The great American actor and comedian Rodney Dangerfield once said: “I’m at the age where food has taken the place of sex in my life. In fact, I’ve just had a mirror put over my kitchen table”.

Dangerfield’s quotation is a funny one but it reveals a certain truth that has developed over the last few decades since the early 20th Century. The fact is that the kitchen has become a more social atmosphere and is now almost on a par with the living room, as a place in the home where families spend the most time.

This trend, along with increasing consumerism and fast food diets, has led to the increasing size of women’s waists, hips, boobs and bottoms. The same has happened to kitchen interiors which have almost doubled in size since the 1940s and have come to be more open-planned areas of the home. This leads the kitchen to become part of other spaces in the home such as the dining room and, in some cases, the living area.

According to a recent British kitchen company survey, people in the West now spend more waking time in the kitchen than anywhere else in the home. Televisions, laptops, phones and other electronic gadgets have been increasingly placed in the kitchen. Various daily routines which are normally enjoyed in another location are now done in the kitchen such as homework, watching TV or surfing the internet.

It’s therefore no surprise that our propensity to nibble constantly throughout the day has increased. There are ways however to stop letting your kitchen making you fat. The cures are simple to implement and might well knock off 2 pounds a month from your overall weight. Some might surprise you and are definitely elements you will not have considered before. So what are they?

Congregate Elsewhere

The kitchen is, and always has been throughout history, a place to prepare, cook and store food. In the olden days (when your grandparents were children), the kitchen would be closed down after dinner in the evening and not used again until the following morning. It was empty when food preparation was not taking place.

Move out of the kitchen when not cooking, cleaning or serving meals. Sit in the living room to watch television, create a little home office space in which to surf the internet and take visiting friends into the garden or dining room when they pop round for coffee and cake.

The result will be hundreds less calories consumed by mindlessly snacking and nibbling whilst distracted by other things.

Smaller Dinnerware

Plates and bowls have grown larger over the last half century. With the manufacturing of bigger restraint-style dishes, the natural inclination to put more food on the plate has resulted in fatter bottoms, double chins and wider hips. Dieticians have also noted we tend to eat whatever is placed on our plate.

If you’re often feeling bloated after a meal and your weight is a concern, invest in smaller dinnerware pieces that are around two to three inches smaller than the ones you have now. The same goes for drinking vessels such as beer, wine and port glasses, as well as the glassware you use for drinking coca cola or spite.

Want to lose an extra two pounds a month? Reduce your plate size by two centimetres!

Eat Slowly

This tip is not related to the interior design of your kitchen but it’s one I wanted to include nonetheless. Most of us eat too quickly and swallow food before its truly ready to enter the stomach. Our back teeth (the molars) are there for a reason and that is to grind food down to a pulp before it is swallowed. This makes the digestion process a lot smoother and comfortable and means that more nutrients and vitamins are absorbed by the body.

Another benefit of eating slowly is based on the fact that it takes the brain up to 15 minutes to process whether the stomach is full or not from the commencement of eating. By the time the brain is telling the body it is full, it’s too late and all the food on the plate has been eaten. It’s no wonder that overweight people tend to be the first to finish at the dinner table.

By eating slowly, you’ll be able to reduce weight as well as feel healthier. You might not need to go to the bathroom so often either.

Fridge Size

Fridges, like girths, are getting bigger and bigger. Double-door fridges with lots of fancy gadgetry and buttons are becoming the norm in homes and this in turn feeds the need for excess food consumption. For large and busy families, it is completely understandable that large refrigerators are required as there are more mouths to feed and not enough time to be constantly going to the local store. That said, a full fridge does mean a place to dip your hand into when no one is looking.

When possible, in order to cultivate a healthier lifestyle and eating habits, it’s best to keep the fridge semi-full. Try to buy fresh food and avoid ready-made meals which are usually high in calories. A semi-stocked fridge will prevent the desire to nibble and snack and will also encourage you to make healthier choices.

Glass Shelving and Storage

Fitting glass see-through cabinet doors in the kitchen might be a neat design trick but it will do little for your panty size. Some people even fit glass shelving into their kitchen and compliment these with glass canisters and jars filled with foods such as cookies, pasta and candies. There’s a reason “out of mind, out of sight” is a well-known saying.

