Guest Post - Little Known Ways to Lessen Your Carbon Footprint

Many people these days are becoming interested in their carbon footprint and are learning about ways to reduce it.  You probably are already aware of more than a few good ways to do it. You probably already purchase appliances that are energy efficient as well as food that is either local or organic or both.  You might even already be using cleaners that are nontoxic as well. That being said, there are still quite a few other ways to green up your way of life that you might not think about right off hand.  Here are a couple of the lesser known ways to be more eco – friendly.

Try to Get Flex Time Hours for Work 

People who are truly serious about making the environment better know that letting go of the 9 – 5 lifestyle is a must.  When you travel back and forth to work on a daily basis, this causes significant harm to the environment regardless of where you are geographically located.  Having work hours that are flexible can mean a few different things. If you happen to be employed by a corporation, maybe you can see about telecommuting a few days a week.  You might also think about switching to 4 work days with 10 hours as opposed to 5 with 8. If you don’t work in a typical work environment, think about freelancing or even beginning your own business.

Install Solar Powered Hot Water

A lot of people who concern themselves with the environment have begun to focus on water.  Take fast showers as opposed to long baths, give your outdoor plants their water in the evening or early morning and make the decision to not buy bottled water.  These are all great goals.  

That being said, you can also take it even further by installing what are known as evacuated tube solar systems in your home.  These allow you to be able to heat your water while also harvesting energy from the sun.

Use Sustainable Carpeting

Many people don’t think about carpeting and rugs when they think about saving the environment.  The thing is, by using rugs and carpeting made from materials such as jute, sisal, seagrass, wool, and more, you could truly be reducing your carbon footprint while adding a lot of style to your home décor.  Rugs made from sustainable materials are also made in ways that don’t hurt the environment.  There are fewer chemicals used and as a result, they can also lead to you not having reactions to them like you can have to some of the synthetic carpeting and rugs on the market.

What other ways can you think of to reduce your carbon footprint?

Author Bio: Simon Gilles has been working with Natural Area Rugs for the past seven years as a interior design consultant. My primary focus is on home decor using area rugs and other accessories.

Guest Post - 5 Nursery Décor Tips That Your New Baby Will Love

Are you expecting or looking to revamp your little one’s nursery? While we want our little ones to love it, let’s be honest—secretly nursery décor is really for the tired, sleep-deprived parents. You want a space that is both welcoming and calming that both you and the baby enjoy being in. One of the biggest trends in nursery décor is to keep it gender neutral, which means minimizing the baby pink and baby blue and picking a color scheme that is appealing no matter what gender your little one is. If you’re ready to turn your nursery into the oasis of peace that you’ve been dreaming of, here are 5 nursery décor tips that your new baby will love. 

Call on Nature

Bringing nature inside is a popular choice for nursery décor. The beauty of this is you can take it as far as you want. You can channel your inner Mariah Carey can get giant stuffed safari animals, or you take it in a different direction by choosing a statement wall with wallpaper covered in palm leaves. If doing something as bold as a statement wall isn’t for you, you can still bring nature into your baby’s room. Actually adding green plants into your nursery décor not only helps you bring nature into the room but can have health benefits as well. Certain plants, such as Boston Ferns, Areca Palms, Spider Plants, and Snake Plants are good at purifying the air in your baby’s room and are safe as they are non-toxic. You can also opt to go for natural, light finishes on wood furniture and natural materials such as hemp fiber storage bins. 

Be Bold

Gone are the days of pastels and fluffy animals. Modern nursery trends make use of bold colors to create a welcoming vibe in the room. To keep the room from getting too busy, it’s important to stick with a certain color family or group of colors. One popular option is jewel tones, such as sapphire, ruby, or emerald, coupled with gold. Another unique option is to go with the classic Kelly Green. Did you know green is one of the most calming colors? It is best paired with yellows and blues. These colors go together given their proximity to each other on the color wheel. The pairing of the yellows and blues with the Kelly Green make an excellent combination. This décor tip can easily be paired with any of the others on this list to make a truly stunning nursery design. However, it’s important to remember that you want to design your space so that it is calm and appealing to you even on those sleepless nights. 

Make it Pop!

Let’s face it, it is easy to go overboard with colors. To help you pull the whole look of your nursery together take advantage of neutral colors. Follow this rule: 10% color and 90% neutral. This will help keep you from overwhelming yourself with colors. (This is especially important if you are going with bold colors). One fun way to do this is to keep your walls the neutral color—white, light grey, eggshell, beige, and so forth. Then add your color in with your furniture and other accent pieces throughout the room. The crib where your little one will dream sweet dreams? Paint it Kelly Green! Your Curtains? Go with a navy and white pattern. And for your baskets, pillows, linens, and such go for a combination of greens, blues, and yellows. The possibilities are truly endless. Just make sure to stay within a select group of colors and keep the majority of the room neutral. The best part about this is that this works whether you are decorating a nursery for a boy or a girl. 

