When using Annie Sloan paints Sussex home owners know they have the ability to transform

By using Annie Sloan paints Surrey property owners can say goodbye to dull, uninspiring rooms and hello to a fresh look instead. There are times when a simple coat of paint is all it takes to make a permanent, and very noticeable, improvement that will bring delight every time the door is opened. It’s amazing just how easy it can be to make any room in house appear so much more welcoming, especially if there hadn’t been any new changes in that room for a number of years.

http://theupholsterermidhurst.co.uk/annie-sloane-paints/

When it comes to finding the most eye-catching Annie Sloan paints Hampshire home decorators know they only have to pick up the phone or head to the web. It’s so easy these days to let your imagination take hold and to transform a room beyond all recognition in the process. No wonder more and more of us are taking off the shackles of the past and are looking to beautify the world around us. And if this process works out well with just one room, imagine how wonderful it would be to do something similar in all other areas of the house or flat.

What’s Important When Buying A Wood Burner?

More and more Sussex homeowners are making the switch from oil, gas or electricity to log burners to heat their Brighton homes.  Biomass fuels, including logs and firewood, have increased in popularity as they are considered carbon-lean solutions for heating.  Many home owners searching for a more eco-centric outlook believe that installing a wood burning stove may greatly help them when it comes to achieving this aim.

http://sussexecosolutions.co.uk/

When deciding which kind of wood burner to buy, there are a few important factors to take into account quite apart from the aesthetic considerations.

1. The Size of the Worthing Wood Burner.

Log burners have different heat outputs which should be taken into consideration as the space to be warmed should be right for that burner.   A stove for heating an average sized room should be rated at about 4-5 kW, whilst a stove with 8kW rating will be better for a much larger space.  The age of the house, especially in historic towns like Chichester or Horsham, and any other energy-efficiency measures already in place may affect what wood burner you decide to purchase. E.g. a brand new house will only need a fraction of the stove’s overall output when compared to a much older house.

http://www.which.co.uk/energy/creating-an-energy-saving-home/guides/wood-burning-stoves/how-to-buy-a-wood-burning-stove/

2. Consider the efficiency of the Brighton stove.

 Current UK Building Regulations set a minimum efficiency level for all types of heating appliances.

A log burners efficiency is measured by the extent which the stove can extract heat from its fuel and then deliver it to the space it occupies.  This efficiency is then quoted as either net or gross. The difference between the two stated values depends on how the initial fuel content is to be calculated.  For a dry burner, the minimum accepted gross efficiency is 65%.  For a stove which incorporates a heating boiler, the minimum gross efficiency is 67%.

3.  Intermittent or Continuous Wood Burning Stove?

A continuous stove burning at full output will last for four hours without needing to added new fuel when burning a solid mineral fuel (coal), or 1.5 hours when burning wood.  When working at a low burning rate, such a stove will keep the fire going and not need to be revived for 10 hours when burning wood, which increases to 12 hours when burning coal.  Continuous stoves are used as a primary source of heat.  On the other hand, intermittent stoves have much shorter refuelling intervals of around 45 minutes for wood or an hour or so for coal.  These stoves are the more suitable when you wish to have just an evening fire or a secondary source of heating.

4.  Dry or Wet Stove?

Dry stoves just generate heat directly into the room they are in. The wood burner is attached to a flue which goes up the chimney.  Wet stoves have the addition of boilers attached to a water tank.  Such stoves generate part (or sometimes even all) of the Sussex household heat needed to supply hot water.  Wet stoves can also work in conjunction with solar power to provide an alternate energy in both the winter and summer.

http://www.livescience.com/42390-wood-stoves-epa-certified-wood-burning-stove.html

5. Wood fuel, multi fuel or solid fuel stove?

A wood fuel stove uses just firewood, or other types of solid biomass fuel.  It requires seasoned or unseasoned logs to work best.  A solid mineral fuel stove runs on fuels like coal, whilst a multi-fuel stove will use a combination of either wood or solid fuel.

