Tag: home

May 20, 2022

Keep a Clean House With Nontoxic Cleaners

A clean, decluttered home provides a much-needed sanctuary from the daily grind. It’s hard to fully decompress if your home is dirty or untidy, and the average American worker spends nearly one hour on housework daily in an attempt to keep a clean house. But there’s a misconception that in order to truly clean your home, you’ve got to don rubber gloves and spray harsh chemicals to do it.

In fact, one of the primary reasons for cleaning your home regularly is to clear out the many toxic chemicals that have accumulated in your household dust. Flame-retardant chemicals and phthalates are among them (along with thousands of species of bacteria and fungi).

However, if you clean your home with commercial sprays, wipes, scrubs and polishes, you’re putting toxins into your home environment instead of removing them. The same goes for most laundry detergents, dryer sheets and air fresheners. Even those strong-smelling lemon and pine scents — the ones many people believe are the epitome of a clean home — are created by toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

You needn’t expose yourself or your family to these toxins any longer, as it’s simple to clean your home with nontoxic cleaners. You can even recreate the same “clean” scents you love using essential oils, and your home will smell much better for it while offering you therapeutic benefits at the same time. As an added bonus, by creating your own nontoxic cleaners, you’ll probably save money too, compared to buying commercial cleaning products.

Five Essentials for Your Natural Cleaning Arsenal

Are you ready to ditch your toxic cleaners in favor of a safe, naturally clean home? Go ahead and purge your cabinets of your old cleaning supplies to make room for these natural cleaning essentials. You might find that you have some of them in your kitchen cabinets already:

Baking Soda
In preparation for the Statue of Liberty’s 100th anniversary in 1986, 99 years’ worth of coal tar had to be removed from its inner copper walls, without causing damage. Baking soda — more than 100 tons — was the cleaner of choice, so there’s a good chance it can remove dirt and grime around your home too.

Use as a safe non-scratch scrub for metals and porcelain. To clean your oven, sprinkle a cup or more of baking soda over the bottom of the oven, then cover the baking soda with enough water to make a thick paste. Let the mixture set overnight. The next morning, the grease will be easy to wipe up because the grime will have loosened. When you have cleaned up the worst of the mess, dab a bit of liquid detergent or soap on a sponge and wash the remaining residue from the oven. To unclog a drain, pour one-half cup to 1 cup of baking soda down the drain, then slowly pour one-half cup to 1 cup of vinegar in after it. Cover the drain and let it set for 15 minutes. If it bubbles like a volcano, it means it’s working as planned. Flush with a gallon of boiling water. Deodorize dry carpets by sprinkling liberally with baking soda. Wait at least 15 minutes, then vacuum.

White Vinegar
Distilled white vinegar has been found to be useful for disinfection against Escherichia coli (E. coli), provided it’s used in a freshly prepared solution of at least 50 percent vinegar.9 For disinfecting, one study found that spraying vinegar, then spraying hydrogen peroxide, was effective for killing a variety of bacteria, including E. coli, listeria and salmonella.10 You can also combine vinegar and water for an excellent window cleaner, or spray it onto a dusting of baking soda to clean your sinks, tubs and tile floors.

Vinegar and water makes a great all-purpose countertop cleaner as well, but for stone counters, use rubbing alcohol or vodka with water instead, as the acidity may harm certain surfaces like marble and granite. For heavier duty cleaning, like mildew on your bathroom grout, spray vinegar straight onto the area, let set for 30 minutes, then scrub with a sponge and warm water.

Lemons
Lemons, both the juice and peels, can be used throughout your home for cleaning and deodorizing.


Consider the following uses:

Garbage disposal: Freeze lemon slices and vinegar in ice cube trays.

Refrigerator: Soak a sponge in lemon juice and let it set in your fridge for a few hours; it works better than baking soda to remove odors.

Room freshener: Simmer a pot of water and add lemon peels, cloves and cinnamon sticks.

Humidifier: Add lemon juice to the water in your humidifier, then let the machine run for deodorizing.

Breath: Drinking lemon water helps freshen your breath (rinse your mouth with plain water afterward since lemon juice may erode your teeth).

Trash cans: A few lemon peels added to your garbage can will help with odors.

Fireplace: Dried citrus peels can act as kindling in your fireplace, adding a wonderful smell and acting as a flame starter. Simply let the peels set out for a few days before using.

Hands: Add lemon juice while washing your hands with soap to help remove stubborn odors like garlic.

Cat box: Place lemon slices in a bowl near your cat box to help freshen the air.

