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By: Gabriela Barkho
They look nice. But girlfriend, they don’t play nice. Especially with your house.
Those beautiful, shiny icicles hanging from your roof are not cool.
They’re a really, really bad sign that you may have an ice dam — a ridge of ice along the edge of your roof that can damage your house and your wallet.
But don’t freak out. Just be in the know about these six things, and you can save your budget from hypothermia this winter.
#1 They’ll Destroy Your Roof’s Insulation:
So here’s how ice dams work: When heat escapes through your roof, it melts the snow up there.
Then it gets cold again, and that water freezes along the ridge of your roof. If this happens enough, the ice builds up into an ice dam.
Once the ice dam is established, when the warm air melts more snow, that water gets trapped behind the ice dam and just hangs out there in a puddle.
Water is not supposed to puddle up on your roof. It can seep down through the roof (science calls this a “leak,” FYI), and turn your insulation into a wet mess.
But that’s only the beginning…
#2 They’ll Infest Your House With Mold:
Once your insulation is that soggy mess, something worse could be lurking.
MOLD! Ugh, it’s nasty. And it’s expensive to make go away.
Fittingly, the way to prevent it is (ta-da!) good insulation. So your roof doesn’t get too warm in the first place.
“Most ice dams are caused by a warm attic, which can be fixed if people would just call the professionals in,” says Joe Palumbo of ice mitigation company The Ice Dam Guys.
Having sufficient insulation is key, but keep in mind that a well-insulated attic has to be balanced with good ventilation. An attic shouldn’t be more than 15 degrees hotter than rest of the house — if it is, you need better ventilation.
Not sure about your insulation/ventilation balance? You can find a home energy auditor through the Residential Energy Services Network, or — even better — check with your local energy utility, as many of them offer free audits to customers.
#3 They’ll Send Water Pouring Down Your Walls:
Count yourself lucky if you caught the ice dam in time so that moldy insulation was the only problem.
A really bad leak will continue right through the insulation to destroy walls, ceilings, flooring — pretty much everything it touches (and spread that nasty mold around!).
That’s a great way to wave goodbye to the Dream Deck Savings Account you’ve been working on for years.
One way to ensure you never get a catastrophic leak is to make sure there’s never enough ice or snow up there to melt into one.
This can be done with special roof rakes (that’s a thing!) if your roof is low enough, or by calling in pros who know how to climb around on roofs in the snow without breaking themselves.
#4 They’ll Rip Down Gutters and Pull Roof Shingles Loose:
Ice dams weigh a ton (literally!).
Which means all that weight can tear gutters away from your house, pull shingles loose from your roof, and generally cause stress on your home’s exterior.
But if there’s no ice, there’s no ice damage.
So make sure your home’s insulated — and well ventilated (see #1) — and you shouldn’t have a problem.
But if you see one forming, try this DIY trick: Fill pantyhose with an ice-melt product, and place on freezing-prone points of your roof.
Your home won’t win any beauty pageants, but in the short term, this DIY trick can save you some serious grief.
#5 They’ll Damage Something (or Someone!) Special to You:
Did we mention how heavy ice dams are? Weight can inflict damage. A ton of it! And in dangerous ways you don’t even want to think about. Like suddenly breaking loose and falling on:
•That azalea you nursed back to life last spring
•Your just-paid-off car
•Your dog
•You!
If preventative measures haven’t worked to keep them at bay — or you’re just learning about ice dams too late to prevent one — getting rid of an ice dam as quickly as possible is crucial.
This is where companies like The Ice Dam Guys come in.
You may have been an icicle-harvesting pro as a kid, but now that you’re an adult with a home to protect, this is a job for the pros. Not only will they remove the dam safely, they can help you pinpoint the exact cause and identify damage.
#6 They’ll Grow In Lots of Spots Around Your House — Not Just the Roof:
It makes sense that ice dams can damage your roof. Duh. But ice danger just keeps going and going when it clings to any part of your house. Case in point: gas meters.
“That gas meter has a small breather that needs to breathe air,” Palumbo says. “We’ve often seen it get iced up or covered in snow.” A frozen-over meter can cause your gas to shut off unexpectedly — not the best winter surprise. Other places ice (and icicles!) hang out on:
•Tree limbs
•Playground equipment
•Outbuildings
•Anything outside that will let snow puddle on it when it melts
It’s tempting to put your home maintenance blinders on during the frigid winter months, so try to carve out a little time between your cocoa-and-Netflix binges to pull on your boots and take a slow lap around the outside of your home.
Clearing away the beginnings of any ice buildup can save your wallet big time — and make more time for cozy viewing and sipping in the end.
By: Gabriela Barkho
What to sniff for, and how to kill it — quick.
From pet stench to kitchen stinks, house odors get amplified during the tightly sealed winter months.
Here’s how to deal with those shameful winter smells that prevent you from inviting friends over for a hot toddy.
Cut Off the Chimney Smoke:
When it’s crackling under the mantel, your fireplace is the best part about winter. When the fire’s out though, you’d prefer your house didn’t smell like stale char.
