Home Improvement Tips That Up Your Home Value

Home Improvement Tips That Up Your Home Value

Home Improvement Tips That Up Your Home Value
Buy This Book at Amazon

Whether you are interested in just making your home attractive or you are planning to rake in a couple more bucks from the sale of your home by a couple of improvements here and there, home improvement is key for upping the value of your home.

In this article, we will take a look at a few home improvements tips that can fire up the value of your home.

They include:

Start with inspecting the home

You need to know that home improvement are not about improving aesthetic, improvements may also cut across repairs such as leaky roofs, blocked drainages and the rest. So a home inspection should be conducted prior to the improvement to pick out areas to be worked on.

Don’t underestimate the power of bright and well-articulated colors

A dormant room can be lit up with the right paints and patterns. Kitchen walls and cabinets, living room walls are great places to give detailed paint works. If you not sure the blend of paints to use, you may enlist the services of a painter.

It has been said that nothing brings out the beauty of a space than bright colors and smart details. Paints do not have to be totally worn out before they are changed. Get creative with the spaces around you. The kids’ rooms can even get extra illustrations on the wall for higher aesthetic value.

House Plants are real beauties, try them out

Apart from environmental purification and indoor air quality improvement, house plants have aesthetic value that you can use to improve your home and up its value. A wide range of indoor plants are available and these plants can be used creatively in different patterns and designs.

The succulents and air plants are top of the list of the plants that can be used in homes. Examples of some plants you can get from a florist and try are Sedum rubrotinctum, Lithops species, Haworthia cooperi, Agave victoriae-reginae and so on.

It is also important to note that plants do not just have to be potted and kept at a spot. Designs such as living wreaths, beautiful roofs and tapestries, fairy homes, terrariums or maybe even a vertical garden.  

Get creative with empty spaces, utilize the space under the stairs

What if I told you that you could come up with really creative uses for those spaces you never gave much thought to like under the stairs. Such spaces are more effectively utilized when there is need for more space around the house. While it helps you create more space for storage, if nicely done, it can add to the beauty armory of your home.

Home improvement doesn’t necessarily have to be exorbitant as many people think. A couple low-budget creativity here and there can do the magic.  

Pay attention to maintenance and mechanicals

Nothing devalues a home more than faulty essentials such as broken pipes, blocked drainages, faulty electrical system. The faults gives the impression that the home is in bad shape when its just a matter of few basic repairs. This is why you should ensure that you update the essentials of your home from time to time to retain the values.  While at it, ensure you allow the professionals attend to each repair around your home for expert solutions.

If you are not sure of the things that might require maintenance, procure the services of a home inspector.  Additionally you need to be sure to keep a regular maintenance scheme.

Pay attention to aesthetics

A couple of things can drastically improve the aesthetic appeal of any home thereby increasing the worth. These things are:

  1. A freshly smelling interior: an appealing smell in any home no matter how humble a home it is, is very good for such a home. you should pay attention to the smell that emanates from your house. Don’t just cover offensive odors with fragrances rather fish out the cause of such offensive smell and eliminate it.
  2. A catchy exterior paint and more neutral and calm tones on the inside:
  3. Ensure your home is well lit at any hour of the day.  
  4. Keep your kitchen, bathroom and other areas of your home sparkling clean. Dirt devalue a home.

Upgrades: Keep your home up to date

A couple of upgrades although economical, but they can grant your home competitive edge.  Especially if you intend to sell your home.  Finally, let’s talk about cost-effective upgrades that might give your home a competitive edge.

Some of the common upgrades you can try includes:

Go green

With all the fuss surrounding environmental degradation and the need for alternative energy, zero-carbon energy sources solar or wind or high efficiency devices are sure to drive up the value of your home.  These eco-friendly energy sources make the inhabitants or prospective buyer excited about your home. They want to explore these relatively unknown technologies and this is the value we are talking about.  

The kitchen and bathroom could also get a couple cost-effective upgrades that will culminate to higher value. For the kitchen, a couple changes like changing that stained ink or outdated appliance for a shiny new piece of appliance can surge up the value of your home. For the bathroom, replacing an outdated vanity, light fixtures or old plumbing will guarantee a couple more dollar for your home.

Consult a design expert.

Inasmuch as a couple DIY improvements cannot help your home, a design expert in Edmonton can sit with you and you both can strategize on improvement steps that are more important for your home. Different homes require a different set of improvements that will matter most depending on site, size and home structure.

Beautification of home, general repairs or just upgrading of property worth for a possible sale, whatever your reason for home improvement might be, the tips discussed above can help you upgrade the value of your home from what it is now to something you didn’t think possible.

Small Kitchen Decorating Ideas

Small Kitchen Decorating Ideas

Small Kitchen Decorating Ideas
Buy This Book at Amazon

Every home needs a well-equipped and functional kitchen, but the size of it sometimes can seem as a great obstacle to your plans. Just because you don’t have as big space as you wanted, it doesn’t mean you can’t decorate a lovely kitchen in which you can keep all your pots and pans, and prepare delicious food for your entire family. With only a few easy tricks, you can design a cute little kitchen, so feel free to look for inspiration in the following tips.

