Over the years, it happens to everyone; old furniture and things you haven’t used for ages start piling up all around the house. And, instead of getting rid of a few things, you learn to live around it and hardly even notice it anymore. But, having a total spring cleaning session every now and again will do wonders for your mentality and enable you to use the space you have in more efficient ways. Many people are hesitant to get rid of their old things – some may feel sentimental over stuff they probably wouldn’t even notice if it were to disappear. In contrast, others simply don’t know where to start and feel they would ultimately just be moving everything around and not accomplishing much. This article will shed some light on how you can get to work on clearing your home out a bit and the different ways you can do so – here are some tips on spring cleaning your home.

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Yard sale

It sounds cliche, but it works! A yard sale is an excellent way for you to make some room in your home and even make a few bucks while doing so. Start by tackling one room at a time and sorting through each closet, trunk, and box. Think about when you last used the item, whether you forgot it was even there, and if you would miss it if you were to get rid of it. Ons can sometimes feel sentimental over the simplest of things, and that’s understandable, but rather make a type of memory box with all your most precious items rather than hoarding everything up in the house. After you’ve gone through everything, pick a day that people will be at home or outside a lot, like a Saturday, and place everything neatly on your lawn with price tags on every item. Remember to be reasonable with your prices; you might consider it of high value because it was yours, but one shouldn’t forget that it is still secondhand items, and the actual goal is to get rid of everything.

Storage Unit

Storage Units are fantastic if you want to make more space but aren’t ready to let go of your belongings yet. Storage units are great to have when you need a space to store things that will be kept safe and protected from the elements and furniture that you don’t want lying around in the house. The benefits that accompany having a storage unit are endless, and every person in the family will probably have a use for it, meaning you will definitely get your money’s worth out of the unit. One day, if you decide to move, you’ll also be able to store everything there while transitioning from homes – you’ll also be able to store your kids’ things they leave behind when moving out or going to college. Storage units are also extremely secure, so you won’t have to worry about anything getting lost or stolen, and they are excellent at keeping your house clean and tidy. If you are thinking about going the store unit route with your old belongings, try using a PODS savings code in order to save some money and get a super handy storage pod that will make all your worries disappear. 

Charity

Who doesn’t love giving to charity? It might make you feel a lot better knowing that your things will go to someone who is in need and will also profoundly appreciate it. There are many charitable organizations you can go to in order to donate your old belongings. It’ll be one of the more straightforward options as well, seeing as you won’t have to worry about whether people will be interested enough in buying your things as with a yard sale. There are loads of people out there who would love to own the items you want to give away but can’t afford to buy them themselves, so giving your old belongings to charity would be a win-win situation for everyone. Clothes, old furniture, electronics, and shoes are among the types of things you can donate to charity.

At the end of the day, clearing your home will give you a refreshing feeling and may symbolize a new chapter in your life. Having more space in the house can also mean an opportunity for you to buy some new items and give your home a completely new look. Clearing your home a bit maybe a bit of hard work, but it may also be a therapeutic experience and a trip down memory lane, reliving each memory as you pack away the things from the past in order to make room for the future.

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Your home is a significant investment and you spend a lot of time in and around it so it makes sense you’d want to work hard to keep it looking nice. There are a few steps you can take to enhance and update it without having to completely redo all your spaces.

These changes will make a significant difference in how you view your home and will make it more appealing to buyers when you go to sell it one day in the future. These ideas are just a starting point and may inspire you to continue working hard to create a better home so they’ll be worth your effort.

1. Increase & Improve the Lighting

One step to a better and more updated home is to increase and improve the lighting. A dingy and dark home is off-putting and may negatively impact your mood. Focus on where you can add lighting options and replace old and tarnished light covers and switches. Choose to put some lights on dimmer switches and add lamps and candles so you can set the right tone and mood depending on the time of day and occasion.

2. Finish Your Basement

There may also be an opportunity to add more living space to your home such as in the basement. Create a better home and update it by finishing your basement space and making it an area where you actually want to spend time. As you tackle this project, continue contacting a company that can install spray foam insulation for you to ensure your basement area will stay dry and protected. There are many ways you can utilize this new space such as making it a recreation or entertainment room or turning the area into a bedroom for your kids or guests to use.

3. Replace Old Window Treatments

Your windows are another aspect of your home that requires your attention if you want to enhance your property. Invest in replacing old window treatments and updating your windows with more modern and appealing solutions. Consider which type of window treatments you think will look best before making a decision based on your style and the type of climate you live in. For instance, cellular shades do a good job of keeping the cold air out in the wintertime. Dress up and clean your windows to instantly refresh and update your home.