Here’s the deal: When warm air goes out of your house, it’s replaced by cooler air coming in. That cool air often finds its way in through your chimney – which stinks. Then it circulates through your house. Awesome.
Of course, you need to keep your chimney as clean as possible, but that’s often not enough.
To seal out the smell, close your damper when the fireplace isn’t in use, and consider installing one that closes at the top of your chimney, rather than the bottom.
Also, adding a tight-fitting glass fire screen can help keep the odor inside the chimney — not under your nose.
Contain the Pet Hair (Yes, It’s Actually Possible):
Not only is the air stuck inside all winter, so are your (wonderful, loving, fun) stinky pets.
“The hair in pets’ fur accumulates, and as it rots and degrades in the carpet, you get that unpleasant doggie smell,” says Mike Sciullo, an instructor at the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification.
Because you’re not going to get rid of Fluffy (never!), you’ve got to get rid of that hair. But for many pet owners that feels about as easy as getting rid of the water when you’re drowning.
But you can cut down on it by:
•Using removable, washable pet bed covers. And removing ‘em. And washing ‘em.
•Spending 5 to 10 minutes a day vacuuming. Do it during the “Wheel of Fortune” commercials, and you won’t even have to find the time.
•Have wall-to-wall carpeting? Fluffy’s your excuse to chuck it. Wood won’t let those hairs hide.
•Regular washing and brushing will help you collect fur and dander before they end up on your floor.
Slay Cooking Odors Where They Hide:
Mmm! The smell of a roasting holiday turkey is the best. Still smelling it a week later? The worst.
Cooking odors are caused by lingering grease. Sciullo says the molecules that form in the air while cooking end up stuck everywhere (gross!)
If you don’t get rid of the surface grease, it’ll only continue to pick up more stench over time.
Your floors, appliances, and counters might be used to a regular wipe-down. But you’ve also got to tackle the walls, the filter above your stove, and your cupboards. Use a mixture of:
•¼ cup of liquid cleaning detergent
•1 gallon of warm water
•1 cup of vinegar
Stop Stinky Mold Before It Starts:
It’s honestly a little too embarrassing to talk about.
But when you get a whiff of the M-word around your house, it’s time to come clean. The first step to solving a mold problem is admitting you have one.
It happens: Mold forms when your home’s cold windows are hit by the humidity indoors, causing condensation for bacteria to feed on.
To disrupt that cycle, keep your home’s humidity level under 60%. A $12 temperature and humidity gauge can help you find out if you’re feeding the fuzz.
Humidity issues in winter are typically contained to the bathroom and the laundry room.
A dehumidifier in the laundry area can do the trick, if need be. And when it comes to those long, hot showers, running an exhaust fan for 20 minutes after your shower is crucial.
Or you could take shorter, cooler showers. Nah, go with the fan.
Embrace (Or Invent) Your Home’s Natural Smell:
“Sometimes your home just smells like … your home!” Sciullo says.
Whether it’s your weekly curry creations or your holiday candle addiction, part of what makes a home unique is its special smells — which ultimately come from you.
If you’re not wild about the natural smell of your clean home, make it your own. You can use essential oils, candles, cooking, or other pleasant scents to infuse your home with olfactory delight.
If you want guests to feel as if they’ve just walked into a spa, fill your diffuser with eucalyptus or lavender oils. For a fresh, citrusy scent, go for peppermint or wild orange.
By: Jamie Wiebe
Don’t break your back. Try a de-icing cocktail instead.
If you’re a homeowner in a snowy climate, chances are good you rue the winter: All that snow has to go somewhere, and it’s not getting there itself.
Cue the snow shovel.
Barring a move to a snow-free state or barricading your family inside all winter, there’s no way to avoid the endless task of shoveling snow. There are, however, ways to make the process much easier. Here are three simple hacks to make the morning after a snowfall much less stressful.
#1 Spray Your Shovel with Cooking Oil:
Snow sticking to your shovel makes an already arduous task even more obnoxious. Avoid it with this hack: Lightly coat your shovel with non-stick cooking oil to make snow slide right off. No more time wasted removing snow from your snow remover. (You can substitute a spray lubricant like WD-40, but the downside is it’s toxic.)
#2 Lay Out a Tarp Before the Snow:
If you like short cuts, this technique, billed as “the laziest way imaginable” to clear snow, according to a tutorial from “Instructables,” has got your name on it. The day before an expected snowfall, lay a tarp on your walkway. When the snow finishes falling, just pull out the tarp, and voilà: an instantly cleared walkway. (Word to the wise: Make sure pedestrians won’t trip on your tarp; include a sign or use this technique in your backyard walkway if you’re concerned.)
The technique requires a tarp, firewood, and twine as well as some prep work. Pre-storm, use firewood to weigh down your tarp — you don’t want it flying away in the wind! — and tie the twine to both the tarp and to a shovel standing upright in your yard. You’ll use the shovel to pull out the snow-laden tarp.
