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Easy Kitchen Cleaning Tips

May 26, 2008 By

Your kitchen gets used every day. Without maintaining small messes, you can have a big cleaning job every day. This set of tips will help you keep your kitchen clean and manageable.

Microwave

Here’s a good shortcut to cleaning your microwave: Fill up a cup of water and put it in there on high for a few minutes. The steam from the cup will loosen any stuck-on food, and then you can just wipe it away.

Fridge

Cleaning your fridge can be a big job, but here are a few tips to make it a bit easier:

• Toss out any bad food. You should also toss anything that is questionable

• Next, wipe down the top shelves and work your way down

• Baking soda and water make a great cleaner and won’t leave your fridge smelling like harsh cleanser

• After you wipe out the crispers and shelves, line them with paper towels for easier cleaning next time

Washing Dishes

Not everyone has the luxury of having a dish washer. Even if you have one, many things must be hand washed. Washing dishes can really be overwhelming. To make this grueling task a bit easier, fill the sink with hot soapy water when you start cooking or baking. This way you can “wash as you go,” eliminating huge piles of dirty dishes. Investing in a scrubber that you can put soap in the handle makes dish washing more convenient.

Wipe Down

After the dishes are done and put away, don’t forget the wipe-down. This makes your kitchen have that extra clean look. When you’re wiping down, don’t forget the counter tops, stove, sink, faucet and cupboard doors.

Sweep and Mop

The very last thing you need to clean in your kitchen is the floor. There are lots of brooms and mops on the market these days. Make sure to use a broom and mop that best fit the needs of your floor.

Finally, change your hand towel. This is a quick change that is not only fresh looking, but sanitary. Performing the above tasks will keep your kitchen clean and under control. And of all the rooms, it’s important to keep the heart of your home manageable.

About The Author: Cara Mirabella is manager and founder of The Household Helper, a site providing tips and resources for cleaning, organizing, meal planning and more. A former “domestically challenged” wife and mom, Cara now coaches other moms, to help them save their time, money and sanity when managing their home and family.

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Lawn Care and Fertilizer Create a Great Looking Lawn

May 19, 2008 By

One of the things homeowners take the most pride in is a great-looking lawn. It can be time-consuming and frustrating, but with persistence, you can keep your lawn looking beautiful. Here are a few lawn care tips.

Begin by raking up leaves and cleaning up all debris. If there are high or low spots in the yard, level them. This will give your lawn a much more lush and uniform appearance–it levels the playing field, so to speak.

Use a good grade of topsoil to fill any holes, since you want your grass to have the best medium possible in which to grow. If the yard has bumps, cut an X in the rise and then peel the sod back. Using a garden trowel, scoop out enough soil to level the area, and then push the sod back into place. Tamp the sod down firmly, to bring the roots into good contact with the soil, and then give the area a good soaking to promote root growth.

If you find bare spots, you’ll need to add grass seed. Make sure that the new seed will be tolerant of your area’s weather conditions, and also for the particular spot where you’ll be planting it. Some grass seed is tolerant of a fair amount of shade, for instance, while other seed needs full sun. Also take into account how much traffic the area will be getting, because some grasses are less tolerant than others of being walked or played on.

To maintain a lush, green yard, you’ll probably need to water it at times. When you do, water it deeply early in the morning, so the water will soak down to the roots and not just be evaporated into the air or merely wet the surface, causing shallow root growth. You want your grass to have deep, healthy roots.

When you mow the lawn, never cut off more than a third of the blades, and make sure your mower’s blade is sharp. For photosynthesis, grass needs an adequate blade surface area and if you remove too much, your lawn will be susceptible to disease.

Most of all, keep a close eye on your lawn’s health through regular inspection. There’s an adage that says, “The best fertilizer for a piece of property is the footsteps of its owner.” That’s certainly true of a vibrant, healthy lawn. Look for trouble spots, learn to recognize problems, and address them immediately when you find them.

Article by: Jeanette Fisher, America’s “Dream Home” Maker, teaches interior design, redesign, and home staging. You can ask her questions on her Amazon blog or see Joy To The Home for free home decorating teleseminars.

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Kitchen Decorating Ideas

May 12, 2008 By

There are many different means to decorate the kitchen of the house. A lot of persons acquire great desire to do these kind of tasks on their own after looking at Home Improvement programs or after discovering it is really easy after all from Decor books or online articles. A perfect way to start kitchen decoration projects is to do the walls first. You will find if you use fresh new paint and wallpaper it give the impression of a new backdrop to the kitchen while affording for fresh palette for initiating decorating. Perhaps you prefer to put a wallpaper around the center and then use paint on the walls.

Ideally the layout of any kitchen plan should afford for movement around the kitchen to be easy and for cooking supplies and appliances to be within easy reach. It is important to ensure that counters are at the right height in order to make things easy for the cook when preparing meals. If the cook is left-handed, it may need a little more ingenuity as to which side to put the hinges on for the doors to open to make it a more pleasant experience for him or her to cook. It would be nice to allocate separate areas for pots while smaller areas are designed appropriately for small items.

