The Residence on Marine – West Vancouver

The Residences on Marine is being developed by Atti group and will be a boutique mid-rise building. Located at 1327 Marine Drive in West Vancouver, the Residence on Marine is centrally located at the entrance to the Ambleside community of West Vancouver, featuring Ambleside Park and Beach, as well all the shops and services along Marine Drive including its popular Farmers Market on the weekends.

The Residences on Marine will provide its homeowners to the best of the North Shore and Vancouver. With single-level living, featuring modern, open floor plans, attention to detail and high-quality craftsmanship.

To be kept up to date with this development and many more like it, register with us today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is not an offering for sale. No such offering can be made without a disclosure statement. E.&O.E.

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Crest by Adera- North Vancouver

Crest is Lonsdale newest development being built by Adera, the multi-disciplined organization known for creating homes with West Coast style. Crest is located in the heart of North Vancouver Lonsdale corridor on the corner of 8th and Lonsdale at 150 East 8th Street.

Crest will include 178 one, two and three bedroom homes (including 17 townhomes) with underground parking over two buildings all designed in a West coast modern design and architecture that Adera has become well-known for. Some homes will feature Private roof top patio, stunning views of the north shore mountains and and downtown Vancouver

 

Building amenities include a bike room, guest suite, party room, fitness studio, billiards room and much more. In addition to great condos, the location offers easy accessibility to golf, local parks, restaurants and other entertainment sites, too.

To stay up to date with this development and many others like it, register with us today!

 

 

 

 

E. & O. E. This is not an offering for sale. An offering for sale may only be made after filing a Disclosure Statement

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Southgate City – Burnaby

Back in 2011, developer Ledingham McAllister bought the old Safeway distribution centre and dairy plant with an ambitious vision in mind. It isn’t often that a fully masterplanned development like Southgate City comes to a major city like Burnaby. This new condo development will become an integral part of the skyline in South Burnaby. As envisioned, Southgate City will include up to 20 condo towers of between 24 and 46 storeys in height, and a variety of low- and mid-rise buildings, all of which combined will consist of about 6,400 residential housing units that will support a population of 20,000 people. The pedestrian- and public-transit oriented development is planned around a five-acre central park that will serve as the Southgate City’s core feature.

The 60-acre development also includes numerous smaller parks, creek-side greenways and open areas, all of which are designed to help foster interconnection between all of its residential and commercial elements. This planned interconnectedness also includes easy access to the rest of Burnaby, and greater Vancouver, via road upgrade connections, pedestrian/bicycling paths, and its proximity to the Edmonds Skyway Station. Proposed commercial ventures include a gourmet grocer, cafés, community shops and restaurants. A new community centre is also included in the plans. The final result will be a stunning community developed from the ground up.

Southgate City will rapidly become one of the most exciting places to live in all of the lower mainland.

With the first building, Precedence, starting sales soon; home buyers will have the opportunity to secure their view of what will become the definition of master planning. Residents will be able to wake up and look out to the green space, fountains, and inviting public spaces. Driving to the hottest restaurants and shops will be a thing of the past with the best that Burnaby has to offer just steps away.

What sets Southgate City apart from other developments is the attention to detail put into every aspect of the design. There are plenty of new condo developments to see in Burnaby and surrounding areas but few, if any, offer the total and complete lifestyle that Southgate City will offer. A new community centre is just one part of the plan that aims to provide residents with a superior living experience in the heart of South Burnaby.

This will undoubtedly be one of the most exciting, inspirational, and popular new condo developments in Burnaby and the entire lower mainland. Stay tuned for more news and developments about Southgate City as construction moves ahead.

To be kept up to date with Southgate city, Register with us today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is not an offering for sale. No such offering can be made without a disclosure statement. E.&O.E.

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7 Faulty Assumptions That Derail New Freelance Writers

NOTE: Want to know how to think like a successful freelance writer? It’s starts with getting a few things straight, beginning with this advice I shared a while ago. Enjoy! —Carol.

The Internet has brought us many gifts, as freelance writers.

But it also brings with it a lot of misinformation and confused notions as to how to go about building a successful freelance writing career.

If you make assumptions off the bat about how freelance writing works, you can waste a lot of time and energy.

(Here’s a hint: Don’t assume anything. Ask successful freelance writers and find out what’s really working.)

Frustrated? Confused? Spinning your wheels about how to be one of those successful freelance writers?

Let’s iron this out right now.

Take a look at my top seven wrong-headed notions that leave new freelance writers floundering in their quest to get paid:

1. I’m not in business

Writers think of themselves as creative people. But if you want to earn a regular living at writing, you’ll need to be more than just creative — you need to run a business. One that turns a profit and brings in enough cash to pay your bills.

