Guest Post - What I Wish I Knew When I Moved Homes

Moving houses can be exciting. You can’t stop picturing yourself in a better neighborhood, in that spacious home with a marvelous kitchen. Most of the time, moving signifies a point of newness where you start a new life that is exciting and promising.

On the other hand, planning a move and actualizing it is a tough task to pull. Amidst the excitement, the whole process can be overwhelming and stressful. If you fail to prepare yourself properly, there is the possibility of some things going against what you anticipated. Before you get out the packing tape and start boxing your things, consider these 4 tips to make your move something you won’t regret later.

1.      Get rid of stuff that you no longer need

If you are like most people who hold onto things for a long time, your house could be full of things that you no longer use. Moving those things to the new home will only make your move difficult and expensive. Take time before the move to sort out such things and plan on how to get rid of them. You can donate, sell or trash the ones that are beyond repair.

In that breath, it is also good to sell your old house first before moving to a new one. This way, you will know how much money you have. You will be clear on the budget for the new home as well as all the repairs that might be necessary. However, you might need to sell your house faster for you to use the cash to pay for the down payment for your new home. But how do I sell my house fast? If that’s your predicament, you need to know that there are trusted cash home buyers in the region ready to give you an offer in the shortest time possible. Just scout for one and contact them to make a deal.

2.      Create a checklist

Moving to a new house is a tiring task. Your biggest goal should be to have your back and sanity intact at the end of it all. However, that is not going to happen if the boxes are to get mixed up and you have to sort them out after the movers are gone. You will also have it rough if some boxes are forgotten or misdelivered and you have to do a follow-up later.

You will save yourself a lot of trouble by labeling every box carefully. Ensure that you write a number and the room where each box belongs. Then list them on a checklist and make a copy. Keep one copy and give the movers the other copy. This way, both of you will have something to tick against to ensure that all boxes are delivered correctly.

3.      Figure out the essentials

If you are moving to a new geographical area, you must figure out the important things before making the move. The last thing you want to do is get stuck looking for a drug store or grocery store when you need them the most. Sure, Google is your friend, but Wi-Fi can fail sometimes. Research the area way before you move. Ensure that you figure out all the routes to your house and the nearest amenities.

It might also interest you to befriend the neighbors from the word go. These individuals have been there longer and they hold precious information that might come in handy when you need it. 

4.      Budget

Moving can be stressful and disruptive. The last thing that you would want is for it to disrupt your finances and land you into debt. It is advisable to have a budget in place before moving so that you are sure how far you can go with the expenses.

Put into consideration all the expenses involved in paying the movers and providing meals to your friends and family who volunteer to help you. Besides, consider the day-to-day expenses in the new house. It would be wise to allocate a bit more than you did in the previous house until you figure out the average costs.

Conclusion

Moving homes is a task that is easier said than done. Besides demanding enough finances, it is a process that requires you to be there physically. Even as you put a budget, you need to clear your calendar to ensure that you have enough time to oversee everything. Additionally, keep in mind the above tips. They will go a long way in helping you move successfully.

Author Bio: Avery is a real estate consultant who partners with CEOs, executives, and solopreneurs to grow their personal and professional goals, human-to-human. After spending nearly a decade working with real estate and marketing, Avery knows what truly drives conversions, serious goals and good outcomes. It’s how well you connect with the heart-beating people you’re trying to help and communicate your understanding back to them. 

Cool Ways To Improve Your Kitchen on a Budget

Brightening up the kitchen adds life to the whole house. Since we spend so much time working in this space, keeping it beautiful is crucial to our well-being. A well-adorned space makes the chores less of a drag as we enjoy spending time and immersing ourselves in a room. However, redecorating is often surprisingly expensive. Fortunately, there are still many cool ways to improve your kitchen on a budget.

Explore Fixture Options

Kitchens are full of little fixtures and hardware that wear out after so many years of interactions. These features include handles, doorknobs, and even flatware. For the most part, nice new fixtures don’t cost much to replace, and you can find many attractive, decorative, and relatively inexpensive options by shopping smart online. Lighting, too, is less expensive than most people imagine. Adding LED panels, changing out covers, or even adding a simple ceiling fan is typically possible for under $100.

Many stores supply discounted furnishings and fixtures. These might simply be older models or samples of stock that didn’t sell. Other times, resale stores carry a broad array of items salvaged from remodeled or even demolished homes and structures.

Splash in More Color

Adding paint is always one of the coolest ways to improve your kitchen on a budget. Of course, the easiest way is to pick a new color and go to town. Repaint the cabinets, walls, and even appliances with a new color or texture. You can also touch up your paint or accent it with cool weathering techniques—or sand it down and stain it for a more rustic look.

Nowadays, unusual and fun types of paint are incredibly accessible. Experiment with metallics, accenting, and more. Adding a section or wall of the paint-on chalkboard is also a fun project that can add a playful spin to a kitchen.

