Spring cleaning does not just involve cleaning your home, but it requires crucial maintenance for your plants. When springtime rolls around, it is important to take a look at your plants’ health. Plants should be transferred to larger pots to help their growth. The larger pot will assist your plants in getting its key nutrients and bring back any color it may have lost. You will need to take a look at your plant’s health and decide if it needs repotting. Some plants can go a couple years without repotting, but others may need more attention and up-keeping. 

Your Supply List: 

• A plant
• Large Pot (should be approximately 2 inches larger than your original pot)
• Soil 
• Water 

How to repot your plant:

1. Consider your work environment. 

Repotting a plant can get messy quickly, consider taking your plant outdoors to work on repotting it. 

• ONLY take your plant outside if it is warm enough because indoor plants can go into “shock” if exposed to low temperatures. 
• Never place your indoor plants outdoors during cold months. 

2.  Remove your plant. 

In order to properly remove your plant, you will need to flip the pot upside and lightly take hold the plant’s stem. Once you have the plant’s stem in your hand, pull the plant out by its stem. 

3. Begin to add soil to the new pot. 

Cover the bottom of your larger pot with potting soil, but leave room for your plant.

4. Place your plant in the larger pot. 

5. Sprinkle more soil into the pot.

6. Water your repotted plant often.

7. Keep an eye on your plant for about a week. 

Your plant just changed homes, let it recuperate. Keep an eye out to make sure it handles the move well. 

Ultimately, repotting your plants is great for the plant as well as you. Dull plants can be a bit of an eyesore. Always keep an eye on your plants to see how they are growing in their new home. Your newly repotted plants should avoid direct sunlight for about a week and a half. 

When choosing an area rug there are several factors to consider such as the shape, size, and design. 18

 The type of room you are decorating will help determine the shape and size of the area rug you want to choose. Round rugs work well in wide rooms; they are often placed under hanging light fixtures. Long rectangular rugs work great in hallways, and rectangular or square rugs work best for dividing spaces in large rooms.

The design and type of rug are also important features. For the environmentally conscious, a natural fiber rug is a good option. Not only are they environmentally and budget friendly, they are also incredibly versatile. There are many different fibers to choose from such as bamboo, hemp, seagrass, jute and sisal.  If your decorating style is more exotic, consider Turkish, Morrocan, Oriental, or Persian rugs. Each have their own unique styles and options. Do you prefer a classic style? Consider a French Aubusson rug. For a plush and luxurious rug, there are many options of textured wools and hide rugs. If durability is important, the Indian Dhurrie rug might be the one for you.

Knowing how to use your rug to accentuate your space is important. Here are a few tips.

In a room with multiple area rugs use matching colors. This creates harmony in the space when there are multiple area rugs. Another option is to choose different shapes or patterned area rugs that share the same color palette. This strategy helps to distinguish between different areas of a large open space such as a dining room, and a living room. There is still harmony, but the space is distinguished by the different rugs.

 It is easier to combine differing solid colors than patterned rugs. It is also easier when one of the colors is neutral. Rugs impact the way a space is viewed. In an open room, a “floating space” can be anchored down by a rectangular area rug. In smaller spaces or rooms, buy a rug that exceeds the furniture to make the space appear larger.

These are a few strategies and ideas as you embark on the journey of finding the best area rug for your home. Please contact us with any questions.

At last, you have finished your house and it turned out to be everything you could have ever imagined. You decide to celebrate the accomplishment with a house warming dinner party. If you enjoy cooking, dinner parties are a great opportunity to show off your culinary skills while showing off your new place. 

Here is how to throw a killer dinner party:

Send out your invites.

Pick a date and a time for your housewarming party. After you have decided, send out your invitations at least two-three weeks in advance. The early, the better. Make sure to have a date to RSVP by because you will need the amount of people coming for grocery list. 

Properly set your table. 

Charger Plates: For a formal dinner table setting, you will place your dinner plate & soup/salad bowl on top of the “charger.” Your charger plate acts a base for your setting and will remain during the duration of the main meal. You will take away your guests’ charger plates once the dessert is served. 

Dessert: Bring the dessert fork and plate come out with the dessert. 

Cups: The coffee cups will sit in the right corner above the silverware. Your wine glasses and water glasses will sit to the left of the coffee cups. 

Forks: The forks will sit to the left of your dinner plate. The dinner fork will be placed on the inside, closest to the dinner plate and the dessert fork will be placed on the outside left hand side. 

Spoons: Place the soup spoon on the far right. Your beverage spoons will lay in between the soup spoon and your dinner knife.

Knife: The knife will be on the righthand side closest to the dinner plate. 

Personalize the table. 

Name cards: Place a name card on each of your guests place. This will help your guests find their seats and feel special. Also, this gives you a chance to have certain people sit next to one another. 

