Spring Tips and Tasty Ideas

Spring is here! Either the snow is receding or the daffodils are up. Either way winter is going away. Get your home ready for longer days and outdoor entertaining. Here are a few helpful undertakings to put you in the mood.

Rearrange Your Furniture For a No Cost Fresh Look- You do not need to spend a dime to create a new look. Most rooms can be set more than one way. Move the sofa, reposition the sitting chairs turn the focus from the fireplace to the patio. If you can’t move the furniture then switch pictures from room to room.

Seasonal Focal Point Shifts

Plant a Window Sill or Balcony Herb Garden – At the local nursery or home improvement store for $10-20 you can get rosemary, basil, dill or maybe oregano. Clip them regularly for fresh herbs thru spring and summer. Cutting makes them grow.

Great Grill Recipes- Besides the warm weather and more hours of sunshine, outdoor-dining becomes top of mind. Get your grill on! Food Network has some tasty ideas for making you the #1 backyard chef. Use the herbs from your window sill garden.

The Deck has been Under the Weather- Before having your first soirée, most likely your deck can use some TLC? A good scrubbing or fresh paint can lay the stage for great get-togethers. Now is time to knock out this chore, because on the next 70-degree Saturday the gang will descend and you’ll be ready.

Check your Garden Hoses- Hopefully you got these babies drained and uncoupled from their spigots last fall, if not you may have a cracked hose. Check before you need them. You never know when the grill will get away from you. LOL.

Wash Windows and Sliding Door Tracks- You definitely want all the green coming thru. To make sliding doors easy to open and close, try these steps:

1. Scrub track with a wire brush (golf club cleaning brush is perfect)

2. Vacuum loose dirt and wipe clean

3. Spray with a silicone lubricant. Silicone does not attract dirt as oil based lubricant do. We love Blaster  found at most home improvement centers.

Keep the Fireplace Glow- Clean your fireplace and add small dishes of white vinegar (about 2 days) to rid the burned smell. Once it’s clean and fresh, arrange candles at varying heights inside to have that inviting glow without the heat. If you have a gas fireplace just add a candle display in front of the opening and get the same results. Here’s a great one at Amazon.

Rotate and Flip Your Mattresses- This prolongs their life and you’ll sleep better. Spray with Febreze and don’t be “noseblind.”

Change Batteries in Smoke Alarms- These ALWAYS start “chirping” in the middle of the night. That high pitch sound will drive you crazy and let’s face it, you are no good on a ladder at 3AM. If you only do one thing on this list do THIS!

With all the technology improvements in our lives today there still nothing that gives us that extraordinary feeling that spring brings. Get out more often!