May 17, 2017

Lightning

Choosing Pendant Lighting For The Kitchen

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Proper pendant lighting for the kitchen island won’t just make the spot look beautiful but it would also provide functional value. However, like most things in life, pendant lights also come in different sizes, shapes, purposes, etc. The following guide should help you narrow down your choices from the seemingly beautiful and infinite range. Getting the Pendant Light Right Pendant lights are available in different forms, and various decorative styles can help attain similar practical outcomes. This is why it is recommended to first consider the function you want your light to achieve, instead of the aesthetic style or type of fixture. The kind of illumination required from the light would depend primarily on the type of lighting already there in your kitchen space. A space with several big windows probably won’t need serious ambient lighting during the day. However, task lighting may be needed for the counter during chopping. A kitchen with several ceiling-mounted pot lights may only require some decorative sparkle to be eye-catching. Light Forms Pendant lighting can be categorized as task, accent, ambient, and decorative. A task light illuminates a targeted spot and helps improve visibility. Ambient lighting is regular lighting that illuminates the entire area or room. Accent lights help highlight a particular design feature – for instance, an art piece. A decorative light, as the name indicates, decorates the space by either creating a sparkle or shadow. In case your room has good amount of ambient and task lights, choose soft-glowing pendants and create a marked impression sans casting targeted light. Holistic Lighting It’s certainly possible for a pendant light to do more than one thing. A light could be engaging and decorative and still provide functional task lighting and a few outward or upward ambient lighting that helps brighten the whole space. Selecting a particular type of light becomes easy if you have a clear idea beforehand about the type of lighting you require. Height The height of the light depends on your pendants’ primary functional role. A task light that’s meant to illuminate the island clearly would lose brightness in case it’s positioned too high. Therefore, the light is usually hung 30-36 inches over the counter. Such positioning could place the light somewhat in the vision line, which is why people prefer slim fixtures that do not interfere with the conversation. In case bright bulbs are hung any higher, you may end up seeing within the cover. Use a narrow, long shade opening if you would like your lights to be higher, and which would not reveal the bulb from multiple angles.

Mortgage Refinance

Get UK Mortgages For Expats

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Living and working in a foreign country is not easy. While it may provide you with opportunities to meet new people, network and grow your career, you will have to pay high rental rates and operate on a different set of rules especially when it comes to long term loans. If you would like to buy a house to live in or rent in the UK, you will discover that the vast majority of mortgage companies may not be willing to approve your mortgage because you can go back to your home country at any time. The good news is that there are some mortgage companies that offer UK mortgages for expats. How to Qualify for a UK Expat Mortgage Obviously, you must be a legal resident in the UK with a long term contract to work in the UK. You must be an adult with a regular income source and a good credit rating. These are the basic requirements. Other requirements include; a downpayment, which is usually a percentage of the purchase price. This can be 5-20%, but there are a few lenders offering 100% financing. Another factor that you should be aware of is that some lenders only finance the purchase of rental property, not personal property. This is because they want a regular source of income they can count on in case you default. Some lenders can approve mortgages for personal residences, but they may ask for a bigger downpayment. Most lenders normally approve mortgages for marketable properties that are located in prime locations as it will be much easier to offload the property if and when the borrower defaults on the mortgage payments. When looking for a mortgage to help you buy property in the UK, the following are key factors to consider: i) Interest Rates This is the cost of borrowing, so it is the most important factor to consider when looking for a mortgage lender. Ideally, you should ask different lenders to give you a quote on the interest rates they are likely to charge you if you applied for a mortgage for expats. Obviously, the most affordable lender should be chosen. Be sure to ask for a fixed rate mortgage to ensure your payments do not rise when economic conditions take a downward turn. ii) Deposit Required The amount of money that a lender requires you to pay as deposit towards the purchase of the property is a key factor to consider. If you only have ten thousand pounds to spare, the ideal lender should accept that amount. The term of the loan is a key factor to consider as you may want affordable monthly payments.

