Have you ever thought about it or are you like most people and you automatically install doors everywhere? There are several advantages to putting up curtains rather than doors.

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Look at this photo showing a wall of French folds curtains. Is it a window, a door or a storage space? Maybe, like Alice in Wonderland, asking what’s behind the curtain adds a touch of intrigue to the decor.

Obviously you just don’t remove any door and replace it with a curtain! Closet doors are perfect. Folding closet doors limit access to the storage space. Sometimes you have to contort yourself into weird positions to get to something at the back of your closet. Folding doors also eat up the available space in your room. It’s worse with full-sized doors.[……]

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According to a survey for Desjardins General Insurance, 35% of 18 to 34 year-olds in Quebec don’t have home insurance. The percentage for the rest of the population is 23%.

Why are people in Quebec not insuring their home, especially young people?

  • 31% responded that it was because they forgot.
  • Another third of respondents said it was too expensive.
  • 18% said they didn’t have enough valuable property.

However, Desjardins General Insurance says that it could cost less than 65 cents a day. One figure that may help us see clear: about half of renters age 18 to 34 who don’t have insurance don’t know what civil liability is.[……]

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For the last thirty years, our European friends have been perfecting their knowledge in terms of natural residential pools and ponds. Their expertise is crossing the oceans.

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You’re probably telling yourself that you don’t need experts to create a natural pool. All you have to do is dig a basin surrounded with rocks and a few aquatic plants to filter the water. A pump collects the pure water and sends it to the main basin and it’s done.

It’s not that easy.[……]

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Cash damming is a strategy that allows taxpayers to gradually convert personal debt with non-deductible interest into debt for which interest can be deducted.

Who benefits from cash damming?

This strategy is intended primarily for unincorporated self-employed workers. Partners of a general partnership can also use the strategy with a few modifications. Individuals who own rental properties can also consider cash damming.

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We tasted food cooked in a wood oven on the roof of a hotel at the Siwa Oasis in Egypt. We didn’t see what it was made of. We did notice the exquisite taste of the lavash (Egyptian bread that we call pita bread), Clepara pizza and oum mali (oriental pudding).

More and more people are building an outdoor oven in Quebec. These ovens are taking different shapes. One thing to keep in mind is that the materials have to support high temperatures for a long time. You think that brick would be the obvious choice. But wait! The quality of the brick or its finish are not always up to par.

You just can’t combine field rocks or bricks stuck together with mortar. Our cold temperatures require a good insulation system.

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With the multitude of garden furniture and accessories available, setting up your deck has become an art like interior decorating. We would like to share a few traps you should avoid so that your investment doesn’t make you grind your teeth.

The first too often neglected point: keep the barbecue away from the dining table and entrances to the house. It’s become normal to see people smoke outside of houses to avoid the toxic effects of indoor smoke, so why be subject to barbecue smoke when you’re outside? Suddenly your subtle sweet wine no longer tastes the same! And how can you pay attention to what your host is saying if you’re stuck in a cloud of smoke?

Second: avoid smooth, pale fabrics as they tend to highlight stains. Even if they’re nice or in fashion.

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You just got your hands on the coveted home. The housewarming party was a success, the champagne flowed. While you’re celebrating, a beast was sleeping quietly, coiled up in a corner, with eyes half-open. It appears harmless, but if you don’t show it who the master of the house is immediately, the beast could chew up your budget until you end up bankrupt.

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The beast is the mortgage you contracted. We all know that in too many cases, the mortgage takes control of the owner. Defeated, the owner ends up getting rid of the house with a heavy heart.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), an independent organization that protects homeowners, reminds you that if you want to keep your house for as long as possible, you have to tame your mortgage from the beginning and show it who the master is.[……]

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