Home Maintenance Hacks To Cut Down on Long-Term Costs

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Here are some home maintenance hacks that will save you money in the long run!

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Whether you own a home or rent an apartment, a home is an expensive investment. However, if you find yourself needing to make significant repairs, the expenses increase significantly. All of us are looking for methods to lower household costs without having to give up too many of our favorite activities.

Do you believe that the costs of running your home are too high? You should put money aside for a major purchase. Do you need to reduce your overall spending since your budget is tight? To cut household expenses and save money, we must ask ourselves some important questions.

Everyone is aware of how crucial home maintenance is. It can keep your home in good operating condition for many years to come and increase the lifespan of the systems and appliances in your home. However, keeping up with all the maintenance requirements to keep your house modern can be complicated. With these tips, you’ll make home maintenance easier.

Start an Emergency Fund

Your household’s routine and comfort can be completely upset if an appliance breaks down. For instance, if your dishwasher or washing machine breaks down, there will be a lot of filthy dishes and clothes to deal with.

Your home emergency fund acts as a safety net, allowing you to avoid having to wait months before replacing a piece of equipment or incur debt to do so straight immediately. Similarly, it’s important to address expensive repairs right away for both your sake and the health of your property, such as fixing your water heater, air conditioner, or burst pipes.

If you don’t have a rainy day fund to meet the expense, you’ll incur debt by using your credit card or agreeing to a company-set payment schedule. By avoiding debt with your emergency fund, you can avoid going into debt and disturbing your regular monthly expenses and personal financial goals.

Unexpected Expenses

Any unexpectedly expensive home repair is terrible enough, but when you add in the inability to pay for them or find temporary housing, you have the worst possible scenario. You can avoid financial hardship or worse with the use of a home emergency fund. You never know when you’ll need a surprise repair, even if you think your house is in wonderful shape.

It’s possible that you won’t be able to defend yourself from an unanticipated calamity, even if you meticulously carry out the advised preventive maintenance chores and adhere to all the guidelines for making proactive replacements.

Our unfortunate friends in Texas who experienced flooding, frozen pipes, and power outages this year will attest to that. However, you can still be ready if you keep an emergency repair fund on hand. An emergency fund for home repairs is money set aside to cover unanticipated, urgent repairs.

Although normal, these repairs are unpredictable. Although I am not referring to riots, wars, natural disasters, or alien invasions, having an emergency fund can still be helpful in any of those situations. Some financial consultants advise homeowners to set aside three to six months’ worth of living costs in cash.

Other advisors recommend a cash reserve of 1 to 3 percent of the value of your house. In light of this, it’s also best to set away $5,000 to $15,000 if your home is worth $500,000. Finding out which household products are most likely to break down and budgeting for the most expensive maintenance or replacement costs is an excellent way to determine if you have enough savings.

Do-It-Yourself

This is one of the easiest ways to save money on maintenance costs, and many tasks don’t require special skills. For instance, putting up a shelf should be quite simple if you have a few basic tools or equipment like a screwdriver, spirit level, and drill.

Even if other easy tasks like washing your own windows or touching up chipped paint could take some time, they will be much less expensive than hiring a handyperson. You can find tutorials for practically any home maintenance activity on YouTube if you need clarification on how to do it.

Using our example, you can easily discover several video instructions by searching for “How to set up shelves.” Some home maintenance jobs, like plumbing or electrical work, call for a higher level of expertise and knowledge.

There are tutorials available for some of these tasks, like changing the washer on a faucet or an electrical outlet, but remember that making a mistake with plumbing or electricity can have major and costly repercussions. A professional should always do gasworks.

Be Aware of Your Rates

If you need help with your ability to complete a task, consider asking a friend or member of your family for help. You can take on work for them in exchange. So perhaps offer to trim your neighbor’s grass in exchange for your electrician pal changing your electrical outlet—a straightforward job for him.

Another way to lower monthly costs is to change your auto and home insurance. If you pay both, look around for businesses that may package them for a lower price. To get an idea of how much you can save on home maintenance repairs start by browsing nationwide insurance quote options.

Check your policy to see if your provider offers discounted rates for making changes in order to save money on your homeowner’s insurance. Discounts may be available for installing burglar alarms, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and both. Also possible is updating heating or electrical systems.

Learn Your Limits

When you consider home repairs and the people who conduct them, it’s easy to see how two distinct groups of people separate and approach the repairs with very different perspectives.

Some people think they are born with the ability to fix any household issues. Others, on the other hand, don’t care whether they have any skills and employ others to handle any significant or minor house repairs.

You can manage the majority of small tasks on your own, but you should only strive to solve some problems. It is preferable to let a professional handle the repair if the alternative could cause additional damage, increase the expense by a significant amount, or cause you to suffer serious injuries or damage to the house.

