels.

Releasing Water

Plants release roughly 97 percent of the water they take in. Place several plants together, and you can increase the humidity of a room, which helps keeps respiratory distresses at bay.

Studies at the Agricultural University of Norway document that using plants in interior spaces decreases the incidence of dry skin, colds, sore throats and dry coughs.

Purifying Air

Plants remove toxins from air – up to 87 percent of volatile organic compounds every 24 hours, according to NASA research.

4 homeweeklymag.com

Improving Health

Compared to patients in rooms without plants, patients in rooms with plants request less pain medication, have lower heart rates and blood pressure, experience less fatigue and anxiety, and are released from the hospital sooner.

Adding plants to office settings decreases fatigue, colds, headaches, coughs, sore throats and flu-like symptoms. In another study by the Agricultural University of Norway, sickness rates fell by more than 60 percent in offices with plants.

Sharpening Focus

A study at The Royal College of Agriculture in Circencester, England, found that students demonstrate 70 percent greater attentiveness when they’re taught in rooms containing plants. In the same study, attendance was also higher for lectures given in classrooms with plants.

Bathroom

Beautify your bathroom with a paint job that lasts Bathrooms have surpassed kitchens as the most frequently remodeled room in the house. If you just want a new look, a coat of fresh paint can do the trick. | by Artemis DiBenedetto

Here’s how: Pick the right finish. For a bathroom, satin or semi-gloss paints are a good choice.

Wash the walls. Before painting, clean the walls with a solution of 1 part bleach to 3 parts water and a regular sponge. Then rinse them with clean water and wait for them to dry completely before painting.

Use self-priming paint. You can skip applying separate coats of primer and paint and use a one-coat self-priming paint. If you use a roller, you should be able to cover about a 2-foot-square section of wall before dipping the roller again.

Protect areas you don’t want to paint. With all the nooks and crannies, small bathrooms can be a challenge to paint. Use a sash brush with a tapered tip. Unlike those on a flat brush, the bristles are cut at a diagonal, making the brush easier to control.

5

Kitchen

Learn how a kitchen's shape affects its functionality, the pros and cons of each and which layout is right for you. | by Karin Beuerlein and H. Camille Smith •Essential Work Triangleshow The three points of the frequently mentioned work triangle are the range, sink and refrigerator.

Appliances can be broken up with the classic shapes; for example, the cooktop and wall ovens might be in different areas. Two sinks are important for a twocook kitchen.

•Zone Designshow To really break up the different areas of the kitchen, consider a zone design. In this kitchen, a separate work station exists for cooking, eating and even cleaning, allowing space for several helpers all at once.

6 homeweeklymag.com

•Galley or Corridor Styleshow

The galley, or corridor, kitchen has two straight runs on either side. Typically the sink is on one side and the range is on the other. The drawback to this design is traffic flow. A simple, one-wall design can be transformed into a galley shape with the addition of an island opposite the wall of cabinets. Islands help replace needed storage that is lost in an open kitchen design with limited wall cabinets.

•U-Shaped Layoutshow The U-shape evolved as storage needs increased. It provides a massive expanse of counter and storage space as well as great flexibility.

The G-shape is the basic U with another little leg. It is great for a one-cook kitchen and allows the work area to be spread out.

•L-Shaped Layoutshow

For more privacy when cooking, choose an L-shaped layout which forces the traffic out of the work area. For more interaction with family and guests, try an L-shape with an island.

The L-shaped kitchen has a main wall of cabinets with either the sink or range and a shorter run of cabinets placed in an L-configuration.

7

8

DESIGNS Designed by: Salymar PĂŠrez