This one is especially for those of you who know about construction, renovation, etc.
I just moved into an apartment on the ground floor of a house dating from the 1930s. The house is made of brick, and was built in the Functionalist style, which to me, looks like it was made from giant Legos.
Anyway, the bedroom was once the garage, and the living room/kitchen was once the room off the garage. It's been renovated, and it has cabinets, fridge, washing machine, etc.
The floors are all tile. And I'm on the ground floor. And the floors are cold cold cold. There is a heater in each room, and I turn them on when I'm home, but the cold remains around the floor. I'm planning to buy some 12mm foam covering squares and two rugs for the bedroom, so that I can do my yoga and (I hope) keep the heat in so I don't have to turn on the heater nearly as often. I plan to put some foam covering in the kitchen area, too, so that my dishes don't bite it if they're dropped, likely with industrial carpeting or mats on the foam.
There is one window in the living room/kitchen, and one in the bedroom. Neither window is very large, and when I asked my landlord about the possibility of enlarging the window in the main room or adding another one, he said it's impossible; given the age of the house, he said, it would require endless permits from one office after another. This sounds all too plausible, given what I know about the way things work in this country.
What I want advice on is, what is the best way to keep the rooms warm and light? I'm not as concerned about the light in the bedroom, but I do a lot of freelance work with my computer, which is in the main room, and I don't want to keep the electricity on if I don't have to. As for the warmth, as I said, I want the rooms to hold in heat so that I don't have to keep the heaters on.
Advice?
I just moved into an apartment on the ground floor of a house dating from the 1930s. The house is made of brick, and was built in the Functionalist style, which to me, looks like it was made from giant Legos.
Anyway, the bedroom was once the garage, and the living room/kitchen was once the room off the garage. It's been renovated, and it has cabinets, fridge, washing machine, etc.
The floors are all tile. And I'm on the ground floor. And the floors are cold cold cold. There is a heater in each room, and I turn them on when I'm home, but the cold remains around the floor. I'm planning to buy some 12mm foam covering squares and two rugs for the bedroom, so that I can do my yoga and (I hope) keep the heat in so I don't have to turn on the heater nearly as often. I plan to put some foam covering in the kitchen area, too, so that my dishes don't bite it if they're dropped, likely with industrial carpeting or mats on the foam.
There is one window in the living room/kitchen, and one in the bedroom. Neither window is very large, and when I asked my landlord about the possibility of enlarging the window in the main room or adding another one, he said it's impossible; given the age of the house, he said, it would require endless permits from one office after another. This sounds all too plausible, given what I know about the way things work in this country.
What I want advice on is, what is the best way to keep the rooms warm and light? I'm not as concerned about the light in the bedroom, but I do a lot of freelance work with my computer, which is in the main room, and I don't want to keep the electricity on if I don't have to. As for the warmth, as I said, I want the rooms to hold in heat so that I don't have to keep the heaters on.
Advice?
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