Neat ways to light up your life

If you're looking for a way to change the look of a room but don't feel like spending tons of money, do it yourself projects are great ways to express your creativity!  In this technological era, you can find instructions  on how to complete almost any DIY project you can imagine.  As a Realtor® there are several websites and blogs that I frequent to gain interesting ideas on ways to help spruce up a space.  Decoist.com is a prime example of a great site for ideas on improving interior design.  Recently, the posted a great gallery with ideas for some pretty amazing DIY light fixture projects.

10 Fun Ways to Enlighten Your Life: Upcycling Household Products to Quirky Light Fixtures offers some inspiring ideas for custom light fixtures made from items you might never imagine.  Looking through the gallery, my favorite idea is a toss-up between the paint cans and the graters!  Let me know which option you like the best, or your own ideas for some custom light fixtures, in the comments below!  As always, feel free to share this information with your friends and family, and follow my blog to keep up with all of my posts.  Friend me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter to keep up with everything I ever post!

Quick tips to reduce energy costs

As I've stated in the past, like most people I am a huge fan of saving money.  There are only 2 ways to increase the amount of money that you have lying around to do the things you want to do: cut costs or increase income.  Since increasing your income is not necessarily the easiest thing to do, the better option is cutting costs.  Like most people, I have several bills that are fixed costs that are going to remain the same from month to month, and there is nothing that I can do about that.  On the other hand, our utilities are variable costs that we have greater control over every month.

Cutting back on my energy bills every month is one way that I've tried to reduce my costs to help save money.  There are tons of gimmicks out there that boast improved energy efficiency through purchasing different "green" devices, but there are actually some ways you can improve efficiency without spending extra money.  Lifehacker.com posted a great article with several changes you can make around your home offering ideas on How to Reduce Your Energy Bill with No Cost or Sacrifice by Adam Dachis.  This list offers several ideas that I've never heard of, including asking your utility companies if they offer discounts for non-peak usage of electricity or gas and switching to these times when doing laundry or running the dishwasher!

Check out this article and let me know which idea you think is best in the comments below.  As always, feel free to share this information with your friends and family and follow my blog to keep up with all my posts.  Friend me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter to keep up with everything I ever post!

Even odd rooms can offer great uses

As a real estate agent, I have been able to see many different types of floor plans and designs for homes while working with clients.  While the floor plan is one of those items that is hard to change in a home, there are times when certain rooms can be utilized in a different way in order to fit the needs of a buyer.  The ability to look at a room and see the potential that room offers is something that allows some people to take a room that many people would hate, and turn it into something absolutely amazing.

MSN Real Estate posted a great article offering Awesome ideas for awful rooms, by Scot Meyer of Switch Yard Media.  They range from efficient usage of small spaces, to design ideas to make those spaces amazing.  Click through the gallery and see what ideas you like the best, or let me know your awesome ideas in the comments below.  Feel free to share this information with your friends and family, and follow my blog to keep up with all my posts.  Friend me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter to keep up with everything I ever post!

Innovative ideas for stuff around the house

I've always been interested in technology, gadgets, or any type of cool innovations to items that we take for granted every day.  Since I've gotten into real estate, this interest has expanded to include cool changes to everyday items that we all have around the house.  I have posted articles in the past that included cool gadgets or other technological advancements that can be utilized at home to increase energy efficiency (like the nest thermostat that learns your heating/cooling patterns), but there are other neat innovations that I have found that have nothing to do with technological advancements that I find just as interesting!!

Looking through different design ideas, I stumbled across dornob.com, a site that offers daily design ideas.  This site offers out of this world innovations to everyday items that you have to see to believe!  One cool idea they offer is a shape-shifting table that can be manipulated into round, and even square shapes.  Check out this site and let me know one of your favorite items they offer in the comments below!

As always, feel free to share this information with your friends and family, and follow my blog to keep up with all of my posts.  To keep up with everything I ever post, feel free to friend me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter!

Fall is the perfect time to prepare for winter!

The fall season has only been underway a couple weeks, but now is a great time to start getting your home ready for winter.  Leaves are already changing, an indication that the trees are already preparing for winter as well.  Temperatures are beginning drop, so it's important to start doing some work around the house to try and increase efficiency for the heating season to help keep your heating bills down.

There are several small items that can be accomplished around the house to ensure your home is ready for the winter season.  MSN Real Estate posted a great article by The Daily Green that offers 19 easy home-winterization projects that will help you get your home as efficient as possible!  Take a look through this slide show and let me know which ideas you like the best in the comments below!  Feel free to share this info with your friends and family so they can get their homes ready for winter.  Follow my blog, friend me on Facebook, and follow me on Twitter to keep up with everything I ever post!