5 Spring Cleaning Hacks for Your Home

Spring cleaning can be a pain, but don’t worry! I have five spring cleaning hacks for your home that will make everything from your baseboards to your oven look like new. 

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So, what are five great spring cleaning hacks for your home? Try these:

1. Make your blinds look like new. Simply take an old sock and dip it in a solution of equal parts water and white vinegar. Then, take the sock and slide it along each blind until they’re clean.
 
2. Shine up your shower head. Put a plastic bag filled with white vinegar over the top of your shower head and let it sit for two hours.  

Make sure you ventilate your bathroom after using Rain-x to clean your shower door.

3. Keep your glass shower door clean. Spray some Rain-x on it. Many of you might have used Rain-x when cleaning your car windshield or windows, but it works perfectli for a glass shower door as well. Just make sure you ventilate your bathroom after you use it.
 
4. Clean your oven. Mix equal parts baking soda and water until you have a paste, then coat the bottom of your oven with it and let it sit overnight. Wipe it out in the morning and your oven will look brand new.
 
5. Clean your baseboards. Wipe them down with water and a rag and use a magic eraser for any dark scuff marks.

If you have any tips we can add to this list or if you have any real estate questions, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

How to Get Rid of Popcorn Ceilings

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Are you sick of that crusty popcorn ceiling you have in one or more of the rooms in your house? If you’ve wanted to get rid of it, but haven’t got the ball rolling, we want to give you an easy step-by-step guide on how to do so today.  First, let’s go over the different tools you will need:

• A drywall taping knife
• Sheetrock joint compound
• A garden sprayer
• A box to scrape the “popcorn” into
• Drop cloths or a tarp for the floor
• Dust mask
• Sandpaper, preferably a 200 grit or higher

The first thing you are going to do is prepare the space. Put your tarp or drop cloths down and move any furniture out of the room. After you’ve got the space prepped, you’re ready to get started. The first thing you need to do is to fill your garden sprayer with water. Then spray the ceiling. We recommend doing it in 4’x4’ increments so you don't’ get all wet from the dripping water. Don’t be afraid to get the ceiling saturated.
 

Once you’ve done that, you’re ready to start scraping. Take your drywall taping knife and start scraping, using a box to scrape all the popcorn into. Again, do this step in sections so you can catch all of the mess in your box.

Once you’ve scraped the popcorn ceiling off, you’re going to use the joint compound to go over seams and dry spots left over in the ceiling to make everything smooth. The next step is taking that sand paper and using it to smooth over and sand out the ceiling.

After you’ve done all of this, it’s time to prime! Put down a coat of primer and once that dries, you are ready to paint. We recommend 2-3 coats of a flat, white paint so you don’t get any kind of glare.

This is a fairly simple project, it’s just a little messy and time consuming. If you have any questions about this process or about real estate in general, give us a call or send us an email. We also recommend Googling “how to removing popcorn ceilings” and watching some YouTube videos showing actual demonstrations. It helped us a lot.

Prepare Your Home for the Holidays with these Decorating Tips!

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The holidays are approaching. Today, we thought we'd do something a little different and share this festive video on holiday decorating tips from HGTV. Designer Angelo Surmelis shares several great ideas to spread holiday cheer throughout the home. Here are some of our favorites.

1. Pay attention to the mantle. If you don't have some already, buy some kind of garland to drape over the mantle. Next, use leftover ornaments and candles to add light and texture. When choosing ornaments and candles, ensure they are in the same color-palette. This helps make your mantle a great focal point! 
2. Use smaller Christmas trees. Every house has their main Christmas tree. In addition, you can also purchase smaller, inexpensive, eco-friendly trees to place throughout the home. Decorate these trees with strips of fabric from a T-shirt in holiday colors to save money for the main tree.
3. Use what you have. Be resourceful. Adding a plate charge and place mat to your everyday dining set adds some jazz to your table. Fresh-cut flowers and candles will help finish the look. You don't need grand, expensive candles -- a little candlelight goes a long way!

As you can see, it doesn't take much to make your home feel more festive. If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!