An alternative kitchen remodeling idea is to resurface those antique looking wooden cabinets we have all over our house. Resurfacing and then re-staining solid wood cabinets leaves the kitchen with a splendid glow. Remember though, do not attempt to sand wooden veneer cabinets, instead try leaving resurfacing of wood veneer to the pros. Cabinet tools and accessories are relatively cheap. A new set of cabinet hinges, handles and screws revitalizes most cabinets. Removing solid cabinet doors and using instead glass doors opens up a kitchen. Stencils are another decorating option for cabinets. The art of using stencils is is not very difficult and making use of continous stencil motifs in the kitchen can be very impressive.

Adding a kitchen island will definitely rank as the number 1 decorating idea to enhance a kitchen’s look and feel. Kitchen islands clearly creates much needed extra counter space and provide a gathering place. If you are on a budget then a great alternative would be a kitchen cart. Most kitchen carts can be mobile for rolling around, as well as have drawers, shelves and racks to hang utensils.

Discover more great tips at Home Remodeling Ideas a website offering tips and resources on matters such as cabinets and even about choosing curtains.

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Home Improvement Using Feng Shui

May 5, 2008 By

Harmony, happiness and health are three fantastic positives for a home buyer. Theart of feng shui can help your home offer these blessings to you on a daily basis. Feng shui is a detailed art of combining elements of the earth with proper alignments to produce positive Chi.

When choosing to purchase a home with a positive feng shui design, there are a few things that should be avoided.

Never have a straight road leading directly to the home’s entrance.

Never purchase or build at home that is at the end of a cul de sac or a road.

Never align the front entrance of the home with the stairway leading to the second floor of the home.

Never align the front and back entrances. The back entrance should be out of sight when standing in the front entrance way.

Never purchase or build a home situated on a piece of land that is triangular in shape.

While these rules are ones to avoid when looking for real estate following the art of feng shui, there are also rules pertaining to what a home should possess.

Always choose a home with the greenest and healthiest of grass. Green grass offers positive energy while brown or dying grass heeds a warning to real estate buyers.

Always choose a home that is near to natural wildlife. Natural wildlife is a great source of energy.

Always choose a home with neighbors that are prosperous. Neighbors who have fallen ill frequently or experienced money problems will bring down the Chi of your home.

Always choose a home lot that is square or rectangular in shape.

The art of feng shui is thousands of years old. For centuries, the rules of feng shui have been taken into consideration for everything from real estate to burials. When choosing to build with positive feng shui in mind, take these rules into consideration and call an expert before breaking ground.

About the Author:
Julia Vakulenko is a licensed broker associate with Tampa4U.com Realty. She has one of the hardest working Tampa Real Estate team in Florida and also in2Va Team for Northern Virginia Real Estate.

Filed Under: Home

Foreclosures: Tips and Warnings

April 28, 2008 By

First of all, you need to be aware that a mortgage lender can foreclose your home for two reasons. The first one is defaulting on your payments. Generally, lenders will issue a Notice of Default if you miss three mortgage payments consecutively. Another possible ground for foreclosure would be a violation on a major regulation or policy of the lender.

What You Can Do
However, in most cases, the reason for a home foreclosure is due to a default in payments. For some home owners, they waited too long before taking any appropriate action that would have prevented foreclosure of their property. If you currently have a mortgage loan, it is important to be constantly aware of your payments. If for some reason, you miss one of your payments, speak with your lender right away and inform them the cause of your delay. Don’t wait until the second or third delay on your payment or for a Notice of Default before taking the initiative to contact your lender.

Even if it’s just a single payment that you missed, it would be to your advantage if you talk with your lender right away. This is especially true if you know that there is risk that you might not keep up with your monthly mortgage for the coming months. You may have been sick and cannot go to work, or you might have needed the money for an emergency or you might have been laid off from work. In case, it will not help if you just stay quiet or attempt to hide from your creditors.

For many people, receiving a Notice of Foreclosure is the end of everything. But this is not true. You will still be given some time before the actual foreclosure takes place. What many people do not know, is that banks and lenders are not too happy about foreclosing properties. Putting up a property on sale involves lots of work, time and money to get things done. If you speak with your lender, they would be more willing to extend you the time you need to make your repayment.

Foreclosure Options
Mortgage lenders have made provisions for cases of pre-foreclosure properties. They can waive some of your penalty fees to help you repay your unpaid mortgage more easily or what is commonly called Forbearance. They can also give you an extended time period so you can find enough money to repay your dues or what is known as Reinstatement. A mortgage company can also enable you to refinance your existing mortgage loan without the need to go through the whole process of re-application. This is known as Loan Modification which means you can be granted a new loan without the need to wait for an approval or processing.

With these provisions in mind, it would buy you more time if you talk to your lender as early as possible. This way, your lender can also have sufficient time to make the needed adjustments on your mortgage terms. If you decide to wait until they have already filed foreclosure, it will only be more difficult for you to request for adjustments.

Article by:
Lisa Roberts is a loan consultant with NewHorizon Finance and has been providing consumers and business owners with home loans financing since 1989. For years she has helped people with home loan problems especially pertaining to home mortgage loans and bad credit home loans.

To learn more, check out the Mom’s Talk eBook’s Guide to Family Budgeting – Step-by-step guide to help you establish a workable budget.

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