Modernize Your Old Kitchen Without Remodeling

Chances are if you’ve purchased an older home, it was for a reason; you wanted a place that had charm, you wanted to have quality wooden interiors which were done by trusted wood importers along with a dash of history, and you wanted a place that had character i.e, not a cookie cutter house. That’s great, but sometimes people wished that when they owned these homes, they could update the spaces inside of it a little bit to a more modernized style. Not necessarily fully modern in terms of looks, but also function. If you still want to keep your beautiful home, but you want to remodel a few things along the way, here are a few to consider.

Change The Flooring

Chances are if you’ve got a house that is 50, 75 or even 100 years old, the flooring needs an update. A lot of the floors that are that old tend to be wood. Hardwood is a great flooring material because it does last a long time, but with that age can come stains, scratches, dents, squeaky floors, etc. You can find wood floors that are especially cheaper than that of hardwood, and they still look and feel amazing. One option if you like wood but you don’t have the money to put down on a new hardwood floor, is to look at installing laminate flooring material, a lot cheaper option.

Add A Fun Backsplash Tile

This is a modern take in bathrooms and kitchens. You might even have one right now – but it’s probably stained, you might have a few cracks or missing tiles, you might even have grout that so desperately needs to be cleaned but can’t be. If that’s the case then a brand new backsplash is just what you need. Not only with this update the look of the kitchen, but if you feel that you need a little contrast or want to add a little color to the kitchen or bathroom, this is a great way of going about it, without going crazy with color.

Paint Your Kitchen

Painting a kitchen or even a bathroom is a great way to create a clean and uniform space. White can make a room feel updated, without feeling overbearing. Make sure you paint the cabinets white too. This can be a time consuming process, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

Add A Kitchen Island

Kitchen islands might seem like a newer accessory, but these have actually been around a lot longer than you might think. In one capacity or another kitchen islands have actually been around since the 50s, perhaps just a smaller version than the ones available now. A kitchen island has an aesthetic draw, but it’s also quite functional. If the kitchen is big enough, an island can give you more working space/cooking space. On top of that, most all kitchen islands have drawers and cabinets which gives you even more space to put things like cookbooks, pots and pans, jars filled with baking ingredients like flour, sugar, and yeast. Kitchen islands are primarily made from wood, but you can find all sorts of options for the stand as well as the top; butchers block, stainless steel, tile, etc. Simply find the one that works for you and your kitchen style. If you have the money, you can also find websites online and businesses offline that will make you a custom made island too.

Choose Classic Finishes

Instead of choosing more updated or trendy materials like stainless steel or marble, try to stick with materials that are more classic. That includes wood, porcelain white tiles, white cabinets, glass, etc. Try to stay away from overly expensive or luxurious appliances, natural stone materials, and the like.

Update The Hardware

You can still keep the charm of your kitchen and bathroom, but update it by changing out the hardware. Not only will this create a new updated look, but who knows, maybe you need a change. Hardware can get oily, faded or stained over the years. Hardware can be purchased at any home improvement store and depending on how decorative you want to get, it might cost you less than $30 for the entire kitchen or the bathroom.

Update The Faucets

If you have a faucet in the kitchen or bathroom that is deteriorating, why not consider buying a new one? These days you can actually find all sorts of styles, which is great because it gives you the ability to keep that old age charm, without going too far modern. If you really want something unique, look into finding a custom made faucet or find a recycled faucet – these tend to be aged, like your home, but they are cleaned, fixed and renewed.

Seven Tips to Combat Single Loneliness

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Being single shouldn’t have to leave you feeling lonely. Whilst many singletons experience feelings of loneliness, there is no need for this. Finding yourself and being able to be happy on your own is extremely important. Your relationship status should not define who you are and your happiness- that comes down to you. Whether you have recently come out of a long-term relationship or you have been single for as long as you can remember, here are seven tips to help you combat single loneliness.

Find Happiness in Your Singlehood

If you are single and constantly looking for a partner or comparing yourself to friends and relatives, you are never going to be happy. Instead, you need to appreciate where you are now and look at the things you do have, rather than the ones you don’t. Enjoying the path that you are on will ensure you are happy. You won’t be single forever, so relish in this status for the time being. One way to get into appreciating your current status is to write down each morning one thing that you’re thankful for, or one person you are thankful for. This can instill a new mindset into you and leave you feeling happier from the minute you wake.

