better homes

Your Home Deserves A Glam Up!

- Roshan

Every so often, many things in our life undergo a glow up. Ourselves, our technology, our car, our place of work… it’s just impossible for things to stay the same way for this amount of time, so every so often things move forward a little bit. Now, one of the best places that we think this happens, is within your home. There will no doubt be daily occasions where you notice things that you would like to change. Perhaps there are stains dotted on your carpet that have been getting on your nerves for the longest amount of time now. Or perhaps you’ve had the same decor that you’ve got for too long. Or perhaps the outside of your home is flagging a little, and although it won’t annoy you as much as the inside does, you still know that something definitely needs to be changed. But knowing how to glam up your home without spending a ton of money, or without thinking that you’re going to make it look 10x worse, is something that’s hard to do. A home is hard to maintain as it is, so doing it cheaper is something you definitely need to find your feet with. So, here are our top ways that we think your home can go through the glam up that it deserves!

Let’s Start With The Outside

The outside of your home is just as important as the inside. You might think that the inside of your home takes a bit of a battering, especially if you have children or pets running around, but think about what the outside of your home has to put up with. It has to put up with so many batterings from the weather and what not, it can easily become a little run down over the years. One of the first things that you’ll notice that wears down a little, will be your windows. You might start to notice that the integrity of them starts to go, and you might even notice a little bit of a draft coming through from the inside. A new window or two could work wonders for both the inside, and the outside of your home. From the outside, it would look far more aesthetically pleasing for you to have some new ones installed, and from the inside, you’d notice that your home is far more toasty and warm compared to what it has been. You might even notice that your energy bills start to drop a little! But other than getting new windows, you should just focus on the general upkeep on the front and back of your home. At the front you could have lovely hanging flower baskets, and fresh cut lawn. At the back you could have the same, but you can get a little more adventurous with the garden accessories and bushes and trees that you put down!

Crucial Interior Glam Ups

So, enough about the outside, this is the one that most of you will probably be interested in. Interior glam ups are so easy to sort, you just have to know what your style is, and what your home is missing at the minute. Simply getting some new carpets and changing the wallpaper could be all the glam up that you need. Not only does the new carpet smell keep your home feeling new and fresh for weeks, but it really does help to bring a lifeless room back to life. We know getting carpets installed can be expensive, but it’s not exactly a purchase you’re making every single year, so it will be worth the investment you put in. Nothing screams glam up like getting to know the accessories that are on trend at the minute. From furniture accessories to tiny cute items that add a little bit of character to your home, they are all they. At the minute, we’re really loving wicker furniture. It doesn’t suit every home, so if you know it won’t suit you, glass alternatives are also really in at the minute, and help to make a home look super sophisticated. Indoor plants are also staying for good it would seem, with so many people using them as a form of decor now. Whilst this is what they’re good for in the home, they’re also great for keeping your mind calm, and adding a little bit of colour to your room where you might not have been able to before! But think about your sense of style as well. If you’re someone who hates the idea of colour in your home, there are so many neutral trends shining through at the minute, much of which can be seen on Instagram. But if you’re someone who loves the vibrance of colour, you need to be careful that you’re not making your home look too crazy, so adding subtle colour in each room is advised, perhaps through things such as paintings.

Save Yourself Some Money

In this day and age, people are always looking for ways to save money, and we can totally understand why. Saving money is so important, especially when your home is already going to be costing you so much. So to save money when your home is going through a glam up, you should try and keep things being done yourself, as much as possible. Some people spend fortune on jobs that could be done by themselves, such as changing the wallpaper. But if you’re worried about buying new furniture etc. because of money, you could always think about upcycling. This is the next best thing. It really can help transform your home, without you having to hardly spend a penny!

An Instagrammable Home

Even though that might not be a word, pretty much everyone knows what it means. Having an Instagrammable home is one that’s so picture perfect, you just can’t help but take pictures of it. There are so many Instagram pages that will show you exactly what an Instagrammable home is, and it’s so easy to make little changes to your own to get it the way you want it to look!

Make Your Home Exterior Stand Out More

- Roshan

First impressions are important and for many people, the exterior of your home is the first thing they will see that reflects you and your family. Whether you are trying to add curb appeal to your home for potential purchasers, or you just want it to look good in your neighborhood, there are many things you can do to make it unique but still that it belongs where it is.

