Category Archives: Home Tips

Different Ways to Use Baskets for Home Organization

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For most of us, when it is time to organize things around the house, we go to our nearest outlet and purchase several storage containers. What if I told you there was an inexpensive yet chic way that you can organize everything from your bathroom toiletries to the stack of papers on the kitchen table? Baskets are a fantastic yet inexpensive way to organize every last room in the house. Here are some great ways it can be put to use: 
 
  • The Bathroom. 
If your bathroom lacks adequate storage, you may want to opt for medium to large size baskets to store your extra towels and washcloths. Having a place to store clean bathroom linens is a must. For a sophisticated feel, you can roll up your towels like they do in hotels and align them around a wicker basket. You can also use a smaller basket to store bathroom toiletries. With a small basket on the sink countertop, you can place your hand soap, tissue, and any other necessities inside of a neat, concise place. Lastly, we recommend using extra baskets for the underneath of your bathroom counter. It will provide a clean and functional organizational system that is also stylish.
 
  • The Living Room.
How can you use baskets for organization in the living room? Well, during the cold winter months, you will need a place to tuck away your throw pillows and extra blankets that you cozy up with on the couch. Keep these accessories close by for those nights when you decided to stay in and watch a movie. If you have a reading nook, a wire basket is great for storing some good reads that you are currently enjoying. So if you cannot invest in a bookshelf, you can save money with a basket. 
 
  • Fire Wood Holder.
Firewood storage is not inexpensive. That is when the handy-dandy wire basket comes into play. You can purchase a big basket to hold all of your firewood. It also keeps the firewood neat, and you will not have to worry about lugging wood from outside.
 
  • Kitchen Cabinet.
If you find that storage is becoming limited in your kitchen cabinets, consider using baskets to create additional storage room for your dishes and other items.
 
  • Home Office. 
Smaller, flatter baskets can be used to organized paperwork and mail found inside of your home office. You can place the baskets on top of your desk for easy accessibility and organization.
 
We hope you enjoyed these fun ways that you can use baskets inside of your home. 

The Greatest Bedroom Organization System

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You have had a long day of work and you are just plain tired. The last thing you want to think about is the mess that you have slowly created over the week in your bedroom. You push it off in your mind saying you will get to it when you get to it but you know that you never follow through with that plan. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could spend a maximum of five minutes on cleaning and your bedroom would look spotless? Wishful thinking, you are probably saying. Well before you write off the thought, we want to help you organize your room to save you time in the future. That is right, the original organization of your space will take longer than our five-minute dream but once everything is in order, you will not have to spend endless hours cleaning your bedroom because you have a system. 

The Greatest Bedroom Organization System: 

  • Stash it: If you are like the average person, you have a lot of items that need a place to call home in your bedroom. Storing items can become one of the most difficult tasks for people who have small bedrooms. When you are thinking about storage, instead of buying more bulky furniture think of other areas of your room: 
    • Store last season’s clothes in bins underneath your bed. 
    • Place your book collection on a shelf you have attached to the wall to save space on your desktop. 
    • Buy furniture that has optimal storage inside of it. For example, get a chair that has hidden compartments for storing all your little treasures or a mirror that opens up to storage for your accessories. 
    • Incorporate stylish baskets and bins that look like decor, but hide your belongings. 
  • Make your mother proud: Each morning, you need to force yourself to make your bed. This step is extremely important but it emphasizes that you are determined to keep a clean room. If your bed is made, it will make it more difficult to throw clothes on the floor. 
  • Learn the word “NO”: When you are out shopping, you may think that you need that item for your bedroom but do you? Do you really NEED that item? Probably not… Just say no. Walk away and if in three days you are still dreaming about that specific item, you can go back and buy it. Our bedrooms can become extremely cluttered if we just buy everything from that cute store.
  • Stick to a routine: When you come home from work or the gym, do not just leave your clothes wherever. Force yourself to either hang it up or put it in the dirty pile. Especially when you are getting ready, it is easy to just throw clothes around your room. Try to maintain a clean, organized room.

Do you have any tips that you use to keep your room organized? We would love to hear your advice in the comment section. 

Quick Organization Tips for Your Garage

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The organization system in garages can be easily forgotten. A lot of homeowners use their garage as a place to store miscellaneous items that do not have a proper home. Do not let your garage get out of hand by placing item after item inside of it. Summertime is the perfect time for you to tackle your garage’s mess. To help you get started, we have created quick and easy tips for easy organization. Let’s take a look! 

