Home Improvement Tip for Week of February 7

Not what you call the least exciting place in your home. But you wouldn’t want to live in a home without one. See what’s new in laundry facilities.

tip: view our home laundry room plan

Snow Day Party

Things You Need to Clean the Home

Cleaning closets are used to store linens, cleaning supplies, and other household essentials. Creating a cleaning closet in your home can help consolidate and organize all of your cleaning supplies, making cleaning more efficient and less of a hassle. Many homeowners use their laundry room for cleaning supplies storage, which is a great start. 

A few simple tips can help transform a hall closet or laundry room into a cleaning closet:

• Let your cleaning tools hang out.
  Install hooks, pegs, or nails to hang larger items like brooms and mops. Keeping items up and off the floor is an essential for all cleaning closets.
• Supplies belong on shelves.
  Simple, affordable shelving systems are another key to a good cleaning closet. Place larger items on lower shelves, and small bottles, sponges, rags, and other cleaning supplies on higher, shorter-spaces shelves.
• Keep dirt organized.
  Adding a second hamper for dirty rags and linens and storing it in a cleaning closet is a good idea to keep dirt in its place.

Keeping cleaning supplies stored and out of the way is important to keeping your home's air clean. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that the air in many homes can be more polluted than the air outside due to common cleaning supplies and improper storage.

Giving Cleaning Appliances a Home
Cleaning appliances can also find their home in your cleaning closet if you have the space. Moving your vacuum into a cleaning closet frees up needed closet space and gives it a more sensible place to rest.

Home Improvement Article

Easy New Year's Soiree

There's no better way to start the New Year than having all your friends and family over to celebrate it together. It's much less expensive to have a fancy dinner at your own house instead of going out to eat. Plus, you don't have to drive home afterwards. It's also a great idea to have some extra places prepared for your friends to sleep over as well. If they drink or not, it is often safer to not drive on New Year's Eve because of other people who did imbibe too much. It's always a treat to dress up for parties, so why not make this a black tie affair? It's just one more way to set this day apart from all the rest. Set the table with a beautiful gold or silver tablecloth, your best silver and Noritake dinnerware to set the scene. Set up your table ahead of time with glasses, even put your dessert silver down in advanced. This will save you a ton of time during the dinner. After all, you want to spend more time with your friends and less time running around throughout the night.

Make up glass water pitchers full of fresh mint and lemon slices. While you're at it, go ahead and mix up a special cocktail for the night. This year I'm doing a gin drink with equal parts lemon and orange juice. Add a splash of pomegranate juice to add that festive flare. Do a non-alcoholic version using sparkling water in place of the gin for designated drivers and anyone else who wants to skip the alcohol. You can keep it simple and just have 3 drinks for the whole evening, or go ahead and add wine service to the dinner. It's really up to you.

Have some simple nibbles for when your guests arrive. Make a beautiful cheese or veggie platter and you won't go wrong. If you want to add some hot appetizers, try a warm crab or spinach artichoke dip that you keep warm in a little dipper Crock-pot.

For dinner, serve a soup you can make earlier in the day. It's one less thing to worry about before the party. Keep it warm in a larger slow cooker and it's ready whenever your guests sit down for dinner. Salads can also be made up in advance and kept chilled in the fridge. Try adding some pomegranate seeds and fresh raspberries to give it a colorful twist.

You can keep it simple and only serve a soup or salad, then add in your famous main course and a few veggies on the side. Try something unusual like pumpkin or sun-dried tomato lasagna. Look at sites like foodgawker.com to get some great inspiration.

For dessert, fill up champagne flutes with chocolate mouse or vanilla custard layered with fresh berries and chocolate curls. It's a perfect way to top off an elegant meal with friends.

Just Blinds

topic: window decor

Complete line of high quality window coverings and decor.

provided by: blinds