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Here are the latest month's daily tips from Right at Home Daily.
Gel, a form of polyurethane, is a hot new furniture statement that takes the place of padding. The user just melts into the gel-like surface that comes in the shape of chairs and chaises in a variety of candy colors. Wiggly gel is the perfect medium for a
Use a laundry bag for your new kitchen linens made from vintage towels that can hang behind a cabinet door.
Set up a computer station in a central location in your home, like a corner of the kitchen, family room, or second floor loft. You'll be able to watch your children and help them with their homework.
Keep a notepad and pencil or pen by the phone in the kitchen for taking messages from all your new and old friends.
Plant fall flowers and spring bulbs that you've never tried, but be sure they'll work in your climate.
If you're not a curtain person, take down your living and dining room drapes and convert them into pillow coverings or even a special tablecloth.
Buy colored chalk and allow your children to doodle all over your driveway.
To freshen a room, repaint it a new color, just do the ceiling or do a border of wallpaper. Do it yourself or pay a teenager to help. With good equipment and paint, it's easy and fun.
Buy scented candles in different shapes, sizes, colors and fragrances and put them in a few rooms. For your first fall in your new home, add some potpourri in pretty bowls.
Build and decorate a dollhouse that replicates favorites of your new real home, as an heirloom for your children or grandchildren.
Host a birthday party for your September birthday friends with one giant cake. It might spark a tradition.
Start another collection of something inexpensive but fun such as postcards or bottle caps, and find a place to display them. Stick to a theme or price range such as under $10, and tell friends and family members so they can help, too.
Put out a candy dish and keep it filled -- and not just during the holidays.
Wallpaper a room in pages from an old book or sheet music to give the room a theme. Check with a wallpaper store to find out how to paste and seal the finished product.
Consider installing a pretty picket fence or some other decorative yard detailing, which will set your house apart by adding some old-time cachet.
Decide on one big indoor project that you'll tackle before the weather gets too cold, such as fixing up your basement, turning a tiny extra bedroom into an office, or redoing your laundry room.
Do you have a tree in your yard that's dying? Consider chopping it down (great exercise!) and recycling it into a cord of firewood to fuel your home through the coming winter months. To dry, set the wood on a base three inches from the ground and stacked
Do something spontaneous. Plan a Labor Day getaway to a place not too far away that you've always wanted to visit. Decide on the location by reading travel magazines, asking a travel agent, or seeking suggestions from friends. If you can't get away for th
Once you've got the exterior of your home settled, consider having it captured in memory with a watercolor.
As the days and evenings grow shorter, enjoy the last warm nights by hosting an end-of-summer barbecue. Try new recipes and drinks, invite over some new friends, and be sure you have music in the background to make the evening extra-festive.
During warm weather months, place a large empty basket in your fireplace and fill it with dried flowers. In winter, lay your fireplace with dry logs and newspaper, so that all you'll need to do is light it.
Window boxes add charm to the outside of your home, especially during fall when other plants are dying. Before potting your new window box, make sure you use the right soil. Ask your garden store expert about the best plants to live and thrive in a window
Walk through your new house at night and add better lighting whether ceiling, table, floor or wall sconces.
Place pretty candles or lights in your windows, which needn't be related to holidays but seasonal joy.
August is time to shore up your flower beds. Instead of using bark and chips as mulch, try a ground cover that serves as living mulch. It doesn't have to be replaced seasonally, and many bloom or offer interesting, colorful foliage.
Once you're settled in, reframe favorite old photos and create a new grouping on a visible table, shelf or wall.
For a backwoods look in your bathroom, consider converting a tree stump into a sink. Hollow it out, put notches in the back for the pipes and drill a hole for the drain. Coat heavily with polyurethane to treat and protect the wood so it won't rot.
Plain is in; keep color schemes simple, pare down collections, use natural fabrics, and keep your wood floors bare.
If a room has different purposes, like a guest room or office, consider buying furniture that is multi-purpose. For example, several European manufacturers make coffee tables that "grow" into dining room or conference tables.
Invest in a sound system that allows you to play music in several rooms, including your kitchen, a den, your bedroom and maybe even your bathroom. Before you paint or wallpaper a new room, wire the sound system.
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