One of the most maddening issues a home owner or renter can face is dealing with a drafty residence. It’s nowhere near as serious as plumbing issues or structural problems, but drafts can make buildings uncomfortable and inefficient; two things no home should be. Sometimes, the source of a draft isn’t even in the room where you feel it, but because of doors and windows, air can whip through a room. One easy solution for this is a draft blocker; a simple tube or slide-on system that stops the movement of air from underneath a door, providing passive, quiet insulation. There are two typical styles of draft blockers. One involves…

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the reason why the world is filled with so many types of art and creativity. No matter what somebody makes, it’s almost guaranteed that somebody somewhere will find beauty in it, even if it’s only the person who made it. There are no restrictions on how to create what we do, be it a traditional painting, crafts with the family, or interior design. One product that helps us create in all of these applications and many more is foam. Foam shapes used for painting can be utilized in innumerable ways, with its range of textures and materials. One of the most basic…

We’ve all dreamt of living in a fairytale mansion, adorned with beautiful decorations and stunning hallways, staircases, and balconies. As we grow older, many of us realize the chances of this happening aren’t as likely as we once thought they were, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to make the most out of what we do have. Even modest homes benefit from architectural additions, which are able to significantly impact the feel, appearance, and even the value of the home. Of course, many additions to a home can weigh heavily on a checkbook, especially when there are more pressing issues at hand. There is a middle ground though, where…

Weather stripping is important to a home for many reasons. It prevents the intrusion of outside elements like wind, rain, vermin, and insects; all vital for the long-term upkeep of a structure. Moisture and water damage can ruin door and window jambs and even damage structural elements in a home. This architectural trim also offers financial benefits. By forming a seal around air gaps, in-home heating and cooling efficiency is greatly improved. Drafts make your heating systems work harder than they need to, and in the summer, reducing the amount of hot, humid air that has access to the home means your AC doesn’t have to struggle as much. And…

Making a mark and catching an eye is one of the most important aspects of marketing your business and reaching potential customers. In a world saturated with advertising and gimmicks intended to draw your attention to a product or service that’s all style and no substance, it takes more than fliers and web ads to get through to people that you mean business. One of the best ways to do this is with a bold and striking business sign in front of your storefront. These establish credibility and help identify you as a part of the community, and a part that’s there to stay. Unfortunately, these can be a major…

Vacations from the daily grind of your professional life aren’t just fun, they’re important for keeping yourself refreshed and effective. One of the best ways to escape from it all is to pack your bags, go camping, and get back to the basics. Camping can be a love-or-hate activity for many people. Often, the reason people align themselves with the hate side of things isn’t a lack of appreciation of the outdoors or being active, but their inability to get a good night’s sleep. After all, what good is a vacation if it tires you out more than the job you’re trying to get away from? Figuring out how to…

One of the rites of passage for almost every college student is acclimating to a dorm room that is often smaller than his or her old bedroom, while sharing that reduced space with a roommate. This cutback on personal space can come as a shock to many people, but there is often no way around it. Fortunately, optimizing the space you’re given can be an experiment in creativity and can often end up being pretty fun. There are many ways to optimize space in a dorm room, so here are a few tips: The Futon. The old college standard, this folding platform hybrid furniture can double as a bed or…

In extreme environments and perilous situations, ingenuity and creativity are most often what help people get by, not the quick and easy, pre-packaged solution. So while traditional parkas and down-filled jackets will fit the bill for people shoveling their driveway or walking from their car into a store, some people gleefully push their boundaries with adventures few others would dare to attempt. For these outdoor argonauts, cold-weather endurance is one of the greatest tests of know-how and ability. Days and nights in frigid temperatures are dangerous, even for those with experience and knowledge. This is why the right equipment is so important, and to survive in areas where big-box store…

Not every person is satisfied with traditional furniture like rigid wooden chairs and heavy, immobile couches, and they only have them because of a lack of better options. Fortunately for those who desire a little more flexibility in their homes, there are many alternative furniture products available to outfit a home the way they really want. One of the most popular alternatives in furniture is a classic staple of home décor: bean bag chairs. Little has changed in bean bag chairs since they burst onto the scene in the 60s and 70s, but while you can still find these chairs filled with recognizable white foam beads, that filling is more…

Recording studios are acoustically treated not just to prevent the entrance and exit of noise and sound, but also to create an atmosphere where recordings and mixes can be created with the most clarity and accuracy possible. This is difficult, because sound waves travel at different frequencies, reflect off of surroundings and pass through others. For these reasons, a room’s contents, building materials and shape all have an impact on the quality of sound. Reverberation and distortion can be reflected around a space and high and low frequencies can be absorbed or diffused at different rates, also impacting how music is heard. A sound acoustic treatment system is the solution…