{HOME} 3 Major Concerns When You Renovate Your Home

*This post contains affiliate links to essential oils and other products I talk about in the post. Purchasing them here from my blog is no extra cost to you but I do earn a commission that helps in the cost of running this blog. Thanks for your support! Read full disclaimer here.

If you are thinking about changing up any part of your home, you will need to make sure that you are actually going to be as prepared for it as possible, and that is something which is likely to be a lot harder than you might think. The truth is that there are a number of major things which you need to prepare for in particular if you are to ensure that your renovation is going to be a success and that you are going to be happy with your home, and you will need to make sure that you are going to consider those if you want to make it go as well as possible. In this article, we are going to help you by looking at some of these major concerns, and discussing what you might be able to do to master them, so that your next renovation can go as smoothly and as swimmingly as you would like it to. That will mean one less headache for you to worry about, and one more wonderful home experience to have.

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Where To Begin?

Firstly, you will need to make sure that you are really clear on where you need to start renovating, in other words which part of the home you feel needs it most. This can be one of the hardest decisions to make, but it is necessary to be clear on this if you are to make sure that you renovate the right part of the home, and that you are going to be genuinely happy with the results. What’s more, it might well be that you run out of money or time for a short while, in which case you will have to pause. If that happens, you want to at least have one room renovated that you are truly happy with, so that you can keep going and still be pleased with the results. But making the decision of where to begin can certainly be tough, and you need to make sure that you are happy to think about many of the involved concerns here in order to make the right one.

If you are bound by a financial constraint, then that might help to dictate where to start, which could actually be quite helpful. If not, you will want to think instead of what room you would most like to see altered, and if it can be a room which you will not be disturbed by the renovation of, then that is even better. Getting this balance is definitely a good way to ensure that you are going to be happy with the results, so make sure that you spend a great deal of time considering this. Once you are utterly clear on where to begin, you should find that you can then move on to the other major concerns you will need to consider.

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Financing The Renovation

For most people, the most important and often most difficult part of renovation will be actually finding the moey to make it work. Financing your renovation can indeed be difficult, and it can take time to work out what you can actually do to make it happen, so the earlier that you start thinking about this, the better. You should find that you can actually fairly easily finance your renovation one way or another, but you will need to consider what your options are, and as it turns out there might be a lot of options to choose between. If you happen to have the capital necessary in your bank account, then great - you can get started. If not, here are some options you might want to consider to ensure that you can get renovating as soon as possible.

Firstly, you might want to consider a loan, which is the traditional way of affording something of this size. You will need to be able to state your case and show that you have the means and the good credit history to be able to pay it back in good time. You will also have to show that you know exactly how much you need, and have that shown written down clearly. If you can do that, you should be able to secure a loan from somewhere. Or if you have poor credit, you might want to consider getting a credit card which allows for a poor financial history. These kinds of unsecured cards can be really helpful when it comes to paying for something of this scale. Or you might want to think about borrowing from loved ones, as long as you are sure that you are going to pay it back and that it won’t get in the way of your relationship. As you can see, there are always things to consider, and more often than not you can find a way to pay for your renovation.

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Planning It Out

The more that you plan your renovation, the more likely it is to be a success, and this is something to remember if you are hoping for it to go as well as possible, which of course you are. This planning can be tough, and it can take a long time, but any mistakes you make there can be rectified before they become mistakes in the real life version, so it is important to be sure of. Planning it out is hugely necessary if you are to make sure that you are going to be able to renovate your home in style and with speed, so it is something that you can’t really overlook if you want that to happen. When you plan it, you will need to think about what you are going to need - in terms of tools, equipment, construction workers, time, and so on. As long as you can account for all of these as well as possible, you will be able to ensure that it goes as smoothly as you would like, so planning really is a hugely important part of renovating your home.

{HOME} What Does Your Dream Kitchen Look Like?

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Your dream kitchen - it’s the place you imagine cooking up a storm for the family meal, with all kinds of new and capable appliances making the work so much easier, with plenty of counter space you can pull a bar stool up to for a sit down and a chat. It’s the place where you can host parties with great food and drink, and plenty of space for all, and it’s the place where the kids can make a mess that’s easy to clean up.

