The Benefits of Digital Scales

It's easy to use a digital scale to weigh yourself, and the results are even easier to read.

The best way to ensure that you are getting an accurate weight measurement is by getting a scale that only you use. A lot of people use the scales at their local gyms. Many of these scales work on a spring system. Every time a person steps on that scale the springs get a little more wear and this will change its accuracy. The locker room scale is rarely accurate, and that's why using a digital scale at home is best. Don't switch scales, either, the experts advise. Pick your scale and stick with it to ensure accuracy.

Choose one day a week to weigh yourself. On that day, after you wake up you should weigh yourself with your bladder and bowels empty, and no food or water in your system. This is the ideal time to obtain your most accurate weight.

There are many digital scales that are accurate to help you weigh in perfectly. A hot-selling scale is the GS-1 Siltec Glass Digital Bathroom Scale, which costs approximately $80. This scale has a 440-pound capacity and 0.2 lb readability. The style is modern, with a sleek glass platform. This digital scale incorporates four individual load sensors -- one at each corner of the scale to provide the utmost in accuracy. Most other scales only use only one load sensor with a mechanical leveler.

The Tanita HD-351 Digital Bathroom Scale is another modern style with the same specs as the GS-1. This digital scale sells for approximately $5 less, however, and has an oversized platform. The Tanita HD-372 Glass Lithium Digital Bathroom Scale has an extra-large display, 400-pound capacity, and usually sells for approximately $60. There are a wide range of solar digital scales and potable digital scales on the market as well.

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The Bathroom…the forgotten area of your home?

The bathroom in your home is the one room that has undergone a complete transformation in the past several years. A transformation that is as far as how it is defined. Kitchens are to cook and eat in, living rooms are still for living and entertaining in and the garage still holds vehicles and junk (not to mention lot’s of tools). But the bathroom has evolved so far beyond its traditional functions that to truly reflect its current status in many homes, "spa room" or the "retreat" might be more appropriate names for it.

Too often, the bathroom comes in second to the kitchen when it comes to deciding on which home remodeling project should be done first. The kitchen has retained and even built upon its position as the focal point of the home and a center of both socialization and function. But the master bathroom is still stuck in its hygienic role and remains a private area that doesn't get as many opportunities to impress visiting guests. Couple that with the fact that a bathroom renovation can be nearly as involved and expensive as a kitchen makeover and you have the makings for procrastination.

Today's bathrooms, particularly those incorporated into master suites, are being designed and built to be a source of luxury and relaxation. After all, for many parents the master suite's bath may be the only room in the home where they can truly enjoy some private time for relaxation away from the kids.

The world can be a very stressful place and having a nice, relaxing bathroom where you can de-stress can be very important.

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Tasteful home decorating changes your house into a home!

There is this undocumented story about Andrew Carnegie who kept postponing the decision to redecorate his home just because black, his default color of choice, was simply not used in home decorating those days! Mercifully today, you could well translate your home decorating ideas into alluring reality. For home interior decorating no longer means just coloring your walls in pastel shades and showing off your antiques – it is about using all the home decorating tips that one can get to highlight the most of what one possesses. Unless of course you wish to shrug the opportunity and call in a professional designer. But even this experience could be fascinating – what with "walk-throughs" in your "virtually" designed home before even a single coat of paint is applied! Yes, with home decorating, either way you always come up trumps!

Use home decorating tips to your advantage!

Your décor should exude your persona. Want it to appear spacious? Eliminate shadows with diffused, ambient lighting. Avoid ceiling lights which make the ceiling appear low. Your ceiling should always wear the lightest color in the room. Then the pastel shades on your wall would help create that feeling of largeness. Limit the use of patterns to accent pieces – the discerning eye should not stop as it travels across the room. And if you want a cozy pad, do just the opposite – use strong colors and heavy, soft textures. Draw attention to that precious grandfather clock with carefully directed light. And if you must, make up your bathroom – in exquisite black – and eliminate that permanently booked suite at New York’s Windsor Hotel – à la Andrew Carnegie!