In my experience, only a tiny percentage of freelance writers truly grasp this reality. Most don’t want anything to do with business — isn’t that why we quit our day jobs?

• Business minded or in la-la land? It’s so much more pleasant to live in a world of magical thinking, where great clients who value your talents will somehow materialize without any effort on your part!

When you think you’re not in business, then you don’t think you need to invest in your business, either — with a better website, mentoring, or training to sharpen their skills or learn new ones. Then, writers wonder why they can’t seem to get any good gigs.

This also plays out in how writers think about their services. Many writers comment to me:

“I’m a good writer, but I just don’t have any ideas. I need to find a situation where I can just be given topics.”

• Bulletin: There is no well-paid writing gig like that. One of the big reasons writers get hired is for their ideas — whether it’s article ideas, or topic ideas for a business blog, or ideas on the best angle for a case study or white paper.

Treat your writing like a business

Instead of sitting passively, hoping a pre-packaged assignment that doesn’t require thinking will fall in your lap, treat your writing like a business. Service providers — which is what we are — need to bring ideas to the table.

Then, it’ll pay you like a business. Treat it like a creative lark, and you’ll soon be stocking shelves on the grocery night shift to make ends meet.

2. I’ll learn until I feel ready

Do you think you’ll feel ready to jump into freelance writing after you read one more book, take one more course, or get a master’s degree in journalism? Bad news — you’re probably still not going to feel ready. I know, because I’ve mentored writers with more than one advanced degree, who still feel they need one more class.

Learning is a bottomless pit

There’s always more to know. Accept that and realize you’ll need to be taking action while you learn.

You’ll never feel confident and “ready” to do this by studying freelance writing in an ivory tower, or at home by your lonesome.

• Do this instead: There’s only one thing that builds confidence in writing for clients. You guessed it: writing for clients! You need to get out and start doing it, as fast as possible. The more you take action, the more you’ll realize you already know enough to get started. The longer you study and do nothing, the more disempowered and afraid you’ll feel.

Your list of degrees or certificates earned does not impress prospects. Only your published writing samples (ideally, accompanied by a testimonial) will get you hired. Do a few assignments pro bono at first if you have to, but get out there and start writing for clients!

3. I can get work from other writers

A lot of writers seem to think the person they should hit up for writing work is another writer. I get an email like this, from a total stranger, nearly every week:

“I’m a big fan of your writing and you seem very successful. I am looking for a regular subcontracting situation, and was hoping you could send me a steady stream of your work. I’m very fast and reliable!”

Let’s set the record straight on this:

• The vast majority of writers do not have any overflow work. And those few who have more work than they can handle refer out projects to writers in their network, whose work they know well. Not total strangers.
• Well-paid writers tend to get hired because of their body of work — we can’t just sub out that work to a new writer off the street and expect our clients won’t notice we’re no longer writing their assignments!
• Writers are not your client. Your client is usually a publications editor or a marketing manager at a business. Don’t waste time daydreaming that you’ll be able to ride on another writer’s coattails. Instead, review points 1 and 2 above for a sense of how to get your career moving.

4. I can find clients…from Google

If you do a search for “Freelance writing,” and don’t know any better, it’d be easy to assume the top results must be the best places to freelance. This is why so many writers sign up on UpWork. Months later, they wonder why they’re living in their car.

As long as you answer mass job ads on popular sites, or bid against thousands of other writers, your success odds will be long and your paycheck is apt to be tiny.

Marketing makes a difference

You’ll need to actively market your business to prospects you identify yourself — where you’re not one of hundreds of writers going after the gig — to find professional pay rates. Most good-paying freelance writing jobs are never advertised. They’re not waiting around for you on a website thousands of other writers also read.

• There are lots of ways to market your writing — through social media, in-person networking, writing killer query letters. Take your pick. But understand that you are in the driver’s seat of your career, and you will need to make things happen (or they won’t).
• You’ll need to do more than responding to online job ads. Because that’s super-easy, right? And if it was easy to be a freelance writer, then everyone would be doing it, and no one would have a job anymore. Since freelance writer = awesome.

5. I’ll earn writing what I love

I hear regularly from poets, memoirists, playwrights, novelists, and screenwriters who’d like tips on how they can pay the bills with their craft. While they might hit a moonshot success and be rich one day, these are not types of writing that reliably pay this month’s mortgage, especially when you start out.

• The same thing goes for topics. I’ve met new freelance writers who’re hoping to earn a living writing entirely about missing persons, a specific disease or mental illness, or by just writing executive bios. If this is you, you’ll probably need to broaden your focus to make it a living.

What can you get regular paid writing gigs doing?

Mainly, writing for businesses (both informational and sales-focused materials), and writing reported nonfiction articles for publications. That’s the bulk of it.