Lucite and light hues

When you have a small space, you should always decorate it with bright, light hues to make it visually larger. That’s why white walls along with white floors will not only offer you a spacious, but a clean look as well. Furthermore, for an airy appeal, think about having white rafters, countertops, backsplash and white cabinetry. To add a bit of contrast, consider pendant lights and a few wooden items. Aside from white paint, it would be a good idea to find a way to let as much natural light inside the room as possible to extend the visual horizon, which will instantly make the room look spacious. Furthermore, to eliminate visual clutter, think about Lucite barstools, trays, drawer pulls and paper towel holders.

Put cookware on display

You can never have enough space in a small kitchen, which is why you shouldn’t fill your cabinets with pots and pans, but find a more suitable storage for them. Think about using Command Hooks to hang them on an unused wall. Alternatively, you can use the sides of the cabinets to do the same, and go from the biggest item on top, to the smallest on the bottom, to create a nice little hierarchy. Also, think about doing the same with cutting boards. A chunky vintage cutting board can double as an artwork, so you have a win-win situation with not cramping your cupboards and creating a lovely decor for your kitchen.

Use metallic details

If you’ve opted for white to dominate the kitchen decor, a nice way to break the monotony would be to introduce a few metallic details to the room. From gold lampshade, to bronze bar stools, you can create a perfect modern decor with various metallic items. Chrome or stainless steel appliances such as bosch double wall oven can be a great addition to your kitchen, offering you both functionality and modern look. With brass fixtures, drawer pulls and doorknobs your kitchen will look amazing.

Go minimalistic

The trick to make a small kitchen look bigger is to keep it decluttered. Not only should the room be neat and tidy, but without too much furniture as well. While cabinetry and a few basic appliances are necessary, you don’t have to cramp the kitchen up with various decorative items. Instead, go for minimalistic approach. Uncomplicated fixtures, light colors and clean lines will make your kitchen look spacious and tidy. Go for plain cabinets and bare floors to highlight the chic minimalist theme.

Open floor plan

A lack of visual borders immediately creates a bigger space. That’s why open floor plans are so popular nowadays. With no walls to create a visual or spatial barrier, your kitchen will appear much bigger than it actually is. It will open up cramped spaces, allowing you to determine where the border between the kitchen and dining room is. This way, you can expand or reduce the size of your kitchen just by reorganizing your furniture.

Open shelving

Small kitchens are all about saving space, so adding storage without creating a bulky kitchen is a goal to strive for. The best way to achieve that goal is to use open shelving. It won’t take up a lot of space, literally or visually, and it’s a good opportunity for you to express your taste in glassware and details. For kitchens that are especially compact, shelving above and below the upper cabinets can be a good storage solution. You can store cake pans, extra towels and other stuff you don’t use as often above, and keep seasoning, oils and items you use on a daily basis below.

Multi-purpose implements

Small kitchens can sometimes limit you to using only several appliances, leaving you without the room for a very much needed dishwasher. Lucky for you, a new innovative sink will be the greatest invention for you and your tiny kitchen. A sink that doubles as a built-in dishwasher is the best solution for small kitchens, as you won’t have to think about where to put a bulky machine.

Decorating a small kitchen can often be challenging, but rewarding at the same time. Thinking about various options and coming up with the best solution will help you think outside the box and create a unique kitchen area. If you ever feel a lack of inspiration, feel free to use some of the aforementioned tips, and your kitchen will look perfect.

How to Use a P- 38 Can Opener

How to Use a P-38 Can Opener

How to Use a P-38 Can Opener
Buy a P-38 at Amazon

For some, the usage of a John Wayne can opener needs no instructions, for others they may need to be shown how to use a P-38 can opener.

Either way, these tools are quite useful.  I have never had one wear out, and only one rust.  Sitting on my keychain it gives those in the know a bit of a hint about military service.  It seems that only vets, shooters, or preppers keep them on their key chains.

I typically buy these in bulk (like the 20 piece set shown in the picture to the left).  That way I have them to give away when asked.

John Wayne Can Openers

These handy compact can openers came from the military and have the nickname as a “John Wayne”.  Any serviceman from the c-rations era remembers the P38 can opener.

My Dad was a Vietnam era Marine and he is the one that taught me about the P-38.  Rumor has is that it got its name because it takes 38 punches with this can opener to open a C-ration can.   I doubt that as there were huge amounts of fake knowledge people memorized for promotion boards (like how many holes in a MRA cracker and what they stood for).

They make a larger version for big cans but don’t bother with them as the smaller opener fits perfectly on my keychain.

How to Use a P-38 Can Opener

  • Unfold the can opener.
  • There is a notch on the handle under the blade portion. Slip this notch under the lip on the outside of the top of the can
  • Place the blade on the inside of the lid of the can.
  • Then twist.  You will push the blade down so that it cuts into the can.
  • Move the point of the can opener so the point is at the edge of the first hole and twist again.
  • Ensure that the notch on the side of the handle is hooked firmly on the lip, otherwise the blade will pull the handle forward instead of cutting the lid.
  • Repeat until only a small tab of metal holds the lid to the can.
  • At this point you can either finish cutting and let the lid drop in the can.  I typically pull it up as I don’t have a lot of patience.

