Tag: home improvement

Categories
Home Improvement

Improve Your Home On The Cheap With These DIY Projects

pebble-boot-shoe-tray-DIY

If you are thinking about improving your home but are not particularly keen on paying ridiculous amounts of money to do so, you probably thought about doing it yourself. And you can, with these cheap and easy DIY projects, your home will look and feel so much better, without breaking the bank.

wainscoting-frames-wall-DIY

1. Create wainscoting with cheap frames. Instead of paying all the money for it, go to your favorite craft store and buy basic, cheap frames. Secure them to the wall to create that classic pattern and then paint them to match. Your living room will look so much classier and your guests will be none the wiser.

2. Peel-and-stick tiles hide water stains. If your bathroom or kitchen cabinet has leaked for any amount of time, chances are, there are water stains on the cabinet bottom. Instead of removing the bottom or sighing every time you open the doors, cover the water damage with peel and stick tiles. They are incredibly easy to install, they will make the whole thing look better, and nobody inspects your cabinet bottoms close enough to determine they are peel and stick tiles.

3. Hopelessly moldy shower? Re-grout and Re-caulk it. We are all fans of homemade cleaning products and other hacks to remove mold from the shower, but some times not even all the vinegar in the world can fix it. You have to address the root of the problem. Removing all the caulk and grout from your shower tiles is not a difficult process, it’s just time consuming. After you do that, clean well with a bleach solution, let it dry for 24 hours and apply new grout and caulk. Make sure you look for a brand specifically made for bathrooms, as it will be mold-resistant. Just remember, when in doubt, look up YouTube videos to really get the technique down.

4. Don’t throw out the old, tired armchair and sofa, just re-stuff the cushions. Instead of buying a new armchair and sofa, renew them with more stuffing. Perk up the cushions and get rid of the sagging look on the cheap by simply buying new stuffing. It won’t only look better, it will also feel more comfortable as well.

5. Stop your shoes from ruining your floors. If you have carpet or wood floors, you know shoes are your greatest enemies. Snow, rain, dirt, all of that takes its toll. And it doesn’t matter if you force everyone to remove their shoes as soon as they come in, because the floor near the door will still get ruined. Fix this with a simple pebble tray. It’s extremely cheap, all you need is pebbles and a tray. Put it near the door, and leave soaking wet shoes there. It looks nice, it’s practical and it costs almost nothing.

Categories
Articles Eco Tips Home Improvement Uncategorized

Tips for Adding Beauty and Value to Your Home the Eco-Friendly Way

When people go about remodeling or adding onto their homes, they often think the involved processes will be overly expensive. Don’t be fooled by this false belief. There are many affordable ways that you can give your home a makeover, and best of all, you can be eco-friendly at the same time. Here are some great tips for adding both beauty and value to your home, while at the same time being mother nature’s best friend.

Replacing Your Roof

Yes, replacing your roof can be a bit costly at first, but if you cover it in shingles or metal that are light in color, this can greatly reduce the temperature in your attic. As a result, you’ll likely reap the benefit of cooler temperatures in your home, which means you can save a considerable amount of money on your cooling expenses.

Decorating with Pallet Racks

Pallet racks are often given away for free from both large and small businesses. By gathering several of them, you can easily recycle them by constructing shelves, indoor and outdoor furniture and lots more. You can paint or stain these racks any color of your choosing, which is an excellent way to add lots of character to your home.

Swap Out Your Showerheads

Being friendly to mother nature involves reducing your water usage. A great way to do this is by switching out the showerheads in your bathrooms to ones that support the low flow of water.

Install Extra Ceiling Fans

Fans can go a long way in adding flair to any room, and better yet, they make it easier to cool your home during the warmer months of the year. Mother nature will truly appreciate it when you turn off the AC and crank up the fans.

Insulate Your Water Heater

There’s a good chance that your hot water heater is already insulated, but if you add extra insulation, this will make it easier to heat your water, and it could save you up to 15 percent or more on the expense of heating your water.

Tint Your Windows

Just the same as you can tint the windows on your car, your home’s windows can be tinted too. In doing this, you’ll be reflecting the sun’s glare, which will make it easier to cool your home.

