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3 Ways To Keep Your Home Cool This Summer Without Running the A/C Nonstop

It can take a significant amount of energy to keep a home cool all summer long. If you want to cut back on energy use, consider using these three strategies to keep your house cool without running the air conditioner around the clock.

1. Increase the Insulation

Insulation works by reducing air transfer between spaces. That means that your cooled air can stay inside longer while the sweltering heat outside stays there. Not all insulation is made the same, however, so it pays to learn about the different types available. Spray polyurethane foam Chalfont PA is considered among the best available for its effectiveness at reducing airflow. It also has the advantage of being able to seal small leaks around pipes and openings.

2. Install Ceiling Fans

Fans make you feel cooler by generating air movement. As it passes over the skin, the air moves warmer air. At the same time, evaporative cooling lowers the skin’s surface temperature. In many cases, you can raise the temperature in a room by several degrees while running fans without noticing much of a difference. That can add up to significant savings on utility bills every month.

3. Use Lined Window Coverings

No matter how much you want to let the summer sun shine into your home, resist the urge to pull back the curtains. In fact, invest in lined thermal curtains to keep the sun out throughout the heat of the afternoon. This simple step can lower the temperature in your home by several degrees using no electricity at all.

A few small swaps can help reduce your reliance on a/c this summer. Increase the insulation in your home, invest in ceiling fans to keep air moving, and limit the amount of afternoon sun that comes in throughout windows for a significantly lower interior temperature.

Take Care of These Home Repair Issues Right Away

Even when your schedule gets busy, it’s important to set aside time for home repairs. Although it may seem like something isn’t really an emergency that requires urgent attention, waiting to resolve a problem could result in it getting worse or causing additional problems. Here are some home maintenance and repair issues that you should really take care of as soon as you can.

A Stain on Your Ceiling

If you see a stain on your ceiling, the first thing you need to do is identify where the problem is coming from. If the source isn’t obvious, it may be necessary to cut a small part of the ceiling open to perform a leak detection. Waiting to address the source of a stain on your ceiling can lead to costly mold remediation, which may not be covered by homeowner’s insurance.

Septic Maintenance

Periodic preventive maintenance of your septic system is vital to its structural integrity. If you are septic tank cleaning Orlando, contact a company that is experienced in serving customers in your area. By the time you notice a problem with your septic system, resolving it will be costly. Proactive cleaning and maintenance is the best way to keep your plumbing running efficiently and could help you avoid a costly cleanup.

HVAC Cleaning and Maintenance

Waiting until your HVAC is not working properly or leaking could leave you in the position of having to arrange for an emergency repair. If you remove a filter from your air handler and find that it’s a little damp, you should probably call for service. Excessive moisture or frost on an air handler may indicate that a unit’s evaporator coils are clogged and air is struggling to pass through.

Taking care of problems early on can make your home maintenance needs more manageable. Reach out to reputable companies in your area to arrange for service.

3 Factors to Consider When Looking for an Assisted Living Facility

Deciding to move to an assisted living facility can be very daunting. However, if you look at the brighter side, residing in an assisted living facility allows a person to live independently, is more cost-effective than living in a nursing home, and promotes physical, social, and mental well-being. Here are a few factors to consider when looking for St Petersburg assisted living.

1. Cost

Cost is the first factor you should consider when looking for st Petersburg assisted living. When looking for assisted living, be sure to get the best services you can afford. Select an assisted living facility whose costs are within your budget.

2. Location

Location is a significant factor that you must consider when looking for assisted living. The place you select should be close to relatives. It should be easily accessible. Additionally, the area should have favorable weather conditions throughout the year, and the neighborhood should be safe.

3. Services

Services are paramount to assisted living. That said, you should look at the services offered in St Petersburg assisted living facilities on your checklist before settling on one. At the minimum, they should provide at least three meals a day, personal care, medical, housekeeping, and recreational services. Additional services are a huge plus.

Bottom Line

Considering these factors is necessary for getting some of the most reputable St Petersburg assisted living facilities, like Westminster Suncoast. They provide the best-assisted living services at affordable prices.

