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3 Autumn-inspired Decor Ideas That Will Spice Up Your Home

October 16, 2015 by Emanuel Stewart

3 Autumn-inspired Decor Ideas That Will Spice Up Your HomeWith the season of jack-o’-lantern’s and crunchy leaves under foot, there can’t help but be plenty of ways to integrate the loveliness of autumn into your home decorations. Whether you’re looking for a simple touch or a statement that will completely define a room, here are a few ideas for highlighting the best the fall has to offer.

Showcase a Seasonal Bouquet

A vase full of flowers can add a lot to any room in the house, but a great way to integrate the season outside with your home is to make a bouquet that will utilize the best of fall’s vegetation. Instead of opting for the usual bright colors, gather an array of colored leaves that strike your fancy and add a collection of branches to a vase that suits the purpose. If arranged right, this can be a striking and unique embellishment to your front entrance.

Carve Out a Candle Holder

An easy way to join the cooler weather with your inside atmosphere is to utilize the help of the season’s most familiar vegetable, the pumpkin. Instead of going for the typical Halloween carving, cut the top off of a small pumpkin, clear away all of the seeds and let it dry out. Once this is complete, you can put a candle in the pumpkin, and create a unique lighting look for your home. If you like it enough, you may want to consider doing it with several pumpkins for an even more festive display.

A Falling Light Fixture

Instead of making something from scratch, you might want to consider using the pieces you have in your home and switching them up to complement the changing season. If you happen to have a chandelier in your dining room and you also have kids who like to craft, have them put together some papier-mâché leaves and pumpkins so you can hang them decoratively from the chandelier. While this is a look that will take more work, it will be a particularly striking way to illuminate your chandelier – and your dining area!

Adding some fall inspiration into the mix for your home decorating can be a great way to better enjoy the season and have some fun with your family. From a festive chandelier to a striking autumn bouquet, there are plenty of ways to become crafty for the fair season.

Around The Home Tagged: Around the Home, Homeowner Tips, Staging

Looking for an Eco-friendly Upgrade? Try These Easy Ways to Save Water Around the Home

October 9, 2015 by Emanuel Stewart

Looking for an Eco-friendly Upgrade? Try These Easy Ways to Save Water Around the HomeWith the impact we have on our environment becoming a matter of greater concern, it’s becoming more important for the average citizen to know they’re doing their part. While there are many simple tricks for saving water that will make you feel better about your environmental footprint, here are a few easy upgrades that will make that saving a little more automatic.

Consider a Cistern Device

With outhouses a thing of the past, flushing the toilet has become one of the ways in which household water is being overused the most, but flushing less simply isn’t a viable option. Instead of wasting water in this way, purchase a displacement device and place it in your toilet’s cistern. Without you having to do anything at all, it will instantly reduce the volume of water that is used with each flush.

Learn to Work a Water Meter

It’s ideal to help the environment by saving water, but it’s even better if you can save yourself money at the same time. If you happen to be among those who pay for their water, installing a water meter will enable you to take a closer look at where your water use is going, and can assist you in helping to trim down this expense.

Drain It From the Rain

In the event of an intense downpour, there’s often a lot of water that runs off into the gutter and can’t be absorbed by the grass or the trees. Instead of letting it go to waste, install a water butt to your drainpipe so that you can use the runoff when it’s dry outside to water your plants or even wash your car. There’s no reason that any of the moisture from a good rainfall should have to go to waste.

Invest in Water Efficient Items

From showerheads to washing machines, going energy efficient with your household appliances is becoming quite popular. The next time you have to replace a small appliance or there’s a leak with a household item, consider heading down to the drugstore to look for environmentally friendly options that will instantly reduce your footprint.

With so many options for environmentally friendly items on the market these days, there’s no reason you can’t save water at home with a few easy changes. From making use of the rain that falls to learning to work with a water meter, some simple shifts may make your house the most environmentally friendly one on the block.

Around The Home Tagged: Around the Home, Homeowner Tips, Upgrades and Renovations

DIY Home Upgrades: 5 Reasons Why Hardwood Flooring Should Be on Your Renovation List

October 2, 2015 by Emanuel Stewart

DIY Home Upgrades: 5 Reasons Why Hardwood Flooring Should Be on Your Reno ListWhether you’re planning on selling your home soon or you want to do a few minor renovations for your own enjoyment, an ailing hardwood floor may be on your list of things to tackle. While this can be a more difficult renovation to complete than many other household items, here are five reasons you may want to move it to the top of the list.

An Issue with Structure

If there happens to be any glaring structural issues with your hardwood, a complete do-over will be a necessity if you want to sell your house in the future. While this will likely involve fixing the sub-floor under your hardwood, this will dramatically improve the overall health of your home.

Experiencing a Lot of Movement?

A lot of movement in your hardwood floor can be a sign that it’s time for a fix up. If you’re already planning on refinishing your floor for an instantly improved look, this fix-up will need to happen before you can take that necessary next step!

Worn-Out or Over-Sanded Wood

Whether your boards are worn down in spots from excessive use or sanding, this is an issue that will instantly age the look of your living space. If you’re noticing the boards coming apart at the ends or nails jutting out, it’s definitely time for an overhaul.