I don’t want to discourage anyone from pursuing their long-term writing dreams — but realize that if you want a reliable living as a writer, you’ll need to add some other writing types or topics to your skills.

6. I won’t ask — I’d look dumb

If I created a catalog of all the different problems new writers run into because they don’t ask basic questions of their clients, it would be the size of the phone book. A few of the most popular errors:

• Pre-writing and sending in article drafts instead of writing a query to ask for the gig first.
• Not getting paid because you didn’t ask about a contract.
• Getting an article killed because you didn’t inquire about the required specs.
• Not asking your writer friends if a gig sounds like a scam.
• Writing with only a vague notion of what a copywriting client wants — and getting fired.

In fact, pro freelance writers ask tons of questions up-front. That’s how we turn in first drafts that our editors love.

7. I’ll start when I find the right way

New writers approach me hoping there is a proven, single formula for freelance writing success. I know writers would like me to say: “Do these three things, and then you’ll be earning thousands a month as a writer.”

Doesn’t work that way.

I can tell you what worked for me, but it won’t necessarily work for you. Because you’re not me. I might find clients at in-person networking events, and maybe you wouldn’t be caught dead at one.

This is a career where who you are, where you’ve worked, what you’ve lived, and who you know are all key components of what you offer. Prospective freelance writing clients respond to each of us differently.

• So, for the record: There is more than one way to do this. Instead of starting when you find the one, true way, realize it really works in reverse — you’re only going to find the right way for you by starting.

I recently interviewed a six-figure freelancer who makes most of her money cranking out dozens of low-paying, short keyword-focused posts for online publication. I wouldn’t do that on a bet, and I’d probably last a week if I tried it, but it works for her. See what I mean?

Does this last point mean you should disregard some of the advice I just gave you, in points 1-6 of this post? Possibly, if it doesn’t ring true for you.

The best way to find out what works in freelance writing is:

Trial and error. Begin conducting experiments and asking questions, and you won’t be a noob without a clue for long.

What assumptions did you have when you started writing? Let’s discuss on Facebook and LinkedIn.

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Challenge #277 Make your Mark

Good morning everyone! Ready for a new challenge?

We want to see you colouring in with your pencils, paints, chalks, markers etc. Don't like to colour in? Make Your Mark but let us know your technique!

Let's announce the winners from Challenge #275 Photo Inspiration

#4 Jan Clothier

#8 Brigit

#6 Sandie

#12 Ma-Mi

Congratulations everyone!!

Ok, onto our challenge -

Here is the Design Team with their inspiration for you -

Gwendolyn

Monika

Valentyna

Ina

Carol

Bobby

Nandini

Julie

Carol S

Ceal 

Beautiful! Please visit their blogs to see how they came up with their ideas :)

Over to you -

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Main & Twentieth by Landa Global in Vancouver

Main & Twentieth is a collection of 42 boutique one bedroom, two bedroom, and loft homes with stylish interiors, open layouts, generous outdoor spaces, and a beautiful, lush central courtyard. Located at the corner of Main St & E 20th Ave, Main & Twentieth is surrounded by all the eclectic shops, restaurants, schools, transit and diverse community resources that Main Street has to offer.

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Park Hill in Langley

PARK HILL is a new community coming soon to Langley’s Willoughby neighbourhood, located off 68th Ave and 201 St, in a peaceful residential neighbourhood giving you room to breathe. This boutique collection of 2 & 3 bedroom townhomes and contemporary 1, 2 & 3 bedroom condos is located in a quiet residential area nestled against 1,200 acres of lush parkland and community trails. Park Hill has two phases of development. Phase I is over 80% sold and moving quickly. Register now to have our team contact you with details about our remaining inventory, and for priority access to Phase II.

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5 Signs That Agency is a Pimped-Out Content Mill

Want to write for a marketing agency? It’s a great way to scoop up freelance assignments. But if you’re not careful, that agency might actually be a content mill looking for cheap tricks.

Believe me. I learned this the hard way.

When I saw my first article published on US News and World Report I should’ve jumped up and down while singing the Halleluiah chorus.

But I didn’t.

Instead, the sight of it tangled an angry, disgusted knot in the pit of my stomach. I just got pimped by a content mill.

I wrote that article for a digital marketing agency and sold it for 20 bucks. My name wasn’t even on it.

But hers was—the web savvy millennial who’d purchased the content. It was right there next to her photo and the bio touting that she was a freelance real estate writer.

And I don’t want you to make the same mistake.

Here’s how to tell if that agency is nothing more than a pimped-out content mill:

Don’t let an agency pimp your talent like a content mill

I could have been writing for a real agency, getting paid 10 times more, and building my presence on the web. But instead the author byline link to that article went to someone else’s site.

My articles were building her authority. They were driving traffic to her website. They were establishing her brand.