How to Prepare Your Car for Every Season

Your car is your freedom. It gives you the means to go where you need when you want, but it also requires ongoing maintenance and preparation to perform its absolute finest. From the winter to the summer, there are many tasks you need to complete around the year to ensure that your vehicle runs smoothly and safely, and this guide is going to take you through them:

How to Be Prepared in All Situations

There are two types of preparation that you need to adopt when it comes to proper car maintenance. The first is preventative preparations that involve a better maintenance routine. The second is having emergency funds or at the very least a set plan on how to cover large auto repair costs. While your insurance or warranty may cover some auto repair costs, it may not cover all of them, and you may find it’s necessary to dip into your savings or apply for auto repair loans instead. To be prepared in all situations, you need to:

1. Know the full maintenance schedule for your vehicle
2. Have an emergency fund plan in place for larger repair costs

How to Prepare Your Car for Fall and Winter

To avoid heavy costs, maintenance is key, and your main priority should be in fall and winter when roads get wetter, and you may be driving in freezing or snowing conditions. Winterizing your car should start with a service from your local mechanic. You may also want to change your tires to winter tires, look into snow chains if you live in an area with poorly maintained roads, also stock up on your winter kit. Your mechanic should do all due diligence, from checking the battery health to refilling the coolant and windshield washer fluid.

On top of winterizing your vehicle, you might also want to practice defensive driving, check the weather every time you go out, and never fill your gas tank full, as this reduces the risk of condensation and your lines freezing.

How to Prepare Your Car for Spring and Summer

Getting your vehicle ready for spring and summer should once again include a visit to the mechanic and switching out to summer or all-season tires. Coolant is very important during the summer months, but for different reasons than during the winter. It’s also a good idea to make sure that your air conditioning is working as that is also important.

To ensure that there isn’t any winter damage, now is a good time to deep clean your vehicle as well, paying particular attention to the undercarriage of your car.

You might want a full service on your vehicle in preparation for summer because hot temperatures are just as much, if not harder on your vehicle than the cold. From your battery to your oil, checking, replacing, and refilling at least twice a year is the optimal way to keep your vehicle responsive and in good condition throughout the year.

How To Know You Would Make A Good Nurse

Nursing is a great choice when it comes to a good, secure profession that truly makes a difference in the world. However, not everyone is able to be a nurse. Or rather, not everyone has the skills and personality needed to become a great nurse (everyone has the opportunity to be one, but that’s different, of course).

How do you know if you have those skills and personality traits? It can be hard to decide, especially if you already have an idea that nursing would suit you; your ideas and objectivity will be skewed because you want to think that you will be a great nurse. However, nursing is not easy, and there is a lot of study involved, which requires time, effort, and money. Unless you can be fairly sure (and ideally very sure) that nursing is the right thing for you, all that time, effort, and money could be wasted when you actually start the work involved.

This is why it’s wise to work out whether you would be a good nurse ahead of time. Read on to find out what you need to be a good nurse and why it’s so important to get this right.

Caring

It might seem obvious that a nurse needs to be caring, and it might seem true that anyone who decides to become a nurse is generally a caring kind of person, but this may not be the case. There are many reasons why someone might want to become a nurse, and that doesn’t mean they are naturally caring individuals. It might be that job security is what interests them or the fact that there is a lot of career progression. It might be that other family members have been nurses, and they want to follow in their footsteps. Caring might not, therefore, be a major character trait.

However, if you intend to be a good nurse who helps patients and does what is needed (and more), and if you want to enjoy the work you do, then being a caring person is vital. You’ll be able to show your patients that you are taking care of them, you’ll listen to them more, and you’ll know how to help them better if you’re a caring person.

Communication

Are you a good communicator? If you want to be a nurse, it’s important that you are good at communicating or that you can learn to be. Communication is crucially important when you are nursing, as you’ll need to be able to clearly and concisely let others know about a patient’s care. You’ll also need to talk to the patient themselves, and this involves a different kind of communication. Can you switch from one way of speaking to another? Is your ‘bedside manner’ a good one that will leave the patient feeling contented and with all the right information?

Unless you have a good ability to listen and speak and interpret information in the right way, nursing is going to be very hard for you. You’re much more likely to make mistakes or lead to mistakes being made if your communication skills are not up to par.

It is possible to learn how to communicate better, and some of this will be part of your nursing training, although some you’ll need to do yourself. If you already have good skills when it comes to communication, things will be much easier right from the start, and you’ll feel a lot more confident in your work every day.