The secret is to make sure that any materials you use are long lasting as well as pleasing to the eye. Then the outside of your home will not need much work doing to it on an annual basis.

Look At Your Roof

A roof should last many years whether it is made from wood, shingle, metal, or slate. You should check it out every year to see if any repairs are needed but generally, that is not very often.  If there are a few slates need replacing have them done now before something minor turns into a major repair.

While checking out your roof, have your gutters cleaned. If they get blocked with debris, any rainwater will not be able to reach the drains and that can result in nasty watermarks on the inside and outside of your home.

Windows

When you are choosing windows for your home they should always suit the style of the house. They should be durable and you should also consider ventilation and UV rating.  You need to know if they will be easy to reach to clean and what sort of view they will offer.

At Renewal By Andersen, for example,  they design and custom make windows especially for your home, so you can get the exact quality and style you want to complement your home. Keep them clean and well-maintained and it will make a huge difference to the exterior of your home.

Make A Good Entrance

Even if someone does not enter your home they will be able to see the entrance. Make sure your front door is in good condition. If the paint is peeling, you need to sand the wood and repaint it. If you have a UPVC front door, you could give it a good clean to bring it back to the color it should be. Polish all the door furniture or replace it if it has started to degrade.

If you have a porch around your front door make sure that the condition of that is good too. Check the floor and any other parts for loose pieces that need repairing or replacing. Perhaps have a welcome mat and a light next to the door for when it is dark. A few plants on a porch can look welcoming as well. If the porch is large enough, have a bench or two to sit on. It can be a great way to enjoy the evening sun and get to know some of your close neighbors.

While you are checking out your front door do not forget to look at the garage as well. Garage doors that need attention can spoil the whole look of a home.  The garage roof should also be looked at.

If you have to walk from the outside of your garage to the front door, some sensor lights to illuminate your way are a good idea. This can help to prevent you from tripping over something that has been left out in error.

Clean Paths And Driveways

Any path and driveways you have should be cleaned with a jet-washing machine. One of these will remove any stains and lift any weeds that have sprung up in gaps. It will also remove any sand that is between slabs or stones and you should replace that once the path or driveway has dried. Re-sanding will help to prevent any weeds growing again too quickly.

Paths and driveways treated in this way will look as good as new and enhance the appearance of the exterior of your home.

Attend to The Garden

If you have some lawn at the front of your home make sure it is mowed and the edges are trimmed. Take the weeds out of any flowerbeds or borders and trim back any trees and shrubs. Any visitors to your home should not have to step over shrubs that have taken over a path, for example.

Plants can add much color and beauty to the outside of your home and it is worth doing some research to find out which ones will grow the best in your area and in the type of soil you have.  If you are uncertain what ones to buy, take some advice from the local garden store, as they are generally very knowledgeable about these things.

If the front of your home does not have any garden but is totally hard, consider putting window boxes on the sills. These are very cheap to buy and simple to maintain and can add some color to your home.

Fences

Some homes have an open front and others are fenced off. If you have a fence around your home make sure it is in good condition. A wooden fence may need some attention as it can suffer from the extremes of the weather.  Metal or plastic fencing might just need a good clean, but fencing that is not cared for won’t help toward making the exterior of your home stand out.

Designing The Outside Of Your Home

Before you start any work on the outside of your home you should make a list of the things you want to do and decide how you want it to look when you have finished. This will let you work out a budget for what it will cost and then you can see what is affordable and what if not.

However, there are many things about the outside of your home that need time and effort rather than money. The more you can do yourself, the lower the cost will be, but there are always things that it is best to bring the experts in for or you could end up spending more putting your efforts right.

How to Make Your Home Infinitely More Relaxing

- Roshan

Sometimes, it can feel like people spend too much of their time trying to make their home look good, and not enough time on trying to make their home feel good. While it’s enjoyable to have a well-presented home, it’s much more enjoyable to have a house that allows you to fully relax and unwind; a home that offers a reprieve from the madness of the outside world. If your property is currently lacking in this department, then take a read below, where we outline some essential tips for upping your home’s relaxation qualities. Make them part of your property — you won’t regret it!

