Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Life

Category: DIY How-to and Inspiration

  • Laundry Room Renovation Tips

    The average lifespan of washers and dryers is less than 15 years these days, although your mileage may vary. While no one jumps for joy at the expense and inconvenience involved in replacing major appliances, replacing your washer and dryer is a great incentive to do a laundry room remodel.

    The good news is that by choosing the right new appliances and renovating your laundry room, you can create a space that maps to your workflow. Whether you do laundry on a daily basis or have family laundry marathons once a week, designing a layout that works for you and your family will make this chore less onerous. You’ll also be able to invest in energy-efficient appliances that will save you money over time and may also save you major wear and tear on your clothes.

    Here are some laundry room renovation tips to think about before starting your remodel.

    Upgrade your lighting

    No matter where your laundry room is located, good lighting is almost as important in this area of the home as it is in the kitchen. You can’t pretreat a stain you can’t actually see. This is especially important in basement laundry areas without a lot of natural light.

    With so many lighting options out there, get rid of any fluorescent tubes and harsh lighting that can create shadows and glare. Invest in some ceiling pot lights and make sure you’ve got good lighting over your laundry sink and washer area, since that’s where you really need to see stains that need to be treated before hot water and hot air cause them to set permanently.

    Get some storage systems

    Depending on how you organize family chores, doing laundry may be a centralized or a decentralized chore. Does each member of your family converge on the laundry room with their individual baskets of dirty clothes to do their own laundry? If so, you probably won’t need as much storage space as a family that’s delegated the task to a single person. If dirty clothes are stored in the laundry room before being washed, you’ll need more storage space and some pre-sorting bins to speed up the actual process. Pull-out bins in lower cabinets will help.

    If you have the space, a hanging rack for clothes that may not need much (or any) ironing will let you get on with the necessary folding without letting wrinkles set in freshly washed clothes, creating more work for yourself later on. A drying rack for clothes that can survive machine washing but will shrink in the dryer is a great idea too.

    And of course, an area set aside for ironing in the laundry room is a necessity unless you iron somewhere else. There are lots of space-efficient ironing board over-door systems available now with racks to hold both the board and the iron.

    If you don’t have any cabinets in your laundry room to hide bottles or boxes of laundry detergent, bleach, stain treatments, and dryer sheets and you’re replacing your appliances anyway, invest in under-appliance drawers to store these items. They need to be accessible, but they don’t need to be on display.

    Create the counter space you need

    Front-loading washers are game-changers in many ways. They use less energy and less water, and the fact that they spin rather than agitate means less wear and tear, and therefore longer life, for your clothes. But they are also amazing space savers. If you have enough space to install your washer and dryer side by side rather than stacking them, a two- or three-sided countertop that fits over your washer and dryer gives you a flat surface for folding.

    If space is at a premium and you have to stack your laundry appliances, you can install a folding table that doesn’t take up space or get in the way as you try to get to the washer and dryer.

    Make it pretty

    For those who consider laundry a thankless task, an undecorated, poorly designed space just makes it worse. And for those who actually like doing laundry, why spend time in an ugly room with no redeeming features? Invest in some bold paint or wallpaper or a piece of art that isn’t going to be adversely affected by heat and humidity and give it pride of place on the wall above your appliances or the one you’ll be facing while folding or ironing. Small quilts, handmade rugs and wall hangings that bring you joy are perfect.

    You don’t need to paint or wallpaper the whole room. Think of the area behind your appliances as a feature wall. It’s a small, low-traffic area that can be transformed with a pint of paint and no more than two rolls of wallpaper. And once you’ve finished your laundry room remodel, you may find you don’t hate doing laundry anymore.

  • Clever Ways to Change Decor Seasonally

    The last postcards of summer landed in your mailbox a few weeks ago and the kids are scuffling through sidewalks full of leaves on their way to school. It’s time to change out the beach glass and shells in favor of autumnal decor. Here are a few unique decorating ideas that will help you apply a little seasonal love to your home.

    Borrow from Nature

    Oddly shaped colored squashes, clusters of changing leaves and bundles of dried wheat stalks will add a seasonal touch to your living space.

    You can simply add seasonally suggestive colors in overlooked but highly visible places in your home: a seasonal centerpiece instantly enhances the dining room. Plants on kitchen counters and cabinets refer you to the season in which they flourish. Windows cry out for a bit of the natural world they allow you to look out upon. You can capitalize on this by changing curtain colors and the cozies you put on your sills. 