Problem Solving Skills

If you want to be a nurse, you’ll need to engage in a lot of training. This is true whether you start your nursing degree as soon as you complete high school or whether you choose to go into nursing later in life, perhaps after trying another career and finding it didn’t suit you well, and you use your first degree to study for online accelerated BSN programs. No matter when you start or what level you intend to get to, studying is all part of nursing.

This means that problem-solving skills are going to be useful ones to have, and if you are good at getting past obstacles, then your nursing studies won’t be such an issue – they will still be hard, and there is always a lot to learn, but if you have problem-solving skills, things will be simpler.

What will also be simpler is the work itself. Nurses have to get past challenges every day, and they will often need to come up with innovative ways to do this that help not just them but the patients and their colleagues as well. If you already have this skill, nursing won’t just be a good idea; it will be a great one that you can truly enjoy.

Attention To Detail

When you are a nurse, it’s important to expect to be under a great deal of pressure every day. You’ll have patients to care for, colleagues to help out, emergencies to deal with, and you’ll need to listen to and carry out instructions given by doctors and other medical staff. Altogether, this can add up to be a lot to think about. However, despite all of this, you’ll still need to think about the small things and ensure that, no matter how busy you might be, you pay attention to the details of your work, and not just the larger aspects of it.

This will not necessarily be an easy thing to do. With so many things to do in a shift, it’s much easier to skim over the small details and focus only on the things you are being asked to do. Unfortunately, although this might be easier, it’s not good for the patient – mistakes can happen when nurses work in this way, and that could be very dangerous indeed in some instances. This is why great nurses must be able to be detail-oriented no matter what else is happening around them. If you’re able to do this, you can be sure that – assuming you meet the other criteria – you would be a good nurse.

Things to Know When You Want To Be A Nurse Practitioner

Do you want a career that is fulfilling, community-minded, and challenging enough to make a difference in the world?

Being a nurse practitioner is the perfect role for anyone who wants to make a difference in the world, but it’s not an easy job by any means!

A career in nursing is always in high demand, and that means it can be hard to find the training you need.

If you’re looking for a way to make a difference in your life, look no further! To help you on your journey into this rewarding profession, here are some things you should know about being a nurse practitioner.

What is a Nurse Practitioner? What Are Their Duties?

In short, a nurse practitioner is a registered nurse who has received advanced training and can provide basic medical treatments for their patients.

Nurse practitioners can fill a variety of roles within the medical field, but most often they will be assigned to manage the care of patients who are acutely or chronically ill. They are almost always assigned to work with specific patient populations that may have special needs, such as geriatrics.

Often, these nurse practitioners will work alongside other health care professionals in an interdisciplinary clinical model. This means that they might see patients in a clinical setting but also be available for consultations or interventions with other doctors or fields of practice.

Being a nurse practitioner is challenging because it requires not only knowledge about medical conditions and types of illnesses, but it also calls for a high degree of interpersonal skills and compassion when working with patients.

Nurse practitioners, like all medical professionals, must be able to help patients with day-to-day problems and concerns. They can also provide emotional support and assistance with their patients’ issues outside of the medical setting.

What Are The Education Requirements For Becoming A Nurse Practitioner?

The specific education requirements vary depending on where you are in the country, but there are standards for all nurse practitioners that can be an important aspect of being certified.

Applying to a nursing program can be difficult for someone who doesn’t have an undergraduate degree, because many programs require one or more prerequisites before students can apply. Many nursing schools will accept applications from individuals with a bachelor’s degree in other fields, but then the applicant will need to complete some prerequisite classes within the new field before they can be accepted into the program.

The most important requirement that all nurse practitioners must-have is a graduate degree in nursing. This usually means at least a master’s degree, but on the higher end, it could be an online Doctor of Nursing Practice doctorate.

In order to receive these advanced degrees, applicants must complete their undergraduate program and prove they have the potential to work as a nurse practitioner for their careers. Some programs will qualify students if they already have five or more years of experience in this field.

Many schools will accept students who are already working in the medical field, but they may also need to fulfill certain requirements before they can be accepted into the program. This is why it’s important to find out about all of these programs before you decide on the one that’s right for you.

Where Can I Find A Nurse Practitioner Program?

