Angela

Other than buying a house, your next most expensive endeavour could be decorating it.

For one, furnishings do not come in cheap. You also have to pay your contractors, especially when you are remodeling your bathroom or bedroom.

That said, we have listed down x budget-friendly tips that you can do to decorate your home:

1. Declutter

Before you remodel or renovate your home, you must declutter first.

For one, removing clutter does not cost a dime. Second, it gives you an insight into how you are utilizing your space and what you can do to optimize it. Moreover, you can earn from it.

When you declutter, group your belongings into items that you can throw away, you can donate, and you can sell. Once you categorize them, start selling your “to sell” items online so you can earn as soon as possible.

You can use your earnings to fund your interior design project.

2. Repaint Your Wall

If you are strapped for cash, repainting your walls is the most cost-effective DIY project that you can pull off. That’s because paints are inexpensive, yet they can make a ton of difference to the space.

However, repainting your walls is not as easy as picking your favorite color.

First, it is essential to know what kind of paint you will need. If you want to be an interior designer, this is one of the things you need to learn.

The popular paint option is latex paint. That’s because it is easy to clean and long-lasting. It is also fade-resistant, making it ideal for painting walls.

But if you are looking to paint wooden crown moldings, go for oil-based primers instead.

For one, it can seal wood stains and knots better than latex paint. The only drawback is that it needs more drying time. But once it is dry, you can use latex paint as a topcoat.

3. Shop at Second-hand Stores

If you want to save money on furnishings, consider thrift shopping. Some homeowners can find statement pieces that work well with their design theme in flea markets or online.

You can do the same by following these tips:

• Have a budget. You may be looking for the most affordable furniture that you can find, but that does not mean they are dirt cheap. So, it would be best to dedicate a budget for your thrift shopping.
• Find the right market. Sure, you can find superb pieces anywhere, but it would be best to go where the good pickings are. An excellent example would be thrift stores in the upscale area.
• Know your style. Just because a piece of furniture look does not mean you should buy it. It is vital to ask yourself whether it suits the design theme you are aiming for. 
• Let your creativity play. For instance, you find a suitable piece, but it is a different color. You can still buy it and opt to repaint it to suit your theme.
• Never compromise your health. We are not just talking about adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols. We are also talking about buying items that may put your health at risk.

The key to thrift shopping to look for pieces that are useful, safe, and can suit your home’s design theme.

4. Repurpose What You Have

Another excellent idea to save money in home decorating is to repurpose what you have.

An excellent idea would be turning an old shirt into a throw pillowcase. Some even use an old shirt to build a house for their pet cats.

Do you have an old one-seater sofa? Perhaps you can replace the foam and reupholster it to make it look brand new.

If you have an empty nook, you can turn it into a dedicated workspace. All it needs is a fresh coat of paint or wallpaper, and then you can set up your office table and chair without hassle.

5. Be Resourceful

When you have a limited budget, you want to find ways where you can cost cut. It does not matter whether it is in materials or labor. That said, you have to consider your options.

If you have woodwork skills, perhaps you can DIY some of your furnishings. Otherwise, you can consider hiring a friend or a neighbor who is good with woodworking.

Some homeowners would even buy the materials themselves and rent the equipment to cut down on costs.

Another option would be to repurpose and upcycle what you already have. That way, you do not have to spend much on new pieces of furniture. It also allows you to showcase your creativity.

Just because you want to give your house a fresh look, it does not mean you have to shell out thousands of money. You can do many ways to lower down the cost while giving your house a fresh look.

Do you have other budget-friendly home design ideas? Please share them in the comments!

Your quality of living can vastly improve if you learn how to keep your home clean and organized. And the key to doing that is to establish a routine that supports your goal of maintaining a clean and organized home. 

If you want to start having a cleaner and neater home, here are eight cleaning routines that you should keep doing:

1. Make the bed

Keeping a clean and organized home starts right as your day begins.

When you wake up, the first thing you have to do once you leave the bed would be to make your bed. Don’t be too lazy and leave your bed unkempt while you go about your day.

Even if the rest of your bedroom is neat and tidy, it won’t matter. Since the bed is the room’s focal point, leaving it messy will make the bedroom look dirty, even if the rest of it isn’t.

