Category Archives: Home Tips

Pest Control in the Valley

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Arizona’s breathtaking landscape continues to allure tourists and homebuyers to this ideal paradise. With some of the most consistently blue skies in America, the Grand Canyon State has so much to offer travelers. From unbeatable rural scenic views to the friendly city dwellers, Arizona has it all. Yet, if you are new to the Valley, you may be unfamiliar with some of the challenges the desert brings with it. This rocky oasis is inviting to more than just humans. Many pest and critters enjoy Arizona as well; this means we need to be smart about our home’s pest control.

Critters to Consider

While a new home is not going to be infested, you should not wait. If you wait, you may be subject to some unwanted guests. Ants are very common in Arizona. You can be susceptible to fire ants which no one wants or carpenter ants. The carpenter ants will eat into your woods in wet areas like bathrooms and kitchens, and this can easily cause unwanted structural damage. On the outside of your homes, you could be exposed to killer bees or even wasps. While beautiful flowerbeds may attract these fellows, you do not need them nesting up near your home. Another lethal intruder is some types of spiders. While tarantulas are scary, they are not as dangerous as the Black Widow. Having your home treated to prevent termites, roaches, and rodents is a widespread Arizona protocol.

How Often Should I Spray?

Once your home has been treated, keep up on your pest control. Some of these home invaders can cause severe structural damage. Typically, having your home treated bi-monthly will prevent any infestations. It is not guaranteed that an untreated home will be infested, but it is always better to be safe than sorry. If you can act ahead, you will not have to deal with these unwanted vermin’s later in life.

Make sure any company you hire is abiding by the Arizona state laws. Termite control laws and regulations can prohibit specific procedures. Keeping your home safe and pest free is essential, but be sure to follow Arizona’s state laws to stay safe.

Tips for Curating Your Home with Quality Items

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You have been obsessing over creating a stylish home just like the ones you see in the magazines and on television shows. While designing a space is all about your personal style, it can be essential to focus on key elements that add quality over quantity to your home design. So before you head to your nearest store, here are some tips for curating your home with quality items:

Do Not Make This Mistake

Often, when we are setting out to design our homes with the goal of buying as many pieces as possible with a relatively small budget. So you score items from popular chain stores to furnish your home for less. While some of the furniture may be solidly built, you cannot expect most of these pieces to last a long time. If you are determined to curate your home with quality items, it is essential to take a more thoughtful approach. Start by getting rid of the mindset that you have to furnish every room in your home quickly. With this approach, you will likely be motivated to purchase a bunch of low-quality, inexpensive furniture just so your home can look “complete.” Instead, you want to make sure that the furniture you select is appropriate and that it lasts for many years to come.

Quality Over Quantity

The key to creating a stylish home is having an eclectic mix of furniture and accessories that complement the overall design of your home. This is done by taking your time and investing in pieces as you go along. Look at consignment shops, yard sales, and boutiques for unique items. It may be tempting to purchase a lot of inexpensive furniture that may even be attractive, but be sure to focus on quality over quantity.

Analyze Things You Buy

Will this piece be useful in the next few years, or can you repurpose it into something useful? Or can this furniture serve more than one purpose? For instance, a vintage dresser could later be reused as a television console in the living room. Be sure to ask yourself these questions before you make a purchase.

Save and Wait Because It Is an Investment

You should also invest in things made of quality materials. You will find that a lot of furniture purchased from chain stores is made up of MDF. MDF is an engineered wood that is easily susceptible to cracks and will fall apart fairly quickly. Try to purchase pieces that are made from genuine wood. It is okay to wait and save up for pieces. We understand that buying home decor is a process and an investment. Go slow, save, and buy what you can when you can.

We hope you found these tips helpful. Check back weekly for more home inspiration and tricks, and be sure to subscribe. Thanks for reading!

