Found 79 blog entries tagged as Tips For Maintaining Your Home.

The last of the vegetables are out of the garden, and most of the flowers have bloomed their last bloom, but you’re outdoor work isn’t finished just yet.

Put a few more hours into your yard now, before winter, and you’ll ensure a healthier flowerbeds later. Plus, your yard will be easier to manage when it comes back to life in the spring.

Clean Out The Annuals
Get rid of anything that isn’t coming back next year. If you still have green beans coming in or mums that have yet to bloom, then leave them. Any plant that has run its course needs to be pulled out of the garden and laid to rest in the compost pile. The rotting plant matter can harbor insect eggs, spores and diseases, which can linger all winter and cause problems in the spring.

Fertilize…

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Summer seems to be slipping away quickly. And, while you’ve hosted many barbecues on your back deck, you might not of had time to properly take care of it. August is the perfect month to conduct a deck inspection and make any repairs before it comes time to prepare it for winter. Below are tips on what issues to keep an eye out for and how to fix them.

Inspect The Deck

It’s important to do a thorough inspection of your deck every summer. You don’t want to step through a rotted board or have a railing break away from under you. Be sure to pay extra attention to places close to the ground or near water sources, such as under planters and next to the water spigot.

Check For Rot

Take a screwdriver and poke areas of the deck that look like they could be…

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Winter took a toll on your home’s exterior this year. You’ve been noticing the cracking paint for months, but you don’t want to shell out the big bucks to hire a professional. Don’t fret! With the weather warming and the nice summer weekends, it’s the perfect time to tackle that project of painting your home.

While this might seem like an insurmountable project, especially if you have a multi-story home, it’s not. It just takes the right tools and a bit of hard work. Below are step-by-step instructions to having the outside of your house looking shiny and new.

Test for lead.

Homes built before 1978 could have used lead paint, so be careful if you have an older home. They make kits that test for lead paint. If your home tests positive, then ensure…

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Your Santa Cruz home is where you spend a lot of your time, so it is worth investing time into making sure that it is an enjoyable place to be. Here are some things that you can do to make everyday living more pleasant.

Create a Personal Retreat

Do you have a place in your home where you can escape after a hard day of work and simply relax? It could be a luxurious bathtub with candles and bubble bath, or a comfortable chair you can curl up in with a good book? Find a place in your home where you can create a quiet retreat and you will be able to enjoy this space whenever you need to take a break and recharge.

Facilitate Social Interaction

Having friends and family over to share a meal and a few drinks can be a very enjoyable experience, so…

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One of the biggest improvements that you can make to your Santa Cruz home is to bring in more natural light. Sunlight is a powerful mood enhancer and a home design that brings in a lot of natural light will automatically look and feel much more pleasant. Not only will it boost your mood, bringing in natural light will also increase the value of your home.

So how can you shed some light on your home’s interior? Here are a few ways:

Add More Reflective Surfaces

Whenever you add a light and reflective surface to your home, you increase the number of times that daylight bounces around inside the room. Try painting your ceilings and walls with light or off-white colours. Matte finishes are actually better than glossy surfaces, as they reflect light in…

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So you have just purchased a brand new Santa Cruz home and you are packing up your things and preparing to move in? Make the move easier by getting rid of any unnecessary stuff and clutter that has collected at your old home.

Let’s face it, we all have a surprising amount of stuff that we don’t really use or need. Why spend the time packing these extraneous possessions, pay to have them transported and spend time unpacking them just so they can sit in your new storage cupboards or garage collecting dust? De-cluttering before a move will save you a lot of valuable time and money and the less stuff you have the more space you can enjoy in your new home.

However, getting rid of stuff can sometimes be an emotional and difficult process. Here are some…

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Does your Santa Cruz property have a guest bedroom? A guest bedroom is an excellent room to have, as it means that you will easily be able to host friends and relatives when they come through town. Having your guests sleep on the fold out sofa can be disruptive for both you and for them, so letting them have their own space is ideal.

Decorating a guest bedroom can be a challenge, because you want to create a bedroom that will appeal to a wide range of guests and will be practical during their stay. Here are some tips to keep in mind when decorating your guest bedroom.

Consider Using Two Twin Beds

One idea for decorating your guest bedroom is to using two twin beds rather than one large bed, as this is more applicable for a wider range of guests.…

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One of the important aspects of owning a Santa Cruz property is having the knowledge of how to keep it maintained to avoid costly repairs and serious damage. Over the years weather and use will wear down both the interior and exterior of your property. If you are able to practice preventative care on your home, then you will prolong the life of all of its systems and components. At least every six months or so, you should be performing an inspection of your property so that you can ensure that it is still functioning properly and safely.

Preventative Home Maintenance

What should you be looking for when it comes to preventative home maintenance? Here are a few of the important pointers to keep in mind:

Pests and Insects

Check your home…

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Flowerbeds can be a very attractive addition to any Santa Cruz home — if you have the time to set up and maintain them. Flowerbeds don’t necessarily require a profusion of costly flowers that need to be fertilized, mulched, covered during severe weather and possibly re-planted on a yearly basis.

So put on your green thumb and brave the outdoors this spring. With the tips below, you’ll keep your flowerbeds filled and your house looking cheery without a huge money or time commitment.

Weed Eradication
Before you even start picking out roses and tulips, take care of the weeds. Gardens get weeds because there are already pesky roots hiding below the surface. Dig up the soil and weeds before you plant. It will save you hours of maintenance in the long run…

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Buying a Santa Cruz home can be a great investment. And growing that investment by making it more valuable before you sell means more money in your pocket. While a lot of projects can be expensive and time consuming, there are a few quick and easy upgrades to make your property worth more to buyers.

Update Kitchen Cabinets
You don’t need to completely replace kitchen cabinets to make them appealing. Switching out the doors and drawer fronts can make them appear new. You can also add a fresh coat of paint and replace the hardware on the front of the cabinets to create a new look.

Replace the Front Door
The entry point of your Santa Cruz home is the first and last thing potential buyers see. If your front door is old, outdated or looks like it has…

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