But what does your dream kitchen look like? After all, you can’t cram all the new technology and design styles in the world into it, so what do you really want? With all that in mind, if you’re someone looking for a bit of inspiration over what features you can add into or spruce up in your kitchen, to make sure it’s looking as close to your dreams as possible, here’s a couple of ideas to follow.

Maybe it’s all shiny and chrome, maybe there’s a lot of natural wood elements - either way, there’s some work to do! (Source)

Wet or Dry Kitchen?

Depending on the layout of your house, and how heavily you like to cook, you’re going to need to decide between having a wet or dry kitchen fitted. If your kitchen is connected to the dining or living room, with open space in between, and you only tend to properly cook up a Sunday roast, a dry kitchen would be best for you. A dry kitchen is also a good option for anyone who likes to host on a regular basis, as it includes plenty of mingling areas and a heavy emphasis on seating arrangements.

On the other hand, if you like to cook, and use a lot of smelly and varied ingredients in your dishes, then you’re going to want a wet kitchen. These have a lot of extractor fans in them, as well as wet floor tiles, and some easy cleaning surfaces. Or if you have the money, you could combine these ideas, and have a wet area and a dry area! Don’t worry, when you go out to find remodeling services, the company involved can help you specifically decide on what your needs are and what’s available as a result.

Bright or Dark?

Your dream kitchen needs a color scheme, and it needs something coherent and functional at the same time. Maybe you like pale blues, maybe you like dark reds, maybe you fancy something monochrome - either way, you’ve got to take how these kinds of materials work, rather than the simple aesthetics of them.

For example, if you’re looking for handleless cabinets, and a fridge that blends in with the rest of the storage, you’re going to want brown, navy blues, and blacks, along with a lacquer finish. These help to hide the dirty fingerprints and grease from the cooking that can litter the surfaces in your kitchen.

Remember, your dream kitchen should take these ideas into account!

{Decluttering} Stay Or Go? The Golden Rules Of Decluttering

*This post contains affiliate links to essential oils and other products I talk about in the post. Purchasing them here from my blog is no extra cost to you but I do earn a commission that helps in the cost of running this blog. Thanks for your support! Read full disclaimer here.

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When you come home from work and struggle to find a place to sit down…

When your home becomes a health and safety nightmare for you and your family…

When you simply can't find anything because you have too much stuff… You know you have too much clutter.

Decluttering will give you more space in your home. Decluttering will reduce your stress and cause you to feel happier. And decluttering will let you know where the cat has been hiding for the last twelve months.

Decluttering is a no-brainer then, but the one question you might have when sorting through your stuff is...

Does it stay or does it go?

To help you decide, follow these golden rules. Then, after sorting out your stuff, you should purchase more storage for anything you intend to keep, and for the stuff you intend to discard, you should recycle, donate to charity, and even sell - Eames for quality furniture, and Amazon or eBay for anything else that might net you a little cash.

The Golden Rules of Decluttering

1. If you haven't used something in over a year, then get rid of it.

Because ask yourself - are you ever going to use it? Seasonal items are an exception, but anything else? If it has been sitting dormant for a long time, is it really worth keeping? Probably not, so have a think, and if you know you are unlikely to ever use it, think about putting it in the 'discard' pile.

2. Don't keep something out of guilt.

It might be that teapot your great aunt bought you as a housewarming present. Or it could be something you received as a Christmas present one year. Whatever it is, if you are only keeping it because you think you 'should,' then question yourself. Do you like the item? If so, fine, keep it! If not, don't keep it because you might feel guilty after discarding it. If it's filling up space in your house but not in your heart, let go of the item, or send it to the attic where it will cause less clutter.

3. Double the item is double the mess.

Do you really need two of the same item? The only exceptions are those pieces that are supposed to come as a pair, but anything else? If it doesn't make sense to have a duplicate of the same thing, then you really don't need to have it in your house. Instead of doubling up on your clutter, double your income by selling it online.

