The double glazing and conservatory industry has little regulation. Whilst standards of product are getting better problems still occur with miss selling methods, badly installed products, unfulfilled remedial work and lengthy guarantees which are not honoured (due to traders going out of business or having an unwillingness to make good on their promises). The general public still have a deep-rooted and long standing distrust of the industry. Many double glazing installers believe that the quality of membership of most Trade Associations and Installer Schemes doesn’t lend itself to the grouping of highly professional businesses who are customer focused.
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The interior of a home can often say as much about a person as the clothes they wear.

The passion for interior design is growing. Many households are taking more care about the pieces of furniture they buy, the look they want to achieve and maybe experimenting with colours, textures and design styles.

There may be many factures that have resulted in us spending more money and time on our home interiors. Firstly, the vast number of home decorating, makeover and interior design television programmes. Not everyone has an eye for design or just naturally a passion for interior design. The home makeover shows have given inspiration to the masses.

The internet is another huge factor. Before being able to buy online, we could only gain inspiration and buy furnishings and accessories from local home stores or by stumbling across a mail order catalogue. The choice, basically, was very limited unless you lived in a large city.
Now with online interiors and furnishings stores, blogs and online magazines, not only can imagine and visualise the exact look we want, we can buy that look and have it delivered.

The ultra modern look is very much of the moment, frankly stark in places, mainly white and very clinical. Although this look quite often suits apartment living, it isn’t for everyone and does not always suit a period apartment or house. We are very much over the chintz look so what do we go for when we want to keep colours muted but want texture, individuality and creativeness? One style that ticks all those boxes is the shabby chic look.

Shabby chic talks its influence from the New England style along with French. It is more often associated with the French style but increasingly amongst interior designers, they are seeing the ties with the very popular New England style as well. The shabby chic style is very creative, individual and romantic. Many furniture designers now are taking the basic elements of a shabby chic home and combining it with a touch of glamour to create a modern, comfortable style.

Bland shabby chic is not, it is very much a statement in terms of interior design. It is a statement in quite a different way to many styles of furniture in that it is the shape and form of the pieces that give the statement as the colours and shades are mostly muted like greys, washed out blues, pale pinks and faded greens. It is due to this that it has become such a popular style. The statement without the brash colours often found with strong design styles. It is the stylish marriage of things based on vintage designs and more modern pieces.

Even though by its nature and of course name, shabby chic doesn’t have smooth, perfect finishes. At the same time, the finishes, paints and varnishes on shabby chic furniture are meant to be like that and have been created in that way purposefully. Mass manufactured it is not and more importantly, not worn, chipped or broken through use as it is then that shabby chic loses its chic.

One very good description of shabby chic colours is “chalky”. These chalky greys and taupe’s mixed with lots and lots of white. Shabby chic furniture is always matt, always painted and combined with muted, linen covers is put together with accent pieces in silver. A touch of glamour and sparkle can then be added with crystal accessories such as chandeliers and decanters along with black and white family photos in silver frames and fresh cut flowers in an assortment of beautiful vases for example.

Shabby chic furniture and accessories provides individuality, a statement and endless style.

Shabby chic home furniture and accessories can give your house the WOW factor! The style of shabby chic is steeped in history yet with the modern day paint effects and colours, these items of furniture are brought right up to the present day. Shabby chic offers the traditional look without being heavy and stuffy. It adds character to a room and pieces can be used as little or as much as one wishes.

The influences for shabby chic furniture are taken mainly from French furniture of around the 1800’s period. The paint effects on these traditional reproduction designs of furniture recreate the shabby look but keeping it chic. The pieces are far from just shabby.

Shabby chic home furniture is extremely easy to look after and clean which makes it an excellent choice for those who have families or other busy lifestyles. Just one piece of shabby chic style furniture can give a focal point to a room.

With the rise of popularity of shabby chic furniture, complementing accessories and decorating items such as wallpaper are now readily available. Accessories for every room in the house including glassware, candle sticks and mirrors can now be found along with bathroom accessories such as soap holders, mirrors and towel rails.

More and more people are taking an interest in food, where their food comes from, seasonality and the different ways in which food can be cooked. Of course, the quality of produce is such a key factor when cooking. Flavouring and seasoning can only do so much, the quality of the base food whether it be meal, fish or vegetables is highly important.

If you have the best knives, saucepans and oven all the better but not everyone does. After buying the best produce you can afford the next most important purchase should be quality cookware, i.e pans.

Many people will have noticed that when a chef is cooking on television, they state and describe the pan they are using and that is normally one that they would strongly recommend you use. This is because pans are such a large part in how a recipe is cooked and how the finished dish turns out. When searing meat the last thing you would want to do is use a high sided pan as this would effectively steam the meat and you should not boil paste in a small, shallow pan.

Different pans cook food in different ways which is confirmed in a number of famous dishes from around the world. Many famous dishes are named after the pan or dish in which they were cooked in for example Spanish Paella, Moroccan Tagine and Indian Karahi. Each piece of cookware has been used for years and years to specifically achieve different effects.

Moving on from the correct type of pan or piece of cookware and then there are the different finishes including bases and coatings on pans, non-stick, stainless steel and copper pans are the most common. There are then cast iron pans namely for casserole dishes and griddle pans. Leading brands include Stellar pans, Le Creuset and Tefal.
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