Space solves: Mildewed curtains and a small sofa
How can I get mildew stains out of curtains? And where can I get a couch for a small room?
What is the ideal way to deal with mildew on my Laura Ashley lined curtains? They’re meant to be dry?clean only, but the cleaner states this?will kill the mildew but not get?rid of the stains.
Our cleaning expert, Stephanie Zia, says, “First brush off what you can. Do this outside, so the spores don’t spread. Next, foam up some biological detergent in lukewarm water and, using just the foam, wipe over the mould. Rinse with a sponge dampened in white vinegar. If that doesn’t work, mix a teaspoon of tea tree oil in a cup of lukewarm water and spray over. Shake between apiece spray to ensure the oil is evenly distributed. Try a top-quality Australian oil such as Jason Organic Tea Tree Oil (£10.99 for 30ml), which has concentrated fungi-busting powers.”
I need a two- or three-seat couch for a small room. Most are 85-90cm deep, which would jut out too far.
Nu-Trend Interiors is probably your ideal bet: as well as its Milano couch (D: 70cm), it also makes to order. Or?look at the Niven leather couch (D:?74cm), £1,295, from Heal’s, and Ikea’s Klobo two-seater (D: 78cm), £89.99.
• Got a question for our crack team of domestic gurus? Email space@guardian.co.uk
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Space solves: Mildewed curtains and a small sofa
Interiors: From crack house to modern house
The architects who turned a derelict one-time crack den into an award-winning family home
Back in 2005, when the market was booming, architect Patrick Michell and his partner, Claire McKeown, purchased a three-bed home in Hackney, easterly London. The area boasts handsome terraces, but this house, a?boarded-up former crack den, was in a sorry state. Fires had ripped through two rooms and there was a shabbily psychedelic paint scheme. Bailiffs had removed any character features that were left.
But to an architect wanting to make a property his own, it was perfect. “If there had been period features, we’d have worked more sensitively with them, but because it had all gone, we were free to give it a modernist slant,” states Michell, 32.
He opened up the two front receptions, and transformed and expanded the narrow kitchen space at the back with a glass roof crossways the side return. The?glass is one large single piece, appearing to equilibrise unaided on a surround of stone. The back surround is largely glass, too, with a ceiling-high, pivoting glass door to the garden and a glass box punched into the surround to create an appealing window seat. In summer, sunlight streams in, while at night trees tower in silhouette above your head. With a concrete floor inside extending out to the patio, the design aims to merge the two spaces. “I’ve made it evenhandedly obvious what’s new and what’s original,” Michell says, “and it’s given the home a new character.” Sightlines from the front door and bay are designed to run through to the garden, and the stairs have been opened up with a glass wall. Doesn’t all the glass compromise their privacy? “You can’t get away from it in London,” McKeown says. “You have to accept that you’ll have neighbours and sometimes they’ll see what you’re doing.”
The extension was granted under “permitted development” planning law, and the building work took nine months, during which time they moved into McKeown’s rented flat. “I’d muscled in by this stage,” states McKeown, 31, who trained as an architect. Between them, they took the tough decisions essential to any project – where to spend money and where to cut back. Michell’s initial £125,000 budget finally came in at £190,000 – all part of the learning process, he says. (The home cost £378,000 at auction.) And though they cut back on the kitchen and joinery budgets, they spent money where it counted, on striking elements such as the glass.
They moved in before the work was finished, and tackled the tiling and painting themselves. “We had hot water, but nothing to cook on,” Michell says. “It wasn’t really the right thing to do.” But for McKeown the excitement was worth it. Her tip for surviving? Build a wardrobe. “If I?can get up in the morning and get dressed, I can cope with anything.”
Almost finished, the home won an award early this year for the ideal London extension of the last five years. There are still jobs to do – shelves to place up, a front garden to complete – but they are happy to find each weekend is no longer dominated by DIY. They spend most of their time in the kitchen, and take particular pride in the window seat. Their only worry is that, having created a bespoke home, there can be no going back. As McKeown says, “We couldn’t envision living somewhere someone else has designed.”