4. Don't keep something because you might need it one day.

If something has been sat for a long time unused, but it's there because you 'might' need to use it one day, then ask yourself the question. Are you ever going to use it? If you haven't used it thus far, then you are probably never going to use it. Of course, the cruel law of nature is that once getting rid of it, you might suddenly need to make use of the item at last, so what do we know? Still, you might be able to stick it in the attic with those other things you are unsure about, as you will create a little more space in the rest of your house.

We hope this has been helpful to you. We hope you now have something to help you think about the decluttering process. And we hope that your home finally becomes free of the stuff that you probably didn't need in the first place. Let us know what you think, and if you live by decluttering rules of your own, feel free to pass them onto us. Thanks for reading!

{Organizing} Are Your Summer Essentials Properly Packed Away Ready For Next Year?

*This post contains affiliate links to essential oils and other products I talk about in the post. Purchasing them here from my blog is no extra cost to you but I do earn a commission that helps in the cost of running this blog. Thanks for your support! Read full disclaimer here.

As we are now in the colder months, hopefully, you have packed away everything that you are going to need for Summer. But, you need to make sure that it is all in some sort of order so that when the warmer months come calling again, you are ready. You might think that this seems to far away as we are only in November, but it is always best to pack things away so that they are easy to retrieve. If you don’t start thinking about it now and making sure everything is sorted, you could find yourself in the middle of a nightmare, come May time.

So, what are your summer essentials and which should be taking priority in storage? What are the items that need to be at the front and easy to reach when the weather starts getting warmer? If you don’t have some of the things on the list, we suggest that you get them ready for next summer.

Your Summer Curtains

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One thing that many people change in the different seasons is their curtains. Your summer curtains are good for letting in the morning light, and helping you to appreciate the warmth of the day. You are not going to want the same kind of thing for your winter curtains, or you will find that your home, and in turn you, are cold for about four months.

Your winter curtains need to be thick enough to keep the heat in the room, and any cold that may be coming from the windows out. That’s why you need to look at thermal curtains for the winter season and keep your pretty, but thin curtains in the attic.

They do need to be at the front though because once winter has passed, you want to be able to get them straight back out. There is nothing worse than having the heat trapped in a room on a hot summers day with everyone in your house melting. Curtains are not going to take up a lot of storage space so having these easily accessible is not going to be a challenge. If you don’t want to put them in a box, you don’t have to. Just simply fold them up and have them by the entrance of your attic until the sun returns.

Cooling System

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THE summer essential is going to be some sort of cooling system, and here, we are obviously talking about fans. If you don’t have a fan in the summer, and you are not one of the lucky people who has air conditioning in their house, you are not going to enjoy the summertime the same way everyone else does. So, if you don’t already have a fan, we suggest that you go and get one before the heat creeps back in. You should look into getting Dyson fans, or something similar as these will provide you with the best level of cooling and avoid you dripping with sweat.

So, it seems pretty obvious why this one needs to be packed away, but still readily accessible. For storage, you should keep the original box that it comes in and every winter, put it in this and then in your attic. Make sure that it is one of the first things that you can reach when spring, turns into summer.

Thin Bedding

The first thing that you will change in the winter is your bedding. The thin bedding is going to be swapped for the comfy, and cozy thick bedding. You obviously want to keep yourself warm in winter, and that is why the thick bedding is the best option. But what this means is saying goodbye to the thin sheets that have served you well for the last few months.

As you are only going to need your thick bed sheets throughout the harsh cold, you need to make sure that you can easily get to your lovely thin ones. If you are going to be getting in your loft when the time comes, it’s not going to be too important where you actually put these. As long as they are not buried underneath things and hard to find, you are going to be okay here. The best option is going to be to put them on top of something else that you need. Your fan, for example, would be a good place to store your bed clothes so that when you go up, you don’t forget anything and end up making two trips.

Bug Nets

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Do you have bug nets for your home? Some people do, and others don’t. But if you do, you know that you use them much more frequently in the summer months than you will at winter time. For this reason, you can put your nets away through the winter season if you want to. Just make sure that you can get to it at the back end of spring/early side of summer. This is when you are going to notice all of the bugs appearing again, so you are going to need to be able to find your nets.

