4 Home Improvement Projects for the New Year

The start of the year is the perfect time to carry out home improvement projects and enhance your living environment. What’s more, home projects don’t have to be overly expensive or time-consuming. There are simple ways to improve your home and create a better living space for you and your family. Here are four home improvement projects you should consider in the new year.

1. Do a major house clean

A clean, tidy living environment will boost your home’s visual appeal and make it easier to complete your daily tasks. Maintaining a clean, organized home can also have several benefits on your mental health. According to maids.com, housework can effectively reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. Creating a peaceful, clutter-free environment encourages a calm mind and good mental health. Now is an ideal time to do a major house clean and donate any items you received over the holidays but don’t need or want. This will help to prevent clutter from accumulating in your home. Make house cleaning fun and quick by getting the whole family involved in your cleaning efforts.

2. Upgrade your household appliances

Upgrading your household appliances is a great way to boost your home’s appeal and increase functionality. Modern appliances are far more energy-efficient than older models. This means that upgrading can also be an excellent way to lower carbon emissions. Some of the most cost-effective appliances to upgrade in your home include your boiler, radiators, and kitchen appliances like dishwashers and kitchens. When upgrading, make sure to look for models that are economical and will complement your existing decor. For instance, Warmrooms offer a wide selection of vertical radiators that are cleverly designed to provide more heat to a room when there is not enough space for a traditional horizontal radiator. They come in a wide range of stylish designs to create an eye-catching focal point in any room.

3. Freshen up your home interiors

There are so many ways to freshen up your home interiors. This includes repainting your walls, replacing old carpet with modern styles like laminate flooring, and adding new furnishings. While cleaning, it is the perfect time to switch up your decor and inject some personality into your home style. You should try experimenting with vibrant colors and patterned wallpapers, adding some wall art, or purchasing some trendy home accessories like rugs, cushions, and mirrors.

We're in the process of taking apart our loveseat. We want to use the parts (like the furniture tacks) to refurbish shelves. I'm playing with the idea of making a few ottomans or poufs with some of the old loveseat as well.

We bought two decorative chairs to replace the loveseat. I'll share updated pictures when the torn apart loveseat is out of our living room. 

4. Boost your curb appeal

Your home exterior is extremely important as it sets the tone for what the rest of your home is going to be like. Luckily, you can easily enhance your home’s curb appeal with simple improvements like repainting your home’s exterior, tidying up your yard, replacing your windows and doors, or installing outdoor lighting. Make sure that you also inspect your home exterior regularly to check for any signs of damage to areas like the driveway or roof. If you notice anything, then have it repaired as soon as possible to prevent any further damage to your property. You should consider hiring a professional landscaper if you want to give your curb appeal a serious boost and get your outdoor space looking in top condition.

Help Me Deicide...

We have a microfiber love seat. We've had it for years. It's really showing it's wear. I've scrubbed, washed, and now when I clean you can see scrub spots it's that filthy. I really need a maid service. sigh! Travis sits on one side. He's typically dirty from working outside, and on sculpture. Isaak sits on the other side. He's a messy boy.

I want a new loveseat.

Looking at prices, it's in someways cheaper to buy a couch with a loveseat, than just a loveseat on it's own. I like our dark brown leather couch.

NFM also known as Nebraska Furniture Mart has a lot to offer. It's good for the area because it's locally owned. BUT it's bad for the area because it's so big that nothing else moves in, and survives.

Most of their stuff is neutral. I enjoy sitting down to see if I like the fit of a loveseat, but online I'm seeing way move I like than NFM has to offer.

We have faux painted walls: Yellow, then glazes of red, the glazes of brown. I really don't want to repaint them. I love our walls!

I could go with a neural colored loveseat, and cover it with something colorful. In that case, I might as well keep what I have, and cover it.

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Go the opposite of red-orange (wall color), and go with a blue-green loveseat. Our couch is dark brown leather, so anything will go with it.

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I'd really like an accent loveseat. All I can find online are accent chairs, or accent couches. Most are not sold in the US, or are $1000s of dollars. So many people are saying, "Just make your own." I may like art, but I don't trust myself with a sewing machine. 

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I like this, but who wants a loveseat with no arms? That's not a cuddle friendly loveseat. 

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So do I just keep looking? Cover the loveseat I already have - repurpose it? Buy something plain, and cover it? 

Look up "bohemian" and "patchwork" couch, or chair, and I typically like most of it. 

Disclaimer: This post may include link(s) where I have gotten paid for.