Upping a Home’s Market Value

There may be a few things a homebuyer will be willing to fix in a new home, but flooring is unlikely to be something they will want to replace right off the bat. By upgrading this before it’s an issue, you can easily make your home a lot more attractive to potential buyers and increase the value of your home.

It’s an Instant Facelift

There are few things that will be as apparent as the look of the floor when entering a room, so having dull, scratched hardwood will instantly downgrade the appearance of your living space. If more than expected wear and tear has occurred, an updated floor can completely shift the look of your place!

If you’re planning on improving your home and tackling a home renovation soon and are not sure where to begin, you may want to assess the quality of life left in your flooring. As this will have a marked impact on the way your home appears, fixing your floors can help to improve the market value of your home. If you’re wondering about other renovation upgrades consider contacting your local mortgage professional for more information about a home refinance loan and what will add the most value for your investment.

Around The Home Tagged: Around the Home, Homeowner Tips, Upgrades and Renovations

Tiny, but Cozy: 3 Ways to Furnish Small Spaces to Make Them Feel Much Larger

August 7, 2015 by Emanuel Stewart

Tiny, but Cozy: 3 Ways to Furnish Small Spaces to Make Them Feel Much LargerWhen decorating a small space, there is a general desire to make the space look and feel larger than it is while also meeting basic functional needs in the room. For example, there may be a need to accommodate seating for a number of people in a living room, but there also may be a desire to provide ample space for foot traffic so the area does not feel cramped. By following a few important tips, it is possible to furnish smaller spaces so that they are functional and do not feel cramped.

Think About Decorative Storage Solutions

One of the most common factors that will make a small space seem cramped and uncomfortable relates to clutter, and because of this, focusing on storage solutions can go a long way toward making the space feel larger than it is. Storage solutions can be decorative, and they can be a true benefit to the décor in the room. Think about functional storage features like an ottoman with hidden storage features, an entertainment center with cabinets and shelves or a tall bookshelf that can hold many of the items that are needed in the room.

Decorate The Space Vertically

For most people, there is a general inclination to decorate a room horizontally and to fill the floor space with furnishings, but this can be detrimental when decorating a smaller room. In a smaller space, decorating the space vertically by using bookshelves, storage cabinets and other features that rise above the ground rather than that sprawl across the ground can be beneficial. The goal should be to decorate the room fully while leaving ample space for foot traffic to maneuver through the room comfortably.

Use Lighter Colors

Darker colors used in a smaller room can make the space feel closed off and cramped. Using lighter colors can brighten the space and make it seem more airy. While using shades of white and beige throughout a space may not be ideal in all rooms, these can be incorporated into various aspects of the décor to improve the spacious feel of the room.

Smaller spaces can be challenging to decorating, but there are different tricks and tips that can be used to make the space look and feel larger than it is. Some tips may improve the functional use of the space, and others may simply play tricks on the way to create the illusion of space. All can be used together to create the feeling of a larger, more inviting room.

Around The Home Tagged: Around the Home, Real Estate Tips, Upgrades and Renovations

Have a Weekend to Spare? Consider These Quick Renovations to Add Value to Your Home

July 24, 2015 by Emanuel Stewart

Have a Weekend to Spare? Consider These Quick Renovations to Add Value to Your HomeHomeowners who are thinking about listing their home for sale in the coming weeks or months may be focused on improving their home to help it sell more quickly, but there also may be a focus on adding value to the home in the process. While each home is unique, there are a few projects that most homeowners would benefit from. In fact, these are a few simple and easy projects that can typicaly be completed over the course of a weekend; that can add value and desirability to the home.

Replace The Front Door

The front door has an impact on curb appeal, and it also is one of the primary features that buyers will see when they approach your home to take a tour. Replacing an older door that lacks style or that is plagued with signs of wear and tear can improve property value and curb appeal alike. Many homeowners who have basic tools and some do-it-yourself experience with other projects will be able to replace the front door without additional help from a contractor.

Update The Kitchen Back Splash

A kitchen is a key selling point in a home, and the back splash is among the most visible features in this space. Replacing the back splash with stylish tile can improve the look and can instantly make the home more desirable. This can be a relatively simple type of home renovation project, if you have experience with tile work, that may be completed within just a few hours.

Repaint The Walls And Baseboards

Few things can improve the look of a home more easily than a fresh coat of paint. If the walls are showing signs of wear or the colors do not have modern or universal appeal, applying a fresh coat of paint to walls and baseboards is a simple enough project to tackle. For the best results, focus on the rooms with the most undesirable paint colors, in the most visible rooms of the home or in areas where the paint is in generally poor condition.

Each of these projects can have a dramatic impact on the homes appeal and can influence the value of the home itself.   Each of these prjects under most circomstances can be completed with minimal time and cost to the homeowner. Those who are ready to improve their home in a short period of time can consider which of these projects will yield the most significant results in their home.

Around The Home Tagged: Around the Home, Home Maintenance, Upgrades and Renovations

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