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Staying in Tune with the Change of Season

Now the summer is winding down, leaves will soon start turning color and falling from the trees, signaling the change of season. We’ll enjoy brilliant colors for a short time, then there will be no color at all.

“Outside anyway,” says Terri Mattson, an interior designer who works for Fifth Avenue Design in Minneapolis, Minn. This time of year, her company is overrun with phone calls from people looking for ways to bring color inside.

“Color plays such an important role in our lives,” says Mattson. “It helps boost our spirits and keeps us going through good times and bad. I’m not sure if it’s related to the economy or something else, but a lot of people are coming to us asking for ways to brighten up homes.”

Mattson says the one of the best places to start is in the bathroom. “Earth tones are big this year. We’ve painted a lot of bathrooms that used to be white either cinnamon, ginger or terra cotta with blue and red or green and gold accents,” says Mattson. “The transformation is amazing.”

Painting the walls isn’t the only update you can do in the bathroom. Some people also change out fixtures or re-tile. “Both expensive propositions,” says Sue Kelley of Environmental Graphics, a Minnesota based company specializing in decorative products for the home. “There’s a much easier, less expensive and less permanent way to get a new look.”

Kelley’s company manufactures a relatively new home decorating tool called Stick ‘n Stile design appliqués. They are raised stickers that can be attached to your existing tile in just seconds.

To apply, all you have to do is clean the surface of your tile, remove the liner and press the appliqué into place. Just like the rest of your tile, they can be cleaned with a damp cloth or mild domestic cleaner . Removal is just as easy. Simply heat the appliqués with a hair dryer for a few minutes and peel off.

“One of the great things about this product is it gives you the ability to restyle without replacing your tile,” says Kelley. “They are easy to work with, which makes them perfect for the do-it-yourselfer.”

Stick ‘n Stile design appliqués come in six different designs: Water World, which features tropical fish; Summertime, featuring dragonflies and flowers; Orchid Narcissus, Botanica, and Fiji Palms, featuring flowers and leaves; and Geo Squares, which transform that geometrical shape into a work of art.

Once you have your new paint on the walls and design appliqués on your tile, you can add a little more color to the room by spray painting your wall plates and toilet paper holders, and getting accessories to match.

“When the next change of season comes, you can switch out those accessories, and maybe add a basket filled with pinecones to achieve a more wintry feel,” suggests Mattson.

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Some Like It “Hot”: Ten Products to Keep Your Home Warm and Toasty This Winter

The days are shorter, the nights are cooler and the winds are howling outside your home. Now is the time to “turn on the heat” with products that will keep you toasty throughout the long winter season.

These products will not only help you escape winter’s chill, but the luxuries they offer may actually help you get out of bed on those cold mornings rather than hibernating under the covers.

“Based on the overwhelming array of luxury products manufacturers have recently introduced, homeowners want anything that makes their lives more comfortable at home. Whether it involves heating/warming accessories or spa-like home environments, it's part of the ‘cocooning’ phenomena that has resurfaced,” says Stephani Miller, associate products editor for Remodeling and Custom Home magazines. “People are spending more time at home and they want to be comfortable. They want to use their home to its full potential, not just as a place to eat and sleep between workdays.”

So what are the latest products for weathering winter in style and comfort? Read on to find out:

1. Heated floors

Nothing’s worse on a winter’s morning than having your feet hit the icy tile. To solve this problem, many homeowners are installing heated floors to keep their feet warm, without relying on wool socks or fuzzy slippers. There are two types of heated floors from which to choose -- the first involves plastic piping installed under the floor to circulate hot water. The second is an electric heating system consisting of electric wires placed under the floor. The cost can range from $4 to $10 a square foot, but many homeowners feel it’s worth the expense.

And these floors aren’t just for the bathroom. “Heated floors can be used just about anywhere: in kitchens with cold tile floors, in pool or spa enclosures, sunrooms, or any other room of the house where extra warmth is needed,” notes Miller.

2. Heated towel bars

While heated floors require a major bathroom remodel, a quick fix to provide warmth in the bath is heated towel bars. These bars can easily be mounted to the wall and plug into a standard, 110-volt electric household outlet. What better way to pamper yourself after a shower than to get cozy in a warm, fluffy towel? They also provide the extra functionality of actually helping to heat up the bathroom. There are many shapes and sizes from which to choose, most costing between $200 to $300.

