For The Love of Art - #HomeIsWhereTheArtIs
Art can come in various forms and in a combination of unique styles too. Everyone is different and can appreciate aspects of daily life or nature that someone else may not be able to understand. It’s a self-expression of one's thoughts and emotions encompassed on a canvas, a sheet of paper, a book or bits of scrap. You could say that art is a love.
When many people think of ‘love’ within an instant most people think of romantic love or friendship love but not many think of the love of Art. For all those like minded artists, creatives and picasso’s out there you may feel that art is your love. After all, it’s a passion and you likely have belief in your work. We can understand the challenges, the unique abilities and the creative thought that goes behind each piece of art which is why we would love to see yours.
In line with our #HomeIsWhereTheArtIs competition we are looking for all you future gallery artists, creatives and designers to show us your masterpieces. Whether it’s a piece of artwork you’ve created that evokes the feeling of love within you, or simply something that shows off your passion for art, we’d love to see it!
To celebrate The Love of Art and all the entries we’ve received for the competition, we’ve put together a few of our favourite entries so far!
Elisa Trueman - ‘Painting of a Summer's Day’
Elisa’s love for summer days in Cornwall is apparent in this vibrant painting. The colourful flowers amongst the tall grass create a positive energy and adds life to the calm, tranquil sea in the background of the scene. You can really sense the movement in the foliage and flowers, which also frame the horizon beautifully.
Natalie Gelder - ‘It's always the last piece I've finished, because everything I've done has lead me to that piece.’
Natalie has created this surreal Science Fiction themed portrait of a woman intertwined with planets in space. It demonstrates her love for the sci-fi genre. The captivating expression of the woman draws the viewer into the painting as she invites us into her colourful solar system.
Merlinda Little - ‘Watercolor of the colorful houses in Bristol’
Merlinda has used bright, pastel colours within this watercolour painting of a view of houses by the waterfront in Bristol. The pastel colours combined with the light brush strokes give the artwork a happy and carefree feel. Merlinda has created this painting from a photo taken on a trip to Bristol, and it really shows her love of travelling and painting together.
Isabelle Noakespayet - Abstract acrylic on canvas ‘Blossoms in Springtime’
A gorgeous acrylic painting reminiscent of springtime flowers on the brink of bloom. Isabelle has chosen to focus on a dozen or so flowers in the foreground, whilst obscuring the background by blending greens, purples and yellows on the canvas itself. A touch of blue is added to the top, adding just a hint of realism to the otherwise abstract painting. Isabelle’s love for the season of Spring and blooming flowers is seen here.
Adam Hedges - ‘Fire and hood’
Inspiration for art can come from many other things you love and are passionate about. This incredible piece of art by Adam Hedges was created based on his and his wife’s love for the TV show ‘Game of Thrones’. Adam has recreated The House Targaryen Sigil and attached it to a cooker hood.
Rowena Searby-Rodgers - ‘Rainbow Baby’
This truly emotive painting shows the unique bond between a mother and her baby. The mother looks down with affection and cradles her crying baby in her arms. It shows the undying love that the mother has, and the crying baby may represent the difficulties of motherhood. The artist uses colours to demonstrate this also, with the black expressing the struggles of motherhood, and the rainbow of colours that overlay the darkness expresses everlasting maternal love that will always be present.
Don't forget, you can submit your own brilliant arwork into our #HomeIsWhereTheArtIs competition!
5 Tips to Changing Our Perspective
After the Festive season is over, a lot of people often choose to take time to reflect and think about themselves as the New Year begins. For some people, this comes naturally, however, for others, they may struggle to find the time to commit to this worthwhile activity.
This can lead to them experiencing feels of self-doubt or being unable to take a different perspective later on when they need to.
That’s why we’ve created this handy five-part guide on how to change your perception of yourself, both mentally and physically. Use these tips and you’ll find your perspective will shift dramatically, putting you in great stead for 2019.
Understand how you view yourself
The first part of changing your personal perception is understanding exactly what you perceive yourself to be. Although it sounds silly, self-esteem is important and a lot of the time, people fail to give themselves enough credit for what they do. On the other hand, some people think they are immune to flaws and choose to hide any and all criticism. Both of these are equally unhealthy.
