House and Home Archives - Page 64 of 81

How To Maximize Your Bedroom Space

Small, pokey bedrooms can be a problem – it’s hard to relax properly when you feel cramped, and your storage options can feel restricted in a small room. However, by following a few tips you can make what little space you have go a lot further – you’ll be surprised at the difference you can make!

1. Maximise floor space

This means de-cluttering the room as much as possible – get rid of any unnecessary furniture and area rugs, as unbroken floor space makes the room appear bigger. If you’re redesigning the room, consider using wood or laminate flooring instead of carpet, which reflects light and makes the room appear bigger.

2. Make use of storage

Wall shelving helps to move items away from the floor area and makes good use of the vertical space you have in the room. A laundry basket stops clothes piling up on the floor. One off the best and most efficient solutions is to get a storage bed – these have space underneath the mattress where you can keep all sorts of things, from foldable clothes to suitcases and even books!

3. Scale furniture to the room’s size

A sure-fire way to make a room feel cramped is to fill it with bulky furniture. You can still have a writing desk, bedside tables and chests of drawers, but make sure they’re slimline and compact if they’re destined for a small room. This goes for your bed too – consider dropping down from a king to a double if your bed is hogging all the floorspace.

4. Redecorate!

Patterns may look pretty, but they also make a room look smaller. Repaint the walls in a simple white, cream or icy blues and do the same with your bedroom furniture – or leave it as plain wood which gives a similar light and airy effect. Try to favour light colours when redecorating, or at least brighten the place up with light bed linen.

5. Use natural lighting

If you have large windows in a small room, make the most of them to make the room feel bigger – by letting more sunlight flow into the room, you will really open up the interior. Use sheer window coverings and avoid bulky curtains: simple roller blinds are better for controlling light without compromising on space. Wall mirrors can also make the room appear larger.

The Winding Road To Santa Claus..

This winding road leads to….

Santa Claus overload!

Paete Laguna, Wood Carving Capital of the Philippines. Here, you can find wood crafts in different shapes and sizes. More than wood crafts, Paete is known for religious icon wood carvings, look at San Pedro Calungsod wood sculpture in different sizes:

But the reason we were there is not for the wood crafts, we were there for Santa Claus paper mache.. Paper Mache makers in Paete is as abundant as wood carvers. And I know the price would be cheaper.

Indeed it was!

All these Santa for 1200 PhP! Sulit ang haba ng biyahe namin.. that’s almost 4 hours of travel (round trip) from Pasig to Rizal to Laguna! In fairness, sa view pa lang, sulit na talaga:

We passed by two old churches, San Ildefonso Parish Church at Tanay and San Pedro de Alcantara Parish Church at Pakil Laguna. Unfortunately, no photo ops for the huge churches, well, that gives us another reason to travel that road again. Hopefully with my mother and we might even visit Danny Dalena’s museum at Pakil (I’m sure my mother would love that!)..

Aside from Santa Claus paper mache, we also bought a chess board (700 PhP, magandang klase daw, made of narra wood).. Lolong inspired sungka caught my eye:

and these cute stools, which is sold at 140 PhP each..

for bulk order, it’s 120 PhP.. (here’s the contact details of the store: Well and Thess Handicraft, 09163854964 and 09182199467). I even saw welcome signs, wood utensils and fiber glass art works.

The winding road to Santa Claus is really worth it.. too many eye candies!

Luwas na mudra at magbyahe tayo!

Meralco Bill Deposit

I just paid my Meralco bill a few days ago when I received another notice from them.. not a disconnection notice but a Bill Deposit due.. Meralco Bill Deposit?!? what the?!?

Another shocking thing about this bill is, I need to pay PhP4000+ in a month’s time or else my service will be disconnected, yes even though I am paying my bill monthly.. it’s just plain unbelievable!

Meralco Bill Deposit

According to my notice, this is an annual updating of bill deposits as required by ERC Rules and Regulation. Here’s what the bill has to say about my Meralco Bill Deposit 4000 Php due:

Based on the comparison made between your bill deposit and average monthly bills for the past 12 months, your bill deposit has been determined insufficient. You will be required to pay an additional deposit.

Based on the notice, my average monthly bill is Php 7000+, which is also my required bill deposit amount but because I have 3000+ credits from existing bill deposits and net bill deposit interests, my due is only 4000 PhP.

After calming down, I read and re read the notice and learned that this annual updating has two implications:

First, the bill deposit annual updating where in it will have to be equal to the monthly average bill. If your average monthly bill exceeds your bill deposit, you will have to pay the excess or if your average monthly bill is less than your bill deposits, you are entitled to a refund.

Second, the deposits interest will be credited yearly to the bill.

Sample computation of Meralco Bill Deposit

Insufficient Deposit:
Average monthly bill (for one year) 800
Bill Deposit + Interest 650
Average monthly bill- Bill deposits (+interest) = 150 < additional bill deposit to be paid by the costumer
Excess Deposit:
Average monthly bill (for one year) 500
Bill Deposit + Interest 650
Average monthly bill- Bill deposits (+interest) = -150 < refund (credited to the bill)

Meralco website offered a more detailed FAQ’s on Meralco Bill Deposit and some explanations:

Meralco said that only 90,000 of its customers got letters this October notifying them of the need to pay additional bill deposit. It added that a majority of its customers are not expected to be covered by the update of bill deposits. The utility company clarified that only customers who have received at least three (3) disconnection notices or whose electric service has actually been disconnected in the past 12 months prior to their contract anniversary date have received these notification letters.
Customers who have been diligent in paying their electricity bills on or before due date, meanwhile, did not receive letters.
For all customers from whom additional bill deposit is required, Meralco will implement a collection scheme to make the payment easier for them. From the original period of 30 days to settle their deposit insufficiency, Meralco has manifested before the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) that it will instead stagger the collection over a period of 12 months starting January 2013. This collection period will also apply to customers who will receive notification letters in November and December.
The bill deposit is an amount required from customers of all distribution utilities as a guarantee for payment of electric bills. The bill deposit and its annual update are based on the provisions of the Magna Carta for Residential Consumers and the Distribution Services and Open Access Rules (DSOAR) for Residential and Non-residential Consumers, which Meralco is implementing.

So that’s what we got for my procrastination..every month, I pay our Meralco bills only after receiving our disconnection notice.. never thought it would have a bad effect on our bill.. maybe I should apply for online payment to prevent this thing from happening again.

Annual Update of Bill Deposit Frequently Asked Questions can be found here.