Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

An enclosed porch off of your house is the perfect way to spend the fall and winter season. You can enjoy the snow falling without actually feeling the bite of Jack Frost. Although your porch might seem less romantic than having a dinner outside near your garden for two, you can spice things up a bit with an elegant lantern.

This Frosted Scroll Solar Lantern can be put right on your table-top as a fabulous centerpiece or extra decoration. The soft glow creates a relaxing or even romantic mood. The lanterns also come with stakes, so when the weather warms up again, you can put them in your garden.

Better yet is the fact that they are solar powered, so you don’t even need to waste your electricity. The frosted glass with scroll design will create an ambient atmosphere wherever you place it. This would make a great party decoration too.

Everyone can appreciate a lower electric bill, but what if you could lower yours by 30 percent with a chimney balloon? Although your flue is closed when your not using your fireplace, it’s still possible for air to get inside, but you can prevent any air from infiltrating your home.

This Chimney Balloon is designed to fit a 36” x 15” chimney, so it’s important to purchase one that properly fits your chimney. This device is meant to prevent cold air from getting in and warm air from getting out, so your house will stay warm and your electricity bill will stay down. So all you need to do is measure your flue, order the proper chimney balloon size and install it.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 14 percent of air infiltration get into people’s homes through the fireplace. Doesn’t plugging up your fireplace sound like a better idea now?

The simplest way to create a multi-purpose cleaner is to use a spray bottle and add 30 drops of Lemon essential oil to 8 ounces of water.  Lemon like other citrus fruits is a natural antibacterial and antiseptic, so this solution is good to use on counter tops, floors, toilets, etc.  Cinnamon can be used too as an antifungal, antiviral and antimicrobial.

It’s important to make sure the oil you are purchasing is 100% pure therapeutic-grade, otherwise, it can burn your skin.  The best place to purchase quality oils is at a natural health food store.  Although they are expensive, they last awhile since you do not need to use a lot.  If you are interested in applying essential oils to the skin for a specific health issue, it’s best to consult a doctor first.

It’s common to disinfect toilets, sinks, counters, etc. with bleach or other harsh chemicals that only leave behind a strong, intoxicating odor.  Sometimes an odor so suffocating that it causes you to leave the sparkling room before you even get a chance to enjoy it.  But cleaning products don’t have to be so abrasive to your body and environment.

A more natural and aromatic way to clean is to use essential oils.  Essential oils are liquids distilled from flowers, trees, roots, bushes, shrubs and seeds.  Essential oils were actually humankind’s first medicine, and there are 188 references to essential oils in the Bible.  Each oil has different properties and certain ones can protect the immune system, enhance your mood, stimulate or regenerate tissues and nerves, oxygenate cells and even destroy odors.

Fabric Softener Sheets
Although these sheets are meant to freshen clothes in the dryer, why should it stop you from using them to deodorize more places? For instance, put a fabric softener sheet in your gym bag, car, suitcase or shoes. If you have pets, use them to collect your pet’s shedding hair.

Plastic Bags
How many plastic bags do you come home with after you’ve visited the grocery store? Use these extra bags to waterproof mattresses, drain your children’s bath toys or line your pet’s litter box.

Nail Polish
There are so many different colors of nail polish, so it’s easy to accumulate them. Use your least favorite shades to label poisonous containers and sports gear. You can also seal envelopes and fix nicks in floors, glass and ceramic.

Once you assess the bulk items you have in your home, you can brainstorm ways to use them more effectively so they don’t clutter your drawers or cabinets. It’s better to use common household products as many times as possible before dumping them into your garbage, which goes to your local landfill.

The ordinary items that you have lying around your home can be turned into useful tools if you put on your thinking cap. Reusing or using these items for the first time can save you money, because you don’t necessarily have to buy the exact product for the job. Instead you can create new uses for regular household clutter. Below are some examples to help get your brain working.

Compact Disks
Old compact disks that you no longer need can be turned into a variety of cool things. For example, you can turn them into holiday ornaments, driveway reflectors or catch candle drips. Or break them into smaller pieces and get crafty with your children.

Duct Tape
This type of tape can be a miracle worker. It can hem pants, cover school books and remove lint. Of course, you can also use it to make various repairs around your home. Maybe your toilet seat, door screens or vacuum hose can be salvaged if you apply some duct tape to the problem area.

Washing your dishes by hand might seem like a horrible chore you want to avoid. However, your dishwasher could very well be sucking up well over the necessary amount of electricity and water if you don’t have an efficient one. If you want to start washing your dishes by hand so you don’t have to rely on your dishwasher, follow the tips below.

• Add hot water and soap to those greasy pots and pans. Let these soak separately from your other dishes, because you don’t want to wash your almost clean dishes in oily, grimy water.
• Stack your dirty dishes outside of the sink, because the goal is to use as little water as possible.
• Place your cutlery in the sink and add hot water and soap. Clean all of them first and then rinse them off at one time. Then place them in a dish drainer to dry. Drying them with towels can actually be less sanitary.

Whisking
If you eat scrambled eggs or omelets every morning, use a fork to quickly whisk up the eggs. Although the whisk is handy, it’s sometimes hard to get completely clean, and when you can’t find it, you can use any old fork.

Mashing
Use your fork to mash berries into a sauce or bananas into baby food or banana bread.

Decorating
Your fork can make all kinds of designs such as lines, crosshatch, holes and waves.

Dipping
Instead of a fondue skewer, use a fork to lower fruit and other foods into melted chocolate.

Scraping
You can also carve out squashes and pumpkins with a fork. Or you can make granita.

Spearing
Pull pickles out of the jar, meat off of the cutting board and waffles from a waffle iron.

Testing
Test your meats and vegetables to see how tender and cooked they are before taking them off of the grill or out of the oven.

There are so many uses for forks that you don’t always need those fancy kitchen accessories to do the same job. In what interested ways have you used your forks before?

A fork is one of the more interesting food utensils. It’s pointy prongs make picking food up off of your plate easier. However, did you know that a fork can do more than that? Before you start throwing away your extra forks or buying new appliances, try using a fork as a solution.

Reaming
Do you enjoy citrus fruits in your water, tea and cooking? Use the prongs of the fork to juice these fruits. All you have to do is insert the prongs and twist. A fork can be a miniature juicer!

Pricking
Before baking your pie crusts or potatoes, make sure you poke holes in them with your trusty fork. This will allow it to bake quicker.

Crimping
Speaking of pie crusts, you can also use a fork to decorate the edge. Don’t forget about those peanut butter cookies too. You can create a crosshatch design on them by pressing a fork into them before they go into the oven.

Removing urine from carpets, rugs and mattresses might be a common household chore for you. If so, it’s important for your sanity that you prevent this inappropriate behavior from occurring. Below are ways to prevent the problem if you’re potty training your child or pet.

Toddlers are bound to have accidents, especially when they’re going through the potty training process. It’s wise to have a waterproof cover over your mattress so you preserve the bedding. However, you can reuse plastic bags by putting them under the mattress sheet, which can save you money.

Or if pets are marking your home or urinating inappropriately due to age, try blocking off their favorite areas or place biodegradable pee pads down until the problem is resolved. They will continue to urinate if they smell their scent, so it’s important to clean it up immediately and prevent more pee from getting into your carpet.