7 Ways to Turn Unused Space Into the Rooms You Need

Ever dreamt of having a designated entertainment hub in your home? Maybe you desire a game room for your family or you want to add a workout space in your house. Is inadequate square footage holding you back? Don’t despair, you can create that entertainment hub or a home gym with the space at hand. Use unused spaces in your home to add more functional rooms without altering the structure or adding additional square feet to your house. Transform your house using the following ideas. 

From a Chilly Basement Into a Light-Drenched Workout Space

Perhaps you need a home gym to stick to a fitness routine. What’s holding you from enjoying the satisfaction that comes with owning a home gym? Is space an issue? Home gyms are not reserved for the rich alone. All you need is an empty space to create a breath-taking home gym for you and your loved one. You can rework your garage into a classy gym with the right planning and resources. Start by clearing and cleaning the garage. You will need to renovate the space, add more lighting, switch up the wall color to brighter colors, and replace the garage flooring with suitable gym flooring to ease and support your workout. When shopping for gym flooring, consider getting rubber flooring for the home gym. The rubber flooring adequately supports any gym equipment. Rubber flooring is durable and a good shock absorbent. 

Switch Up that Blah Attic Into a Snuggy Bedroom 

If you need an extra bedroom, look up towards your attic. It may look creepy, dark, and restricting at the moment. Don’t work. You can unleash the coziness out of your attic, by adding lighting, using warm colors on the walls, and letting in more natural lights. If your attic comes with a tall ceiling use pendant lamps. For a low ceiling attic, use spotlights. You can use floor lamps to enhance the lighting in the room. Stick to one or two patterns, colors, and textures to make the bedroom less crowded. Minimize and use sleek furniture. If the attic has beams, consider refinishing them. 

Step Up Your family’s Entertainment by Getting Them an Entertainment Hub 

Looking to ramp up your home’s entertainment? Bring the cinema to your home by leveling up the basement and turning it into a theater room. With the right skills and a bit of ingenuity, you can jack up the basement and set up a luxurious cinema room. If your basement has no windows, it would be a perfect room for an intimate and cozy theater. If there is a window, use blinds to reduce outside light. Think of adding soft lighting to give out an inviting atmosphere. 

Create an Ultimate Family Room 

Consider redesigning the garage into an ultimate family room if you need more space to entertain your guests or hold conversations with your family. Clear up the garage, add a window, warm up the garage with heating vents, insulate the walls, add lighting, brighten up the walls, and consider turning the garage door into a wall. Replace the concrete floor with laminated or hardwood floors. Add mats and rugs to make the space more inviting. 

Use The Extra Room and Set up a relaxation suite 

If you hardly have guests in your home, turn the guest room into a relaxation room. You need a sanctuary to turn to after a stressful workday. Create a sensory environment by using calming colors for this room, incorporating softer textures and lighting, and adding scented candles. Group the furniture to build on the warmth and create an inviting atmosphere. 

Position a Homework Station Under the Stair 

Use the space below the stairs to set up a breathtaking homework station. You need a little creativity to create a space that sparks productiveness and makes your kids or anyone using the space focus on their task. Ensure the space provide a semi-private space to focus 

Convert the Landing Into a Home Office

Add more functionality to your staircase landing by turning the space into an office. Use slim office furniture and storage units to avoid filling the narrow space. You can mount open shelves and racks on the walls to store extra supplies. Stick to whites to create an airy feeling. Find creative ways to make the landing and the staircase feel cohesive. 

Final Thoughts 

There is a high likelihood you’re not utilizing all the spaces in your home. Even a tiny house has lots of unused spaces. With a little patience and effort, you can turn any unutilized space in your home into a functional space. 

Remove pests from your home naturally

Noticed some uninvited pests in your home? Though it might be tempting to call a pest control company, harsh pesticides often do more harm than good. Not only can it pollute your groundwater, it can also release pesticides into the atmosphere. It can also prevent your furry companions from enjoying your backyard. 

Natural pest control methods are safer and often more effective than traditional pesticides. Some of the benefits of removing pests naturally is that the pests are less likely to develop a resistance, it’s less damaging to your lawn and garden, it keeps beneficial bugs alive, and it’s safer to use around people and pets. Eco-friendly pest control saves you time and money!