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Interiors: From crack home to modern house
Let’s move to… the Quantock Hills, Somerset | Property
You might not have heard of them, but Somerset’s Quantock Hills were good enough for the likes of Coleridge and Wordsworth
What’s going for it? The where? What, never heard of the Quantocks? You are not alone. Ask most people if they know where the Quantocks are, and they think you’re referring to an intimate part of their anatomy. Tut, tut. Back of the geography class for all of you. The Quantocks, of course, are on the inside elbow of Somerset, and jolly lovely they are, too. Just a shade more out of reach than the Mendips, so they’re not overrun with commuters; just the odd soul following in the footsteps of Mr Coleridge and Mr Wordsworth who, holed up in Nether Stowey and Holford around 1796, roamed the rugged, heather-clad moors (deer, waterfalls, manly rocks and all) and wrote their greatest hits: the Lyrical Ballads, The Rhyme Of The Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan. And if it’s good enough for our greatest poets, it’s more than enough for you.
The case against Not a lot. Rather out of the way; isolated in parts. Not much to entertain you, bar the entire glory of nature before you.
Well connected? The nearest railway is seven miles or so away at Bridgwater, so you’ll need a car. The?west end of the hills are rather a?distance – think escape, rather than commute. But the orient end abuts the M5, making Bristol and Exeter 45 or so minutes away.
Schools Primaries: Bishops Lydeard CofE is “good”, states Ofsted, with Kingston St Mary CofE “good” with “outstanding” features and Enmore CofE “outstanding”. Several “outstanding” secondaries: Kingsmead Community, Robert Blake Science College, The Castle, Heathfield Community School.
Hang out at… The Ancient Mariner, opposite Coleridge’s home in Nether Stowey; or, my favourite, The Bell Inn at Watchet, where Mr C composed his lines.
Where to buy You have your pick of idyllic Somerset villages full of pinky-red sandstone buildings and cob-and-thatch cottages straight off a box of fudge. Bicknoller, Crowcombe and Kingston St Mary are my pick. On the coast, Watchet, with its harbour, is a sweet tiny town.
Market values Huge five-bed detacheds, farmhouses or period town houses, £450,000-£700,000. Detacheds, including adorable period thatched three-beds, £200,000-£400,000. Semis, £160,000-£250,000. Terraces and cottages, £125,000-£230,000.
Bargain of the week The village stores and post office at Four Forks, with a three-bed cottage attached, plus a two-bed self-contained home,?currently used as a B&B, £275,000, with Chesterton Humberts.
From the streets
David Patten “Kilve beach: wonderful rocks and occasional ammonites.”
Carol Franzen “Award-winning venison pies at The Lamb Inn in Spaxton – mouthwatering. The brooks, the combes and the people!”
Colin Teasdale “The Farmers’ Arms in Combe Florey: thatched cottage shelter with a warm welcome and fine food, beers and wines alongside the West Somerset Railway line and a babbling brook.”
Live in the Quantock Hills? Join the debate below.
• Do you live in Evesham, Worcestershire? Do you have a favourite haunt or a pet hate? If so, please write, by Tuesday 4 May, to lets.move@guardian.co.uk.
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Let’s move to… the Quantock Hills, Somerset | Property
Fashion: Buy of the day
Kate Carter advocates a tiny something to brighten up apiece day of the week. Check back apiece day for the next suggestion
Thursday
Sky planter, £11.75, by Ecocentric
Don’t worry, you haven’t accidentally turned your monitor upside down. Ecocentric is having a two-day clearance understanding and this innovative space solution is currently half-price. The soil is locked into place and a tiny reservoir at the top (or bottom, if you are standing on your head to admire) waters the plant. It can be hung from the ceiling or mounted to the wall. Lovely for kitchen herbs or just to confuse visitors.
Wednesday
Vintage Lip balms from Andrea Garland, from £16
If, like me, you have at least five lip balms on the go at any one time (oh, that is just me? Oops ..) then this might tempt you into staying faithful. Andrea Garland sources gorgeous tiny vintage tins – old pill boxes, compact cases and miniature keepsake tins – and fills them with lip balm. The balm itself is made from shea butter and various natural oils, all ethically sourced. And once it’s finished, you can send it back for a refill for a fraction of the price.