To understand how you view yourself, take a Self-Esteem check-up. Write down five strengths and five weaknesses on a piece of paper and then next to each one, note down how you can improve your positives, whilst lessening, or eliminating your weaknesses. Be patient though, neither of these changes will happen overnight.
Step out of your comfort zone
Whether we like to admit it or not, most of us are guilty of falling into a routine and trying to stick rigidly to it. Although a regular pattern can sometimes be good, it is often dull, monotonous and traps you into a cycle which leaves you demotivated and unenthusiastic. Your challenge here is to break that cycle, even if it is only in a small way. Instead of driving into work, why not walk in or cycle once a week? Or instead of putting it off, why not try out that new local martial arts class you’ve been eying up? Remember, you don’t have to instantly be good at what you do and you might find out that after trying it, you don’t necessarily want to continue. But until you give it a chance, you’ll never find out.
Flip your glass
The terms ‘glass half full’ and ‘glass half empty’, although useful, are inherently limited. By only focusing on the positives or indeed the negatives of a particular action, you’ll give yourself a skewed mindset and this can be problematic in many situations. Instead, try and flip your glass and focus on the aspect that you didn’t previously consider. If someone, for instance, offers you a free cup of coffee, and normally you’d think ‘Great!’, consider the negative that someone else more needing could have that instead. Or, if you end up cancelling plans at the last minute, instead of dwelling on the negative that you won’t be doing what you expected, focus on the fact you can do something else equally rewarding instead.
Ruminate less
Inevitably, things go wrong in life and there is nothing you can do to stop that. However, when we feel disappointed, upset, stressed or embarrassed, we find ourselves naturally replaying these events, wondering what we could have done better. Instead of solving our problems, we just shift and enhance feelings of shame, guilt, anger, awkwardness or regret onto ourselves. Rather than ruminating, try and actively solve your problem. Once you work out what went wrong, you can change the question from being ‘Why do I do that?’ to ‘What will I do next time?’ By being constructive, rather than self-destructive, you can quickly amend whatever the problem is.
Accept while improving
You shouldn’t force yourself to change dramatically. Change should be a gradual process and there is nothing wrong with trying to slow it down in order to make it easier. Life should be exciting and you want to get the maximum number of opportunities out of it. At the same time, you don’t want to set unattainable goals and then feel worse because you didn’t achieve them on time. The ideal balance is accepting and embracing who you are – your core personality – and looking towards the future to see how you can grow. Think about what you want to achieve and why this matter to you. By promoting self-growth, you’ll make the most out of your skills and find that everything else comes easy.
And of course, if you ever need a friendly face, or just want someone else to have a chat with, you can always rely on Beyond Storage. We have a variety of sites across the UK and we’re ready to go above and beyond to help you fulfil your storage solutions.
Clean out your garage in 7 easy steps
With the hustle and bustle of Christmas finally over, everyone’s routines are returning to normal and as such, things start to quieten down. As part of this, late-winter and spring cleaning is usually top of people’s agendas heading into the New Year. And more often than not, this means facing down the dreaded garage or shed, usually filled to the brim with clutter, tools and assorted items you once wanted, but now no longer need.
Thankfully, we’ve compiled our short guide of how to clean your garage, so you can make the most out of whatever space you have, successfully de-clutter your area and still make sure that you don’t throw out anything you need.
Step 1: Create a plan
Before you even start to dive into the clutter, you need to know exactly what you are going to do with the items you find. This can be categorised into three options:
Keep
Send to storage/store elsewhere
Sell/donate to an appropriate source
Recycle/dispose
If you have a lot of large items, you might also want to consider hiring a skip, or employing a removal service.
Step 2: Work out your ‘Keep’ pile
The most important items in your list are the ones you actually intend to keep in the longer term. Rather than agonising about each item one-by-one, set a general set of rules. Some of the things you might want to consider are:
How often have I used this in the last six months?