Below are five different ways you can use natural pest control methods to rid your home of pesky insects.

1. Make sure your garden is healthy

Having a healthy garden with nutrient-rich soil is less attractive to pests. Adding fertilizer to your soil that comes from your food waste is a great way to put those banana peels to good use! 

2. Plant beneficial herbs

Mint, lavender, and basil have natural pest-repellant properties and are also companion plants. Add some of the following plants to your garden so that they can do your pest control for you:

• Rosemary

• Lemongrass

• Clover

• Marigolds

• Petunias

• Eucalyptus

• Chrysanthemums

3. Add some spice in your life

The strong smells of spices like cinnamon, paprika, and cayenne deters pests. Mix one teaspoon of your choice spice with one cup of water in a spray bottle to spray on your counters, windowsills, or other entry points. Below are some more spices you can use:

• Cloves

• Salt

• Black pepper

• Bay leaves

• Tumeric

4. Use essential oils and vinegar

Essential oils and vinegar also have strong smells that bugs don’t like. You can make another DIY spray consisting of one cup of water, a quarter cup of vinegar with a teaspoon of your choice essential oil! Below are some additional essential oils you can use.

• Peppermint

• Tea tree

• Citronella

• Eucalyptus

• Lavender

• Lemongrass

5. Put your food waste to good use

Food waste makes great fertilizer but it can also deter pests. You can add chopped citrus peels to your soil as fertilizer or you can place it on the pests' point of entry like a doorway or countertop. If you have mosquitos, leave a bowl of chopped onion in water on your kitchen counter. Got leftover coffee grounds? Put it on the perimeter of your home to keep bees, ants, wasps, and mosquitos away. 

For more eco-friendly pest control methods, check out this infographic from Hippo. 

How to Manage the 4 Most Common Household Emergencies

Dealing with emergency situations of any kind can be quite stressful; however, nothing beats the sheer panic one feels when something goes wrong in their home and they don’t know what to do. Fortunately, this article is here to help you adequately respond to common emergency situations such as power outages or cracked pipes. Also, read on to find out how to deal with getting locked out and how to quickly fix broken windows.

Power failures

Most power outages are caused by harsh weather, meaning there’s not much you can do to avoid it. However, sometimes power outages will be announced by the local government, so the best thing you can do is to be prepared and ready to act. Prepare for emergencies by stocking up on essentials like torches and batteries, as well as gas-powered cooking equipment and a radio. If you live in an area where blackouts are quite common, think about investing in a generator since it’ll make your life easier in the long run. Be sure to have enough bottled water on hand just in case your local water treatment facility is affected during the outage. For prolonged periods of a power outage, make sure to have a variety of board games to keep you and your family entertained at these tough times.

Burst pipes

One of the scariest situations to deal with is definitely burst pipes. Water can cause a lot of damage to your property and belongings, so it’s crucial to act fast. The main water valve in your house, which is usually located near your boiler, regulates the flow of water. This valve must be shut off immediately in the case of a leak in order to avoid expensive water damage. Once you’ve done everything in your power, you should contact your local plumber. If you live in the Eastern Sydney area, a plumber from Eastern Suburbs will help you with all kinds of plumbing emergencies at all times. Having a reliable plumber on speed dial is the best solution to any kind of piping issues around the house.

Getting locked out

Forgetting or misplacing your keys is probably one of the most annoying emergencies because it’s very preventable. For instance, being prepared by keeping an extra key in a safe place will help you avoid being locked out. There are many locations where you may keep a spare key, such as with a trusted family member, in an electrical panel with a combination lock, or in your work or school bag. However, in order to stay safe, you should always make sure to have the key in a secure spot. There are a few places you should avoid keeping a spare key which are your doormat, a faux rock, or the window sill.

Broken windows

Your kids may have gone overboard when playing with their ball or your cat may have gotten the extra case of the zoomies and in a blink of an eye, your window is now broken. First, you need to check the damage but don’t forget to wear thick gloves so as not to cut yourself. Carefully collect and remove any glass shards. Once only the window frame is left, take a garbage bag and tape it to the frame as a temporary solution. For the best insulation, use multiple bags layered on top of each other. Now that you’ve ensured you’re not going to freeze from the lack of windows, you may want to consider hiring a professional to adequately deal with the damage.