The Takeaway

Giving your home an eco-friendly makeover doesn’t mean you have to empty your bank account. And even though you’ll be spending money to carry out the projects, you can rest assured that you’ll be saving money at the same time on several of your utility bills.

Categories
Articles Eco Tips Recycling

A Re-Purposeful Life

New isn’t necessarily better. In fact, repurposing items can create a unique environment filled with pieces that can’t be found in chain stores and can keep articles out of landfills. You can take this a step further when you reclaim materials from a deconstruction site. If you’re building or deconstructing a home or business, consider buying or selling materials to use again.

PlanetReuse connects buyers and sellers to materials for repurposing from deconstruction projects. You can build a home or business with reprocessed items from top to bottom. The PlanetReuse Marketplace features links to roofing materials, ceiling fans, wooden beams, lighting, molding, siding, windows, carpet tiles, and pine flooring. There are kitchen cabinets, bathroom sinks and various types of tables waiting to be recycled. For treasure hunters, stained glass windows, vintage clawfoot bathtubs, and antique sconces are yours for the salvaging. Moreover, if you’re interested in redoing your driveway or garden, you can use reclaimed landscaping rock, edging pavers, bricks, cobblestone or granite to create your own work of landscaping art. It’s all available at PlanetReuse, so check out its Marketplace section to see what’s available online.

Habitat for Humanity ReStores are nonprofit home improvement stores and donation centers throughout North America. Its website features a drop-down menu with filters by zip code and state to find Restores in the U.S. and offers an alternate filter for Canadian Provinces. Not only can you buy new and gently used furniture, appliances, home goods, and building materials, you can buy items far below retail prices. As an added attraction, proceeds go to build homes in communities in need of aid.

The Building Materials Reuse Association (BMRA) specializes in finding deconstruction or reuse businesses in your area with its business directory of listings and an interactive map. BMRA works to advance the recovery, reuse, and recycling of building materials by reducing resource consumption and landfill waste.

When it comes to interior decorating, you can adorn your home or business with vintage items from antique stores, yard sales or check out Freecycle.org; it’s an organization dedicated solely to recycling free items. Another option is to conduct online searches for reuse centers and resellers in your area. Lastly, if you see a deconstruction project in your area, contact a project representative or community liaison to see what may be available.

To reprocess an old saying, they don’t make things like they used to, so why not reclaim it? With recycling options at your fingertips, you can make your life a re-purposeful one.

~Maureen F. 

Categories
Eco Tips Home Design

Eliminate Fossil Fuels, Electric Bills and Natural Gas Bills With Solar

While the pressure to find alternatives to fossil fuels has eased due to somewhat lower gas prices and the media attention has shifted away from the ecology again, that doesn’t mean these issues have gone away. In fact, based on past behaviors, these issues will come to a peak yet again sometime in the future. However, one way you can know you’re doing your part for the ecology, plus saving yourself a lot of money in the process, is to switch everything you have to solar power.

You may wonder how this is possible. With today’s technology, not only is solar power more affordable and efficient than ever, but by replacing or supplanting what you currently have with electric equivalents, you can actually accomplish this. Here’s how:

  • After installing a solar system, replace appliances that use natural gas with electric ones. This includes hot water heaters, stoves, ranges and ovens.
  • Replace your heating system that may use natural gas, kerosene or fuel oil with an electric one.
  • If possible, replace your vehicles with EV (electric vehicle) equivalents. Today, not only can you find small vehicles that are EVs, but SUVs and performance vehicles as well.

Granted, the initial investment in solar isn’t cheap and replacing your existing natural gas appliances and gasoline powered vehicles isn’t an inexpensive prospect, there are lots of compensations. First and foremost, you’ll receive tax breaks from the Federal government and many state governments also provide tax breaks as well.

Also, since you’ll have eliminated electric bills, natural gas bills and gasoline expenses, those funds can be applied to defraying the costs of the solar build. What most people don’t realize is that going solar can actually be subsidized by the electric companies as well. That’s because excess electricity generated by your solar system can be “sent” through the existing power grid and redistributed by the electric companies. This means you can actually accrue credits or even be paid by the electric companies for your excess electricity.