Although this method might be faster than shoveling, it does require manpower. After all, a cubic foot of snow can weigh between 7 and 20 pounds. So don’t get too ambitious with the size of your tarp or you might not be able to pull it once it’s full of snow.
#3 Make a Homemade De-icing Cocktail:
De-icers make snow removal easier by cutting through the tough, icy layers that are a pain to remove with a shovel. But an easy solution should be easy on your property as well. Many commercial de-icers are pretty harsh.
Commercial ice-melting substances — magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, and sodium chloride (salt) — all cause damage to the environment, according to the University of Maryland’s Home and Garden Information Center. They can also damage concrete sidewalks and driveways, which mean hefty repair costs later.
A better solution: Make your own de-icer using rubbing alcohol or vinegar. You’ll save money, too. Commercial melters typically cost $8 or more. Plus, you’ll avoid the hassle of trekking to the hardware store to stock up.
Use vinegar before a storm to make ice and snow removal easier:
•Combine 3 parts vinegar to 1 part water.
•Spray or pour gently (you still want to avoid runoff into your landscape) before a storm.
To keep the sidewalks and steps from icing after a storm:
•Combine 2 parts rubbing alcohol with 1 part water.
•Apply to minimize runoff.
By: Leanne Potts
Meet you under the skylight, on the white sofa, with a cream cheese brownie.
Fall and winter start cozy — who hasn’t used the colder temperatures as an excuse to binge-watch Netflix while swaddled in a couch blanket?
But come January, staying indoors can feel less like a treat and more like you’re living in a cave.
Here’s how to make your house lighter, brighter, and cheerier.
#1 Take the Screens Off Your Windows:
You’ll get 30% more sunlight shining indoors without screens on your windows.
Here’s the best part: Sunlight warms your room and saves you money on your heating bill. It’s solar power — for you!
Be sure to store your screens in your garage or basement where they won’t get damaged. In the spring you’ll want to put them back on so you can keep that 30% of the sun out and run your cooling system less.
#2 Hang Outdoor String Lights Indoors:
They don’t give off a lot of light, but they’re cheerful as heck.
Drape them around a window or a mantel, or hang a string of LED glimmer lights in a tall potted plant. They’ll add a layer of soft light to your room and remind you of fireflies, flip-flops, and patio parties.
#3 Steal a Little Swedish Chic:
Scandinavians excel at making a home light and airy because they’ve got places where the sun doesn’t rise at all from November to January.
And you thought you had it bad.
To adapt to weeks and weeks of polar night, Swedes keep interiors pale to reflect and amplify light.
Think white walls, light woods for furniture and floors, and light upholstery. To get the look without getting rid of your dark furniture and floors, put white or light gray slipcovers on your sofa and chairs, and put down light-colored rugs.
The fastest way to bring a little Sweden into your room is to paint it. Try creamy white, pale blue, or dove gray.
#4 Change Your Bulbs:
Replace those incandescent bulbs and their yellowy light with LEDs, which produce a brighter, whiter light.
But get your bright right:
•The higher the K rating on the bulb, the cooler and whiter its light.
•For cool, white light, opt for a bulb rated 3,500K to 4,100K.
•For blue-white light that’s closest to natural daylight, use a bulb between 5,000K and 6,500K.
Unless you live in Sweden (see above) you may want to leave the uber-high K bulbs for grow rooms and seasonal affective disorder therapy clinics — because they’re as bright as real sunlight on a hot summer day at noon. You’ll need sunglasses to read.
#5 Hang Mirrors:
Make the most of that weak winter light by bouncing it around the room with mirrors.
If you don’t want the distraction of seeing your reflection all the time, use a large, convex one — also known as a fish-eye mirror. It will amplify light better than a flat one. Another option: Hang a gallery wall of small mirrors.
#6 Replace Heavy Curtains With Blinds or Roman Shades:
Fabric curtains, while quite insulating, block light and make a room feel smaller and more cramped, especially if they’re a dark color or have a large print.
Try Roman shades or a simple valance paired with blinds to let in the maximum amount of natural light.
#7 Trim Branches and Bushes That Block Light:
If you look out your windows and see the tops of your bushes, grab your pruning shears and get whacking.
You don’t want anything blocking that precious natural light. Same for tree limbs that may be arching down and blocking windows. Cut them off.
#8 Clean Your Windows:
Dirty windows block a lot of natural light.
Admit it, yours are kind of cruddy because who remembers to block out an afternoon to clean the windows?
So get it on your list. Clean the glass inside at least once a month and the glass outside once a year. Your serotonin level will thank you.
#9 Swap Your Solid Front Door for One With Glass Inserts:
A solid front door can make your house look and feel as dark as a dungeon.
Get rid of it and install a half-light or full-light door that lets the natural light stream in. For even more natural light, add glass sidelights and a glass transom.
The median cost of a new door is $2,000 for steel and $2,500 for fiberglass, before any extras, but a new door will add curb appeal.