Does this work? Does it need fixing? How long will that take and how much will it cost?
Do I need spares or just one set?
Can I borrow this from someone else?
Step 3: Remove everything!
Although it seems drastic, you want to start from a total ground-zero. Remove all your items into a clear, easily-accessible area. Measure how much space you have in your empty garage or shed to work out realistically what you can put back.
Step 4: Sort it all!
Make three areas. Your keep pile – designated by a string boundary, your ‘store elsewhere’ pile and a ‘throw-away/recycle/sell’ pile. Pick a small section of your garage or shed, and start organising your items by these rules and have spare plastic bags, cardboard boxes or black sacks ready to filter the rubbish and recycling out. If your keep pile starts getting too big, don’t worry, just pick some non-essential items and move them to your ‘storage’ pile. Once you’ve cleaned out one area, start on the next pile!
Step 5: Dispose, tidy and pack away
Now you’ve identified your ‘storage’ and ‘throw away/recycle/sell’ piles, it’s time to organise them. For storage items, try and pack them up carefully in sturdy cardboard boxes, with necessary support e.g. bubble wrap, if appropriate. Remember to mark them clearly so you know exactly what you are packing away if you need to get it out. Once you’ve finished with this, make sure you take your boxes to a location, like your local Beyond Storage site. If you are recycling any items, clean them out if necessary and place them in the appropriate waste bins. If you have to throw anything away, then use your waste bin, visit your local disposal tip site or if you’ve hired a skip, fill it to an appropriate manageable level.
Step 6: Re-order and repack
It’s finally time to repack your shed or garage with your new items. Make maximum use of your new-found space by compartmentalising items and use shelves, cabinets and closets to store frequently-used items. Try and group items together so you know where to look e.g. garden equipment all in one corner.
If you need storage solutions, choose Beyond Storage. We have a variety of sites across the UK and we’re ready to go above and beyond to help you fulfil your storage solutions.
Baby sharks and mermaid tiles doo doo doo doo doo doo...
Create them a bathroom they'll love to spend time in!
Convincing baby to take a bath can be tricky, sometimes the bath is too cold, then it's too hot, sometimes it can feel as big as the ocean and other times, they're just left wondering - what is beneath that black hole? Now to take the anxiety out of bath time, we have some top tips (no rubber ducks included) for you that will make bathing a fear of the past.
Baby Bath Time Fun
1. Colour me clean! Lots of little ones love to draw and colour, sketch and scribble, so why not make bath time another artistic adventure? You can buy lots of bath and baby friendly colouring in cubes, that turn the bath water into a rainbow and baby into a Picasso instantaneously. How fun is that? And don't worry, no stains involved.
2. Let them put on a shark puppet show (there's a song for that!). Bring in some bathing puppets or simply create different characters with your hands and action! Role play like this can really help to engage your baby's brain and will help them to improve their creative skills whilst having lots of fun! Here are some cute puppets we found which won't look so hideous in your beautifully designed bathroom:
3. Ignore their imagination with a creative space full of mermaid magic! 2018 may have been the year of the mermaid tail, but 2019 is certainly the year for the mermaid TILE. And boy do we love it!
Mermaid Tiles:
This new wave of tiling is made up of fan-shaped fish scale tiles with rounded edges and irregular shapes. They are pretty, ornamental and magical in design, and they draw the eye to the most unique looking feature wall.
Mermaid tiles will make bath time feel like an undersea adventure! It will keep your baby coming back for more swimming and splashing in the tub. But mermaid tiles aren't just for bathrooms, you can dress up your kitchen, cloakroom, and even your hallway with these beauties, how simple life would be when those sticky fingers cling on to the walls, eh?
4 Kitchen Colour Schemes of 2019
The Christmas decorations are away and you are feeling focussed and refreshed, you may have set lots of New Year's resolutions and one of those may even be to update that kitchen of yours.
Biggest Kitchen Colour trend of 2019
If you are unsure of which direction to go for, one of the biggest trends to set the one for kitchen interiors in 2019 is the Dark Side! And that's not because of the upcoming Star Wars film, nor because of the darkness January can sometimes leave us in, instead it's Scandi Noir trend that is here to make a statement, provide you with a minimalist, clean slate mindset and to make your kitchen the powdery pantry you've always dreamed of.
