Curb appeal is a very important aspect of selling a home. Popular television shows have encouraged potential buyers to be less interested in opening the front door if the outside of a property looks neglected or unloved. That’s why curb appeal has been shown to have an impact on both your home’s resale value and the time it takes to sell.
 
If you’re looking to boost your home’s value by investing in curb appeal, consider these three areas first: easy upgrades, simple security, and inviting landscaping.
 
Easy Upgrades: A Welcoming Picture
 
Think of your front door as a picture and the front of your house the frame. What do you want this picture to say to house hunters? Ideally, it says, “Come on in! The inside is as lovely as the outside.” While you can scale these upgrades to fit any budget, we’re going to focus on a few easy, simple and inexpensive ones to get you started.

• Modern Address Numbers: Switch out those dull, lifeless house numbers that date back to the year your home was built with fresh, stylish modern numbers.

 

• New Mailbox: According to Redfin, it’s important to replace a damaged, broken, or dented mailbox with one that is new, crisp and attractive. Remember that your mailbox is one of the first things a homebuyer will see.

 

• Painted Door and Shutters: Update your doors and windows with a splash of paint to cover knicks, dings, chips and peeling paint. It’s always an easy way to update your exterior without having to repaint your whole house.

 

• Clean Gutters: Take some time to remove any leaves and debris from your gutters. Not only is this a nice bit of maintenance to do to give new homeowners a fresh start, but it also adds balance and a clean image to your property.

 
Simple Security: A Safe and Comfortable Home
 
If your property looks secure from the outside, homebuyers will feel more comfortable on the inside. Some kinds of security features, such as bars on the windows, can often give the wrong impression about your neighborhood, so keep these features simple.

• Installing a video doorbell that will give homeowners a chance to hear, see and even interact with people at their front door, even if they aren’t at home.

 

• Replacing a standard key lock with a keypad, which not only enhances security but gives your home a more modern feel and makes it easier for people to come in with full hands.
• Using motion-sensor lights that turn on when movement in the yard is detected.

 
Inviting Lawns and Gardens: Landscaping Made Easy
 
Lawn maintenance is one of the most important curb appeal elements that homeowners can prioritize. An easy one to start with is simply keeping your lawn trim and neat. If you aren’t sure your schedule can keep you on top of regular lawn maintenance, hire a landscaping company to come by each week and manage the lawn for you.
 
You may also want to add in these other aspects of landscaping:

• Trim your trees and shrubs so you can enhance their foliage. The US Department of Energy says that homeowners could save more than $200 each year in heating and cooling costs with trees that are lush yet properly trimmed.
• Add symmetry and balance with walkways evenly lined with flowers or planters on either side of the front door with similar flowers or shrubs.
• Place high-quality mulch and native plants in flower beds.

 
Curb appeal is the easiest and most effective way to manage homebuyers’ first impression of your property. While you want to add these enhancements to your home, you also want to make sure it doesn’t imply that maintenance is a lot of work. Strike a balance between elegance and ease to ignite excitement and intrigue in house hunters, which will, in turn, help your home bring in higher asking prices and sell more quickly.
 
Author Credit: Clara Beaufort

​Nothing ruins a night like spotting a bedbug in the sleeping area or a cockroach scurrying across your floor. Nobody wants an unwelcomed guest inside their homes – and it’s even worse if they are pests. Indoor pests are not only annoying, or scary to look at, but they are destructive; posing a threat to your home interior and livelihood. Read on to learn of a few tips for getting rid of damaging pests this summer.

Bedbugs
Bedbugs are dangerous insects that feed on human and animal blood. Bugs are active at night and inactive during the daytime; therefore, your bed, furniture, carpet, and clothes can be their hideout.

Symptoms of Bedbug Bites
Some people develop noticeable symptoms when bitten by bedbugs, and the bites tend to be:

• Red and swollen, with dark spots at the middle of every bite
• Arranged in clusters or lines, with multiple bites grouped together
• Itchiness

How to Prevent Bedbugs
If you are tired of bugs here are simple tips for getting rid of them:

• Buy a mattress encasement or protector: Use a Mattress encasement when moving or storing your mattress to prevent critters from making a nest in it.
• Store clothes in sealed airtight container: Bedbugs migrate from one habitat to another, therefore, store clothes in sealed containers to prevent them from living on them.
• Reduce clutter: Fewer corners and cracks mean fewer home for bedbugs, minimize them for significant benefits.
• Keep the hard surfaces clean: Regularly clean your furniture and house to remove or kill eggs that might be getting ready to hatch there.
• Be wary of secondhand goods: Check every inch of furniture with a flashlight before bringing any used goods to your home

Cockroaches
Cockroaches get into everything and multiply rapidly, worse still, they can survive for several weeks without food and water; therefore, they pose a lot of challenges. However, with the right practices and tools, you can eradicate them.

