The SHKP Club recently held a Home Maintenance and Greenery parent-child workshop with SHKP Construction Department Purchasing Director Ricky Fung talking about maintenance of wood floors and marble. A professional horticultural team also came in to show how to create miniature bonsai. All great tips for a better life.
Care for your floor every day
Laminated flooring is common in flats. Take some simple steps every day to keep the floor durable and looking good:
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Remove leather shoes and high heels before entering to avoid denting or scratching the floor.
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Move furniture either with a piece of carpet protecting the floor or lift it completely. Do not drag furniture across an unprotected floor.
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Use protective pads underneath furniture legs.
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Put protective plastic beneath furniture with wheels to minimize damage.
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Trim your pet’s claws regularly.
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Remove dust from the floor and wipe it with a damp cloth or mop, and make sure that the room is well ventilated during the process so that excess humidity doesn’t get the floor mouldy or warped.
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Clean up spills with a dry cloth as soon as possible, so stains don’t get into gaps in the floor.
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Don’t use acidic or alkali cleaners (like bleach and chlorine water) on marble.
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Clean stains with a cloth and water.
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Use water-base impregnator regularly to maintain the marble surface.
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Hire a marble care expert to polish surfaces or give them a facelift.
It’s said that a green home helps relieve stress because looking at plants soothes the eye and fragrant varieties freshen up the air. This makes miniature bonsai perfect for the home or office, given the small space they take up and relatively little care needed.
Plant types | Examples | Requirements | Tools | Decoration |
Broad-leaf | Nerve plants (white / red) | Temperature: 20-30°C Light: exposure all day Water: porous soil that drains well and not too much water |
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2 or 3 small figurines and coloured sand |
Succulent | graptoveria titubans, haworthia cymbiformis, euphorbia enopla, plectranthus hadiensis and pachyphytum compactum | Temperature: 20-30°C Light: expose all day but avoid too much sun – plants wilt without enough light Water: every 10-14 days or when soil is dry – water less in winter; can stand dry and cold but suffer in stuffy humidity |
How to make
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Put a thin layer of stone in the pot
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Add soil
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Decide preferred positioning of plants
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Trim roots
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Set plants in soil
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Add more soil and compress by hand or with tools
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Add coloured sand
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Cover the whole surface with sand
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That’s the basic landscape
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Decorate
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Use tweezers for smaller decorations
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Finished
Tips on plant care
Many people like having plants at home because they are soothing to look at and help reduce stress. Here are three things to note if you want healthy plants at home:
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Give plants good ventilation and light, but avoid giving them direct sunlight.
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Succulents and tropical plants need different watering. Determine a watering schedule based on the type of plant.
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Trim plants if they get too tall or have dead leaves.