We want to build a home in our native. It should be 2 floors , 3 bedroom, kitchen , 1 store room ,1 Pooja room , 2 attached bathrooms , medium hall length and car parking , washing place , some free space behind the house for gardening And some space need for gardening with swing in front of the house and compound . My question is how much area it will take? How much sq feet we need to buy?
Thanks
I am a children room designer expert. Please ask me anything related to my area.
Hi, I have booked an apartment (under construction stage) in the top floor (4th floor). I am now worried about the heat that would be generated into the house from the terrace. How do we reduce this by going for some false ceiling / other solutions - pls advise
Dear Chennaimom ,
please see vanilla's designers suggestions:
First to know is that the tendency of hot air is to come up to the upper level and we need to find ways to direct it out or to provide a cooling option.
1. Roof: paint the roof in white colour.
2. Treating and Directing Air:
make sure that there is a natural "air tunnel" that pass trough the house, meaning a window in one part of the house against another open door/window in the opposite side -better a shaded side of the building . for that check the wind direction habit of the new building.
another option is to provide a higher open window in the main hall to allow the air stream outside the house.
3. Sun Heat
use cane blinds for the hot hours when the sun is directing the house.
also see if you can install double glass for the windows.
add greenery in the terrace that can create a natural screen and cooling.
5. trapped Air:
about the false ceilings, a lower ceiling will trap the hot air in a lower area which is closed to human height. so it is not recommended to use too much of false ceiling in a high apartment unless u plan to use the AC often .
6. Sealing:
AC and well sealed doors and windows will sure help to keep the cooling and prevent hot air to enter the house from the outside.
My boy has drawn few lines on the walls with crayons, pen and there are some dirt on the wall like the chocolate, oil etc. I tried to clean with soap and water, but doesn't seem to work. Is there any strain remover available in market to remove these markings on the wall? Or I don't mind painting my hall if any such paint is easier for cleaning purpose.
To begin with try again with the soap, this time with a dish washing soap(prill and such) use "scotch bright" pad and scrub very gently. If u see that the paint is coming off –do not continue. A fresh coat of paint will be the second solution to fix the wall, most of the wall paints can be cleaned if you clean it very soon after it get stained.
We don't have a hook in our house to hang the traditional swing (oonjal in tamil). But my kids love the swings in the parks. I have a small baby swing - portable one. But my kids have grown up for that. So I would like to go for a bigger swing. Where can I get such a one?
To have a swing inside the house for grown up kids is quite risky unless it is one of the traditional swings (oonjal, one that you refer to). These swings are heavy hence make it a little difficult for children to swing very high. We suggest that you try and get hooks installed for this swing if your space allows for the same. Anyway going out to the park is a very positive way to let your child play, get some air, and practice his social skills with other children.
Is there any place in chennai where the electronic items could be trashed properly? I used to dump it in my office when they have this event once in a year. But now, I've taken a break and don't know how to get rid of few electronic items.
Unfortunately we in Chennai do not have an organized arrangement for disposing of trash neither the culture of Garage sales. Yet, you could try and sell your items to people who buy old stuff. They will probably find a new usage or a new user for your old electronic items.It is actually another form of recycling!
What plants do you suggest to grow inside the house - in the hall and in the balcony.
Is there any small plants that I could keep on my desk in my office?
Thanks,
Hello, well, we are not an expert gardeners but from our short search we recommend on Palm, pepromia, bonsai, ficus and money plant, it look pretty and require minimum of sunlight.
You can control the height of your palm plant by simply planting it in a small pot and cutting down the over grown leaves. Money plants are available in three different types - golden, green and phillodendron. A small bonsai plant can be placed on your desk, this will not crowd or clutter up your desk. In your balcony you can keep a palm, ficus or money plants. These you can also keep in your hall. Please note all plants need some source of sunlight and some loving and caring green fingers.
i have a doubt in using a synth carpet. [not wollenone]
do carpets can be used only in cold & winter places like north india or in chennai also we can use? & it should be matched to the wall color or to the furniture color? how often it should be dry-cleaned?
at present iam using a synth maroon color carpet in winter months only. rest of the season i roll it & keep it under the cot. since dry cleaning is very costly i vaccum clean it often . can i mop it witha damp cloth?
and onemorething .... can you plz tell me the procedure.... how to clean the chandliers & sidelamps? do we have to dismandle it ? expecting your replies eagerly..... thankyou!