Tuesday
Some doable shoe designs at upperstreet.com, from £180
If you find it impossible to find the perfect shoes but have a vision of exactly what you want, help is at hand. Upper Street’s new website grants you to design your own pair – you selected the basic shape then customise everything – from straps to linings, you pick the materials, colours and embellishments. Prices begin from £180, so it’s not cheap, but custom-made shoes would normally set you back considerably more.
Monday
Secateurs, £12, by Habitat
These monochrome printed secateurs by Habitat will have you snipping those stray branches in style. You can also get a trowel, tape measure and torch and watering can in a matching print. Doing the garden has never felt so fashionable.
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Fashion: Purchase of the day
Restaurant Supply Store – The Kitchen Witch’s Fantasy
Whether you are dreaming of opening up your own restaurant or you just want to greatly improve your kitchen, go shopping at a restaurant supply store. This where you get the widest and the ideal selection of kitchen supply stuff. Restaurant cooking equipment and kitchen witchery supplies are here in all manner of shapes, sizes, and colors. You will find kitchen and cooking supplies that you might not even know exist, and you can find them at the most competitive prices.
At a restaurant supply store, you can get metal mixing bowls and ladles, stock pots and sheet pans, canisters and can openers. As far as rather one-of-a-kind kitchen witchery stuff that you could locate at great prices in a restaurant supply store, think about these often-not-considered tools:
Microplane grater –grate chocolate, nutmeg, ginger, cheese blocks, and garlic with this universal but often-forgotten tool. Pepper mill –ever have that waitress at the restaurant come up and ask you if you want “fresh ground pepper”? Doesn’t that stuff taste much superior than grocery store purchased pepper? You can give and experience that same pepper freshness in your own kitchen with one of these. If you get two, you can have one for white pepper, too. Different colored slicing mats –now why would you need these? These help you be more sanitary in your kitchen by color-coordinating your cutting, slicing, and dicing so that you don’t mix ‘n’ match the bacteria! Tiny things mean a lot in a successful kitchen. These are a great organizational tool. Digital kitchen timer –you can get more than one of these, and some of them come with dual timers anyway. Forget your worries about burning up the roast. Adjustable measuring cups –great food preparation demands precision in measurements, and this all-in-one tool that you’ll find in a restaurant supply store is perfect for that. Custard cups –use these for your mise en place measuring, which goes hand in hand with the use of that adjustable measuring cup. Utility knives –can’t be without these if you want to be a kitchen witch. Granny fork –not as advanced as the utility knife but it’s charming as well as useful for things like egg beating or playing the role of a whisk. Silicon spatula spoon –another wondrous, and sanitary, multiple-use kitchen tool. Kitchen shears –another indispensable kitchen tool. Cut meat tendons easily, and make your herb and seasoning slicing a snip-snap. Commercial Mixers: Blend it like the professionals. Make a smoothie, a cocktail or a fancy desert! Or perhaps you want to make your own signature drink? Your imagination is the only limit. Commercial Coffee Brewers –you might or might not love your coffee, your guests or customers certainly will. And those of them who do will remember you for it whether you get the cheap with the cheap flavor or the calibre coffee brewer with the flavor fit for kings! Commercial dishwashers: After cooking and serving, there is always the dreaded clean-up. But it doesn’t have to be so bad if you have a nice commercial dishwasher. They are fast and efficient, and you would be surprised to see that they don’t drain as much power as one would think!
As you can see, there are many things to be used in the kitchen that you might never have imagined, but which can be found with assist at your nearest restaurant supply store. You can also do kitchen supply shopping online. For those of you who are really into cooking, you’ll have a great time in one of these stores, and you’ll be thrilled at all the money you can save as opposed to going to department stores looking for all this stuff.
Restaurant Supply Store – The Kitchen Witch’s Fantasy
Tesco towns: a super place to live?