3. Warming drawers

“Many major appliance manufacturers have introduced warming drawers to their product lines to complement kitchen appliances. Designers are getting creative with these drawers and are using them in a lot of different ways, not just in the kitchen for keeping cooked food warm, but also in bathrooms or pool houses for warming towels,” says Miller.

The advantage to drawers over heated towel bars is that they can actually make a towel hot throughout. They can also be used to warm other items -- such as robes, underwear and socks. The average price for a warming drawer is $600.

4. New showerhead

What better way to wake up in the morning than a hot shower? And, with the unique water delivery offered by Moen’s Revolution massaging showerhead, its larger drops of water actually make the shower feel warmer. This showerhead takes ordinary water, spins each drop, and then twirls the entire stream. From a rain-like shower to a deep, therapeutic massage and anything in between, the showerhead provides phenomenal coverage and makes users feel enveloped in the water stream. The increased speed in movement of the water drops results in a perception of higher flow and higher pressure, in addition to the sensation of a massaging shower. Revolution showerheads start at $60.

5. Whirlpool tub or hot tub

While showering systems are popular because of their convenience, there are still some who prefer a long, hot bath on a cold night. Look for whirlpool tub models with special features such as aromatherapy and pulsating jets. For those with back or muscle pain, a whirlpool tub with jets can provide massaging relief for soreness and pinpoint certain areas of the body. If your current bathroom will not hold a large tub, consider adding a hot tub to your deck or patio area. Taking a dip in the hot tub on a cool winter’s night may provide the perfect ending to a long day.

6. Heated toilet seat

You’ve heard of being on the ‘hot seat’ before, but now heated toilet seats literally put you there. These seats easily install in just minutes and plug into a standard household outlet. They heat to 25 degrees F above the average room temperature and feature uniform heat distribution. Heated toilet seats retail for approximately $100 and offer just one more way to beat the winter chill.

7. Shower control

Are you tired of waiting for the water in your shower to warm up every morning? Do you get in the shower after someone else changed all the settings? If you answered ‘yes’ to either of these questions, pamper yourself with Moen’s ExactTemp, the first pressure-balanced thermostatic valve for residential use. Day after day, it lets you dial up your own personalized water temperature, set just the way you like it. Plus, as water volume in your hot water tank decreases, the valve’s smart technology maintains your pre-set temperature and your comfort. The thermostatic control is also pressure balanced so you won’t experience shower shock -- those uncomfortable surges in hot or cold water, such as when someone flushes the toilet.

8. Fireplace

Snuggling up with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book in front of a roaring fire is an ideal way to spend a cold winter’s night. It is also a great way to heat a room with gas. Over the past several years, ventless gas fireplaces have become popular since no chimney or vent is needed and they can fit right up against a wall in any room of the house. Fireplace models now can give off between 10,000 to 40,000 BTUs and come in many different styles that look similar to their wood-burning counterparts. Prices start at $400.

9. Home sauna

For the ultimate in luxury, install a home sauna. Saunas feature a combination of heat (usually between 165 and 195 degrees F) and low humidity. There are many sauna kits available in a variety of sizes and layouts. A kit comes with wood panels, a pre-hung door, benches, an electric heater, thermometer and accessories. These kits are pre-wired and snap together in just a few hours and don’t require any plumbing. Home saunas plug into a standard household outlet. Many wood options are available, but cedar and redwood are the most popular. Depending on its size and degree of sophistication, expect to pay between $2,000 and $5,000.

10. Heated driveway

And, once you have all these “hot” amenities installed in your home, you certainly don’t want to go outside to clean off your driveway. Instead, install a heated driveway, which has electric heating coils or hot water pipes below the surface of the concrete. The driveway automatically senses cold and turns on to melt the snow and ice. According to the latest figures, these driveways can cost between $12 and $21 per square foot.

There you have it, ten products to pamper you and safeguard your home with warmth, no matter what it’s doing outside.

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