   
|
 |
Here are the latest month's daily tips from Right at Home Daily.
 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.
To give a room a taller feeling, place matching tall plants in the corners and add a torchiere light behind a sofa or chairs for extra illumination.
Buy a brass knocker for your front door. Consider having it monogrammed.
Bring out your good china, glassware, silver and placemats, place them somewhere where they accessible so that once a month you can use them for dinner when you cook a special meal with a theme.
Turn an ugly old tub into a nicer combination tub-shower or just a glass-enclosed shower.
Add an ethnic touch to your new living room by displaying a handmade cloth as a throw.
Place a small table or stand in your powder room and indulge your guests with pretty soaps, fabric hand towels, a vase for flowers, and some potpourri.
Buy some extra hand fans in case your AC goes on the blink. If your area experiences brownouts or blackouts during the summer, make sure you have flashlights and new batteries around in easy to find (in the dark!) places.
Sit outside to enjoy your front or back porch, if your home has one. It can serve as an outdoor living room with rocking chairs, fresh-painted wicker chairs, and tables.
Re-organize your new closets with do-it-yourself shelving, and throw out or give away clothing you haven't worn in three to five years. Get a tax credit for donating old clothes to charity.
Set aside a writing corner in your new living room or family room, not with a PC but a stash of beautiful stationery, pens, stamps. You will be surprised how much friends and family like to receive U.S. mail on a regular basis.
|
|
|