Perform Preventative Maintenance

You may have peace of mind, safeguard your assets, and save money by keeping everything in and around your home in good functioning order. That’s because major (and possibly avoidable) repairs or replacements can cost you hundreds or thousands more than you’re willing to pay without annual house upkeep.

Always choose prevention over having to deal with a serious issue afterward. Your emergency fund can make quick small repairs or pay a professional to perform routine home care tasks like gutter cleaning and repair. For instance, having your gutters cleaned by specialists twice a year can help you avoid replacing your gutter system too soon.

Regular roof repair is essential to prevent leaks and pest infestations in your home. If roof repairs are neglected, they may result in more costly repairs or possibly roof replacement, which is unquestionably one of the most expensive replacements homeowners will have to deal with.

Overflows from clogged gutters ruin siding and wet the ground around your foundation. That entails structural issues that necessitate costly repairs. To clear out obstructions and debris, clean your gutters at least twice a year. Like you weren’t aware of that!

Keep a Maintenance Schedule

With regard to your commercial property, the adage “prevention is always better than cure” holds true. This is because, in most circumstances, it can cost you more money since the longer you wait to fix a problem with your property, the worse the damage becomes—consequently, the more time and money required to get it repaired. Preventive maintenance is useful in this situation.

You may use preventative maintenance to help you foresee and stop important property maintenance issues before they even arise. Even though performing sporadic maintenance tasks on your property from time to time can be beneficial, setting up a regular inspection routine can help. Additionally, preventative maintenance might aid in foreseeing potential property damages.

Tick Off a Checklist

For instance, you may plan professional checks of the building’s heating and cooling system on a yearly basis. This prevents more serious issues with your property requiring expensive repairs and enables you to maintain the systems already in place.

You can evaluate the state of your building’s systems and equipment through routine inspection. You should create a checklist for some of the most common maintenance tasks if you enjoy making to-do lists and timetables so you can keep track of all the preventive maintenance we previously discussed in the points above.

Getting Started

There has never been a greater opportunity to cut costs than right now. It will be easier to manage if you take things one step at a time, and you might be surprised by how soon you start to see results. A financial advisor can assist you in developing a budget and bringing down your credit card debt if you need expert assistance getting your finances in order.

In the end, saving money is all about analyzing your particular position to identify ways to reduce expenses at home. Considering all your alternatives is crucial because what works for you might not work for others.

Breathe New Life into Your Home in Queens with These 5 Renovation Projects

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The new year is right around the corner, so why not take on some renovation projects to make your home in Queens, NY more stylish?

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With the new year being right around the corner, why not make your home feel like new by tackling some home renovation projects this winter? Here are some of the best ways you can breathe new life into your home in Queens, NY without breaking the bank.

Kitchen Cabinet Rehab

The kitchen is probably one of the most used rooms in any house, and it can start to look worn out and, well, kind of meh. Putting on a fresh coat of paint is the easiest way to make your kitchen look new and up-to-date.

White, different shades of blue (we love navy blue!), dark browns, and different shades of grey are all popular paint colors. But if you love color, don’t be afraid to try bolder colors like bright orange, turquoise, or even neon greens or yellows.

Oh, and don’t forget to replace the hardware as well. It’s often the small things that make a big difference.

Revitalizing the Flooring

You should refinish your hardwood floors if you have them. You’d be surprised at how different your home will feel when the scratches and scuffs are gone and the floor shines. But if you’re on a budget, vinyl flooring is an excellent option!

We like mid-tone browns to warm up a room and give it a cozy, rustic look. If you want a modern look, dark chocolate browns or even light grays are beautiful choices.

New Paint

Over time, walls will get nicks, be colored on, get marks on them, and even get holes here and there. These things can make a room look messy and not very inviting. You can change that by fixing any holes and filling in any dents or other flaws with spackle. Once the spackle has dried and been smoothed, it’s time to get out the ladder and paint. Choose a paint color that goes with the rest of the room, but don’t be afraid to try out different colors. This is your home, so you can make it as colorful or as plain as you want.

If you want to sell your house soon in queens, choose neutral colors so that more people will be interested in it. Not everyone will like a dark green living room or a wall that is bright pink.

New Window Treatments

Window treatments are often overlooked when we make other house improvements. We may change the curtains every once in a while, but you can do so much more! If you want your home to look more expensive, you may do things like removing the cheap white blinds and replacing them with wooden ones.

Finish the Basement

This might be a big project that takes a while, but trust us… Your family will have more room to unwind and spend quality time together thanks to the additional space provided by a completed basement, which not only provides important living space to your home. Whether they plan to stay for an extended period of time or simply drop by sometimes, your elderly parents will appreciate the seclusion afforded by an apartment in the basement.

As a homeowner, you should do what you can to make your house feel like a home. Even though spring cleaning is important, it’s also important to update parts of your home that are starting to look old and boring. These ideas for home improvements are just the beginning. If you look around your house, you may be surprised by how many projects you can find.

