Author: Marlowe Clark

With all the stresses of of buying a new home and moving in, hosting a party may be the last thing on your mind, even if you really want to celebrate your move. You may instead want to simply book a reservation at a restaurant, especially if you don’t feel like cooking. But parties should be a way to de-stress, not a stressful experience, and the same goes for housewarming parties. Besides, you’ll want to send the invitations far enough in advance that you’ll probably have had some time to accommodate to your new home by the time the date comes around.

Remember not to make things harder on yourself or your guests. Instead of planning a full sit-down meal, provide snacks and beverages that people can pick and choose from at their own leisure. Decor can be relatively simple. You don’t need to have already finished unpacking your Christmas decorations — even if you did buy in December.

Even though there’s no need to be overly nervous, you should still put some thought into it. Pay attention to how you set up the space for your celebration. The areas where you want people to mingle or pick up snacks and drinks should be easily accessible. You can also make less work for yourself later by checking out local grocery stores when deciding what you want to serve. That way you get to know the area better, and your new neighbors might also appreciate something familiar to them.

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DIY projects can save a lot of money. You may also be tempted to save even more money, or time, by skipping over important steps. It’s not worth it — if you make a major mistake, you’ll be out a lot more than if you simply got a professional to do it. You will still save money even if you make sure you’ve done everything right. Also, these are things the professionals would do anyway, so it won’t take any longer, though it may take more of your own time.

“Measure twice, cut once” isn’t just a figure of speech. It’s something professionals actually do, and you should as well. In fact, it doesn’t hurt to measure more than twice, especially if it’s not something you do frequently. But even before you measure and cut anything, you’ll want to know the exact layout of your home. That doesn’t just mean which rooms connect to which. Figure out where your pipes, electrical wiring, and supports are. You don’t want to accidentally damage the structure of your home by cutting or nailing into the wrong thing. When it comes time to figure out what you’re replacing parts of your home with, don’t skimp on the materials, and use proper tools. For many DIY projects, labor is the most expensive part, not the materials. Even for those projects with expensive materials, the higher price of quality materials is worth it, particularly since you can use the money you’re saving on labor to pay those additional costs. Finally, if you do end up making a mistake, don’t fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy. Just call a professional before you make things worse.

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Moving can be very stressful, and after completing a successful move, you probably want to just take some time to relax. But don’t forget to do your due diligence with settling everything that needs to be settled after move-in. To save you the hassle of wondering whether you’ve missed anything or not, here’s a handy checklist. They’re in no particular order, but they should all be done.

Update your mailing address. This is particularly important for bills and other services, but don’t forget about things like magazine subscriptions. The local post office can help you sort things out.

Set up utilities. If they’re not in service, make sure they are. If they’re already in service, change the name on record to your own name. These utilities include gas, cable, electricity, internet, telephone, sewer, and water. You should also check your smoke and CO alarms to make sure they’re working.

Determine the layout of your breaker box. Breaker boxes can be notoriously difficult to puzzle out, so it could take some time. Outside assistance is helpful to notice changes in different rooms as you figure out the switches.

Change your locks. Sure, you probably got the keys from the old homeowners. But who else has the keys? Their neighbor? Best friend? Parents? You have no idea. Better to change the locks and get a new set of keys.

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A kitchen remodel can be extremely effective at increasing both the value and the utility of your home. But it’s also costly, and if done improperly, can be a huge money sink. Too many homeowners neglect to plan their kitchen remodel adequately and end up regretting some of their choices.

Most plans to remodel the kitchen begin with the idea that something is missing or wrong with the current kitchen setup. This could be various things, such as insufficient counter space, odd direction of workflow, or not enough storage, or perhaps you just want an island and don’t have one. However, it’s important to recognize that space is finite. Whatever changes you make, you’re probably sacrificing something else to make it happen. Plan out where you are going to place appliances — both large and small — and how much storage you will need. Consider how you intend to navigate the kitchen while using it, and ensure that the path is both clear of obstacles and sensible. For example, if you fry up some eggs for breakfast every day, you’ll probably want the stove to be relatively close to the refrigerator, and if you make coffee at home, your coffee maker should be near where the coffee is stored.