Besides, if you start your day off doing something productive, like making the bed, it will help you get a bit more of a jump start on your day.

You’ll also appreciate a neat bed after a long day of hard work. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of being able to sink into your clean and tidy bed after that long day. 

2. 15-minute nightly clean-up

Cleaning in the middle of the day can be an exercise in futility for a lot of homes. That’s because eventually, there is going to be a mask or some dirt lying around the house. However, it would help if you still did it, but you don’t have to do it as deeply as you could.

Another way you can keep your home clean is by establishing a 15-minute nightly clean up routine. Fifteen minutes are relatively short in the grand scheme of things. But it should be enough to help you organize and clean the parts of your house that need that attention.

Since you do it at night before you all settle down, for the evening, you won’t have to worry about messing things up again after you just cleaned. Getting everyone involved also teaches everyone their responsibilities in maintaining a clean home. 

3. Clean your sink

You’re probably not cleaning your sinks as often as you should be. You probably didn’t even know that you should be cleaning your sink at least once a day. Your sinks go through so much and have to wash away all sorts of debris. You can understand how much build up there probably is on there.

You don’t need to devote more than 10 minutes to scrub your sink, but doing it every morning can do wonders for it. 

You can leave your scrubbing tools by the sink so that you remember to do it. Every time you use the sink for the first time on that day, remember to scrub it after. That way, you can start developing a routine that’s easier to remember because it’s attached to something else. 

4. Clean as you go

Although cleaning itself isn’t as laborious as one would think, it’s the fact that you have to do it often that can be a hassle for people. That’s why people must learn the valuable skill of cleaning the house and maintaining that cleanliness.

What you should then focus on would be your ability to form good habits. At Cleaning Exec Maid Service NYC, we believe that cleaning as you go is instrumental in maintaining a clean home. 

When you learn to clean as you go, it will help reduce the cleaning you need to do in your free time. It can be tough to develop that habit, but once you do, you’ll notice that your house is a lot cleaner for a lot longer than before.

5. One load of laundry a day

Are you tired of having to devote your one free day to do all of the laundries that you weren’t able to do for the rest of the week? Instead of leaving your laundry to do for one day, why don’t you space out the laundry into one load a day?

Doing one load of laundry a day isn’t going to take a lot of time. It will also mean that you will have fresh clothes every day so you won’t run out of clothes to wear any time of the week.

It will, at the very least, reduce the number of clothes you have to do on your dedicated laundry day. You can then spend less time washing your clothes and more time doing what you love and relaxing. 

6. Do a daily sweep

It would help if you also built a daily sweeping routine in your house. It shouldn’t take you too long to finish it, but it will help reduce the buildup of dirt and debris in any room around your home. 

If you rely on your vacuum a lot, it will also help you reduce the time it takes for you to finish vacuuming in your room, which can take up a lot of energy. You also won’t have to clean your floors deep very often. 

7. Empty dishwasher

One bad habit that you should stop doing if you do it would be to keep dirty dishes in the dishwasher without washing them. As much as possible, keep your dishwasher empty so that you aren’t letting bacteria and germs brew inside your dishwasher.

It shouldn’t even take you that long to keep an empty dishwasher. At most, you can finish this task in five minutes, and it is something that you can do while doing something else. 

8. Throw trash daily

Another daily cleaning routine that you should be doing is getting rid of or throwing out the garbage.

It would be best if you didn’t let your junk fester inside your house, especially when it’s the trash bin in your kitchen that likely has food waste in it. Otherwise, it’s going to attract pests and creatures into the house and get them rooting into your trash. 

Even if you don’t throw away trash from garbage bins around other parts of your home, you should at least throw the junk from your kitchen. 

Conclusion

Doing the eight routines listed above will help you keep your home clean and organized even when you don’t feel like it.

The challenging part would be when you have to start establishing these routines. However, once you get the self-discipline to develop these routines, it would be muscle memory at this point, and it will be able to push you far.

If you want to keep a cleaner and more organized home in the future, consider establishing these routines first. 

No matter what’s going on in your life, your family would be the center of it. That’s why when you’re creating a home for you and your family, you want to make sure that you cover all the bases.