Go Minimalistic

Minimalism is a growing trend so it’s no surprise that it’s on our list of décor tips for your new baby’s nursery. Applying this trend to your nursery means keeping things clean and simple. To achieve this look you simply need less. This means fewer toys, less furniture, and fewer accessories and gadgets to clutter the room. Achieving this can prove to be difficult, especially with all of the lists out there telling you all the “must haves” for your nursery. Decide whether you really need the full-size crib AND the changing table. In short, you only need the things you really need—the essentials for your baby and maybe a few small wooden or stuffed toys. Anything beyond that really and you begin to lose the minimalistic look and feel that can create a calm, soothing environment in your little one’s nursery. However, there are things that you want to make sure you do have, such as window treatments that darken the room, lighting that can be layered, and a good nursery chair.

Geometric Patterns

If you’re looking to bring playful energy into your new baby’s nursery, then this décor tip is for you. Geometric patterns are being brought into nursery designs more and more as a way to add visual interest. It’s easy to find the perfect piece for your nursery with a geometric pattern on it, whether it is a wallpaper with triangles or circles, or a carpet with zigzags or stars, such a piece can help pull your design together. Other popular geometric patterns include arrows, crosses, squares, stripes, rectangles, and diamonds. These patterns can be used with your accent colors (think a blue zigzag carpet in a neutral colored room) or can be used within the neutral colors themselves (think two-toned beige striped walls), so have fun with it. But be advised, using too many different patterns can be overwhelming. Try to stick to one or two that you really love.  

It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect

As a soon-to-be parent or a new parent, there are countless things that you can worry about. Your nursery design shouldn’t be one of them. Find a piece that you really love that speaks to who you are as a couple and what you want for your little one and go from there. You can use these five décor tips to help you. But the most important thing to remember is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. Even if you don’t have all the artwork you want on the wall or you can’t find just the right linens, don’t worry. Once your sweet little one is mooning away in their crib, the last little design details won’t matter. Relax, have fun, and create a space that you enjoy that you can share with your bundle of joy!

Author Bio: Jules Hopkins is a writer and editor. She enjoys writing about home decor, DIY projects, and renovations, as well as gardening and lawn-care.

Guest Post - How To Organize Your Home When You Have A Baby On The Way

Are you thinking about having a baby or do you have one already on the way? When you live in a home for many years, it can be easy to have it your way – but does this need to change once you have a baby? There are many things to consider when you are bringing a baby into your home, not just about the safety but also about the space that you have for them. 

Here, we are going to give you some of our tips for organizing your home for when you have a baby on the way. Keep reading to find out more.

Get Rid Of Danger

The most important thing that you need to do when you are having a baby is to get rid of anything that might be dangerous for them to be around. This is a massive task that requires a lot of organization as you might need to keep certain objects like knives and tables with sharp edges, but you will need to organize them and put them away from the baby. Take a look online about how you can babyproof your home and make sure that they are safe.

Losing The Junk

Do you have a lot of junk lying around your home that is going to get in the way once your baby comes along? Things like old TVs, mattresses and other electronics can easily be picked up by a junk removal company to give you more space to live in an organized home. Click here to book a junk removal company that can help with organizing your home when you have a baby on the way. Once you have got rid of the junk, you can get organizing. 

Prepping The Baby Room

One of the most exciting things that you get to do when you are organizing your home is prepping the baby’s room. This is their first room and so you need to make sure that it is perfect. You will need to spend some time organizing everything that you have bought for them and making sure that everything is put away neatly. This will usually come after the decoration stage.

Convenience

Our final tip for those who want to organize their home in preparation for their baby arriving is to think about convenience. You are not going to have a lot of spare time as a parent and so you need to think about where your items are placed and how convenient that is. Is your fridge very far away from where you keep the baby bottles? Do you have your microwave on the counter or in a cupboard? Make sure that your home is organized for convenience and you’ll thank yourself later.

If you have a new baby on the way, make sure to follow our advice for organizing your home. This way, you will be ready for whatever comes your way.

Author Bio: Emily Roberts is a young aspirational writer who spends as much of her free time as possible on the web. When she's not writing, she's reading. She's always trying to learn and digest new information so that she can stay on top of whatever stories she wishes to write about.

Guest Post - Backyard Oasis: How to Upgrade Your Outdoor Area to a Picturesque Paradise

No matter how large or how small your backyard is, this all-important area can be transformed into an oasis of peace or a paradise for play with some careful planning and a moderate investment of time and money.