Curb appeal equals higher resale value. And coming home in the evening to the warm glow of light radiating out the glass panels in your front door is an instant mood lifter.
#10 Add a Skylight:
It’s the ultimate way to bring more natural light into your house. A window only catches sun for a couple of hours a day, but a skylight lets in the sun all day.
An indoor view of the sky makes deepest January more tolerable. And feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin, light streaming from above, is liberating. A skylight, installed, can cost as much as $3,000. A cheaper alternative is a tubular skylight, which costs around $1,000.
If you’re really good with tools, you can install a tubular skylight yourself. Don’t even think about installing a full-blown skylight yourself.
#11 Add Plants:
Putting pots of plants around your room will remind you that spring and green will return.
Match plants to the amount of light you have, because dead and dying plants are depressing. Tropicals that thrive in indirect light are usually the best choice. If you have a sunny window you’ve got more plant options.
Bonus points for adding a plant that blooms in the winter, like a kaffir lily or anthurium.
#12 Celebrate National Cream Cheese Brownie Day:
February 10 is National Cream Cheese Brownie Day. Really. Since February is when winter is feeling longer than a seminar on insurance underwriting, this is exactly when you need to make cream cheese brownies.
Chocolate won’t make the sun shine longer or your house brighter, but it will make you feel better because … endorphins. Besides, you spent a ton of money on that marble-topped kitchen island and those double ovens, so get baking.
By: Jamie Wiebe
Even if you think they’ve already started to freeze.
New homeowners may have heard that winterization is important, but in the hubbub of your first year living in a home you own (finally!), it can be easy to overlook the need to prepare for the cold weather ahead. After all, it’s just not something renters deal with; prepping pipes for winter is often the landlord’s job.
Ideally, you should winterize your pipes in the fall, before winter seriously sets in. But if you’ve forgotten and all of a sudden you’re in the middle of a deep freeze, there’s still time to prevent disaster.
Here are some easy techniques to save your pipes from bursting:
#1 Turn On Your Faucets:
If the temperatures have dropped into freezing and intend to stay there, turning on your faucets — both indoors and out — can keep water moving through your system and slow down the freezing process. There’s no need to waste gallons of water: Aim for about five drips per minute.
#2 Open Cabinet Doors:
During cold weather, open any cabinet doors covering plumbing in the kitchen and bathroom. This allows the home’s warm air to better circulate, which can help prevent the exposed piping from freezing. While this won’t help much with pipes hidden in walls, ceilings, or under the home, it can keep water moving and limit the dangerous effects of freezing weather.
#3 Wrap Your Pipes:
If your pipes are already on their merry way towards freezing, wrapping them with warm towels might do the trick. You can cover them with the towels first and then pour boiling water on top, or use already-wet towels — if your hands can stand the heat (use gloves for this). This should help loosen the ice inside and get your system running again.
#4 Pull Out Your Hairdryer:
A hairdryer (or heat gun) can be a godsend when your pipes are freezing. If hot rags aren’t doing the trick, try blowing hot air directly on the pipes. Important note: You don’t want to use a blow torch or anything that produces direct flames, which can damage your pipes and turn a frozen pipe into an even worse disaster. You’re trying to melt the ice — not your pipes.
#5 Shut Off The Water if Pipes Are Frozen:
Have your pipes already frozen? Turn off the water immediately. (Hopefully you know where the master shut-off is, but if not, now’s the time to find it!)
Make sure to close off any external water sources, like garden hose hookups. This will prevent more water from filling the system, adding more ice to the pile, and eventually bursting your pipes — the worst-case scenario. This also will help when the water thaws; the last thing you want after finally fixing your frozen pipes is for water to flood the system — and thus, your home.
By: Amy Howell Hirt
Start saving those egg cartons!
Give or take a Scrooge or two, everybody loves the holidays: Decorating the tree, hanging lights, hanging holly … all those things! But you know what nobody loves? Taking all those things down.
Because, wow, what an unorganized mess.
Before you go all Scrooge, get your jolly back with these simple holiday decorating hacks.
#1 Protect Ornaments With Holiday Recyclables!
Trimming the tree should feel like the happy ending of a Lifetime holiday movie, not a game show guessing which box will contain broken memories.
Keep ornaments safe for next year by stowing them in leftover party cups, hot-glued onto a piece of foam board cut to fit inside a storage bin, recommends Lisa Woodruff, a Cincinnati-based professional organizer.
Or pack ornaments away using bubble wrap from holiday packages, or egg cartons from those countless cookies you made.
All of these options make for shock-absorbent padding that’s more durable than paper towels or tissue paper.
#2 Create a Year-Round Focal Point:
You dream of decking every hall, every year, but when the holidays roll around, you’ve got a brisket to bake and cocktails to clink.
So focus your festive energy on just one iconic focal point — a wreath on the front door or greenery on the mantel — something that easily changes with the seasons.
Or, create a display that makes you feel merry year-round. (Try repurposing storefront letters to spell out “LOVE” or “JOY” — sentiments that never go out of season.)