Tips for Getting Rid of Cockroaches
You can remove cockroaches from your home using simple tips:

• Boric Acid: Apply boric acid powder on the problem area according to the manufacturer's instructions. Apply more on cracks and crevices as the cockroaches often travel in them. With boric acid, you are assured of their removal as they will absorb the poison into their bodies through their legs when crawling and die instantly.
• Clean to get rid of cockroaches: Eliminate what attracts cockroaches by cleaning the hiding places and removing food and water sources.
• Monitor cockroaches with glue boards: Monitor the progress of your cockroach treatment using glue boards. Put the glue boards in the following areas: Inside and beneath cabinets in kitchen and bathroom, behind toilets, beneath appliances.  Check the glue traps weekly to monitor your progress.

Dust Mites
Your mattress is moist and warm; therefore, a bouncy breeding area for dust mites. Notably, dust mites trigger asthma, allergic, and other related bacterial infections. However, if you wash your beddings regularly, you are likely to prevent such infections.

Tips for Preventing Dust Mites

• Air your mattress daily: Air your mattress to remove odors and dry it out as dust mites love warm and moist areas. Alternatively, you can open the window to let in clean air and sunshine.
• Wash and change your sheets weekly: You are allergic to dust mites if you experience symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, runny nose. However, you can control the symptoms by washing your bed sheets using hot water and drying thoroughly to kill allergens.

Termites
Termites are destructive when they infest a home; however, you can get rid of them by relying on some simple tips.

Tips for Getting Rid of Termites
You are likely to eradicate termites using these tips:

• Expose your wood to sunlight: Place your furniture outside on a sunny day to let heat and light kill the termites
• Try nematodes: Buy the beneficial nematodes and use it to kill termites in 48hours
• Freeze the termites: If you live in a rainy area, consider freezing the termites as an alternative for exposing them to sunlight.

​
The Verdict
Besides being scary, pests are dangerous because they cause both physical and mental damages. Pests such as cockroaches and bedbugs can be difficult to eliminate because they hide during the day and show up at night. However, consistency in maintaining house cleanliness can help you prevent their multiplication. Importantly, check second-hand items for pests before bringing them into your house. Otherwise you will regret saving money when you later incur a cost of removing the pests.
 
Author Credit:
Stephanie James

Having a home office can be the ideal solution to separate work from the rest of our daily lives. Yet, it can seem like a pipe dream if your property is on the small side. Fortunately, you don't need a mansion to give yourself the perfect workspace.
 
Have a Layout
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Before you start making any changes, however, you have to plan out what type of home office your space can accommodate. With that in mind, ask yourself what your work will involve and what you need to fulfill your goals. For instance, you might only need a computer and desk, but you may require more than that if you expect to meet clients in your home. To get the most out of your space, measure the dimensions of where you want to set up your office and make a layout for it. If you want, you could sketch out your design to help you visualize your options. The right plan can be the foundation of your office, so invest in it.
 
Budget for Everything
 
Once you have a plan, you can budget around it and make adjustments where necessary. Thankfully, making an effective budget can be as basic as tracking your monthly earnings and expenses and recording them over the long-term. Your budget must factor in the big and small investments your office will need, such as supplies, furniture, a quality internet connection, and even potentially increased energy bills. Still, you don't have to buy new items to furnish your office, so shop around and look for deals. In the end, you may find that the perfect computer or desk for you are pre-loved items that your office just as well as premium options (you can often find pre-owned laptops for as low as $329 on sites like Amazon).
 
Consider Help
 
An important step to designing your home office is developing the space you have. That could involve decluttering and reorganizing your environment to reclaim unused real estate. Of course, if there is a lot of clutter, dealing with it can become overwhelming and take your mind off your goals. Fortunately, you can bring in some professional help, as a home organizing consultant in Atlanta usually ranges from $220 to $671. They can support your efforts to declutter and tidy up, and their experience can give you insights to use in the future.
 
Adapt Your Storage
 
A tight space will need creative solutions for storage. In fact, storage can be used as attractive décor or even integrated into furniture. This could, for example, allow you to spread the burden across your home by using bed or coffee table storage for extra office supplies. Likewise, you could go vertical by putting in a hidden door bookshelf for added storage while giving your office a decorative flair. Your filing system needn’t rely on traditional cabinets, either, as they could be turned into an attractive ottoman or vertical wall rack. Your strategy can be as creative as you want, allowing you to take advantage of the smallest of spaces.
 
Improvise, Improvise
 
Regardless of your home's size, you can put together a functional office. It may simply be a space in a corner, but the right fixtures and furniture can ensure it serves its purpose. After all, the basis of any successful office is a desk, and they come in all shapes and sizes. For instance, if you cannot fit a traditional model into your home, you could put in a hanging desk custom-designed to your dimensions. If your space is even tighter, you might transform a small nook, such as a closet, into an alcove workspace. Similarly, lighting doesn't have to take up valuable space, as track and recessed lighting can offer useful illumination. This can alleviate the pressure of needing large lamps for your place of work.
 
A home office can restore balance to your house, and give you peace of mind. With plenty of preparation, a well-planned budget, and creative storage, you can have a place perfect for productivity. Your office no longer needs to be held back because of limited space.

Author credit:
Alice Robertson
http://tidyhome.info/
alice@tidyhome.info