People owning apartments in the higher floors, or those who have the luxury of a boundary wall and a security personnel, windows without grill is an option.

Image Courtesy : fenesta.com

The grill-less windows are am amazing way to increase the aesthetic appeal of the home. They also do away with the cumbersome need to clean the grill bars and give an “unobstructed” view of the outside world.

 The grilled window is a industry standard for Indian homes. They offer a sense of security to the house owners from thefts and people entering the homes. One of the other advantages of the grill is that it offers physical security against small children who tend to peep outside the window and this could be dangerous especially in a high raised building.

Image Courtesy : web.ukonline.co.uk

The above image shows you an illustration of a grilled window.

Opening and closing of the window-doors can be a small issue if grills are used and especially if the door swings outside of the grill.

We would like to hear your views on this topic. Would any of you opt for the grill-less window for your home?

Shoot you comments through!

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We wrote on learning from restaurants a couple of days back. We have a few pictures with us and thought we would post the same with some observations.

Restaurant: Jelly Belly,Besant Nagar, Chennai

About the restaurant briefly: They mainly serve deserts. For food, you will have to go to Eden.

This first photo shows the storage. First thing that struck me was the way the glasses were stored. This was neat and yet practical. If you can see closely, they are hung on their stems. This way, there won’t be any liquid in the glasses and no dust will settle.

Coming to the dishes, even if a desert shop doesn’t need too many, they are well stacked on stands that save space. YOu can also see a closed cupboard where other things can be stored.

Whats noteworthy in this second picture is the small shelf that can be observed where the two walls meet. An excellent place to store small things such as salt and pepper dispensers. We could try similar things at home. Except, don’t place a flower pot on it, or your television.

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We have an interesting range of products in today’s article - kitchen sinks. The company is called Acrysil and is located in Gujarat - India.

Their brand name is called “Carysil”.

Image Courtesy : acrysil.com

From the manufacturer’s website :

CARYSIL Sinks are made up of 75 - 80% natural special color treated natural quartz minerals and manufactured with state-of-the-art technology that gives ‘Look of Granite and Feel of Stone’.

Quartz physical properties are next hardest to Diamond. It makes our sinks so tough that one cannot scratch the surface even with sharpest of tools, ..virtually making it an indestructible surface and dent-proof.

It’s homogeneous, heavy duty material where every inch of the material consists of quartz particles, making it lifelong.

They manufacture two models of sinks:

• Vivaldi Series Kitchen Sinks
• Beethoven Series Kitchen Sinks

You can see the various products online on their website : http://www.acrysil.com/index.htm

Types of sinks from this company are:

• Single Bowl Drainer
• One & Half Bowl Drainer
• Two Bowl Drainer
• Two Bowl without Drainer
• Big Bowl

Drainer, in the above classification refers to an area on the sink where vessels can be placed after washing. The water from the vessels will drain into the area and are carried into the sink by the help of some grooves on the sink.

Image Courtesy : acrysil.com

What are the advantages of Quartz based sinks?

• No scratches
• No dents
• No stains
• No rust
• No noise when in use
• Unbreakable (after installation)
• Wide variety of colors available
• Lots of models to choose from
• 5 year warranty!
• Easy to Install

The company claims to have some German collaboration for manufacturing Quartz sinks. Quartz is apparently the second hardest material after diamond.

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We all go eat out in restaurants. Some of us once in a while and some others more often. While most of us concentrate on the food itself, (and understandably so) we could perhaps learn about how to store things at home by looking at the decor in the restaurants.

Good restaurants not only have aesthetically designed storage and interiors, but also have optimised design for easy retrieval of things and ease of cleaning. Thus we can learn a lot from looking at restaurants. Not all restaurants allow you to take a peek inside their kitchens. But some of them do. Do take a look at the restaurants where you are allowed to peek into their kitchens. You could learn a thing or two.

Even otherwise, you can learn a lot starting from seating arrangement to the table and even the salt and pepper dispensers. You might find out that some of the things used in restaurants are to your liking. Lighting is equally important. When entertaining a guest, or even dining with family, lighting is very important. (Well ,also make sure you go green)

We plan to post a few photographs later on to demonstrate how restraunts have good interiors that we can learn from. 

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We had a small write up on 29th March about mini bar at home. Today we go into the accessories….with illustration.

Ice Bucket

 

Image Courtesy : barmans.co.uk and sincerityweddings.com

Ice buckets are essential for a mini bar as most drinks need ice cubes. The exceptions are beer and certain types of liqueurs. The other category of ice buckets are used to keep the whole bottle of wine or champagne immersed in. You can see the later in the 2nd image on top. Ice buckets which are used to store ice cubes are well insulated so that the ice does not melt.

Ice Tong

What goes with the ice bucket is the apparatus use to extract the ice and deliver them into your drink - ICE TONGS.

 Image Courtesy : jupiterimages.com and shreejiindia.com

Cocktail Mixer

When it comes to making your favourite cocktail, the mixer is an indispensable tool. They are available in stainless steel and also glass. They are equipped with a lid. The contents are poured into the mixer, the lid is closed and shaken vigorously letting a tasty cocktail being developed inside. Herbs, spices and even fruit bits can be added to the cocktail along with juices, water, cola…Its upto your imagination really!

 

Image Courtesy : pymesonline.com and marriagecarriageandmore.com

Strainer

Once the cocktail has been shaken, it has to be poured into the glass of your choice. But it cant just be dumped into the glass. Usually the cocktail has lots of residue in it like fruit peaces, ice cubes, mint leaves etc..To stain them out we use - the “strainer”.

  

Image Courtesy: barsupplies.com and drinkstuff.com

The strainer shown on the right hand side is a more professional one which has a rolled wire around the corners. These are to hold the ice cubes from falling into your cocktail.

Knives

You need a small and effective knife to slice lemon, orange and other citrus fruits which are decorated on cocktail glasses. Also they can be used to slice other items like fruits.

Image Courtesy : about.com

Napkins and Coasters

 

Image Courtesy : pebblez.com and jwodcatalog.com

Coasters can be made or cardboard, plastic, wood, metal or even glass. But they are very good at protecting your precious furniture from getting stained with rings. Plus, they make the task of cleaning up very easy. You don’t have to wipe the table for rings, some of them which take ages to go!

Napkins are a good accessory in a mini bar for people to clean up, dispose bones from the chicken wings! and clean up mess if it happens. We strongly recommend this for your mini bar.

Bottle/Wine Openers

We have seen in many parties, people fumble for a bottle opener and end up using window sills and even teeth to open beer bottles. Adding a bottle and/or a wine opener is certainly recommended to avoid injury and accidents during opening adventures!

 

Image Courtesy : awesomedrinks.com and webphotoschool.com

Article to continue…….

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