Purchase regular cabinet doors which hide the items inside the cupboard. Alternatively, buy canisters, jars and tins that are not see-through and thus don’t pose so much of a temptation to eager eyes and stomachs. Of course, a fruit bowl is the exception the rule and for obvious reasons.

Simple Considerations

Bear these simple tactics in mind next time you enter your kitchen and you’ll soon discover what elements in the interior are making your weight issues worse. There are more factors to consider too such as lighting, the color of the walls and most importantly of all, your diet. However, implementing these five important tips will help to stop your kitchen making you fat.

See also: Need to Loose Weight? Think About Your Interior Décor.

The book contains 152 pages of easy-to-understand explanations on just about every aspect of the average home. Whether you are Sarah Palin, the Queen of England or a Joe the plumber, you’ll find all those niggling little questions answered in this entertaining and insightful book. Wonderful illustrations with ‘exploded’ sections convey information that might otherwise be static and laborious to fully comprehend in mere written word. If you’re looking to be an informed consumer, then Wing’s book is a must have.

Sections of the book include information on areas such as electrical systems, air conditioning, heating, plumbing, appliances as well as the framing of windows and doors. Knowledge of such systems means you will have a better grasp of facts when it comes to buying new fixtures for your home. It will be much more difficult for anyone to pull the wool over your eyes regarding costs too. So, if you’re looking for more information on septic tanks, dehumidifiers, bathroom piping, swimming pool filters or laundry appliances, this is the book you’ll need on your shelf.

It might surprise you but killing ants once they are in the home is actually a bad idea. This is because the smell of their dead brethren brings more ants to the scene in order to carry away the carcasses. Think if you will of ants being rather like the armed forces in that they leave no one, or in this case ant, behind. Therefore the best way to prevent further swarms of ants is to engage in preventative measures.

The first phase in your ant prevention mission is to locate the main entrances ants use to gain entry into your house or apartment. Fill in any holes where possible and make sure there is no household garbage left near the doors to your home as these will attract all forms of insect and larger scavenger. Never leave food on windowsills as this is one of the primary entry routes for ants during the warm months when windows are left open.

Ants don’t like all food substances as one might have thought. They absolutely detest items such as red chilli powder, black pepper, mint and cinnamon. If you have a problem with ants walking across kitchen counters and tables then spread a little of these substances across the surfaces affected. The benefits of these are that they are not dangerous to pets and children and are extremely effective.

Open windows are one of the primary routes ants use to gain entry into the home. During the warmer months, it’s impossible not to have the windows open. That needn’t be a problem however as there are a few solutions you can use. Plant some mint and cloves in little shallow tubs and place on the windowsill. A ring of Vaseline or chalk around the window and door frames will also create an effective barrier. Ants will avoid these types of obstacles altogether. If you have a baby then you’re bound to have spare baby powder, this also works.

Another substance that ants absolutely detest and which will help you rid ants from your home is vinegar. This is cheap and in plentiful supply and can be mixed with water to form a more easy solution. Sprinkle some of this on surfaces which are particularly susceptible to ant invasion, especially food preparation areas.

Most of the solutions above will not directly deal with the ants already present in the home but they will stop further ants from entering. That said, after a few days of employing the above tactics, the existing ants will either die or leave the building. Always clear up dead ants when you see them to prevent the smell attracting their comrades. Regularly check for any new holes or gaps as well as renewing the natural remedies suggested above, especially during the hot summer months.

The majority of pine furniture found in the home is untreated meaning it is as close to its original state as possible. This provides a wonderful texture and aesthetic quality to the furniture piece where the natural markings and knots add substance and extra decorative charm to a room. That said, it is often wise to go for treated pine furniture if you have very small children, for the soft wood quality of the furniture can lead to splinters.

One can find pine furniture in a variety of treatments which means the pine chairs and tables can be used in multiple types of settings including the outdoors. Water resistant finishes mean benches and patio tables can be left outdoors without the need to constantly move them indoors or into storage. Although it’s generally wise to bring them in during the freezing cold Winter months, if possible.

