Home Advice

In the spirit of new beginnings, HGTV has consulted the experts and come up with some resolutions that will make your home a more beautiful, efficient, clean and green place in the coming year.

Here are our five picks for the best home improvement resolutions for the new year and how to achieve them:

 1. Streamline the stuff

One of the best and least expensive ways to feel better about your home is to clear it of clutter.

Each year most of us acquire a mountain of stuff. Without some regular purging, cabinets and drawers get jam-packed and it becomes hard to find the things you use and enjoy the most. (All that clutter also makes your house look dated and dirty, designers say.)

This year resolve to go room-by-room periodically clearing anything that you don’t use, wear or love and donate it to charity. After that, think twice about what you bring in, says Antoinette Nue, an Atlanta consultant who specializes in helping people simplify and go green.

“Fill your home with the things that raise your energy level and make you feel good, and get rid of the things that drain your energy or are broken,” she says.

Stash useful (but not beautiful) items such as DVDs, remotes and those kicked-off shoes in simple woven baskets. Group similar items together on sleek trays, says Stuart McCormick, a designer with Liz Levin Interiors in Washington D.C.

Clear your counters of everything you don’t use on a daily basis. And get ready to breathe a little easier in your own home.

 2. Make it safe and sound

Your home may be beautiful, but is it safe? There are a few things that every homeowner should do to ensure that they’re not living with a potential health hazard or fire risk.

First, check your house for radon. This colorless, odorless gas causes about 21,000 lung cancer deaths each year from the radioactive particles it traps in your lungs as you breathe, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. One in every fifteen homes has elevated levels. And with test kits costing as little as $20 at your local hardware store, there’s no reason not to get right on that.

While we’re on the subject of deadly gas, make sure you install a carbon monoxide detector on every bedroom floor in addition to fire detectors. If a chimney flue or furnace vent gets blocked or leaks, carbon monoxide could back up in your house and kill you. Like a radon test, this is a small investment — $40 or more — for such an important safeguard.

Watch out for dryer lint. We know you clean the little trap inside the door, but most people neglect to clean the vents and ducts behind the dryer. Lint may seem innocent, but it’s highly combustible, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, accounting for more than 15,000 building fires a year.

Make sure your house can breathe. Hickory Hills, Ill. home inspector Jack McGraw is always surprised at how many people’s bathrooms and attics aren’t vented to the outside (or the vents are covered over with shingles.) This makes you a prime candidate for mold.

And if you’re considering a remodel — and your home was last built or remodeled before 1978 — consider testing for lead paint and asbestos flooring. It will have to handled properly during removal, or particles can be released into the air for you to ingest.

READ MORE ON HGTV.COM 

What makes a person “disorganized” in many situations is losing track of how many projects were started, or not being able to manage all of them. What can complicate this further is that the projects are often spread out all over the place, rather than in one area.

An important step to getting projects organized is to make sure it is logical for you to complete all of them. For each project, you should ask yourself: If this project is really worth doing, why haven’t I completed it by now? If you come up with a reasonable explanation, then you most likely will want to hold on to materials for the project. If you have lost interest in it (or you won’t realistically have time to work on it in the near or distant future), you should consider letting that one go. Once you part with projects that merely take up physical space in your home, you will be able to let go of any guilt about not finishing them. Unused materials can always be donated or given away to people who will put them to use.

Now that you are left with projects you intend to complete, you can store them in a way that they are easily accessible. Find an area such as a cupboard or closet that has plenty of vertical space in which containers or storage boxes can be stacked neatly inside. My preferred system is storing projects in a set of streamlined containers or boxes like these. This will likely involve setting up or reorganizing a storage area to accommodate your collection of projects. If you use clear storage bins, you can visually identify each project and assess how much more needs to be done to complete it.

Once your projects are contained, you can sort them in many different ways. One method is to organize them in rows based on their category. They can be divided into categories such as: crafts, hobbies, repairs, scrapbooks or photos, etc. Another approach is to place them in order of priority. The ones that are most important (or perhaps the ones that are almost completed) can be placed toward the front. Those that are less of a priority can be stored in the back.

If you want to take your organization to the next level, you can create a to-do list for all of the unfinished projects. Order them from the first one you plan to work on all the way to the last. Also, give yourself start dates or deadlines for each project so they don’t get forgotten about and lost for decades. However you organize your unfinished project area, having easy access to them and a plan to finish them will definitely make help you accept the fact that they are works in progress (rather than abandoned projects).

Unfinished projects can be a great burden if you view them as disorganized clutter. Once you store them in a streamlined way and you create a plan to rotate them out as you complete them, you will feel more organized and have peace of mind.

When we think of home improvement some of the things that come to our mind is the cost, the contractors and the length of the project.  I have 15 simple solutions that will help you organize your home without the cost of contractors and can be done in a couple of hours.

Clothes Closet

• Use a variety of organizers to store belts, scarves and other accessories
• Use shelves to store sweaters and tee shirts
• Store shoes on racks or in shoe boxes

Linen Closet

• Fold bed linens sets as a unit
• Stack linens by room
• Roll your towels to save space

Hall Closet

• Use containers to store small items ( flash lights, batteries, chargers)
• Use shoe racks to organize shoes that are kept near entrance
• Place hats, gloves and scarves in bins or baskets

Kitchen Cabinet Storage

• Mount hooks underneath inside shelf to hang cups
• Attach an organizer on the inside of a cabinet door to store sponges, rubber gloves, etc.
• Use a lazy Susan in an awkward corner to maximize space

Under the bed

• Use storage boxes on wheels to utilize space underneath the bed to store linens or seasonal clothes.