Still not convinced? One of our favourite interior experts has seen that black and navy blue kitchens are up 93% in past six months! Ready to dive into the deep blue kitchen?
These styles can be traced from classic Shaker-style kitchens, which welcome the old in the new - we love a bit of that!
Here's how to update your kitchen space into a deep blue kitchen that will make you envious of yourself!
1. Pendant lights
2. New door handles
3. Paint those cabinets
4. A new perch for your pad
5. Plant it out
6. Take some time to reflect
Dementia Awareness: A Gift to Remember
What does Christmas mean to you?
- Food
- Family
- Festivities
But for those who are affected by dementia, Christmas can be a really difficult time of year. And although Christmas days can be noisy and stressful for everyone involved, for those who suffer from dementia, the noise and blaring music over people talking can make Christmas Day very unsettling and confusing.
Dementia is a blanket term for Alzheimer, and other forms of acquired brain diseases are increasingly common and saddening realities for many older members of society. The most common symptoms of these syndromes are deteriorating quality and capability in cognitive, social and physical functions.
There are seven key aspects to defining Dementia. Rather than just being forgetful, those afflicted with this condition and the other similar illnesses display reduced function or problem with at least two of the following aspects:
Memory – Short-term incapacity to remember details
Communication and speech – including spelling, the speed of speech and level of coherence
Focus and concentration – trouble focusing or concentrating on specific tasks
Visual perception – Issues with balance and movement
Reasoning and judgment – Irrational behaviour and mood swings
The stages of Dementia
Dementia is split into seven key stages, which last varying lengths of time. In addition to this, the stages can be categorised into four aspects of the dementia cycle.
No Dementia
Comprising of the first three stages of Dementia, the different stages are categorised as follows:
- No dementia – The person is mentally healthy and displays no issues with function or memory. In short, they are healthy.
- Very mild cognitive decline – General forgetfulness appears, which is usually attributed to ageing
- Mild Cognitive Decline – People begin to experience more common forgetfulness, decreased work performance, speaking difficulty and trouble concentrating.
This stage usually lasts around seven years, before progressing further, however, this period can be longer or shorter. Dementia and other cognitive brain diseases should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
Early Stage Dementia
This element of the cycle only has one stage: Moderate Cognitive Decline.
- Moderate Cognitive Decline – The person experiences increased difficulties with concentrating. This can manifest in a number of forms
- Forgetting conversations, recent details or planned events
- Issues with communication
- Inability to comprehend day, date or time
- Issues with remembering names, or identifying people
- Misplacing, or losing items and objects
The cognitive decline is usually measured and detected during medical reviews and exams, designed to test memory. On average, this stage lasts two years before progressing.
Mid-Stage Dementia
Mid-stage dementia manifests in two stages – Stage 5 and Stage 6 and between them, they can last up to around four years. By this point, the person is experiencing severe cognitive decline and usually needs help to complete basic menial tasks. They may start to forget the identities of close family and friends and communication is severely impaired. Other symptoms include:
- Issues comprehending day and night – insomnia or confusion
- Wandering off, or getting lost
- Issues with perception
- Inability to recall personal details, address or phone number
- Inappropriate behaviour in social situations
Late Stage Dementia
The final stage of Dementia, Stage 7 can be categorised as a severe cognitive decline. Usually lasting between two and three years, this stage is most cruel as the person loses the ability to complete basic functions and communication, without significant assistance. Additional issues may include:
- Restlessness, or trouble sleeping
- Incontinence
- Outbursts due to confusion, anger, anxiety or depression
- Vulnerability to infections
- Issues with eating and drinking
- Loss of speech
Dementia is, unfortunately, a terminal disease. Although medication exists to alleviate various aspects of the condition, it is impossible to fully cure anyone afflicted. However, a number of other therapies, including occupational therapy, psychological therapy and dementia-friendly activities such as memory cafes, reminiscing or light physical activities can help alleviate this problem.
