Glad that hubby is a carpenter. Not in the sense of a real carpenter going about it for a living. He just can do it and he uses his skill at home. With the limited space that we have out of a 26×7 feet long space that includes everything from the toilet to the kitchen to the dining area to the sleeping and living space to the computer space which is by the end of the “house” towards the door, we need every wall space to be occupied by our stuff so that we can have more floor space.

Yesterday he was able to add another “shelf” on the wall to put up some boxes. It’s about 1 1/2 feet by 4 feet. Wood scraps were used but he had to buy another 12-foot 2″x2″ for framing. With his new drill, everything is quite easier than when he had none.

Now, he’s playing the classical guitar…

Darkness is the absence of light. Our bathroom just gave up its light as my daughter went it. It was good the last time I got in a few hours ago. Now it has to be replaced. Although I may want to have savoy house lighting, nothing would fit my poor bathroom.

In the spiritual realm, light equals good and darkness equals evil. The absence of light is darkness. If one’s spiritual light has gone, it must be replaced so as not to be living in spiritual darkness.

Japan is very good in this kind of problems that it’s no longer a problem at all anymore for them, basically because they live in a small island. They build buildings 65 storeys high and 65 storeys below. I know someone who was there and so he told us about it.

Inside the space-limited house, they can do wonders too and the very concept is using the vertical space and not just the floor space you have. Just as an example, you can choose tv stands that can be placed the top space of your wall. For us, though, we used the top of the cabinet. When we lie down, we just look up to watch. You can also make shelves to occupy all the top part of the wall and put all the least used stuff to the uppermost part of the shelves or cupboards.

The concept is using the topmost portions first, or at least whatever you can store on the upper portion of the house, then do it. All that has to be used often will be placed in accessible areas, of course.

I’ve experienced a real fireplace when I was very young. I knew it was enjoyable to watch and a fun way to spend the night in cold weather. I like bonfire better, though, but that’s outdoors. Now, since Baguio is not as cold anymore, I didn’t get the chance to experience such joy again.

With the scarcity of logs these days, fireplaces have gone electric! You have the feel of the real fireplace sans the dirty work, soot, ash and smoke that come with setting up a real fireplace. They have this electric fireplace insert to make your fire visually realistic less the chance of burning your house! You can have it with fire and heat or with fire only.

Isn’t that hot?

Here’s a technology that can either break or make your day.

Break:

- kids or even adults playing with your door chime.

- if you are impatient with the above, you might lose important people you just ignored because you thought the same kid or adult has been playing with it.

Make:

- you get to know when there is someone at your door regardless how big your mansion is.

- the chimes break the boredom you might be having.

- you love and enjoy the chimes.

- the neighbors enjoy your chimes as well they want to have one too.

My sister, who lives a few houses away, visited me the other day holding her bathroom faucet. I asked what happened. She said her son took a bath and when he turned it off, it broke off from the wall! I said maybe he did it heavily (since he’s so big for his very young age) but he said it was just enough to stop the water.

She ended up filing a complaint to the construction office for a replacement of her faucet. If it was a Kohler faucet, I don’t think she would have that problem.

Have you ever thought of installing a bath tub in your bathroom? If you have, what type did you choose? If not, what type do you have in mind?

I’d like one myself but as always, I’d like it to be multipurpose: for young ones and once young because whether I like it or not, if I be blessed with more years, then I’ll grow to be old with back aches and all which makes mobility a bit slower than now. I’d like to use the same for so many years. The longer it takes, the cheaper its cost per year. I’d like the walk in bath…the power bath…

If the sun did not exist, how can we? If there was no light where would we be? In total darkness!

Let’s go small-scale. In our homes, having no light when you live in the urban area is rather odd. When all your neighbors’ light shone and only you are in the dark, it could mean you were not able to pay the electric bill! That could be depressing for many. If you live in a rural area, having candles lit may not be awkward.

Light makes our lives easier but it’s lovelier if we can put something better. Progress lighting has many suggestions you can choose from. Go ahead and make your dream light come true.

Two decades ago, the standard house for sale in a subdivision has 3 bedrooms big enough to fit 2 single beds and you still have some space in between. Now, that has changed to 2 bedrooms which can fit 1 bed. More and more 1-bedroom row houses are being built to accommodate families with low income to give the opportunity of owning a house. It’s not surprising that in most of the designs, you can reach the door from your bed!

It’s still better, though, to own a house instead of renting, but that’s a different topic. When you’re one of those wanting more space because you have more stuff your floor space can accommodate, then you might gain from this post.

Assuming you have your stuff like furniture, arrange them in a modular way.  Arrange big items close to the wall. That way you have the walking space in the middle. Reaching to the left or right will be easier than having your walking space by the wall and everything else on the other side.

Keep stuff you don’t need but won’t throw away under the bed or in the farthest cabinet.

Use the wall. Instead of picture frames, install shelves or wall cabinets (then put your picture frames on the cabinet door if you so insist on displaying them). Hang your TV too. There are several tv stands that are designed to attach to the wall.

Use the ceiling. I’ve seen a small house where the clothes cabinet is hinged to the ceiling. The hinge is on the top front part, the ceiling serves as the cover. There is a hook at the bottom part that hooks to the ceiling when you bring the bottom up. I thought it was really cool. You just make sure you hinge it to the horizontal beam with big screws that can handle the weight of the filled cabinet.

When you’re yet buying:

Think modular. Modular furniture, for example, can follow the form of the space provided. You can rearrange them to fit.

Think stackable. Anything stackable saves space like monoblock chairs.

Think functional. If it’s mere display, think again.

Think multipurpose. If something can do more than one purpose, great! The more it can do, the better. I like my kitchen scissors. It has a can opener, bottle opener, grip, fish scaler, peeler, knife, flat screwdriver and sometimes I use it as a pot holder.

Would it not be great if everyone maximized the power of the sun we call solar energy? Why not? The sun is God’s great gift for us to use and he gave us brains to think of how to put create solar panels, put them together and attach them to whatever we want to power on instead of using electricity which is generated more expensively.

This solar landscape lighting stores the sun’s energy into its internal battery and it detects when night falls so a sensor will turn the light on automatically. It does not use any other energy. It’s just one of the lighting fixtures you can find that’s earth friendly.