I realized I’d been pimped out by a content mill disguised as an ad agency. And it hit me hard.

But, now that I know “agency” isn’t synonymous with “integrity,” I can sniff out a veiled content mill like a trained hound. You can too.

Here are five signs that agency is pimping writers like a content mill:

1. Super low pay

An agency that offers $15 for an 800-word blog post is preying on writers who don’t realize their value.

“Never undervalue the service you provide,” says Caryn Starr-Gates, a copywriter whose own business, StarrGates Business Communications, was built by subcontracting work from reputable agencies.

You can expect a decent agency to pay about 20 percent less than if you work directly with a client, she says.

For example, freelancer Sarah Russell makes $75 per blog post writing for agencies.

• So, stay away from job postings like this one:

2. No interviews required

A third-rate agency won’t expect you to interview sources or include quotes. Instead, they’ll want you to find a few published articles on a specific topic, then meld them into one piece. This is called article spinning.

Article spinning is legal—if you don’t plagiarize—but it’s a recipe for low-quality work that’s bad for the agency’s clients and your portfolio. It’s the kind of writing assignments content mills are notorious for.

• Here’s a clause in a contract I signed explaining how to spin an article without plagiarizing:

The point of spun content is to get a lot written—fast.

“If they’re relying on you to push out a whole bunch of product, they’re just a churn and burn content mill,” says Starr-Gates.

A reputable agency will always prefer quality over quantity.

3. No knowledge of the client or target audience

An unscrupulous agency will give you vague information about the clients you’re writing for.

For instance, I was rarely given the names of client companies, only their industry type. I didn’t know their brand voice or their target audience. I was writing blind.

• A good agency will expect you to handle the client process and trust you to represent the company. Or at least have an account manager that works as your go-between on projects, says to Starr-Gates.

4. No links to your work

If I hadn’t decided to Google the first paragraph of my article, I’d have never known who was using it, or how.

If you’re writing for a pimped-out content mill, someone else will own and benefit from your finished work. Ghostwriting gigs are great, but legit ghostwriting gigs pay pro rates. Not the $20 per assignment, less PayPal fees, I was earning.

• Know your clients, and you’ll know where your works ends up. And if you negotiate your contract well, you’ll have permission to link to and share your work.

5. You’re treated like a content mill slave

The worst agency offenders treat their freelance writers like employees, try to control every move you make, and have unreasonable expectations for availability and turn-around time on assignments.

FYI…you’re not an employee. You’re a business owner who provides valuable writing services.

An honest agency will never:

• Set your hours (This is illegal, know your rights.)
• Require you to complete training or trial assignment without compensation
• Expect 24-hour availability via phone, email, video chat, and instant messaging
• Make an assignment without a contract
• Ignore your professional opinion and recommendations about writing

“You should partner with people who want your services, respect the value you bring, and are willing to pay for it,” says Starr-Gates.

Agency work can be lucrative, but don’t be fooled

If you want to write for agencies, that’s fine. Many pay competitive rates, treat their freelancers well, and have ongoing content needs. But you’ll need to do your homework before you sign a contract. That agency might actually be a pimped-out content mill luring writers into doing cheap tricks.

Have you had experience writing for agencies? Let’s discuss on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Holly Hughes-Barnes help businesses and publications speak to other women like her. She specializes in writing articles, blog posts, and case studies that build authority and rapport. 

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Chelsea Mews by London Meridian Properties in North Vancouver

Chelsea Mews is located in a prime area of North Vancouver with views of Lions Gate Bridge. Situated on a quiet cul-de-sac, it’s just steps away from public transportation and Norgate Park, plus our homeowners will only be 10 minutes from transit connections that will whisk them to the heart of downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park. Chelsea Mews is also conveniently situated within a 10-minute radius of many attractions and neighborhood amenities such as Park Royal Shopping Centre, Capilano Mall, Grouse Mountain ski resort, Save-on-Foods, and Steve Nash Fitness World.

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Freelance Juggling Tips from Work at Home Moms

Ever wonder how work at home moms balance freelance assignments, family life, a day job, and everything else?

If you’ve ever thought, “What’s the point? It’s just too hard,” you’re not alone. Trying to juggle diaper duty, day-job deadlines, grocery shopping, and freelance work can be a challenge.

But work at home moms tend to have a few things in common when it comes to carving out time to get freelance work done.

They’re scrappy. They know how to multi-task. They know how to network with other moms. And when push comes to shove, work at home moms can turn a 15-minute block of time into a productive work session.

Know any work at home moms like this you can model?

In a recent Freelance Writers Den podcast, we talked with two work at home moms who have built thriving writing careers in the middle of busy lives. Here’s how it’s done:

Lessons from two work at home moms

Freelance writers Shannon Salinsky and Megan Francis both know what it’s like to be work at home moms.

