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Written by Garn Todd Joseph

Website & Advertising Assistant for the Millenia Group of Companies

Millenia Architects | Millenia Realty | Sorell Consulting Ltd. | Kaliber Construction & Homes

Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a single Christmas decoration could be found. No stockings were hung, no mistletoe in sight, such a terribly dreadful Christmas night. As we celebrate this most joyous time of the year, let us take the time to make our homes feel as festive as our merry hearts. Turn your home into a festive gathering place for family and friends by sprucing it up with a few simple and creative holiday décor ideas.

• Are you unsure of how to display your collection of holiday cards? Turn them into works of art. Use clips or clothespins to string them around your living room or against the wall.

• Create Christmas themed slipcovers for your chairs. Cover your dining room chairs and wrap a bow around each one; Christmas ornaments can also be incorporated for extra pizazz. Ensure that the underside is properly secured with tape, if necessary.

• Use Christmas themed curtains and other drapery around your home. If you do not have any with Christmas designs, simply use any with colors that most associate with the holiday: red, white, green, gold, etc.  Even your dining table can come alive with a Christmas themed table cloth fabric.

• Lighting is an important aspect of Christmas. If you’ve grown weary of the traditional Christmas lights another option would be to purchase colored light bulbs to replace your regular bulbs.

• Tie a bow around your throw pillows on your couch, bed, etc. with holiday-colored ribbons, and they’ll look just like Christmas presents! Add a few rhinestone pins for additional sparkle.

• If you can’t get access to a real Christmas tree don’t lose hope. There are many alternative methods that you can use this holiday season. Click the link below for a few creative alternatives provided by Elle Décor to choose one that suits you. You can also search for other alternatives, or create one yourself. Be as creative as possible.

http://www.elledecor.com/life-culture/cleaning-organizing/g13/alternative-christmas-trees/

• Homemade Christmas decorations can make wonderful additions to your home this holiday season. Spend time as a family creating decorations to make this holiday season feel more personal.

What other Christmas decorating ideas can you think of?

Busy ticking off items on your list of to-do for school opening?  I’m sure by now you have checked books, pencils, uniforms, bags, and even new looks (hair cut, hair accessories)… I bet you didn’t include anything for the home.  At home is where learning continues and creating a good learning environment is important in facilitating our children’s learning experience.  What can we do at home to make this new school year more exciting and rewarding?

1. A dedicated study area – Place a table and chair in the bedroom or in an area with minimum distractions. Designating a desk and study area emphasizes the importance of schoolwork.  The child will associate this area with learning.  This works for me, whenever I go into my study area my mind automatically gets into study mode.

2. Organizers/calendar – Place a large calendar on the wall or bedroom door. A paper calendar with large squares lets you enter information easily.  Enter school events and activities and probably even home schedules into the calendar.  You can also colour code entries, based on urgency or importance.  If you have more space, use it to hang up projects and test papers or newspaper articles.

3. Put up some hooks – Tired of picking up after your son/daughter? Place hooks in selected areas of the room to encourage them to hang their stuff up instead of throwing it on the bed or even on the floor.  Be sure to place the hooks at a level the child can easily reach.

4. Create a snack/lunch making area – If you prepare snack and lunch for your child, especially if it’s different from your meals then it would be helpful to place these ingredients and items together in one area or in a particular cupboard. This will surely help you beat the morning rush.  Put in anything you use to prepare the lunch and snack and anything you send them to school with, like lunch bowls, foil paper, bread and peanut butter. My son loves peanut butter!

5. Organize clothing storage– “Mom I can’t find my ….” You know this phrase right? Before the new clothes are added throw or give out those that are not in use and arrange the others appropriately to avoid that call.

6. Organize and store papers and notes – Designate a spot in the house where you will store and organize papers that will later require your attention and projects that you want to keep. If you do not have a designated area, use a small storage box and file folders to store and arrange test papers, and used exercise books so that when it’s time to revise, they will be easy to locate.

Get your children to participate in the organizing process, after all you are doing it for them too.  They may have some good ideas and this could make this activity fun and add to the back to school excitement.

