The Dream House Project

When you are in charge of furnishing a cafe or restaurant, you have a big project on your hands, especially if success in hospitality is your ultimate goal. True hospitality is all about playing the ultimate host while attending to your guests' every needs and accommodations. And all of that starts with the furniture you choose to stock your cafe or restaurant with. The following tips will help you choose the perfect cafe or restaurant furniture so that you can provide the ambience, the comfort and the Brisbane hospitality that your paying public expects.

Are You Shopping for Indoor or Outdoor Cafe and Restaurant Furniture?

The location of your furniture is of the utmost importance. After all, if your furniture is going to be placed on an outside patio area, you'll want to make sure the materials can hold up to the weather. And if your furniture is going indoors, you'll want to make sure you have enough room inside your establishment and that the style and colours match your decor.

Is Your Seating Comfortable?

Never, ever buy cafe and restaurant furniture that isn't comfortable. If your barstools and chairs aren't soft and comfortable to sit on, your patrons will want to leave sooner rather than later. This means that you should actually sit in the chairs in question before you buy so that you can determine their comfort levels.

Is Your Furniture Cheap or Inexpensive?

When buying cafe and restaurant furniture, there's a big difference between cheap and inexpensive. Cheap furniture falls apart quickly. It's cheaply made and made of cheap materials. The bottom line is that, while you may save money buying cheap furniture, you'll spend more money in the long run replacing the furniture every few years. It's always better to get the highest quality furniture you can afford while sticking to your budget.

Are You Sending the Right messages with your Decor?

When shopping for cafe and restaurant furniture, really think about your guests and try to determine what they'd most enjoy. Which chairs and barstools will they find most comfortable? Which styles of table umbrellas will bring out the most of your interior and exterior decor? These are the things you need to think about when making your purchases. For best results, actually ask around. Find out which tables and chairs receive the best reviews from patrons of other cafes and restaurants that use them. When you find the right furniture, you'll create a hopping place that has your patrons returning again and again. That's how you buy cafe and restaurant furniture and that's how you provide that true homegrown hospitality. Your patrons are waiting. What type of furniture are you going to choose for your establishment?

The author writes about the hospitality industry and has a soft spot for cafe furniture in Brisbane and loves the West End area in particular.

My kids and my hubby just finished a new project that is they are done decorating the walls with wall decals.


We were able to buy affordable wall stickers when we went to Glorietta a couple of weeks ago and so hubby got inspired to buy more wall decals. He ordered it from Amazon and he got animal stickers for both Jacobo and B’s room, Sesame Street wall decals for Jacobo’s room and Princesses wall decals for B’s room.

Both the kids are so excited with the project that they even helped their dad in putting it up. Jacobo got overly excited that he even put the stickers on the floor and on his bed. LOL.

I love the Sesame Street wall decals as it matches the 5-piece bedroom set that we recently purchased for Jacobo’s room and the princesses wall decals matches the window curtain that hubby got for B.

We still have a huge wall to fill for both the kids’ room so hopefully we will find another way to decorate it so it will be more kid friendly.

We often hear in the news that supply for oil is now dwindling. That is the reason why gas prices are going up, up and up. Add to that chaos and war in the Middle East which is the primary source of oil.

Solar energy and wind energy is being tapped as one of the alternative ways to get gas but it is still too early to tell if it will solve the oil and gas crisis as it is still in the early stages of research.

The US has a big potential for natural gas. Natural gas are mixture that occur naturally and can be found associated in coal beds, hydrocarbon fuel and the like and thus is an important fuel source. They can be found from methanogenic organisms or from organic materials buried deep in the earth’s surface.

Experts say that US has a big reserve for natural gas that can last up to 100 years. As such, they say that natural gas can be a good alternative for oil. One type of natural gas is marcellus gas from shale. So what is shale?

Shale is a form of sedimentary rock and recently, US have explored shale deposits and it was found to contain trillion of cubic meters of natural gas. The biggest deposit of shale is Marcellus and they are now looking into this deposit as a good source for natural gas.

Since shale is not permeable, a special procedure has to be done to extract the natural gas deposited in shale. This method is called hydraulic fracturing or fracking and it involves applying high pressure to the shale to push the natural gas and oil out.

The US is now leading the industry of exploring the possibilities of using the natural gas in shale as an alternative source of energy. There are a number of companies like UGCenter, who provides development tool to explore the use of natural and unconventional gas. Who knows someday, natural gas will replace oil from the Middle East as the viable source of energy.

Just about 2 months from now, it’s Christmas time already. I bet, most of the kids now are starting to prepare their wish lists for Santa and perhaps some of them are trying their best to be given the credit of the most behave kid.

Well, as for the adults, I know that we usually play or let’s say, justify the role of Santa Claus and make it believable to the kids. Like me, I always ask my kids especially Bela to do her own list of the things that she wants to receive every Christmas.

In addition, I’m also making my own list but it’s not like how kids see it. I’m actually making a shopping list so I’ll be more organized with the presents that I’ll give to my relatives and friends. I’ve started with it already and as of now, this is what I have,

For my cousin Jason, I know how much he loves reading that’s why, I’m planning to buy him a some books of his favorite author.