Supermarket giant Tesco is planning mixed-use developments in London, Ipswich and north-east England
Do you remember the good old days? When you worked for the mill owner, lived in houses he built, shopped in shops he owned and – if you were very lucky – paid the rest of your consequence over to him via pints in the local pub called, with good reason, Your Landlord’s Arms? Well, good news! Tesco has announced that it is moving into housebuilding. It plans mixed-use developments in London, Ipswich and the north-east. You will be healthy to purchase or rent a Tesco house, potentially via a Tesco estate agent, get a Tesco mortgage and furnish it with Tesco homewares on your Tesco credit card. Vertical integration just came of age, and?with extra Clubcard points.
Tesco, naturally, denies that it is embarking on model village-building. It seeks only to create up to 1,000 new jobs in the stores around which these estates would be built. But instead of blowing such smoke up one’s sceptical ass, why doesn’t it enthusiastically embrace the opportunities in this brave new world.
Do it properly. I see Tesco automobiles with pound-coin slots that can be driven shonkily over red, white and blue roads that, viewed aerially, spell out “Every tiny helps!” (a Jane Horrocks-voiced satnav will direct). I see a £2 chicken in each pot and a mini-multistorey carpark in each driveway. I see roads titled after the stores’ most important features – Soup Aisle Avenue, Reduced Chiller Cabinet Close, Synthetic Bakery Smell Street, Market Share Square (complete with bronze statue of Sir Terry Leahy clutching tenners in one hand and Britannia’s neck in the other), leading to Screwed Suppliers Walk.
Oh, the 18th-century landowners would weep to see the chances Tesco’s supposed men of vision could be passing up! Let us hope they see the light soon. With such a Tesco world in the offing, who wouldn’t want to live in it?
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Tesco towns: a super place to live?
Digital Kitchen Scales And Knowing What Features To Look For
People who love frequenting the kitchen to cook need to make sure that the amount of ingredients used in the recipe is accurate so that the taste of the dish remains the same no matter how many times it is cooked. While measuring cups were often used in the past, now you don\’t have to go through the trouble of filling one cup after another to get the right measurement. With the use of digital kitchen scales, it is now very simple to get the measurement that you need.
Buying a kitchen scale is exciting especially if it is your first time to do so. To refrain making the wrong choice, you need to take some things into consideration. Find a scale that has a massive capacity. This might not be necessary if you are buying one to cook meals for your family, but think of the times when you have other relatives over. You\’ll need to double or even triple your recipe. This is when you need a scale with a larger capacity. A flat scale is a good option to get because it can support any bowl size.
Because a digital kitchen scale is something that you will use often, you need to look for functionality. Yes, when you compare electric scales to manual scales, there are certainly advantages. With one, you only need to look at the display and you\’ll instantly have a weight reading. These scales also offer a tare feature which makes your measurements more accurate.
Your scale\’s design also matters because it has to match your kitchen or else you need to tuck it away after use. The process of taking out and putting away your scale can be tiresome, therefore select one that will seamlessly fit in your kitchen. Even so, you shouldn\’t make style your only criterion when buying a scale. Functionality always comes first.
With its simple operation and excellent precision, digital scales are indeed better in nature to manual ones. Their prices even vary according to the number of functions the scale offers. As it is, the more advanced the features of the scale are, the higher the prices go.
It is suggested that you get a scale that provides an simple way of switching between metric and U. S. Measurements. Not all recipes are the same and you might end up with one that requires you to measure ingredients in a different unit of measure. Instead of constantly having to get your calculator to do the conversions, find a scale that automatically does this with a touch of a button.
There are other features of interest in digital scales. You can find models with timers, calorie counters, and many more. There are even those with an attached thermometer so that it will be easier for you to take the temperature of whatever you are cooking. The ideal material for a digital kitchen scale is stainless steel because it is so simple to clean after using.
Find a scale that is durable and has a warranty guarantee to it. This is to protect you in case the model you purchased will have certain issues later on. With digital kitchen scales, taking note of the exact measurements is now a breeze.