For general indoor use, pine furniture is best in low humidity environments. In humid and wet parts of the country it is wise to look for heavily treated pine which will prevent natural shrinkage of the wood. Pine wood does stain easily and so it is imperative that care is taken not to spill drinks or place wet items on the surface of the pine furniture. With finished wood, be careful not to place cups with damp undersides on the furniture for this will likely create ring stains that are difficult to completely remove.

A basic format of the typical energy efficient window is the double glaze design. This acts in the same way two layers of clothing do by maintaining temperature, usually heat. However, with double window panes, both warm and cold air is contained which is beneficial for all seasons. Triple window panes provide the same benefits and work in exactly the same way but with additional efficiency.

There is more to insulated windows than just the panes of glass. Gas can be added in-between the panes which provides a great deal more insulation that would be found otherwise. Such gasses include argon and the rather Superman-esque sounding krypton.

Energy efficient windows can also be purchased with special coatings which improve the efficiency of the glass. These are often referred to as low-emission coatings. Infra red light which is a primary source of heat, is reflected thereby aiding the retention of heat in the interior. In the warmer months this also has the effect of preventing the home from overheating by keeping the heat outside.

Another benefit of low-emission coatings is the prevention of ultraviolet light doing damage to fabrics and upholstery in the home. Whilst it won’t stop it entirely, the coating can reduce the fading of materials that are hit by sunlight on a daily basis, such as an expensive sofa or curtains. One can even find tinted windows that will reduce energy costs even more.

The final element which is often overlooked when buying energy efficient windows is the material of the frame. In most cases, insulated windows will come with either fiber glass or vinyl frames but for a more aesthetic look, wood composites can also do the job just as well and are widely available.

It was in the 18th Century when the term ‘powder room’ came into existence. During this period it referred to a tiny interior, rather like a closet, where people went to have their wigs re-powdered. The term stuck all the way through the Victorian period as well but was adapted to also mean the general toilet room. Talk of bodily functions was largely frowned upon during this era and so ladies would talk about “powdering their noses” when excusing themselves from mixed company. The expression is still around today although used in a purposefully archaic manner.

Powder rooms are and were generally located on the first floor of a home. This allowed visitors to use the amenities without encroaching too much into the more private areas of the house, usually on the second floor. Generally, the powder room is the smallest interior space in the house and is often located close to the entrance or beneath the stairs. Few have windows.

Today, powder rooms are hugely popular and can add thousands to a property when put up for sale. Their selling point is so great that people convert closets and other small rooms into powder rooms with a toilet and sink. The return on investment is always considered worthwhile and with the right interior décor can tip the balance over whether a potential buyer goes through with the purchase or not. It’s interesting to note, that a recent survey by a respected consumer research group found that 75% of respondents saw the powder room as an important decor consideration.

A modern powder room in a domestic setting offers a myriad of interior design possibilities. Unlike the traditional powder rooms, modern formats can include extra items of furniture such as cabinets, vanities, decorative wall sculptures and even added windows. The small nature of the powder room means the interior is in many ways a lot easier to design than a conventional sized room. A powder room also acts as a world of its own where a completely different color scheme and design features can be experimented with.

If you were considering getting rid of your powder room, perhaps to make extra space for another interior, it might be worth thinking again.

Click here to browse Bathroom Furniture for sale.

The safe disposal of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs is of particular importance to some US states because it is against the law to dispose of mercury light bulbs as normal trash. In the states of California, Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin you will be prosecuted for this. This might seem like an extreme measure but if you look at the statistics, one will understand why such measures have to be taken.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates that if all the 270 million compact fluorescent light bulbs sold in the US in 2007 were disposed of in landfill sites, that this would represent 0.1% of all mercury emissions for that year. This may not seem a lot but it adds up over the years and seeps into the rivers, water supplies and air. Mercury also bio-accumulates in fish and these are then eaten by humans.