• Shannon Salinsky is a mom who’s building her writing career while working full time as an inspector for the Federal Aviation Administration.
• Meagan Francis is the author of four books, a contributor to big-name publications like Salon and Good Housekeeping, the founder of the Life, Listened podcast network, and a mother of five.

They’ve figured out their own ways of doing things to make it all work, like:

• Moving through mistakes and setbacks
• Balancing work and parenting
• How to keep writing when life gets crazy
• Finding longer blocks of time to write

Want to get better at your own freelance juggling act? Find out how in this Q&A:

Q: What child care arrangements have you made, and how did you manage the costs?

Megan: I’ve done different things. My brother and I switched off child care at one point.

There are lots of creative solutions. It doesn’t have to be day care. You can get a teenager to come in after school.

When I made just a few hundred dollars freelancing, child care ate up a good chunk of that. I always focus on earning more because that makes questions like, “How would I justify paying for child care?” moot.

Q: As a parent with a full-time job, how do you make time for freelancing?

Shannon: I pretty much juggle up. I do interviews on my lunch hour, and I write anytime I have a free moment.

We’ll take our daughter ice skating, and I’m sitting with my laptop writing furiously while they’re having daddy-baby time. Or for 15 minutes that she’s engrossed in a video at home, I’m frantically doing my writing and research.

When I have to get out of the house, I go to Starbucks and write.

Q: How did you write when you didn’t have child care?

Megan: I did a lot of driving around until the little ones fell asleep. Then I sat outside a hot spot to have wi-fi in my car. I did all kinds of crazy juggling.

Once my kids were inside the car watching TV, and I’m doing an interview in the parking lot outside because it was the only time we could connect.

When you want something badly, you’ll go the distance to make it work. Either I made it as a writer or I had to go back to an office. I was willing to be scrappy.

Q: How do you handle constant demands for attention?

Megan:Sometimes if I set the computer aside and give them my attention, it reboots the afternoon. They’re happy to play by themselves, and I don’t feel so conflicted.

My kids have gotten good at respecting my schedule. I’ll say, “Mommy has to work. After that, we’ll do something special. How can I get you set up so you’re happy for a while?”

Q: How do you keep from taking on too much freelance work?

Shannon: I haven’t learned that lesson yet! I don’t say no to anybody.

But I do stick with easy assignments. Most of my work is with one regional publication. It doesn’t require a ton of research or interviewing, and the deadlines are manageable. It’s a good comfort level for me as a new writer.

I’ve refused to get into blogging. I don’t have time. I get clips in other ways.

Q: How do you cope with afternoon interruptions when school-age kids come home?

Megan: As freelancers we can’t emulate someone in an office who works until 5:00. I try to not work from the time they come home until dinner. I wouldn’t get anything done anyway.

Q: How do you handle sitting all day at work, then going home and sitting down to write?

Shannon: I recently got a treadmill desk. I’m three weeks into it and I probably walked 25 miles. I highly recommend it. You can type and walk much faster than you think.

Q: How do you get kids to understand you’re working and not playing online?

Megan: My son actually told husband, “Mommy’s job is just emailing with her friends!” You have to educate them. Shutting my office door helps them realize, “Oh, this is work.”

I need to be on social media, so that can be confusing to them. You have to be clear that this is your work and they need to respect it. The more I hammer that point home, the more they get it.

Q: What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made as a freelancer?

Shannon: I gave too much information about my day job when I pitched a blogging gig at an airport. They got scared when they learned I was a federal aviation inspector.

These are two different gigs. I am a writer. Period. They don’t need to know everything I do during my day job.

Also, if you mention your full-time job a new editor, they’ll get nervous that you can’t complete your assignment. They don’t need to know. You may write for them for months before the cat’s out of the bag.

Q: How do you avoid spending so much time meeting your family’s needs that you never write?

Megan: When you’re starting out, you’re not making money, and your spouse may not see any benefit yet. It’s hard to get them on board and say, “I need you to handle the morning driving.”

But you have to treat your job like it’s non-negotiable. You might need to simplify your life temporarily. Once you have momentum, it’s easier to keep it going. Kids don’t stay babies forever, either.

When we have little ones we feel like we have to take them lots of places. But if I’m running around, I never have the focus I need. So there are just two days a week that we go out.

The time fairies won’t wave their wands and grant you eight hours. I’ve been waiting a long time, and it doesn’t happen.

The secret to success for work at home moms

Shannon and Megan face different challenges, but both of them make writing a priority in spite of all the distractions. They’re proof that you don’t need endless uninterrupted hours to make it as a freelancer. You just need to take full advantage of the time you’ve got.

How do you balance freelancing with the rest of your life? Let’s discuss on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Maria Veres juggles freelancing, motherhood, and two side jobs in the Oklahoma City area. She contributes regular Q&A blog posts to Make A Living Writing.