Tips for organizing your garage: 

Make it mobile.

The place where you store your tools should be mobile to help with the ease of completing projects. 

    • Utilize any glass jars for storing your smaller items like screws and nails. You can use old baby food jars or mini mason jars to accomplish a vintage look. Be sure to remove all stickers from the containers before using them as decor. 

Work it out.

Create a workspace for yourself that combines storage with functionality. Also, you will want to have a proper workbench for your space. Experts recommend buying a workbench that is at least six to eight inches long.  

AP in Appliances.

A lot of homeowners decide to store extra appliances in their garage. Keep the space clear in front of refrigerators and freezers for easy access. If you are not utilizing some of your small appliances, store them on higher shelves to keep the lower spaces available for frequently used items.

    • Keep appliances free of dust by storing them in plastic bags. 

Get it covered.

Garages tend to have a lot of heavy dirt and residue from cars. Homeowners may choose to cover their garage flooring with a heavy duty coating. The coating helps to protect the garage floor from oil, salt, and grease and is easy to clean. 

Succeed in storage. Cabinets can be extremely helpful for storing important items in your garage. Pet and cleaning supplies can be easily accessed in your garage. Plus, cabinets give a nice, clean look to the space without having to leave things on the countertops. 

    • If you are on a budget, plastic storage bins can replace cabinets in your garage. Be sure to label each box with the items that are inside. 

Start summer off right with a clean, organized garage. Once you organize your garage, you will feel a breath of relief. It will feel amazing to step into your garage and find whatever you are looking for right away. 

Organizational Success

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Are you tired of living in a clutter-filled, unorganized home? If you said “I have had enough,” then stayed tuned because we have five organization solutions for you.

The key to organizing is setting yourself up for organizational success. If you go in with the wrong mindset, you will not accomplish much and it will become more of a hassle than a fun project. Here are our five tips to help you have organizational success in your home:

Tip No. One: Set The Tone.

Cleaning and organizing is not everyone’s idea of a “fun night,” but you can make the most of it with the right music. Create a playlist before you get started! Have songs that you love to jam out to and the time will go by much faster than just sitting in silence. 

Tip No. Two: Set a Schedule. 

If you do not do it now, you will never do it. These words have never been so true. You need to actually set aside time to organize your home or else it will never happen. Take some time each weekend to get your life in order. 

Tip No. Three: One Step at a Time.

You will not complete your organization project in one day; therefore, you will have to do it one room at a time. Create a rule that you cannot move onto another room until you have finished the room you are currently organizing. 

Tip No. Four: Ask “Does This Go Here?”

While organizing, you may notice that some items just do not belong in this room. It is a good idea to take inventory of items that need to be moved and/or replaced. 

Tip No. Five: Sort by Use. 

As you are organizing, divide your items into different piles. Each pile will be a different category. You will have your: daily use, occasional use, and never use. It will be your decision whether or not you store your never used items or give them away to charity. After you have sorted your items, place occasionally used items into storage and items that are used daily in an easily accessible location. 

We hope that these tips help you have an organized home! Let us know what you think in the comment section. 

 

Let There Be Light – Adding Light to A Dark Room

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Who does not love waking up to a room beaming in sunlight? Unfortunately, there is always that one room in the house that feels uninviting due to the lack of light. Yes, getting some light into that dark room is necessary to help it look more visually appealing and the light will provide just the right amount of warmth you need to feel comfortable and cozy.

Not everyone has the option of making structural changes to add or bring natural light into a room. Rest assured, that you can achieve the desired effect without having to launch an expensive renovation project by adding in additional windows. You can brighten up a dark room by using a variety of techniques.

Make The Most Out of Natural Light

Start off by making the most out of the natural lighting that the room does get. You can do this by adding mirrors throughout the room. Mirrors can help make a room appear bigger and it can also reflect light all around the space. Try installing a large mirror or mirrored tiles directly across the windows in the room. The mirror will reflect the light from the window and cast it all about the room.

You can also maximize natural light by opting for sheer curtains as opposed to dark curtains and heavy drapes. Such window treatments can eat up sunlight. Sheer curtains allow the sun to stream right through the room without any barriers.

