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Here are the latest month's daily tips from Right at Home Daily.
 Put favorite family photos in a special box so that you can place them on the mantle immediately upon moving in. For the rest of your photos, order pretty photo albums, maybe monogrammed, and when the cold weather comes, snuggle up next to the fireplace a
Toss out your old cleaning equipment and replace mops, brooms, pail and sponges. New tools should inspire early spring-cleaning.
If you want a change in your bedroom, consider upholstering your headboard in a springtime flower pattern to match the curtains or a favorite easy chair. If you read in bed, the headboard will get dirty, so buy a fabric that's easy to wipe clean.
Consider adding an attached sun porch or greenhouse to grow fruits and vegetables year-round and to park the summer plants that are now proliferating in your yard. Prices on prefab sun porches or greenhouses will be more reasonable than having one constru
Place a bowl filled with your favorite candy or nuts in your family room or living room. Choose items that won't spoil easily (like pistachio nuts or Hershey's kisses).
Have an outdoor cocktail or dinner party with a distinctive theme, like a Hawaiian Luau. Invite your neighbors as well as friends, hire a teenage band, tell everyone to dress casually and decorate wildly. Consider plastic pink flamingoes in the yard, leis
Start a subscription to an outdoor-oriented magazine, whether for gardening or barbecuing. It will inspire you to tackle more outdoor projects and enjoy them more.
If you have a pool, install lights for nighttime swimming as well. But don't overlight. You don't want your yard looking like a Christmas tree brought to life.
Summer food should be beautiful as well as delicious and fresh. If you have a huge brass tray, use it to display an immense and artfully composed salad Nicoise. Arrange ingredients in diagonal stripes poised on a generous bed of green leaf lettuce. Use green accent pieces such as green paper plates, plastic flatware and napkins.
It's time to make sure your kids aren't late for school. To keep tabs on the correct time of day or night, go to an auction to find an antique clock, perhaps with carved wood and gilt. This piece of Americana is perfect to place in your home's entrance hall.
Buy new bedding for your new home. Change the pillows on your bed and maybe even the mattress if old and buy a new set of sheets and pillowcases and maybe even a new comforter.
Take a hard look at your outdoor furniture and if any is really worn, give it away, trade it in, or spruce it up with paint and new cushions before you put it away for the season.
Biking is a wonderful sport both for exercise and for bonding with family members. To keep bikes accessible but out of the way in the garage, purchase hardware to either hang your bikes on the wall or suspend them from the ceiling.
Buy the right outdoor furniture so you can enjoy the warm weather. Have chairs for reading and napping, a table and chairs for eating and playing board games or bridge, an umbrella to screen the sun, and end tables for drinks and finger foods.
Call your pest inspector and power spray the outside for carpenter ants, hornets, bees, etc. that you don't want bothering you outdoors or indoors. Spray the indoors as well to keep unwanted critters at bay. You might want to set up a quarterly contract w
Freshen up a foyer with an architectural element such as molding or decorative trim gilded in gold leaf paint. Then fill the foyer with a large grandfather clock, an elegant bell pull, a marble pedestal topped with flowers or an interesting antique coat r
Protect yourself by videotaping and photographing each room for insurance purposes. Tuck the photos or video into your safe deposit box, and make an extra copy to store in an off-site location, perhaps with your attorney. This is a visual record of your possessions in case of fire, flood or other catastrophe.
If you're artistic, consider hand-painting a lampshade, a staircase or one piece of furniture such as a wood chair or stool. This will create a bright focal point for your room.
Start a paperweight collection to add sparkle and color to a room. Every time you take a trip, buy a paperweight. The collection can then become a visual reminder of your travels.
Consider purchasing a stained glass window to either replace a window in your home or to hang over a window. Stained glass can be designed to fit virtually any size window in the house.
Get ready to dig up spring bulbs that need dividing. Plant annuals to cover bare areas for additional color. Also, plant a new crop of vegetables such as beans or cucumbers.
Tenting your ceiling with an inexpensive and durable fabric will have an enveloping effect -- turning a bedroom into a more private, romantic spot.
Buy a pen with green or purple ink to write your grocery lists (makes items pop off the paper, so you won't forget anything). Buy a shopping list pad with a magnetized back and stick it your refrigerator -- handy for jotting down items.
Make eating inside an art by investing in some funky flatware and an inexpensive set of salad plates in a shape that's different from your regular pattern.
For all your outdoor entertaining, consider purchasing a new set of plastic glasses. They don't have to be expensive, but they should be distinctive. You could have hot pink fish swimming around glasses complemented by hot pink geraniums in the center of the table.
May is the perfect time to picnic outdoors on your patio or in your backyard. You can pack up food and dine outdoors, or perhaps grill or smoke your meal outside.
If you have high ceilings, you can make any room seem cozier by adding beams, coffers or planks to the ceilings. Also, add crown moldings and generous trim around doors and windows to give the space an intimate feeling.
Slipcover an old sofa in an animal motif, or add throw pillows in animal print fabrics and a shaggy fake fur rug.
Host a Mother's Day lunch or brunch for your mother, aunts and the other favorite women in your life. Ask each to write something special about their mother or grandmother(s) and bring along photographs. You'll toast one another.
Check your driveway for wear and tear. Snow plows, blowers and the cold are tough on asphalt and may have caused it to crack over the winter. If your driveway looks worn, consider resurfacing it this spring.
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