6 Dramatic and Bold Interior Design Ideas for all Budgets

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For many homeowners, impressing those that step foot in their home can be just as important as creating a space that they themselves are happy with!

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While we don’t all have the same taste, homemakers often agonize over the right bold color or distinct design that they feel will excite others as much as it does them. If your own house is in desperate need of that extra aesthetic spark, there’s a wider range of possibilities out there than a trip to the paint shop — and they don’t all have to break the bank either. We’ve narrowed down six elegant and timeless additions to your home that will lend it a huge dose of personality, charm and sophistication — some with the extra benefit of functionality too.

High budget features

Home lifts

Aside from offering enhanced accessibility for those with mobility issues in your home, installing a domestic lift is a fantastic way to future-proof a property, adding convenience, comfort, and class. As Premier Lift Group explain: “People who may not necessarily need a home lift, but want one for their potentially jaw-dropping aesthetic value will treasure it, with bespoke lifts in particular [providing] a striking focal point that gives one luxury home an edge over another.”

Before going ahead with the installation though, you should seek out a consultation with an architect and lift designer in order to keep abreast of the different factors at play. For instance, who will be using the lift the most? How many people will use it in total? Bear in mind that a bespoke lift can be adapted into the structure of your home, but how this is done depends on the scale, frequency of use, and safety regulations.

Oversized chandeliers

Adding an oversized chandelier, either in a modern build or an older property, blends tradition with elegance and creativity. There may, in fact, be no bolder statement for a home that exists today. As Lindye Gallaway points out, it’s a great way to draw attention to something while still making it transitional and beautiful for your aesthetic.

The living room is the most common location for a chandelier, but, if placed in the reception or entry area, it can create a feeling of opulence as soon as you enter the property. If the hallway width is not accommodating enough, or you’d rather put up the chandelier in a more open space, the living room is just the ticket  — just make sure that it doesn’t obstruct the view of any art or prints on the walls, or your TV.

Medium budget features

Large contemporary canvas art

Forget that reproduction of Monet or Picasso — if you have a more mid-range budget, you can’t go wrong with a striking contemporary art canvas to really tie the space together and give your home a modern feel.

Make sure that the surrounding area looks polished and uncluttered though, so you can emphasize its dramatic features without distraction. Having a few smaller artworks instead may be less costly and imposing, but these can look disorganized on an expansive wall space. Save them for other parts of your house instead, and opt for a large canvas.

For framing and mounting, a considered choice can provide some extra panache and presence. For the canvas in particular, many prefer a tray or floater frame. As Soho Frames point out, these can be made from a “variety of solid woods such as oak, walnut, maple, tulip, beech, ash, pine, wenge”. Though these are more expensive than plain wood, they will certainly be more reliable — not to mention sleek and elegant.

Floor to ceiling bookcase

Nothing screams sophistication and culture like an aesthetically pleasing bookshelf. Whether you’ve got an addiction to buying books or a large wall you just don’t know what to do with, floor to ceiling bookshelves are more functional than they might seem. Their classic wood feel highlights both the top and bottom of the space it sits in, but can also be used to display antiques and any other unique items you have.

As The Spruce suggests: “This kind of shelving is also perfect for home offices when you want to have an additional storage area near and or above your desk — and can even work as additional dining room or kitchen storage”.

Low budget features

Bold colors for walls and ceiling

A bright, deep, or intense shade for your walls can instantly transform the look of the entire room. While many opt for more traditional, neutral shades such as beige, grey or cream, if you want to make a statement, go big.

Taking blue as our example, dark or classic hues balance out the more earthy wood tones or house plants you may have. On the more pronounced side, turquoise is underrated due to its highly distinctive tone, but it’s actually more malleable than you might expect — as MyMove maintains, this shade “can be soft and subdued, rich and bold or bright and playful”.

Just remember to paint the ceiling as well — this is a common aspect that people neglect. In fact, you could even use a different color, whether lighter or darker, for heightened contrast.

Dramatic lighting

A striking shade is all very well, but if it’s not accentuated and complemented with thoughtful lighting, you may as well have left it as is. For walls that are dark, lights are instrumental for the room’s total decor. These fixtures will be more pronounced when placed on dark walls, so being a bit picky about the style is essential.

For instance, you could invite a mood from the bygone roaring twenties by installing art deco orbs, which pair well with floor lamps. You want to choose lights with as much personality as possible — to quote My Domaine, “bold or sculptural pendant lighting fixtures often feels more like art than a utilitarian necessity”. It just goes to show how you can start to refine your interior design from the smaller details, giving your home flair for years to come.

Need New Lights but not Sure what to Go For? Here are Some Tips on How to Choose the Best Ceiling Lights for your Room

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Choose the best ceiling lights for your room with these tips!