    Elsewhere around the house, when the weather is crisp, a nubby white throw blanket adds a cup full of cozy to any living room. In spring, pussy willows, sky blues and fresh fruit like lemons or berries enliven a kitchen, just as clusters of fresh cut garden flowers enliven a screened in porch when the fireflies are lighting up summer evenings and there’s a paddle posed against the front door.

    Try putting some seasonal fruit in the kitchen. Indian corn left on a kitchen countertop brings the fall harvest inside with you. In addition, edible seasonal fruit makes an elegant decoration, especially if accompanied by branches, leaves, pinecones, and puffballs.

    Accessorize to Match the Season

    Seasonal pillows can give your furniture a sharp new look. Buy pillow covers in colors that suggest a season to you and change out the old for the new in five minutes’ time.

    Accessorizing is a great way to redecorate quickly and cheaply. You can add a seasonal wreath to your front door woven out of branches of turning leaves interspersed with dried mushrooms, corn husks, and strands of straw. Closer to Thanksgiving, you’ll want to trade this for an evergreen wreath or something holiday-inspired. Take mental notes on colors and plants as the seasons change. Be crafty, and trust your own instincts when it comes to what the season means to you.

    Seasonal Sleeping Quarters

    You can also switch out your linens to boost your desire to sleep each night by way of a seasonally inviting bedspread. In warmer months, airy sheets in cool bright hues like turquoise or butter lemon spice up the night, and when the weather starts to cool, exchange your bedding for a  weighty comforter in dark, warm shades. In colder climates, the switch from cotton to flannel sheets signals the start of both winter and the festive season.

    A new area rug can pull a room together. These floor coverings are so portable, inexpensive, and useful they can transform any space through any seasonal change.

    Use Distinct Seasonal Themes

    For fall, welcome the cool weather with bouquets of changing leaves. Then create a unique centerpiece for your table, and decorate above your kitchen cabinets with colored squashes and leaves of different sizes.

    In winter, keep up the cozy theme you started for fall. Use plaid patterns that bring to mind cabins and wool blankets. You can also rely on shades of brown, red, and green. When the snow flies, incorporate icy blues and moonlit silvers in your interior decor scheme.

    In spring, lavish flowers and fresh scents in every room always help create a clean, fresh, and airy feel. A large vase of flowers reminds everyone of the then very welcome seasonal change, as do items connoting warmer weather, like small decorative bicycles and red wagons on the porch or just inside the front door.

    In summer, seashells and driftwood make perfect decorating elements for your mantel or hearth. Sheer white curtains billow to announce the season in front of open windows that blow the freshness of summer warmth throughout your home.

    Seasonal Decor by Holiday

    Holidays are often decorated for, and so doing can summon the aura of entire seasons themselves. Here are some basics of the upcoming festivities.

    • Halloween: Use classic jack-o-lanterns on your porch and candy corn in decorative bowls to decorate for Halloween. Try some of the less-usual pumpkin shapes and colors to keep things classy and fresh.
    • Thanksgiving: Place a cornucopia centerpiece on the family table.
    • Christmas: Plenty of lights, of course, and holly berries or poinsettias bring a natural vibe to the most wonderful time of the year.
    • Valentine’s Day: Use hearts and doilies in colors of red, pink, and white throughout the home.
    • St. Patrick’s Day: Classic green shamrocks look splendid adorning your mantel or front door.
    • Easter: Pastel-colored eggs make the perfect accent in a clear vase, surrounded by fresh sprigs of lilac.
    • Fourth of July: Use red, white and blue accents where you can.

    Let your imagination be your guide as the seasons change, and you’ll find inspiration in nature for your unique decorating ideas.

  • How to Create a Craft or Sewing Room

    Making and enjoying crafts requires space to spread out and be creative and to quickly store your masterpiece-in-progress whenever you’re interrupted or called away. In addition, you’ll need even more space to store the materials and tools you use in an organized and productive way.

    You can start small with a corner desk in a spare room, or double up so your home office allows you to do personal work. Or you can find space in your basement, addition, or heated garage. Before you create a room of your own, think about craft room decor at the start and you’ll end up with a room that’s not only functional, but one you want to spend time in..

    Lighting, a good, big working surface, storage, and easy access to tools are four of the most important aspects to creating room for your crafts. A devoted crafter needs a large working table, a storage cabinet, an easily organized and accessible grab-’n-go tool rack, and a sink or rough equivalent to get started.

