Improving Your Home Through These Simple Tips

By Author: Christine Austria
Total Articles: 52
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Improving your home can be quite exciting! Maybe fix, replace or freshen-up something! However, if you do not have the right advice or information, this can be very stressful for all involved. This article contains a number of tips to help you and your household make a success of that home improvement project.

When renovating, weigh carefully the value of personal touches against the return you will get when you sell your house. Buyers may not want to invest their money in your home if it is too individualized.

Maybe the house or apartment you're living in is great, but the view to the outside is not. If you have any offending sights that you wish to conceal, consider putting some plants or flowers on your window sill or in a window box. If you would like to take drastic measures in concealing your offending view, plant some shrubs or large trees in front of your window. This can ensure that you have a nicer view.

If you have any doors that squeak upon open or closing, try using a little lubricant. Apply a small amount of commercial lubricant to the door hinge and open and close the door to allow it to enter ...
... the crevices. You can also try this with cooking oil, though the results may not last as long as a commercially available lubricant.

Use flour for emergency wall paper glue! That's the way the old timers always used to glue their wall paper in place. Just mix some flour with enough water to make a paste. Apply it just as you would any other wall paper glue. It will last for years!

If you want to spruce up your living room, add some unique accents for flair. Look for accessories or furniture with zebra or leopard prints to create an interesting motive.

For an affordable and attractive temporary update, consider a bright and colorful wreath for your front door. This easy fix requires no commitment and very little investment. Furthermore, you can change the wreath frequently to reflect the changing seasons, holidays, or just to indulge yourself with a favorite color palette.

Vacuum

To make your carpet feel new again, rent a carpet cleaner. Carpet cleaners are able to deep clean your carpeting in a way that an ordinary vacuum can't. You may be shocked when you see how much dirt it pulls up. Carpet cleaners can be rented for a very low cost. Many cost less than $25 for a day's use.

Save money and energy and get more power out of your dryer with a shorter hose. First take the hose off and then use your vacuum to clean it out. Then, trim it so that it measures a couple of feet long. It should be just long enough to pull the dryer out to clean behind it, since a short hose will run more efficiently.

Vacuum out your cabinets before you clean out the interiors. This removes the dust, dirt and anything else that may be lingering inside. Use water, with a little mild soap added, to wipe down the shelves. Begin by cleaning the top and going down. If your shelves and cabinets do not look better after they are cleaned, replace cabinet liners and knobs and repair old shelves.

You can save money and help the environment by using CFL bulbs, but you should know that they require special cleanup should they break. Remove people and pets from the room in order to air it out (the bulbs have mercury). Next, pick up glass pieces with duct tape so that all small fragments are removed. Vacuum well, and dispose of the contents in a double bag.

So, home improvement has the potential to be a fun and exciting project! However, the process can be very difficult and stressful if you do not have the right advice and information. Use the tips found in this article to improve your home with ease!

Jane McCafferty covers and reviews all types of vacuum cleaners on her site, Jane's Best Vacuums