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Why Clean Your House? The True Cost of Being a Slob
As children, most of us were born slobs. Let’s face it – there are a lot more fun things to do than clean and when we were young our parents cleaned up for us. In my generation we were responsible for doing chores when we got a little older and at the very least, tidy our rooms. This was not always successful but the attempt was there. In the younger generations today there are more people that weren’t taught how to clean properly or even why it is important to do so. Read more to hear about the true cost of being a slob. In the current age of over-consumption and wasteful disregard…
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Fireplace Wall Transformation
In 2014 when I moved into my home, I had a vision for the fireplace wall. Last winter the fan in my older style gas fireplace went kaput. Yes, I could have paid $500 to have it fixed, but I had been planning to buy a new fireplace insert this year anyway. And $500 is a big chunk of money to basically throw away for something temporary. Fireplace Wall 2014… 2014 In 2014 the fireplace wall was painted in two tones of beige and tan. A small shelf with a picture was hung over the fireplace. The original built-in on the right was plain black with a single wood handle in the…
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Welcome to Church Hill Haven Guest Suite #2
I finally got Church Hill Haven Guest Suite #2 ready in August. I had already painted the main areas last year in neutral greys. The main kitchen, living, and dining room had red and green accent colours. Guest Suite #2 Entrance and Mudroom… Guest Suite #2 Furniture Transformation… I commandeered a couple of pieces I had in my shed, left behind by my son. The old white dresser just needed a good cleaning and I painted it with a grey chalk paint and sealer. It serves as a TV stand and storage for movies, games, paper and an extra throw blanket. The coffee table was made by my son when he was in…
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Church Hill Haven Guest Suite #1 (Before and After)
Recently, I decided to turn my basement apartments into guest suites. (I’ve always loved an excuse to decorate.) During my travels I stayed at some accommodations on Airbnb and I was impressed at how easy it was to use the site. They handle all the payments in a safe, secure manner, submit the taxes where applicable, and then pay the host – minus their fees. I tried to not spend any money to set it up, but alas – that was not to be. Most of the furniture and accessories I already had. A few new purchases were required – a new bed, mattress, air conditioner, a few pictures, sheets, pillows, mattress and…
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How to Have a Great Yard (Garage) Sale this Summer
Summer is finally here and you know what that means. After all your decluttering and spring cleaning you may want to have a yard (garage) sale to get rid of your unwanted, but still very useful to someone, stuff and make a little money in the process. Have a goal in mind for what you would like to do with the money – a dinner out, a vacation, a home improvement project? My number one goal was to get rid of all the stuff I inherited from my mum, my kids, grandkids and tenants, as well as a few of my own things that I no longer needed. My secondary goal was just…
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Before and After Whole House Makeover
It’s finally done! As some of you know, I have been renovating one of my rental properties for several months to get it ready for sale – giving it a complete makeover. Ninety percent of it took four months with the help of a few different contractors. Unfortunately, due to the untimely death of my mother and some other unfortunate events, it took an extra two months to get completed. Read on to see the before and after. Disclaimer – This post is not sponsored. Lilacs in bloom. Before After Before and After Front Exterior… The exterior was transformed from tan painted wood siding to dark grey vinyl vertical siding. Roof shingles were…
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Top Ten Tips for Selling Your Home
Looking for tips to sell your home? If you are trying to sell your house quickly and for top dollar you need to present it in it’s best possible light. We tend to become desensitized to our homes because we are there all the time. We don’t see the clutter or out-dated decor or smell the smoke, pets or strong cooking odours. A buyer will make a decision within the first minute of viewing a house. You want them to fall in love with it, or at least want to see more without immediately calculating how much money they will take off the asking price. Home Selling Tip #1…Declutter and clean… If you…
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What To Expect When You Are Renovating
Congratulations! You have decided to renovate, but what should you expect? This is an exciting time for you. When your project is complete it will bring you much joy and help you live the life you envision for yourself. Whether it is a small renovation, or a large one, there are things you need to know to get through it. Walls had to be replaced when tiles were removed. #1 Renovating is very messy… Don’t be shocked when you see your beautiful home destroyed. It has to look worse before it can get better. #2 You will probably find something nasty while renovating… When things get ripped apart or moved out of the…
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“In Case of My Death” Plan
We all die someday, hopefully after a long, happy and fulfilled life. A death plan will help your loved ones navigate through when they are already grieving for their loss. It will be extremely helpful to have your affairs organized and to communicate where to find all the important information they will need to know. For Your Death Plan, you must have a Will and let your next of kin or executor know Where it is.. This is your chance to say what you want to happen with your property and any assets. You may even state your preferences for burial or cremation and your funeral, if you like. If you don’t have…
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Organizing Papers- Create a System that Works for You
Tax season is almost upon us. If you haven’t already organized your papers and created a system to keep track of those papers, now is the time. If you have a home-based business your needs will be a little (or a lot) more complicated than if you don’t. I like to go through my filing cabinet every year, usually in January, and purge everything I no longer need and move last year’s bills and statements that I need to keep for tax reasons to my archive file boxes. Most are kept for seven years, but some papers such as legal documents, you may have to keep forever. If in doubt, ask your accountant or…
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Simplify Your Life by Adopting a Minimalist Mindset