    Lighting

    LED panels are cheap and quick to install. Go to a Home Depot or Lowe’s to find easy-to-install, plug-in lighting panels that will illuminate even the darkest space. 1000 lumens is more than enough light for the average-size room. A new 1000 lumen LED panel should cost you less than $60.

    Work Table

    Most kitchen counters are 31 inches above the floor. Using that as a guideline, a 31-inch surface  provides you with an easily accessible working platform that doesn’t require stretching or stooping.

    If you don’t have a folding table already, check online used shopping sites in your area for cheap or free tables. If you want or need to make a solid table, go to a local Habitat for Humanity ReStore and purchase an old hollow core door as a table surface. In larger cities, you could try your local Ikea and purchase a table or desk surface for less in the discount room, where the components of broken furnishings are unpacked and sold cheaply.

    Online shopping is useful not only for cheap, ready-made table surfaces, but also for free, broken tables. If you find one with functioning legs, detach its broken surface and reuse the legs for your hollow core door or Ikea desk surface. The advantage of screw-in legs is that they’re not bulky, so you can store other material you will need for your crafts right there at hand. Anything from fabrics to colored or wrapping paper can fit, and larger tools like hair dryers or paints might also be accommodated, depending on their size.

    Once the table is assembled, attach rulers or measuring tapes to two adjoining sides of your surface to help you measure your crafts quickly and easily. You can also use a yardstick to draw a square grid on the table surface with a pencil, then make these marks permanent with an indelible marker or chalk paint. You can attach magnetic strips to hold tools you will use for your crafts on the wall above the table.

    Storage Cabinet

    A lot of material goes into making crafts. You need to organize them or you’ll get buried in an avalanche of paper, ribbons, and fabric. When it comes to getting organized, you can store hangers for school-sized colored paper rolls on the back of your craft room’s door. It’s a little extra space bonus.

    Then,  find an old filing cabinet, a kitchen hutch, or a library card catalog in any one of your favorite thrift spots. Repaint your treasure so that it’s fresh (you could even color-code the partitions), then position it against an easily accessible wall and attach a light on a spring arm so you can root around in the various cubbies looking for that gorgeous spool of thread or ball of wool.

    Alternatively, find an old desk with many drawers. Remove the desktop and replace it with a thick sheet of glass. Now you have a second working surface that enables you to look into the storage drawers to locate things as they come to mind. On top of the repurposed desk, you could put a modular bookcase to store more material and tools.

    Grab-and-Go Tool Rack

    Do you sew, knit, or do paper crafts? You will need special tools for each craft. Organize your pencils and markers and your needles and scissors by color and size, and deposit them in visible and easily accessible mason or pickle jars. If you are short on jars, you may be able to find some at your local recycling center.

    If not, you can chop equal lengths (five to seven inches) of PVC piping with a hacksaw blade and glue them together with plumber’s adhesive. If you’re storing paint brushes, stuff strips of corrugated board into the open necks of the PVC containers to separate different colored brushes.

    Happy crafting!

  • Unique Home Storage Ideas

    “A place for everything and everything in its place.” No one is sure who first coined that proverb, but we’ve been trying to implement it since at least the late 18th century. Here are a few DIY storage ideas that may make life in the 21st century a little easier—or at least a little less cluttered.

    Bedroom DIY Storage Ideas

    For the price of a package of shower rings and a hanger, you could potentially free up an entire drawer if you slip the shower rings over the bottom rung of a hanger and use it to store your scarves. Mount it to the back of your closet door and your scarves will be accessible and won’t get wrinkled.

    A wooden hanger can become an ideal storage device for jewelry, especially necklaces and dangly earrings. Just add eye screws at small, even intervals and hook them through the eye screws.

    Under-bed storage is always a great idea. While you can buy beds that come with drawers underneath, you can also create your own. Use shallow dresser drawers to which you’ve added wheels and you’ll be able to slide them under the bed. The wheels will make them easier to access when the summer turns to fall and you suddenly need to grab a sweater but aren’t yet ready to do the summer/winter clothing transfer. They’ll also make cleaning under the bed a lot easier, too.

    Little wooden spice racks make both perfect displays and storage containers for perfume bottles, nail polish, or other cosmetics.