#3 Create a Decorating Toolbox:
Before you can hang a single strand of lights or sprig of mistletoe, you have to find the gosh-darn zip ties, track down the floral wire, and repurpose a few extension cords.
Just thinking about the prep work makes you ready for a long winter’s nap. But this year’s gonna be your prep for next year, and the years to follow.
As you put everything up, keep a running checklist of what you need. Then stock a toolbox that gets replenished every year.
#4 Leave Your Light Hooks and Nails in Place for Next Year:
If you like to trim your home’s roof and siding with holiday lights, you know what a hassle it is to find last year’s nail holes while balancing on a ladder with your extremities slowly freezing.
So, this year, use hooks that match your siding (not nails because they fall out easier) or paint them so they are indistinguishable from your siding or trim before you put them up.
Then leave them up when you take down your lights.
Come next year, just rehang your lights and bask in your twinkling success.
#5 Wrap Lights Around Gift Boxes:
There’s nothing like a multicolored knot of lights to put a damper on your bright holiday spirit.
So as you take down this year’s lights, wrap them around empty gift boxes or cardboard. Make a small notch on each side to keep the ends snugly in place.
Next year you’ll spend less time untangling your lights and more time basking in them.
#6 Hang Wreaths in the Rafters:
All year you look forward to hanging that wreath you got for a steal at an after-Christmas sale.
Rather than tossing it in a trash bag, where it can too easily get seriously mushed or even forgotten, hang it from 4-inch nails hammered into the attic rafters or garage walls, Woodruff recommends.
It will be easy to find, and will be in pristine shape for next year.
#7 Store Your Tree With the Decorations on It:
No, seriously.
If strategizing the placement of skiing Garfield and his 107 dangly friends is your least favorite part of holiday decorating, skip it after this year.
Ask someone to help you tightly wrap this year’s decorated (artificial) tree — yep, ornaments and all — with heavy-duty stretch plastic wrap (the type that professional movers use, which you can find at home improvement stores).
Next year, just cut the wrap and reshape the branches.
Happy holidays indeed.
#8 Or Give in and Buy a Tree Bag:
Every December 26, you begin to dread awkwardly wrestling your artificial tree back into its original packaging.
This year, go ahead and spend the 50 bucks on a tree bag or box, Woodruff says. It will seal out dirt, dust, and bugs, won’t smash the branches, and some styles even allow you to store your tree fully or partially assembled.
Plus, just knowing you can skip the reassembly next time makes for an extra happy New Year.
#9 Trim Those Trimmings:
Getting out decorations should be a welcome walk down memory lane — not a guilt trip through items you “should” display but … ugh.
So when you take down this year’s decor, follow the old rule for paring down your wardrobe and get rid of anything you didn’t use — you know, that carol-singing mounted fish from your dad or Nana’s crocheted coaster set — and donate them.
“If it’s a sentimental item, take a picture of it,” Woodruff says.
You won’t waste storage space and, come next year, you’ll be greeted only by items you love and use.
#10 Organize By Room:
If you’ve got snowmen in every bathroom and a jingle bell on every drawer, you may end up with mountains of half-empty boxes piled everywhere for longer than you spend enjoying the decor.
Get your halls decked more efficiently by sorting your boxes of trimmings by room, Woodruff suggests.
Then, label each light strand by location — mantel, doorway, tree, etc. Decorating is merrier when you can grab a bin and make an evening of it, one room at a time.
#11 Create a “Must-Have” Bin:
Put all your favorite decorations in one “first-up, last-down” bin.
Next year, you’ll spend more time enjoying your cherished menorah or manger and less time rummaging to find it.
By: Leanna Potts
Meet you under the skylight, on the white sofa, with a cream cheese brownie.
Fall and winter start cozy — who hasn’t used the colder temperatures as an excuse to binge-watch Netflix while swaddled in a couch blanket?
But come January, staying indoors can feel less like a treat and more like you’re living in a cave.
Here’s how to make your house lighter, brighter, and cheerier.
#1 Take the Screens Off Your Windows:
You’ll get 30% more sunlight shining indoors without screens on your windows.
Here’s the best part: Sunlight warms your room and saves you money on your heating bill. It’s solar power — for you!
Be sure to store your screens in your garage or basement where they won’t get damaged. In the spring you’ll want to put them back on so you can keep that 30% of the sun out and run your cooling system less.
#2 Hang Outdoor String Lights Indoors:
They don’t give off a lot of light, but they’re cheerful as heck.
Drape them around a window or a mantel, or hang a string of LED glimmer lights in a tall potted plant. They’ll add a layer of soft light to your room and remind you of fireflies, flip-flops, and patio parties.
#3 Steal a Little Swedish Chic:
Scandinavians excel at making a home light and airy because they’ve got places where the sun doesn’t rise at all from November to January.
And you thought you had it bad.
To adapt to weeks and weeks of polar night, Swedes keep interiors pale to reflect and amplify light.
Think white walls, light woods for furniture and floors, and light upholstery. To get the look without getting rid of your dark furniture and floors, put white or light gray slipcovers on your sofa and chairs, and put down light-colored rugs.