So, after considering all of the above questions, you should now be in a good position to purchase a wood burning stove to suit your own particular needs.

Fair Trade trading is helping consumers in the West to stick to their principles

It isn’t always easy to have certain values in life, and it’s even more difficult to stick to them sometimes, but a fairer trading platform has enabled consumers in the West to remain true to their principles with a degree of ease. The modern global economy was once based purely on total capitalism, and there was often an element of greed mixed in with that, but in the 21^st century shoppers in all nations can finally buy with a conscience without having to worry about products that were of an inferior quality.

This is especially of benefit to people who want to help those less well off, but who still want certain standards of excellence in their purchases. The advent of Fair Trade trading has changed the way we shop in a most dramatic way, and this development has been particularly welcomed by people who have a genuine desire to help. Everything from the tea we drink and the bananas we eat to the flowers we buy and the cotton we wear can come to market via a fairer trading platform, and Western consumers have been quick to encourage the whole process.

Fair Trade trading is so much more than a way to give money to others

The first thing you need to know about Fair Trade trading is that it’s not a charity; nobody is just giving away free money here. By utilising a fairer trading platform once their crops have been harvested, farmers and growers can look around for the best possible prices from various buyers, thereby bypassing the old method of simply accepting whatever meagre offer came along from hard-bitten, unsentimental multinational corporations. Now that they have more of a choice of purchasers, they can find more preferential prices that can make a real difference to the way they live their lives and the way they run their businesses.

Thanks to Fair Trade trading, growers will be able to invest in the future of their farms. This could mean installing new machinery, employing more people at busy times and leasing more reliable vehicles. There will also be more money to go round in what were once extremely poor communities, and this will inevitably lead to higher standards of education and medical care. That jar of Fair Trade trading coffee that you take from the supermarket shelf is, it should be noted, far more than just a morning drink.

The best family reunions start with London airport transfers

Making your way to Gatwick or Heathrow can be a stressful experience, but not if you use London airport transfers to get you to the check-in desk on time. We are living in a world that is becoming increasingly smaller thanks to the ease and convenience of air travel, so more and more men, women and children are able to head to the other side of the globe with relative ease. A trip to Australia or New Zealand used to be a once in a lifetime experience, but these days many people make the journey on a number of occasions.

For the finest executive taxis Camberley can offer, all you need to do is make a quick phone call. When it comes to using executive cars Guildford people are all too aware of the choice that they have.

From the 1950s onwards, large numbers of families emigrated from the UK to countries like South Africa, the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. And many others travelled to Britain from the Caribbean and the Indian sub-continent, of course, and these migrations have left larger family groups rather disjointed and separate. Because of this, our airports are often full of people making their way to or from family reunions in a bid to make contact with loved ones who they haven’t seen for many years, sometimes even for several decades.

http://www.jracars.co.uk/airport-transfers/

There is something wonderfully fulfilling about these trips, and of course there is an opportunity to meet up with younger members of the family who you perhaps have never met before at all. Just imagine making your way from a sunny and warm Barbados village to a cold and wet London house. The experience may not seem overly enjoyable at first, but as soon as you have met up with brothers, cousins, sisters, parents, nephews and nieces the whole trip will have been worthwhile. And using London airport transfers to greet you at Heathrow or Gatwick will mean every trip is always a very special odyssey.

In a similar vein, how wonderful would it be to head from the UK to an isolated town in the wilds of Canada to meet up once again with long-lost relatives? It may be that you haven’t seen these people for twenty years or more, and of course there may be some who you have never met at all. The stunning landscapes of British Columbia and Alberta seem a million miles away from the somewhat congested roads of London, and this is especially apparent when you first lay eyes on the lakes and mountains that are surrounding you.