Scented Design

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What actually creates your home’s design? Is it colors and patterns? Is it the design theme you choose? Maybe, it is how the atmosphere makes you feel? Your design is more than just a room’s visual aesthetics. Factors like textures, sounds, and scents can all play a vital role in how others construe your space. Incorporating different aromas to your space can rejuvenate your atmosphere. Here are several great aromas to use in your home to help enhance your atmosphere:

Essential Oil Diffuser

Essential oils are extremely popular for their added benefits such as anti-anxiety, anti-inflammatory, immune boosting, and antiviral components. Adding an essential oil diffuser is a great way to capture incense while taking advantage of different benefits of diverse essential oils. Try adding oils to help calm or relax and the atmosphere like lavender, chamomile, sandalwood, or jasmine. You can also use other oils like wild orange, peppermint, and bergamot to help add a more positive, upbeat energy to a room.

Candles

Another great scented remedy to have in your home are candles. Candles are great for adding a warm, inviting energy to a room. With hundreds of aromas available, you can have your room scented however you want. Candles can also be a great addition to add to a fireplace during the warmer months. You can get the visual and aromatic benefits of the fire and candles without adding too much warmth to your space.

Incense

Incenses can usually be burnt for religious, meditation, or cultural purposes. However, they can also add a great scent to your home and have an aesthetic appeal. Burning incense is a great air freshener and odor eliminator but also can have benefits for helping you concentrate and stimulate your creativity. Try adding these to your home office or areas in your home where you spend time being creative and being focused the most.

Never try to mask odors. Try to keep odors eliminated and create your own scents for your atmosphere. More than just visual aesthetics play a role in a room’s overall feel. What are some of your favorite scents? Comment below and let us know.

What Should I Do with My Leftover Furniture?

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Soiled and saggy, you have realized that your favorite sofa is on its last leg. Whether you have managed to score a vintage piece of furniture or your living room is sporting a hand-me-down sofa, it can be challenging to decide if you should let it go. It is especially so if you are working with a small budget. Do you clean it, reupholster it, or buy a new one? No need to fret! We will help you decide what is the best choice.

Consider the History

One of the first questions you will want to ask yourself is, “where exactly did the piece of furniture come from?” If it was passed down from a family member or friend obtaining some information about the original cost, quality, and conditions that the furniture may have endured is a breeze. On the hand, if you purchased it from a thrift store or it was a roadside rescue, it might be impossible to tell what it endured.

What Is the Condition?

Perhaps your biggest concern should be the current condition of the furniture piece. For instance, if the piece spent years in a smoker’s home, you can expect the smell of cigarettes to cling to the upholstery. To be honest, you might never be able to get rid of the scent.

What if the upholstery spent several months stored in someone’s garage or basement? Then you will need to inspect for signs of mold. These environments are home to high levels of humidity and moisture. Moisture and humidity can easily absorb into wooden frames making for the perfect opportunity for mold and bacteria growth. In cases like this, you will have to strip down the piece to the furniture, have the wood professionally treated for mold. You will have to determine whether you are interested in investing some money into restoring the upholstery.

Cleaning

If the upholstery is badly soiled, you will have to make use of a professional upholstery cleaning service. Sometimes an expert can tell prior to cleaning, what kind of results you can expect. However, there is no guarantee whether it is possible to clean the upholstery to your satisfaction.

What if cleaning a sofa is not enough to restore it to its original condition? Reupholstering is your next option. Reupholstering a couch or chair can be expensive. For vintage pieces, it may be worth the investment.

In order to determine what you should do with your old furniture, you need to consider the piece’s use and functionality. If it is in good condition, you may have more options. Just keep in mind the different steps to take when restoring it and keep an open mind if those steps do not work.