So what is the best way to dispose of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs in the United States? One of the easiest ways is connected to The Home Depot, the American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. The Home Depot announced in 2008 that it would take back old compact fluorescent light bulbs in all 1,973 of its stores and then safely dispose of them according to national guidelines. The same is possible with the nation’s largest retailer Wal-Mart although it’s uncertain whether this is the case with all of their outlets.

If your Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb is broken by accident, it is advisable to leave the room after opening a window or two. When the room has been well ventilated for an hour, then return and with gloves, place the remains of the Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb in either a sealed glass jar (Maine DEP advice) or as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggests, in two plastic bags (one inside the other) securely tied. The same measures can be taken if the bulb has come to the end of its life and you are not in a location where suitable and safe disposal of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs is possible.

Finally, the thought of buying Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs after reading all this might seem daunting and rather unsavoury. The Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb is very safe however and the levels of mercury in such bulbs are much lower than in regular thermometers for example. Even when the bulb is broken, as long as the room is ventilated and you wear gloves, then safe disposal is assured.

As with most things in life, prevention is the best form of dealing with unfortunate occurrences. When it comes to removing soap scum from a shower cubicle or bath, then this translates to cleaning the areas immediately after use. Catching the soap scum before it hardens means the job of soap scum removal is made a whole lot easier. The best way to do this is to simply wipe the surfaces of the bathtub or shower cubicle clean with a wet cloth after use. Whatever you do, don’t use any waxes or polishes to prevent the build up of soap scum. These will just create a dangerous and slippery environment in the bathroom.

One of the best ways to prevent the build-up of soap scum is to use gel soaps instead of bar soaps. This is because bar soaps contain talc and other minerals which are the main ingredient in soap scum. You should find the occurrence of soap scum greatly reduced by changing the type of soap you use when in the bath or shower. Regardless of this, the previous tip on wiping down the walls and floor of the shower cubicle and bath tub after each use is of prime importance in preventing soap scum appearing.

Looking for furniture? Browse my Bathroom Furniture section.

If you have soap scum already present and you need a way to remove soap scum from the bath or shower area, then these easy and home-made remedies can help. Warm vinegar which has been heated in a microwave can be poured or sprayed onto soap scum affected surfaces. When the surface is then wiped, most of the scum should come away reasonably easily. You can also use ammonia which is added to water. Make sure the ammonia is one third of the mixture. Again, like with the vinegar, spray or pour onto the soap scum affected area and then wipe away. Baking soda is another possibility and can be used in the same way although with this substance, it is best to leave for 30 minutes before removing with a damp sponge.

These home-made soap scum removal techniques should do the trick in many cases. However, if your soap scum is hard to get rid of then you will need to purchase a soap scum removal product from your local store. You can also buy a good variety online and I recommend this selection: Tilex Soap Scum Remover, 32 oz. Trigger Spray Bottle.

Clean Bedding – Dust mites love beds more than the laziest of humans. It’s where we spend up to a third of our lives and the one single location where we lose much of our dead skin. As noted in previous articles in this series on dust mites, these minuscule creatures eat discarded skin cells whether from humans or animals. With this in mind it is best to change bedding once a week and to make sure the sheets are washed in hot water. This will kill and wash away dust mites and their allergy inducing faeces.

If you suffer from dust mite allergies it will also be wise to get rid of any wool blankets, comforters or feather pillows and adornments. This will be an unfortunate impact on your interior design but it will also significantly reduce the places where dust mites thrive. Vellux is a good material to use and can take a lot of hot water washes. it might also be nice to have your cat or dog sleep with you but again, this just adds further discarded skin cells to the bed and will have a negative impact on your dust mite allergies. Get them their own bed on the floor.

Carpets – If the bed is dust mite hotel, the carpet is dust mite city. There is so much of it and so many places for dust mites to hide and feed. A vacuum cleaner doesn’t do much either for the dust mites are able to hang on to the fibres in the carpet and slot themselves into the many nooks and crannies that are visible if you look at the threading under a microscope. The best way to rid your carpets of as many dust mites as possible is to steam clean them. This should be done regularly, depending on your allergy symptoms. The hot steam will kill most dust mites.