London airport transfers allow you to take as much luggage as you want

If you are making your way from Heathrow or Gatwick to Mumbai, Melbourne, Montevideo or Mombasa, you will no doubt feel as though the trip is going to be an onerous one. The chances are you will have a number of suitcases to take with you, including plenty of clothes to help you dress for social occasions and, in some cases, to adjust to a change in the climate. It may well be that you are also carrying a number of presents for relatives, perhaps even some souvenirs of how life is lived in the UK.

The good news is that London airport transfers will help you make the trip from your home to Heathrow or Gatwick in the most comfortable and convenient of ways. Just imagine how stressful it will be to take all of your items of luggage on to trains and buses that are already congested with people making their way to work or to the shops. And if you are on your way to a family reunion overseas, you may even be part of a large group of travellers, making the experience even more frenetic.

When there is a need for an executive chauffeur Aldershot people know they don't have to work too hard to find one. The finest executive cars Farnborough can provide will always be on hand to help.

The sense of anticipation that precedes a family reunion can only ever be properly understood by those people who have gone through the process. There have been occasions when brothers and sisters have met up once again after more than twenty years apart, and these reunions have turned into extremely emotional affairs for everyone involved. People change over a period of time, of course, but the loving bonds of a strong family can stand the tests that distance can bring. No wonder people crave an opportunity to be reunited with those who are important to them.

In the 21^st century, we are able to keep in closer contact with our loved ones via the internet. By using emails, Skype, Facebook and several other platforms, we are able to keep up with the family news, and of course we can chat on a regular basis. This is all very good, of course, but it doesn’t replace the special bond created by physical contact. We may be able to give our brothers and sisters a cheerful hello over the web, and to exchange photos and videos, but of course we aren’t able to physically hug someone over the web.

The best upholsterer Sussex can offer is able to perform minor miracles with furniture

If you have given up on an old armchair, now could be the ideal to contact the type of upholsterer Surrey can really trust. Even if you think your old furniture is past the point of no return, there could well be a highly skilled expert who can bring it back to life. We life in something of a throwaway world these days, so it’s very reassuring to know that we don’t have to head for the local authority’s waste site every time something is in disrepair.

Those lucky men and women who own pieces of furniture that have been handed down through the years can perhaps consider themselves very lucky. In the past, chairs, sofas and loungers will have cost a great deal of money, and as such they represented a major investment by our forefathers. We have perhaps become used to the idea of being able to buy cheap furniture in our local superstores at the drop of a hat, but in the past these items will often have been made specially made by an expert who really knew how to create items that were not far from being works of art.

Take care to use an upholsterer Hampshire can really rely on

There are times in life when you might be tempted to repair things yourself at home, and this course of action makes sense on a number of occasions. You will perhaps be perfectly capable of fixing a leaking tap, changing a plug and mending a fuse, but when it comes to renovating an antique it will be time to call on the services of the best upholsterer Sussex can provide. Taking care of the nicest things in your home can sometimes be a somewhat exhausting process.

Any home owner who has been looking to move in recent times will perhaps need to decide which items they intend to take with them and which they want to jettison. This is a time to evaluate the plus and minus points of each piece of furniture. If there is an old sofa or perhaps a beautiful armchair on the property, a phone call to a specialist may be needed. When it comes to finding a top of the range upholsterer Hampshire home owners know all about the importance of being able to call on the services of a tried and trusted expert.

Take care when seeking the best commercial property insurance London can provide

There are some decisions which can be taken in an instant, but owners of commercial buildings know they need to be careful when they look for the type of commercial insurance London can really rely on. We all know that speed is of the essence with some issues, but others may need a great deal more thought. If you are faced with a choice of policies to cover your retail units, warehouses and office blocks, you need to think long and hard about which route is the best one for you to take.

The UK’s capital is home to a thriving business community, and it plays host to companies of all shapes and sizes working in just about every sector of industry. There are factories producing everything from computer parts to TV remotes and shops selling crisps, crackers, croutons and cress. It’s one of the busiest cities to be found anywhere in the world, and most of the largest corporations on the planet maintain high profile headquarters and branches in the bustling streets of this highly influential metropolis.

