Real Estate Information Archive

It is almost time for the seasons to change once again as we move from fall slowly into winter.  As the seasons change many people find that they like to get things around their home organized to make the transition seem smoother.  Organizing your home can be made simple with a few of the following tips. 

• One way to organize your home is to get rid of “junk drawers” throughout the house. Many times folks tend to throw things they don’t know what to do with into a drawer that soon becomes a drawer full of junk. While these drawers DO keep the junk out of the eye of those that come to visit, you just never know when someone may open one of them looking for utensils or other useful items and you may be embarrassed by them.  Simple fix…..throw out the junk once and for all and have no more junk drawers in your home!
   
• Another great and simple way to organize your home   is to organize and de-clutter your pantry.  Typically there are items in your pantry that you haven’t used in years and they end up just sitting there taking up space.  This is very true for old canned food items that tend to have a shelf life of forever.   Once you get this simple organizing of your pantry complete, be sure not to let it get messy again by throwing away things you don’t use periodically. 
   
• Yet another simple way to organize your home  is to use all of your closet space for things you will actually use instead of just getting things out of the way.   If you have a lot of games for example why not make a game closet just for the purpose of storing all of your family games.  This type of closet will make it more likely that your family may have a game night once a week because you will know exactly where to go to find the games. 
   
• Keeping all of the books in the house in one spot is another great organization tip.  If you have various bookshelves in your home, you can utilize them for other purposes and keep one for only books.  Organize each shelf for books from each family member if you have a lot of books.  

​​Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtors Tucker Robbins 

As you already know, the “fall back” time change is coming soon.  This means that it will likely be getting dark before many of you get home from work in the evenings.  Brightening up your home will become more important to you during this time of year as most of us don’t like coming home to a dark house after a long day at work.  Below are a few ideas and tips for home lightening that may be helpful to you. 

•  An easy way to brighten up your house without having to purchase any new lighting is to add mirrors to reflect the light you already have in your home.  This is a great way to make a room seem brighter and lighter that won’t cost you a lot of money.  You can find decorative mirrors anywhere but if you really don’t want to spend a lot, try looking at your local yard sales for a steal of a find. 
   
• Another idea for  brightening up your home  is to install dimmers on the lights you already have.  This is a good way to make a dimly lit room into a brighter situation easily.  When you want more light all you have to do is to turn the dimmer switch up instead of buying more lighting for a particular room. 
   
• If you want a room to appear brighter, a great way to do it that is to add a few fake windows with some led lightning.  This would be a good idea for a basement room that may likely look quite gloomy otherwise.  This particular idea is a bit “out of the box” but it is a good one none the less. 
   
• Paint can also go a long way to making a dark dreary room look a bit brighter.  You don’t always have to paint a room white to make it look brighter however, grays and other neutral tones will do quite well. 
   
• If you want your home to look brighter and not so dark, why not add shear shades instead of heavy curtains.  This is a good tip for those of you who love the look that window treatments give to a home without the dark dreary feel many curtains can give. 

These are just a few ideas and tips for brightening up your home.  There are many others like these to choose from but these will get you started thinking in the right direction.  

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtors Tucker Robbins.

•  One way that you and your family can go green this spring is to simply take your shoes off before you enter your house!  You read that right; you can go green by simply taking off your shoes. 40% of all indoor contaminants actually come from the bottom of our shoes so do your part to keep this from happening to you and your family by taking those shoes off!  
   

• Learn what ingredients are considered to be green so that when you go to the store to purchase all of your new green cleaners you can be confident that you are actually doing some good for the environment.  Some companies that claim to be green actually have some ingredients that are not green once they are mixed together.   Just read up on what ingredients are green and what ingredients are not and are typically passed off as green and you should be heading in the right direction on what to buy and what not to buy.  
   

• Don’t forget the outside of your home when you are going green.  Many grasses are able to grow and thrive without the help of any type of pesticides and /or fertilizers.  The best way to start going green with the outside of your home is to replace the grass you currently have with native grasses to your particular area.  One perk of this switch is that you may find that you have a lot less upkeep of your lawn once you do this!  Who wouldn’t enjoy having more time with their family and less time doing yard work on a weekly basis! 