Another common error is choosing the trendiest materials and colors for your kitchen. It may garner the most interest now, but if you aren’t selling immediately, it’s a mistake. Whatever’s in fashion now will probably be more expensive than other options and isn’t any more likely to stand the test of time than any past trend. Timeless designs and neutral or classic colors will always be at least serviceable.

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Halloween is upon us. If you’re expecting trick-or-treaters, you’ve probably already done all your preparations. But just in case you’re doing things last minute, or just want to check to make sure everything is okay, here are some tips to ensure trick-or-treaters’ safety so that their Halloween scares don’t become an actual danger.

While low lighting can produce the type of ambiance you may want for Halloween, it’s not a good idea. Kids can easily trip and fall, especially if your decorations require cords. Don’t use candles, either, since they are potential fire hazards. Of course, you should also make sure to keep hazards away from where kids are likely to be walking — which does include your lawn, even if you have a walkway. The risk is greater if your decorations can potentially cause jump scares, so try to avoid that type of decoration.

Tripping isn’t the only danger to kids’ health. Strobe lights and fog machines can cause seizures or asthma attacks. Pets can be a threat if not properly secured, and can cause scares if they can see the kids even if they can’t reach them. Even if you love baking homemade treats, don’t give them to kids — you don’t know what allergies they may have.

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More: https://www.realtor.com/advice/home-improvement/are-homeowners-liable-injury-trick-or-treater/

Many people may consider hardwood floors to be the fancy, expensive option. But there’s a reason hardwood is more expensive than other types of flooring. It has several benefits that make it an excellent choice if you are planning to update your flooring.

Hardwood is one of the most durable flooring options. Vinyl and laminate floors scratch and dent easily, and the damage can be permanent. Carpet needs to be replaced frequently, and you may also need to remove it if it causes allergy issues. Even if your hardwood floor is damaged, in many cases, it can be solved with sanding or refinishing. Chances are, if the damage is severe enough to warrant replacing hardwood flooring, the same would be true if you had that sort of damage to any other type of flooring. Because of how long hardwood can last, it’s potentially a money saver despite the higher upfront cost — not to mention it also improves your home’s value when you eventually go to sell it.

With all the color and pattern options available for vinyl and carpet flooring, it may seem like hardwood is the boring option. It doesn’t have to be. Hardwood is also available in several colors, textures, and grain patterns. Granted, the available colors are mainly various shades of brown. But the neutral tone makes it easy to accent with rugs and decor that can be exchanged at low cost whenever you want a change.

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With many of us feeling the squeeze of a higher cost of living, you may be looking for a few ways to lower your utility bills that won’t involve a complete change of lifestyle. Here are just a few simple ideas to reduce your utility costs.

-Switch your switches to dimmers. We don’t always need our lights on full brightness, so using a dimmer switch instead can help save on electricity by only using as much light as you need.

-Fill your freezer. You may not expect this, but having a full freezer actually helps to insulate it, keeping your food cool while using less energy to do so.

-Let food cool before refrigerating. If you’re saving leftovers from your dinner, putting them in the refrigerator while they’re still warm actually causes the fridge to have to work harder to cool them down. Let them cool first.

-Unplug unused chargers. Did you know that many phone and laptop chargers continue to suck electricity even when your phone isn’t connected? Make sure to unplug any that you aren’t using.

-Use solar night lights outdoors. Solar night lights spend the day soaking up the sun’s energy then turn on in the evening when it’s dark. It saves the need for any electricity or batteries and is totally green, helping the environment and your wallet.

-Lower your hot water heater temperature. Do you really need the hot water to be totally boiling? You can turn the temperature down so that your water is only as warm as you need it to be.

-Cold wash your laundry. Most laundry washes are just as thorough when washed cold. Switch your machine settings to cold washes rather than hot to save unnecessary extra spending on heating the water.

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