Carpets add character to a space. If you have a carpet that you think goes well with the rest of your room, use it. As you already vaccum it regularly, we suggest you continue to do the same. If you have children in your home, we suggest that extra care is taken that nothing is spilled onto the carpet. In the case that it is, use an absorbing fabric to clean it immediately, wipe with mild soap water. If the stain still exists then you will need to send it to the dry cleaners.
Chandliers and sidelamps are best cleaned with a slightly damp cloth and with extreme care. It is not to recommend dismantling it by yourself unless it is easy to put it back together, better to call an electrician.
I am planning to buy a cross trainer/treadmill. We would like it to be in a place where we can watch TV while we work out. We have TV in our hall and our bed room. Where do you suggest putting this machine?
Greeting, well the solutions depends on the utility of the room, if the hall is The main living room and been used to host your guests there, then for sure I will not place the treadmill there. But, if you mean to the Family room then I will recommend to place it there instead of the bed room. I believe that a bed room should be a place to rest,calm down and have quiet from the daily burdens(including loosing weight J ) . hope I helped on that.
There is a small French window in our bed room. We occasionally open this window or curtains. Help me put this space to a better use. The space around this window is elevated to 1 feet height and will look sort of a diwan.
Hi, It’s a wonderful option to add romantic feel to the room. place seating cushion and different rest cushions either colorful or monochrome and you have a s sweet added value to the room . if the area is not enough for seating you can expand it with an added wood panel (dark or light)
We have a spiral stairs inside our double height ceiling home to reach the terrace. How could I design/decorate and use this space under this stairs? The size of this space would be 6 X 6 ft but around 4 X 2 will be covered by the stairs where only my kids could go !
Hello,
I'm sorry but I didn’t understand from your question if the stairs are located in the living room, family room or children room, this point makes a difference for what you can do in this area. Another parameter is whether the stairs located next to a wall or far from a wall.
So, If its in the children or family room, then you can utilize this space for a storage and create a mini play area, place few toy boxes with lids, small stool , a narrow shelving unit and a small rounded rug .
If we are talking about the living room then you can place a nice piece of storage furniture (Trunk) and if you have large space use it to place pots with greenery or an interesting big Vase, a decorative seat or even a statue /sculpture only for décor purpose.
I have just recently moved to a new apartment in Pallikarni. I have 2 kids.. 10 years old girl and 2.8 years old boy. sharing a same room using a bung bed with my daughter sleeping on the upper bed.
one side of the bung bed is alligned to the wall. I wanted to decorate that wall with some thing which will avoid the children dirting the wall. I would like your suggestion on the time of decoration ,I can have considering the taste of my daughter in the wall beside the bunk bed and the decor it also for the boys taste in his area.
Hi there, well you have few things to solve here: the age gap, the fact that it is a boy and a girl , keeping the area clean, and find an element that will define and add beauty and character to the room.
What I would suggest is to create kind of head rest for the side of the bed. Choose 3 shades, one unisex (light green , orange, yellow) one "boyish"(blue,beige,red) one "girlish" (pink, purple, red) then draw on the wall from bottom to 2 feet above the upper mattress a rectangle shape with a border of 2-3inchs , keep 1 feet gap from both sides of bed .paint the border in the unisex shade, then paint the inside of the rectangle in the other 2 shades , one from floor to below upper bed, the other shade until 2feet hight above higher mattress.
The paint shades should match the color of the other component in the room, like the color of the bed, the color of floor, the cupboards etc. it will sure create a focal and an interesting element in the room.
i would like to paint the ceiling of our new home with the cartoon figures which glitters after lights are switched off,i had seen it at few homes ,but not familiar with the names and where to order it...can u tell me maam.
Hi, The paint companies Asian Paints and Nerolac are having this kind of paint with glow effect, Asian paint are also having a service of painting from a list of designs they have. If you are creative and wish to do it yourself, you just need to find the closest painting shop a good artist and design a nice image that your child likes too…wishing you sweet dreams and glowing nights!
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