For people whose loved ones have been diagnosed with vascular dementia or other cognitive brain diseases, it can sometimes be difficult to cope. The decline is evident to see and ultimately, you will never get the same person back once again.
Here are some dementia care tips to help you this Christmas:
- Focus on their abilities, not the dementia. Instead of constantly reminding them that it’s Christmas Day, try and keep them calm and relaxed by watching a film they remember or by listening to a piece of music they love
- Include them - ask them to write Christmas cards with you, or help you to set the table, including them will give them purpose
- If you’ve taken a loved one who is suffering from dementia out of their usual surroundings for the day, make sure you get them home while it’s light, that way they will feel more calm and aware of their surroundings
- Give them something they’ll remember - you don’t need to get a brand new dressing gown for someone who is suffering from dementia. Keep presents simple and familiar, perhaps create a festive reminiscence box, or dig an old gem out of storage that may spark a memory from the past.
Merry Christmas from Beyond Storage
With Christmas just around the corner, on behalf of the entire Beyond Storage family, we want to thank you all for the support that you have given us this year. We hope that we have given you all the experience that truly goes above and beyond your expectations and we look ahead to the future custom you have with us.
This year has truly been remarkable, we have partnered with the Herefordshire FA and the Ross Juniors too. We have also supported the phenomenal work of all those at St Michael’s Hospice through the Canwood art gallery and other supported donations. Ultimately we have showcased all of your incredible cups and art in our #YourWorldCup campaign in the lead up to the world cup and finally get to see your captivating and breath-taking art in our #HomeIsWhereTheArtIs campaign too.
We greatly look forward to the many adventures 2019 will bring and how we can continue helping each of you more. Until we meet again, notice our Christmas office opening hours:
Christmas Day / Boxing Day / New Years Day - closed.
We’ll be in the office/available on the phone 9am-5pm - 24th / 27th / 28th / 31st. In addition we will be available on phone on Saturday 22nd and 29th between 9am-midday.
Our site hours are the same as normal, so you can access your unit whenever you need to. Also, for all you new customers, we have our new offer of 1 week free storage and 1 month free insurance up for grabs too!
In the meantime, enjoy the holidays and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the entire Beyond Storage family x
Easy Christmas Storage For The Holidays
With the Christmas festivities just around the corner, many of us will be getting ready to go full out on Christmas decor. If you love to decorate and go all out for the holidays you may need some Christmas storage solutions to help you organize all the wrapping paper, ornaments, lights, decorations and even the tree from year to year so that you can find it all when you want and need it. We have some great tips that could help you on your Christmas journey this year.
Light holders:
We know you are likely putting up your decorations but allow us to help you save the hassle now. Don’t get your lights in a twist! Keep them secure and damage free with easy light holders like this. Using a wooden block with two poles or simply a piece of cardboard you can wrap the lights around and keep them tidy and tangle free.
Image: Family Handyman
Bauble holder:
When your tree is ready to descend and be stowed away until the next year, protect your decorations too. There is nothing more frustrating than having to buy new decorations next year because the previous ones got damaged. Save some money and re-use old egg boxes to store away your Christmas tree baubles. Pad them out with some cotton wool so they don’t get damaged when stored away.
Image: Cosmopolitan
Christmas tins:
Sometimes at Christmas, you can get lots of small bits and bobs that you simply cannot let go of. Maybe it is a spare bulb for the lights or a spare ribbon or glitter that you will likely need for the next year but you don’t have anywhere to store it. Why not decorate a tin can and make it Christmas themed so you can put all your small bits in one area. Then store them away too with all the other Christmas gear so that you are all set for next year.
Winter in the Wye For The Family
Let’s escape the world through the eye of the forest. Discover the beautiful surroundings of Ross-On-Wye through the Forest of Dean. Being England’s oldest oak forest it is a wonderfully scenic place for outdoor adventures. In 1938, Forest of Dean was designated as England’s first National Forest Park. Explore this 42 sq-mile of woodland which had previously been a royal hunting ground and even a centre of iron and coal mining. The mysterious and unique depts of this land inspired the forests of JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth, while key scenes in Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows were filmed here.
