Could your garage be your home office?

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With train ticket prices on the rise and meetings eating into the day, for many the idea of working from home is very appealing. While spare rooms and lofts are often the first spaces to be converted for this purpose, garages can be full of potential and can work really well.

You might not see it right now, but with a little creative consideration and TLC, we think you will be able to transform a sad shell into a chic workspace that will put an end to Sunday night blues and bumper to bumper traffic on Monday morning.

Clean it up
The first step towards creating a usable working environment is making the space clean and clear. Sort out what is rubbish, find a home for tools, paddling pools and hoses and then get to work cleaning the floors and walls, tackle the cobwebs and repair any cracks.

Make it light
Garages tends to be dark by nature, but you can transform it with a lick of fresh white paint. If you have windows in your garage this will give you a natural burst of light so give them a clean and add curtains or blinds to create a welcoming environment. If there is no natural light, invest in a decent desk lamp, look at LED lights and create a bright space that you want to work in.

Get the temperature right
It is unlikely you will have central heating in your garage so fans or air conditioning units will be needed in the summer and radiator-style oil heaters work in the winter. Always be safety conscious and ensure they are working correctly and turn them off when you aren’t in the working space.

Power
If you are going to work from your garage you need to ensure it has the correct power needs. You are making an investment in your home, so get an electrician to check things are safe and in good working order.

If you are going to be running computers, printers, phone and tablet chargers as well as heating solutions, it is vital to ensure you have enough sockets. Do not overload extension cables as this could end in disaster.

The basics
Source a proper desk, a decent chair, filing cabinets and book shelves but be sure to measure up before buying to prevent layout issues. If you don’t want to spend a fortune, eBay and Gumtree are great sources for second hand items and you can also try your local recycle centre.

Get the look
As well as being warm and safe, you want your office to be comfortable and inviting. Coordinate your files with your coffee cups and pens for that pulled together looking. Adding photos to the walls and having canvas paintings can really bring your office alive and add a contemporary edge. Plants make the space green and a diffuser means you can keep your mind alert thanks to essential oils of mint, lemongrass or lavender when you want to relax.

Clean up
It might be tempting to leave mugs on the desk and papers in the bin, but if you want to keep things professional and not slip into bad habits, tidy up at the end of each day and lock the door behind you.

Good luck and if you have already made the change, drop us a line and let us see the results.

Team Pure-Beauty

The university checklist

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a student flat, antiseptic cream, baking tray, Bank account details, bathroom, bedroom, Blue Tac, boots, bowls, bread, bubble bath, card, cereal, charger, checklist, cheque book, clean, clothes, cloths, coat hangers, Congratulations, creature comforts, cutlery set, documents, Driving license, duvet covers, eat out, en-suite, ethernet cable, exam, fresh, frying pan, glasses, halls, headphones, home, ink, insurance, jam, ketchup, kitchen, kitchen roll, laptop, letter, milk, mineral water, mirror, mixing bowl, mobile phone, mugs, National Insurance card, NHS number, pack, Paracetamol, parents, partying, pasta, pillow cases, plasters, plates, printer, sanctuary, scissors, shampoo, shared house, sharp knife, sheets, shower gel, student loan, stuff, surge protection, Tea towels

Well, you have only gone and done it and got a place at university.

Congratulations.

Now the partying is over, it’s time to get down to business, book your accommodation, buy those books and pack your stuff.

Whether you a moving into halls, a student flat or shared house, you will want to take your creature comforts as well as essentials with you, so we have put together a checklist to get you started.

