hellobeautifulcreatures

How about this for a nightmare scenario? A family leaves on a long anticipated two-week vacation. A few days later a fixture in their home develops a water leak. Maybe it's the kitchen faucet, a failing water heater , or a break in the hose connecting the washing machine . Whatever the source, the family returns from their vacation to find thousands of dollars in damage to their waterlogged home. A survey by Chubb finds homeowners , for the most part, are oblivious to potential water damage from inside the home, despite the fact that water damage is more common than either fire or theft. "The time between when a leak occurs and when it is discovered is the single greatest factor in determining the amount of damage," said Fran O'Brien, division president of Chubb North America Personal Risk Services . "As a result, leaks that occur while you're away result in greater amounts of damage, in terms of both cost and severity." Frequency has nearly doubled An...

Your extra long showers are ruining the environment and Elisabeth Buecher wants to do something about it.  The textile installation artist can’t flush the toilet or throw cold water on every excessive shower taker , but she has found a way to keep people on a tight schedule: inflatable spikes. Part of a series of creations called “My Shower Curtain is a Green Warrior,” the Spiky curtain pushes people out of the stall if they’ve been in for too long. From the moment the water starts running , you have four minutes to do all your scrubbing before the spikes make it impossible to remain in the shower. An additional installation, titled “Trap,” offers a similar concept, though with double the claustrophobia. As the shower head rains down, the curtain begins to inflate around the user. If you surpass four minutes of scrubbing, the curtain closes entirely and traps you inside. It makes every morning feel like an escape from the Temple of Doom. Buecher’s installations play off the sugge...

Alamy When David Maher, a financial adviser in Cleveland, bought a raw condo space in a downtown building earlier this year, he decided to install a spa shower to make his new home a special place. Maher paid attention the details in his master bathroom and upgraded to a Moen- brand luxury shower unit called the ioDIGITAL. The spa- style shower unit comes complete with remote controls, a digital touch pad to pre- program water temperature , and an array of shower heads ranging from a rain shower to four body sprays and a hand-held wand. "I never had these things before and going into a new place I wanted something luxury and high end," Maher, 43, says. Like a growing number of homeowners, he has replaced a ho-hum shower with a more spa-like one that includes shower heads that can mimic raindrops or a waterfall or pelt the body like a massage. Although such spa shower units represent less than 5 percent of the overall market, they have grown in popularity over the pa...

We created a whole rating system for our accommodations, spending copious time discussing the humorous aspects of our previous night’s stay. One particular night bonded us for life. We refer to it as “what broke us.” I won’t name the place because one Italian girl who worked there was very nice. So it’s the end of a long ass day. I mean long: Nine and a half hours of running. We are getting close to our rifugio when the storm starts coming . Temperatures are plummeting as fast as our moods, the wind is whipping across the mountain, and it’s starting to rain. We still have at least a half- mile straight uphill to get there. All I could think about was a hot shower, food and a glass of wine. We got there and it was jam packed with weary hikers from all over the world, humming with different languages and odd smells—especially in the reeking “shoe room.” I got in line for the shower, and pieced together enough conversations of the people in front of me to finally understand that there ...

Creigh Deeds, Virginia state senator . (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) He wakes up, and even before he opens his eyes, he can see his beautiful, delusional son . Gus , Creigh Deeds thinks . He lies in bed a few minutes more, trying to conjure specific images. Gus dancing. Gus playing the banjo. Gus with the puppies. Any images of Gus other than the final ones he has of his 24-year-old, mentally ill son attacking him and then walking away to kill himself, images that intrude on his days and nights along with the questions that he will begin asking himself soon, but not yet. A few minutes more. Gus fishing. Gus looking at him. Gus smiling at him. Time to start the day. He gets out of bed, where a piece of the shotgun he had taken apart in those last days of his son’s life is still hidden under the mattress. He goes outside to feed the animals, first the chickens in the yard and then the horses in the red-sided barn. He leads the blind thoroughbred outside with a bucket of feed, t...

As the new flowers grow and weather starts to warm up, we often get the itch to make some changes in our house. If you have had the same bedding and bath towels since before the kids were born, it’s time to be out with the old and in with the new! We have gathered some of our favorite pieces of spring decor for the bedroom and bathroom that can have a major impact on a small budget- and we are thrilled to share them with you today! Bedroom JAIPUR BEDDING COLLECTION FROM ECHO DESIGN If you are looking to give your bedroom a fresh look this Spring, consider getting a vibrant new bedding set that will immediately update your decor.  The Jaipur Bedding Collection from Echo Designs will definitely give a Spring boost to your bedroom with Indian paisleys in fresh bright colors that scream Spring. High quality soft fabrics make the comforter both functional and decorative. The shades of aqua bring a soothing cool feel to the bright print and the smaller ethnic print on the reverse side o...