You don’t have to put these in the attic because these are not large objects, and they can fit in small spaces. So, if you have spare space in one of your cupboard or wardrobes, they can go here. Alternatively, if you don’t have space anywhere else for them, they can just go under your bed! Thanks to their thin style and easy to fold nature, you won't even notice that they are there, but they are going to be readily accessible when the bugs come calling.

Hopefully, after reading this article, you know what your summer essentials are and how to make sure they are packed away properly, ready for next summer. Take this advice, and you will find packing for winter, and locating for summer a lot easier. Doing it this way eliminates the stress and confusion that can occur when it comes time to change everything up for summer.

{HOME} Your Homes Winter Checklist

*This post contains affiliate links to essential oils and other products I talk about in the post. Purchasing them here from my blog is no extra cost to you but I do earn a commission that helps in the cost of running this blog. Thanks for your support! Read full disclaimer here.

Our homes go through a lot. They protect us from the temperature and inclement weather. They keep heat in, and cold winds out. They keep us dry and safe while protecting all of our possessions. They are also our space. Where we are free to be ourselves. Where we can express ourselves with our decor choices. They are home to our family, but also to our greatest treasures and memories. We use them in a variety of ways every day. Our windows and doors are opened and closed. Our floors are trampled on. Our appliances and furniture get regular use. Yet we just expect them to last.

Winter time can be tough for all of us. It’s colder. It’s wet. The weather can be unpredictable. The roads can get icy. Our heating bills are more expensive and getting out of bed on a dark, cold morning is significantly harder than it is in the summer. Many of us face coughs and colds, as well as aches and pains, and some of us even suffer from seasonal depression brought on by the cold and dark. Through it all, we expect our homes to endure.

The harsh truth, however, is that they don’t always. Certainly not without care, protection, and consideration. If you want your home to offer you a cozy and comfortable safe haven all winter long, you need to take the time to ensure that it is able. Use this checklist to make sure your home is ready to face the colder weather when it arrives.

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Get Insulating

When it comes to keeping warm and looking after your home, insulation should be at the very top of your list. You may already have cavity wall and loft insulation, which go a long way to trapping warm air in your home. But, these aren’t the only ways to do it. Simple things like draught excluders around your external doors, and closing internal doors when a room isn’t in use, can make a massive difference.

Check Your Windows and Doors

Damaged or incorrectly installed seals on windows and doors let warm air out, and cold air in. Over time, a tiny gap in a seal can damage the door or window, the structure of your home, and increase damp and mold inside your house.

Work room at a time, checking all of the seals are well fitted, and doing their jobs correctly. The easiest and often most effective way to do this can be simply running your hand around them while they are closed to feel for cold air.

Clean Your Gutters

In the autumn months, as leaves are falling from the trees, it’s all too easy for guttering to become clogged and damaged. When it rains, this can see cold water running down the side of your house. This water can seep into the spaces between bricks and wood. This can cause severe damage, especially if it freezes and expands as it gets colder. Look for a good gutter repair company if it’s needed.

Get That Roof Repaired

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A damaged roof can cause significant problems in the winter time. But, unfortunately, the damage isn’t always apparent until the problems arise. The only way to know what is going on up there is to get up and take a look. Or to ask someone else to do it for you. If your roof needs even minor repairs, get them done now before it becomes a bigger problem.

Have Your Boiler Serviced

Getting your boiler serviced before winter hits is the best way to ensure that you can stay warm throughout the colder months. Even boilers that seem to work well can struggle when they are suddenly being used much more, so a full service every year is often the best way to protect them.

Turn the Heating On

If you haven’t used your heating for months, it’s a good idea to start switching it on for a little every day from now to give it a kickstart. Check all of your radiators, if any are cold, either wholly, or in part, you might need to bleed them. Watch this video for help.

Avoid Frozen Pipes

Frozen pipes can be a massive problem over the winter months. They can mean a loss of water and heating, and a burst pipe can lead to flooding and damage to your home. The best ways to avoid frozen pipes are to protect them with insulation or lagging, especially those outside of your house, to check for leaks that need repairing, to run your taps every day to keep water moving and to leave your heating set to a low temperature at night and when you are away from your home.