Get to Know You

Although you may have known yourself from the minute you were born, there is always more to discover. This is the perfect time to come to terms with who you are, so you can be truly content. Meditating is a great way to being at one with yourself and working on any negative thoughts you have of yourself is important too. Perhaps this is the perfect time to find a new skill or a new hobby.

Be in Love with Yourself First

The relationship you have with yourself is, without doubt, the most important relationship you will ever have. This means cultivating some self-compassion because until we truly love ourselves, we can never be 100% happy. There is no need to replace this love with a partner or else you will rely on them to make you happy. This also means having more acceptance of your body. Many people struggle with how they look and put themselves down. Whatever you don’t like about your body, now is the time for a change. Self-acceptance is key and without this, even when you do get into a relationship you may struggle to feel truly contented.

Take This Time to Do What You Want to Do

One of the best things about being single is you can do what you want. This means you have extra time to fill with anything you want. Make this time worth it and fill it with loved ones, hobbies, charity work, and church if you are religious. Many Christian women experience loneliness when single and this is something that should be addressed more often. As a Christian woman, it can be more difficult to find a relationship due to your religion, but you can use this time to help out with church activities, spend time with loved ones and volunteer. If you are a Christian woman suffering from loneliness or depression due to being single, find out more here.

Live with Others

Now is the perfect time to make friends and live with new people! Whether you choose this time to find the perfect housemate or you and a few friends decide to live together, being single brings you this opportunity that you may never get again. Living with others also gives you the option of less expensive rent and will help you to keep busy and distracted, meaning you have less time to think about being single. If you prefer living alone, this is fine too, but why not tackle your loneliness by getting a pet? Pets are well-known for combatting loneliness and keeping you busy. Check out this article for 8 tips for helping dogs and cats get along. We have two cats right now and are considering adding a dog to the family … this article was very informative!

Connect with Your Favorite People

Once you are in a relationship, you tend to spend a lot of your free time with your partner. Although this is never intentional, it is just a natural progression that occurs when you fall for someone. You should never spend every waking moment with a partner though, or this will cause feelings of loneliness and depression if you break up, as you have isolated yourself from friends and family. It is good to have a balance when in a relationship. If you have disconnected from people, now is your chance to reconnect with loved ones and surround yourself with them. Make an extra effort to make plans with friends and family or join a social club or group in which you can do so. Don’t forget that you can be your favorite person too! Some people prefer to spend time alone, so fill this time with activities you enjoy and relish in having some space for yourself. Even for those who prefer surrounding themselves with people, it is a good idea to have some solitude now and again.

Get into Dating

When you are ready to do so, get back into dating. The best time to do this is when you are happy in yourself and you are looking for a relationship because you would like one, rather than to combat your loneliness and find happiness. Sometimes on the path to true happiness, you may accidentally find a new love interest. Often, we find what we want when we stop looking. Ask friends to set you up on dates, attend speed dating events with friends or use dating sites. There are many dating apps out there, whether you are straight, gay or religious, you can find an app tailored to your preferences.

In the era we live in, people often put too much emphasis on relationships and dating. Whilst being in a relationship can make you happy, it shouldn’t be the only reason you are happy. Being single is the perfect time to discover who you are and learn to love yourself. It may sound cliché, but until you love yourself you can never be wholly happy.

3 Diets That Might Work For You

If you are currently on the lookout for a diet which you can make use of, there are always going to be plenty of options available to you. Understanding which might be the best is something else, and can be very hard to do, but as long as you are looking at your options you should be able to find one fairly easily. As it happens, there are always a number of dierts going on trend at any one time, and if you are keeping up with them then you might already be well aware of some of the most effective diets out there. In this article, we are going to take a look at just a few of these diets, so that you can get some idea of what kind of diet is likely to suit you best. As long as you find one that seems to work for you, that is all that matters, but you do need to have a few to be able to choose between first and foremost.