Digital Kitchen Scales And Knowing What Features To Look For
Find More Digital Kitchen Timer Articles
Kitchen efficiency
Planning and preparing your time at the kitchen are the keys to making the most out of the time you spend at the kitchen. Even if you are at the home you can do this things to make a more pleasant time spent at the kitchen.
efficiency in the kitchen will make you cook superior meals, serve fresher dishes and when mastered grants you to serve that five course Chinese Lauriat all hot and fresh. This also means that you are less stressed while cooking. This will make you more confident in your culinary skills.
So what makes the ideal time management in the kitchen?
First you have to have a plan. Most people just remember the ingredients of their meals and go through them in a linear fashion. Saute garlic, brown meat, add salt, place broth and add vegetables. This way of cooking can be simple when doing just 1 dish. However adding 2 or more dishes to serve on the menu will wreck even the most concentrated chef.
The thing most people forget is that preparing meals can actually starts hours, days or even weeks before the actual cooking. Chopping a few ounces of onions before hand can mean saving hours when it comes to the cooking day itself. You can save a lot of time be cutting your vegetables the night before the huge day comes. This will grant you on concentrating on the act of cooking itself
Pre-cooking meat is an open secret in many a posh restaurant. You might think that your steak has been freshly grilled but in fact it was half cooked hours before your order. Fresh lobster? Think again, that crustacean was sitting on the pot long before you sat down on your reserved seat.
Preparing sauces, oils, vinegar, sugar, or anything else can be prepared before hand. You can place them on tiny packets long before you begin cooking. This way you can cook mythologic dishes in the time it takes to cook a pack of instant noodle soup.
Need to wash the dishes in 5 minutes flat? Organize then into size and rinse them in your sink. Let your sink fill with water and place on some soap. Pass the dishes one by one dipping and scrubbing them with speed. Do the same for everything. Then rinse them the same way. If you aren’t done in 5 minutes this is a guarantee that you can cut dish washing time by half. You wont even need a dish washer anymore. It will only slow you down.
Preparing for any situation if the real key to time management in the kitchen. If you know that you might run out of hot water for your chop suey and you have a few quarts ready to pout you will definitely save time. Writing down all the ingredients and steps with the dish your currently doing will boost your confidence and productivity.
All great cooks have several arsenals in their kitchen. And the kitchen timer is the prime weapon. Not one cook in the world can cook several meals together without a trusty kitchen timer. In fact a cook can use as many as 5 at a time. One for eggs, one for that chicken soup. One for baking and one for timing that freezing mix. Several more high end kitchen timers can time all of those in one digital timer device.
A kitchen timer will mean no guesstimating if you meat is already soft enough or if your French toast has been down the oven long enough (French toasts need an oven to be done well, another secret from a chef).
Make sure you have a kitchen timer right on a convenient place on your kitchen. Free from anything that would stymie its view and would cause it to fall. Along planning, preparation and the other techniques mentioned in this article, time management in the kitchen can be simple for anyone learn.
Kitchen efficiency
More Chicken Kitchen Timer Articles
Exquisite Modern Home Decorating Ideas
Modern home decorating does not have to be complicated, and you can make some beautiful improvements in your home without ‘breaking the bank’, so to speak. All you need is a few easy ideas and a tiny imagination to turn the inside of your home into a cozy, cottage-like atmosphere.
Like many families, you probably live in a home that has very large, open-spaced rooms and desire to turn them into something more snug. If so, then the trick is to find ways to make the rooms of your home more cozy, while at the same time appealing to the eye, which of course is a prerequisite when it comes to decorating your home.
Below are a few decorating ideas that will help you transform your huge and empty rooms into cozy, warm, and pleasant surroundings:
1. Increase the size of your furniture. One of the first things you should do in terms of taking up more space and producing a warm cozy environment is to buy furniture that is larger-than-normal in size. This is a great way to take up a lot of empty space. The ideal type of furniture would be fabric-covered. You can opt for leather and similar furniture coverings, but this new home decorating tip is ideal with furniture pieces that create a warm feeling in the air, which of course is soft fabric.