The fastest way to bring a little Sweden into your room is to paint it. Try creamy white, pale blue, or dove gray.
#4 Change Your Bulbs:
Replace those incandescent bulbs and their yellowy light with LEDs, which produce a brighter, whiter light.
But get your bright right:
•The higher the K rating on the bulb, the cooler and whiter its light.
•For cool, white light, opt for a bulb rated 3,500K to 4,100K.
•For blue-white light that’s closest to natural daylight, use a bulb between 5,000K and 6,500K.
Unless you live in Sweden (see above) you may want to leave the uber-high K bulbs for grow rooms and seasonal affective disorder therapy clinics — because they’re as bright as real sunlight on a hot summer day at noon. You’ll need sunglasses to read.
#5 Hang Mirrors:
Make the most of that weak winter light by bouncing it around the room with mirrors.
If you don’t want the distraction of seeing your reflection all the time, use a large, convex one — also known as a fish-eye mirror. It will amplify light better than a flat one. Another option: Hang a gallery wall of small mirrors.
#6 Replace Heavy Curtains With Blinds or Roman Shades:
Fabric curtains, while quite insulating, block light and make a room feel smaller and more cramped, especially if they’re a dark color or have a large print.
Try Roman shades or a simple valance paired with blinds to let in the maximum amount of natural light.
#7 Trim Branches and Bushes That Block Light:
If you look out your windows and see the tops of your bushes, grab your pruning shears and get whacking.
You don’t want anything blocking that precious natural light. Same for tree limbs that may be arching down and blocking windows. Cut them off.
#8 Clean Your Windows:
Dirty windows block a lot of natural light.
Admit it, yours are kind of cruddy because who remembers to block out an afternoon to clean the windows?
So get it on your list. Clean the glass inside at least once a month and the glass outside once a year. Your serotonin level will thank you.
#9 Swap Your Solid Front Door for One With Glass Inserts:
A solid front door can make your house look and feel as dark as a dungeon.
Get rid of it and install a half-light or full-light door that lets the natural light stream in. For even more natural light, add glass sidelights and a glass transom.
The median cost of a new door is $2,000 for steel and $2,500 for fiberglass, before any extras, but a new door will add curb appeal.
Curb appeal equals higher resale value. And coming home in the evening to the warm glow of light radiating out the glass panels in your front door is an instant mood lifter.
#10 Add a Skylight:
It’s the ultimate way to bring more natural light into your house. A window only catches sun for a couple of hours a day, but a skylight lets in the sun all day.
An indoor view of the sky makes deepest January more tolerable. And feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin, light streaming from above, is liberating. A skylight, installed, can cost as much as $3,000. A cheaper alternative is a tubular skylight, which costs around $1,000.
If you’re really good with tools, you can install a tubular skylight yourself. Don’t even think about installing a full-blown skylight yourself.
#11 Add Plants:
Putting pots of plants around your room will remind you that spring and green will return.
Match plants to the amount of light you have, because dead and dying plants are depressing. Tropicals that thrive in indirect light are usually the best choice. If you have a sunny window you’ve got more plant options.
Bonus points for adding a plant that blooms in the winter, like a kaffir lily or anthurium.
#12 Celebrate National Cream Cheese Brownie Day:
February 10 is National Cream Cheese Brownie Day. Really. Since February is when winter is feeling longer than a seminar on insurance underwriting, this is exactly when you need to make cream cheese brownies.
Chocolate won’t make the sun shine longer or your house brighter, but it will make you feel better because… endorphins. Besides, you spent a ton of money on that marble-topped kitchen island and those double ovens, so get baking.
From: HomeAdvisor.com
Giving your home a little extra “umph” doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars. In fact, you can dramatically improve the looks of your home for less than the cost of a new TV. Ready to find out how? Keep reading to discover the six projects that are sure to make your home pop — without busting your budget.
1. Revamp your entryway:
A stylish entrance is an important part of any home’s decor. Begin your upgrade with a new welcome mat and house numbers. These simple upgrades are cost-friendly and have an immediate impact on your home’s entrance. You can also arrange potted plants — like easy-to-maintain succulents — around your entrance for an eye-popping aesthetic. Flowering plants, while slightly more difficult to maintain, can complement the color scheme of your entrance or act as a standalone focal point. You can also spruce up your home’s entrance with a quick color update to your front door. A new shade will complement your entryway décor and spruce up the overall look of your home’s exterior. Chic doorknockers, updated doorknobs and alluring porch lighting are the perfect finishing touches for your home’s entrance.
Expected costs:
Welcome mat: $2
House numbers: $6 per number
Succulents: $37 for pre-potted kits
Flowering plants: $30
Door knockers: $35
Doorknobs: $125
Porch lighting: $50
Front door color updated: $100-$300
2. Modernize your bathroom:
Major remodels aren’t the only way to revive your tired bathroom. Start by updating your paint. A new color will open up small spaces, rejuvenate your aesthetics and inspire chic décor. Next, upgrade your linens. New towels, shower mats and shower curtains can hide dated features and improve the overall panache of your bathroom. As a finishing touch, add candle sconces and alluring storage solutions like towel-hanging ladders and toiletry-stowing reclaimed crates.