Look at Drawers and Shelves

As with previous examples, there are many ways to approach a complete change of cabinets, drawers, and shelves. However, after adding paint, a new countertop, or similar makeover options, you may decide to keep your original pieces. Give your furnishings an even fresher lease on life with an interior makeover.

Drawer interiors and shelf surfaces are easy to protect and decorate using affordable contact paper. Not only does it add more color and texture to a space, but it also protects typically unfinished interiors from dirt, grime, and stains. For cabinets and drawers, there are many inexpensive organizer tools. Spring-loaded wood inserts divide your drawer into sections in a more attractive way than the more common plastic dividers.

8 Simple Ways To Add Style To Your Home

Getting a high-end house can be difficult for many, especially when they have a limited budget. But that doesn’t mean one shouldn’t add style to their home especially when they have the ideas and resources available.

Interior designing ideas available online have made it a lot easier for anyone to create a stylish home layout without hiring any expert home decorator. 

These interior designing ideas can be anything. From changing wallpapers, to adding a new coat of paint, to replacing the wooden floorboards. Home owners can make a lot of noticeable changes in their houses without breaking the bank. 

Let’s discuss some of the simplest and the most affordable ideas to make your home look elegant and stunning. 

1. Let Wallpapers Redesign Your House

Although wallpapers are one of the easiest things to think of when revamping your house, they still require an expert vision to completely redesign the look of the house. What designs will suit which walls, and how these designs will connect with the rest of the walls of the house, all these things require what we call a ‘design sense.’

One can also go with paint, but paint is costly, and designing with paint again requires an expert. However, wallpapers come pre-designed. Simply order the colors that you like from Walmart or Amazon and DIY the house renovation.

Just make sure to check home color palettes online and buy a mix of those colors for your home revamping.

Creating contrast is the best way to create a vibrant home ambience. If you are not a big fan of contrasting colors, you can play with bright and dull colors that suit the wall paint.

2. Choose Vibrant and Contrasting Window Treatments

Windows play a crucial role in creating the look of the house. If the windows are rusted, unfinished, or not having a glossy finish, they are less likely to look appealing. One thing to note here is that windows can make or break a deal when selling a house. So, if the windows are not properly treated or lack any appealing paint, they will decrease the overall value of the house 

When deciding on the windows, see if you would want to place curtains or shades on them, or you will keep them as they are. The color of the windows will highly depend on the setting you choose. Windows of the main rooms should have blinds as they look elegant and are easier to maintain. Inner rooms or the bedrooms can have shades or curtains, whatever suits you.

The color of curtains should be similar to that of the door as these will create a contrast with the wall colors and give a vibrant appeal to the whole place.

You can try the simple steel shades or bamboo shades if you want a laid back environment inside.

3. Wooden, Tiled, or Carpeted Floorboards?

First thing one notices when they walk into a house is the floorboard. Whether tiled or wooden, floorboards set the precedence for how the whole house would look. Usually all this starts from the porch section. So, to add a style to your home, make sure that floorboards are well selected. In North America and Europe, wooden floorboards are mostly used for insulation. Easter Europe has marble and tile floors because of the weather conditions. Wooden floors boards can also have floor papers. Or they can be carpeted to reduce noise. Selecting the design of the floorboards mostly depends on your choice.

Usually, Costco and Home Depot, both have a special flooring section where you can find numerous varieties of floorboards.

4. Lighting Makes all the Difference

If you want to make your house look lively, you need to invest in a quality lighting setup. Most houses have standard lighting fixtures. These are pre-added by the contractors and they make the house look plain and generic. 

The best place to find creative lighting ideas is the flea market. There you can find everything from uniquely designed light bulbs to standard chandeliers. Second hand stores offer a lot more budget friendly options. Although the products are used, you can make them look as good as new by cleaning them at home.

Have multiple light sources such as lamps, floor lamps, side lights, blind lights, and chandeliers, to make the space look lively and bright. If you are unsure how to install them, you can get help from roofers in Beverly.

5. Adding Furniture to House

What do you want your house to look like? Minimalistic, Cozy, Traditional, Modern? There are many other ideas that you can choose from. If you are not sure how furniture will look inside the house, then use furniture-specific 3D apps and see for yourself. Most furniture ideas can be found online. 

Bean bags are now replacing sofas. Most bean bags are cheap and you can even design your own bean bags. 

Since Work From Home (WFH) is now becoming a norm, everyone wants to have a desk and an office setup at home. You can get bean bags and cushions and create your own cozy working space. 

Or, you can get chairs and tables and create a traditional dining room environment. 

When looking for furniture, choose flea markets where second hand furniture is being sold. If the furniture is available in normal condition, you can polish it at home and make it look new.

6. Keep Your House Clean

Dust is the biggest killer of fancy and style. So, invest in a good air humidifier and a vacuum cleaner. Most households now have central vacuum cleaning because it is easy to manage and clean the whole house. 