    Bathroom DIY Storage Ideas

    Unless you have one for every single family member, bathrooms can be storage nightmares. There are only four corners to a bathtub, and those corners fill up fast when everyone in the family likes to use a different kind of shampoo. Hang fruit baskets from your shower rod and store shampoos, conditioners, nail brushes, loofahs, and body sponges in the baskets. They’re also a great place to store small bath toys.

    Pedestal sinks have been in vogue for a while now, and for good reason: their clean, elegant lines make modern sinks the bathroom focal point and they introduce a feeling of space to what’s usually the smallest room in a house. That said, everyone who’s bought a house with one or replaced an old vanity with a pedestal sink has been faced with the dilemma of where to store their bathroom cleaning products. The solution may be to create a shallow, narrow cupboard between the joists in your bathroom walls. Maybe even two, one on either side of the sink.

    A large wine rack mounted on a bathroom wall makes for idea towel storage. You can build your own or buy one. Or you can mount a series of baskets to the wall and store towels, face cloths, and small appliances like hair dryers, curling irons, beard trimmers and electric razors in the baskets.

    Don’t forget to use the space above your toilet and above your towel racks. Install floating shelves and use glass jars to store cotton swabs, facial wipes, makeup remover pads, hair elastics and bobby pins or hair clips.

    Craft Room and Home Office Storage Ideas

    An old muffin tin will fit nicely in even the shallowest desk drawer, and it automatically gives you a dozen small compartments to store paper clips, push pins, elastics, and USB drives. If the drawer is wide enough, add a kitchen cutlery tray and you’ve got storage for pens, markers, scissors, rolls of tape, and charger cords.

    Revolving countertop spice racks with clear glass bottles are perfect for small craft supplies like pins, needles, buttons, beads, and sequins. If your craft room has a closet, take the door off and add more shelving. You can still use the curtain rod and pants or skirt hangers to hang folded fabric or scrapbooking supplies.

    Pick up an old dresser at a flea market, paint it with chalk paint, and store crafting tools and supplies in the drawers. Dividers are always a good idea. You can buy them or make your own out of cardboard covered in wallpaper. Or you could invest in some more dollar store kitchen cutlery trays.

    If your closet has a bifold door, don’t throw it out or store it in the garage. Mount it to the wall and buy some decorative hooks so you can hang scissors and other tools or rolls of ribbon from the hooks. There’s a reason those home workshop pegboards with tools outlined became so popular: they work. Not only can you see where your tools are at any given time, there’s also no doubt where they belong. Once you’ve analyzed the space available to you and the possessions you need to store, you’re well on your way to creating a place for everything. After that, keeping everything in its place will be a lot easier.

  • Potpourri: Fall Décor’s Secret Weapon

    While the golds and oranges get all the glory, the scent of earthy florals also help create fall memories. Potpourri should be included in your seasonal aesthetic to make any home a bit cozier on the blusteriest of days. With the waning daylight, settle close to your crockpot, stove or oven and begin crafting with dried herbs, flowers and spices.

    Crockpot

    Jennifer Adams, Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate’s interior design Pro, offers a delightful recipe that can simmer in a crockpot to spice up your home as you step out for work or a day of apple picking with the family. Simply quarter two oranges and place inside a crockpot of any size. Next, toss in 6 cinnamon sticks, 2 tablespoons of cloves and 2-3 bay leaves. Add 2 cups of water and set on warm. This is the perfect way to welcome loved ones home, or to set the tone for a party.   

    Stove

    Rosemary is a delightful aromatic herb that not only tops pumpkin, infuses olive oil and seasons potatoes, but is a great herb to simmer on the stove during fall. Thinly slice 2 lemons and place them in a stockpot alongside 2 sprigs of rosemary and 1 tablespoon of vanilla. Add 2-3 cups of water and set on low. Make sure to do this on the backburner with a lid to prevent little hands from being too curious.  

    Oven

    Dried potpourri is also a stellar project to do during fall. Satchels can be placed throughout the house before the cold of winter sets in. Potpourri can also be placed in jars and gifted for housewarmings or Thanksgiving. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Slice 3 apples into 1/8-inch sections and place on a cookie sheet to bake for 2 hours. Flip over every 30 minutes. In a mason jar, place 2 whole vanilla beans, 3 whole cloves, 5 whole coriander seeds and 4 cinnamon sticks. Once the fruit has cooled, add to the jar and shake with the lid tightly closed. One option is to toss the lid and keep the metal band that screws into the jar to hold burlap piece in place over the opening. These non-visual décor statements are sure to help you welcome fall into your home.

