Main Street Oriental Rugs

I love having rugs scattered throughout my house. They are such an easy way to make a space extra cozy, and a bonus is they keep your toesies warm in the winter and as I discovered last week while emptying out my main floor, are AMAZING at keeping the noise levels down by absorbing sound. I have a few in my living room (one is under my desk so my chair doesn't ruin the floor), one by the kitchen sink to make dish washing a little less annoying, and I want to put one on my side of the bed so when I wake up my feet don't freeze. Main Street Oriental Rugs is a great source for oriental rugs. With a storefront in Ellicott City, Maryland, they also have an online shop, an Etsy store and you can find them on Twitter and Instagram. They carry over 3,000 rugs - high quality, hand-knotted, 100% wool and/or silk, Persian, Oriental, and contemporary style. And depending on your preference they stock both vintage and new rugs. (They even offer cleaning, repair, and restoration services if you're in the area). Here is just a small sample of what you'll find at Main Street Oriental Rugs...

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This post is in partnership with Main Street Oriental Rugs. All opinions are my own. 

Redecorating a room? That’s easier than you think

~~~ This post is brought to you by dmlights ~~~

Well begun is half done. When it comes to redecorating a room (or even your entire home), preparation can mean the difference between stress and peace of mind.

It always helps when you have a clear idea of the finished result. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. A lot of people are having trouble visualizing new chairs, cabinets, tables, wallpaper, carpet … in an interior.

Here's the good news: dmlights has found a solution for this problem. The company sells lighting and electrical supplies online, and noticed that a lot of customers were having a hard time judging the size and overall appearance of their products. Simple product photos were too limited. The solution? A virtual interior design tool where customers can recreate their own home (or design their dream home) and test various setups. This 3D Homeplanner proved to be an excellent tool for people who are thinking about redecorating their interior.

Getting started with the 3D Homeplanner

Enough talk … let's take a look at the 3D Homeplanner. If you want to try this tool yourself, head over to 3D Homeplanner.

1. Draw your space

First of all, you need to draw a general layout of your home. There are several premade room shapes, but you can simply draw your own walls as well.  The length of each wall is shown, so you can create a realistic representation of each room. Don't forget to add doors, windows and other architectural elements, such as stairs, fireplaces and balconies.

Most elements can be customized. For example: when you click on a door, you can change the width, height, hinge side, opening direction and colour.

Now it's time to grab the paint bucket and wallpaper paste. In the 'decorate' tab you'll find several types of paint, wallpaper, tiles, wood, etc. There's everything you need to decorate your interior.

2. Furnish and switch on the lights

The most fun part of the 3D Homeplanner is probably the 'furnish' tab. Take a look at the various types of furniture – from sofas and chairs to lamps and kitchen cabinets – and try out several compositions. Drag, drop and customize … it's a piece of cake.

The dmlights 3D Homeplanner only uses real furniture models. Furthermore, there's A LOT of choice, for example:

• 11268 sofas
• 1838 beds
• 635 lamps
• …

What sets this tool apart from the competition, is the unique dynamic lighting feature. Lights can not only be turned on or off, they can also be dimmed. You have complete control over the light intensity and the atmosphere of the room.

3. Create a HD render

Happy with your virtual interior? Hit the 'Take a 3D Photo' button on the right to generate a HD picture of your space with realistic lighting effects. When the render is complete, you'll receive an email. Don't forget to share your design with your friends or the rest of our readers. Give the tool a try!

My new best friend Dyson - part 3

I have one last feature to share regarding my new best friend, the Dyson V6 Absolute cordless vacuum (previous posts are here and here). This vacuum is a dream, and honestly never ceases to amaze me each time I pull it out to use it. While still wearing my little skirt and heels, I went upstairs during my initial trials to see how it would do with the mini motorized tool whose function is to remove allergens and microscopic dust from mattresses and couches. Not only that, I discovered it is a freaking beast for removing cat fur! (DISCLAIMER: Pay no attention to the room you are about to see - I have done absolutely nothing to our bedroom since buying this house. At least I made the bed!)

Here you can see another perk to this vacuum. The V6 Absolute can be either hand-held like this, or comes with a tube and a wand depending on what you are using it for. As a hand-held it is perfect for going out and cleaning up your car (I wish I had time for that). Anyhoo, I went upstairs to try it out on my mattress. 

Of course, there was at least one cat who had to check things out. I love the idea of being able to get the gross little allergens and other nastiness that live in mattresses. I never used to do this - now I am going to every time I change my sheets (ok maybe every other time). 

