Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

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You have papers strewn across your living room floor, the cupboards aren't properly organised and you're in dire need of redecoration basically, you're living a cluttered life. This is where feng shui comes in. An ancient art of balancing energies in your physical space to create inner harmony, the Chinese philosophical system may be the breathe of fresh air you've been hoping for.

Mashable spoke with Dana Claudat, who writes about everyday feng shui on her blog The Tao of Dana, and asked her to spill some design and style tips for bringing feng shui to your home.

First, a little more about the art and science of feng shui: According to Claudat, space affects us in big ways, even though we may not realize it. Feng shui principles explain how our lives are a mirror of our environment, and howif you re-arrange your space, you change your life. Essentially, feng shui is the art of arranging your environment.

We're all too familiar with the horrible anxiety-provoking feeling that seeps in as we enter a messy home. And the moment we clean up that clutter, those ill feelings turn to clarity and peace. Feng shui creates this feeling by connecting us to nature. Whereas thousands of years ago, that connection was easier to make, in our hyper-developed world we often need to make effort to connect to nature and bring plants, moving water, crystals and even trees into our homes to create that natural, calming balance, Claudat says.

1. Add plants wherever you want to grow If growth is something you're craving in your life, think about greening your home by adding indoor trees or plants avoid the cactus, though, as dangerous spikes are considered bad juju when grown inside.

Try placing them in places where you spend (or would like to spend) productive, positive time. Let's say your goal is to cook healthier food more often: Put a plant in your kitchen. Or, if you' like to be more productive at work, plants on your desk or home office can bring positive, creative energy to your work environment. The "chi," or life-force of the plant, will energize the space.

2. Add some motion to a space that is stuck A "stuck" space" usually reflects a "stuck" life, so whether you're struggling with writer's block or are generally in a slump,moving things around the room can help liven the atmosphere. Feng shui has a magical number to help guide you through this process of getting unstuck: 27. Twenty-seven is a multiple of nine (a lucky number in traditional schools of feng shui), and when the single digits two and seven are added together, the result is nine as well. Just by moving 27 things around the room whether it's a paper clip or a desk you can bring energy to a room that was previously lacking it.

"I've totally reorganised the furniture in 'stuck energy' rooms to get them [to exude] excitement, while sometimes I only need to reorganize the junk drawer. Feel your way through this process, moving things around until you feel that you feel refreshed and re-inspired," Claudat suggests.

3. Highlight your personality, make your own art Just because feng shui is an ancient tradition does not mean there's no room for personalisation. As Claudat points out, Tao, the ancient principle underlying feng shui, means "connection."

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Make your home a haven of calm

There will be harmony among nations, but political tensions will arise in the Philippines in 2015, Master Hanz Cuas, Asias youngest feng shui expert, forecast for the Year of the Wooden Sheep that will begin on February 19, said.

The year 2014 is a very aggressive year because of the extreme fire element. But for 2015, our chart says that the year will be balanced. All the five elements will be present earth, water, wood, fire, and metal. The economy for many nations will be better, including the Philippines, because the flow of energy will be good. Much better, there is harmony among nations in 2015, Master Hanz said during an exclusive interview in Mandaluyong City last Sunday.

The Feng Shui master said that many people will be bored in 2015 because of the balanced situation. People will tend to relax, but we have to counter that. Lets work and lets be aggressive because of the many wealth opportunities around us, he said.

Feng shui, an ancient Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing everyone with the environment, has become a part of life for many countries, including the Philippines.

Green would be the luckiest color for 2015, Master Hanz said. If you want to close an important deal, wear or bring lots of green like green bag or green wallet. Then wear green underwear to enhance luck. Other lucky colors for 2015 are yellow, pink, red, and orange. The color yellow will enhance influence and power luck.

Animal signs compatible for the Year of the Wooden Sheep are rabbit and boar. Horse is also the best friend of the sheep. However, ox is not compatible with sheep in 2015.

To attract wealth luck, wear or bring real gold. Crystals, Master Hanz added, will also help. Lucky businesses for 2015 are real estate, food, and export-import industry.

Master Hanz forecast another disease outbreak in the country next year. The Philippines sits in the southeast sector and thats where the illness star will fall in 2015. The illness star will fly to the southeast. (Robert R. Requintina)

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Wear green underwear for good luck in 2015

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

How can such bad energy be countered? Please read on.

At the center of your house or at the nearest possible spot, place a red carpet with a pink ornament. This will help fence off unkind energy.