Home emergencies can be very scary to deal with but if you keep a calm demeanor and act quickly, every situation is easily manageable. Getting a quick fix for any issue is easy if you’re even a tiny bit handy but if you want the best long-term results, it’s better to call the professionals.

How to Tell If Your Garage Door Needs Replacing

Here's an interesting fact: upgrading the garage door ranked number two among the home improvements most homeowners undertake. Why? Homeowners can easily recoup 94% of the costs when replacing their garage doors. Even if they have no plan to sell their property, many homeowners replace their garage door for other reasons.

For instance, aside from improving curb appeal and increasing their home's sale value, homeowners invest in garage door installation to lower energy bills or boost their security at home. What makes garage doors a great investment is they can last for decades as long as they are looked after accordingly. 

How to Know If You Need a New Garage Door

Understandably, your garage door needs to be maintained both for aesthetic and practical reasons. However, if you notice one or several of the symptoms below, it can indicate that you need to replace your garage door stat.

1: Problem opening or closing your garage door.

One telltale sign your garage door needs to be replaced is when it fails to close and open accordingly. If you notice that your garage door responds to control prompts erratically, you might want to take a closer look. You need to also observe if your garage door moves inconsistently or awkwardly. 

Ideally, your garage door should not take more than a second to respond. If not, it can be due to the following:

• Faulty connection - if your garage door responds inconsistently to buttons or switches, a faulty connection with the electrical circuitry is the likely culprit.

• Faulty wiring - if your garage door moves awkwardly, it is possible that it has faulty wiring or is off its tracks. 

• Broken opener wires - if your garage door refuses to close or open, it can be a case of broken garage opener wires that render the circuitry dead.

2: Garage door shakes when closing or opening.

Your garage door is designed to move steadily and smoothly without any tremors. If you notice your garage door is shaky, there's likely a problem with the belt, rollers, tracking, or lubrication. Also, if you notice your garage door shaking, you need to have it repaired or replaced before the problems cause you massive inconvenience.

3: Garage door sags.

While shaky movements and strange noises are considered alarming, a sagging garage door is typically viewed as a benign quirk. However, it is a huge mistake to ignore a sagging garage door.

A sagging garage door can indicate a more serious problem that can be dangerous to vehicles, children, and pets if left unattended. A sagging garage door can be caused by a worn tension spring, dull rollers, or dulled tracks.

4: Garage door hesitates.

Whether you're returning home or heading out, a garage door that hesitates can be a cause of significant delay. If you are in a hurry, a 10-second delay can seem to take forever. Ideally, your garage door should not take more than a second to respond to your commands. Otherwise, there is something wrong with it. 

If your garage door hesitates, it can be caused by electrical or mechanical shortcomings. For instance, the garage door opener cords might be broken, or the pulleys are corroded. It is also likely that the garage door hesitates because of bad rollers. Whatever the cause may be, it would be best to have it checked by a professional.

5: Broken or bent garage door hinges or tracks.

Your garage door's tracks keep it aligned properly along the edges as the door moves up and down. Hinges are also important as they allow the garage door to fold over the angle between the ceiling and the front of the garage. When left unattended, broken garage door tracks and hinges can cause other problems.

For instance, it can cause your garage door to become uneven. If there is a slight dip in one end, if the garage door raises and lowers, it becomes incapable of supporting the door accordingly. You might also need to have the rollers replaced as bad tracks can wear the rollers down significantly.

6: Increasing utility bill.

When your garage door is not in motion or open, it is designed to seal the garage tightly. This is crucial as your garage door can help keep the cold out during the winter months. In other words, your garage door plays a vital role in your home's insulation.

If a slight gap is present at the edges or bottom while your garage door is shut, it won't be able to do its job of sealing your house properly. During winter, when your garage door is compromised, you will be forced to turn up the heat to compensate. This can result in high heating costs that can add up over months and years.

Final Thoughts

Looking after your garage door properly can help ensure it works properly for many years. However, various parts will eventually erode over the years and need to be replaced. It is recommended that you have your garage door inspected once a year or every two years by a licensed expert to ensure it functions optimally for many years to come.