In the corner of my bedroom is a cat house scratchy thing (well, it was there until we separated Georgie from her brothers and moved it up to her room) for the herd. I almost always forget to vacuum it. When I was done with the mattress, I went over to test out this little motorized head on one of the foam-upholstered shelves. 

I swear no cats were prompted to do any of these poses for these photos. I cleaned that one little shelf and nearly died at how much fur was on it and how easily this attachment was able to clean it completely. 

I was so shocked I told my husband to get a close up of the canister so you could see the huge furball that materialized in literally 5 seconds. Then I told him not to get too close because it's embarrassing. LOL

Dyson, your V6 Absolute cordless vacuum is an absolute game-changer (as I keep saying). I seriously become giddy at the thought of pulling it out and vacuuming every nook and cranny. Yes, I said it. VACUMMING NOW MAKES ME GIDDY!

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This post is in collaboration with Dyson Canada. All opinions are my own and are 100% honest.

Introducing my new best friend Dyson - part 2

I am back to talk a bit more about my new best friend, my cordless Dyson V6 Absolute. I had featured this incredible vacuum last week and showed you what a gem this thing is on carpet. Now I want to show you how awesome it is on hard floors. 

For hard floors the V6 Absolute comes with a soft roller cleaner head - in the photo above it is the one on the top right. It is FANTASTIC! Unlike other vacuum cleaner heads, the soft roller cleaner head has a full-width roller covered in a soft nylon material and rows of carbon fibre filaments. Large debris are enveloped by the soft material and flung inside the cleaner head, while the antistatic qualities of the carbon fibre filaments gently remove fine dust, without damaging your hard floors.

Once again, I found this application of the vacuum to be a game-changer. My former crappy cordless vacuum has so little suction that even dealing with hard floors was a challenge. I had to go over each area several times, mostly to get the larger bits. This cleaner head works like a charm. Above you will see what I regularly have to deal with. On the left are little bits of cat food that regular appear after the herd's feeding time, and on the right is a pile of sawdust scraps that often appear from my husband's woodworking shop in the basement. 

 

Of course there is an audience. I have realized the more I use this vacuum that it really is not as loud as most vacuums I have owned. That is why cats are always in my photos - the noise does not bother them. And to note, this is my newly painted kitchen so you are getting a glimpse at new blue walls and gold hardware (LOVE!). Anyway, this cleaner head picks up EVERYTHING in site without having to go over the same area again and again. And the cleaner head is made of such soft material and with the way it is designed you never have to worry about it scratching your floors. 

I swear this whole area took me about 5 seconds to vacuum without a spec of dust or cat food left. And the fabric is SO easy to clean off - which is a huge deal for me because cat hair ends up clogging every part of a vacuum used in my house but in this case just running you hands along the fabric heads lets you wipe off any fur/hair/etc that gets caught. My house is all hardwood and tile so this attachment is going to get used all of the time. I love you more each day, V6 Absolute. 

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This post is in collaboration with Dyson Canada. All opinions are my own and are 100% honest.

A helping hand from Helpling

This is my living room. Not my everyday living room but my cleaned within an inch of its life, styled and primped and preened, take a photo and feel smug, blog living room. My everyday living room is untidy and dusty. Not all the time … just a lot of the time. I’m not lazy. I’m just busy and something has to give and it’s usually the house cleaning. When Helpling emailed recently it couldn’t have come at a better time. My house was a mess and I was feeling the stress.

Helpling is a handy online platform allowing customers to book a local cleaner to come and clean their home. It is also a portal for cleaners can easily manage their bookings. Win win both sides. Helpling recently launched in Canada (Hear that Kim? Need help with the cat fur balls?) but is also here in Australia. Yay!

Someone to do the dusting, wiping down, vacuuming and mopping. Oh and cleaning the mirrors and emptying the garbage. Sounds like heaven doesn’t it! In the kitchen your Helpling will clean all countertops and backsplashes, oven front, hotplates and rangehood (if accessible), dust and clean exterior of kitchen appliances and even take care of the kitchen sink. They’ll dust the furniture and electrical appliances in the other rooms and make the beds. Best of all they’ll make your bathroom sparkle - shower tiles and screens, bath, sink, vanity and my least favourite job, the toilet. All of this in their standard cleaning package! There are even additional services you can book like cleaning the oven, inside the cupboards and the fridge.

It takes three steps to get a Helpling. Enter your location. Make an appointment. Pay securely online. The best step is number four - enjoy your clean home. All from $25 an hour. After the service is complete, customers are instantly able to save, rate and re-book their cleaners, adding another layer of convenience to the service. Helpling interviews and tests all cleaners and requires a criminal record check before listing partners on the platform.

Thanks for making this post possible Helpling. Life is so much easier with a little help.