How Can I Increase My Natural Light In My Home?
Having an abundance of natural light in your home has shown to positively impact your health, mood, and wellness. It is understandable that people go to great lengths to bring in as much natural light as possible into their home. Not everyone needs to go to great lengths to increase the natural light that enters their home, here are 5 easy ways to increase natural light in your home.
1. Clear Shrubs and Trim Trees
Having a well-maintained landscape will help improve your home’s curb appeal, included in your landscaping maybe trees and shrubs. Be sure to trim back any foliage that can block natural light from entering into your home. Not all trees and shrubs need to be trimmed back, as they will provide some much needed shade in the summer months, focus on those closest to the exterior perimeter of your home.
2. Clean Your Windows
Over time grime and dirt builds up on your windows, this layer of dirt acts as a barrier to natural light entering your home. Cleaning both the inside and outside of your windows at least 3-4 times a year will ensure the sun’s rays are able to penetrate into your home more easily. If you notice condensation built up between your glass panes, this is not only an indication of an issue with your window, but the condensation again acts as a barrier to the light trying to come in. If you have condensation in between your glass panes, you should look into window replacement options.
3. Add Reflective Objects
Mirrors and other reflective objects will help amplify the natural light in your house. By strategically positioning reflective items such as decorative mirrors, silver photo frames, and metallic finished décor in a room, you can increase the natural light as it bounces from one item to another. This is a great trick used by interior designers to easily brighten up darker rooms in a home.
4. Reduce Window Treatments
Your window treatments can be great hindrances to natural light entering your home. Replacing your bulky, heavy curtains, with sheer curtains allows for more light to pass through. Look at updating blinds, and other types of window treatments that can potentially block out light to help increase the amount of natural sunlight that enters into your home.
5. Take on a Home Improvement Project
Updating the look and flow of a specific room or your home can help increase natural light. Dark and dull paint can reduce the light in a home, think of painting your walls and ceiling light, neutral colour such as a light grey or eggshell white. A shiny semi-gloss paint will provide the best results. If your windows are outdated and cloudy, replacing them or even opting to install larger windows will allow for more light to enter your home. If you are thinking of a bolder project, you can always look to add skylights. This is a great way to increase the natural light in your home, as you can strategically place them in areas that do not have a lot of light to begin with. Like any home improvement project, if you don’t have the experience or the skills to complete the project safely and accurately, look to hire an experienced professional to turn your vision into a reality.
There are many ways to increase the amount of natural light that enters your home. Some are quick and simple, while others require extra time, work, and money to achieve. No matter which options you decide to take on the results and the impact of the natural light will be worth the effort.
5 Things You Need to do Before Moving into Your New Home
The emotions you face while buying a home are great, from excitement of locating an amazing home, to the disappointments of losing the home to another buyer. But, once the excitement levels subside after you find your new home and the offer is accepted, you need to start planning for your move. You need to pack and move all of your belongings, plan for and execute any updates or changes to your new home, and deal with the countless administrative items such as changing your address with banks, credit cards, cell phone companies, and signing up for home utilities and amenities.
If this all seems a little overwhelming to you, don’t worry you are not alone. This is why we put together a list of 5 things you need to do before moving into your new home.
1. Replace the Locks
It is always a best practice to change all the locks in your home before moving in any of your belongings. This is a small investment in ensuring your family and belongings are safe and secure. Even if all the supposed keys to the locks are given to you, you can never be sure who has made a copy of one of the keys and what their intentions are.
2. Test Drive Your Home
The idea of test driving your home may seem strange, but testing to make sure all faucets, drains, and toilets are working, ensuring all lights and electrical sockets are operating properly, and that your heater and air conditioning units are functioning properly are important to test before moving in. If you do find issues, it gives you the opportunity to address before you start living in the home. You may have checked the house yourself or even had it inspected during the purchasing process, but conducting a secondary check ensures everything is in the same condition as you expected. If you do need to go back to the previous owner, you have a better chance of proving the issue was pre-existing if you haven’t moved in yet.
3. Check Your Windows and Doors
Examine all of the windows and doors of your new home. Visually inspect for any damage or signs of bad seals. Test their structural integrity and functionality by pushing on them slightly and opening and closing each separately. Look for potential energy efficiency issues, such as drafts or gaps between the window or door and the frame. If any damage, drafts, or gaps are found consider window replacement or door replacement prior to moving in. This will ensure that there are no potential opportunities for potential intruders to take advantage of and that you are not overspending on your energy bills.
4. Test Smoke and CO2 Alarms
Test to ensure that all of your smoke and CO2 detectors and alarms are functioning properly before you move in. While you are at it, check the expiry date on your fire extinguishers. If you need to replace any batteries or units, do so before you move in. If your home does not have a smoke detector or alarm, have one installed right away.
5. Clean All Appliances
Thoroughly clean and disinfect all of the appliances that came with the home purchase. Bacteria and microbes are known to grow inside of stoves, fridges, washers, dryers, and even dishwashers. Ensuring they are cleaned and disinfected prior to you using them will ensure your safety and wellbeing while preventing any potential contamination.
The stress associated with moving to a new home is high enough as it is. Having the necessary issues fixed before you move in with your family, will help make the process just a little bit easier.