4. Clean, Declutter & Paint

Another project you should add to your list and tackle to make your home look better is to perform a deep clean of your rooms and declutter and reorganize your belongings. Now is your chance to discard or donate what you no longer need or want and to make more space for what you do enjoy having in your home. Also, take it a step further and enhance your property and home by applying a fresh coat of paint to the walls. Your home will look and feel brand new when you clean it up and enhance it with new and modern paint hues.   

The right piece of furniture can transform a room and create an exceptional space. When decorating your home, it’s vital that you pick furniture that looks amazing but you need to think about functionality too. Usually, you’ll head down to the furniture store or maybe check out some antiques, but have you thought about custom built furniture? 

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This is an option that a lot of people overlook, but having your furniture custom made to order will help you get so much more out of the space that you have. These are some of the amazing benefits of custom built furniture in your home. 

Make Better Use Of Space

Maximizing the space in your home and being as efficient as possible is important, especially when space is limited. Unfortunately, this can be tricky if you buy cookie cutter furniture from a store. It’s not designed for your home so it’s never going to fit exactly into the space you have. But when you get your furniture custom made, it will fit perfectly into the space that it is intended for. This is particularly good in awkwardly shaped rooms where lots of space is usually wasted. You can use custom built furniture to add more storage to rooms and create multifunctional pieces. When you use custom built furniture, every single room is arranged in the most efficient way possible. 

Get Better Quality Furniture

A lot of the furniture you buy is mass produced in a factory and the quality of it won’t be great. Even though it looks ok, it will soon start to wear and you’ll end up replacing it on a regular basis. But if you work with custom woodworking services to design and build furniture, you will get a much higher quality product at the end. Handcrafted, custom built furniture will be far more durable and will last a lot longer. Even after ten years when the furniture is a little worse for wear, you can still refinish it. But if you have some cheap, mass produced furniture made from chipboard and veneer, it’s far more difficult to do that. 

Develop A Unique Style

Developing a unique home decor style can be tough when you are limited by what you can buy. Although you will be able to find furniture that is close to what you want,  you will always have to make sacrifices. Sometimes, that’s not a problem, but in many cases, you just can’t find the right furniture to fit your vision for the room. Custom built furniture is so great because you can do whatever you want with it. You are not bound by existing styles and although you can take inspiration from them, you can also break those conventions and create something that is unique to you. 

We’re all used to going into a store and picking out furniture so we don’t consider the possibility of having it custom made. But, in most cases, it’s the best option, so next time you are renovating your home, go down the bespoke furniture route instead.  

Things have changed, and giving back to the environment has never been more crucial than it is today. Companies worldwide have started to do what they can to promote cleaner living further and have made significant strides while doing so. Many households have also dramatically changed their way of living in order to participate in a movement that aims to curb the rate at which pollution and deforestation are ruining the planet. But, many people wonder what they can do to help or where to begin as well as where they can go in order to be part of a bigger picture – that said, here are some tips on what you can do to promote change and give a little back to the environment.

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Reduce

Reducing the amount of waste we produce is one of the three crucial R’s to a cleaner and greener lifestyle. How can you reduce the amount of waste you create? It’s simple. You can make less waste by buying products in bulk – this will lessen the amount of plastic packaging you ultimately throw away. Another method of reducing waste is buying products with less packaging. For example, instead of buying fruits and vegetables that come in plastic bags or containers, buy fresh products packaged in biodegradable material. Because water has become scarcer over the past years, it is now a precious commodity that should be used sparingly. Reducing the amount of water you use by taking showers instead of baths and watering your lawn in shorter intervals can also make a major difference.

Reuse

Reusing products or items more than once before disposing of them will automatically reduce the amount of waste you produce, instead of using something new each time. A great example of reusing is refilling a bottle of water again instead of buying a new one every time. Also, reusing shopping bags that are environmentally friendly instead of using new plastic bags every time you buy groceries is one of the most effective and effortless ways of reusing items.

Recycle

Everyone knows about recycling by now. Recycling means separating materials that can be reprocessed before disposing of your garbage. Recyclable materials include glass, aluminum, and cardboard. You can even remove something that is recyclable from an item before throwing the rest away – for example, some parts of your computer can be recycled to make new ones again.

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Renewable energy sources

Governments have taken massive steps in an effort to move away from fossil fuels that are incredibly harmful to the environment. Some of these steps include the further development of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal energy. Solar energy, for instance, is one of the most effective sources of renewable energy there is – seeing as the rays from the sun that reach the earth each hour is enough to power the entire earth for a year. While the sun’s rays that hit the earth every hour are over 440 quintillion joules, the world only uses about 410 quintillion joules each year – the problem is capturing all that energy. 