Documents
Before you leave home, have these documents with you, as well as getting copies and emailing it to yourself and your parents:
University and course acceptance letter plus exam certificates
Accommodation contract and insurance documents
Student loan documents
Bank account details, card and cheque book
Driving license and passport as well as up NHS number and National Insurance card

Gadgets
You will be so used to having everything under one roof, you might forget that you won’t be just a gadget away when you aren’t at home. This might seem like a big list, but it is worth having:
Laptop plus charger, USB stick and an ethernet cable
Mobile phone and charger
Headphones
Power extension cable with surge protection
Printer with ink

Kitchen
Yes, you could eat out all the time, but it makes more sense to do cook for yourself and to do this you will need:
A frying pan or a wok and a sauce pan
A cutlery set, sharp knife, scissors and spare teaspoons
Two glasses, mugs, plates and bowls
A baking tray and mixing bowl
A water bottle – buying endless bottles of mineral water on campus soon adds up
Tea towels, cloths, kitchen roll, soap and washing up liquid
A box of basic groceries with cereal, bread, milk, jam, tea, coffee, pasta, ketchup and an emergency bottle of vodka to break the ice with your neighbours

Your bedroom
Your bedroom will be your sanctuary so make it as comfortable as you can and take:
Two sheets, two duvet covers and pillow cases as well as a decent duvet and pillows
Mattress protector – take our word for it on this one
Clothes and coat hangers
Photos of friends & family as well as posters and Blue Tac
A lamp and lampshade
A mirror
Contraception

Bathroom
We can’t promise you will get an en-suite at uni so be prepared to share a bathroom and take this little lot with you so you, and your surroundings, are clean and fresh.
Several towels
Medication and a basic first aid kit with plasters, paracetamol, antiseptic cream and wipes
Febreeze and washing powder
A toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, shop, shower gel, bubble bath and any other home comforts
Toilet roll

Of course, you won’t be far from a Tesco or Boots, so you can shop when you arrive but this little should help to get you started and can probably be paid for by the bank of mum and dad before you leave.

Good luck!

Team Pure-Beauty

The good news about chocolate

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antioxidants, bad news, beauty routine, blood flow, blood sugar, brain, British Medical Journal, calories, chocolate, chocolate cake, circulation, cocoa, control your weight, Dr. Will Clower, Easter bunny, eatend, eggs, expectant mothers, Facebook, fat, Finland, good stuff, goodness, green tea, guilty, happy pills, Harvard Medical School, heart, hormones, insulin sensitivity, iron, KitKat, levels, lower blood-glucose levels, Mars bar, meal, memory decline, mini eggs, mugs, non-chocolate-eating parents, potassium, protect, RDA, researchers, scientists, selenium, sugar, Sun cream, sun damage, treat, trigger, two, win, zinc

The Easter bunny might be long gone, but it could be that you still have some chocolate eggs hanging around waiting to be eaten. Or not!

If you have and you are feeling guilty about finishing it off, we are here to tell you not to.

We have it from the powers that be, that chocolate is good for you.

Now, we aren’t talking about cramming down a family bag of mini eggs followed by a KitKat chaser, but as with most things, eating it in moderation doesn’t hurt.

It would seem that good quality, dark chocolate with a cocoa percentage of around 70% or more, can be good for the heart, circulation and brain, and could be beneficial for managing conditions such as obesity and diabetes.

Dark chocolate is full of health boosting minerals including potassium, zinc and selenium, and a 100g bar of the really good stuff provides 67 per cent of the RDA of iron – great for anyone looking to boost their iron intake!

Blood sugar levels are tricky to control but eating a square or two of dark chocolate can help maintain healthy levels of insulin sensitivity and turn this helps to lower blood-glucose levels. Win, win.

Research published in the British Medical Journal has suggested that eating a little dark chocolate could help lower the risk of developing heart disease by one-third, and that’s got to be worth considering?

Eating an entire chocolate cake with a side of Mars Bar isn’t going to help your waistline but, a little can help control your weight. The scientist, Dr. Will Clower, believes a small square of good chocolate melted on the tongue 20 minutes before eating a main meal triggers the hormones in the brain that says you are full. so you eat less. Think about it and finishing a meal with the treat and trigger could reduce subsequent snacking.

Apparently one mug of cocoa (using pure cocoa powder) has double the antioxidants of green tea and we think it tastes way better too. It is also worth noting that two mugs of cocoa may help keep the brain healthy and prevent memory decline, thanks to better blood flow. That’s according to scientists at Harvard Medical School, so it must be true.

