Making the Most of Natural Lighting

People these days tend to give a lot of thought to the best sort of lights to install in their homes. And why wouldn’t they? Nobody likes sitting in the dark (well, not all the time) and there’s plenty of lighting options to choose from.

But this reliance on electrical lighting tends to distract people from considering natural light, and that’s a shame! Natural light is cheaper, better for the environment, and more...well, natural! We know it’s not always practical to have total sunlight in your house, but we’ve found these ways to maximize the amount of natural light coming into your home without a ton of effort or major remodeling!

Careful Placement of Decorations While this one is easy to overdo (and you don’t want to shine light right in people’s eyes, do you?), the tasteful and strategic placement of mirrors and shined metal decorations can do a lot to increase the amount of light reflected through a room. Place a mirror directly opposite your most south-facing window and keep a lot of polished brass, gold, and silver decorations around the window to increase the sunlight being bounced around. You’d be surprised what a difference it can make!

More - and Newer - Windows Now, we’re not saying your entire house needs to be covered in windows, but newer windows make a big difference. New windows without years of dirt and scratches will let more light in, and the energy efficient design of many modern vinyl replacement windows will trap more natural heat from the sun, helping to reduce your energy bills. If you can get a door with windows on it (especially ones with a thinner-mesh screen), that will help bring the light in too! Speaking of windows…

Thinner Window Treatments If you don’t want to replace your windows, you might want to consider at least replacing your curtains. Home, budget, and security preferences will all come into play here, but if you want a cheap way to increase the natural light in any given room you should consider thinner curtains or shades. Lighter fabrics will let more light in, even if the curtains are still drawn. If privacy is still a concern, you could consider shutters instead.

Keep Your House Clean and Shiny This ties in with the first two tips, but it’s worth re-iterating. Even if you can’t install new windows, even if you can’t get new mirrors into your rooms, just try to keep everything clean, polished, and shining. Something as simple as a bright white countertop will reflect enough sun to make a difference so long as you give it a good wash.

These are just a few of our tips, and we hope they help brighten your day - literally! And if you’d like some more information about vinyl replacement windows, contact Wallside Windows today!

Five Things Home Buyers Want Most

  With the inconsistencies in the housing market these days, anyone looking to sell their home needs any advantage they can get. While the ever-changing needs and wants of home buyers seem to change by the day, there’s a few things you can include to entice any potential buyer who comes by to look at your property.

Dedicated Media/Hangout Room Call it a movie room, call it a “man cave”, call it what you will, but there’s a huge appeal to having a room in your home devoted to hanging out and entertaining guests. Any specially designed room that can accommodate things like a home theater setup, tons of video game systems, or even a built-in bar will attract a ton of attention. And if you can include the needed equipment (TV, speakers, etc) with the house, even better!

Exterior Lights Not only will exterior lighting help grab buyers’ attention, they’ve actually been shown to raise the perceived value of a home. Exterior lighting has been cited in studies to be the most-wanted outdoor feature on a home, even more than ornate doors or lavish landscaping. So if you’ve got any good exterior lighting to show off, make it stand out - it could get more buyers to check your house out!

Energy Efficient Windows Everyone wants to save money where they can, and new energy efficient windows are one of the best ways to reduce a home’s energy bills. Buyers tend to be impressed with home options that can save them money without limiting their comfort or becoming inconvenient, and energy-efficient replacement windows are the perfect solution. If you’re considering selling your home, installing a set of brand-new vinyl replacement windows might just be the thing that gets your home sold!

Closet and Storage Space While not every home is going to have walk-in closets in every room, storage space is still key when buyers are looking for a home. If you have a storage shed, garage, or large closets, try to keep them free of debris when buyers are walking through your property to illustrate how much room they’ll have for all of their stuff - and if your house has any unique or unusual storage areas, show them off!

Home Offices More and more companies encourage their employees to work from home, and even when it isn’t normal business hours people are always checking email and catching up on things. While not all buyers will want a dedicated home office, those that do will place a high value on a room they can dedicate to their computers, printers, and so on. If you’re looking to court young professional buyers, a room loaded with built-in desks and shelving could be just what they’re looking for.

REFERENCES: http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/real-estate/T010-S001-7-features-home-buyers-want-most/index.html

Simple Tips for Cleaning Your Home - on the Outside!

It’s easy to find advice on home cleaning - the internet is chock full of helpful tips and guides for arranging the clutter in your home, and you’ll have plenty of neighbors and relatives who would be more than happy to give their two cents on how you should go about it (even if you haven’t exactly asked them). But there’s one important side of your home you don’t hear discussed too often - the outside! A good clean outside will improve the appearance and value (with some appraisers saying a clean exterior adds 5%-10% to your home’s value!) of any home, no matter how old.

The best place to start is with your home’s siding - and it isn’t as daunting as you might expect! First, try to remove any obstructions or exterior decorations if you can to free up some room. For the next step - the actual cleaning - you should start with simple mixture of warm soapy water with a dash of white vinegar to handle any debris on the outside. This mixture should be safe for both wood and vinyl siding, and the only other thing you should need is a long brush for those hard-to-reach places. If your home has more brightly-colored vinyl siding, you can substitute bleach instead of vinegar - just be careful not to get any on your clothes! This mixture can be rinsed off with your average garden hose when you’re done scrubbing. If the vinegar and water isn’t cutting it, you might want to employ something stronger like Simple Green or Moldex.