How to Preserve Your Wood Furniture

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Whether it is your beloved dining room table that you paid some serious bucks for or an antique rocking chair that has been passed down in your family, no doubt you want your wood furniture for several years to come. While wood furniture can last for a long time, proper care and maintenance can ensure that it looks good throughout the years. Here is how you can protect your favorite wood pieces:

Things to Avoid:

  • Sunlight: Believe it or not, the sun pouring in from a nearby window can damage your wood furniture over time. Therefore, you will want to avoid placing your favorite pieces near exposed windows where direct sunlight can alter the color of the wood stain. If you have to put a piece of wood furniture near a window, consider adding blackout shades or curtain to help prevent sunlight from affecting the furniture.
  • Water: Try your best to not expose your wood furniture to water even during cleaning. Drinking glasses can leave behind sweat rings that are nearly impossible to remove once they are ingrained in the wood surface.
  • Heating Vents: You probably never thought your heating vents could pose a danger to your wood furniture, but it actually can. Avoid putting pieces near or over a heating vent. Heat can also damage the finish of wood finish and completely dry out the material. Instead, try placing the furniture in the center of the room.
  • Humidity: Heating is not the only natural force that can erode wood finishes, but changes in humidity levels could ruin a beautiful piece of wood furniture. If you can, try to keep humidity levels at 40-60%. Anything above those levels can make a wood piece warp causing the finishing to crack and chip.

How to Protect Wood Furniture

  • Tablecloths: Wood tabletops often take a beating. The best way to protect such a surface is to use a tablecloth because it will protect against stains and marks.
  • Polishing: Depending on the finish of the wood, you should only require polishing 1-2 times a year.
  • Dusting: Dust can easily mix in with the humidity lingering in the air. When it settles onto your wood furniture, it can potentially damage the surface. To prevent this, make sure you dust as often as you can.

We hope you find these tips and tricks useful. For more informative pieces, please visit us at Fulton Homes.

Tips and Tricks for Moving Day

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Moving can be one of the most significant stress factors in life. It can be overwhelming and very time-consuming. Not only do most people not like change, but the stress of packing everything from one home to the next can be a challenge. You want to pack your precious belongings with care and make sure they get from point “A” to point “B” safely.

Supplies

You will want to break down your house into mini projects to help alleviate the size of the task. A project is always easier when the right material is all at hand before you start. Get boxes or crates which can easily be stacked on top of one another. Additionally, you will need tape, newspaper, bubble wrap, and probably should invest in a two-wheel dolly.

Small to Big

Select one room at a time. Start with all smaller trinkets and items. For fragile object, try wrapping them in newspaper or bubble wrap to reinforce them before packing them in their boxes. Books can be heavy, so always consider the weight of the box before taping it. Try to keep cords with their respective electronics, and if you must remove screws, put them inside a Ziploc and tape them to the furniture piece.

Fragile Items

Depending on the electronic, you may want to bring it up front with you in the moving truck or wrap it in bubble wrap. Place large mirrors between mattresses and wrap them with towels. Disassemble any fragile furniture and wrap glass shelving. Packing a moving truck needs to be handled very strategically. If possible, consider taking televisions and computers in your personal vehicle.

Packing the Truck

Larger items will be your big puzzle pieces. Use your smaller boxes to stabilize everything in the moving truck. Like a giant game of Tetris, you will want to fill in any gaps. Use tie-downs to hold big furniture in place along the walls. You may also need to consider your packing order. What goes in last comes out first. Do not get yourself stuck in a standstill because you packed the truck backward and you need objects from the front of the truck first to continue.

Be Cautious

Drive with caution and avoid large potholes and bumps. It is not a race and accelerating and braking too aggressively can cause objects to shift. You need to be aware of this as well when you get to your destination. Open the truck door with caution because objects may have shifted during your commute. You will also need to have a good understanding of how you pack the truck so while unpacking you do not put pictures and mirrors at risk. Breaking the moving process into smaller increments will save you from over-stressing.

