Real Home ImprovementThe Home Improvement Blog with real advice

There has never been a worse time than now to spend more money than you have or can pay back. That once large disposable income has now been demolished, and most probably your clothes are the same ones you had on 3 years ago. But what exactly should you spend money on, and if you could, what assets of yours would you increase the value of first and foremost?

Take this as an example; If you own or buy shares then you invest in those. If you like to modify your car then you invest in that. If you enjoy art then you buy sketches or any variation of the ones that take your eye. And if you are a home owner? Then you should invest in your home. Simple.

Home Improvement projects can be carried out under various objectives, with the top one being  increasing the value of your home – however there is another key objective to home improvement projects and that is better living. Home Improvement projects will make your home a better place to be, make your guests feel more comfortable and yes in the long run pay off down the line.

First of all you should pay attention to areas of your home which need genuine improvement, which could be your hall way, kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms or any other room – bringing every room up to the same standard will give you a genuine outlook on what could be improved or made ‘better’ within your house.

One of the best ways to create an instant lift within any home is to use neutral colours within rooms of an actual neautral nature – so hallways, and then move over to warm hues where the home starts to get more personal such as the living room. A nice deep shade of amber is usally a good bet for living rooms.

On a recession note this recession will not last forever, of course there will most probably be more (hopefully not in our lifetime) but investing in a home improvement project is one fire proof method of increasing an assets value in the long term whilst being happy  there in the short to medium term.

With the iPhone marketplace growing and growing daily it should come as no surprise that there are quite a few iPhone and iPod touch apps which can help during home improvement projects. Having tested a lot of home improvement apps, and in the process drawing out the very best ones, here is Real Home Improvement’s recommended home improvement apps for your iPhone and iPod Touch.

1) My Measures Lite (iPhone only)

My Measures Lite is a fantastic tool for anybody within an industry trade and also a fantastic app for anybody carrying out a home improvement project. Quite simply put, My Measures Lite allows you to take a photo of any object building or wall and then add dimensions afterwards – a little bit like a photo editor. With this app, you will never mis-measure anything again!

2) Ben Color Capture (iPhone only)

Ben Color Capture allows you to take a picture of any colour or any surface colour and match to to over 3300 hues which can be re-created in store. Very simple to use, highly intuitive and also completely free, Ben Color Capture is a fantastic app which could save you a lot of time when trying to find that perfect shade of paint!

3) Tapemeasure!

Tapemeasure! does exactly what is says on the tin. The app itself starts up straight away with no load time, and displays a vertical and horizontal ruler in either inches or centimentres. The only draw back to this app is that the maximum length the ruler / tapemeasure displays is 7 cm, or rather 3 inches, which can be toggled through a simple shake. A nice app for a quick measure.

4) Advanced Bubble Level Free

Advanced Bubble Level Free is a pretty handy app for the home improvement fiend in you as it does exactly what is says on the tin. It provides a rather accurate level guide when your iPhone / iPod Touch is placed in a flat surface and lets you see if anything needs tweeking or changing. It also loads up fast and has a quick download time.

5 ) Drywall Calculator ($0.99)

Okay admittedly this app is not free, but this application assists you in easily figuring out square footage of a room. Whether you want to calculate just the walls, ceiling or a slope (triangle), or any combination of the previous you would like to figure. This is a good app which does its simple purpose well.

So there we have it! Five (almost) free home improvement apps for those of you who have an iPhone and are going through a home improvement project .

There are many designs that you can put your home through – but one question always comes up within home improvement and home redesigns > Paint vs Wallpaper: Which suits your home best?

Of course there are many rooms in one house, with bathrooms obviously opting for paint over wallpaper for water damage reasons, but exactly what are the advantages and disadvantages of both materials and what can you do with them both?

Wallpaper Advantages

Wallpaper offers a huge variety of patterns to choose from as well as a huge selection of textures and colors which can be picked up at any home improvement shop or megastore. Plus, textured wallpaper can add more oomph to your walls which paints cannot offer (unless you get a professional painter which can be costly). Some new wallpapers even have beading, sequins, lace and ribbons that add more drama and style to a bare wall.