Nurse practitioner programs are most often found in university nursing schools or colleges with graduate nursing programs. There may also be some smaller nurse practitioner training programs within hospitals or clinics.

University nursing programs can be an excellent choice if you’re looking for a school that’s accredited and respected, but there are some that may not meet the standards you’re looking for.

Hospitals and clinics that provide nurse practitioner training may be another good alternative if you want to work in a clinical environment, but keep in mind that they don’t have to have high standards or rigorous admission procedures.

Before deciding on a university program or a hospital-based program, look into each one carefully so you can find out about their specific practices and requirements. Some hospitals may offer great training but may also require long work hours that will interfere with your education.

Try to find out how much interaction the school will have with other health care providers in your community, and how they measure their success in terms of teaching. These are good questions to ask when you’re deciding on a school because you’ll want to find one that appeals to you and fits your needs.

If the idea of classroom training is not for you, in some situations, and depending on your field of practice and level of experience, employers may be able to hire someone without a degree to fill in these gaps.

How Do I Become A Nurse Practitioner?

In order to become a nurse practitioner, you’ll need to complete a graduate program that will meet the standards set by the state where you want to work. All nurse practitioners must have at least a master’s degree and there are no registered nurse positions that require less than an associate’s degree.

Nurse practitioners must also be certified in their state of practice. In some cases, they may be required to pass the national certification exam before they can even apply for their license. In other instances, they may need to take this test prior to completing their programs and then pass it after they’ve completed their coursework.

Nurse practitioners must also pass a criminal background check and a two-year employment reference check before they can apply for their own certification. If they’re going to be working with children, then they will also need a background check that is more thorough and specific to that field.

How Can I Become A Nurse Practitioner?

In order to become a nurse practitioner, you’ll need to complete an accredited graduate nursing program. Many nurse practitioner programs are available from educational institutions or hospitals with programs specifically geared toward meeting the needs of the medical community. These types of programs tend to be more comprehensive and thorough than those offered by most universities, but you have to find one that’s right for you.

There are some associate’s degree nurse practitioner programs, but these programs are not as commonly available. It’s important to consider the fact that these programs may need more time to successfully complete, and they may require more of your time while you’re in school.

It’s also important to consider your current level of experience when you’re thinking about becoming a nurse practitioner. There are some patients who may prefer to work with someone who has more experience administering care.

While there are no official certifications for this, some employers will require new employees to have some clinical experience before they can be hired.

Anyone who wants to become a nurse practitioner can do so if they want to put in the work and commit themselves to their chosen field. You can search for accredited nurse practitioner programs online or contact local universities to find out which ones are appropriate for your needs.

What Do I Need To Become A Nurse Practitioner?

In order to become a nurse practitioner, you’ll need to complete a graduate-level program within the nursing field. The specific courses you’ll need to take will depend on the program you choose, but there are some common courses that are available at most institutions. Many of the course titles may be different at various institutions, but they will cover many of the same topics.

You’ll also want to develop strong communication and interpersonal skills. This will help you work with patients and families of all ages, so you’ll need to learn how to effectively communicate with them throughout your education. You can do this by taking relevant classes or programs at the university or by attending workshops and seminars on this topic.

You can also learn about patient care through more hands-on experiences, such as performing first aid or CPR on patients at local hospitals or clinics, or volunteering at nursing homes on a regular basis.

What Can I Do With My Degree?

Health care providers who want to be considered for any type of team will need to have at least an associate’s degree in nursing. These programs are very similar to the nurse practitioner programs that are offered by most colleges. Some students may choose to complete associate’s programs prior to their bachelor’s degrees if they want to gain experience in the field or if they can’t afford a four-year college degree.

After completing an associate degree, you may decide to pursue a bachelor’s program. This can be very rewarding, but you should remember that this type of program will take longer to complete, will require more hours in the classroom and may cost more money than some other types of programs.

The nursing field offers many different opportunities for continuing education for registered nurses with bachelor’s degrees. Attendance at conferences, professional meetings and other events offered by organizations like the American Nurses Association (ANA) is an excellent way to keep up to date on the latest developments in your field.