With the best commercial property insurance on your side, your business can really go places

If you live and work in another part of the country, you may not be aware of just how busy the capital’s commercial hub can be. Several British cities have a thriving business sector, including Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, but in truth their operations are on a much smaller scale than that of London. Even if you have only visited the capital on a few occasions, you can’t help but notice just how many people there are working in areas like Canary Wharf, Shoreditch and the refurbished area around the magnificent Olympic Stadium.

We all seem to work so hard these days in our jobs, but sometimes you just need to stop for a while in order to smell the coffee. Life is supposed to be about savouring some enjoyment along the way, but if you are too wrapped up in warehouse, factory or office affairs then it will become increasingly difficult to do so. The most sensible option is surely to set aside some quality time at the weekends and perhaps in the evenings as well. These special moments are perfect for some much-needed relaxation, and for taking stock of all the things in your life which need to be sorted out.

Duane Hanson: Serpentine Sackler Gallery - London

Time in our capital is a funny thing - such a precious commodity that we never feel we have enough of it and constantly terrified someone or something will take what we do have away from us. With so much emphasis on rushing it’s all too easy for the world, in all its glorious detail to fly by in the blink of an eye. We don’t sweat the small stuff because we don’t see it. Who did you sit next to on the train this morning? What trousers were they wearing? Did they seem happy?

http://www.serpentinegalleries.org/exhibitions-events/duane-hanson

Most of us have only a hazy recollection of the people we encounter throughout our days, and as for those in the background – they may as well not exist.  

http://www.artnews.com/top200/yassmin-and-sasan-ghandehari/

The antidote to our modern lifestyle, if you can make time, is visit Duane Hanson’s show at the Sackler Gallery.  It’s a celebration of the ordinary – in exquisite detail.  A cowboy stands nonchalantly near the entrance, waiting for you to greet him as you go past, lost in his own thoughts and possibly down on his luck. A lady we assume to be a cleaner in her uniform pushes her trolley,  also trance-like and lost in her own thoughts. Does she have anyone to go home to? Where is home? Does she love or hate her job?  Elsewhere a lady sits among a pile of objects for sale, absorbed in her book yet also desperately hoping to do business.

http://www.tate.org.uk/download/file/fid/51351

It’s almost impossible not to become absorbed with the figures in Hanson’s exhibition. Hyperreal in their form, Hanson intended that his meticulously detailed figures would transfix the viewer, drawing them in to be captivated by the detail of the sculptures. His subjects, modelled on real people, tend to exist on the fringes of society, easily ignored and frequently passed over in real life. It’s bittersweet testament to his talent that Hanson has succeeded in making the mundane fascinating and the everyday detail of lives extraordinary.

More surprising still is the age of some of the sculptures. Hanson’s ‘Homeless Person’ created 24 years ago in 1991 is as relevant today as it was then.  Hanson’s work has always been intended to reveal the brutal truths about Western society. Spurred on by the criticism he received for Trash, his figures have become the mouthpiece for Hanson’s own social and political views, featuring scenes of social misery and violence. It was only later on that Hanson focused his attention on everyday people, an entire class of ‘typical’ people who he believed ‘did not stand out’.

Serpentine Sackler Gallery, Hyde Park

Tuesday August 11th 2015 - Sunday September 13th 2015

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/visualarts/article4499559.ece

Footnote:

The Sackler is one of the many London galleries that benefit from the support of generous patrons who happily give their time and resources to ensure the arts continue to thrive in the capital.  Figures such as Ian Taylor, Yassmin Ghandehari, Sasan Ghandehari, Lance Uggla, Viktor Vekelsberg, Sir David Verey, CBE and Anita Zabludowicz.

http://www.arts.ac.uk/alumni-and-friends/support-and-donate/ual-development-council/