Cutting boards: Sprinkle coarse salt on your cutting board then rub with a cut lemon to freshen and remove grease. This trick also works for wooden salad bowls and rolling pins.

Furniture polish: Combine lemon oil, lemon juice, and olive or jojoba oil to make a homemade furniture polish. Simply buff with a cloth.

Windows: Lemon juice cuts through grease and grime on windows and glass. Try combining it with cornstarch, vinegar and water for a phenomenal window cleaner.

Coffee maker: Run a cycle with plain water, then add a mixture of lemon juice and water to the water tank. Let it set then run the cycle through.

Hardwood floors: Combine lemon and vinegar to make a grime-fighting nontoxic floor cleaner.

All-purpose cleaner: Combine water, baking soda, vinegar, lemon and lemon essential oil for a wonderful kitchen or bathroom cleaner.

Castile Soap
Castile soap is natural, biodegradable and chemical-free, plus incredibly versatile (as are most natural cleaning supplies). You can use it for personal care, laundry and cleaning around your home. For instance, mixing baking soda with a small amount of liquid castile soap makes an excellent paste for cleaning your tub and shower.

For a homemade antibacterial solution, mix 2 cups of water with 3 tablespoons of castile soap and 20 to 30 drops of tea tree oil. Spray onto the surface (such as toilet seat and sink), then wipe off. You can even make a homemade dishwasher detergent by mixing equal parts of liquid castile soap and water.

Coconut Oil
Antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal compounds in coconut oil have been shown to inactivate microorganisms such as bacteria, yeast and fungi. Around the home, coconut oil is particularly useful for cleaning, sanitizing and conditioning wood items, such as cutting boards and furniture, but you can also use it for lubricating squeaky hinges and sticky mechanisms instead of WD-40.

It also works well for moisturizing and softening leather goods in lieu of leather conditioners and for removing chewing gum from virtually any area, including carpets and hair.

BONUS:

Homemade Natural Laundry Detergent

Ingredients:
6 cups washing soda
3 bars coconut oil soap (4.5 to 5 ounces each)
Lemon essential oil (optional)

To Make:
Cut soap into small chunks. Add to a food processor along with the washing soda. Blend until you have a fine powder. You may want to lay a dish towel over the top of your food processor to prevent a fine mist of powder from floating into the air. Also, let it settle a bit before opening the container or the powder will float onto your kitchen counter! Pour into a clean container (keep the essential oil next to the jar and add five drops with each load)

October 23, 2015

How to Renovate Your Home without Exceeding Neighborhood Value

by Courtney Soinski

Before you decide to renovate your home, it’s important to understand that not all renovations will increase the value. It is certainly possible to over-remodel, and you don’t want it to exceed the value of your neighbors’ homes. Here are some ways to get the highest return on investment (ROI) possible when the time comes to sell your home.

Projects always worth your while

shutterstock_138891047There are specific renovation projects that can deliver the greatest effect on your ROI, regardless of the real estate market’s current state or the value of surrounding homes. According to real estate expert Robert Stammers in a recent article in Investopedia, these can be projects such as an addition of a wood deck, kitchen and bathroom upgrades as well as window replacements.

shutterstock_117312145Factor in location

A common mistake that homeowner tend to make is renovating their homes to the point where it exceeds the value of surrounding homes. The fact of the matter is that people look in a specific neighborhood because of its proximity to nearby businesses or recreation and it’s in their price range. If improvements done to your home are much higher than homes around you, it’s unlikely that they’ll want to pay more for those improvements, even if they’re interested.

Make improvements that will add value over time

Some home improvements, like upgrading the technological features of a home, will not have a lasting impact, and may even bring down the home value. These types of renovations are at a higher risk of becoming obsolete and outdated as years pass. Technology and styles change all the time, so focus on improvements that are less likely to be impacted by time and are worth your investment.

Renovations that will pay you back

shutterstock_118031236

Regardless of whether a homeowner is planning to sell or not, the ultimate objective of taking on a renovation is to revel in the enjoyment you get from living in an updated home while gaining considerable profit from that investment. There are many tools out there that show the kind of profit you can expect from specific home remodels. A perfect example of this is Remodeling magazine’s “Cost vs. Value” annual report.