In the Yard

It’s easy to get wrapped up in focusing only on what’s happening in the inside of your home, but it’s important to keep in mind that the best potential for relaxation lies in your outdoor area. If you incorporate a few smart ideas into your yard, you’ll have an area that offers many hours of fun and relaxation, at least during the warmer months of the year. All you need is a table, chairs, and sun-lounger, and you’ll be all ready to go — but for the height of relaxation, look at adding a hammock. No-one puts a hammock in their yard and ends up thinking “that was a mistake.”

Relaxing Infrastructure

You can do everything to create a comfortable and relaxing ambiance in your home, but if the infrastructure isn’t quite right, then you won’t be as relaxed as you could be. So take a look at what you’ve got in the home, especially in your bedroom and living room, two areas where it makes the biggest difference. In your living room, look at adding plenty of soft pillows and throws, and also an adult size bean bag, which will take your home’s comfort credentials to another level. In your bedroom, it’s about investing in the best quality bedding that you can afford, and incorporating soft side-lighting.

Tech-Free Spaces

There’s no getting around that technology has been good for us, but we’d be kidding ourselves if we called it relaxing. While it has the potential to relax us — who doesn’t love sinking into the couch and watching a movie? — if we don’t get a break, and most of us naturally don’t, then our minds won’t be as relaxed as they could be. As such, why not look at designating one room in your home as ‘tech-free’? This’ll be the space where you light a candle, curl up with a book, and sink into several hours of peace. You’ll feel much more blissed out than you would if you were scrolling through your phone for the same amount of time.

A Touch of Luxury

Finally, look at adding a few touches of luxury: it’ll make your house feel more relaxing. Things like scent diffusers, candles, atmospheric lighting, and spaciousness — especially in your bathroom and living room — will all make your house feel that little bit extra relaxing, and will also improve the overall look, too.

10 Ways To A Healthier, Happier House

- Roshan

Many people know exactly how to ensure that their house keeps them as healthy as possible, but as it’s not a natural topic of conversation, it’s always hard to bring it up to others. When you walk into the homes of other people and they haven’t got the same priorities as you when it comes to their homes, it doesn’t mean that they’re doing it wrong in their home, it just means that they haven’t got the same knowledge as you to have the healthiest house possible. You’re a busy person with a family and a job to worry over. The last thing that you should have to think about is whether your home is keeping you feeling healthy.

When it comes to improvements in our health, we often focus more on nutrition and exercise than we do thinking about the ways that our environments affect our bodies. The home is where you spend a lot of our time, and it’s therefore very important that we figure out the ways that we need to make our homes healthier. It can be anything from cleaning up more often or choosing to flip life to being more natural with less toxins. That one’s pretty easy, as a browse at CleanHappens.com can see to that straight away. Your home environment is supposed to be a safe haven, where you retreat to after a long day and relax. The state of the environment that you are retreating to can have a direct impact on your health and the way that you feel about the place you are settling in.

An unclean and unsafe environment can have a huge bearing on your overall health, and it will have a negative impact upon it if you don’t act on it quickly. This can lead to long term health consequences, and all because you just didn’t take care of your home. Everyone has a different living space to worry about and while there are some aspects that you can’t control you can always do more to improve the health of the house that you are living in. Cleaning up your home to make your living space healthier and safer is the best thing that you can do, and if you’re interested, consider these ten ways you can make your home the healthy space that you’ve always wanted it to be.

Invest In Air Purifiers.

The first step to a good and healthy life is to breathe in the cleanest possible air. Air pollution has a huge effect on our health and fine particulate matter has linked to heart issues as well as lung issues. Investing in the right state of the art air purifier is going to help to mitigate the risk, despite the fact that sometimes the particles can be too small to filter. By taking the step to getting an air purifier or two in the home, you’re at least trying to make the air around you more positive and healthier to breathe in – and that’s all you can do to start with.

Switch Your Candles.

How many gorgeously scented candles do you like to burn in the house? The house smelling gorgeous is one thing, but scented candles come at a real risk. Paraffin wax candles are often petrol based and have the potential to emit potentially hazardous chemicals. These chemicals can lead to health risks like cancers, asthma and common allergies. Don’t worry though; you can still enjoy a well-scented home with soy candles. They still smell just as good, and they don’t emit any of the harmful chemicals as the others.

Avoid Chemical Cleaners.