  • How to Arrange Flowers Like a Pro

    Flower arrangement is an art that has had a recent resurgence of interest that includes workshops and a wealth of Instagram features. Millennials feel the draw to craft a personal treasure rather than picking something up at the supermarket. You can use flowers from the shop or your garden to create the perfect arrangement. Go from basic bouquets to masterpieces with these tips. 

    Explore various shapes and sizes

    Arranging flowers depends on the size and shape of the vase, as well as the blooms you plan to use. Keep in mind that a flared opening helps stems lean naturally. Mason jars are a staple in most DIY projects and available in a variety of sizes. They are especially suited for boho-style wildflowers. With a wide mouth and narrow neck, a vintage-style milk bottle is ideal for lush looks or simple arrangements of at least three statement blooms. Bowl and square containers can be a bit tricky at first, but the results are worth it. For a bowl vase, use Gerbera daisies or orchids. Cut stems at an angle to match the height of the vase. With a square vase, consider creating a grid using duct tape spanning the wide mouth and keeping heavier flowers in the center of the arrangement for balance. For a glam style, pedestal vessels are superb. Use floral foam to maintain hydration and placement. If you’re in a rush or prefer minimal work, a bud vase is a solid option. Use a single bloom or choose up to three, combining different shapes and sizes for an impactful arrangement. 

    Selecting flowers and leaves

    Every season has a few star blooms that dazzle any arrangement. Spring offers sweet peas, calla lilies and cherry blossoms. Fall is represented by carnations, begonias and petunias. Winters persevere with the help of primrose and sweet pea. Summer delights with dahlias, freesia and chrysanthemums. Filler flowers, such as baby’s breath and daisies, add unique visual texture to an arrangement. Leaves include Italian Ruscus, known for its narrow, tear-shaped fronds and ivy for romantic or vintage touches. Leatherleaf ferns offer a dramatic backdrop for bolder flowers and moss delights modern or whimsical arrangements. For gorgeous looks, select five types of flowers and two types of leaves. 

    Placing blooms and fronds

    Gather scissors, a vase, water and plant food. Remove extra leaves for clean stems. Hold the flowers up to your vase and trim to between one and one-and-a-half times the height of the vase. Cut the stems diagonally. Fill half the vase with water and add a scoop of plant food. Some people also use chicken wire as a base. Place statement flowers in the center and work secondary blooms around them. Adjust as needed. 

    From centerpieces and accents to mantel décor, a flower arrangement brightens up any space and invites compliments.

  • Create More Space and Freshen Up Dated Bathrooms with Remodels

    Since bathrooms are usually among the smallest rooms in the house, unless you’re doing a complete tear out and replace, a simple bath restoration can usually be accomplished in a weekend. That’s great news for folks looking to create more space and freshen up dated bathrooms with a remodel.

    Here are some suggestions for bath restorations that don’t cost an arm and a leg.

    Frame Your Mirror

    Wall-mounted, flat mirrors are great for reflecting light and making a small room look bigger. However, by framing the mirror, either with tiles or traditional wooden framing materials, you can make the ordinary look extraordinary. Since mirrors are a large feature of most bathrooms, this is probably the biggest bang you’ll get for your buck.

    Create a Bathroom Gallery

    Whether it’s a series of three whimsical prints identically framed or a larger collection of small art carefully arranged on a single wall, art in the bathroom is something you and your guests will both appreciate. There’s never been a rule that bathroom art has to be tacky, or that bathrooms have to be solely functional.

    Toilet bowl in modern bathroom interior

    Paint

    Try painting a wall or two in wide neutral stripes (two shades of the same color, for instance, on two walls that meet at a corner). Neutrals, soothing blues, greens, and grays work well, but the color you choose will have to work with your existing (or new) linens. Better to let your linens provide a pop of color than your walls. Also, try to avoid dark and shouty colors. Bubble gum pink is rarely a good idea in a bathroom.

    If you like your wall color, perhaps you could paint your vanity. With all the humidity in bathrooms (even if the fan is used religiously before, during, and after every shower), many wood vanities start to look shabby while they’re still perfectly functional. Pick an accent color that works with your linens and any other furniture you may have in the room. That includes shelving, ottomans, or small linen closets.