Determining your actual ROI (Return On Investment) can be somewhat challenging. Most solar ROI calculators are limited, but can give you a general idea of your break even points. By replacing fossil fuel factors, this number can drop dramatically which means you could actually be making money from your solar system in just a few years. Not only can you save money and reduce your carbon footprint with solar, you could actually make money in the process!

~Brian C.

Categories
Featured Lawn & Garden

7 Steps to Creating a Butterfly Garden

A butterfly garden is a fun way to get you and your children excited about gardening. Not only is a great educational tool (learning about the life cycles) and good for the environment, but it also is a sight for sore eyes. Here is a quick start guide to creating your very own butterfly garden!

1. Research. As with any major project you have to research and make sure a butterfly garden will work in your area. A good way to do this is by simply observing your surrounding areas and watching to see what plants the butterflies are attracted to. Try to select plants native to your area for each growing season.

2. Plan your Garden. Deciding where you want to plant your garden can be a difficult task. Make sure to plant your garden in a sunny spot and keep in mind if the area has some gusty winds as well as hard rain. If your area has those kinds of conditions put up a barrier to help protect your plants (and your hard work)!

3. Choose “Host Plants”.  Note from your research what the caterpillar (larvae) of the local butterflies eat. Host plants are very important when creating your garden because they not only provide a site for the butterfly to lay eggs but are also a food source for the caterpillars. Depending on the type of local butterflies you have will determine the host plants you should plant. Also be prepared for heavy munching on your host plants!

4. Choose “Nectar Plants”. Nectar plants serve as the food source for the butterfly so it is important to choose plants that will bloom throughout the season (especially mid to late summer) because that is when most butterflies are active. Flowers that have multiple florets and produce a lot of nectar are ideal. Some popular plants chosen are the Butterfly Bush and the Butterfly Weed but make sure to do your research to find what works best in your area.

5. Purchase plants or seeds. You can also get these plants and seeds online. Choose robust and healthy plants to give them a good start.

6. Plant. Make sure to keep new plants and seeds watered until plants are well-established or seeds germinate. Keep the weeds at bay, to give the plants a good chance.

7. Observe and enjoy. Watch for female butterflies laying eggs on host plants. Keep good records for yourself so you can know what to change for the next year! Most importantly enjoy!

Some additional notes. Like any other garden your butterfly garden will require some upkeep but keep in mind that butterflies do not like pesticides of any sort. You are going to have to keep away pests naturally, such as letting spiders and wasps do their thing or use insecticidal soaps or plant-based oils. Make sure that you leave some weeds for the caterpillars (some weeds are actually their favorite foods)!  If you are short on space you can also create a butterfly garden solely using container plants.

Sources: tlc.com (http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/butterfly-garden4.htm)

Categories
Featured Home Design

Tips for Selecting a Home Improvement Contractor

Dealing with reliable home improvement contractors will make your renovation projects go much smoother and keep any associated inconveniences to a minimum.

When you speak with contractors regarding a bid on your project, be sure you are clear about what you want to achieve. If you noticed certain cabinets, flooring, lighting or countertops that you liked in a magazine, save the photos and show them to the contractor. Explain in clear terms what you expect as the end result and the contractor will be more effective at estimating the cost of the project. This should also cut back on or eliminate changes during the construction process since last minute changes can be very expensive.

Here are a few helpful tips to reference as you begin the contractor selection process:

  • Check to make sure the contractor you select is licensed, bonded and carries liability insurance.
  • Request references and verify with at least two previous customers.
  • Ask for a written estimate that is specific about all work that is to be performed.
  • If the estimate does not specify, ask for a start date and projected completion date.
  • Note the professionalism of the contractor. Is the work to be done explained in clear detail?
  • If you have any preferences or rules that the contractor must follow, make them clear. Examples:  No smoking on the property, no work on Sundays, no work to start before 8 AM, must remove shoes or put on protective foot covering before entering the home, etc.
  • Get at least three estimates from different contractors for your project.
  • If the estimates differ greatly in cost, find out why. Could it be that one contractor will use a higher grade of materials that the other? Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
  • When discussing the project, how did you feel about the contractor in general? If you have any doubts or reservations, do not hire them.