How To Decorate A Private Medical Facility

If you’re working in the healthcare industry, you should be aware – and perhaps you are already – that it’s a massive sector, and it’s growing quickly. In fact, it’s one of the fastest-growing industries of all when you take everything into account. This means that more and more clinics and other private medical facilities are opening, and if this is something you are keen to do with your medical qualifications and experience, then it’s certainly a good path to go down.

Yet although this is a good idea, and although it could be extremely successful, the very fact that there are lots of medical facilities being opened all the time since the sector is growing means that you could get lost in the crowd, no matter how good you are at what you do. Here are some useful tips on how to decorate your private medical facility to ensure that patients are comfortable, happy and that they want to tell others how great your clinic is. Stand out from the crowd with your décor, and you can soon prove what excellent medical skills you have. Read on to find out more.

Make It Easy To Navigate Through

The last thing you want to happen is that your patients come to you for help and then become stressed out and anxious because your facility is confusing and difficult to navigate around. You earned your online post-master’s certificates in nursing to help people, not to make their condition worse, so by ensuring your private medical facility is laid out in a helpful, easy-to-navigate way is an important factor.

To begin with, if you can’t actually change the layout of your clinic because of budget or time constraints, or perhaps because building codes won’t allow you to, you must make sure there is enough signage so that no one is going to get lost. For example, you can place signs on the wall pointing to various different areas such as the exit, reception, and the doctor’s offices. You can also utilize the floor and walls; have different colored lines painted that people can follow – each color should take them to a different area, making it virtually impossible for them to get lost. Equally, you can include maps or even self-service kiosks with information on computer screens within them.

If the layout of the building you have bought is confusing and you can, then it may be wise to move walls and open up corridors to ensure that there are no dead ends and that all the space is used in the best way possible to help your patients and not make them feel as though they’ve made a mistake booking an appointment with you. Remember, with private medical clinics, word of mouth is an essential part of your marketing; the better you can make your facility, the more people will recommend it, and the more work you’ll have.

Create A Welcoming Ambiance

If a patient steps through the front door of your clinic and immediately feels comfortable, perhaps even ‘at at home’, they are going to be much more relaxed and happier to be there. Not only will this help you when it comes to word-of-mouth recommendations, as mentioned above, but it will also ensure your patients can be treated properly. An overly stressed or anxious patient may have their actual symptoms masked by this anxiety, and therefore it can be much harder to diagnose them and treat them properly. Their blood pressure will be higher; for example, their heart rate will be more rapid, and they will generally be a lot tenser. If they are happy in their surroundings because you have created a welcoming ambiance right from the start, they will be easier to work on and with.

There are many different ways to ensure you have a welcoming atmosphere in your clinic, and the one or ones you choose will, to some extent at least, depend on your own preferences and the types of patients you treat. For example, if you are ostensibly a children’s clinic, the design is likely to be quite different from a maternity clinic, which might differ from a senior care center. Take your patients into account when you think of the décor that will make them most comfortable and welcome. Some examples of what you could include:

• Minimalist Scandinavian designs
• Plenty of space
• Light colors
• Natural light using skylights and floor to ceiling windows
• Cozy warm tones
• Good ventilation
• Calming colors
• Wooden furniture
• Water features

Have Adaptable Or Multi-Purpose Spaces

If you can install areas within your private medical facility that have multiple uses and can be adapted for those uses as need, be, you’ll have a highly effective and productive clinic that everyone can make use of. What you’ll also have is a clinic that people are happy to be in because it can be adapted to suit their needs – this might be physical needs such as using a wheelchair, or it could be mental health needs, such as needing to be in a room without too much stimulation. Whatever it is, if you can provide it in your clinic through your décor and your layout, you’ll gain a reputation for taking care of your patients – all your patients – in the very best way possible.

For your patients to have a more personalized experience within your private medical facility, you can use partitions to allow them to decide on their own level of privacy, for example. In the past, these partitions would have looked highly clinical; perhaps they might even be considered ugly in terms of their aesthetic, but today there are many different designs you can choose from that will match the rest of the décor in your clinic and that won’t look like they are too medical in nature, helping your patients immensely.

You can also incorporate function, light-weight furniture in your designs. Although you shouldn’t expect patients to move things around (unless they want to, of course), you and your team can change the way a room looks quickly and easily if you have this kind of functional and attractive furniture. You can also have portable lamps that can be taken from room to room, giving you a good light source no matter where you are or what you need. When you have furniture and other items that are adaptable, you can make your private medical facility exactly how you want it, benefitting you, your staff, and your patients in different ways.

