home upgrades Archives - Mother 2 Mother Blog

6 Benefits of Automating Your Home

With modern technology, things that seemed impossible things are becoming possible. Given that we lead a very fast paced life, we tend to miss out on many important things. This is when technology dives in to help. Recently human have thought of taking the technology a little further and improve our lives by making our homes a bit more “tech savvy”. Today we’re going to discuss the benefits of automating your home.

First, technology helps the home owner to control his or her home from a smartphone. They are able to use the technology no matter how far he or she is, says home automation experts. Thus, these homes are labelled as “smart homes” due to their unique trait of thinking on their own. These automated homes help the owners in many ways. Lets take a look:

Appliance Safety and Lighting Control

Through home automation, you can actually take care of the safety of your family from your fingertips. No more worrying about leaving the oven on or did the kids leave the shower running. Through home automation, you can recheck appliances and turn them off if you forgot. Home automation bring peach of mind, and saves your home from a disaster striking. Also, the lighting can be switched on and off at your convenience in order to save on your electricity bills.

Automated Door Locks

Maybe the most beneficial trait of home automation is automated door locks. While you are rushing to the office or your children rushing to school you or they may forget to lock the doors. This leads to many security concerns and safety of your belongings. Through home automation, you can check the door locks and make amends if you do leave the door open. It also allows you to monitor who enters your home, and at what time. That’s a big advantage.

Security Cameras

You cannot be everywhere at once. But with technology, you can have eyes all over. If your home is automated, you can keep a track of who and what is around your home.

Automated Temperature Control

Controlling temperature at home is essential these days. Extreme weather conditions affect our health. Additionally, being able to control the temperature when we leave or get ready to return home is quite savvy and convenient. Being able to control the temperature is a priority in many homes.

Saves Money and Contributes to Economy

Smart homes are smart because it can be regulated and are efficient. Using resources like electricity, heating or cooling our home and proper usage of water efficiently is beneficial to the nation’s economy overall. Home automation systems helps cut down the misuse or resources. Furthermore, it provides you with full access to the resources needed and contributes to the economy as a whole.

Comfort

Last, these are a few benefits of automating your home. Home automation provides you with the ultimate comfort one used to only dream about. Now, it allows you to set your home’s temperature, have intelligent lighting, sync music, secure and monitor your house, and much more.

Tips For Buying Porcelain and Ceramic Tile Flooring

Are you thinking of installing new flooring? I replaced all of the flooring in my home several years ago. I replaced all of my carpet with hardwood, installed porcelain in my kitchen, and ceramic tile and vinyl in the bathrooms.

I banged my head a few times during the selection stage, but the end result was spectacular. My biggest frustration was running from store to store to bring home samples. I have a solution for this problem, check out GoHaus. GoHaus sells luxury flooring from engineered luxury wood to porcelain.

Although I purchased hardwood flooring, I’m going to focus on porcelain and ceramic tiles today. I selected porcelain for my kitchen flooring and ceramic and vinyl flooring for my bathrooms. My kitchen takes a beating, especially during the summer and fall. I’m a kitchen gardener and I love to entertain my large family, so my kitchen is used to can, pickle and make jams from my garden harvest in the summer and large pots of deliciousness for my family. Here’s are things I considered before I purchased my kitchen flooring:

That it be able to take high traffic
That I be able to clean it with ease
That it have low water absorption (When I’m using my canner for preserving, it splatters water)

After careful consideration I decided on glazed porcelain. My flooring makes me happy, I smile when I work into my kitchen. I know that it will last for decades and it looks great. Your floors should make you smile too. GoHaus has beautiful porcelain flooring for you to choose from. Head over and check it out.

Did you know that porcelain comes in 3 finishes. Glazed, Color Body and Through Body. Here’s some insight on these finishes:

Glazed – Glaze protects the porcelain from water penetration and stains. There are more designs to choose from in this category. You can find patterns that model wood, stone or solid color combinations.
Color Body – Color body porcelain tiles are created colored stains from the glaze surface throughout the body of the tile. The color remains consistent throughout the tile; however, the surface design does not continue throughout the tile body.
Through Body – Through body tiles does not have the protective layer of glaze. This type of flooring relies on the density of the material for protection from water penetration and stains, although a sealant can be added. This type of flooring is color fast, so you don’t have to worry about it fading over time.

I selected Sinter Ceramic Tile for my master bathroom, and Through Body porcelain tiles for the others with vinyl flooring. I’m thrilled with the end result. If you decide to purchase ceramic tile, I suggest a heat mat under your flooring if you’re a cold natured person and be sure to consider how slippery it will be when wet. I went with vinyl flooring in the other bathrooms, my grandchildren and guests use them and their safety was a major consideration. Here’s a list of the most common types of ceramic tile:

Sinter
Klinker
Terracotta
Majolica
Mosaic

Hop over to the Ceramic Tile section at GoHaus and check out their selection. You can request up to 6 free samples of flooring without using your credit card. Don’t you love this perk. Most stores charge for samples. Do your homework and make sure you love your selections.

Note: I have been compensated for this post; however, all opinions are my own.