For my cousin Jeb, I heard that he wants to buy the Gears of War 3 xbox 360 as he is an avid gamer. If my budget is enough, then I can buy it for him.

For my sister, I know exactly what she wants and it’s just between bags or shoes.
For my auntie, perhaps I’ll buy her shoes or make up for I’m pretty sure that she will love it.

Well, these are what I have in mind for now. I still have to figure out for the others and I can’t help but feel very excited for the holiday season.

After a couple of days of trying to decorate our Christmas tree, finally, it’s completely done. Thanks to my sister for her great effort, as she was the one who decorated it for just a short time.

I know it’s a bit early to put up a Christmas tree but my hubby is just really excited and Bela has been bugging me just when the “BER” months started because she’s aware that it signifies the start of the holiday season.

As of now, hubby and I are still shopping for other Christmas decors and we are planning to decorate every floor since this will be our first Christmas in our house. In fact, hubby has started to prepare our Christmas lights as well and this coming long weekend, I’m sure that he will begin working on it.

Once everything is all set up, I’ll make sure that I’ll take snapshots of every décor and I’ll post it here right away.

Incidents of motorcycle accidents are continuously increasing and finally, it got to the government’s attention. As what we can observe, one of the common reasons that is lacking with the motorcycle riders is their sense of responsibility and discipline while on the road. Most often, you can see them not wearing helmets or other motorcycle safety gears and they are driving so fast that they are at times not considering the bigger vehicles around them.

It’s a good thing now that our government is making a move to assign a special lane for them to avoid any kind of accidents but I’m still hoping that this rule would last and the motorists will strictly follow it as this is for their own good as well.

To be honest, I am really not a fan of motorcycle. In fact, when I learned that my friend bought one, I instantly though that he should buy arai motorcycle helmets for him and for his wife as this will be their means of transportation. And I always remind them to be extra careful whenever they are on the road.

And for other motorists as well, it’s time for you to be more responsible because every time you go reckless, it’s not only your own lives that you’re putting at risk. Be mindful with your actions and always be safe.

The living room is more organized now and hubby was even able to put up our Christmas tree (though we still have to shop for new Christmas tree decorations) and a small frame to add life to the room.

The kids’ rooms all look good already as the nannies were able to sort the kids’ toys and clothes. Almost all the boxes have been unpacked already and hubby was able to sort our stuff in their respective rooms.

The only thing that we have to check is the floor works in the master’s bedroom and the possibility of installing wireless cell booster as my sister is complaining that they don’t have good signal at the fourth floor where their room is located.

Hopefully, everything will be done by November so we can push through with our plans of having the house blessing on November 20.

These past few days, hubby has been sending me pictures and websites where we can get inspiration for the mini-renovation that hubby is planning for our house.

You see, we are encountering water leakage in our master’s bedroom that water leaks from outside every time it is raining and water sips through the wooden floor, therefore damaging it. Hubby has been obsessed to fix the problem and the solution that he thought of was to change the design of the window.

We have a glass window now and he suspects that water is coming in from the side of the windows. And since he will embark on a sort of renovation for our room, he thought of doing some changes as well and this is one of the design inspirations that he showed me and I like:

He also plans to revamp the kitchen using this design inspiration:

Hopefully we will have the budget for this as I can’t wait to see this design inspiration turn into reality.

Hubby needs to buy ATV Tires to replace the worn out tires of our ATV in the province but he has to postpone it for now as we have to allocate the money for the expenses that we will incur for the blessing of our house.

We plan to have it on November 20, so it will be a post birthday celebration of our eldest also as she celebrates her birthday on the 16th. I checked the Feung Shui and November 20 is a good date for house warming and house blessing so we are really eyeing that date.

It will not be a big celebration as we will only invite immediate relatives and some close friends and neighbors but we still have to get a caterer and buy more stuff for the house like curtains, additional furniture and do some painting and floor works to make the house more presentable for the house warming.

Hubby and I are really excited as we can’t wait to show our new home to our relatives and friends.

This is where they will do their homework, eat, play and more. Even my parents and my hubby would love spending time here as they love the breeze of wind in the terrace .

As for me, one of my favorites in our house is my walk-in closet. I think this is one of the reasons why I got sold in the house when we were just checking it out. The walk-in closet is so huge that I even have a big space left where I can keep my old maternity clothes, my winter jackets that I bought when I went training to Canada, and the best part is, I have a dedicated space where I can safely keep my bags.

We have been in this house for a month now and so far, every one of us loves it.

I always love cooking shows. When I was a kid, I remember I never miss the show “Wok with Yan” and “Cooking it up with Nora Daza.” Even up to now, I would be watching the cooking shows, Rachel Ray, Hell’s Kitchen, Master Chef and more.

That is why when I was on 3 weeks sick leave, I watched all the episodes including the re-runs of Master Chef and Hell’s Kitchen. And I think that is one of the reasons why I got inspired to buy a nice stove & oven for our home.

I even tried my luck cooking and I had my Cooking 101 lessons with my mom. I was able to cook Sinigang, Adobo, Buttered Shrimp to name just a few but I always cook it with my mom beside me to guide me. Now my challenge is if I will be able to cook it again on my own. LOL.