   

• Clean the toilet using a bit of baking soda and a scrub brush 

• Clean the inside of your oven using some baking soda mixed with vinegar and a rag 

• To brighten up your laundry use half a cup of baking soda mixed with each load 

• 1 cup baking soda with 1 cup vinegar will help to unclog a clogged up drain in your sinks 

• Sprinkle some baking soda on your rugs and carpets, wait 15 min, then vacuum to freshen them 
   

• Mix vinegar with salt to get those pesky coffee stains out of your coffee mugs 

• Spray vinegar in your bathroom for a good sanitization of each surface 

• Believe it or not, let your socks soak in vinegar to freshen them.  This is done by adding 1 cup vinegar to a pot of water and letting them soak overnight 

• Use a bit of distilled white vinegar on our toothbrush to make your smile brighter.  

• If you want your windows to shine and you don’t want to use regular window cleaner, use white vinegar mixed with water in a spray bottle then wipe clean with a paper towel.   
   

• Mop your floors with it!  Mix a couple drops with a gallon of water 

• Clean your granite countertops with some liquid dish soap mixed with warm water then dry with a towel. 

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Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtors Tucker Robbins and Carol Arnott Robbins.   

Let’s face it we all have stuff we need to get rid of in our homes, and typically the kitchen has a ton of stuff that doesn’t need to be there lying around in it.  Since we are currently in the cold of winter, there is no time like the present to start cleaning out your kitchen and making it look a bit more presentable.  Below is a list of the top things you should purge from your kitchen.

• We all have one, a junk drawer and that junk drawer is many times located in the kitchen.  It’s where we put all the items we have no idea what to do with but aren’t; quite sure we want to get rid of just yet.  Take that junk drawer and go through it with a fine tooth comb and decide what you need and what you don’t need.  Throw away all that you don’t need.  Most times the things you don’t need are the items you haven’t used in the past 6 months.  I promise you won’t miss anything.
   
• Another thing we all seem to have lying around our kitchens is all those restaurant sauce packets we feel the need to keep.  Sure you might use one once in a while but most times they just take up space either in the junk drawer or in the refrigerator.  Throw all the restaurant condiments out!  It will make your kitchen look much lovelier. 
   
• Yet another thing we all need to purge from our kitchens is the dressings, sauces and other items that have long since expired.  There isn’t much worse than getting ready to put some sauce on your food only to find that it expired two years ago.  Clean out your fridge and only keep those things that you are going to use within the next week or so or at least make sure that all the dates are current. 
   
• Most everyone has some sort of a stack of lids in their kitchen that they just can’t seem to find a container for.  If you have a bunch of lids that don’t have matching containers to secure them to, why not just throw them out.  They no longer serve a purpose. 

Hopefully this list of items you need to purge  from your kitchen will get you starting thinking in the right direction.  At least it will be a starting point for you.  

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtors Tucker Robbins and Carol Arnott Robbins.   

Home maintenance may be the last thing on your mind now that the holidays are over and the days are becoming colder and colder.  Sitting in your home wrapped in your favorite blanket by the fire is likely what you are thinking about this winter.  There is some home maintenance items   you should take care of during the winter months however so that you don’t have to deal with issues caused by not doing so later.  Below is a list of a few home maintenance items you need to go ahead and take care of around your house this winter. 

1.  As temperatures continue to plummet this winter you should do your best to protect your pipes from freezing.  You can wrap your pipes with many different things to protect them from the elements such as heat tape and insulated pipe covers.  If your pipes do freeze you can easily thaw them out by wrapping it in a heating pad or using a hairdryer.
    
2. Another home maintenance  item you need to take care of this winter to avoid issues later in the year is to do an inspection of your roof, your gutters and your siding as well as your chimney.  Make sure that everything is in good working order before the winter pushes your house to its breaking point. 
    
3. Winter is a good time to do some cleaning that you might not otherwise think about as well such as cleaning out your range hood, refrigerator coils, dusting off ceiling fans, and dusting off light fixtures and bulbs.  These items typically get overlooked when it is warm outside because you don’t spend as much time indoors when it’s nice out.  Being stuck inside on a cold wintery day is a great excuse or reason to clean these types of things. 
    
4. Lastly you might want to take the time you have in your home this winter to de-clutter your house.  Getting rid of clutter will not only get rid of fire hazards but will also make you feel more at peace when you do have to spend a lot of time indoors. 

These are a few home maintenance ideas that will help you to keep your house in good working order for the year to come.   Why not get started now so that you can then have some time to rest before you have to do it all over again.  

Courtesy of New Castle County DE Realtors Tucker Robbins and Carol Arnott Robbins.