Tips and Tricks for Painting like a Pro

One of the best ways to change things up ion your house and add new energy is to repaint! There are a variety of reasons as to why a new coat of paint serves to make things brighter, but the simple answer is that it just feels great!

Here are some tips and tricks for painting like a pro:

1. First of all, make sure to properly tape off the sockets and everywhere that you don’t want paint to go. Most commonly, you will be taping around fixtures and on wall lines, baseboards , and ceilings. Being meticulous with this effort will pay off later.
2. Covering the ground with plastic drop cloths is recommended. For a cheap price, you can buy enough of these to completely cover the ground of the area you will be working in. They are fairly durable and they are very versatile for meeting any needs.
3. It is highly advised that you do a couple of layers of primer on the walls before painting. Even if the paint is a primer and a paint combined into one, it will stick better if there is a solid base, and it will look more consistent as well.
4. Roll consistently! Going in an up and down motion wherever possible adds a smooth texture to the process and makes getting it right much easier.
5. Two coats of paint are usually sufficient to get the coverage and color that you need.
6. After the job is done and everything has dried, remove all of the tape you painstakingly placed. Once that is done, you can use a fine brush and the remaining paint in the pan to do fine detail work to get spots that may have been missed.

Repainting and adding new life to an area is a great way to prepare for the holidays! Adding new color to areas makes everything feel fresh and invigorating, and it is a great addition to have when you are entertaining!

Bringing Spring into Your Winter Wonderland

During the winter months, it’s pretty common for the blues to sink in because of the season. It’s cold outside and it gets dark early, so sometimes it’s hard to feel cheery. However, there is a fairly easy way to brighten things up while being a fun hobby as well!

Growing flowers indoors is a great way to brighten things up and make for a pretty setting. Getting the flowers to bloom can be tricky, because the growing conditions are not the same as they would be outside.

In order to get flowers to bloom, you usually will need to set up a planter in the house, usually made buy using a cup or container that is watertight. These planters should have layers of pebbles and soil, with every bulb having slightly different requirements. We recommend Googling your exact flower to know what to do with it. Once you have planted, douse the bulbs with water and let them react to what they have, and they will bloom!

The flowers will bloom in about six to eight weeks, letting you sit back and appreciate the results. If you have a series of them, you can have a constantly rotating series of flowers that you can grow and work on and enjoy!

Anyone have any awesome ideas for bringing spring to winter? Any experts in forcing blooms? Sound off in the comments and let us know!

Finding a Place for Every Little Thing

One of the issues we all run into from time to time is the buildup of stuff around the house that we simply don’t know what to do with. Most of the time, these items aren’t something that is pressing or important, but at the same time isn’t junk either.

Such a neutral zone makes it so that there isn’t really a good place for these items, and they tend to make clutter when they are unattended to. However, with planning and organization, it is possible to get your house into much better shape without having to be drastic by clearing things out.

Here are some simple things that you can do to help with clutter around the house.

1. Keep it simple. By keeping a living space simple and serviceable in nature, it becomes much harder for anything to accumulate in the area. This doesn’t mean having to get rid of a lot of things, but is rather about the use of space itself.
2. Have some place where things can go. By making an effort to have a dedicated space for everything in a room, it becomes much easier to keep in tidy. In such a situation, it becomes less about “cleaning” and more about putting things in their right place.
3. Consolidate items by area. By designating items to have a purpose in a single location, they will usually be kept there and will be found more easily and used more often.
4. Let some things go. This last tip is hard for some, but identifying things that are never used and getting rid of them is sometimes the best way to simplify. We know it’s painful, but it is worth it!

By making an effort to simplify and organize, your house can be transformed into great example of space and its proper use.