Here are some of the findings from the 2015 Remodeling Cost Vs. Value report:

Projects that deliver the highest percentage of return on investment

  • Entry door replacement (steel): 101.8%
  • Garage door replacement: 88.4%
  • Siding replacement (fiber-cement): 84.3%
  • Siding replacement (vinyl): 80.7%
  • Deck addition (wood): 80.5%

Renovation projects that deliver the lowest percentage of return on investment 

  • Sunroom addition: 48.5%
  • Home office remodel: 48.7%
  • Master suite addition: 53.7%
  • Garage addition: 54.7%
  • Bathroom addition: 57.8%

SOURCE: http://blog.realestatebook.com/2015/10/08/how-to-renovate-your-home-without-exceeding-neighborhoods-value/

June 24, 2015

Decor Layering Tips from Top Designers

One of the hottest new home design trends among interior designers is layering unique patterns and textures throughout various rooms in your home. This layering technique creates heightened visual interest and will catch the eyes of your guests as well as potential home buyers the moment they step foot through the front door. Get inspired to layer elements in your home with these new and innovative ideas!

makelyhome.com

makelyhome.com

Fancy Frames

An empty wall holds endless potential. If the room is small, expand your space with a mirror collage featuring a variety of shapes and varnishes. Is your heart set on colorful patterned wallpaper? Showcase your favorite print in a large frame for a beautiful living room backdrop to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Art fans should collect a variety of frames in different finishes and styles to create a living room gallery.

huntedinterior.com

huntedinterior.com

Pillow Patterns

While it’s fun to mix and match pillows, certain textures complement each other better than others. For example, linens and wool tend to look better with woven fabrics, while shiny and matte fabrics are best kept separate. Mixing contrasting textures such as silk and corduroy calls for a strong sense of design confidence, but it can be done.

camillestyles.com

camillestyles.com

Rugs Galore

Start with a flat, neutral rug as your foundation and add a smaller, accent rug on top. Investing in a large rug with a subdued color is wise, but have fun with the accent rug. Whether cowhide or a geometric print, choose a similar color scheme and play with the positioning by placing the top rug at a purposeful angle.

diyshowoff.com

diyshowoff.com

Drab Turned Fab

When thinking about your space, it’s important to remember that design inspiration can be found anywhere. Look for antique candle holders or paperweights. Check out antique shops or thrift stores for hidden treasures. When traveling, visit flea markets and local art fairs. Transform an old object like a rustic slab of wood into a glossy countertop for your kitchen island. No matter where you travel, keep an eye out for timeworn treasures for your home.

Layering textures and patterns, combining modern with rustic – blending home design can result in a truly transformative space that captures your individual style.

Source: Brizio

Source: http://blog.realestatebook.com/tag/interior-design/

April 5, 2013

Buying a House at Foreclosure Auction is Risky Business

You can buy a home at a significant discount at a foreclosure auction, but you’ll face a host of challenges. Don’t get burned; be solutions-ready.

Before attending a foreclosure auction, learn the rules for your area. Several processes are set by individual state and local governments.

 If you want to get a good deal at a foreclosure auction, know what you’re buying and how you’ll be expected to pay for it.

Start by understanding the foreclosure auction rules for your area. State and local governments set their own rules for such factors as:

  • Bidding process
  • Amount of deposit
  • Where the auction is held
  • Whether the home owners can get their properties back after the sale

You can learn about the process in your area by talking to officials at your county tax department or to a REALTOR®.

Although foreclosure auctions follow local rules, there are some universal challenges you’ll face no matter where you shop for foreclosed properties. Here’s how to solve them.

Solutions to 6 common foreclosure auction challenges

1. Challenge: Getting reliable information about foreclosure sales. Many companies charge fees to send you lists of foreclosures that may not be current, or sell expensive foreclosure-buying “systems” that promise to teach you how to make millions in real estate.

Solution: Most foreclosure sales are still announced in local newspapers. And you can get accurate information about buying foreclosures from reliable book publishers:

Foreclosure Investing For Dummies (For Dummies, 2007)

Keys To Buying Foreclosed and Bargain Homes (Barron’s Educational Series, 2008)

2. Challenge: You can’t get inside the property before the auction to inspect it for structural problems and repairs. Many foreclosure auction properties are in bad shape because the owners couldn’t afford the upkeep. And sometimes angry home owners purposely damage the property to punish the foreclosing lender.

Solution: Walk around the home to check its exterior condition. If it’s vacant, look through the windows. Ask the neighbors what they know about the property. If it was a rental, check the inspection records on file with the local government.

You can safely assume there’s something wrong with any house sold at a foreclosure auction, so cover yourself by bidding no more than 70% of the home’s market value.