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Challenge #276 Anything Goes

Hi everyone, it's time for a new challenge! Are you ready?

It's time for Anything Goes! Your favourite :)

Before we get started, let's announce our winners for Challenge #274 CAS

#30 Ishani

#57 laurie

#53 Rahmat

#19 Chitra

Congratulations everyone! 

On to our challenge and here is the inspiration from the Design Team -

Tanja

Jelena

Meena Herale

Monica Maier

Amy

Susan

Željka

Asha

Shylaa

Amazing inspiration. Over to you now!

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Elegant Bathroom Designs

Content originally published and Shared from http://perfectbath.com

 

Every room in the house should be decorated according to its function and with the right decorating designs as well. Architectural designers have come up with different methods of improving a home to attain the modern and classic look, and these inventions include how to make a bathroom stand out just like the rest of the house. There are different ideas that one can use in designing the bathroom, but the most important thing to consider is its size. The space or scope of the bathroom helps you determine the kind of fixtures to incorporate and the best designs as well.

Elegant Bathroom Designs.

The Material

Now homeowners have discovered the excellent ways of building easy to clean bathrooms with the use of marble, granite, and porcelain. These three materials are soft to touch and come in different colors that give your bathroom a modern and elegant look. It is easy to maintain the elements regarding cleaning since they only require you to wipe them with a cloth.Another area to focus on when selecting the material is the floor. The bathroom floor tends to get water all the time when people are taking showers or even when cleaning the surfaces. Therefore, instead of investing in the old design of adding carpets on the floor, now people are adding tiles. Also instead of using fabric curtains, you can use opaque glass doors which are comfortable to maintain and does not get attacked by mildew or mold.

The Colors

The colors are other excellent designs to consider when it comes to modeling a bathroom. When it comes to small and large bathroom renovations, the colors that you use to determine how the bathroom would appear. For example, there are some colors such as white, beige and cream that cause the bathroom to look more prominent. Also, neutral colors are easy to maintain and go well with any bathroom. If these colors seem to be a bit dull to you, you can add some boldness on other fixtures in the bathroom such as the bathtub, the faucets and also the lightings.

The Fixtures

Add your own taste of fixtures when designing a bathroom. There are different designs of bathroom fixtures such as the bathtub, the sinks, shower heads and also you can add some style when choosing the kind of lighting to use in the bathroom. For example, you can use chandelier lighting in the middle part of the ceiling.

Lighting

Lighting is another excellent design that a lot of people are focusing on. Your bathroom requires enough illumination just like the rest of the house, and therefore, there should be good lighting. For homeowners, this design can help you attract a lot of potential buyers mainly when you use unique and bright bathroom lighting fixtures. Some of the ideas to add when designing the bathroom lighting include the kind of light to use; maybe you can use crystal chandelier and also consider using other bold colored like led bulbs.

Conclusion

Let your bathroom pop up with the use of the above designing ideas. Make sure you work with an experienced designer so they can help you regarding how to put in place the different designs. Also, use other ideas like adding portraits on the walls of the bathroom if space allows you would be awesome.

 

Contributed by : Aaron Gruenke foremost expert in bathroom design.

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3 Ways to Make Your Bedroom Look Hotel-Like

People usually go to fancy hotels for a staycation just to relieve their stresses. Why spend a sum of money for only a night or two when you can use that money to create a haven inside your own home? Use the following tips to achieve that hotel feel you’re aiming for:

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Pristine Sheets

The easiest way to snazz up your bedroom is to outfit your bed with a gorgeous set of sheets. To keep the hotel room look, go for a crisp, white set of sheets that are at least 300 thread count. Hotel rooms tend to use sateen or percale sheets, but you should choose the material that feels most comfortable to you.

If you want to splurge, you can have your sheets professionally laundered, so they come home nice and pressed. And if you find a brand of linens that you truly love, consider purchasing two or three sets so you always have them on hand. Source: HGTV

Keep It Personal

Real hotels tend to lack personality, so to keep your home bedroom cozy, don’t skip the eccentric, personal touches—simply curate them more carefully. “Bedrooms are havens. Keep it simple and understated, but add dashes of fun and whimsy so you can wake up with a smile,” says Proffitt. Anything that brings you joy and lightens up your mood deserves a spot in the room, whether it’s flowers, art, or decor objects. Choose items that make you smile, then pare down the collection so the space feels personal, not cluttered. Source: RealSimple

The Not-So-Obvious Keys to Comfort

Review the room’s acoustics, ventilation and system controls. If possible, add extra insulation between walls, install upgraded carpet pad, add fabric walls with padded upholstered wall panels or on the headboard.