How to Design a Coffee Bar in Your Home

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Coffee is our fuel which keeps us going through the day. If you are a coffee lover, you know how important coffee is to your sanity, and since your home is your sanctuary, maybe you should dedicate some space to this necessity in your life. Coffee bars are great to add to your home and do not require a ton of investment to begin creating. You can have your coffee bar in your kitchen, office, or even your bedroom. If you are looking to create your own coffee bar, here is everything you should consider adding to it:

The Essentials

To create your coffee bar, you will need to have a few coffee essentials present. Decide how you plan on brewing your coffee. You can add a Keurig, a coffee maker, an espresso machine, a pour over maker, or a french press. You can even invest in a hot plate and brew your coffee wherever you decide to set up the coffee bar. Just make sure to get some coffee mugs or to-go thermals as well. Add anything to your coffee stand that would typically be added to your coffee. You may want to include creamer, sugar, sugar alternatives, honey, and milk. For items that need chilled, you may need to invest in a mini fridge for the area. Consider having clean-up items readily available under your coffee station like paper towels or rags in case any accidents may occur.

Brewed Your Way

Not an avid coffee drinker? That is okay. A bar is still a great option to add to rooms for aesthetics and entertainment. You may want to create an alcohol bar with some of your favorite drinks readily available. You can have a reach-in fridge with chilled beverages or even install a kegerator for instant brews. You can also create a dessert or and an “hors d’oeuvre” bar. Find the perfect remedy for your home or tailor your bar to your guest or events.

Appearance is Everything

Your coffee station does not need to be solely for functionality. Consider decorating it to make it a fun focal point in a room. You can make a DIY chalkboard, install floating shelves, display your mugs, and even add some plants for added character. You can even create a shabby chic look with a distressed, whitewashed coffee stand or a more modern look with floating shelves and a metal end table. The possibilities are endless.

A coffee bar can be aesthetically pleasing and a great addition to your home. You can put it in your dining or living room or even in some place further away from the kitchen in your home. A coffee bar can make your coffee making experience even more enjoyable. For more tips and tricks, make sure to subscribe.

Creative Upcycling Inspirations and Ideas

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We love getting new things and while it can be hard getting rid of our old stuff as well, perhaps with some clever tricks, you can repurpose your old stuff and create new innovative ways to incorporate them into your home. Upcycling is a great way to reuse old material and create a higher quality purpose for it. So, stop throwing away old containers and wired hangers and start converting the old to create something unique and useful. Here are our top five creative ways to upcycle your waste and repurpose it for something beautiful:

Textiles

Have an old favorite sweater with a hole in it or one that you have and do not fit anymore? Maybe you love the pattern on it, or perhaps you like the way it feels. You do not have to get rid of it though, just upcycle it into a different article of clothing. You can easily make some cozy slipper socks for your home. Take the sock size you would like to replicate, and cut out the shape twice and sow it together to create a sock! You can go a step further and take an old pair of slippers or water shoes and remove the rubber bottoms from them and attach them to your socks. You now have a comfortable pair of slippers you can wear around the house.

Glass

Have old mason jars in your home? These can serve hundreds of purposes, but we think they work great for storing foods. You can create hanging mason jars in your cabinets or pantry. Place the lid against the bottom of a shelf or cabinet. Drill a screw into the lid to hold it in place. You can now twist your mason jar to allow it to hang. Fill these with pasta noodles, spices, seeds, or anything you would like. These are great for creating more space while making a more organized pantry.

Tires

Ever blow out a tire and have a worn tire removed from a rim? Some shops will charge you to dispose of the tire. Instead, ask for the old tire back. You can repurpose the old tire into a planter for flower bushes or small trees. You can make a creative pattern and cut it into onside of the tire. After, turn the tire inside out, and you are ready to go. You can paint it to add some color as well. Just fill it with the dirt and seeds then enjoy!

Upcycling hacks are brilliant ways to repurpose your old goods. If you have never considered upcycling before, these are perfect beginner projects. You can deep dive into more upcycling ideas and be even more creative. For more repurposing tricks and hacks, make sure to subscribe!

