Building regulations stipulate that all bedrooms must have at least one window that opens out to the property’s exterior, so if a second window is not already present you need to make sure that you can fit one. You should probably seek advice from your local building control office before you undertake any work.

Something else you might want to consider, before beginning an extensive remodel, is how you  might reduce your property’s carbon footprint. Going green is not only a good way to market your property to the modern environmentally-conscious consumer, but will also appeal to the growing number of people who are anxious to save money on ever-increasing utility bills.

Basic things might include making sure that windows are in good condition and that the house is properly insulated, but if you are planning to plumb-in new en suite facilities it may be worth going further. Something as simple as fitting a programmable thermostat might make all the difference to a potential tenant at the higher end of the market.

If you really want to go all the way though, perhaps because you are considerate of the environment yourself or maybe because you really want to push the environmentally-friendly sales angle, you have to source green and ethical materials to decorate and refit with. When building your partition walls, you should consider using something like envirowall, which is a completely recycled alternative to plasterboard or mdf.

When repainting, you should choose to use paints that are low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs). If refurnishing, you should look to buy second-hand (which is just good business sense really, but can be seen as “recycling”), or look for new items that are made from FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) certificated or reclaimed wood. FSC standards should also be sought for the timber you use while constructing internal walls, as well as for any wood-flooring you might decide to install.

A great deal of the renting public in the UK is being kept in fuel poverty, which essentially means that they are spending more than 10% of their income on energy costs. Landlords have the opportunity to reduce the staggering estimated number of 1.2 million fuel-poor households, just by making a few basic modifications to their properties. Doing so would both dramatically increase the value and desirability of your property, as well as delivering a positive environmental impact, with products such as envirowall.

In order to complete your own home repairs, there are a few DIY tools that you will need to have within your toolbox.  One great tool in particular that should be located in every home or garage is a utility knife, often known as a Stanley Knife.  While you may not think of a knife as a tool, the truth is that they are one of the most used DIY tools given that many projects require you to use a blade and a utility knife offers a functional, heavy duty, versatile blade that can be used on a wide variety of projects.

While building up your arsenal of DIY tools, you will also want to make sure that your purchase at least one dependable hammer.  This is due to the fact that many projects will require you to use nails as a fastener, which in turn require a hammer in order to be put in place, and they are just plain useful for a million little jobs around the home.

Finally, one more range of items that need to be purchased when building up your DIY tools are measuring tapes.  Without an accurate measurement of the task you are working on, you are likely to spend more money, use more materials, and waste your time attempting repairs that are not viable.  Thus, take the time to measure up for each repair as you prepare it and save yourself a great deal of hassle and money.

Wooden flooring, particularly real wood flooring, is an eco-friendly, natural and sustainable resource which is very durable.  If maintained correctly, a hard wood floor could last a lifetime making it an economical option in the long term. The longevity of a wooden floor depends on how well it is looked after, how heavily it is walked upon and not forgetting the all important factors of whether you have children or pets.  But even with all the factors considered, wooden flooring is a lot more hardwearing and forgiving than carpet can ever claim to be.  With the added benefits of stain resistance and scratch resistance, any signs of an accident or spillage can easily be removed with little effort.

Wood is also a hygienic choice compared to carpet which can host up to 100,000 dust mites per square metre.  For those with allergies or respiratory conditions such as asthma, wooden flooring offers a hygienic and easy to clean surface which can easily be vacuumed or brushed to remove most if not all signs of dust around.

So what’s the recipe for the ideal summer barbecue?  Plenty of food, plenty of drink and plenty of friends, all true.  But one addition that often gets over looked is a gazebo.  These are ideal for when you and your house mates want to duck out of the summer sun and get some shade during the day, keep the food dry should there be a sudden down pour and somewhere for you and your house mates to chill out as the sun begins to descend.  The good thing about them is that with the pop up gazebo, is that they are easy to assemble as well as being compact when folded away so they can be stored away until you decide to throw another barbecue.  If you are planning to host a number of barbecues of have a lot of guests, you might wish to consider a commercial gazebo, the reason being that these are slightly more heavy duty and robust.

When you move into shared accommodation either a flat share or maybe student accommodation you have a number of factors to think about when it comes to your computer and broadband usage.  Even if your household only has one computer you have to decide who gets to use it primarily, perhaps for work purposes, college purposes or for personal use.

If you are sharing a flat with someone then you more than likely will have separate computers, however you do not need to have separate internet connections.  It is possible for you to have the one broadband setup and both computers be able to use it simultaneously, there are in fact 3 options you have when it comes to this.

The easiest and most common in today’s world is to use a wireless router, you basically set it up near the phone line and all of your computers can connect wirelessly and use the broadband connection.  The main benefit of this method is that both computers do not have to be turned on.

The more traditional method is to connect each laptops to your router using a LAN cable, this will also allow both of them to use the internet at the same time.  This also has the benefit of not having to have both computers turned on.

Another method that is not very common in today’s world is to connect one computer to the router/internet as the host, then create a local area network between the computers to allow the other one to access the internet via the host.  This means that the computer acting as the host will have to be on at all times if the other one intends on using the internet.

You should always consider your bandwidth/usage if you plan on sharing an internet connection, ensure that you have enough each month because you would hate to overuse the internet and be faced with a hefty bill at the end of the month.