Medicine Cabinet

• Designate a shelf for items such as hair care, first aid items, skin and body care.
• Periodically check the expiration date on all items in medicine cabinet

 

Janet M. Taylor is a professional organizer, speaker and author with over 20 years of experience helping people get organized.

If you are ready to get your life visit her website at www.janetmtaylor.com

1. Establish a location for your keys by using a hook on the wall or a decorative dish.
2. Use baskets to place incoming mail and bills.
3. Open mail by the wastebasket.
4. Keep your recycling bin accessible for mail inserts that you don’t need.
5. Shred mail with personal information.
6. Avoid additional clutter by deciding which catalogs/magazines you will keep and toss those you are no longer interested in reading. Make sure you remove your name from their mailing list.
7. Discard coupons that have expired.
8. Discard manuals to equipment you no longer own.
9. Lay clothes out the night before.
10. Pack your purse, tote or briefcase the night before.
11. Create a yearly purging schedule. Purge closets in the spring and fall.  Purge paperwork and files when you have to gather documents for yearly taxes.
12. Establish a location where you will pay bills, manage the home, etc. (spare room, corner of a room).
13. Designate a place to keep personal documents (filing cabinet, file box).
14. Clean the refrigerator as you put away groceries, tossing containers either in the sink or the trash.
15. Minimize counter clutter by keeping only those appliances that are used at least once a day on top.
16. Use hanging mesh or wire baskets to store fruit, onions, potatoes, etc.
17. Maximize the space in your cabinets by installing small hooks on the bottoms of shelves for mugs that won’t stack.
18. Put in back-of-door organizing racks to neatly hold boxes of foil, pot lids and extra shopping bags.
19. Go through your medicine cabinet and throw away expired items.
20. Get rid of dried-up cosmetics, nail polish and face creams.
21. Turntables used underneath sinks can maximize space and make items accessible.

Janet M. Taylor is a professional organizer, speaker and author with over 20 years of experience helping people get organized.

If you are ready to get your life visit her website at www.janetmtaylor.com

Combining bedroom and living area, this transitional design speaks to the modern homeowner with its wide space, dark wood floors, and ceiling-to-floor gray wall partition. On one side of the wall, you have a comfy semi-living room, complete with gray velvet armchairs, glass coffee table, and limestone fire place. What better place is there to spend lazy weekends when you don’t want to feel too lazy by staying in bed all day? Not to mention, the fire place keeps the room warm and toasty on those chillier nights.

On the other side of the partition is the actual bedroom with its attractive, tufted headboard and modern black furniture. The wall creates a sense of privacy and also doubles as the ideal place to mount a television for late night channel surfing. Topping this all off is the beautiful coffered ceiling and fun chandelier that compliments the room’s design perfectly.

This bedroom design is ideal for the homeowner on a budget because it does technically double as two rooms. Why waste money on a bigger house, when you can just get this room design instead? All that is needed is a splash of color by way of some extra throw pillows and this dream room is complete.

To find more bedroom ideas, visit: Houzz – http://bit.ly/1MapMWP

This design is ideal for the homeowner, who likes his or her space in the kitchen. With its multiple countertops and classy traditional design, this room is perfect for the average or professional chef, and even has the feel of a Food Network home cooking show. Even if you don’t like to cook, what better way is there to utilize the counter space than to cover it entirely with takeout galore? One counter for food, one counter to eat it on.

Then there is the round kitchen table, accented by elegant, tufted white chairs that make eating dinner a comfortable, yet fashionable experience. The round table ensures that family and guests are intimate and fully able to have their share in conversation about embarrassing childhood memories, awkward teenage experiences, and every day dealings at work.

This traditional galley eat-in kitchen with its beautiful, multi-hued, dark work floor is perfect for house parties, holiday dinners, and even early morning family breakfasts before work/school. The wide space is certainly airy enough to avoid claustrophobia during any large get-together, and once you add the spice rack and kitchen ware, you are sure to have the kitchen of your dreams.

 To view more kitchen ideas, visit: Houzz – http://bit.ly/1kA0pYL

This living room, with its warm colors and contemporary design, makes a perfect area to enjoy a lazy, rainy day with the family, watching your favorite movie or binge-watching your favorite show on Netflix. It also doubles as the classy, yet comfy rendezvous for your book club, girls’ night, get together, and can even pass for a man cave for game nights.

The white leather sectional is comfortable enough to lay back and be immersed in its squashiness, yet it is also sophisticated enough to seat that nosy neighbor you have just been dying to outdo. Add to that the matching coffee table, floating shelves, and tray ceiling, and you have enough bragging rights to last until said neighbor puts in for a home makeover.

This living room design is very fashionable and ideal for family, bachelor, or bachelorette. Not only is the design itself beautifully conceptualized, but once you add your own personal effects—cozy blankets, family photos, some more throw pillows—it instantly becomes the fitting room for living for any potential homeowner.

 To view more Living Room ideas, visit: Houzz – http://bit.ly/1LSbZZf