Expected costs:
Painting: $200
Linens: $45
Candle sconces: $7
Reclaimed ladder: Less than $50
Reclaimed crates:0-20 per crate
3. Repaint your interior walls:
Repainting an entire room or just sprucing up a dated space with an accent wall will boost your home’s appeal. Lighter colors are perfect for opening up small areas and enhancing your home’s serenity. You can also paint your walls and trim — or other architectural features like mantles and built-in bookcases — subtly contrasting colors to give your room a dynamic pop. Accent walls are perfect for reviving dull spaces without the cost and work of a large painting job. Darker shades are perfect for studies, home offices and other areas of contemplation.
Expected costs:
Interior paint: $200-$300
4. Update your cabinet hardware:
Installing stylish cabinet hardware is a quick and cost-friendly way to jumpstart your kitchen. Before you begin your update, it’s important to pinpoint your kitchen’s style — you don’t want to mismatch modern pulls and knobs with traditional cabinets. If your kitchen has a contemporary design, go with sleek, understated hardware. Ornate, classically inspired aesthetics work best for traditional cabinets.
Expected costs:
Cabinet pulls: $3-$15 per pull
Cabinet knobs: $3-$15 per knob
5. Rejuvenate your light fixtures:
Dated light fixtures not only look bad, but they can also make day-to-day activities difficult — ultra-low lighting is great for a romantic night in, but not so much for chopping vegetables. Before you install new fixtures, it’s important to consider your décor. If you have a flair for the modern, go for the subtle-but-stunning aesthetics of pendant lighting. If your home has more of a traditional design, consider the lavish ornamentation of baroque-inspired chandeliers or candle wall sconces. Do-it-yourself electrical jobs can be dangerous. Hire a pro if you’re unsure about tackling this project yourself.
Expected costs:
Light fixture: $88-$230
6. Clean your carpets:
Unblemished carpets make a huge difference in the appearance of your home — especially if you experience a lot of foot traffic. Spot cleaning small stains is a simple do-it-yourself job, but it’s best to leave larger jobs to the pros.
Expected costs:
Professional clean: $174
By: Stacey Freed
You could be noseblind. Here’s how to find and eliminate the funk you can’t smell.
Stand in your kitchen and take a deep breath. Smell that? From last night’s fish to your son’s nasty lacrosse pads (why did he leave them on the table?), you probably can’t detect any of your home’s rankest odors. You’ve got nose blindness.
“You adapt to the smells around you,” says Dr. Richard Doty, the director of the Smell and Taste Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
On a sensory level, your processing mechanism becomes less sensitive to the continuous stimuli. Or, on a cognitive level, you can become habituated to the smells and basically learn to ignore them. Or you can do both.
Here are some of the most common nose blindness culprits, and how to ban them from your home.
#1 Pet Funk:
There’s one easy way to tell if your home smells like pets: Do you have them? Then yeah, unless you’re an obsessive cleaner and groomer, your abode has at least some Fido funk.
It could be pee, but more likely it’s just hair, gunky ears, and weeks-old slobber.
The first step to cleaning up pet smells is — sorry, pets — cleaning the pets themselves. Bathe and groom them regularly.
Then, vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. If they have a favorite couch or cushion, cover it with a blanket and run it — and the cushion cover — through the wash weekly. Every time you vacuum, start with a hearty sprinkle of baking soda on the carpet.
And use that crevice tool liberally; pet hair loves tight spaces like the border between the carpet and the wall, the edges of your steps and that little crack of space between the stove and your cabinets.
Hopefully urine isn’t the issue, but to be sure, you can use a black light to out any dried stains your pet was hoping you’d never notice.
Use more of that baking soda followed by a half-water, half-vinegar solution to neutralize the odor. Lots of people also swear by store-bought neutralizers, like Nature’s Miracle.
#2 Mustiness:
Fortunately, nose blindness only affects one of your senses, and you don’t need your nose to verify a basement with a musty smell.
Mustiness is caused by mildew and mold, which — for better or for worse — your eyeballs can easily detect. Do a careful inspection of your basement, from the darkest corner to the surface of every cardboard box or bookshelf. If you find gray or white splotches anywhere, it’s probably mildew. If it’s fuzzy, (oh no!) it’s mold.
First, you’ll want to bust up those existing odors. Then, you’ll want to make sure they never return. Some elbow grease with regular household cleaner will scrub away mildew. Bleach isn’t the cure-all for mold. If often can exacerbate the problem.
To prevent mildew and mold from returning, consider running a dehumidifier or improving air circulation and sunlight exposure in the affected area if possible.
For chronic mustiness, you can deodorize rooms by setting out bowls of vinegar, cat litter, baking soda, or — as crazy as this sounds — an onion also will do the trick. Cut one in half and let it sit in a bowl in the room. The onion smell goes away in a few hours, and so will the dankness.