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Keto

First up is the keto diet. If you haven’t heard of this, you might be interested by how it is supposed to function. The idea behind a keto diet is that you keep your consumption of carbs as low as possible, and eat a moderate amount of protein, with a larger amount of fat. While that might sound strange to eat more fat, that is actually how it works. When you only eat a small amount of carbs, your body slowly goes into the state of ketosis - this is where your body produces ketones, and it is essentially the production of a separate food source within the body which makes use of fat reserves. That’s why you eat a lot of fat, as that fat is what is primarily being used and is burning off quickly, thereby ensuring that you lose weight pretty fast - and everything you do lose is fat, moreover. If you want to get into this kind of diet, make sure that you plan out your meals well, so that you are not going to have to worry about accidentally eating the wrong amount of things. Done right, it can be a very effective diet which you might not even need to be on for very long for it to be effective.

5:2

You might have heard of the 5:2 diet, and it is considerably more popular than many others out there. This is in part because of its ease, as it is a very simple thing to follow, and it is also something that is shown to be highly effective indeed. In essence, the 5:2 diet is just a form of intermittent fasting, which is interesting because it doesn’t actually affect what you eat at all, nor how much you eat overall - just when you eat. With 5:2, you eat whatever you want for five days, and then you fast for two. This is effectively partly because during those two days your body gets into the ketosis stage, as mentioned above, but it is also just a great way of making sure that you are keeping an eye on your weight in general. What is interesting is that apart from that change, you don’t actually do anything different - you simply eat whatever you want, and that’s that. Of course, it is still also a good idea to make sure that you are eating well, and you might want to watch your calories just to make sure that you are not eating too much, but basically you can eat what you like during those five days. This is partly why it is so easy and why so many people find it to be so highly effective and even enjoyable to do.

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One Meal A Day (OMAD)

This is one you might not have heard of, but it is nonetheless gaining some popularity in recent years, and it is something that you might want to consider as it can be very effective indeed. It is as simple as it sounds, basically: you just make sure that you only eat one meal a day. But the point is that within that meal, you eat all the calories that you need for that day. If that sounds a bit much, the truth is that it is still a very effective means of dieting. It again goes back to the state of ketosis, but it is also valuable because of the way that it encourages you to focus on exactly how many calories you are eating. While not the healthiest method for the long term, it is still something that you might use brierfly as a means of losing weight, and it is very effective for that indeed.

The Oxford Comma: Should You Use It?

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The Oxford comma is one of the most interest punctuation marks, only because there is a lot of question on whether it’s necessary. Some believe wholeheartedly that it adds clarity to your writing.  Likewise, some may find it useless or overused. As long as you understand its usage, it’s all up to you.

What Is the Oxford Comma?

The Oxford comma is always up for debate. There have even been legal cases that hinged on the Oxford comma. No other type of punctuation has quite the same reputation. So, what is the Oxford comma? The Oxford comma is the comma before the conjunction at the end of the list. Some would say that it slows down the pace of the writing, while others say that it offers clarity. The truth is that it can do both of those things in different contexts.

When it comes to the Oxford comma, the rules tend to be based on the style that you’re using. Some style guides require it, while others do not. When you’re writing for yourself, you get to choose whether you want to use it or if you think you should omit it.

Popular Style Guides For and Against

The two authorities that dictate whether it ends up used are the Associated Press Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style. The Oxford comma is not the only grammar point that these two authorities struggle with. Proper capitalizations and spellings are also worth noting when it comes to these style guides. However, one thing that has stayed the same is the Oxford comma.

Chicago style recommends it for almost every instance, whereas AP style is against it in most cases. While AP doesn’t ban it entirely, it believes that you should only use it if it’s necessary for clarity. Otherwise, ditch it because it’s not an essential marker.

Clarity: Arguments For and Against

The biggest argument for the Oxford comma is that it offers clarity when you are constructing a list. Most people have seen the various examples of a missing Oxford comma changing the meaning of a sentence. It is true that this can happen. However, there are arguments that stand in direct counter of the clarity argument.

One argument is that you can always reword a sentence to give it more clarity. You can write a list in a way that makes it clear what you mean, rather than creating a misunderstanding. The truth is that you can rewrite any sentence for clarity if necessary. The Oxford comma simply makes some sentences easier to follow than others are.

When it comes to the debate about the serial comma, there really is no right or wrong answer. Unless you are bound to a style guide, it is all about personal preference. Some writers have a fondness for the Oxford comma and others think that it’s better to leave it out. As long as you can get your message across and be understood without the need for clarity, then it doesn’t matter if you use it or leave it out.