You don’t only want them to be comfortable. You also want them to be safe and have protection.

With that said, here are seven home security tips that will help you keep your family safe and protected.

1. Secure the doors

Burglars and intruders don’t employ super spy levels of techniques to be able to enter your home. You’ll be surprised at just how many of them can enter the house, not by breaking in but by walking through your doors.

That’s why even if you’re only stepping out for a few moments or your neighborhood is safe, remember to secure your doors all the time.

It doesn’t matter how safe you think you are; it’s better to be extra safe than sorry, so ensure that you secure the doors. You don’t want to make it easier for burglars to break into your home after all.

Aside from locking the doors, make sure that your doors are well-made. You want strong hinges for your door. You also want to make sure that the area around the doorknob isn’t easy to break.

Also, make sure that no one will be able to reach the doorknob through your mail slot if you have one.

2. Invest in an alarm system

At The Alarm System Store, we always encourage our clients to invest in an alarm system. That’s because it will be a significant line of defense for your house.

When you have an alarm system up and running at home, it makes you feel safer and more secure. Even when you’re away from your house, you can rest easy knowing that your alarm system is still there.

In some cases, you can even deter potential intruders from entering your home. All it needs is a sign that you have an alarm system in place. However, not all of them are going to stop. Nonetheless, your alarm system should be able to handle that. Just make sure that your wiring is as hidden as possible so they won’t sabotage it.

Your alarm system can help notify you of any intruders. Modern alarm systems can even send you notifications on your phone. Depending on your alarm system, it will also inform the authorities so that they can respond right away even if you haven’t yet contacted them.

The ease of mind that an alarm system can bring your home can’t be beaten. That’s why if you want to feel safe and protected in your home, a home alarm system is a must.

3. Install burglar bars

Aside from your doors, your windows are another potential entry point for burglars to use to get into your home. Windows are particularly vulnerable unless you get the most high-tech ones out there, but of course, those cost a lot of money.

With that said, you need to find a way to burglar-proof them without it costing you a lot of money.

One solution that many people have tried is the installation of burglar bars on their windows. The burglar bars are inside the window frame, so there’s that extra security. 

The only problem with burglar bars is that they’re not the best thing to look at, but they certainly do the job well enough.

4. Get a dog

Every home can use a pet. They provide many moments of fun in the house for every member of the family. However, they can also be a big help when it comes to the protection of your home.

If you’re planning on getting a pet, consider getting a dog. These furry creatures look cute, but they’re also protective and vicious against intruders. Of course, you have to be a responsible pet owner too. Don’t treat your dogs solely as a security measure for your home.

Dogs can also serve as a deterrent for criminals. You can even leave out a sign that you have a dog in your house. Your dogs can also warn you if strangers or people are approaching your home.

Not only are they great companions, but they’re also helpful in keeping a warm and safe home for everyone.

5. Use motion-sensing lights

Motion-sensing lights are another excellent tool that can deter criminals from targeting your home. It’s a simple switch from your current lighting fixtures, but that switch is going to help add an extra layer of security around your home. You can install motion-sensing lights both inside and outside your house.

With motion-sensing lights outside, you’ll be able to detect if people are outside your house lurking. It might also be able to stop them in their tracks when they know that something spotted them around your home.

In line with that, your indoor motion-sensing lights will make it difficult for them if they do break in to operate in relative obscurity.

6. Reinforce your windows

As we mentioned before, your windows are particularly vulnerable in terms of damage and breaking.

If you don’t want to get the burglar bars because it makes your home look unpleasant, you have no other choice but to reinforce your windows. Reinforcement can either mean upgrading your windows in some ways or full-on replacing them with a better one.

Of course, this is costlier, but your windows are going to be a lot more secure. If you’re considering an upgrade in some parts of your home, consider saving on reinforcing your windows instead.

You can also purchase a security film if you can’t upgrade your windows yet so that they won’t shatter upon impact.

7. Create an emergency escape plan

It would help if you had a plan in case all else fails. Of course, you don’t want to have to resort to this, but it’s better to have that failsafe than not to have one. Thus, you have to create some form of an emergency escape plan.

When talking about escape plans, it doesn’t mean you need a plan to run away from your house. In some cases, all you need is a panic room somewhere in your home.

