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Hive Heating Control (Review)

February 26, 2015 by TheBoyAndMe Leave a Comment

This post is written by Mr. TBaM who has a keen interest in the working of the Hive!

When we bought our house ten years, one of our first purchases was a new boiler. Fitted by a local engineer, he also gave us the simplest thermostatic control system possible: a temperature dial in the hallway and a 24-hour timer on the boiler itself. The times we need the heating on vary through the week, so we ended up having to leave the boiler switched on from 7am to 11pm and only making alterations using the dial. Coming home to a warm house at the end of a winter’s day meant setting the thermostat before leaving for work, and ignoring the wasted heat in the intervening hours

I’ve been looking at a few solutions recently, so when we were offered the chance to try out the British Gas ‘Hive’ system it seemed like it would be the perfect opportunity to make a significant saving on our gas bill.

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What Your Home Design Says About You (Guest Post)

February 22, 2014 by TheBoyAndMe 2 Comments

Your home design says a lot about you and your personality. How you choose to decorate your home and what colours you use, reveal a lot about the type of person you are. Individual tastes differ widely and are usually a reflection of your temperament. That’s why it’s important to design your house around what you like, the things you are drawn to. Don’t be talked into furnishing by a pushy salesperson. Browse around large furniture stores with plenty of variety like Super A-Mart and choose things you are personally drawn to.

Here are some clues what your home design might say about you:

The Family Lover

A person who is very family orientated can often be easily picked by the abundance of family memorabilia around the home. You will see lots of photos and family portraits and also ornaments that have sentimental value. This person will usually collect things, perhaps something from each family holiday. Their furnishings will be comfortable and encourage you to spend time lounging around. You will find things like soft inviting couches with lots of cushions in this type of home. Everything in the home will probably have a story attached to it. The house will contain sentimental objects and reminders of the past.

The Greenie

If the wellbeing of the environment is high up on your list of priorities, your home will usually reflect this. You will have lots of energy saving appliances and will use sustainable materials wherever you can. You will most likely favour natural fabrics and furnishings. You may have linen or raw silk cushions and an earthy woven rug. You will usually choose greens and beige for your décor. Your home will make the best possible use of natural light and you will probably have a great outdoor entertainment area because of your love for the outdoors.

The Fashion Queen

If you are a trendsetter your house will usually reflect the latest colours and trends. Your home will probably be stylish and also sophisticated. You will choose elegant furnishings but will also value good design. You will probably have a home cinema. You love shopping at interior design stores and spend money on the latest design magazines.

The Cheerful Soul

If someone surrounds themselves in warm colours they are usually friendly and nurturing by nature. Yellows and oranges hint at sunshine and cosy fires and are very welcoming. Walking into a home decorated in warm colours will give you a feeling of cheerfulness. Warm colours are energising and will stimulate conversation.

Peaceful and Gentle

If your home is surrounded in soft blues and gentle whites it is likely that you are a peaceful and gentle person who sees their home as their sanctuary.

The Conservative

Someone who uses lots of neutral colourings in their home is often conservative. If walls, furniture, kitchen bench-tops and bathroom tiles are all in grey, beige or white, you may well be looking at the home of someone conservative. These colours give a feeling of security and solidity.

Sponsored Video: My Own Grand Design

May 30, 2012 by TheBoyAndMe Leave a Comment

I live in a three-bedroom ex-council semi-detached house in a reasonably suburban street.

Only I don't. Well not in my head anyway.

In my head I live in a purpose built detached house in several acres of land. As you go in through the front door, there's a large open hallway with a staircase slap-bang in the middle. Behind the staircase is the doorway into the kitchen and diner which spans across most of the back of the house. On the right, it leads into a large playroom and sitting room: the family room. In this room is a circular staircase up to the hallway outside the children's bedroom (Yes I know I only have one at the moment, but it's my dream so I have two ok?). Only this spiral staircase is one of those that has a slide around the outside of it; how cool would that be?

Further off to the right is a cinema room. Not snazzy and modern, but old fashioned with red velvet seats and gilt edging everywhere. Think the Hollywood golden era. Off the back of this room is an indoor swimming pool with bi-folding doors all along the one side into a courtyard area which the kitchen and playroom also overlook.

Back to the hallway and on the left of the staircase is a door into the living room. Although to be honest it's probably more of a formal sitting room because we'd spend all of our time in the playroom! Behind that and leading into the kitchen is the dining room with doors off onto the courtyard which flows into lush green lawn.

I haven't thought about upstairs yet, I've been too busy working out where the spiral staircase goes.

Anyway, I've spent many years covetting the perfect home and immerse myself into the like of Britain's Best Home or Grand Designs (have you noticed they're not very 'grand' anymore?) storing away ideas to be used for when I finally win the lottery and can have my dream home built. There's nothing massively quirky about my house, it's not out there with the people who have aquariums in their basements or discos in their garages, but I do think that the spiral slide staircase is an inspired move.

Aviva want to know all about your quirky homes and are offering a prize of £5000 to the most unusual. Check out their Facebook page for more information.

This is a sponsored post. My ramblings are my own.

The Gallery: Home

September 28, 2011 by TheBoyAndMe 33 Comments

I've lived in four different properties in my 34 years, but up until August 20th last year only one of them was 'home': the house that was my childhood home.

My parents' old house was the home that I was welcomed into by my elder siblings when I was brought home from the hospital at a few weeks old. The four-bedroomed Victorian property was quite large and suited the six of us well. With my eldest brother being twelve years older than me, there was a hierarchy of bedrooms as and when people moved out. Eventually I had the prize possession: the room with the balcony down to the garden, with the original coving, picture rails and skirting (from 1889) and the huge wall of windows looking out onto the garden.

I moved out of that house when I was 23, the day after I found out the results from my degree. My (then) fiancé whisked me away up to Reading to start our new life, and four months later we were married. Our first home was a two-bedroom rented flat which was lovely and spacious. After being there a year, we bought a three-bedroom ex-council house nearby which was cwtchy and we were both very fond of.

However, the yearning for my home-town was kicking in and I was getting more emotional each time we had to leave my parents' house after visiting them. We took the decision to move and start again back here, in the town that I grew up in with friends and family nearby. Three years almost to the day after I left, we moved back into my parents' house, this time with the contents of our three-bedroomed house.

It was hard-work living back with my parents after three years of independence and 'growing up' but I'm so grateful to them for giving us the opportunity to stay rent-free for a year and a half while we set up our new house. We've owned this place now for nearly seven years and have lived in it for six years. However, it wasn't until my parents moved out of my childhood home last year that this really became 'home'.

My parents' house held many happy memories for me over the years, some not so great, but the vast majority were magical. I could look at any room, any square foot and a wealth of memories would come flooding back to me: play-fights, real fights, birthday parties, Christmases, etc.

These photos were taken on the day that my parents moved out. I was the last person to leave and shut the front door, and I sobbed.