3. Challenge: You need to figure out the market value of the house to prepare your bid. Some foreclosure auction announcements include information about the size of the original mortgage. That’s not how much the house is worth or even what the owners owe now. If the current owners bought at the top of the market, their mortgage may be more than the home is worth in today’s market and they could owe even more if there’s a second mortgage on the house.

Solution: Commission your real estate agent to do a broker’s price opinion (BPO) on the home you want to bid on. The BPO will show you comparable sales, telling you what similar, nearby homes that weren’t foreclosure sales have recently sold for.

Bid well below those comparable sales to leave yourself room to pay for repairs and unexpected problems. Ask the agency that runs the auction how to find winning bid amounts from recent auctions. Use that information to guide your current bid, too. A look at local tax and assessment records will tell you more about previous and current auction properties, like square footage and lot size.

4. Challenge: You don’t know if there are liens on the home. Some auctions don’t give you clean title to the property, meaning liens from the federal government or other entities may not be removed during the foreclosure auction process. You’d have to pay off those liens if you won the property.

Solution: Focus your efforts on two or three homes in desirable locations. To find out about any liens, pay a real estate attorney to run a title search on each property and issue a commitment to insure the title after purchase. Ask how the policy treats liens filed between the time of the search and the time you close.

A less-expensive option: Hire an independent title search professional called an abstracter or an online company. Both search options should be under $200, title insurance costs vary by state.

5. Challenge: You have to pay cash and pay it quickly. Most auctions require bidders to come up with the full purchase price in cash within 30 days.

Solution: Don’t count on getting a mortgage that fast. Look for other sources of cash that make financial sense for you.

  • Tap retirement accounts, provided it makes sense for you from a tax perspective.
  • Work with other investors to fund a partnership to invest in foreclosed homes.

6. Challenge: You’re in love with a house that you’re aware is headed to foreclosure, but you’re afraid to bid on it at the foreclosure auction because you know nothing about the process.

Solution #1: Contact the owners and offer to purchase the home as a short sale. That’s where the bank agrees to let the owners sell for less than what they owe on the mortgage.

Solution #2: You may be able to buy the house after the foreclosure sale. Foreclosure sales are run by a government agency (often the sheriff), which collects the money from the highest bidder and gives it to the bank to pay off the mortgage.

Banks will often bid at the sale to make sure someone doesn’t pay less than the house is worth (translation: not giving the bank enough money to satisfy the mortgage).

If the bank is the high bidder, it’ll take title to the house and put it up for sale. Then, buying the home is just like buying any other house. You can buy an owner’s title insurance policy so you know the house is free of liens; you can get a home inspection to check for needed repairs; and you’ll have plenty of time to line up your financing.

A real estate agent can alert you the day the bank puts the home on the market, so you can submit your purchase offer.

Since the bank pays the real estate agent’s fees, you likely won’t pay more than you’d have bid at the foreclosure auction to outbid the bank, and you’ll avoid most of the risks and unknowns of buying at the auction.

Read more: http://buyandsell.houselogic.com/articles/buying-house-foreclosure-auction-risky-business/#ixzz2PKo0xkqd

February 27, 2013

5 Good Reasons to Amend Your Tax Return — and How

Your home is a great source of tax savings if you know what qualifies and don’t forget to claim deductions and credits. If you missed any of these five, you can go back in time — roughly two to three years — by amending your tax return. (Read more nitpicky details in How to Amend Your Tax Return.)

1. Home office deduction

If your home is your principal place of business, you can deduct a percentage of eligible home expenses like:

  • Utilities
  • Mortgage interest for the proportion of the house used as your office
  • Home repairs and maintenance

Forms you’ll need to file an amendment:

  • Form 8829 and Schedule A (if you’re employed by someone else) for the year you’re amending
  • Schedule C (if you’re self-employed) for the year you’re amending

2. Energy tax credit

If you installed energy-efficiency improvements (like HVAC systems, insulation, a roof, windows) in 2009 and 2010 and didn’t take a tax credit for those upgrades, you may have missed out on up to $1,500 (or up to 30% of what you spent).

My husband and I didn’t claim the energy tax credit for insulation we installed in 2009 because we thought we’d get a better deal if we claimed the credit in 2010 when we planned to replace windows. But we never got around to replacing the windows. So we amended our 2009 return to claim the tax credit for the insulation. The $500 we’ll get back for the insulation is less than the $1,500 we would have received if we replaced windows, but it’s $500 we won’t get if we don’t amend.

If you want to amend your 2009 return that you filed in 2010, you have until April 15, 2013; for your 2010 return, you have until 2014.