These steps help increase comfort. In addition, the room should be ventilated correctly – common mistakes are air vents blowing over the bed. Place your bed away from air vents and make sure you have access to fresh air. Add concealed speakers at key areas for a sound system and if possible, a fireplace is always a nice feature on a cold snowy night along with a heated towel rack in your bathroom.

Install a bedside three-way switching control that is located above the nightstand for easy access. Source: TheSpruce

We can help you pick out and install a luxurious carpet that would be perfect for your bedroom. Call us today!

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3 Minimalist Bathroom Design Ideas

Content originally published and Shared from http://perfectbath.com

There’s no need to spend tons of money on a spa retreat if you have a minimalist bathroom that is just as comforting. You can easily achieve this look by doing the following tips:

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Don’t store too many things
Just because you have the extra storage space, doesn’t mean you need to fill it completely. Keeping empty space empty and only using what you really need is essential to achieving minimalism in the bathroom. Source: Contemporist

Go for a consolidated look
‘Try to unify the space with one colour or material to achieve a clean and unified look,’ says Straughan. ‘Matte grey tiles would be the perfect base to let your other fittings pop, in particular oversized tiles are a super fashionable choice. Other materials like marble, wood or polished concrete will also achieve that clean look as long as the style isn’t too flashy.’ Source: HouseBeautiful

Don’t be afraid to display a few essentials
A lacquered tray filled with jewelry, perfume bottles and soaps. A trio of vases displaying flowers in pastel tones. A countertop display of grooming products, such as hair gel, deodorant and face wash. These are NOT the type of features you will find in a minimalist bathroom. Not that there’s anything wrong with them! But no-fuss spaces keep the bulk of the grooming products and cushy details hidden, instead choosing to highlight a few key pieces. Like a clear vase filled with one or two blooms, or lotion displayed in a crystalline canister. Source: Decoist

We have the perfect bathroom fixtures to suit your minimalist bathroom. Call us today!

 

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Calgary, Alberta
Email: info@perfectbath.com

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Park House on Cambie Corridor

Park House is a new development with two 6-story buildings in the Cambie Corridor location. Between Winona Park and Langara Golf Course in South Cambie neighborhood. Marine Gateway, Oakridge Centre, and a future proposed Canada Line station are just steps away. Park House will offers 86 condominiums 1-3 bedrooms. It will raise the bar for luxury with Italian kitchens, featuring Miele and Gaggenau appliances, hotel-inspired interiors.

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Free HuffPo is Dead: 7 Moves Writers Should Make Now

If you missed the big news this past week: The Huffington Post (now officially known as HuffPo) ended its free-contributor channel, which had over 100,000 participating writers. Many writers online have bemoaned the death of free HuffPo posts, but I have a different reaction.

The end of unpaid HuffPo articles is part of a trend we’ll likely see more of this year — and I think it’s a good thing.

Yes, a tiny handful of writers seemed to get good clients through their unpaid HuffPo bylines, though the value of HuffPo exposure declined over time.

And quite a few writers were earning good money ghostwriting free HuffPo posts for thought leader/speaker/CEO types who didn’t have time to write their own authority-building pieces. So it wasn’t all bad.

But in the main, hordes of writers writing for free isn’t good.

Whether you’re happy or sad about the end of free HuffPo content, it’s important to understand what this change signifies in the marketplace. There are plenty of ways writers can benefit from these changing tides.

Here are seven key action items for freelance writers as the free HuffPo contributor channel fades away:

1. Stay diversified

Every time a popular platform changes the rules on us, it’s a good reminder of the importance of having a multi-pronged marketing plan. You don’t want to put too many eggs in one basket — especially a basket you don’t control.

Doing your own, independent, proactive marketing remains the best way to make sure you find good clients.

Of course, that goes double for paying clients. You need many clients, not one. I know writers who were making good money ghosting for thought leaders on HuffPo. Hopefully, that wasn’t their only client. It’s possible those gigs can be transferred to ghosting for that thought leader on Forbes, Medium, LinkedIn Pulse or somewhere else. If not, those writers are scrambling for new gigs.

2. Post on paid sites instead

I never really understood the fascination with getting to be a free HuffPo contributor, because there’s a better way to get exposure for your writing online: Post on popular sites that pay instead. There are plenty of them.

For several years, a ways back, I was paid $1,200 a month to post three times weekly on Entrepreneur.com — and several good clients approached me from seeing my byline there. (Sadly, I think they have followed the now-dead HuffPo model and no longer pay, but there are plenty of paying sites out there.)

You can get good exposure while getting paid. I recently published a list of over 160 sites that pay writers. Make paid exposure your focus for 2018, and you’ll make sure your bills are paid while also raising your profile online.

Beats spending hours every month writing for free, and hoping to heck it gets you a gig.