A panic room is a strong room in your house that is difficult to break into immediately. This room should have communication access to the outside world so that you can stay there and contact the authorities for help.

Conclusion

If you apply these home security tips for your home, you’ll soon have the best possible chance to keep a safe and secure home for your family.

There are more home security tips that you can apply, but you should have a pretty secure home if you stick to the ones in this article.

Do your research and figure out which home security solution is best for you and your budget right now. That way, you can soon improve your home’s safety and security.

In turn, it will strengthen your comfortability and enjoyment while staying in your home.

There’s something uniquely intimidating about a blank canvas. The same effect also applies to when you have to think of ways to design your condo. 

The thing about designing your condo is that you probably are working with a limited space most of the time. You can put whatever you want on a blank canvas, but in your condo? Not so much.

There are plenty of interior design ideas that can help make your condo shine without needing you to have expansive space. To help you get started, here are eight ideas that will make your condo look spacious:

1. Use light or dark colors

When figuring out your condo color scheme, you want to play around with light and dark colors together. When you stick to medium shades all around the condo, it will make any room in there seem smaller.

On the other hand, the contrast between the light colors against dark colors can create a sense of depth inside your condo. You still have to be careful when choosing the paint color because you have to keep in mind the natural light that enters the room.

If the room gets a lot of natural light, it’s better to paint it with lighter colors. If the room doesn’t get a lot of natural light, you can get away with painting it in darker colors. 

2. Leave space between furniture

When pieces of furniture inside your home are close together, it can create a sense of coziness. However, the adverse effect of making things seem more crowded if you don’t know how to strike a balance.

If you want to make your condo look spacious, you need to leave some space between each piece of furniture in a room.

Leaving space between furniture is even more critical in areas that get a lot of foot traffic. However, in your bedroom, you can get away with not leaving much space between furniture because you want that cozy feeling in your bedroom. 

3. Let there be light

There’s only so far that a trendy interior design can take you. You can apply as many condo interior design trends as possible. But if your condo doesn’t get as much natural light inside, the impact won’t be as strong as you want it to be.

That’s why you have to make sure that your condo is well lit, especially if it’s a smaller space.

When you have a lot of natural light flowing into your condo, it will make it look larger than it is. Plus, your condo will also look cleaner and fresher. That natural light will make your space more welcoming too. 

You can even be strategic with the natural light that you get. For example, you can mirror the other wall where the natural light is coming from. That way, the light will bounce off of the mirror and spread all over the condo even more.

4. Use a lot of mirrors

Speaking of mirrors, the strategic placement of mirrors around your house can help create an illusion of space everywhere.

If you have a small bedroom, you might want to get more than one full-length mirror to help your eyes think that your room is big. However, you don’t need to use a full-length mirror for the rest of the house.

Many different styles of mirrors come outside of just a full-length one or ones like the bathroom mirrors. There are even mirrors that look like art pieces. Hence, it can be a stylistic piece while still serving the purpose of widening and lengthening a room’s appearance.

5. Set striped flooring

This interior design idea is a little more eccentric, but if it fits the style of your home, you might want to consider getting striped flooring. The lines on the floor attract the eyes, so it will help make a room look longer.

Of course, the step back to this is that it can be quite an exciting look for a home. However, if you can pull it off, it can create a fantastic look while also making your home look more spacious.

A popular style for striped flooring will be a black and white combination, which creates a modern and quirky look. 

6. Buy furniture with exposed legs

Exposed legs in your furniture might not be something you even thought of before, but they can affect the appearance of space in your condo. Instead of having large pieces of furniture that don’t lay on top of the floor, it’s better to get ones with exposed legs.

The appearance of space between the floor and large furniture can create a sense of space and airiness in the room. Large parts of furniture that just laid directly on the floor can look too bulky or huge for your condo.

7. Use window treatments

Applying window treatments around your home can also make the condo look more spacious. You might be wondering why window treatment can help create a sense of space. After all, the window treatment can block the natural light coming in from the window.

The solution to that is the placement of the drapery rod.

You want your drapery rod to be wider than the window you’re covering and placed higher than the top of the window. That way, it can make your ceilings look taller and your windows look larger.