Dark chocolate is jam-packed with the helpful flavonols that help to protect your skin against sun damage. You still need to layer on the sun cream but good to know that evening snack is helping your beauty routine.

Forget happy pills, if you want to feel good a little chocolate will boost your levels of dopamine, a natural painkiller, and serotonin, which produces feelings of pleasure. Eat up and feel the love.

We believe researchers in Finland found that chocolate reduced stress in expectant mothers, and that the babies of those mothers smiled more often than the offspring of non-chocolate-eating parents. Watch out for those new baby photos on Facebook to see who is snacking on chocolate.

The bad news! Yes, you know you couldn’t have it all. Sorry. However much goodness is packed onto a bar of chocolate, it is still pretty high in calories, fat and sugar – so make sure you eat in moderation if you want the good to outweigh the bad.

Team Pure Beauty

Chocolate Week Comes to Town

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baking powder, bars, boiling point, boiling water, buttons, cake, caster sugar, chocolate, cinnamon stick, cold, cream, dark, egg, free range eggs, fridge, greate, jam, jar, marshmallows, milk, mug, mugs, organic, pan, recipe, salt, seeds, self-raising flour, semi-skimmed milk, smaller pieces, strawberry jam, sugar, tins, vanilla pod, white

Love chocolate then you will love the fact that this week is Chocolate Week, culminating in The Chocolate Show at Olympia National Hall, London.

Milk, white, dark, organic, buttons, bars, the list goes on so we have looked at the best ways to indulge in this worldwide food phenomena.

Let’s face is, everyone loves chocolate cake, don’t they?

It is easy to make and for one cake you will need:

50g cocoa powder
3 large free range eggs
6 tablespoons of boiling water
4 tablespoons of semi-skimmed milk
175g self-raising flour
1 rounded teaspoon of baking powder
100g of softened butter
300g /caster sugar

For the icing you will need:
150g of broken up, good quality dark
150ml double cream
3 tablespoons of strawberry jam
Icing sugar for dusting

The method for baking this chocolate delight is very simple:

Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F / Gas 4, then grease two 20cm sandwich tins.

Put the cocoa powder and boiling water in a large bowl and mix into a smooth paste. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until they are all combined well.

Divide the mixture into the two tins then place in the oven. Bake for around 30 minutes, until well risen and slightly coming away from the sides of the tin.

As the cake cooks, start on your icing. Pop the chocolate pieces and cream in a bowl, put the bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted, then leave to cool.

When cool, move the cakes from the tins and spread the bottom of each one with jam . Spread half the icing on the jam, sandwich together and put the rest of the icing on the top. Dust with icing sugar and serve in slices with a mug of hot

When we talk about hot chocolate we don’t mean a packet mix but a delicious, creamy drink that leaves you full and satisfied.

This recipe is perfect for cold winter days and you will need:

1 litre of semi-skimmed milk
150g good quality, plain chocolate, broken into small pieces
Extra chocolate for grating
1 vanilla pod split and seeds scraped out
1 cinnamon stick
A little caster sugar
Mini marshmallows

Making this luxurious drink is super-easy:
Gently heat the vanilla pod and seeds, cinnamon stick and milk in a saucepan until boiling.
With the pan taken away from the heat, add the chocolate pieces and then stir until it melts.
Whisk the liquid until frothy, pour into your favourite mugs. Grate a little chocolate on the top and together with several marshmallows and you are good to go.

Chocolate spread is a kitchen cupboard staple for many but why buy it when you can make your own? For one decent sized jar, you will need:

140g of dark, good quality chocolate, chopped into smaller pieces
160g of double cream
45g of caster sugar
2g of salt

To make the spread put the cream, sugar and salt into a pain and bring to boiling point. Pour the hot mixture over the chopped chocolate and whisk until smooth. Use a hand blender to smooth the mix and once cooled, pour into a sterlised jar and put in the fridge.

Happy Chocolate Week.

Team Pure-Beauty