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The Orange-inal Garden Room

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Orangeries are just conservatories right? To the untrained eye now-a-days they look the same don’t they? Maybe so but they are in fact a very different structure, and one more suited to modern life despite their rich history. Orangeries are originally Italian and date back as far as the 17 th century. Found mostly on the private estates of the elite upper classes, they were used to cultivate citrus fruits as the glass of the structure provided the perfect level of warmth, light and humidity for the plants to thrive outside of their natural habitat. It was only moving into the 20 th century, when advances in travel and shipping cargo made it more viable and cheaper to import the fruits, that these once very posh greenhouses, became used more for leisure and pleasure amongst the wealthy. Today, as with most things, Orangeries are affordable for the majority of the population and not simply the privileged few, but why not a conservatory? After all they can be a cheape...
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Kitchens. With all the options, what is "IN" right now?

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Not all kitchens were created equal, some are larger, smaller, square, triangle, ‘l’ shaped and all sorts in between. Not all budgets were created equal either. However, there is a way for everyone to include current trends in their kitchen without breaking the bank. Here are four of the hottest trends right now. 1 Blue. Sapphire, navy, baby, teal, azure, cobalt, royal, with so many different shades of blue around there really is a blue for everyone. If you want a modern, retro or period look there is a blue for you. With so many blue cabinets on the market right now, it is an easy trend to adopt, however to completely change your units to navy is a commitment. You need to be prepared to live with it for the next twenty plus years. Instead think about wall colour. Blue walls are easier to change and look amazing with neutral units. You can tie in the colour with accents of blue all around the kitchen, from kettles to crockery meaning for a low cost you are embracing the bl...
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Kitchen Krazy

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We all have an image in our head of our dream kitchen. It may be classical country farmhouse with wood galore, AGA and Belfast sink. Or it could be clean, minimalistic lines, with integrated necessary appliances with modern technology taking centre stage. Can that dream actually be a reality? That's where we come in.  Over the years we have gained an excellent reputation for our windows, doors and conservatories, but that is by no means all that we offer and over the next few months we are going to be keeping you up to date with all of the home improvement services we provide. We're kicking off by making August all about Kitchens, and we'll be talking about what's new and fashionable in kitchens: will the trends last or date faster than Katie Price?, Save versus Splurge: what you can realistically get for your budget and finishing touches: choosing the right tiles and flooring, paint and all things decorative.  If you're looking for inspiration a...
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50 Frames of Grey

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Can I have grey window frames on my property? The short answer is yes you can. You can have whatever colour your heart desires. Yes really, yes any. You can go into your local DIY store, get a paint chart and pick one. It will take longer to manufacture, and will cost you more than standard colours, but you can have any colour you like. But, like many things in life, just because you can, it doesn’t mean you should. Let’s look at the detail…. Grey is everywhere. It is the in colour right now. I’m sure you have been past a new build site lately, and there has been a grey frame, especially if its aluminium. It is the architects frame of choice right now, and it shows no signs now of going away. It has been used on both brick and rendered property, showing versatility, and illustrating that it doesn’t matter what type of finish your home has, it can work. Not everyone lives in a new build though, there are many older houses around, and these can look stunning with grey fr...
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