Guests or potential buyers should enter your home and see functionality.  The living room is an important room in a home so any person who has the intention to one day sell their home should bear this in mind when planning any renovation works for their living room.

Here are a few tips to consider when planning a living room renovation.

In order to plan a successful living room renovation, a lot of forethought and information need to be taken into consideration. If you are on a tight budget and you plan on making any structural changes, or your scope of work requires you to work with several professionals, proper planning is even more significant.

In home renovations, as in life, mistakes can occur. Refrain from making avoidable mistakes by not only planning beforehand but by taking your time during the renovation process. Your living room renovation should be treated as a marathon, not a sprint. In order to reap the reward of a successful renovation take your time and do not rush the process.

Ask yourself, why do I need to renovate my living room? Do you need additional space? Is your living room design outdated? Do you want to increase the value of your property for a possible sale? Knowing the ultimate goal you want to achieve with your renovation will help guide you during the planning process.

The fact that you desire to renovate your home does not mean that all its features should be discarded. Take a good look at your living room, there are sure to be a few features that you would either like to keep or slightly alter.  Keep these features in mind and consider how they can be incorporated in your renovation.

Home renovations can be exciting but can also be a bit overwhelming.  However, if the above planning tips are followed you will be more likely to have a smoother and more successful process.

Were the above tips useful?  Share this article with family and friends.

In this third installment of our fighting the summer heat series we offer a few tips to keep your body feeling cool and refreshed during overwhelmingly high temperatures.

• Use silk or satin pillowcases, and satin sheets. These fabrics will feel smoother and cooler as you sleep.
• Keep the back of your neck in shade (wear a cap backwards, or raise your collar) or put a wet handkerchief on the back of the neck. The sensor for our body temperature control system is in this area, and so with this method you can make the rest of your body think that you are “cool”.
• Run cold water over your wrists for 10 seconds on each hand. This will reduce your temperature for roughly an hour.
• Wear nothing or next-to-nothing. Put on a swimsuit, or wear your underwear at home. Wear summer clothing. Wear loosely-woven natural fabrics (cotton, silk, linen) rather than polyester, rayon, or other artificial fibers (with the possible exception of performance fabrics).
• Wear light colors. Darker colors will absorb the sun’s heat and stay warmer longer than light or white clothing, which reflects light and heat. Wear natural summer clothing.
• Sit still. Do not try to fan yourself — trying to move while feeling hot can make you feel hotter. Simply rest until the evening.
• Sit in the shade. Find a shaded area and set up a water misting system that connects to an ordinary garden hose that can be found at home improvement stores. Sit there and let the mist cool you off.
• Avoid peak sunlight hours between 10 a.m. and 3p.m., when the sun’s rays are hottest.

In a previous article we discussed natural methods of cooling your home on those scorching hot days. But understandably, some days the use of appliances such as fans and air conditioners cannot be avoided. Here are a few ways to use these appliances without racking up an unbearably high electricity bill.

• If you must use an electrical cooling method use portable or ceiling fans instead of operating your air conditioner. Even mild air movement of 1 mph can make you feel three or four degrees cooler.
• If air conditioning is really required use a programmable thermostat to adjust the setting at night or when no one is home.
• Add insulation around air conditioning ducts when they are located in unconditioned spaces such as attics, crawl spaces, and garages; do the same for whole-house fans where they open to the exterior or to the attic.
• Don’t place lamps or TVs near your air conditioning thermostat. The heat from these appliances will cause the air conditioner to run longer.
• Install white window shades, drapes, or blinds to reflect heat away from the house. Install awnings on east-facing windows because of the angle of the sun.
• Plant trees or shrubs to shade air conditioning units, but not block the airflow. A unit operating in the shade uses less electricity.
• Avoid landscaping with lots of unshaded rock, cement, or asphalt on the south or west sides because it increases the temperature around the house and radiates heat to the house after the sun has set.
• Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater; 115° is comfortable for most uses.
• Take showers instead of baths to reduce hot water use.
• Caulking and weather stripping will keep cool air in during the summer.