This is a big one, so we’re mentioning it twice. Avoiding the use of chemical pesticides of chemical-based cleaners can make a difference in the home. Essential oils, soap and water is all you need, because the chemicals in your regular cleaners can aggravate existing breathing conditions and can contain carcinogens. Other natural cleaning solutions can be found online, with recipes including vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda.

Control The Light

Did you know that light pollution can interfere with your sleep? Most people don’t feel good about trying to sleep when city lights keep them awake half the night. You need to sleep in an environment conducive to sleep, so get an eye mask, new shades for the windows and do what you can to block out as much light as possible so that you can sleep well. Bad sleep is linked to a wealth of health issues, including cancers, mental illnesses, memory loss and even obesity. It’s worth ensuring that you block out the light to make your sleep more meaningful.

Clear The Pantry

One big tip for maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to look into your own nutrition. Rid the pantries of the foods that don’t contribute to that lifestyle for you, and fill it with nutrient-dense foods that are going to have a positive effect on your health. Don’t think about food in terms of ‘good’ and ‘bad’, because all you will end up doing is cutting out foods, which leads to binging later on. Keeping a mix of 80% nutrient dense foods with 20% nutrient free foods is important, because there is nothing more important for your health than balance.

Plant A New Garden

You can start with plants and trees, but eventually, you need to aim for a vegetable garden. Gardeners are happier people as they are out in the natural world, in the green spaces and with flowers and trees. People who live in greener spaces commit far less crime than in the cities and a part of that comes from how these greener spaces make them feel. The happier you are the less you are likely to feel depressed about your surroundings. Starting a small garden can start to create a space that makes you feel good about yourself – and once you start planting your own vegetables, you can start feeling great on the inside, too.

Get Rid Of Dust

It’s not going to be 100% possible to get rid of dust, but it is going to be possible for you to start looking after your home to minimize the amount of dust that you do get. Chronic exposure to dust can cause allergies and asthma, and you can prevent both of these things from happening with reducing the humidity of your home and changing your bedding frequently. Vacuuming often can also help, along with washing down everything in soap and water and natural products. Your war against dust in the home won’t be foolproof, but if you keep a regular routine, you can prevent it from building up into a problem.

Water Filtering

The tap water in your home is often drunk through a filter jug or some other system to make it taste nicer. However, you need to ensure that the tap at your sink has a filter attached to ensure that it isn’t contaminated. Local water suppliers may filter your tap water, but it’ll still contain contaminants like lead, chlorine, E-coli and pesticides. The best thing that you can do is to filter these out and enjoy a fresher taste with your water. Fresher water makes for a fresh you, and doing everything that you can to do this will be better for your health overall.

Look At Your Cookware.

When you are putting away leftovers, swap over yout plastic tupperware for glass containers. The plastic contains chemicals that can really have an impact on your hormones, as the plastic leaches toxins into your food and has an impact on the internal environment of your body. Glass is the better alternative, because it’s lighter, recyclable and doesn’t come with the nasty toxins leaking into your food. While you’re looking at your kitchen cookware consider the ways that you are exposing your family to fumes and polymers that are on the materials. Synthetic polymers are used to make non-stick goods, so cook with cast iron or stainless steel instead and you can avoid harsh toxins in your body.

Get A Pet

If you ever need a reason to adopt a pet, your health is one of those reasons. You may not be allergic to dander or pet hair, which is possible the best news when you are looking to have a healthier home. Pet owners are often said to be healthier than those who don’t have the pleasure of a pet in the home, with improved mood and happier emotional state two of the reasons that people get pets in the first place. The improved mood and lower blood pressure, plus the reduced risk of heart issues are all good reasons to get a pet in the home.

Change your diet

Sometimes, we become persons of bad ways, and we tend to purchase foodstuffs from the same grocery, cook them using the unchanged recipes, and stay within our methods for a long time. But if you are serious about eating a healthy meal and losing weight, you need to change the entire diet. It can be hard to let go of your old eating habits, but you have to try. Eating junk foods and foods that are too spicy can cause heartburn and you may require a heartburn reliever. Keep in mind that Sanofi is recalling four of its leading Zantac medicines, and there is an ongoing investigation of an impurity, N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) in the drugs. Therefore, to be on the safer side, avoid foods that can trigger heartburn and other gastrointestinal problems.

Your house can be a healthier place to be with just a little tweak here and there. You need your home to be the place you feel safe and healthy, so what are you waiting for? Make these changes today and you’ll find a happier home.