Smart Integration Of Technology

When you are considering how you should design and decorate your medical facility, taking modern technology into account is an important element. No one will feel comfortable being treated in a clinic that doesn’t have the most up-to-date equipment and tech, so you’ll need to make sure you have it and that it functions in the right way. On top of that, you’ll need to work out how to incorporate it into your design aesthetic in the right way so that it doesn’t look out of place or too jarring, no matter how necessary it might be.

This can even all begin at the design stage – you can use virtual reality design software to ensure you have the very best design possible. By using this modern tech, you can effectively walk around your clinic before it’s even built, and at the very least before it’s decorated, and you’ll be able to see exactly what it will look like and determine what will and won’t work for your patients.

Include Art

If you want to ensure that everyone who comes into your private medical facility is happy and comfortable, then having some art included in your décor is a good idea. Pick images with bright, cheerful colors (as long as those colors don’t clash with the rest of your décor, of course) because this will make your patients feel good and relax them.

To make people feel even better about your clinic, you should commission art from local artists and ensure this fact is advertised, perhaps with an informative label by each picture, giving the name and location of the artist and some additional facts about the image itself. In this way, you are helping to integrate your clinic with the rest of your community, and this will entice more people to use you, thinking of you as their local healthcare center.

Bring The Outside In

If your décor aims to create a comfortable, welcoming atmosphere to help your customers feel at ease and relaxed, then you’ll already have seen a number of things you can do to ensure this is what you have. One other thing that could be included are plants. When you can bring the outside in and include a natural look to your décor with the use of potted plants, you are giving your patients not one but three different benefits.

The first benefit is that plants give off a sense of calm, ideal for a medical facility. They also increase productivity, so your staff members will be able to help patients more effectively. Finally, plants will always make any room they are in feel a lot more inviting. Add some plants, and you’ll instantly see the difference.

How To Increase Your Home’s Curb Appeal

When you’re getting your home ready to be sold, you likely focus most of your efforts on the inside of your home. While this is very important, you should never fail to consider the importance of your home’s curb appeal. If the outside of your home doesn’t look good, then buyers won’t have confidence in the state of the inside of the home. Here are some ways you can boost your curb appeal. 

Put Your Things Away

One of the quickest ways to increase your curb appeal is to clean up your family’s things when they’re done being used. For example, if your kids are done playing with their toys outside, make sure they pull them into the garage or put them in an outside bin so they don’t become eyesores. 

If you have wood haphazardly thrown into a pile, consider getting portable storage buildings Navarro County TX to store the wood in. The building will look much nicer than having a pile of wood on the property. 

Clean the Driveway

You might not realize it, but your driveway is likely filthy. It’s covered in dirt and oil and could benefit from a good washing. First, spray a solution that will break up the oil, making it easier to clean off the driveway. Then, after the solution has sat for about 20 minutes, use a pressure washer to remove the buildup. Your driveway will look as good as new and will enhance the look of the entire home. 

Mow Your Grass

Even if you have a lush, green lawn, you will want to keep your lawn mowed so that your home looks its best. Additionally, keeping the grass trimmed along walkways and driveways will help give your yard a polished look. If you hate yard work, consider asking a kid in the neighborhood to do it or hire a lawn service company to do it for you. 

THE MATTRESS YOU USE MATTERS: HERE ARE THE REASONS WHY

When preparing our house and turning it into a home, we try to find the best furniture and appliances to make it as comfortable and as pleasing to the senses as possible.  After all, we spend at least half of our time every day at home on average. The color and shape of the sofa is cross-checked against the motif and color of the room. The dining table must mesh well with the overall look of the kitchen. The drawers and cabinets must be able to maximize the space.

But when it comes to the bed mattress, aesthetics come second.  What is more important is how well it fits your body structure and body type.  There is no one-size-fits-all for mattresses because our bodies are all wired differently. In fact, there are even best mattress for heavy people that are structured specifically for overweight persons.