Star four is related to academic falls in the northwest sector. If you wish to improve the paradigm in mind- building ability, you should place a light green-colored item here. Since this sector is heavy with metal, avoid dark green as it may confront the site directly.

The west is the worst sector of all. It is filled with the five-sickness star that is highly regarded as the "cancer star." Don't worry as this is only a metaphor. Light golden sand-colored items, coins, silver or bronze are the ideal color and items in this sector. Avoid heavy or dark metal colors since this is a yin energy year.

To improve your income, stars six and eight will help you. In the northeast and north, place water in a white porcelain bowl to ignite kind energy.

To help alleviate energy in activities such as promotions the southwest sector with star nine is an ideal location. Since the southwest is originally an illness sector, don't provoke it with other colors.

The south sector with star seven is often related to fire alarms, unwanted relationships and unwarranted issues, such as missing stuff and being robbed.

If your electrical appliances are located here, please be extra careful and check them thoroughly.

The southeast sector has the two-illness star that leads to constant visits to the clinic. To reduce such unkind energy, place light golden sand-colored stuff, such as a music box or silver coins here.

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Thank your lucky stars for better year ahead

Yorkton Destruction Volume 1
Best demolition derby video on the internet ... ever made in Saskatchewan. Yorkton Demolition Derby 2014. Wow moments include one mini car taking on the full size cars when no one else shows...

By: Wooden Bucket Studios AHOOGA

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Yorkton Destruction Volume 1 - Video

Demolition Derby Round 5- Spain
Pastor Maldonado strikes again in barcelona, but who out of the 8 drivers will win here.

By: Christopher Moss

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Demolition Derby Round 5- Spain - Video

CRISIS 2 - #35 - DEMOLITION GARAGE

By: THE INVINCIBLE GAMER

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CRISIS 2 - #35 - DEMOLITION GARAGE - Video

The developer of the former Dock site is asking the Davenport City Council for an extension to an agreement requiring that the former restaurant be demolished by year's end.

Todd Raufeisen said "significant resistance" by the city's Levee Improvement Commission delayed the overall timeline for the project, and spring flooding could add significant cost to site preparation. He is asking aldermen to give him until March to tear the building down.

The matter is not yet scheduled for a council vote, but it is expected in January after the deadline has come and gone.

City Administrator Craig Malin said Monday that the delays in reaching a development agreement were taken into consideration when finishing the deal. The developer will not be assessed a penalty, he wrote in an email, adding, "Davenports an investment friendly place."

Raufeisen said that suggesting a deadline change was too risky.

"The development agreement never was tweaked, even though we had all those delays with the Levee Commission" he said Monday. "If we tried to change the dates, it could have delayed the whole process because it's possible any amendments would have required public input."

The demolition delay should not suggest that work is not being done on the site, he said, adding that he has met several times with city engineering staff to plan a flood-proof demolition process. He also has met with officials from the Rhythm City Casino, the Dock's downriver neighbor, to work out access issues.

"We have well over $400,000 invested in this puppy right now," he said of the project. "We wouldn't be spending that money if we weren't confident."

The deadline extension will eliminate the possibility of adding another $100,000 or more to the demolition cost, he said.

"If we were to demolish the building now, winter conditions prevent us from completing the caissons, infrastructure and future parking lot immediately thereafter," he wrote in letter to Malin dated Friday. "If the Dock building were to be demolished and backfilled without the building footprint and site being protected by new concrete, a typical spring flood event could cause siltation inside the existing crawl space or could cause the new fill material to be compromised by siltation or flood waters.

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Dock demolition likely to be delayed

NORTH AURORA The North Aurora Activity Center will soon see the wrecking ball.

Trustees voted Monday to approve a $355,739 contract with Site Recovery Services Inc. to demolish the building at 1 N. Lincolnway. The North Aurora Activity Center has been closed since March because of structural damage. Trustees in May decided the building was not worth saving.

The village will pay for the demolition from the insurance money received for the villages property loss $68,764 as well as funds from the closing of the North Aurora Activity Center fund $92,002. Other funds will come from reserves in the villages capital projects fund.

Demolition of the building is expected to start in early February, following asbestos removal and the removal of underground storage tanks, Village Administrator Steve Bosco said.

Trustees on Monday also approved an ordinance permitting village staff to dispose of or sell surplus items from the building.

Some of the items such as bricks with carvings may be retained by the village for historical purposes and other bricks can be made available for residents who would like to have a historical memento of the building, Bosco told village trustees.