The first step to upgrading your backyard will be to remove any items that you no longer use, repair anything that is broken, and prune back the bushes to be able to see the available space more clearly. Then, you’re ready to pull out a pen and paper, research some outdoor living space ideas, and start designing your very own private escape!

Picturesque by Design

If you’d like your backyard to be attractive and orderly, it helps to familiarize yourself with a few design basics:

• Texture: For a backyard with a special aesthetic appeal, try using a variety of textures and materials in your design. This could include a wooden deck, stone pavers, tile accents, lush planted garden areas, and a textured cement or brick outdoor barbecue.

• Color: Use color to your advantage to create the desired mood in your backyard paradise. Warm colors like reds, oranges, and yellows can provide an energizing feel whereas cool colors like blues, and purples provide an ambiance of calm and relaxation. A green, leafy garden with a few orange and purple accents brings interest and visual balance to the space.

• Layers: Levels and layers in the backyard can create the illusion of a larger space and can also contribute to a healthier ecosystem. Tall trees provide shade, nesting space for birds, and deliver moisture to shrubs and flowers below. Medium-sized bushes can provide herbs, flowers, and places for children to play, and low-lying groundcovers help to suppress weeds and provide a hiding place for small local wildlife.

• Sustainability: If you’d like to keep your energy costs down and save on your water bill, planning in some eco-friendly strategies and features in your backyard from the beginning will be more cost-effective than making modifications in the future. This could include solar-powered accent lighting for the pathways and a water tank to collect the runoff from the shed, or on larger properties, you could consider building a charming waterwheel to generate some of your very own hydroelectric power.

Personalize Your Backyard Paradise

While different improvements to your backyard can raise your property value, it’s best to choose the features that interest you and that you’re actually going to use. For example, there’s not much point installing a high-maintenance landscaped garden for a 5.5-12.5% increase on your home value if you’re not likely to take good care of it. For the brown thumbs out there, a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant garden could be a much better choice!

Depending on your tastes and interests, you might like to include a lawn area, a swimming pool, an outdoor setting for having afternoon tea, fruit trees, or a productive vegetable garden. Do some research about the space needed for each feature on your wish list and choose just enough features to make your yard appear abundant without feeling cluttered.

Bring Your Living Spaces Outdoors

To make your backyard more inviting, it can help to install some basic amenities outdoors. A mobile or fixed fire pit is an excellent way to create a focal point and inspire social gatherings in both summer and winter. It can also be the beginning of a simple outdoor kitchen!

For those who prefer to cook inside and enjoy their meals outside, a patio area with weatherproof furniture and some bright pillows provides an effortless transition between the home and the yard. To warm the patio in winter, gas column heaters or an outdoor fireplace can provide the needed heat as well as creating a rustic atmosphere. With any recreational fires outdoors, be sure to follow these guidelines from the EPA to keep you, your family, and your neighborhood safe.

Add Some Natural Ambience

There’s nothing like the gentle tweeting of birds, insects chirping, and the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves on the trees to provide instant ambiance and help you to feel relaxed. Encourage native wildlife in your yard by planting native species and plants for pollinators in your garden and consider installing a bird bath and a wooden insect hotel. A well-designed pond can attract frogs to assist with natural pest control in your garden.

Complete the Oasis Feel with Water

Whether a small frog pond or an Olympic-sized swimming pool, water adds the magic that your backyard needs to feel like an oasis. Water also offers additional benefits by reflecting the available light around the yard in winter and helping to lower the ambient temperature in summer.

For the calming sound of flowing water without the need for heavy maintenance, a solar-powered water feature like a fountain or waterfall could be just the touch your yard needs to feel complete. However, if you do decide to have something much bigger by your home, please refer to these safety barrier guidelines and drowning prevention strategies to keep young children safe around your pool.

Protect Your Family and Belongings

Finally, the last thing you would want is for your beautiful backyard oasis to become the subject of attention with nosy neighbors and opportunistic thieves. Keep your yard private with fences, trellises, and climbing plants, and lock away your tools and valuables in a secure shed when not in use. Follow these additional tips to make your home safer and you will be able to enjoy your paradise and relax in peace.

Even a Small Change Can Make A Difference

Are you feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to start? Don’t worry. Even the smallest of additions can make your backyard feel that little bit more magical. A few container plants along the fence, a portable sand box for the kids, or a string of fairy lights on the patio could be the missing detail that takes your backyard to the next level. You never know, it might also be the catalyst that inspires you to go back for more!

About the Author: Katie Tejada is a writer, editor, and former HR professional. She enjoys writing about events, travel, decorating trends, and innovations for the home, but also covers developments in HR, business communication, recruiting, and CRM solutions.