Guest Post - Essential Tips for Renovating with Kids

Essential Tips for Renovating with Kids

It is hard enough to renovate a room in the house, but if you are the proud parents of a couple of kids, it can quickly escalate to nightmare proportions, depending, of course, on their ages. The fact that the little darlings are present means you are unable to fully focus on what you are doing, and with things like wallpaper paste and paint rollers lying around, it could be a recipe for a disaster of epic proportions, and with that in mind, here are some innovative ideas to ensure the renovations are completed without incident.

Segregate the Waste – Once you have all the old wallpaper and other debris away from the work area, there is less chance of a mishap with the children. Hiring a skip (dumpster) is the ideal solution for this scenario, and an online search will land you on the website of a local skip provider, and you can make the booking online. They have a range of sizes to suit, and once it is full, simply call them and it will be removed.

A Surprise Outing – This would involve the help of your parents or good friends, and involves a day at a fun park or somewhere exciting. Once the children are safely off on a day trip, you can relax and get on with the renovating, just make sure you are prepared for their homecoming!

Age Related Assistance – If your kids are old enough to be able to carry out basic tasks, then set them some simple things to do that will help you. If they are teenagers, then they can ferry out the rubbish to the skip and clean up when things have been finished. Getting the kids involved instils a level of responsibility, we just have to ensure that the tasks are suitable for their abilities.

Stage the Work – By doing the work over several weekends, you can focus on one thing at a time, and there will be less disturbance, and with some cartoon DVDs and a delivered pizza, the kids will be suitably entertained for the afternoon. You might want to flip a coin with your partner and the winner whisks the kids off to watch a movie in town, while the loser gets the decorating done.

Preparation – Assuming you are planning for a weekend of renovating, make sure you have all the cleaning materials and essential supplies, and anything else you think you might require. If the children are at home, make sure they have something suitable to keep them busy, which could include helping out.

Home renovation is not an easy task, and with children running around, a much higher level of planning is needed. The best solution is to have them shipped off to the grandparents, but if that isn’t an option, find another avenue to ensure they are well looked after and entertained. With the skip in place and all the materials in the hallway, you are ready to attack that decorating and make the home a nicer place to be.

Author Jodie Leather works for All Metro Bins - a skip hire and waste disposal company based in Perth, Western Australia.

Bins: Not Necessarily What It’s All Stacked Up To Be

We partnered with a home improvement company. for this post. The opinions in the post are honest. All reviews and opinions expressed in this post are based on our personal views. We are excited because we know you will love it.

Storage bins are great for organizing, but sometimes they aren't all they are stacked up to be. If an organizing system isn't easy you simply aren't going to use it and in that regard bins can give with one hand and take with the other.

Pack'em, Stack'em and Rack'em

Bins provided a great storage solution for household items especially for those you don't use very often. They make sense for items like holiday decorations, keepsakes, and recreational equipment. During the winter/summer swap of jackets for bathing suits bins are perfect. However, the danger of bin use can be seen in the stack. When it comes to bins when they get stacked the ones on the bottom become a black hole. If you have to take down five bins to get something you just won't.

Bigger Isn't Better

You think you solved all your problems by finding the biggest bin in existence, however the big bin often creates more problems than it solves. Big bins get heavy quick and one person can't lift them and they'll usually need a wheelie bin tipper in order to move them. Often a giant bin will sit covered and unmoved for decades. Another challenge of the giant bin is finding anything inside easily.

Solid as a Rock

Clear bins make for the best bins for obvious reasons, but solid colored bins aren't necessarily bad if it doesn't matter what you need to grab. Think Christmas or Halloween bins in Red/Green or Orange/Black. If you are taking the whole bin down from the attic and using everything inside than the benefits of the clear bin aren't necessary. The danger lies in a non-clear mystery bin not properly labelled.

Easy in, Easy Out

While bins are ideal for a many items, drawers make for an easier system for those things you use frequently. Drawers are perfect for art and office supplies since they not only keep a limit on supplies but allow items to go in easy and also come out easy. Imagine a child having to un-stack four bins to get to paper or stickers. Batteries and toiletries also benefit from being in easy access drawers and not stacked bins.

Interview - Sweeten

We spend a lot of time in people's homes and during the process of getting them organized the topic of other home projects come up. We spoke with Randi at Sweeten to learn more about major home renovations. 

How would you explain Sweeten to a busy homeowner?

We are a free service for major renovations, connecting renovators to the best vetted general contractors (GCs) AND staying involved until the project is done. Since the phrase "busy homeowner" was used, I'll also add we're a one-stop source for multiple estimates from excellent GCs.

Why is it called Sweeten?

Founder & CEO Jean Brownhill named the company Sweeten after "home, sweet home." She's a trained architect from Connecticut who made it her mission to help people "sweeten" their homes after a challenging renovation of her own. Sweeten launched in NYC in 2011; it was named "Best Contractor Locator" by New York magazine in 2012, and projects came pouring in. We expanded into Westchester and Fairfield counties in Spring 2017, and have a great base of GCs in those markets.

