How To Tackle Your Painting Project In Seven Easy Steps

Whether you are painting a home that you are getting ready to sell or painting a place that you are just moving into, it is a monster task. It can take even longer when you don't know what you are doing. So here are some tips on making your painting project a little easier so that you can take pride in a job well done.   1.  Pick the shade of paint that is right for you. Try to consider the furniture that will be in the room and find complimentary colors. If you are selling, stick to neutral colors so that prospective buyers will be able to visualize their tastes in your house. 2.  Buy the correct amount of paint. Read the coverage directions on the side of the can and purchase the correct amount of paint to cover the surfaces that you will be painting. Make sure to also buy enough primer for the first coat as well. 3.  Buy all the accessories that you will need: paint rollers painters tape brushes edgers roller pans roller pan liners drop clothes ... Read the rest of entry »

Create More Visual Interest On Your Balcony Or Porch With A Vertical Garden

Creating appeal in smaller spaces like a condo or a two bedroom house can be more challenging. You want to make it feel more spacious, but how? With spring upon us, one of the easiest ways to make a small home more appealing and feel more spacious is making your back porch or balcony like an outdoor living room. Looking to move - you need a buyer: When you put your home or your condo on the market, every little thing can help. You want to sell your home so that you can move into your new home. But attracting the right buyer can be hard in this economy. So finding a ways to make your home stand out is important. The Home Depot just posted this great example of what you can do to make a small space stand out with some ingenuity: the vertical garden. A vertical garden is essentially a flower box that has been especially constructed to stand vertically or hung on a wall. They walk you step by step on how to assemble a flower box with this how to video and explain all that you will need to make it ... Read the rest of entry »

Getting Ready for Spring (And Moving) With An Updated Tool Shed

Many times we dread doing yard work because instead of feeling free and productive with our workspace, our workspace in itself feels like a chore.  For many people the lawnmower is piled high with pots and tarps, the weed-wacker is buried under shovels and rakes, and they can't even find extension cords amongst all the mess. If your shed or garage looks like this, the urge to get up and be productive is probably greatly diminished.  And who can blame you, if a chore takes fifteen minutes longer than normal because of all the other sifting and sorting, most would give up before they start. Getting Your Workspace Ready: You will be amazed at what an organized workspace can do for your productivity.  Walking into clean space energizes your mind and makes you feel like you are smarter and more efficient (I am not kidding).  So here is what you can do in order to make your job easier and less stressful: Sort all your items.  Go through everything, and I mean everything, and put ... Read the rest of entry »

A Step By Step List To Whip Your House Into Shape This Spring

Here is a short list for your spring cleaning.  Feel free to add to it as you see fit.  This is also a great list to keep on hand for when you get ready to sell your home. Kitchen: Wipe down the range Clean out the oven Wipe down the oven hood Dust the bottom of the dish washer Wipe down the front of the dishwasher Wipe down the front and sides of the refrigerator Clean out the refrigerator Dust the refrigerator coils Defrost the freezer Wipe down all the counters Sweep and mop the kitchen floor Organize storage containers - throw out old or unused containers Dust out drawers Living Room/Family Room: Move furniture and vacuum behind Dust all hard surface furniture Vacuum all clothe furniture Wipe down all leather furniture Dust floor molding Clean window hangings Bathrooms: Wipe down all countertops Wipe down all mirrors Sanitize showers and bath tubs Sanitize toilets ... Read the rest of entry »

Four Easy Things You Can Do to Get A Greener Lawn

One of the best ways to spruce up your yard for getting ready to sell is to improve the quality of your lawn.  For most people, a lawn is the majority of the yard. So if your lawn does not look good, the rest of your yard will look worse for wear.  Below are a few things you can do in order to get your yard ready for that great first impression. Getting the watering right:  For many lawns, the reason why they look a little green around the gills are because they are not properly watered.  A lawn should be watered every two to three days to a total depth of one inch.  This can be a little confusing at first, so try this simple trick.  Set up your sprinkler like normal and place a pan in the yard directly were the water would hit.  Time how long it takes to fill the pan to the one-inch mark.  Once you have completed this you will know how long to water your yard each time. Thatching: One of the best things you can do for your yard is to thatch it once a year.  ... Read the rest of entry »

Three Easy Ways To Spruce Up Your Yard For Spring

Spring is less than a month away, and that means the start of planting new plants and yard care.  For those that are getting ready to put their house on the market, this is a great time to spruce up your house and get your hands dirty in the process.  For those with a green thumb, this might come naturally.  But for the rest of us, we need a little help. So here are some great tips to give your yard a helping hand so that your house is pleasing to the buyers eye. Give your walkway a new look:  In many ways, your front walkway is the focal point of your yard.  In many cases it bisects your lawn and visually leads to your front door.  Why not dress it up a bit so that your walkway becomes inviting and an attractive statement.  Start by clearing a patch of dirt on each side of the walkway and putting easy to care for plants in its place.  Try to find plants that visually compliment your house's color scheme.  If you have lighter tones on your house, pick plants tha ... Read the rest of entry »

How To Get Your House Ready For A Move In Five Easy Steps

Life can be stressful when you are trying to sell your home.  The last thing you want to think about is how your home looks to prospective buyers.  But the truth of the matter is, selling your home is just as much presentation as it is market value.  If a prospective buyer gets a "sense" that this is a good home to buy, most of your work is done. So how do you help someone make a decision to buy a house?  You remove all obstacles.  What I mean is you must remove anything that would stick in the back of their mind as a red flag. Let's walk down a short list of easy things you can do help a prospective buyer feel at home: Give your house the cleaning of a lifetime.  Do not be afraid to get down and get dirty.  The cleaner you house is, the more welcome people will feel.  And the more welcome they feel, the more of a pleasant experience it will be for them. Remove all unnecessary furniture.  The look you are going for is "furniture showroom.”  ... Read the rest of entry »

How To Make Your Small Kitchen Feel Bigger

We all like the feeling of having space.  No one likes to walk into a room and feel cramped.  But when it comes to square footage, you cannot bend the math.  If you have a small kitchen, unless you are ready to do a remodel, you are not going to come up with an extra one hundred square feet by clearing off the countertops.  But there are simple tricks in creating the feeling of a more spacious kitchen. So follow along with these three easy steps to make you kitchen feel like you have twice the space. Let in the light Nothing beats natural lighting.  It makes a room feel more inviting and open.  You may not have skylights and large windows, but that does not mean you are stuck.  Look at the window dressings you have.  Are they light weight and do they allow light to filter through?  If not, invest in sheer material. It will let light in but still give you privacy when you want it. Get furniture that fits Having furniture that fits in a room is paramount.& ... Read the rest of entry »