Forms you need:

  • 1040X

Note: Congress extended the $500 lifetime energy tax credit for 2012 and 2013.

3. Home improvement sales tax deduction

If your state and local town doesn’t tax income, you can amend Schedule A to deduct state and local sales tax you paid. Say you added new siding for $10,000 and your state charged 6% in sales tax. That’s potentially a $600 deduction.

Use the IRS’s online sales tax calculator to figure out the total sales tax you can deduct. Have the receipts to prove you paid the sales taxes.

Forms you need:

  • 1040x
  • Schedule A for the year you’re amending

4. Property tax deduction

Get a copy of your tax bill payment from the local tax office that collects the bill. Make sure you deduct the property tax expense on your amended return for the year you paid it, which could be different than the year it was due.

Forms you need:

  • 1040x
  • Schedule A for the year you’re amending

5. Home repair deduction

Red alert: You can’t claim deductions for any old home repair. There are only two narrow, possible ways to claim home repairs, and it’s always best to check with a tax pro for your particular situation:

1. If part of your home is used for business. You can only claim repairs made to your home office or claim a percentage of the repairs you make to the house as a whole, like repainting or patching a roof leak. If 10% of your home is office, you can deduct 10% of the repainting or patching. If the repair is to the office itself only, then the percentage generally does not apply.

Forms you need:

  • 1040X
  • Form 8829 and Schedule A (if you’re employed by someone else) for the year you’re amending
  • Schedule C (if you’re self-employed) for the year you’re amending

2. For casualty losses. Calculating and deducting casualty losses (disaster, damages, robbery) is complex. Everything from your income level to how you value your property can affect overlooked deductions. Besides placing a value on your personal property, you have to subtract a number of things from that, including insurance reimbursement and a percentage of your adjusted gross income. Read IRS Publication 547 and consult a tax adviser. Note that you can claim losses from federally declared disasters either in the year they occur or, if it’s more favorable, on the preceding year’s taxes.

Forms you need:

  • 1040X
  • Form 4684 for casualty and theft for the year you’re amending
  • Schedule A for the year you’re amending

This article provides general information about tax laws and consequences, but shouldn’t be relied upon as tax or legal advice applicable to particular transactions or circumstances. Consult a tax professional for such advice.

Read more: http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/tax-deductions/amend-your-tax-return/#ixzz2M4EZxjOf

January 25, 2013

Unify Your Home in 8 Simple Design Areas

We tend to pay a lot of attention to the things that make our rooms unique, layered and interesting — and rightly so. But a home with nothing tying its spaces together can feel haphazard or even uncomfortable to be in. By making a few key choices about materials and finishes and applying them throughout your home, you can bring unity to your space.

Here are eight features to create continuity with, from the big areas (flooring and paint) to the tiniest details.

1. Hard flooring. If you are redoing floors or choosing flooring for a new home, a great choice to make early on in the design process is to go with the same treatment throughout the space. You can maintain a sense of continuity even with several different flooring materials as long as they make sense together. For instance, try using stone or tile floors in the entry and mudroom, and wood floors in the rest of the space.
2. Trim color. Sticking with a single color for trim, window frames, doors or all of the above is an easy way to unify your space. Painting just the inner frames of your windows black, as shown here, gives any room a very finished look, and repeating the treatment throughout the house is a subtle way to offer a sense of rhythm.
3. Hardware. Even something as small as a switch plate or drawer handle is worth your attention. Rather than picking out hardware at random as needed, make a conscious choice from the get-go and be consistent.
4. Window treatments. Choosing a single window treatment style for your home is one simple way to connect the rooms. Roman shades are a classic choice — they look good with any style decor, and they can be layered with curtains if you want to change things up.
5. Lighting. While statement pendants and colorful lampshades are fun and definitely have their place, you might want to keep some of your lighting constant. Try wall-mounted swing-arm lights over a seating area in the living room, flanking a bookcase and in the bedroom.
 6. A signature hue. Paint color can be a great unifier — or an interruption to flow. Encourage the eye to travel through rooms and give the entire space cohesion by picking paint colors in shades of the same hue or analogous hues.
7. Rugs. Natural-fiber rugs are a no-brainer for nearly any space, making them a great choice for providing consistency in the home. Use coir or sisal carpeting to cover a staircase and in the living room, halls and bedroom. Natural-colored carpeting, as shown here, is the classic choice, but black or espresso would be quite sophisticated.
8. A clean backdrop. This cottage feels spacious and serene, thanks in great part to fresh white wall paneling throughout. It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, but an all-white space really can work wonders.