What are your project requirements, can I find a handyman?

We do transformative renovations that involve a general contractor--our minimum is $20k and jobs range into the millions. Our average project is in the low six figures. 

How do you select the contractors for your service?

From the start, the founders screened 15,000+ general contractors to find professionals who met their standards, and we still put GCs through a rigorous process to work with Sweeten. Up-to-date licenses and insurance, quality and guarantee of work, personal conversations with past clients and the caliber of their customer service skills all factor in. GCs are growing their businesses with us; they want to keep that deal flow going, so they are very responsive and accountable to Sweeten. (Vetting info: https://sweeten.com/vetted-general-contractors)

How do you help a client during a renovation project?

We're as involved as you'd like us to be. When you post a project on Sweeten.com, our matchmakers connect you to 3-5 GCs based on location, budget, scope and timeline. We can recommend architects if needed, too. You'll check profile pages for the suggested GCs (including reviews from past clients) and choose which to meet with. From that point, we can  help you evaluate the estimates, answer any questions and will check in at key points in the process. We stay in touch with the GC as well. In the off chance things go off-track, we'll step in. We also offer constant inspiration in the form of "before & afters" and education through detailed cost guides on our blog.

What types of people can use Sweeten?

Homeowners or business owners. We attract a lot of clients from finance (we think it's because of the efficiency of our process), technology and creative fields looking to create a space they love. Renovation is a big investment, and we are a wingman to make sure things go smoothly.

I know it is hard to choose, but what are some of the coolest projects you have worked on?

That's an impossible question to answer! The real-life reno stories are all so interesting, and our posts are often written by the homeowners themselves. We've seen an outbuilding become a "Diva Den," a computer coder use elaborate data to find his dream home (with a factored-in renovation), and lots of projects sparked by a baby on the way. Many architects and designers are using Sweeten for their personal homes (which we consider a compliment): http://blog.sweeten.com/before-after/entire-homes/color-and-charm-in-a-designers-tudor-townhouse/. Two recent stories that come to mind are a Westchester renovation which created a modern, open kitchen in a stucco residence: http://blog.sweeten.com/before-after/kitchens/1920s-westchester-home-gets-a-modern-makeover/, and a "before & after" of a hallway-alcove-turned-bathroom of a country house in this week's newsletter that garnered more than 5,600 likes on Instagram within a few days.

Interview - Connecticut Cookie Company

A recurring theme at House to Home Organizing is a desire to move away from stuff and towards experiences. One can hardly think of a more enjoyable experience than eating a warm cookie. We spoke with Andrea of the Connecticut Cookie Company to learn more these local sweet treats.

What is your background, how did you get started?

Well, I've been designing in the fashion industry for over twenty years.  Baking was my "therapy" when I designed for Abercrombie a.k.a. "Aberzombie" when I was there a while ago.  Growing up (in Cincinnati, Ohio), my mom baked a lot using the vanilla extract from my grandma's hometown in Indiana. I was more interested in decorating cookies rather than baking when I was a kid. 

Cookies are in the title, what kinds and do you have non-cookie items?

Sure! First off, the foundation of the business is our pure vanilla extract. A 75+ year old recipe.  We also have: cake pops, edible cookie dough, coffee, tea, espresso, cupcakes, GIANT chocolate chip cookies, cakes and our signature "Quick fix brittle" (almond toffee britlle with Belgian Dark Chocolate Sea salt with graham cracker). Also, around Thanksgiving we have pies. Everything is made from scratch using our CT Cookie vanilla extract. 

You are based in Fairfield, where can people buy your cookies?

Our cookie shop is location at 2385 Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield. We're across the street from Trader Joe's and next to Lenox Jewelers. Two miles off the Merritt Parkway; five miles off 95. Our cookies can also be ordered on our web site:  CTCOCO.com.  You can see what we're up to on instagram.

Does anyone ever ask about custom orders?

Oh yes, we do A LOT of custom cookie orders for showers, weddings, graduations, corporate - you name it! We've done custom cakes and cupcakes for a few catering events. I would say the best custom order we've had to date was (sad story) one of our customers was dying from cancer. She loved our oatmeal raisin cookies (she even said they were to die for! ha.) she planned her funeral gathering around our cookies and had cookies and milk in her memory. Which we all thought was amazing! 

What do you suggest for someone with special dietary restrictions?

We do bake gluten free cookies, cake pops, brownies and edible dough.  Our facility does contain nuts.

I'm sure people are jealous that you get to work with cookies all day, what is it really like?

Ha, people do say that. We work nonstop and when customers come into the shop saying "it smells so great in here!" that makes it all worthwhile. 

What are some of your most popular items?

Chocolate chip cookies, our pure vanilla extract, edible cookie dough, quick fix brittle, cake pops and sugar cookies.