3. Get paid at HuffPo

Along with its news of shutting down the free HuffPo contributors, the editor announced they will be looking to hire more reporters in cities outside their traditional New York/D.C. axis. HuffPo is also looking to have paid contributors in new Personal and Opinion channels, who’ll work with their editors.

That’s the big good news: HuffPo is killing the free content in favor of more paid content.

4. Understand the trend

When something like this happens, it’s easy to simply focus on why one company made one decision. But this development at HuffPo is much bigger than that. It’s likely the start of a trend away from mass platforms full of free-contributor content. And if you’re sad about that, blame Donald Trump.

The rise of fake news online — and the demonizing by the president of respected, traditional news outlets — combined to make it problematic to run a wide-open free contributor network that lacked a gatekeeper. That’s HuffPo’s stated reason for killing free content.

It had become an open secret that link-seeking companies paid many free HuffPo writers to post for them against the rules and without disclosure, and a lot of bogus content was gumming up the system.

Those who agreed and went for a quick buck or two may have helped kill the free-exposure goose. Readers quickly got hip to the low quality, and took their eyeballs elsewhere. HuffPo killed the free channel because nobody was reading it — it had shrunk to 10-15 percent of their total traffic, the New York Times reported.

It turns out most people like reading writers they can trust — the kind that have an editorial process that fact-checks what they publish. Yay!

What’s next? Other mass free-content platforms are probably looking at the exact same problem HuffPo did, and pondering their next move. Don’t be shocked if you see more big, unpaid-exposure platforms fade out this year.

Some observers were looking for Medium to fold even before the HuffPo news broke, as discussed in my recent 2018 freelance forecast. So if you’ve gone big on there, you might want to rethink.

And LinkedIn’s blog, Pulse? Most writers I know are re-posting content on there, not trusting LinkedIn with their original content. Who knows where they’re going with that experiment. All we do know is it’s a no-pay scene. So proceed with caution.

If you’re relying on any free-posting site as your main marketing tool, consider what else you might do to find clients. Don’t assume that opportunity will stick around.

5. Capture your clips

When a channel or site shuts down, writing samples can be lost. The HuffPo bombshell is a good reminder to all online writers to take screenshots of your best stuff when it comes out. Don’t assume it’ll always be there.

Try to keep a list of URLs for your content, in case it disappears. If you know the exact address, you can try using Wayback Machine to find an old copy of it in the glorious Internet archives.

One thing HuffPo hasn’t clarified is how quickly it might vanish away the existing motherlode of free content. But if you have anything valuable on there, I’d be taking screenshots immediately. No telling if you’ll be able to find it a month from now.

6. Be dialed in

When you’re not part of robust writer community, you’re often taken by surprise by changes in the marketplace. If you have a writer network, it’s more likely you’re going to see them coming.

I’ve been hearing from more and more writers in the Den who’re on the paid side of HuffPo, so this week’s news didn’t really shock me — I could already see HuffPo’s new direction taking shape.

It’s hard to know about every market out there, as one freelance writer working all alone. Without a writer network, you miss critical tips that could help you make better use of your marketing time.

7. Get mad — and get paid

Here’s the big thing that gets swept under the rug: Since the birth of the Internet, writers have slaved for peanuts or free ‘exposure’ on platforms whose owners became hugely wealthy, while they got stiffed. And discarded.

A big early profiteer was Demand Media, whose owners netted over $77 million when they took the company public in 2011. Writers got none of that. Meanwhile, most Demand Studios writers were still getting a big $20 a post…until even that sad gig dried up, and most Demand writers were out in the snow.

More recently, Medium’s founders have raked in $132 million in venture capital. And contributors get paid zero. Do you smell a rat?

You see it happening again with HuffPo. Arianna Huffington built her brand on free content, then sold HuffPo to AOL in 2011, in a deal that included $300 million in cash. Unpaid writers got zero on that deal (though some did protest). Free writers made HuffPo happen, built it into a hugely valuable enterprise, and now, 7 years later, they’re being shown the door.

Does that make you mad? It should.

A decade ago, when I founded this blog, I became a crusader to stop writer exploitation. Clearly, more work remains, because this just keeps happening.

Writers of the world, unite! And refuse to work for free or for pennies, especially for owners whose profits are big enough to buy a small country. While you’re writing your fingers to nubs and praying it pays off somewhere down the line in good inbound clients, your online overlords are jetting off to Tahiti, living large off your honest toil.

It only stops when we all refuse to play.

Free HuffPo: Good riddance

Change can be stressful. But remember that every free platform that shutters means that writers’ value is being increasingly recognized. It’s a good sign.

Rates for blogging have been rising for several years. As free content goes away, that positive trend should continue.

What do you think about the end of free HuffPo? Let’s discuss on Facebook or LinkedIn.

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