#3 Smelly Bedding:
Similar to pet odors, knowing if your mattress could smell is easy: Do you have a human body with skin and oils? Do you sleep on it?
Eventually, all the dead skin and body oils you shed while sleeping are going to build up, and stink they will, especially if your bedding is older.
You can’t exactly toss your mattress in the washing machine, so you’ll have to deal with it where it lies.
But it’s an easy fix: Sprinkle baking soda on it, let it sit for an hour or more, and then vacuum up the soda. (This works for memory foam, too.) Add a couple drops of essential oil to the soda (drip directly into the box and shake it well to mix evenly) for a pleasant smell. Bonus: Lavender has been shown to help you sleep.
#4 Fridge and Freezer Grime:
It’s your fridge and freezer’s job to keep your food fresh, but they need a little help staying fresh themselves.
Itty bitty food bits hang out long after you’ve tossed the item from which they came. Although you might not notice the odor creep, you may notice your ice starting to taste funny or see those food morsels start to accumulate in the corners of your fridge shelves.
If you see or taste something icky, you can bet others can smell something icky.
To zap odors from from your freezer and fridge, unplug and empty them and do a thorough cleaning with a mix of hot water and baking soda.
You can sanitize with a solution of one tablespoon bleach and one gallon of water. Let it air out for 15 minutes. Try wiping it down with vinegar for extra odor eliminating, or even leave the door open for a few days.
What better excuse is there for a long weekend away, or to treat yourself to takeout?
Taken From: HomeAdvisor.com
‘Tis the season for decorating, entertaining and — if you’re like the rest of us – stressing out. To offset some of that holiday strain, here are 12 home hacks that will lighten your load (and save you some money). Put them to good use and you’ll be singing through the season like a partridge in a Pinterest-perfect pear tree!
1. Buckle lights with binder clips:
Plastic light hangers tend to bend and break easily. Ditch the over-promisers and use office binder clips to easily – and evenly — attach holiday strands to your roof instead.
2. Dry boots with a DIY drip tray:
Wet shoes can warp floors, track grime through the house, and cause slips and falls – especially when you’ve got a lot of guests. The solution? Fill a simple tray with river rocks (find them at garden centers or the dollar store). The moisture will drip right through.
3. Save money with creative storage:
Opening last year’s organizers to find broken ornaments and tangled lights is a real bummer. Take a cue from the experts and skip the expensive organizers. Instead, store ornaments in egg cartons and wrap Christmas lights around clothes hangers. This way, you’ll start every season on a good note. And you’ll save money too!
4. Prolong the life of your tree with Aspirin:
Getting a real tree? Some say that adding some crushed Aspirin to its water can prolong its life and keep its needles intact. With or without Aspirin, be sure to give your tree at least one quart of water a day to keep it green. And if you have small kids or pets, be sure to place tree-preserving mixtures out of their reach.
5. Use a stool to create the ultimate wrapping station:
Use an old stool to create the ultimate giftwrapping station, complete with pockets (or hooks) for scissors, tape and trimmings. Then, add wheels or glue it to a skateboard to make it mobile. Voila! Wrapping presents just got a whole lot easier.
6. Give glitter the heave-ho with a lint roller:
Glittery bows, crafts and holiday decorations have at long last met their match. A lint roller will remove glitter from everything from your floor to your clothes to your cat. Why didn’t we think of this sooner?
7. Gain tire traction with kitty litter:
Live in a cold and snowy climate? Keep kitty litter handy in your garage and in your car. If your car gets stuck in the ice or snow, spread some litter under your tires for instant tire traction.
8. Use green garland to fill out the tree:
Is the old Christmas tree looking a little sparse? Wrap green garland or tinsel through any empty spaces for an easy and inexpensive fix.
9. Pick up broken glass with white bread:
The inevitable broken glass presents an opportunity to wow your guests with some Christmas magic: Dampen a simple piece of white bread and use it to sponge up the shards. It will pick up even the tiniest pieces!
10. Zap sap with toothpaste:
Picking a real Christmas tree is fun, but getting the sap off your hands afterwards is a different story. Fortunately, there’s a quick and easy solution: Scrub your hands with abrasive toothpaste!
11. Use tinfoil to keep your fireplace clean:
Ever place tinfoil on the bottom of your oven to make after-dinner clean up a breeze? You can do the same with your wood-burning fireplace. Just place a double layer across the bottom before you light a fire. Then, after everything’s cooled the next day, simply fold the ashes into the foil and discard it.
12. Simmer something scent-sational:
Nothing brings the holidays to life like the smells of apple-cinnamon, orange spice and vanilla — and there’s no easier way to fill your home with the scents of the season than a simmer pot on the stove. Just fill a saucepan; bring it to a boil; and add sliced apples, orange rinds, cinnamon sticks, and anything else you’d like to include. Then, reduce the heat and turn it down to simmer, adding more water as needed.
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