courtesy of housetohome.co.uk

The beautiful image above, courtesy of housetohome.co.uk, shows what is achievable in a lot of family homes. A combined space for cooking, entertaining, eating, socialising and relaxing – we just need the beautiful weather to go with it so those folding sliding doors can be put to full use throughout the milder months!

Here at Adamsons, everyone returned to work on 3rd January well rested after having a lovely and much needed break – carrying a few extra pounds that we all work so hard on gaining over the Christmas period!

January is turning out to be a very positive month with 47 enquiries already, and 7 lots of lovely customers to welcome on board with Adamsons.

Here’s hoping it continues and 2012 is an Olympic year for everyone!

New research by Nationwide Building Society says that an extension or loft conversion which creates a double bedroom with its own bathroom can add an astonishing 23 per cent to the value of your home. And that’s great news for all the Adamson customers who have asked us to extend or convert their properties.

While interest rates are low for borrowing, you can more easily afford this kind of improvement. It means you can stay in your home, enjoy a bigger space and avoid the hassles of re-sale while it’s so difficult to achieve a realistic selling price. It also can help you be active in avoiding negative equity.

It’s such a viable solution and a wise investment, why not let Adamson help you enjoy the dream home you’ve always wanted right now.

Here’s what the Nationwide had to say:

A 10% increase in floor space adds 5% to the price of a typical home.

An extra bedroom adds 12%

An extension or loft conversion with a double bedroom and bathroom adds 23%.

The 30% surge in re-mortgages confirms that home owners can more readily raise finance for building work. In fact 19% of further advances to existing borrowers were used to pay for structural improvements such as extensions and loft conversions.

More than 19 million homes could also benefit from at least one home improvement to help its energy performance when the house is sold.

Now you don’t just have to take our word for it. You’ve heard it straight from the mouths of the money experts!

Chris Platt, one of our Architectural Technicians, is a typical English gent – fair skin, fair hair, so he was up against it to get any growth on his top lip, but he achieved the following results by 18th November:

If you feel like supporting Chris in his challenge, and supporting such a deserving cause, please donate at the http://mobro.co/chrisbradman

The best gadget for me (a tea addict!) is a boiling water tap. I love it, it’s invaluable. No more waiting for a full kettle to boil, just full my cup and away I go. Its also really handy to fill a pan with boiling water and then transfer it to the hob and have it instantly bubbling away.

If you are going to splash out on one luxury gadget for the kitchen my recommendation would be that it is a boiling water tap.

We have a couple on display in the showroom, come down and take a look – and enjoy a cuppa with us!

The new Franke Minerva 3-in1 Kettle tap is excellent, both practical and stylish

 

Forget waiting for the kettle to boil. With the Franke Minerva 3-in-1 Kettle Tap, boiling water for tea, coffee, cooking spaghetti or vegetables is instantly available.

The Kettle Tap provides hot, cold and boiling water from one unit for complete convenience. Boiling the kettle can be a waste of water and time; with the Kettle Tap only the water required is used – meaning savings in water and electricity.  

I thought I would post a couple of links to various pumpkin-inspired recipes, to make use of the glut of pumpkins that are around at the moment.

Hope you manage to try some and report back on any culinary delights/disasters that you may have in the kitchen over the coming days. Happy Halloweeen!

Sausage, pumpkin & sage casserole – sounds delicious! http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sausagepumpkinandsag_92737

Pumpkin soup – of course! http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pumpkin_soup_45815

Pumpkin Pan-Fry by Nigel Slater – anything by this culinary genius is worth trying! http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pumpkin_pan_fry_04397

And not forgetting a pudding – Pumpkin Cheesecake! http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pumpkincheesecake_8826

Whilst there Simon Bodsworth, the marketing manager at Daval, ran through some emerging trends for the next 18 months, and Authenticity was a key theme. He showcased some interesting new wood finishes, with deep veining, knots, texture, some were almost like drift wood. Colours were still themed around the browns/ greys, with Stone and Mocha coming through as dominant colours, Stone in particular worked well with all the new wood finishes that were presented.

Thanks again Daval for an informative afternoon and a sneak preview of the exciting things to come!

We didn’t get the Winner’s Trophy but we are still extremely proud of ourselves and our showroom that we were Finalists in the Showroom of the Year category – after seeing the videos of the other 2 showrooms I can see that competition was high, but we deserved our place in the final!

The evening was hosted by Vernon Kay and the entertainment included magic from Piff the Magic Dragon, Singing Waiters and an amazing performance of BalletPole, the food was magnificent, the drinks were flowing and we danced into the wee hours! A fabulous evening was had by all!

Myself (on the right) and Sara O'Brien with Vernon Kay, host of the Neff MasterPartner Awards.

Wish us luck, we are keeping everything crossed that we get crowned the overall winner!