If you are thinking about updating or changing the appearance of one or more rooms within your home, one inexpensive way could be to just change the lighting.
Accent a painting on the wall, create a focal point, add drama or alittle romance or maybe you just want to add more light for reading.
There are many fixtures available to create the atmosphere you want. I found Back Bay Lighting online, which offers all that you may be looking for and then some. Their prices are reasonable and offer a 125% price match guarantee with free shipping on all products. Don't forget you can also change the appearance outside your home with outdoor lighting, emphasizing your landscape, front door or that Christmas Holiday decor.
Back Bay Lighting provides advice on their site too. Some topics included are: Lighting Basics, Style, Tips & Trends, Room Design, Energy Saving Lighting and a Ceiling Fan Buying Guide. This would be a good place to start if you have any questions or want ideas for your design.The advice is free, so why not take advantage of the help?
You can shop for your home by brand name, price, style or item. You can watch videos. They also offer products that provide Energy Efficient Lighting to help reduce costs, home accents,ceiling lights etc...
If this is of interest to you, check them out.
Showing posts with label household tricks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label household tricks. Show all posts
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
How To Battle Clutter
Now with the holidays right around the corner, I want to get my house clean and clutter free. I usually put some of my home decor away to make room for Christmas decorations.If I didn't, it would be clutter overload. I have company all throughout the month of December, so I like everything to be clean and orderly.
I am the type of person that believes everything has a place. I don't have clutter in every room, but I will admit to paperwork sometimes taking over a spot on the counter or on a chair and my biggest problem with clutter is in my closet.
I was watching a show that contained some tips on removing clutter. Although removing clutter isn't associated with cleaning. Clutter needs to be put away, thrown out or donated.
Often people have clutter in their living spaces because of emotional attached to items. I for one have some trouble removing clothes or shoes from my closet. I'm always thinking...I'll wear that one day.
A few tips to help with your closet clutter are:
1. Hang all 'like' clothes together. All long sleeved/short sleeved, Black shirts, white shirts, black pants etc...This will help you from buying duplicate items in colors you already have.
2. How to hang our clothes in the closet:
Hang all hangers one way. As you wear an item, turn the hanger the opposite way. When you return the item to the closet, keep the hanger hanging in the opposite direction of all the others. Let 6 - 12 months go by. What ever hangers you have facing the 'other' way, remove that item because if you didn't wear that item for 6-12 months, it is likely you never will. Then decide to throw away or donate.
3. If you already know you haven't worn an article of clothing or pair of shoes in the last 12 months, decide to throw away or donate.
Other Clutter tips:
* Keep flat surfaces clear. Have an inbox for your paperwork, mail and bills. Sort through on a daily basis. Throw out junk mail immediately
* Get three boxes and mark them: Donate, Throw Away and Keep. You could also add a forth box marked Sell if you plan on having a garage sale.
Commit to 10-15 minutes each day and take one room at a time. Approach your clutter and decide in which box each item belongs.
* Have Kitchen cabinet clutter? You'll be amazed what you can accomplish in 10 or 15 minutes.Each day, take one cabinet at a time . Don't overwhelm yourself. This process may take several days to complete, but you will feel so good once this task is done.
* Ladies...clutter in the bathroom? Thrown out immediately used, broken or old cosmetics.
* After reading a magazine or newspaper, immediately put in the recycle bin
* Find a 'home' for everything and commit to a clutter free space
Have a clutter tip? Please leave your comment to help others by sharing your ideas and helpful tips.
I am the type of person that believes everything has a place. I don't have clutter in every room, but I will admit to paperwork sometimes taking over a spot on the counter or on a chair and my biggest problem with clutter is in my closet.
I was watching a show that contained some tips on removing clutter. Although removing clutter isn't associated with cleaning. Clutter needs to be put away, thrown out or donated.
Often people have clutter in their living spaces because of emotional attached to items. I for one have some trouble removing clothes or shoes from my closet. I'm always thinking...I'll wear that one day.
A few tips to help with your closet clutter are:
1. Hang all 'like' clothes together. All long sleeved/short sleeved, Black shirts, white shirts, black pants etc...This will help you from buying duplicate items in colors you already have.
2. How to hang our clothes in the closet:
Hang all hangers one way. As you wear an item, turn the hanger the opposite way. When you return the item to the closet, keep the hanger hanging in the opposite direction of all the others. Let 6 - 12 months go by. What ever hangers you have facing the 'other' way, remove that item because if you didn't wear that item for 6-12 months, it is likely you never will. Then decide to throw away or donate.
3. If you already know you haven't worn an article of clothing or pair of shoes in the last 12 months, decide to throw away or donate.
Other Clutter tips:
* Keep flat surfaces clear. Have an inbox for your paperwork, mail and bills. Sort through on a daily basis. Throw out junk mail immediately
* Get three boxes and mark them: Donate, Throw Away and Keep. You could also add a forth box marked Sell if you plan on having a garage sale.
Commit to 10-15 minutes each day and take one room at a time. Approach your clutter and decide in which box each item belongs.
* Have Kitchen cabinet clutter? You'll be amazed what you can accomplish in 10 or 15 minutes.Each day, take one cabinet at a time . Don't overwhelm yourself. This process may take several days to complete, but you will feel so good once this task is done.