Restaurant

Things To Know About Pricing A Menu

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The right restaurant meal prices determine success. Pricing the food directly influences the amount of money you’re left with for almost everything in your firm, which includes utilities, equipment, furniture, employees, ingredients, etc. Determining restaurant meal prices entails careful consideration of profit margins, markup, menu psychology, and food costs. Menu Pricing’s Impact on Gross Profit Margins Gross profit margin is the money you’re left with after covering typical business costs. For maintaining healthy profit margins, you should categorize every dollar made into three primary areas: salaries and wages; food and beverages; and occupancy expenses such as insurance, taxes, and rent. This would roughly break down to 30 percent labor costs, 30 percent food and beverage expenses, and 20 percent occupancy costs, leaving behind a net profit of 20 percent. Markup Factor and Menu Pricing To create an appropriately priced menu, it’s imperative to learn what a markup is and its role in restaurant pricing. Basically, ‘restaurant markup’ is a phrase referring to the total money added to unit cost for covering overhead expenses. Simply put, pricing markup means a business purchases or makes goods at a particular price and later sells those items at an increased price to net in profits. All products and services are subjected to markup. Food Cost Calculation for Pricing Menu Items Accurate calculation of food costs for every dish on the menu is essential to price food and make maximum profit. Remember, buying raw materials in bulk isn’t always necessarily the best decision. If you are extremely certain about using up all the ingredients before they get spoiled, you would most probably end up providing customers bigger portions. Once the ingredients are exhausted, you would be forced to reduce the portions to normal levels, which would only disappoint your regular customers. For ensuring portion size consistency, use measuring cups, scales, and other equipment that let you portion signature dishes properly. Menu Pricing Psychology While accurate calculations on profit margins, markup, and food expenses are extremely important, you should also take into consideration menu psychology when pricing meals. There are certain factors that you should be aware of when menu-pricing. Customers are constantly aware of how much they are willing to shell out for food, even sub-consciously. Therefore, the average living cost of your area should be considered when pricing menu. To find out how much your customers can truly pay, look how your competitors are pricing their menus. Conclusion Irrespective of what restaurant business you are into – nightclub, cafeteria, or buffet – knowing the right way to price the menu is a skill every restaurant owner should have. By accounting food markup, food cost, menu psychology, and profit margins, assigning prices to specific dishes would become easier. At the end of the day, sales is the biggest determinant of your restaurant business’ profitability and health. If you don’t price your menu right, sales would be the first thing to take a hit. Other aspects such as goodwill, buyer loyalty, brand value, etc. would follow suit.

Health

Breast Implants Facts And Statistics

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The most popular plastic surgery in Australia involves breast implants in Sydney. Many Australian women and teenagers have undergone breast augmentation. Some people are undergoing this procedure because of breast cancer while for others the motivation is to improve the appearance of the breasts. According to 90% of women, they got breast implants after they had kids. Statistics show that 29% of women use implants for reconstructive purposes. More than 80% of women who use breast implants say that they are worth it. In general, the popularity of plastic surgery is rising all over the world. At the top of the list of cosmetic procedures is breast augmentation. Upper arm lifts and lower body lifts closely follow it. In Australia, there are many providers of breast augmentation. The ultimate choice should be a licensed and certified clinic. One should make sure that a board certified cosmetic surgeon is the one offering surgery. More Breast Cancer Patients Aware of Breast Augmentation In Australia, many awareness campaigns educate and empower women about options available after breast cancer diagnosis. The purpose of these campaigns is to make women to make informed decisions. Because of these campaigns, there has been an increase in women choosing breast augmentation procedure. Breast cancer is not the end of life. With proper medication, one will fully recover from this condition. As with any type of cancer, early diagnosis is important and it will make it easy to stop the progression of cancer. It is possible to restore the original state of breasts after breast removal due to cancer. Implants are giving women a second lease of life. They serve functional and aesthetic purposes. Age Distribution The average age of a woman who gets breast implants is 34 years old. According to a popular study, 36% of women with implants are between 30-39 years, 28% are between 40 to 54 years, 30% are between 20 to 29 years, and 3% are less than 18 years. The Bottom-Line Breast surgical procedures are not only popular in the developed world. They are also highly demanded in the developing world especially in Africa and Asia. People are becoming sensitive about their breasts. Luckily, due to advanced surgical technologies, it is possible to alter the size and shape of breasts artificially. When it comes to breast procedures, many women are undergoing breast augmentation. Most women want to increase the size of their breast. When it comes to men, breast reduction is popular. In fact, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, men account for more than 40% of aesthetic breast reduction surgeries.

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