Since the drapery rod is wider than the window, the window treatments can sit on the side without reducing the natural light coming through. 

8. Declutter your space

A simple solution to make your condo look more spacious is by decluttering your room first.

Ideally, it would be best to decluttering your condo early before you do any interior design activities. Adding more items into your condo will not make it look more spacious if it’s filled with all sorts of clutter.

While you’re at it, why not do a full-on deep cleaning session so that you can see your condo shine? Mind you, decluttering alone can make your condo look spacious. 

Even when you’re working with limited space, it’s still possible to make your condo look expansive. With the help of the eight interior design ideas listed above, you can create the illusion of space inside your condo. At the same time, you won’t have to spend money buying a bigger room to get it. Enjoy these tips and try them out for yourself!

If you live in a country with multiple seasons, it will make sense to have a temperature controlling system. Doing so makes it easy for you and your family to adapt to the changing season.

This is where having a heat pump could come in handy. And to convince you further why you should install a heat pump, here are some compelling reasons:

1. It can last a long time

When it comes to investing in a heat pump, you’ll get more bang for your buck if you are staying in a house that’s on a more permanent or long-term basis. That’s because the advantages that you get from a heat pump are long-lasting.

It would be a waste to install heat pumps in a home that you’re going to leave behind in a year or so. Another way to maximize your heat pump is to have it installed by a professional.

Say, you bought a Fujitsu heat pump. It would be ideal to hire Fujitsu heat pump installers, as well.

Heat pumps can last up to 15 years if you’ve taken care of it all these years. This includes having a professional check and maintain it at least once a year.

2. It requires less maintenance

If you have a combustion heating system and want to switch to heat pumps, know that it will be more convenient for you when you switch. A heat pump involves a lot less maintenance than a combustion heating system.

The least that you need to exert with maintenance would be to get a professional once a year to look through the system. After that, you’re pretty much good to go, unless there are issues. You don’t even have to get a professional to do it if you know what to look out for during the annual maintenance.

However, a non-negotiable would be to get a professional, preferably the one who installed it, to check up on it every three years or so.

3. It saves you money

One of the most significant reasons you’d want to invest in heat pumps is because it helps save you money in the long run. Since they only tap into the energy during the times when you need it to, it doesn’t use up power that you do not need at the moment.

That means that it’s more energy-efficient. You won’t be using as much energy because your heat pump helps you control the power that you need.

Of course, if you’re not going to stay at your current property for very long, you should stick to the existing heating system you have. However, if you’re going to be in the house you’re in for a long time, a heat pump will be a cost-effective solution for your long-term stay.

4. It provides heating and cooling

Although it has the name heat pump, it doesn’t mean that all you get from it when you install it is heat. That’s not the case at all.

Your heat pump can also help you cool your home when you want. That’s why it’s perfect for making your home a comfortable temperature all year long. Whether it’s the hot summers or the frigid winters, your home is going to be at a comfortable temperature thanks to your heat pumps.

How it works is it gets heat from the outside air when it’s cold out and brings it inside your home to warm it. In the summers, it does the opposite. It transfers the heat inside your home outside. That’s why you have a comfortable home all year.

5. It is environment-friendly

We mentioned before how installing heat pumps will help you save more money on a long-term basis. That’s because it’s an energy-efficient system. Well, when you install an energy-efficient design, it also helps your home become greener and more sustainable. You don’t take or use more energy than you need.

Aside from that, a heat pump produces low emissions because they don’t need to combust to keep the temperatures in your house satisfactory.

That said, you do not have to worry about its adverse environmental effects.

6. It improves air quality

Another positive effect of installing heat pumps is improved indoor air quality.

Since there’s no combustion, you won’t have to worry about smoke or fumes around your house.

Heat pumps even have filters that can help clean the particles and purify the air. It will help in getting rid of dust, some odor and smoke, and dangerous mold spores.

If any people in your house have allergies or even asthma, the heat pump can help make life more tolerable.

Whether you are a new homeowner or not, installing heat pumps would be a significant investment. That’s because it comes with many benefits like improved indoor air quality and efficient energy usage. That’s why if you’re considering which temperature controlling system to get, we highly recommend heat pumps for your home.