How to Have a Successful Move

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Moving is one of the most significant stress factors in life. We become “nester” and find comfort staying in our old ways of lives; however, change is vital for growth, and sometimes that demands moving homes. Do not let this task feel like an encumbering burden because with a little time-management and a game plan, your move will go smoothly. Plus, you can eliminate your stress by stick to these five simple guidelines for moving:

Make a Game Plan

The first step is to make a game plan. Determine how many days you have until your move. Perhaps a month or maybe a week? Using this time, write out the rooms you will need to pack. You can set goals to accomplish each day to break up the workload. Additionally, you need to price and schedule a moving truck or movers. Write out a game plan for moving day including a timeline of the day to help ensure everything goes smoothly.

Time to Pack

Do not pack any of your necessities at first. You do not want to go for a month without toilet paper or toothpaste. You may want to go to a local grocery store for some free boxes if you do not have them. If not, many moving truck companies can sell boxes to you as well. Once you begin to pack, remember to set aside important documents and hand deliver these items to your new home yourself.

Be Sure to Label

Labeling is important. Not only should you label the contents of the box, but you should label what box goes in what room. You should also label if boxes are heavy, medium, or light for packing purposes as well as have stickers that say if things are fragile. Labels will help your loading an unloading process as well as your unpacking experience.

Hire a Babysitter

Moving day will demand a lot of attention and so do your kids. Plus, you do not want to jeopardize your children’s safety on moving day. With so much going through your mind on moving day, do not forget to hire a babysitter or dog sitter. You have a lot to worry about during the day and having your children monitored by someone else can help alleviate some stress.

Settling in

Welcome to the neighborhood! You may want some of your time dedicated to networking and meeting the community. Even if stress levels are high this day, be smart. You are new to the neighborhood, and your emotions can make a first impression. Be sure to wave to new neighbors and smile!

If you chose Fulton Homes, we are incredibly excited about your new adventure. You will find that our homes are built to last by standing the test of time. Welcome and thank you for choosing Fulton Homes.

“You’re Proud to Own. We’re Proud to Build.” – Fulton Homes

Tips and Tricks for Creating a Guest Bedroom Getaway

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It is always rewarding to host guests. Creating an atmosphere which is inviting and welcoming is key to being a good host. If you plan on allowing your guest to stay overnight, you will need to prepare a guest room. Plus, having the perfect guest room does not need to cost you an arm and a leg. You should, however, treat your guest how you would want to be treated. There are several elements which can make your company’s stay a better experience. Here are our top guest room essentials to ensure your visitors have an impeccable stay:

A Place to Rest Their Head

A comfy bed can make or break your company’s stay. Make sure your guests are provided with clean sheets and extra pillows/blankets. You do not want them to be too warm or too cold; therefore, provide them with a complete set of sheets and additional items to make their stay welcoming. They can feel awkward asking for more items, so make sure you provide above and beyond what they are expecting.

A Place to Unpack

Depending on your company’s stay, they may have clothes they need to be unpacked. Providing an adequate amount of storage whether in a dresser or closet space is a must. You may also want to give a hook on the back of the door for them to hang their jackets, purses, or hats. Do not be shy about giving them enough hangers because again, you want to provide extra and beyond their needs.

A Place to Recharge

Do not forget to provide the room with basic amenities. Remember to have a clock and provide enough outlets for your guest to be able to charge their electronics. You may even want to provide some phone chargers in the room as well. You can also make the room more enjoyable by adding a television, radio, and even Bluetooth speaker. Your guests will love the extra thought you put into the space and enjoy their getaway a little more.

Being a good host is satisfying, and creating the perfect guest room is a fun challenge. Do not overcrowd the room with décor, but remember that less is more. We hope you enjoyed these tips and tricks. For more expert ideas, visit us at Fulton Homes.