               

8 Ways To Stay Fit & Healthy This Summer

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Summer is a great opportunity to focus on you and your health when you have a little more time on your hands. Even if you have to work over the summer season, it’s usually a more relaxed time of the year for everyone.

Be mindful not to allow yourself to fall into bad habits or get lazy about your workouts this year. Instead, commit to educating yourself about ways for how you can stay fit and healthy this summer so you can feel good about yourself and happier overall. Think of how nice it’ll feel to get back on track and focus on you for once if you’re struggling to commit to these new behaviors.

1.    Walk More & Get Outside

Summertime is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the warm weather. This is your chance to get outside and fit in more daily steps by walking more often. You can achieve this goal by:

·        Parking further away from your destination.

·        Biking or walking to work.

·        Running or hiking on different trails.

·        Playing in the park with your kids.

The sunshine and exercise will lift your mood, and your clothes will start to fit better, which are both positives you should look forward to experiencing. If you’re spending more time outside, you can also stay healthy this summer by consistently applying sunscreen to protect your skin.

2.    Make Healthy Desserts

Summertime is typically a time to indulge in favorite foods while attending barbeques and parties. However, this year make it a goal to bake and bring healthy desserts to your special occasions. Hop online to read more about a recipe that’s delicious and healthy at the same time so you can still eat dessert but without any of the guilt. You’ll be able to use your pressure cooker instead of the hot oven, which will be more pleasant in the heat. In general, eat healthily and try to cut out the carbohydrates, unhealthy fats and added sugars best you can. Summer is the perfect opportunity to cook with and eat more fresh fruits and vegetables in general as well.

3.    Drink Less Alcohol

You can also stay fit and healthy this summer by committing to drinking less alcohol. It’s easy to get caught up in consuming these extra calories when hanging out with your friends in your backyard or a bar. However, think of how much better you’ll feel if you drink less and don’t wake up the next day feeling tired or with a bad hangover. Instead, it’s a better idea to choose to wake up early and fit in your daily exercise so you can start to shed those unwanted pounds.

4.    Hire A Trainer

It’s easy to slack in the summertime and put off working out for another day. Therefore, consider hiring a trainer this year to help keep you on task with your exercise routine. You may be hesitant to go to the gym or join a gym because you want to spend more time outside. Therefore, find someone who doesn’t mind training you outdoors so you can soak up the nice weather while you’re at it. All you may need is an extra boost of encouragement to help you meet your fitness goals. You may even think about asking a friend or family member to be your accountability partner and work on achieving your exercise and healthy eating goals together.

5.    Get Your Rest

It’s easy to fall into the bad habit of staying up later in the summertime because there are likely more fun activities going on with friends and family due to it being lighter in the evenings.  However, consistently doing so will cause you to feel extra tired the next day and being sleep-deprived will make it harder for you to lose weight as well. Stay fit and healthy this summer by getting your rest and going to bed at a decent hour each night. Don’t be afraid to get out the hammock in the backyard and lie down and take a nap on the weekends when you have a little extra time on your hands. You may even consider taking Friday’s off once in a while in the summertime to catch up on sleep and decompress from the long week at work.

6.    Reduce Your Stress with A Vacation

Another way to stay fit and healthy this summer is to focus on reducing your stress. One fun option for doing so is to get away on vacation. It’s important to take breaks from your daily routine and obligations and allow yourself to relax without any worries or cares. Keep in mind that you’ll want to make sure you avoid using your vacation days as a chance to skip out on exercise or eat poorly. Maintain your good habits, and you’ll feel a lot better on the whole when you return to your regular schedule and home life.

7.    Stay Hydrated

Instead of consuming all that alcohol, turn to water so you can stay hydrated as well. You’ll have better skin and more energy when you drink more water each day. In addition, it’s in your best interest to keep away from sugary drinks that are often tempting to buy and consume when the weather warms up. Remember that being in the heat can take a toll on your body, so it’s even more critical that you drink more water in the summertime. Drinking more water before meals will help you to feel fuller and eat fewer calories as well.

8.    Visit Your Doctor

Think about using the summer months to visit your doctor and get your annual physical or checkup. Stay fit and healthy this season by discussing any questions or concerns with your provider and making sure you’re taking proper care of yourself. It’s vital to stay up to date on important health screenings and lab tests so you can quickly determine if there are any problems you should be addressing.