Keep the windows of all rooms that you don’t use often closed. This way dust won’t settle inside and you won’t get embarrassed when you open them in front of the guests. 

7. Focus on Color Tone & Matching

Finally, make sure that your furniture has a proper color tone. If there is too much furniture in the room with a mismatched color tone, it looks unfinished and gives a hazy feel. So, make sure that the color tone of all pieces of furniture is similar. 

8. Give Your Personal Touch

A home is never a home until and unless it has your personal touch. Make it a beautiful place where you are more likely to spend time. If you like bean bags instead of sofas, then add them. If you want a minimalistic house with rugs, carpets, and hammocks, then that is fine as well. Add a few photo frames of yourself and your family and also your favorite plants in your home. In the end, it is all about how and what you want. After all, it is your home. So, give it a style that you love!

Bottom-line

Don’t indulge too much in impressing others by adding a style that doesn’t blend with you. Because it will be you who will be using the home the most. So, create a setting that makes you feel comfortable and cozy.

Guest Post - 4 Clever Ways to Create a Good Design Flow Between Rooms

If you’ve decided to decorate your home and perhaps change some things drastically, you’ll most likely want each of your rooms to have a distinct feel to it. This may seem rational, as some rooms are supposed to make you more active, while others should help you calm down. However, although you might be considering a variety of styles and colors for separate parts of your home, you’ll surely want to make the transition from one area of your living space to another make some sense. 

Having all of that in mind, here are some excellent ways to create a design flow between the rooms of your home, which will suit your needs, preferences and sense of style, while being inviting to you, your family and any visitors you could have.

Follow a Theme

While there are those rare people who can pull off completely different styles in different parts of their home, in most cases, it just makes the place look hectic, disconnected and even messy. As this is something you probably want to avoid, the first thing to do is to identify a theme, a style you want for your entire home and decorate every room following it. 

Whether you’re a fan of the boho, industrial or Victorian style, you can make things work wonderfully by adding a diversity of details into separate parts of your home, while staying truthful to the style of your choice. You want a modern home, but your fireplace looks ancient? You can update it to be modern as well. You can have somewhat mismatched fabrics, colors and even art in your living room, bedroom or kitchen, but they should all belong to the same style or era to keep your home symmetrized in a way.

Stick to the Same Materials and Finishes

Another thing that can make your living space appear more logical and connected is the consistency when it comes to materials and finishes. For instance, if the light fixtures in your kitchen and dining room have a silver finish, you might create a thematic disbalance by making the faucet bronze and the doorknobs golden. 

Similarly, if you choose wood, brick, stone or metal as prevailing materials for furniture pieces or decorative elements in your home, then feel free to repeat them throughout the rooms, as matching materials this way will make your interior and even exterior more appealing and coherent. If you’re indecisive with regards to picking the right materials and finishes for your home, you might want to stay informed about the 2021 design trends, so that your kitchen, bedroom or bathroom are as contemporary as possible.

Introduce Common Elements 

For a place to stay compatible as you move from one room to another, there’s always the option of bringing in some common elements to it. For instance, you should keep the flooring in your home uniformed in a way by opting for the same type of flooring for the main areas of your home. Same wood tones are one way to go, while using rugs to achieve a well-thought-out look is another. 

An excellent idea would be finding some premium Miss Amara rugs in such natural materials as jute, hemp, cotton and wool, so that you add an extra touch of warmth and coziness to your home, while providing some subtle repetition to connect separate parts of it. You can even find rugs in similar colors and shapes to make it all even more consistent. The same system applies to decorative objects like lamps, cushions or curtains, but also to furniture. Repeat the element you choose up to three times in a room, so that the place doesn’t seem cluttered.

Let Colors Work for You

You want to upgrade your home or improve your rental property to make it more appealing to tenants, but you aren’t exactly swimming in money right now? The flooring is mismatched, the finishes are all over the place and you can’t afford to make any high-price changes, but you want to bring some sense into the residence? Use colors to your advantage. Colors can be tempting to play with and you might want to bring in some diversity into your rooms by painting each of them a completely different color. However, bear in mind that this sort of creative outburst can create a feel of conflict between your rooms. 

So, choose one color for your walls or the biggest pieces of furniture and perhaps just change the shades of it somewhat for some variance. This will create a compelling and natural flow throughout your home and allow you to achieve the look you were aiming for.

You want your home to be a pleasant place, where you’ll be able to be yourself and enjoy both the frenzy and the calmness of everyday life. So, decorate it that way and keep it systematic in every sense of the word. The design flow between rooms is essential for this. In the end, no matter how different the parts of your home might be, you want it to be clear that they are a part of a bigger and a logical whole, where you can shelter your body and mind and be happy and content about it.

About the author: Mike Johnston is an avid blogging enthusiast and experienced freelance writer. He’s a regular contributor to the “Smooth Decorator” blog and numerous other online publications where he writes about home improvement, interior design, construction, and real estate.