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  • Space-Sharing Ideas for Multi-Use Rooms

    In March 2019 the median U.S. home price hit the $300,000 mark for the first time, an increase of seven percent. That means making better use of the space you can afford, because buying a bigger home may not be an option. Here are a few space-sharing ideas for multi-use rooms that may save your family’s sanity.

    Create a Kitchen/Dining Room Combination

    We just don’t live as formally as we used to, and we tend to meet friends for dinner at restaurants. That means dining rooms are often completely wasted spaces, dusted and polished once or twice a year. Why not reclaim this room for another purpose—home office, game or media room, library—and revamp your kitchen so it works as a dining room, too.

    Installing an island with a sink on one side and a bar table on the other means you can entertain your guests while you’re washing, peeling, and chopping vegetables. They can watch you cook, and you won’t have to constantly run back and forth from the living room to the kitchen to make sure nothing’s burning. The bar table works well for on-the-run family breakfasts, too. You can also have a regular height, more formal sit-down table at the other end of the kitchen for when you do entertain; simply direct your guests from the living room to your kitchen/dining room when you’re ready to serve.

    Guest Room/Home Office

    Unless you have guests often, the guest room is another under-utilized area in most homes. If you have overnight guests less than once a month, or for very short stays, it doesn’t make sense to devote so much floor space to a bed that’s rarely used. There are so many sleek, elegant, comfortable and affordable hide-a-beds available these days that it makes a lot more sense to use the guest bedroom as a home office and relocate if, and when, you have overnight guests. Chances are good you won’t be trying to work from home when you’ve got house guests anyway. Fold down Murphy beds are another option, and there are many new models and designs available.

    If, however, you want to keep the guest room as a guest room, you can still create a home office in your guest room closet, if it’s large enough (cloffice is the not-quite-official name for this use of space). Now that printers and routers are wireless, they don’t even have to be in the same room as your laptop. It’s easy to add extra shelving to closet walls. In fact, you might find you focus better when the only visual distraction is your computer screen.

    Laundry Room/Pantry

    Even if you do laundry every single day, you probably spend no more than 10 minutes in your laundry room. That’s why it makes sense to make it a dual-purpose room and install pantry shelving or even an old set of kitchen cupboards that have been repainted or refaced.

    Almost every new washer and dryer is stackable, so take advantage of that and get your appliances installed vertically. You can also buy drawers for under the washer and dryer to safely store detergent, bleach, stain remover, and fabric softener right under the machines (and out of sight).

    If you’ve got a laundry room that also serves as a mudroom and back or side entrance to your home, buy a storage bench for near the door and install as many hooks as you can for coats and jackets. Coats are bulky, and only the ones you wear on a daily basis should be taking up front hall closet space.

    Rather than store out-of-season clothes in every family member’s room, create a winter storage area in the laundry room. You can fit a lot of clothes in a blanket box and an armoire, and neither take up a lot of floor space.

    Make sure all your furniture is space-sensitive and create a design strategy that favors dual- or multi-purpose rooms. Take advantage of corners and try to find corner desks or shelving units. Dining tables that expand with leaves and ones that fold down when not in use are always huge space savers. Ottomans and coffee tables are great opportunities for storing occasional-use items like board games and magazines. Instead of just a small table in your front hallway, use a small dresser instead. Be creative and invest in a variety of storage pieces. It’ll be a lot easier to keep everything in its place once you’ve created a place for everything.

  • Innovative Ways to Use Your Basement Space

    Finished or unfinished, basements are too often overlooked. They are frequently forgotten when it comes to considering available space, due to clutter, dampness and darkness. These issues can be addressed with a few tried and true techniques and basement renovation ideas. Here are five suggestions.

    1. Home gym

    Save yourself the gym membership fees and commute time by installing a home gym. For a modest investment, create a dedicated workout space that changes with your needs. Start with a yoga mat, an elastic exercise band and some free weights. You can find a used weight bench with a bar and some weights for about $150.00, or find working stationary bikes and treadmills for even less. Heavy bags provide a wonderful way to relieve stress and condition your body in the privacy of your own home.

    Make your home gym even more serviceable and comfortable by including rubber flooring and a full-length mirror to monitor your form. Shelves are handy for exercise books, cleaning supplies and bottled water. A bar fridge or plug-in water cooler will help you stay hydrated. Finally, a smart TV that supports YouTube lets you sample a variety of exercise techniques or catch up on the news during cardio.