Alternatively, you can make a major change in your decor scheme by throwing out all carpets in the home. This is drastic but if you have good floorboards underneath, it can be a blessing in disguise. There’s also choices in flooring which are easy to clean and do not lend themselves to dust mites. These include laminate, linoleum and wood. If you have very bad dust mite allergies, this is seriously an option to consider.

Temperature and Humidity – Dust mites love warm and humid environments. Therefore, one of the best ways to leave dust mites wanting an exit route is by keeping the home interior as cool as possible. Of course, this largely depends on your location in the world as well as the time of year but if possible, it’s best to keep a home below 70 degrees. Air conditioners and dehumidifiers can also be installed which will keep the interior spaces fresh and reduce humidity. The ideal humidity level for a private home is below 35%.

Clean the Home – “Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness” said John Wesley, the Anglican cleric and Christian theologian. Whether close to godliness or not, cleanliness will certainly lead to dust mites being ousted from your home. Not many people like cleaning but it’s essential and especially so if you suffer from dust mite allergies. In severe cases, the house should be completely wiped clean once a week.

Areas to think about cleaning are floors, beds, walls, shelves, tables, chairs and anywhere else where dust collects including on the top of picture frames and doors. It’s essential you carry out this cleaning using a damp cloth. A dry cloth will merely flick the dust into the air where it will settle on locations where you have already cleaned. The dust will instead stick to a cloth that is slightly wet. The same applies when cleaning wooden or other hard floor surfaces. Mop the floors instead of sweeping. Take down the curtains regularly and give them a good clean. Vacuum upholstery and give furnishings as good going over.

Dust Traps – The more you get rid of general dust, the less you will suffer from dust mite allergies. This means getting rid of anything which might unnecessarily collect dust. Think about replacing curtains and drapes with blinds or shades which are much easier and quicker to wipe down. Too many soft toys can be a dust mite haven and so if your child suffers from dust mite allergies think about reducing the number of teddy bears and other stuffed toys in their bedroom. Also, it’s important to clean the soft toys regularly.

Pets need to be bathed often and one can purchase omega fatty acids for their skin which reduces the amount of dead skin cells dropping off with a moisturising effect. To sum up, it’s important to search around the house for where dust most collects and to target those areas in a weekly clean. It’s going to be impossible to get rid of all dust mites in the home and it’s best not to assume you can. However, with the points mentioned above, you can drastically reduce the numbers and the resulting dust mite allergy symptoms.

There are also special sprays which can be purchased in stores and also online which can help reduce dust mites in the home. These include Steri-Fab or BedLam Insecticide which are both safe to use in the home environment.

One of the favourite places for a dust mite to reside is in your bed. Each night we sleep in bed with thousands of little guests we have never invited into our home. They are microscopic and thrive in warm conditions. House dust mite allergy is basically a hypersensitive reaction to the proteins found in a dust mite’s excrement. Yes, it’s not so much the dust mite itself that you’re allergic to but their poo. This protein attacks the respiratory system and causes such ailments as asthma and hay fever. It can also aggravate other illnesses people might already suffer from.

When the proteins in the house dust mite’s faeces touches the skin or is inhaled, the body produces antibodies. This natural body defence mechanism results in a release of a chemical called histamine. Unfortunately, this leads to irritation and swelling in the respiratory passages which causes the various symptoms. Not everyone has this body reaction and the predisposition to dust mite allergy is in most cases hereditary.

The main symptoms to look out for if you suspect you have house dust mite allergy are a runny nose, watery eyes, hay fever like sneezing and general all body itching. If you have difficultly breathing, this might also be a symptom, especially if you have just changed bedding, folded clothes or vacuum cleaned flooring. In more serious cases, a form of eczema can also occur. If you have all these symptoms and also have trouble sleeping each night, then it is well worth a check-up at your local doctors. They will give some skin and possibly blood tests to determine if you have dust mite allergies.

There are a number of remedies you can take to combat the symptoms of dust mite allergy but the best way to deal with this is through prevention. In the next and final post of this dust mite series I will explore the most effective ways of reducing the amount of dust mites in your home. Please subscribe to Home Interior Design Themes to be kept up to date with the regular postings.