The entryway to your home is probably quite small, but you can make the most of your space by pinning down what you really need there. Below, you’ll find some items that you should try and keep around the entry of your home for both design appeal and organization purposes.
When guests come to visit, it’s welcoming for you to be able to offer them a place to hang their coats, rather than throwing them into a bedroom or on a chair. You can place coatracks on a wall for easy hanging, giving everyone open access to their coats when they need them. You can even place a coat rack along a stairway hall. This way everything from coats to bags to hats will all be in one place.
Having a weather-resistant rug available in the entryway of your home can help to keep dirt and grime off of the floor.
Every entryway needs some type of storage for items like extra coats, shoes, umbrellas, even bags. You can use an inexpensive shelving system or go as fancy as using a dresser or armoire.
It’s important to have some kind of seating near the entryway of your home. This way, you’ll have a place to sit down and put on shoes. Seating will also help make the entryway more comfortable. Make sure that the seating allows for a casual feel to add to the warmth of the welcome.
Using flowers and plants in the entryway of your home gives guests that welcoming pop of color that will brighten their day. It’s one of the first things that guests will see when they walk up to the front door of your home, so you’ll want to make a good first impression. Shoot for year-round plants that don’t require a lot of maintenance and can be kept up easily no matter what the season.
Once you enter your home in the evening hours, one of the first things you want to do is turn on a light. This is one of the best features for your home to have safety and security when you enter and exit the house. You can choose any kind of light fixture that you want to accent your home in order to bring out the beauty. The only requirement is that you should make sure a light switch is always within an arm’s reach.
The most important thing that you can do for your entryway is to make it your own. You can add any kind of accents and features that you choose. The entryway is the first impression that people will get of your home, so make it count!
There are many benefits to living in a simple and minimal environment. Lack of clutter helps us focus and boosts our mood. Have you ever sat down at your desk at work or in your home office and felt like you just couldn't get any work done and started tidying up instead? It might be a good idea to listen to that impulse and make your work environment a more productive place. In this article we're going to give you some tips for making your home office a distraction-free, minimal sanctuary. At the same time, these tips will be low cost--minimalism and frugality go hand in hand after all.
By placing a mirror on the wall in almost any room in your home, you can change a mildly decorated space into a classic masterpiece. Placement of the hung mirror is critical. Keep in mind the reflection that you see when gazing into a mirror should be soothing to the eye. For instance, the reflection may be that of a fancy lamp, piece of artwork or a glamorous chandelier. What you don’t want to do is hang a mirror so that it reflects the pile of clutter on the kitchen counter that you are trying to hide.
Hanging a mirror on the wall in the dining room is the most popular decorating trick. Once the mirror is hung, you will know why. The mirror will create the illusion of space and light. This is by far, the most popular spot for a mirror to be hung or rested against the wall.
Be careful hanging a mirror in a busy room. This can cause a reverse effect on your decorating plan. Placement is important and the reflection is even more so. If your room is busy with lots of furniture and artwork, you may not need the mirror. What you want the mirror to do, in essence, is make the room bigger. So the room will look as if the wall is not even there. Remember, enhancing a wall with one mirror, can change the feel of a room, open the space up and change the mood of all who enter, so get decorating.
Candles can make a home look inviting, cozy and warm. They can also give a glow to many people’s skin tones. Candles come in many sizes, shapes and scents. Burning of candles during a showing can make the home feel warm and inviting making the buyer feel relaxed and calm. Try to pick out colors like maroon (cinnamon) orange (pumpkin) these scents are soothing and relaxing scents and will help make the potential sellers feel like home. The placing of the candles is very important. The best places to put them are in the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen table, window sills, and fireplace mantel.
If you have a fireplace, lighting a fire is a sure way to give that room a warm and welcoming feeling. Everybody loves a fireplace and your buyers will too.
Bake something delicious smelling. The Real Estate experts swear by the just baked smell when showing a home. It makes your potential buyers feel right at home. Things like Apple pie; chocolate chip cookies or fresh baked bread all will create that warm and inviting feeling.
Family photos in the home make your home feel like a house full of love. Potential buyers who see photos of a family having fun, and enjoying life in their home will create a sense of a home that has a lot of memories and love.
Bottom line, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere can help you sell your home.
House plants can significantly improve the dynamic of a room. While some are purely decorative, there are others that can have a dramatic effect on air and indoor pollution levels. If you are planning on making a few botanical additions to your home, then why not get the added benefit of choosing plants that will work for you, as well as providing an aesthetic benefit? Here are a few to get you started.
Golden Pothos - This vine-like plant is very easy to grow, requiring very little light, and can survive quite comfortably if you happen to forget to water it on a regular basis. With regular fertilizing, this plant becomes a fast-growing vine that looks fantastic in any room. Clippings can be taken, put in water, and will develop root structures in as little as a few days. Because this is a submersible plant, it is also popular with aquarium enthusiasts. In addition, this plant is a heavy oxygen producer, and can also remove benzene, formaldehyde, and xylene from your air.
Peace Lilies - Interestingly enough, these houseplants are not true lilies. These attractive members of the Araceae family need only a little light and water in order to survive, and produce brilliant flowers.
Rubber Tree - While used as houseplants in North America, these plants have an interesting use in India; the roots are guided over chasms in order to create what is commonly referred to as living bridges. These plants prefer bright sunlight, and while they can withstand infrequent watering quite well, they will thrive if given enough moisture.
Weeping Fig - This is the official tree of Bangkok, Thailand. In a study by NASA, this plant was shown to effectively remove airborne toxins from its environment. This plant thrives in warm, sunny conditions, but can also tolerate low-light conditions fairly well. If it is moved to a new room, it will shed a large number of its leaves, and replace them with new leaves in response to the change in light conditions. While it is adaptive to changes in light, care should be taken not to place it in an area where it will be subjected to strong, cold drafts. This plant is also popular among bonsai enthusiasts for its aesthetic properties.
Snake Plant - Also known as "mother-in-law's tongue", this plant has been recognized in the same NASA study as one of the best plants to remove indoor air pollution. Like other pollution-reducing plants, this one can survive quite well with low light levels and irregular watering. Care should be taken not to over water this species, as the root structure is fairly sensitive.
For further reading, you can pick up the book How To Grow Fresh Air, by B.C. Wolverton.