    2. Home Theater or Music Room

    A home theater delights the whole family and is relatively cheap to install. A large screen smart TV and a family computer with lots of memory are a great way to begin. Good speakers enhance the entertainment experience. Sectional couches (or old movie theater seats) provide ample, comfortable seating. A microwave and a bar fridge allow you to prepare snacks and refreshments for game or movie nights. Carpeting is a good idea to warm up the space and reduce noise.  If you’re willing to make the investment, cork flooring provides a beautiful and forgiving surface that doesn’t need vacuuming.

    3. All-Ages Playroom

    The large footprint basements offer means little ones can scatter their toys and enjoy hours of fun. Shelves for books and board games make the space useful. Install a large table for crafting and painting, as well as for puzzles and games.

    The good news is your basement can provide a playroom no matter your age. Invest in an air hockey or ping pong table, foosball, miniature pool table or a pinball machine to create a grown-up relaxation space.

    4. Bedroom, Bathroom, and Laundry Room Combo

    An extra shower in the family home is a great idea and it gives guests a little more privacy. Installing one in your laundry room can be an efficient strategy. Adding bedrooms and bathrooms will also improve the resale value of your property and provide a convenient place to host family and friends. Be sure you comply with regulations, including mandatory exits and closets.

    5. Bachelor Suite

    If you’ve already got a bathroom and bedroom downstairs, think a little bigger. A children’s room adds convenience for sleepovers, while a full guest suite provides extra income through homestay students or long-term tenants. A kitchen space that includes a sink, stove, refrigerator and table is essential for a self-contained rental unit.  Additionally, a private entrance is the single most important feature tenants looks for.

    Before you embark on a basement renovation, make a list of goals. Use shelving and storage boxes to pack and re-organize everything you’ve stashed under the house. Unify what’s stored into a single room furthest away from the social or living areas of your repurposed basement.

    Invest in a dehumidifier. As the damp disappears, so will the impression of coldness. Cozy is good, but hygge is better.

    Eliminate dark basement corners with appropriate lighting or add a large carpet to unify the space and provide bright splashes of color. Paint walls white or an engaging hue, like butter yellow, to improve your mood. Add to this airy brightness by choosing shiny flooring materials and a variety of small lamps. Use mirrors and clear glass windows to brighten the space or use frosted glass lit from behind to give the impression of windows. Overall, it’s most important to be creative. It’s your basement, after all.

  • Four Ways to Display a Collection

    A home should be a unique expression of the interests of its inhabitants. Plates, rare books, antiques are just some of the items one can collect and display. These pieces readily get conversations started and offer the opportunity to showcase them in stylish ways. Read on to discover how unexpected spaces in the home can be the perfect gallery for personal treasures.

    Welsh sideboard

    Practical and stylish, a sideboard offers discreet storage options on an uninterrupted surface. These timeless pieces were once relegated to the dining room, but now can be placed anywhere. Beyond serving food, they also offer a convenient area to display your treasures, particularly plates and vintage silverware. The trick is to select one focal point and keep backgrounds neutral. Collections will shine without overwhelming. If your display is particularly colorful, consider placing against a white or beige wall.

    Pigeonholes of a desk

    A desk can be the perfect place to display a collection. Pigeonholes were once used to store office supplies and papers. They now can provide space for a mini gallery. Start by clearing off stationary and polishing for the cleanest surface. Arrange your collection in a way that pleases you the most and get ready for the compliments.

    Bookshelves

    From masks to statues of all sizes, sculpture is one medium that thrives on proximity. These multi-dimensional works should be viewed from as many angles as possible. Bookshelves provide the perfect space for display, as most are elevated or at eye level. This placement also prevents accidents by keeping too many hands away from creating a hazard. To enhance these bold objects, consider adding the right lighting. A spotlight or single light may wash out intricate details. Diffused light, such as sunshine, works best. If that is not possible, try recessed lighting.

    Built-ins

    Versatile built-ins are meant to be filled with personal treasure. Books, Depression-era glass or action figures can all find a home on them. These small landscapes offer the right amount of space and light to bring dimension and character to a flat wall. For the more creative types, deepen the impact of your display by playing with layers.  Arrange books as a foundation and move smaller décor items to the forefront for a multi-dimensional look that will start many conversations. Love displaying your personal treasures as much as you love collecting them. This article was inspired by the April 1958 issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine, proving beloved collections are timeless and always in style.