Menu: You can provide a menu of the food you will be serving that night. Adding a menu adds a touch of class to your dinner table. 

Dec(orate) to impress.

Engage your guests’ eyes with a gorgeous centerpiece. You could put out an arrangement of flowers, candles, vases, etc. 

Delight their taste buds. 

Be aware of any allergies or restrictions your guests may have towards food. It is important to be respectful of their restrictions without overcompensating the rest of your guests’ meals. You can always provide an alternative main course option for guests with allergies (keep it simple).  Guests will appreciate the thoughtfulness you showed when preparing your meal with them in mind. 

We hope you thoroughly enjoy your house warming party and that all of your friends love your new place! 

In today’s world, there aren’t enough hours in the day to complete our tasks. Who wants to spend an entire day cleaning the house, especially when time is a precious commodity? If you have an unexpected guest coming over, or you just procrastinate cleaning the house, we have some basic tips for cleaning the house fast!

• Concentration and Focus – The first tip is lay down your phone! You must stay hyper focused on the task at hand, and not get distracted by other tasks. Clean one room at a time.
• Start at the Top – Always start at the top and clean down. This way dirt and dust falls to the lower uncleaned surface. Dust ceiling fans first, then dust the furniture top to bottom.
• Bedrooms – Strip bed linens and remake bed. Clear all visible clutter by placing in a basket to organize later. Dust ceiling fans and light fixtures. Dust window sills. Dust all furniture top to bottom with dusting spray and microfiber cloth.
• Bathrooms – Cleaning all bathrooms at one time is key. Dust light fixtures and window sills. Clear counters and spray down counters, tubs and toilet with cleaner. Allow the cleaner to sit while you go to the next bathroom to clear and spray down. Go back to bathroom and clean counters, tub and toilets, then clean the mirrors. Come back and clean bathroom baseboards and floors after you have cleaned the kitchen floor.
• Living & Dining Room –  Clear all clutter first. Start dusting in one corner of the room and work clockwise. Clean ceiling fans, light fixtures, dust window sills, and dust all furniture top to bottom. Use your vacuum cleaner’s attachment on upholstered furniture.
• Kitchen – First, load dishwasher. Fill the sink with hot soapy water and a small amount of cleaner. If your stove has burner frames, remove and put in soapy water. Dust ceiling fans, light fixtures and window sills. Clear all counter tops and table/desk tops. Dip cleaning sponge in soapy water and wipe down cabinets and counters, top to bottom. Be sure to rinse sponge in hot water and you’ll be amazed at how much dirt rinses out. Wipe down all kitchen appliances, top to bottom. Wiping down appliances will help to eliminate finger prints.
• Floors – Clean all hardwood floors at one time, clean tile floors together, and so on. When vacuuming carpeted floors, work your way backwards out of the room and try not to overlap with vacuum. Vacuum hardwood floors using the attachment for corners and baseboards. This eliminates dust in the air and settling again.
• Steam Mop – Steam mops make cleaning floors much faster than using a basic mop. Plus, you are using water to steam away dirt and germs, instead of cleaners. Invest in a steam mop!

 We look forward to hearing your feedback and comments, and don’t forget to let us know your tips and tricks!

When formulating a design strategy for your home, it is important to consider how light and dark will influence your choices in flooring, furniture and wall color.  Keep in mind what direction your home faces, which rooms are cooler or warmer, and which areas of the house have minimal natural light available.  These are all pieces of useful information you will need to bring out the best parts of your home’s traits.  It will also help you provide solutions to some of its disadvantages.

Rooms that receive a lot of natural light can afford to be decorated with darker furniture and flooring.  The rich colors will come to life when the sun shines through.  Using a lighter but vivid wall color with your decor will also keep the focus on the room’s darker aspects and keep the design looking dramatic. If the light coming from the windows is insufficient in the next room on your list, try using a lighter color palette to help make the room appear larger and less dingy.   Bright earth tones will give the room a crisp, refreshing look. Pair it with glass decor and mirrors for artificial light sources to reflect in order to counteract the darkness.

Proper lighting coverage in each room of your home will help provide the best contrast from dark to light when transitioning from day to night. No matter how well some rooms may receive the sunshine, they will all be needing artificial sources of light by day’s end.  Do not underestimate the usefulness of a light dimmer. This will allow you to stage each room with the proper amount of light needed depending on the time of day, room design or even to please your houseguests.  Bedrooms can use softer yellow bulbs while high traffic areas can use a sharper white light to keep things bright and active.

Finally, consider how the use of cooler and warmer colors can be beneficial to the appearance of each room to help accentuate the light and dark to its best advantage.   Each space needs to feel comfortable and inviting. Mixing colors, textures and lines as your baseline in design will allow you to come up with the most flattering contrasts in your home.