* Ladies...clutter in the bathroom? Thrown out immediately used, broken or old cosmetics.
* After reading a magazine or newspaper, immediately put in the recycle bin
* Find a 'home' for everything and commit to a clutter free space
Have a clutter tip? Please leave your comment to help others by sharing your ideas and helpful tips.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Alternative Home Remedies
Here are some alternative remedies using household products you may not know about.
To remove ear mites in your cat’s ear, take a few drops of Wesson Corn oil and massage it into your cat’s ear. Using a cotton ball, clean out the ear. Repeat this for 3 days. The oil sooths the cat’s skin, smothers the mites and accelerates healing.
To kill fleas on dogs…Add a few drops of Dawn Dish washing Liquid to your dog’s bath and shampoo the animal thoroughly. Rinse well.
To cure dog odor…Take Bounce or any other dryer sheet and wipe down the dog. This will make you pet smell fresh, especially when a pet comes in after being in the rain. This also helps keep the pet’s danger at bay to help with your allergies.
Drinking two glass of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately.
Colgate toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns.
Altoid peppermints can help clear up a stuffy nose…clear sinuses
Relieve achy muscles: Mix 1 tablespoon horseradish in 1 cup olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes. Apply it as a massage oil for instant relief.
Help a sore throat by mixing ¼ cup vinegar with ¼ cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar will kill the bacteria.
Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost immediately.
Honey remedy for skin blemishes: Cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a band aid over it. The honey will kill the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile and speeds healing.
Listerine therapy for toenail fungus: Soak your toes in Listerine.
Eyeglass protection: to prevent the screws in the eyeglasses from becoming loose, apply a small drop of clear nail polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.
Vinegar will help heal bruises. Soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar will reduce the blueness and speeds up the healing process.
For fast pain relief mix 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup water in a bowl. Warm it up in a microwave for 1 minute. Cool slightly and apply the mixture to your hands for relief from arthritis
To remove ear mites in your cat’s ear, take a few drops of Wesson Corn oil and massage it into your cat’s ear. Using a cotton ball, clean out the ear. Repeat this for 3 days. The oil sooths the cat’s skin, smothers the mites and accelerates healing.
To kill fleas on dogs…Add a few drops of Dawn Dish washing Liquid to your dog’s bath and shampoo the animal thoroughly. Rinse well.
To cure dog odor…Take Bounce or any other dryer sheet and wipe down the dog. This will make you pet smell fresh, especially when a pet comes in after being in the rain. This also helps keep the pet’s danger at bay to help with your allergies.
Drinking two glass of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately.
Colgate toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns.
Altoid peppermints can help clear up a stuffy nose…clear sinuses
Relieve achy muscles: Mix 1 tablespoon horseradish in 1 cup olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes. Apply it as a massage oil for instant relief.
Help a sore throat by mixing ¼ cup vinegar with ¼ cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar will kill the bacteria.
Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost immediately.
Honey remedy for skin blemishes: Cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a band aid over it. The honey will kill the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile and speeds healing.
Listerine therapy for toenail fungus: Soak your toes in Listerine.
Eyeglass protection: to prevent the screws in the eyeglasses from becoming loose, apply a small drop of clear nail polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.
Vinegar will help heal bruises. Soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar will reduce the blueness and speeds up the healing process.
For fast pain relief mix 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup water in a bowl. Warm it up in a microwave for 1 minute. Cool slightly and apply the mixture to your hands for relief from arthritis
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Old Fashioned Tricks
Here's some old fashioned tricks to use around the house. I thought I'd share since I've used alot of these and they work.
If you have any other time saving tips or tricks from grandma, please share and leave a comment.
1. Reheating Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set
heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy microwave pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.
I like the toaster oven as well. Just like the delivery guy bringing you a fresh one.)
2. Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all
broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
3. Expanding Cake Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
4. Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place
them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
5. Newspaper weeds away
When it's time to start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil.
Wet some newspaper and put layers around the plants, overlapping as you go. Cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic, but they will not get through wet newspapers.
6. Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
7. No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
8. Squirrel Away
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with
cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
9. Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
10. Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a
clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and * ta da! -- static is gone.
11. Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot
water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup interior, add your
ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
12. Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
13. Reopening envelopes
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside , just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two.
Viola! It unseals easily
14. Hair Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair...
15. Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass and fill it 1/2" way with
Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever.
16. Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it
'home', can't digest it, so it kills them. It may take a week or so,
especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
If you have any other time saving tips or tricks from grandma, please share and leave a comment.
1. Reheating Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set
heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy microwave pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.
I like the toaster oven as well. Just like the delivery guy bringing you a fresh one.)
2. Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all
broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
3. Expanding Cake Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
4. Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place
them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
5. Newspaper weeds away
When it's time to start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil.
Wet some newspaper and put layers around the plants, overlapping as you go. Cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic, but they will not get through wet newspapers.
6. Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
7. No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
8. Squirrel Away
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with
cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
9. Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
10. Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a
clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and * ta da! -- static is gone.
11. Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot
water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup interior, add your
ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
12. Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
13. Reopening envelopes
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside , just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two.
Viola! It unseals easily
14. Hair Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair...
15. Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass and fill it 1/2" way with
Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever.
16. Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it
'home', can't digest it, so it kills them. It may take a week or so,
especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
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