Home Improvement, Remodeling

With winter coming on and a year where you've probably been inside more than usual, it's an ideal time to rethink how you use your existing space. You can find many uses for those areas of your home that may have gone to waste until now. Combat cabin fever with these relatively simple home upgrades.

As an added bonus, contractors who do this kind of work are in the middle of their slow periods, which means you can often hire quickly and get a good deal on materials and labor.
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Over time, it's easy to let clutter pile up in your house – and often, it accumulates so slowly that you don't notice a problem until it's too late. Luckily, all it takes is a little free time and some elbow grease to get things back in shape. Here, we've compiled a few tips to help you organize even the most clutter-prone zones in your home.

For the messy bedroom:

Organizing and decluttering your bedroom can help you maintain a sense of relaxation and order not just in ...

Does seafoam green really evoke feelings of renewal? Can periwinkle blue actually lull you to sleep?

Interior designers have long thought that paint color can affect our emotions, and color psychology backs up the hunch.

Here’s a look at the swatches that cultivate a calm and relaxed environment throughout your home.

Soothing blues

From iceberg to deep navy, almost any shade of blue can convey a sense of tranquility ...

Clear the clutter! More than ever before, people are opting for minimalism instead of overstuffed and cluttered homes. From items purchased on a vacation to treasured mementos and those that have been gifted, the accumulation of items may be what is standing in the way of you creating a more organized home.

Closets should be organized and not just used for storage, ditto for kitchen pantry areas and shelving. Bookcases can become organized showcases for home decor.

Here ...

If you're welcoming a new baby to the family, you may be wondering what you can do to keep the little one safe at home. Whether this is your first baby or your fifth grandchild, there are lots of things you can do to keep your family's pride and joy happy and healthy as they grow.

Test for toxins

When was the last time you tested the air quality in your home? You may have locked up harmful cleaning chemicals, but you should also test for levels of mold, radon, lead and ...

As the temperature drops (and keeps dropping!) in the weeks to come, it might feel like time to turn on your heating system and switch the thermostat to warm things up. But heating your home can be an energy-guzzler. Here are a few steps to help endure the cold that don’t involve just putting on a sweater or bumping the temperature up a few degrees. Save energy and increase comfort with these tips.

Set your ceiling fan to run in reverse. There should be a switch on the body of the fan ...