New Year...Deep Clean

I'm not one for New Years Resolutions. I just think people make them, they follow them for a month or two, then break them. There's nothing wrong with that I suppose. I just make short term, and long term goals. They are typically connected to New Years at all.

As soon as the New Year was over I'm said, "Ok let's get cleaning!"

I happily took down the Christmas decor. Usually it's a, "Crap we have to take down all the pretty thing!" This time it was, "It's great to get the Christmas decor down. One more thing done!"

The first thing I deep cleaned was the kitchen floor.

Travis is so apprehensive with moving the fridge out to clean under it. He worries about the waterline, and the cords. Boy did it NEED it!

There was a layer of dust under there. Having allergies, and asthma I felt so satisfied with cleaning that dust out! I followed up with cleaning under the stove as well.

I kind of wish I had house cleaning services. The night after cleaning I was feeling really stuffed up!

What things in your house need to be deep cleaned?

Disclaimer: This post may include link(s) where I have gotten paid for.

AutoRight SteamMachine #Giveaway

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I received a AutoRight SteamMachine in exchange for this review. All opinions are mine.

I've loved every single product I've gotten from HomeRight. 

Their new AutoRight SteamMachine is certainly a product that did not disappoint my family. In fact both of my boys were fighting over who got to use it. They both got turns to use it under careful supervision. We had talks about not getting too close to the heat.

You can get the same steamer I got to review on Amazon.

It's been awhile since I've cleaned out my car both on the inside and on the outside, so I put my boys and I to work. We used the AutoRight SteamMachine to clean the mats off. They were dirty for sure!

Before and After

We only cleaned 1/2 the mat. The front of the mat was cleaned, where the back wasn't yet. Can you tell the difference?

The 290° F steam is powerful enough to disinfect surfaces from germs and bacteria. It's also gentle as to not to damage fabric and leather. 

How to Use:

1. AutoRight SteamMachine is easy to use. There is a plug, which I happen to like more than battery operated machinery. 


2. Fill it with water. They have a cup and funnel included.





3. Push the button on. I did have trouble seeing in the sunlight. At first I thought it wasn't working. I cupped my hand over the power light, and saw that it was in fact on. When we finished up, I still had water in it. I took it inside to clean parts of my shower. The water has to be used up, or it needs to be dumped out. I had no problem seeing the power light inside, where the sun wasn't so bright. It only takes a total of 8 minutes to charge up! That's not long at all. 


4. Before using it, add an attachment. There are a lot of attachments stored in the front of the machine. The cup, funnel and squeegee are all too big to fit inside the steamer. The squeegee is used to clean shower doors, and windows. There are wire bristle cleaners for grills, and stoves. We used the soft nylon bristle cleaners for the car mats.
   
   Tool List: 8-foot long reach hose, 8-foot power cord, 1 jet nozzle, 1 large rigid black nylon brush, 1 small rigid black nylon brush, 1 large brass brush, 1 small brass brush, 1 small soft grey nylon brush, 1 large soft grey nylon brush, 1 microfiber towel, 1 squeegee with terrycloth bonnet, 1 accessory adaptor, 1 crevice tool, 1 funnel and a measuring cup to fill the 40 ounce steam canister. AutoRight products are backed by an industry-leading 2-year warranty.  

All the Things I Love About the AutoRight SteamMachine:

• You can use it for just a few minutes by putting less water in it, or up to 30 minutes with a full cup of water.

• I love the how many different things the steamer can clean! It just has so many tools. It's really versatile. 

• The wait time of 8 minutes isn't bad at all. 

• I think it's easy to carry around. It's not heavy, and it's sweet that it has a handle. 

• This is kind of an odd like, but I love that it's red! Red's my favorite color.

Giveaway:

Who wants to win there own HomeRight - AutoRight SteamMachine? That's a $129 value! Open to the US. The winner will have 48 hours to respond after the giveaway has ended, and I've contacted the winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Greenwald Carpet & Fabric Stain Remover Review

One thing that I just can't keep clean is my love seat. Isaak likes to look out the window a lot. We have wood floors, so anything that's on his socks travel up to the love seat. He's all boy when it comes to being clean. 

I got Greenwald Carpet & Fabric Stain Remover to review. I've been using it on my love seat to keep it clean.You can check out more of their products here.

The cleaner comes packs of potent cleaner, that you put into the squirt bottle, top it with warm water, shake and use. 

I had a bowl of water. I sprayed the love seat, dipped a scrubber that I only use on my love seat into water, scrub, and put the scrubber in the water to release the dirt. I cleaned a ton of dirt off it! 

This is just one of the many bowls of dirty water. It's not like I never clean this love seat. I do often. That's how dirty it gets with boys!