When renovating a residential room, you could too easily treat its lighting as an afterthought. However, a room’s lighting actually plays a major part in its atmosphere and practicality.

The ceiling lighting should be a particular priority. Growing Family notes that ceiling lighting “is the main source of artificial light, and as such it forms the base upon which you can build up layers of accent and task lighting with things like floor lamps, wall lights and desk lamps.”

For which room are new lights needed?

Obviously, different rooms have different purposes. Hence, what exactly you are supposed to do in a room will be a driving factor behind what ceiling lights would most suit it.

A bathroom, for example, will need ceiling lights that are designed to cope with moisture, while some rooms might have art pieces that you would like lighting to highlight. You should therefore carefully assess your needs for a given room before buying any ceiling lights for it. 

How large is the room?

It might seem like an obvious question to ask yourself, but it does bear emphasis. After all, if you fail to sufficiently account for the proportions of the room, you could end up with lighting that, on the ceiling, looks comically small or feels as though it is drowning you in light. 

If the ceiling is particularly low, you could buy yourself a set of flush mount ceiling lights — as these, once installed, will nestle up against the ceiling rather than hang down into the room.

Do you want to make a style statement?

“My advice is to go as big as you dare,” interior designer Emma Sims Hilditch advises Homes & Gardens readers seeking to light bedrooms. “Large lamps make a statement and glass options are good, as they don’t look too bulky.” 

Of course, only you can be certain exactly what kind of style statement you are eager to make, if any. So, you could peruse the wide range of Pagazzi lighting solutions pictured online as you seek just the right ceiling lighting to satisfy your aesthetic preferences.

How strong does the illumination need to be?

You could be surprised by just how much punch is packed by chandeliers with their light output. No wonder they work so well in larger rooms! However, even in smaller ones, it can be crucial to consider just how bright you need lighting to be.

In kitchens and home offices, recessed ceiling lights can prove wonderfully useful, as they can provide strong, even light ideal for when you are busy cooking or working.

Does the room have any specific parts that you need to keep especially visible?

Obviously, a kitchen can have certain areas — like a worktop and the sink area — that could fall into this category, and there might be some wall art to which you would like to draw attention.

In situations like these, track lighting — so-called as it comprises numerous lights mounted onto a straight track that is itself fitted flush to the ceiling — can help.

Why Industrial Furniture is In-Trend Right now and how to Style it

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With wide open spaces and rustic charm having its moment in the sun in the world of interior design, it’s not surprising that industrial furniture has seen a steady rise in popularity in recent years!

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From open brick walls to metallic accenting, this unique and raw form of styling has once again found itself in the spotlight, especially for those looking to keep up with the latest fads and fashions dominating the home design sphere.

There is a lot to embrace when taking a more industrial approach to designing your living space, and getting the absolute most out of the materials used to emphasise your artfully curated home interior. Industrial furniture is famous for its intricate attention to detail, unique finished-unfinished veneer, and the usage of robust and reusable resources that often go into achieving the overall desired look.

If you’re looking to build a home that is bursting with simultaneous character and simplicity, coupled with a strong sense of cost-effective durability, read on as we cover the best ways to style industrial furniture in your home for an optimal outcome.

How To Style It

Highlight with Light Accessorising 

Learning how to gently highlight and accessorise cohesively is key when it comes to getting down the fundamentals of this iconic aesthetic. Whether it’s by investing in box section table legs or vintage bronze wall lights, there is so much fun to be had mixing and matching the most famous staples of this style, until you find the minimalist balance that feels right for you. Understanding which colours work with which, and how to implement metallic under toning can also go a long way in this regard.

Focus on Minimalism

The charm of industrial design largely comes from the contrast between sleek modernity and an older, more rustic vibe collaborating within the same space, which is why a big part of achieving the look comes from letting the statement furniture and silhouetting speak for itself. No need to overcomplicate it by utilising a lot of wall clutter or maximalist accenting to crowd up the space – it’s okay to let the room breathe.

Utilise Renewable Resources

One of the most recognisable characteristics of industrial styling is its affinity for using renewable and recyclable resources. Look for utilitarian materials of strong, high quality from brands that prioritise taking an eco-friendlier approach, in order to really live the industrial lifestyle. This point has been exemplified in just about every corner of this unique aesthetic, from the inclusion of reclaimed brick to the consistent usage of steel and iron. 

Integrate Neutral Colours

Generally consisting of muted, gentle tones and unique texturing, industrial design really shines through its unique use of colour and print. No need to brighten up the space with primary or pastel palettes, as that look is not super compatible with the more conventionally understated staples of industrial furniture. It is better to go for more toned-down hues that work well with the natural lighting of the room in question, above all else.

And there you have it – everything you need to know about why industrial furniture is so ‘in’ right now, what an industrial design scheme consists of, and how to style industrial pieces within your home.