Do not let the cost of the mattress scare you away from trying it out.  Consider it as an investment for your overall health and well-being as there are many benefits to using the proper mattress.  We share some of the reasons why:

1. It improves the quality of your sleep

The quality of the mattress you use, and your compatibility with it can make all the difference in the quality of your sleep. In a study conducted by a National Sleep Foundation, having a comfortable mattress was identified by 92% of respondents as a major factor in letting them sleep better.

This claim is supported by the American Sleep Association who says that the right choice of a mattress is one of the keys to having comfortable sleep.  Make sure as well that the mattress you are using is still within its life span, because a mattress that has exceeded its allowed use will not be able to provide you with ample back support.  This will lead to stiff muscles and joints the next morning and will affect you for the rest of the day, if not a few days.

Some neurologists and sleep specialists believe that personal preferences also play a major role in the type of mattress you should choose as it must also be aligned with your natural sleep posture.  The right mattress for you may be fit for another person.  This is why it is important that you get to try out the mattress first before buying it.

2. It Helps Align Your Spine

You should have your weight spread evenly on a surface to ease the pressure on your back and spine. Having an improper weight distribution, on the other hand, would put all the strain on your spine, making it unable to relax even when you are at rest.  After some time, this will eventually lead to chronic troubles such as back pain, shoulder and neck numbness, or posture problems.

For most adults, it is recommended to sleep on your back because this posture ensures that your body weight is spread evenly across the mattress, thus your whole body is aligned while you sleep.  A good mattress should not be too soft or too hard for you so it can evenly spread your weight and support the natural curve of your spine. It will also make sure that your acupuncture points are free and relaxed.  A mattress that is too soft, on the other hand, would bend too sharply on the waist area, thus making your shoulders and hips tense up to support the curve of your body.

3. It Can Help You Relax and De-Stress

In a study conducted with about 60 men and women to test their reaction to mattresses, it was discovered that sleeping on a new mattress with average firmness had helped improve their emotional and psychological conditions. The study compared their reactions when sleeping for 28 days on their old mattress versus 28 days in the new mattress.

The respondents claimed that they experienced better sleep, less headaches, and less worry and anxiety after sleeping on a new mattress, which was attributed to being able to sleep more deeply and having no muscle pain due to a correct sleeping posture.

4. It Will Improve Your Overall Health and Well-Being

Not having enough quality sleeping hours and being constantly on a high-stress level takes a toll on your body.  It can lead to many physical and mental health issues like mood swings, high blood pressure, weakened immunity, poor memory, weight gain, or diabetes. Considering these possibilities, the additional cost you may have to pay for good quality, the fitting mattress would seem to be more reasonable.

As using the right mattress improves the quality of your sleep and helps bring down your stress levels, your body also starts to heal and recover. You will start waking up feeling well-rested and refreshed, your mind becomes more alert, and you feel more energized as you go about your daily activities.

If you feel that you are not using the right kind of mattress for your body type, there is no need to panic.  You can ask the sales representatives in the store for the types of materials used in their mattresses and what each material is best known for. Most stores would also allow trials so you can get a feel of the actual material before buying the whole package. Recommendations from friends and families can also help point you in the right direction.

Tips for Designing Your Dream Kitchen

To add value to your home, investing in a remodeling project can provide you with a healthy return on your investment. Areas to focus on include the kitchen, bathroom, or basement, which tend to provide the biggest value increase. For homeowners who are embarking on their first kitchen remodel, here are some design tips to help you create your dream space.

Layout

You tend to be mobile when working in your kitchen, which means it’s important to keep the overall layout in mind when you redesign your space. Work with St Charles kitchen and bath experts to determine the best use for your space so you can flow from one task to the next with ease. 

Cost

Do you know how much money you have to dedicate to your remodel? Having a budget in mind is important or else you may end up over your head on a project you can’t afford to finish. You cannot live without a working kitchen, so make sure you take a look at your finances to determine how much money you can safely put toward your remodeling project. 

Materials

When you think of your dream kitchen, what does it look like? Do you picture an old country farmhouse look or a more sleek, modern look? Knowing how you want your kitchen to look will dictate what materials you invest in to achieve the end result you want. 

Lighting 

A well-lit kitchen will make it easier to see when you’re completing cooking and meal prep tasks. You’ll be less likely to make a mistake that could result in injury when you can effectively see what you’re doing. Invest in good lighting that’s warm, inviting, and makes everyday tasks easier.