Community Solar

Choose solar has launched an initiative that will provide the people of The United States of America with clean, renewable solar energy. This initiative is genius because households will have the chance of using solar energy without the need for installing solar panels on their roofs that may be costly. The idea behind community solar is to have a main solar farm that generates solar energy, afterward delivering it to the utility company, which then supplies households and businesses with this renewable energy. 

The best part about this idea is that it will be easy for the public to acquire and maintain. Many states have been working on combining community solar with utility bills to make the billing process much more effortless. One of the many benefits of solar energy production is that it’s much less expensive than fossil fuel energy production. Except for installation and maintenance, the actual energy production doesn’t cost a dime because sunlight is absolutely free. You can find more information about this game-changing initiative at www.choosesolar.com.

The most important thing to remember is that even though you may feel like you’re not making a big difference by showering instead of taking a bath, or saying no to plastic bags, is if everyone does their small part, it will make a monumental difference in the long run. That’s the most important key factor about cleaner living – it’s a team effort!

Ev vehicles

EV vehicles are the future. We all know it. We can feel it in the air. The time is now to do our part in making the switch to an environmentally-friendly ride, and there’s no better way to start than with an electric vehicle! Not only are they more efficient and better for the environment, but they’re also incredibly fun to drive.

Here are a few tips on doing your part to give back to the environment:

1. Make the switch to an EV – Making the switch to an EV is one of the best things you can do for the environment. Not only will you be reducing your carbon footprint, but you’ll also be saving money on fuel costs in the long run.

2. Educate yourself and others on the benefits of EVs – Once you’ve made the switch to an EV, it’s important to educate yourself and others on the many benefits of driving an electric vehicle. The more people are aware of the positives, the more likely we are to see a widespread switch to EVs.

3. Advocate for better EV infrastructure – One of the main barriers to wider adoption of EVs is lack of infrastructure. We need more charging stations and other support systems in place before EVs can truly become mainstream. If you’re an advocate for change, start by pushing for better EV infrastructure in your community.

We hear all the time that gardening is an amazing way to ground ourselves, ease our anxieties, and generally get our homes looking the way we want them. ‘You’ll love it,’ they say. ‘You just aren’t giving it a chance.’ 

But, what these green-fingered fanatics don’t realize is that, for some of us, an outside space that needs attention feels less like a way to destress, and more like the stress itself. In these instances, far from seeing the possibilities, we look at that tangled, overgrown mess and shut the doors because we just can’t deal with it. 

Such is the curse of not having green fingers. But, as with anything, there is a means to achieve the garden of your dreams regardless. In fact, whoever said that you needed green fingers to get stuck in here couldn’t have been more wrong, as we’re going to prove by considering three alternative, and very tempting, plans of action. 

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Seek easy-to-find inspiration

If you aren’t green-minded then trawling through garden landscaping websites or magazines won’t be much fun. Luckily, there is an easier, and typically more interesting alternative, and it comes in the form of turning instead to easy-to-find inspiration. After all, every house on your street will have gardens that you can steal ideas from. Equally, grabbing garden landscaping ideas from your local public gardens can mean a fun day out AND inspiration from some of the best designers in the business. All without your once having to go out of your way with a pursuit that, quite frankly, altogether fails to keep you engaged. 

Trust the professionals 

Once you have a rough idea of how you’d like, there’s nothing wrong with calling for backup. After all, there are professionals to take care of everything from design through to maintenance, saving you a task and ensuring a finish that you’d probably never achieve alone. This way, you’ll be able to enjoy all the benefits of a well-finished garden, with none of the hard work that you’ve been avoiding thus far. That’s a win-win if ever we’ve seen one, and it’s a benefit that doesn’t require a green finger in sight. Well, at least not where you’re concerned. 

Don’t be afraid to simplify

Don’t forget either that, sometimes, the pressure to get gardening can lead us to overcomplicate the matter, but there’s no need. If you aren’t garden-minded and you don’t want anyone else coming in and out of your space, then simple is best. It may be, for instance, that you’d prefer to add a patio or decking area to cover a large portion of your outside space. Or, you could simply lay turf that doesn’t require much more maintenance than a quick cut every few weeks. Like with anything in life, knowing what you can realistically manage, and taking steps to make that work, is guaranteed to see you a lot happier with the results in the long-term. 

So, forget green fingers. It’s time to find another way to make your garden work for you at last.