What can you do to simplify your life? Adopt a minimalist mindset… Life is crazy. We get busier and busier until we wake up one day, feeling totally overwhelmed. How did things get so complicated? Maybe you are doing just fine or maybe you are on the brink of losing your mind. Simplifying your life and getting back to basics can help. How have our homes got over-stuffed? We live in an age of excessive consumerism. Many items can be purchased inexpensively (cheap). When they break, wear out or we decide we don’t like them anymore, they can easily be replaced with the next, new hot item on the market. And a lot…
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Gift Wrap Organization
How do your store your gift wrapping supplies? I used to keep my gift bags, bows, tags and odd papers in this red organizer bag. The cardboard box held all the tissue paper that I had left over from when I had a store years ago. Any long rolls of wrapping paper were just stored beside them in the closet I had stuck them in. Since I was in “clean up mode” after the holidays, I decided to come up with a better system for my gift wrapping supplies. My old system worked pretty well for the most part, but I didn’t find the fabric organizer very sturdy and it had a few…
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Organizing Christmas Decorations
The Feast of Epiphany or the Twelfth Day of Christmas (January 6th) is traditionally the day all the Christmas decorations need to be down. Well I have finally done it! I un-decorated, took my tree down, and cleaned up the Christmas holiday mess. The bins and containers I used were the same ones I have used for years. My goal was to simplify my collection enough to fit in just the three bins, a wreath case and the tree. This is what I purged… Red fabric ornament case Evergreen garlands Tree-top angel with broken plug Extra Christmas balls Snowman candle holder, wine stopper and paté knife set Snowman ice cube tray Red urn…
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How to Make a Shadow Box Display
Honor your sentimental mementos in a shadow box… If anyone has little mementos or sentimental items in storage, it’s time to bring them out. It is time to honor those precious items and display them where you can see them and enjoy them every day. A shadow box is a display box with a glass-fronted picture frame that is deep enough to display small items in an artful way. What will you display in your shadow box? Obviously, the first thing you need to do is to gather the item or items that you want to display. Do you have a sports jersey, wedding paraphernalia, baby keepsakes, some old toys you can’t part…
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Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potatoes with Maple Syrup
Brussel sprouts with sweet potatoes and maple syrup is now one of my family’s all-time-favourites for holiday meals. We have it for Thanksgiving, Christmas and sometimes Easter too. Try it and let me know what you think. Ingredients for Brussels sprouts and Sweet Potato Dish…(and yes, there is bacon)… Makes 8 Servings: 4 Strips Bacon (or a whole package if you like) – broken into 1/2″ pieces 1 Onion finely chopped 2 pounds Brussel sprouts, thinly sliced (discard tough outer leaves) 1/4 tsp Salt 1/4 tsp Pepper 1 cup coarsely chopped toasted Pecans – optional 3 medium Sweet Potatoes (2 pounds) peeled and sliced into thin rounds 1/3 cup Maple Syrup 3 Tbsp…
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Make a Favourite Family Recipes Binder
Where do you find your recipes? Do you still like to have an extensive cookbook collection or do you just have a few that you actually use? Today you can Google almost any recipe you want, but you may want to keep some old family favourites in print form. I recently learned how easy it is to use a laminator. By laminating the recipe cards I typed out on the computer, they will be protected from any splashes when cooking. Step One…Select recipes… First, I had to decide which recipes I wanted to put in the binder. Which recipes would make the cut to be passed down to future generations? I will share…
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How to Pack Carry-on Only For A Week or More
Going on a trip somewhere? Lucky you. There are many benefits to packing in carry-on only these days, especially if you are flying. You don’t have to worry about losing your luggage or wasting time waiting for it to come off the conveyor belt in the airports. You will have everything you need handy on the plane. Also, it won’t be difficult to lug around with you and up narrow stairways. Adhere to the airlines guidelines… Most airlines allow you to bring one standard carry-on item and one personal item. The standard item must measure no more than 21″ -22″ long, 14″-15 1/2″ wide, and 9″ deep and weigh no more than 22lbs.…
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Budget-Friendly Holiday Planning Tips
It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas… Christmas is just around the corner. If you were really on top of things, you already started your Christmas shopping long before now. Hopefully you at least incorporated it into your budget. In a perfect world you would already have a nice, little nest egg saved up for it. For the rest of us that live in the not-so-perfect world, there is still time to plan on a smaller scale. What is your budget? How much can you afford to spend after all your bills and other responsibilities are paid? You may need to juggle some money allotted from another flexible category to your holiday…
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Holiday Planner DIY
Make a holiday planner to help you stay organized for the festive season. With a few inexpensive items you can be on top of all your holiday plans, from gifts to menus. I put together this holiday planner to help me stay organized at Christmas. I embellished it with a fringe and pom poms. Both were purchased at Michael’s craft store. *Disclaimer : This article was not sponsored. Gather your supplies for your holiday planner… The materials you will need are: Planner binder (I used a personal sized one from Michael’s.) Card stock paper for dividers.(I like glitter for the season.) Divider tabs ( I got these at Staple’s.) Labeller (or write by…
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The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Spark Joy – Reflections On the Kon Mari Method
By now, I’m sure almost everyone has heard of these books by Japanese author Marie Kondo. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up was translated into English in 2014, and it’s sequel “Spark Joy” was translated to English in 2015. Her unique spin on decluttering and organizing is called the “Kon Mari Method” based on the author’s name. I didn’t hear about them until 2016, though, and then proceeded to declutter my whole house, garages, sheds and car! It took me about six months to go through most of my things to declutter and reorganize. I still haven’t finished organizing all my photos and sentimental items. Scrapbook Supplies – Kimono Do it Once…