The building is not currently within a tax increment financing district, but the TIF statutes provide that costs associated with redevelopment, including demolition costs, may be eligible for future reimbursements with TIF funds if those costs are included as part of a future redevelopment plan, North Aurora Finance Director Bill Hannah told trustees.

Trustees on Monday also approved an ordinance approving the demolition costs for reimbursement through tax increment financing funds.

It doesnt obligate you, it simply provides the mechanism in the future, Hannah said.

Share and Care Learning Center, which was one of the main tenants in the North Aurora Activity Center, found a new permanent home in the former Rainbow Tile building at 12 John St. in North Aurora.

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North Aurora OKs demolition of Activity Center

December 15, 2014 Updated Dec 15, 2014 at 11:10 PM EST

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (21Alive) Demolition begins on an old school building that will be converted into a park.

Around 11 a.m. Monday, a crane was brought in to demolish part of the old Franklin School building. Fort Wayne City officials say that site will be transformed into a park.

The Franklin Junior High building is predicted to be around 100-years old. It was most recently used as a training site for the Fort Wayne Police Academy, but residents say the buildings been sitting empty for the past couple years. Since then, there have been several proposals on what to do with it, like office space or housing, but Fort Wayne Parks Department Director, Al Moll, says the neighborhoods surrounding the school have been pushing for a park.

The Parks Department predicts the project will cost approximately $1 million. The City is investing $335,000, but the two-phase project is still $465,000 short on funding.

The Parks Dept. has already drawn-up some plans for the four acre space, which is unofficially called Franklin Park. It will include a splash pad, pathways, festival plaza, and the old firing range will be renovated into a pavilion. The three limestone arches that are part of the schools original architecture will be preserved and used as an entryway to the park.

On Monday night, a public input meeting was held to see if residents would like to add or remove anything from the proposed plans. Residents suggested things like benches, picnic tables, shaded areas, decorative lighting and sculpture art. However, what residents seemed to want the most is an office built into the pavilion for the neighborhood police liaison.

"Police presence in the neighborhood is very important. If they've got their cars parked there then it really helps us. I don't think we'll have many problems then, said Bud Mendenhall, President of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood Association.

"We got real used to when the Police Academy was here and the police presence is always a good thing to have, so we want to encourage that again. Police officers also get to know the neighbors then, said Kay Smith-Shoemaker, President of the North Highlands Neighborhood Association.

Phase I of the project will cost $600,000 and includes site development and the splash pad. Phase II entails renovating the pavilion, building the festival plaza, and landscape improvements at a cost of $150,000. Theres also a $100,000 contingency.

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Demolition On Franklin School Begins Making Room For New Park (VIDEO)

Crews began dismantling Monday one of the last few structures on this year's downtown Bettendorf demolition schedule to pave the way for a new Interstate 74 bridge and the realignment of State and Grant streets.

The red former machine shop building at 329 11th St. became the latest in the downtown area to be razed. The demolition is being done by Valley Construction.

Doug Rick, the I-74 project manager for the Iowa Department of Transportation, or DOT, said the Rock Island-based construction company also has received the bid to demolish the former Crescent Cleaners at 1303 Grant St. and the former Q-C Mart at 1402 State St.

Theyve already started on all three, he said, adding that the red concrete barn-like building is the 38th structure to be demolished on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River as part of the I-74 project.

Bill Hass, the president of Valley Construction, said crews have disconnected the utilities at all three buildings and should begin tearing down the former Crescent Cleaners by Thursday and the former Q-C Mart around Jan. 1.

Valley Construction will receive about $64,000 for the three demolition jobs, Rick said.

When their work is completed, 40 buildings will have been removed so work can begin on the realignment of the Grant and State one-way streets.

In total, the DOT has spent just more than $16 million in acquisition costs and relocation expenses for 44 properties and nearly $755,000 in demolition fees. Two of the acquired properties were vacant lots, and Ross' Restaurant and its former drive-through, which is a separate building, will be the last two to come down in downtown Bettendorf. (It came to light Monday that the owner of Ross' is exploring an option to stay downtown.)

Rick said the DOT plans to seek bids on the roadwork contract for realigning Grant and State streets by mid-January so construction can begin in the spring.

Hass said his company, which has demolished about 12 buildings in downtown Bettendorf, is interested in handling the $13 million realignment project that will carry over into the 2016 construction season.

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Crews close in on demolition work for new I-74 bridge