I had a lot of fun showing my son William Tell how to use a P-38, he is very interested in the military, even if he doesn’t like John Wayne.

Sharpening Stone Kit Review

Sharpening Stone Kit Review

 

Sharpening Stone Kit Review
Buy the Sharpening Stone Kit at Amazon

In this article I will do a Sharpening Stone Kit Review from a nice $25 kit from Home Pro Shop.  Lately I have reviewed a glass bottle cutter and a bottle of glass cutting oil.  All of their products so far have been good quality and an inexpensive price.  In my experience they are not the cheapest items available in their categories, but they are not the most expensive either.  I find Home Pro Shops to sell items that constitute value.

Dull Knives Are Dangerous!

Dull knives don’t do any good in the kitchen.  They slip and cutting your fingers ruins a good day.

Why I Like This Kit

I have a bunch of different labor saving knife sharpeners, and I fing that gadgets tend to be more trouble than they are worth.  Typically I stick to a whetstone.  This kit comes with two.  One portable two sided stone, and a larger and higher quality stone with a a medium grit #1000 side.  This stone is stone is suitable for every day sharpening and will create a perfect cutting edge.  After getting an edge use the #6000-grit side to end the process and get a razor-sharp blade.

I use this kit on my kitchen knives and it works well for removing the dings and damage caused by my wife putting my good knives in the dishwasher.

Bonus Items Included

  • Whetstone
  • Portable sharpening stone
  • Fix stone
  • Knife holder
  • Cleaning cloth
  • Pair of cut resistant gloves
  • Instructions
  • Audiobook and eBook of the bestseller book “Whetstone” (usually $30)

This is the only sharpening stone sold with an audiobook.

Glass Cutting Oil

Glass Cutting Oil Review

 

Glass Cutting Oil
Buy Glass Cutting Oil at Amazon

Today’s post is about glass cutting oil.  What is it?  Why should you use it?  Frankly before I did the review of the glass bottle cutter I had no idea glass cutting oil was a thing.

Craftsmen that work with glass have been using cutting oil for more than a hundred years.  I will tell you more about why in a later part of this article.   Traditionally, Kerosene was the oil used for lubricating class cutters.  I don’t actually know why that was.  However, since glaziers would use a kerosene torch to heat their soldering irons, it makes since as kerosene was near at hand.

I have used kerosene as a cutting oil before (while drilling).  It is true that it both evaporate cleanly and does not gum up a glass cutter.  I find that I don’t really like the odor.

In the video above I talk about this and give a basic review of the cutting oil sold on Amazon by the Home Pro Shop.

Two Types of Commercial Glass Cutting Oil

Commercially available cutting oil comes in two basic forms.  It is generally either a mineral oil or a water-soluble formulation.

Typical glass cutting oil from a stained glass suppler is probably nothing more than white mineral oil according. The term “white mineral oil” is deliberately vague and is synonymous with both “light petroleum distillates” and “heavy petroleum distillates”.  White mineral oil is somewhere between paraffin wax and kerosene.  While I am not a chemist, I assume that this describes the “natural fatty acid derivatives and additives” that describes the Professional Glass Cutting Oil I am reviewing.

Many that use kerosene as a cutting oil like it because some mineral oils, like 3-n-1 oil is too thick so it does not wick properly in oil filled cutters like the one I show in my bottle cutter bundle.

Synthetic lubricant is supposed to be water soluble and “environmentally friendly”.  It is supposed to wash away so that copper foil will stick better when making stained glass.

I never new about cutting oil before I received the product above.  I would imagine that I am not alone and that many glass workers use glass cutters without any lubricant. Since getting into bottle cutting I found that it is often easiest to buy a bottle cutting bundle that already contains oil.

Why Use Glass Cutting Oil

It is very important to use cutting fluid, particularly when cutting thick glass. Cutting oil is created to lubricate glass cutters,  The oil helps breaking and longevity of your cutting blade.

Use either in an oil filled glass cutter or by dipping your cutting wheel in oil prior to scoring.  Glass cutter oil fills the score that your cutter has made, which since glass is a semi-liquid material to an extent stops the score closing.

Using Oil Will Extend Cutter Life

This glass cutting oil is especially made to keep the cutter blade from getting destroyed as it is scratching across glass.  It does this by washing away glass particles.  It also keeps the blades of the cutter turning evenly and smoothly.  What that means is that is will increase the wheel’s cutting life, its precision and its performance;

Cutting Oil Lubricates Your Cutter Wheel

This glass cutting oil has the exact viscosity you need to avoid the “leakiness” of the cutter head and ensure the ultimate lubrication for your glass cutting tools.  Lubricating the cutting wheel keeps it spinning freely and smoothly and also frees up any shards of glass that could get stuck in the cutting head assembly.  Lubrication protects the metal parts against wear, friction and corrosion.

Home Pro Shop Glass Cutting Oil is Non-Toxic

This glass cutting oil is created by using a non-hazardous OSHA approved formula that is prepared only with natural fatty acid derivatives and additives; Removing it is no problem as the oil cleans up easily;