Layering Artificial Lighting

Of course, adding in artificial lighting seems like the most logical solution to brightening a dark room. While you may already have a central or overhead lighting fixture, you should try to add additional lighting to the space. Use accent lighting such as strip LED lights in the dark corners and towards the back of the room if you are working with a large space. Also, do not forget task lighting and be sure to switch out dull bulbs and opt for the highest recommended wattage. Steer clear from frosted and dark lampshades because they can engulf artificial lighting.

For more tips and tricks, visit our blog hub at https://proudtobuild.com. 

Upcycling – How to use and repurpose items found in your bathroom

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Have you ever looked in your recycling bin and thought, despite the value of recycling, there might be an even better way? Enter upcycling – the repurposing of things to a new, sometimes even better use than was originally intended! Not only does it serve the environment quite well, it also taps into your creativity in new and fun ways. Try just a few of our ideas and we bet you’ll soon be dreaming up innovations of your own. For this blog post we are going to focus on things commonly found in your bathroom.

Prescription pill containers:
Before you put them to good use, clean them thoroughly. Medications typically leave a dusty residue so it’s important that it not get transferred to anything. The easiest method is to peel off as much of the label as possible, and then toss them in the utensil basket in your dishwasher. Once they’re clean you can use a bit of cooking oil or lemon essential oil to remove any remnants of the label. Swab with rubbing alcohol to remove residual oil. Then, use them to store these items: cotton swabs, bobby pins, safety pins, a couple of wet wipes, and travel size amounts of beauty products. You can even use them to store cash in a wet environment, such as at the beach or swimming pool!

Hair claw/jaw clips:
Perhaps you just made the change from long locks to a sassy short haircut. Don’t throw away those jaw clips! First, clean them with rubbing alcohol as there is likely residue from styling products such as hairspray. Then, use them to: secure a towel on your body or head after a bath, hold necklaces and scarves by closing them around a standard towel rack, or secure bagged coffee closed to keep it fresh!

Old perfume bottles:
A great deal of thought and design goes into the bottles used to contain fine fragrances. It seems such a shame to just discard them once they’re empty. Instead, remove the spritzer nozzle and clean them thoroughly using warm soapy water. Fill the bottle, shake the soapy water, and let it sit over night. Empty it and rinse with clean water, and then let it air dry. You now have a beautiful stem vase for fresh flowers. Display 3-5 of them with various buds, greenery, or flowers. Avoid matching or symmetry. The uniqueness of each one is what will make the display lovely!

What are some of your ideas?

Tips for “Non – Techie” Organizing & Managing Household Paperwork

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We know how busy you are – at work and/or as a busy stay-at-home mom, often resulting in letting your personal responsibilities suffer. We’re talking about paying bills, insurance, etc., while maintaining a calendar for yourself, family members, doctor appointments, game days plus a plethora of other responsibilities. Let us help you get a grip on your household and have quality time leftover for yourself, family and friends!

We Love Binders

? Easy to Use – We love file folders for organizing, but actually binders are the best way to keep papers organized for current projects and for reference down the road.
? Portable – Whether I’m using the binder in the room or need to take with me on the go, they are so easy to grab off the shelf.
? Organizing & Storage – Binders are the perfect product for easy storage. Put them on shelves, in drawers, filing cabinets for easy access and quick use.
? Inexpensive – Purchase when they go on sale like two for one. Binders can be reused over and over and their identification labels on the front covers or on their spines can be easily upgraded to a new topic.
? Binder Uses – If you sit down and start to jot down what you need help with organizing household tasks, you instantly realize that this practice is a critical key to developing a quality work life balancing act! We use binders for recipes, home appliance/warranties/manuals, home maintenance information, various holiday planning guides, detailed medical files for each family member, pets and etc.

I know what you are thinking, I keep everything on my phone! Well, we know all too often how easy it is to misplace our phone or the battery will die. While you are busy looking for your phone the thought of adding something to your notes or calendar have vanished. Technology is a wonderful thing, but writing things down helps us to remember and we make a mental note about an upcoming task. Please give us feedback and share your organizational ideas. Enjoy getting your busy life organized and manageable!

Tips for a More Visually Appealing Room

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Have you ever entered a space and got captivated by its beauty? It is no secret that every homeowner wants a visually-appealing space. If you are looking to master this art, you came to the right place. We have ten tips for creating a more visually-appealing room. Let’s get started! 