2. A second home decorating tip that will help increase the coziness of your massive rooms is to add plenty of floral designs and plants. There is just something so serene and tropical when it comes to having nice full plants throughout your house. Palm trees make an excellent choice for filling up those empty corners. However, be careful not to go overboard on your greenery, as it might take up too much space and create a suffocating effect.
3. A third fashionable home decorating intent that will help create a warmer and snug region in your room is to lay down a massive and nicely designed area rug. Select one that is huge enough to connect all of your furniture pieces together while at the same time complimenting the rest of the colors in your room. And be sure to refrain colors that clash.
4. Last but not least, decorating your home in a modern way should always entail making the most of your walls. In fact, designing your walls appropriately is one of the most important aspects of creating the region you desire. There are many ways to do this, as you can hang a massive paintings and other works of art, display artifact designs, or organize portraits and other pieces into patterns, such as circles or triangles.
Exquisite Modern Home Decorating Ideas
For More Great Home Decorating Tips, Including Full Details on How to Decorate Your Entire Home on a Budget Visit: Home Interior Design and Cheap Home Interior Design
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Let’s move to Totterdown, Victoria Park and Knowle, Bristol
Their time has come
What’s going for it? After copious expeditions, I now, at last, get Bristol. Took a while. Couldn’t quite see past the dreary modern architecture. But the penny’s finally dropped. I am now a convert and, like any new convert, I am quite the proselytising missionary. Ye must all desert The Great Wen for the Star of the West! Bristol’s time has come. For years, London has been quietly haemorrhaging to Brizzle lefty, artsy, slightly hippy Guardian-reading types p-ed off with the rat race, but not quite ready for “the country”. With Britain poised on a pre-election, post-recession cliff edge, it might be time to join them. Sod the nine to five. I want to stand in a city centre and be healthy to see fields and trees and hills. I want to meet friendly people. I want to live in a city small enough to achievement crossways in an hour, massive enough to have hidden depths. Too late for most of?Bristol, because it’s as high-priced as London, but this tiny villagey nook south of the river, crowded with green space, young families and nice pubs, might just do.
The case against The houses in Totterdown might be too small for some; those in Knowle too baggy and suburban for others. Very steep: Vale Street is reputed to be the steepest street of houses in England.
Well connected? A 15-minute achievement to Bristol Temple Meads and the Great Western mainline. Good buses head into the centre and crossways town to Clifton.
Schools Primaries: St Mary Redcliffe CofE is “good and improving”, states Ofsted, Hillcrest “good” with some “outstanding” features. Secondaries: St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School?is “good” with some “outstanding” features.
Hang out at… Big up to The Star & Dove. Ideal Sunday roast outside my own kitchen.
Where to buy Totterdown, sprawled up its hills, has a seasidey air with colourful, painted cottages, built for railway workers. Knowle, up the top of the hill, is more suburban, with bay-windowed Edwardian terraces. Look around Wells Road and Redcatch Road; south of Redcatch things are cheaper still.
Market values Semis, £150,000-£350,000, though you might find the odd extended and improved one up to £500,000, and cheapies down to £110,000. Terraces, from £170,000 to £280,000 (three- or four-bed in Knowle; Totterdown’s peak at about £250,000). Flats, £75,000-£170,000.
Bargain of the week Three-bed Edwardian terrace, needing modernisation, near Nover’s Common, £139,995, with Matthews Estates, .
From the streets
Catherine Ashton “My favourite place is the Arnos Vale cemetery, which is, strictly speaking, in Arnos Vale, just below upper Totterdown..”
Suzanne Audrey “The Thunderbolt on Bath Road – astonishing opportunity to see musicians in?an?intimate?atmosphere.”
Rosie Murray “The one-stop Thali Cafe makes veggie-friendly curries in reusable ‘tiffin’ containers.”
Jon Evrington “The Oxford in Totterdown. Ideal real ale for miles around and it has a fantastic open mic on Thursdays.”Jon Evrington
• Do you live in Totterdown? Join the debate below
Do you live in Rottingdean, Sussex? Do you have a favourite haunt or a pet hate? If so, please write, by next Tuesday, to lets.move@guardian.co.uk
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Let’s move to Totterdown, Victoria Park and Knowle, Bristol