Next, you should move on to your front door and deck (or porch, or whatever you might have). Most doors can be cleaned by mixing water and laundry detergent - if you’ve got older, more ornate wooden doors, you might want to consider Murphy’s Oil Soap instead. Wipe the doors top to bottom with a rag or a brush (make sure it’s non-abrasive!) and rinse it gently with your hose. The same process can work for porches, but you might need a slightly longer brush.

If you’re still feeling motivated after all that, you can move on to lights and windows! Remove any bulbs from the lights and turn them off before cleaning. Depending on what the lamps are made of, you can use anything from soap and water to brass polish. Windows shouldn’t be hard either - rainfall usually does the cleaning for you, but if you really want to show off your nice vinyl windows you could try glass and/or household cleaner.

After this, the outside of your house should be as good as new! You might want to repeat this a few times through the summer, depending on the local weather and conditions. Now all you have to worry about is the inside...

Easy Fixes for Everyday Appliance Problems

Ah, appliances. A modern convenience that has saved time and effort over the years, from the lowly microwave to the biggest air conditioner. Sadly, just like any machine, appliances are prone to encounter problems. And we all know those are jobs best left for the professionals, right?

Not so fast, my friend! Plenty of everyday appliances have common issues that normal folks like you or I can handle, no sweat. Read on for a list of common appliance issues, and what to do if they happen to you!

Garbage Disposals Garbage disposals are certainly handy for getting rid of waste and leftovers, but sometimes the stuff you pour into one makes it run a little slow. When most disposal motors becomes overloaded and heats up, it will automatically shut off for safety. If this happens, simply press the reset button on the bottom of the disposal! If the blades aren’t spinning, there may be something stuck in it. Turn the disposer off and try turning the blades with a special disposer wrench (available at most hardware stores) or by tightening the bolts on the bottom of the disposer.

Refrigerators If your leftovers aren’t quite ready for the garbage disposal, then a good fridge is exactly what you need - unless it isn’t running cold enough, or at all! If your fridge has suddenly conked out, the first thing to check is the coils underneath. On most fridges, you can get to the coils by opening the grille on the bottom (or you may have to pull the fridge out from the wall, if the coils are on the back). Special coil-cleaning brushes are available to help get any crud off, and after a good cleaning it should be back to normal. This is an especially common problem for pet owners, and cleaning your coils has the added benefit of saving on your electric bill!

Air Conditioners While central air work may be best left to the professionals, many issues with window-mounted units can be handled with some minor effort. Does your air conditioner cycle on and off too frequently? The thermostat may be covered, or affected by outside temperature. Make sure nothing is directly touching or covering the front panel (like drapes or poorly-placed furniture), and make sure there’s no warm air leaking in from around the window. Modern energy-efficient windows don’t have this problem as often, but older windows may not be able to hold a seal around the air conditioner as well.

Dishwashers Are your dishes not as clean as you’d like when they’re done in the dishwasher? Chances are you’ve got a food-filled filter! Take the lower rack out of the dishwasher, remove the filter cover (the location may vary depending on the model of dishwasher), and use a wet vac to clean off the filter screen. This should let water back in like normal.

Four Questions New Homeowners Should Ask Themselves

Purchasing a home for the first time is a daunting feat for anyone. Just when one issue is solved, another seems to pop up out of nowhere. Before you jump on the couch to kick back and enjoy your new home, take a minute to review our list of mishaps that new homeowners normally aren’t quite prepared for. Whether you’ve taken these obstacles into consideration already or it never came to mind until now, it’s good to ask yourself these questions every now and then.

What aspects of the home will require maintenance? The challenges you face in home ownership are unpredictable and possibly beyond your know-how to fix. That’s okay. With time, remedies for home damages are easy to learn; not to mention there’s literally hundreds of how-to videos on the web. However, don’t feel pressured to handle every household mishap yourself; know what’s within your limits and hire an expert when necessary.

Common household repairs to be on the lookout for include: leaky sinks/faucets, running toilets, drafty windows, basement leaks, and more.

What is my financial balance sheet? With a mortgage, energy, electricity, insurance, and numerous other expenses piling up from a million directions, managing bill payments - and knowing where they’re coming from - is more complex than it was in college. This is especially true because of the rare (but still possible) chance of an emergency; it’s absolutely vital to have a thorough understanding of your financial security. Instead of handling it yourself, you may want to hire a personal finance advisor or accountant for professional guidance. These can be a huge advantage to learn about unsuspecting taxes from and strategize savings policies.

Do my windows need to be replaced? Unless your home is brand new, it’s in your best interest to give your windows an inspection. Carefully scan the window frames in search of any obvious gaps, areas that need to be sealed, cracked frames, or any windows that get stuck and won’t open. If you detect issues that cannot be fixed on your own, speak with a professional at Wallside to learn about our custom-built, vinyl replacement windows and how we can help install them in your home. Windows are essential not only to a home’s curb appeal, but also its insulation - which directly correlates to the energy bill.

What does my homeowners insurance policy cover me for? How much money does it cover me for? You never know what could happen to your home. Run through worst-case scenarios, such as heavy interior damage due to flooding, and speak with your insurer to find out if you’re covered for them. Before picking an insurance plan - or while looking into new ones - take a long time of contemplation to find the best plan for you. This way, you’ll avoid nightmare situations like finding out you’re not as insured as you thought you were and paying extreme out-of-pocket fees.