One of the main advantages to wallpaper is that it can easily hide holes in a wall or deep scratches which could have been caused from a variety of reasons. Also, if you are selling your home and have cracks in your plaster walls from general heating and cooling, a wallpaper session  can add new value to your sell.

Wallpaper is also your only option for fire damaged walls, unless the fire damage is light or you have arms of steel to get the soot off.

Wallpaper Disadvantages

The main disadvantage to all wallpapers is that they are horrible to clean and maintain as they (unless special wallpaper) soak up grease and stains quite easily. So if you have kids armed with crayons and chocolate covered hands your once beatiful wallpaper will quite simply become a mess.

Wallpaper can also be expensive, and the actual ‘putting it on’ time consuming if never done before. Wallpapaer generally also has a lower shelf life as they can fade under sun light.

Paint Advantages

Paint is a low maintenance, cheap and easy-to-apply interior treatment – Having painted walls means that you need not be so worried about maintaining and cleaning your walls. Most kinds of dirt and stains can easily be cleaned of a painted wall or when the stain does not come off completely, you can easily paint that area in the wall the same color to cover up the stain. While cover up stains and fixing unsightly marks on wallpaper can be quite difficult and expensive since you might have to remove one entire panel of wallpaper and replace it just because of a small stain.

Paint has a huge shelf life once applied, and if well maintained will last for years (ceiling paint excluded if you smoke as it will discolour due to nicotine stains).

Paint Disadvantages

Paint doesn’t really offer much texture or design and unlike wallpaper which can instantly create illusions, designs and texture where there are none, using paint to achieve the same effect can be a difficult task. If you want walls with flower designs without using wallpaper, you have to paint the flowers yourself which would take a lot of time and effort and usually only look crap anyway. You can also use stencils to paint designs although these designs would not be as detailed and flawless as those in printed wallpapers.

So which suits your home best? You now know the advantages and disadvantages to paint and wallpaper so take your pick . To be honest a mix of the two is always nice, and if you have a bedroom perhaps paint all round apart from the wall your beds headrest is on would be a good option.

All comments welcome.

There has been a rather recent boom in the underfloor electric heating market, and one of the main reasons this is so is because of the general comfort is supplies to occupants and guests. Not just that, but because underfloor heating is such a growing demand within the housing market generally it can increase the price of your home should you come to sell up.

It can therefore be considered one of the most comforting and best home improvement projects to undertake. Another fantastic thing about underfloor heating, and underfloor heating insulation, is that it is energy efficient, saving homeowners on an average an amazing 20 to 40% on their energy bills – which during this economic climate is a fairly large perk.

So with all these perks to a system that is affordable, comfortable, energy efficient and clean, whats stopping you? Underfloor heating can be applied to pretty much all rooms of a house, with bathrooms becoming increasingly popular and living areas coming in at a close second. It has to be said though that it is recommended that you seek a professional contractor or business to install your underfloor heating, because if you want to lay some hardwood flooring then it can tend to split in places.

I can guarantee you that when it comes to Winter you will be completely happy that you carried out this little project, as it is a fantastic feeling and most certainly keeps you on your toes for a good reason.

Your bathroom is the most personal room in your house to guests – it is where they seek privacy after a dinner party or go to wash up afterwards, and to make the greatest impression a bathroom which is accessorized well to suit the needs of your guests always pays off in the end.

You don’t have to go big, the beauty of bathroom accessories is that you can pay minimal prices for the small stuff which will, given the average size of a guest bathroom in the UK, keep clutter down and overheads low.

One of the top tips in terms of accessories you can get, or if you rent a flat / house and your landlord is a little bit weird about drilling is to use stick on shower shelves which stay put through all sorts of wear.

Another great idea to have as to unclutter your bathroom is to have a bathroom cabinet to store away any unnecessary items such as the much recently un-acclaimed rubber duck. Bathroom cabinets come in all shapes and sizes, and can be tailor made as to fit both corner and square wall dimensions – the materials available as also vast, with glass and brushed metal becoming increasingly popular as the traditional home becomes more modern.

So please please please try not to clutter up your bathroom too much especially if it is small, as there is nothing more embarrasing for guests than to break something just from moving around.