 

Tips for a More Visually Appealing Room: 

  1. It’s a Material World.

A visually appealing room indulgences the senses. Of course, sight could be considered the most important in a design, but an intriguing texture can also dominate the senses. With texturized materials, you can captivate both sight and touch. Just by incorporating a woven rug or stitched pillow, you can begin to create a more visually appealing room. The textures will play off of the room’s overall design and add a special touch to your space. 

  1. On The Down-Low. 

Large, bulky furniture can make a room feel cramped and unwelcoming. To help create a more free-flowing space, we recommend buying pieces that are closer to the ground. Low-furniture can make your room look bigger which in essence, is more visually appealing. 

  1. Simply Put.

While shopping for furniture, we recommend keeping it as simple as possible. Decor trends come and go so quickly that you cannot guarantee a piece will survive the passing of a fad. To keep your furniture in style longer, opt for classic colors and builds in your furniture. A good, cozy sofa may not be your trendy dream, but it could outlast your current place. 

  1. Your Reflection.

Mirrors dominate the design industry. The wonders that a small reflective piece of glass can do is unreal. Mirrors can help accentuate your room to make it look bigger and more open. With light reflecting properties, mirrors are the ultimate room “wing-man.” 

  1. Looking Outwards. 

Sometimes, homeowners will make the mistake of having their furniture face into the room. Instead, we recommend facing your couch towards the window. This gives a more appealing site for people using the couch as well as a more visually appealing set-up. 

  1. High Roller. 

If you are interested in creating a high-ceiling-illusion, you can install curtain rods about two inches above your window frame. This will help to make your room feel taller. 

  1. Sleek Shelving. 

Sleek shelves can create clean, sharp lines in your space. These sharp lines will help make your room more appealing to the eyes. 

  1. Cornered.

If you are looking for a cozy-feel, you can angle your furniture into your corners to help play off of the angles.  

  1. Let There Be Light(s). 

Lighting is key when designing the ultimate room. In order to have the best room possible, you need to be able to see it. We recommend installing extra lighting wherever need and a dimmer to set the mood. 

  1. Cut Out the Stuff. 

A visually-appealing room starts and ends with clutter. If you have a jam-packed room, it can take away from the overall beauty of the space. Be sure to cut back on clutter and keep surfaces clear. This will help guests to take in the entire experience. 


Ways to Brighten up Your Space

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Creating bright spaces has become more important to homeowners over the past few years. Design experts believe that bright rooms can impact your mood and create a welcoming environment. With the positives outweighing the negatives, you may be curious about how you can brighten up your current space. Well, there is no need to wonder, because we have eight ways you can brighten up your space. 

 

Ways to Brighten up Your Space: 

    • No Shade. 

      Instantly open up your space with sheer window curtains. Having sheer curtains can let the natural sunlight flow into your space and ultimately make your room look more open and welcoming. 

    • Lighten Up.

Choosing a light color scheme can make your room feel bright. Try using colors like white and/or pastels. These colors work well with natural light by bouncing it off of the walls, thus creating a more open space.  

      • Use this light color scheme for your wall color, furniture, and fabrics. 
    • Mirror, Mirror. 

Mirrors are one of the best decor pieces that you can use in a room. Not only are they decorative and stylish, but they brighten the space up by reflecting your light fixtures. 

      • Place a light fixture in front of the mirror to help encourage light reflection. 
    • Shine On. 

Try adding more light fixtures to your room to help brighten up your space. Also, you want to make sure that you use light colored lamp shades to help encourage brightness. 

    • Metal Touch.

Metallic pieces reflect the light; therefore, they are the perfect addition to help brighten up your space. 

    • Glass Finish. 

Try decorating with glass accessories and decor to increase the brightness of your room. The see-thoroughness of glass will create an open, welcoming space. 

    • Minimize.

The less clutter in your room, the less heavy it looks to the eyes. Try to reduce clutter and cut down on items. This will help your room to feel light and bright. 

    • Succulent Paradise. not heavy 

When in doubt, choose a succulent. They are the least “heavy-looking” plant option that you can choose for your room. Plus, they are light in shade to help match your room’s decor. 

 

What was your favorite brightening tip? Let us know in the comment section below. We look forward to hearing from you.