Being a small town of just under 11,000, it can be difficult to know what to do in the winter months in the wye. The beautiful surroundings of Ross make it its own unique adventure. When the snow begins to fall it can be transformed into an incredible natural winter wonderland. But if you are looking for something a bit more adventurous then why not try out these two activities happening in the wye this winter!
Winter in the Wye Valley Festival at Chepstow Racecourse
On the 2nd December, you can visit the Chepstow Racecourse to attend the Wye Valley Winter Festival. Celebrate everything great about the Wye Valley at the festival with a choice of food and drink too. This is a family-friendly fun day out and there will be a combination of activities for the kids and for the adults to enjoy. This is a free entry event so the whole family can attend and have a great time. It also gives you the opportunity to purchase gifts for your family and friends too
Christmas Market at Forest of Dean
Starting on 1st December for the first 3 weekends of the month there will be over 30 small business owners and traders with the locally grown fresh cut Christmas trees. There will be a large choice of hand-crafted gifts that are not usually available on the high street too. The Forest of Dean Christmas Market provides the perfect opportunity to spend time with the family. You will also be visiting one of the most scenic places in Ross on Wye. This is also a free entry event with free parking so you can have a family fun day out.
Winter Purchases that can Lead to Clutter
Black Friday, Cyber-Monday, Boxing Day. What do they all have in common? They are big sale days! The days were your purchasing habits seem to run wild and when you see anything on offer you simply must have it. The reality is, you probably don’t even need it or wouldn’t even consider using it. This then leads to unnecessary clutter and clutter leads to stress. But wait! We want you to live stress-free which is why we have outlined some of those winter purchasing habits that can lead to clutter. We know some of the top purchases made in these winter months and we aim to share our findings with you so you don’t get sucked into the stress machine!
Winter Purchases:
Buying goods in winter is not always a good idea, it is usually too cold to go out or do anything at all which then leaves your home full of clutter that you don’t need. What are some of the common purchases made in winter?
TV’s:
50”, 60” or even 65” one of the most common winter purchases has to be a new TV. You see the tv ads and you're aware of the big sale days so you must have it, right? Wrong? If you already have a working TV that has everything you already need then save yourself the stress of clutter and don’t fuss over getting another one.
Coffee Machines:
A somewhat ultimate must have at this time of year is a coffee machine. One of the technologically advanced dolce gusto coffee machines or even better. But before you make that purchase, stop and think. Will I really use it more than twice a week? If you are likely to answer a solid no, then you really don’t need it. Enjoy more time with your family and friends when you just put the kettle on.
Garden tools and equipment:
When in winter, buy for summer! Some of the best times in the year to purchase garden gear is best purchased in the winter months because its more cost effective and you can get some of those new technology advanced power lawn mowers, strimmers and all those other cool tools. Be frivolous about your garden purchases and make sure they can fit in the shed/garage first before splashing the cash. Having a cluttered house and garden shed is not one of the most ideal ways to start off the new year.
Clothes:
Over the holiday period and the Christmas celebrations too, we all tend to wear and buy more clothes because we want to wrap up warm. Sweaters, joggers, thermals, onesies and more, your pile of winter clothes can seem to just grow so much that it begins to pour out of the wardrobe. That’s when you know enough is enough! Although the holiday and festive deals may seem tempting it is best to resist the need to purchase too many winter clothes because before you know it, it will be summer again. Try a cycle of clothing, out with the old/unused/damaged and in with the new.
Seasonal decor:
With this time of year being a month of festive activities including Halloween, Bonfire night, Diwali (for some), Christmas and New Year. The abundance of seasonal decor can be overwhelming! Each year there is something new that is bigger and better to spruce up your home and get you in the holiday spirit. Just think of the mess and the number of boxes all of that decor will accumulate once the new year is in full swing. Stay stress-free with simple decorations, but if you can’t resist that giant inflatable father Christmas then you can be sure to store it at one of our storage sites for another year.