Allergy Alert:
I don't like cleaning with anything that has a lot of chemicals. This does. I do feel like I was spinning my wheels with natural cleaners. 

It did bother my allergies, while cleaning. I found it difficult to breathe. That's how little my body tolerates strong chemicals.

It even says on the cleaner to not clean without gloves. I didn't use gloves because I used a scrub brush with a handle. 

I only see myself using this cleaner for the love seat. I don't have carpet, and our bigger sofa is leather. 

This is something I won't let my kid's use to help me clean, and I'll try using it when I know I'm going to leave soon after the job.

It did however get the job done!

Cleans the Toughest Stains!

1. It's more powerful than the average cleaner purchased and discount stores. It works deep to remove the toughest stains from carpet, fabric and upholstery. 

2. It saves money. Because when purchasing either the kit or the refills (note: this promotion is for the "kit" that also contains a 6 pack of refills) it's 30-70% less than competing products.

3. It saves a ton of space. Each dissolvable refill makes a 32 ounce spray bottle and each refill fits in the palm of your hand. You can store gallons of cleaner refills in the size of a cigar box. You can store an entire arsonal of cleaners in a drawer. It frees up cleaner closet or under the sink space. 

4. It's environmentally friendly from the standpoint that you're not purchasing a new plastic bottle every time you need a new bottle of cleaner. You recycle the existing cleaner bottle that you have. This means less plastic bottle trash (5 times less or more) that goes to local landfills let alone less trash you deal with.  

What do you use to clean for your toughest stains?

 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Radha Tea Tree Oil Review

I really love Tea Tree Oil. There are so many uses for it! 

In the past I used Tea Tree Oil to remove a wart off Isaak's foot, and on a skin tag I had. It did well removing both.

This time I wanted to try making my own cleaner using Radha Tea Tree Oil.

All Natural Cleaner:
Makes 3 1/2 Cups.

• 1/2 Cup White, or Apple Cider Vinegar
• 3 Cups Water
• 1/4 Teaspoon Tea Tree Oil - About 10 Drops

I use a big spray bottle to put the ingredients in. You can add drops of essential oils to give your cleaner a certain smell if you'd like. Shake the bottle us before you start to clean. 

I use it to clean the counters, floors, and sinks. Any hard surface can be cleaned with this cleaner. 

About Radha Tea Tree Oil:

• 100% Pure & Natural Essential Oil Therapeutic Grade

• The best Tea Tree Oil on the market produced through steam distillation of fresh leaves

• 4 ounces in a bottle

• $13.99 and on sale for $14.89 on Amazon

Works on the Following:

• Skin Tag Removal (tried and works)

• Acne Removal (tried and works)

• Dandruff

• Toenail Fungus

• Yeast Infections

• Cold Sores (tried and works) 

• Wart removal (tried and works) 

• Soothes sunburns

• Home cleaner (tried and works)

• Prevents Lice Naturally (if you know it's going around at school)

• Helps Keep Fleas Away (Add a few drops to your pet's create)

• Soothes Insect Bites  

There's many more uses! I simply love this stuff! Have you used Tea Tree Oil?

 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free from Radha. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Leather Conditioner & Restorer Review

If you haven't read the post before this, I strongly recommend you do so. It's a review of Leather Nova Leather Cleaner. Leather Nova also sent me Conditioner and Restorer. That's what this post is about. Ive been trying to do some fall cleaning each weekend. Last weekend it was time to clean our leather furniture.

It can be used to condition and restore all types of leather and vinyl surfaces.

It works on all the following:

• Interior car seats
• Motorcycle seats
• Sofas, couches, furniture
• Boots, shoes
• Wallets
• Purses
• Leather belts
• Saddles and other sporting and equestrian goods

I'll be using it mostly on my leather sofa, and sofa pillows. 

I like that all their products come with a rag, or sponge that is appropriate to use with the cleaner, or conditioner. I never know what to use exactly. This cleaner comes with a sponge. They have it covered. It's applied in a circular motion after the leather has been previously cleaned.

Here are the Before | After Shot

I think it did a really great job! It's wiped away all along the bottom of the couch.

It will not only protect new leather but restore old leather to near new condition. It also restores the natural smell of leather.

This product is great to touch up and restore existing leather material, as well as protect it against future damage. Applying the conditioner once a month is recommended for maintenance, especially to help make the leather material repellant against water.

Comes in an 18 oz spray bottle. It's sold on Amazon for $29.95, but is on sale for $15.97!

Fall cleaning just got better.

Not suitable for suede, nubuck or microfiber.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.