Your house is the safest place for you and other family members but unfortunately, it can also be a haven for allergy triggers. You may not have control over what happens outside your house, but you have the power to reduce or even eliminate allergen levels in your home. Sceduale regular home cleaning sessions in the weekend. It is important to realize that most allergens thrive on moisture and humidity. The following steps will help to remove allergy causing agents but most importantly, prevent them from developing in the first place.

1. Keep the House Dry and Cool at All Times

When the house is maintained under these conditions, it becomes impossible for mold, dust mites and roaches to infest and bedevil your living space. The ideal humidity level inside the house should be below 50% but this largely depends on the outside humidity or weather conditions. A dehumidifier and air conditioner can be used in cases where this level is difficult to achieve naturally. The only condition if using a dehumidifier is to empty it daily or have it connected to a drain. Maintaining optimum humidity also involves getting rid of any materials inside the house as soon as they are wet, e.g. from flooding, spillages, etc.

2. Consider Using Hypoallergenic Flooring Materials

People who are prone to dust allergies have better lives if the floor of the area where they spend most of their time is made from either linoleum, tiles, hardwood or vinyl. These types of floors are easy to clean and this keeps them free from allergens. If the desire to have cloth rugs is there, the size should be small to facilitate regular cleaning. Carpets that cannot be cleaned all the time such as wall-to-wall carpeting should be vacuumed frequently. Once a week is good enough and if possible, asks a family member who is not allergic to dust to do it. It is also a good idea to invest in a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter for trapping the allergens.

3. Declare Your Home as a Smoke-Free Zone

Tobacco smoke is the leading cause of asthma attacks in small children and should be avoided inside the house. To completely keep the house free of smoke, you need to invest in smokeless cooking equipment such as those that use electricity and natural gas. Candles and some air-fresheners produce smoke and while they do make a room to smell nice, they can be serious allergy triggers. A diffuser can help you if you live with a smoker, as smoke cannot be completely removed anyway. You can find several reviews on diffusers if you choose to go down this route – given a chance between cigarette smoke and aromatherapy oil, I think we all know what to choose, right?

A regular allergen check is important to keep your house safe all the time. Pets should be kept clean at all times and if possible have specific areas for playing and staying. Such controls will help you to monitor and keep away allergic reactions that may take place in the house.

Preventing allergies (hay fever, etc.) at home is possible – you can simply identify potential triggers then create a routine of how to maintain an allergen-free atmosphere. Easier said than done, but better done than otherwise.

Truth be told, it’s already challenging to stay focused at work every day when there are all forms of distractions around us. Whether you work for a company, you have your own business or you are a home-based worker, staying focused can be a challenge or even rather difficult. They say it depends on the person. Some people focus and work better than others. While that can be true to some extent, only you know what’s going on inside of you. With that being said, it is safe to assume that during the winter season, most people have a harder time staying focused at work. Especially if winter comes in your country during the holidays, then expect the weather and the holiday rush to get the most out of you. But still, life must go on. You need to pay bills. You have to get your chores and errands done. You have to work. If you’re looking for ways to stay focused at work during winter, here are some tips you can keep in mind.

1. Be prepared.

One of the things that will distract you from work is when you worry about what is going on outside during the winter. Make sure your car is weather-proof so that you won’t have to worry about leaving it in the parking area, and use a snow blower for your driveway to get rid of excessive snow. We found you great electric snow blower reviews so you can easily pick the one that you like the best. Using the snow blower is also a form of exercise too! It might not make you sweat it out like you would using a shovel but at least you’re moving. And you won’t be worried about coming home to a house buried in snow if you do this in the morning.

2. Wear the right clothes; pay attention to the temperature.

When it’s too cold, one tends to get distracted. You have to get up every once in a while from your desk to get a cup of coffee or change the temperature on the heater. When you’re wearing clothes that are way too warm while working, it’s hard to keep focus too. It is best to program your heater at a temperature you prefer the most and wear the right clothes for indoors and another layer of warm clothing when you’re heading outdoors.

3. Eat your breakfast and exercise in the morning.

The best way to stay focused is by starting your day right. Breakfast, as we all know, is the most important meal of the day. Do not miss it. Exercise and sweat it out before showering and getting ready for work. This will keep you up and energized the rest of the day.

4. Have something warm to drink at different times of the day.

For most, a warm cup of coffee in the morning is enough. But during the winter season, one tends to feel sleepy and go out of focus due to the weather. Consider using a bigger mug and drink some more coffee. If you are not much of a coffee drinker, you can try warm tea or chocolate drinks to make you feel warm and awake.

5. Write down your schedule.

Have a checklist of your things to do. Just like anytime during the rest of the year, you need this to monitor what you have done so far and what else you need to do. If you see that you haven’t gone far with your checklist yet, then you have to force yourself to focus.

The responsibility of a homeowner to his house doesn’t simply end the moment a mortgage has already been paid in full. The truth is, spending and caring for your home never ends. Every day, you have to spend time cleaning it. You have to spend money to maintain it. If you don’t do this, sooner or later, your home’s structure will deteriorate and it won’t be such a livable place anymore. If you are quite hesitant on home maintenance procedures, such as calling professionals to get the job done for you, then you should realize by now that this is necessary thing to do if you want to preserve your home.

Home maintenance procedures include general cleaning, plumbing, electric maintenance, repainting and a whole lot more. To give you that added confidence that you’re doing the right thing by calling on professional maintenance services, here are 5 reasons we’re listing down for you.

1. Living in a clean home is good for your family’s health.

Walls may already be infested by termites and pests. Tiles may be too dirty and basic cleaning materials won’t do the job anymore. Dust and bacteria may already be living within mattresses. All these and more are the things you should be worrying about as these could be harmful to your family’s health. You can only do so much by sweeping, mopping and vacuuming your home. Let a professional show you how it’s supposed to be done.

2. The stability of your home’s structure is significant for your family’s safety.

As mentioned, there may be pests infesting parts of your home. The structure might already be weak without you noticing it. The patch on the ceiling might be more than just rainwater that went through the roof. To ensure that there won’t be any accidents happening in the future, the structure of your home should always be stable and this can only be guaranteed with regular maintenance.

3. Professional skills, experience and equipment are needed to get the job done properly.

You don’t have all the skills needed to maintain your home unless you’re in the cleaning or maintenance industry as well. You might be doing well enough when cleaning your home but you don’t have the expertise in plumbing or say electrical repair. Your garden hose does not do a better clean wash then a pressure washer in cleaning your roof and driveway.

4. A house is a reflection of its owners/occupants.

Your home is a reflection of you. Where you live defines you. If it’s a dirty and rather run down home, what kind of impression do you think you’re making? A clean and bright home makes a much better impression of its occupants.

5. Regular maintenance will help increase the value of your property.

As earlier mentioned, your property will deteriorate without necessary maintenance. If you regularly maintain and improve your property, of course, its value will increase. Should you decide to sell it in the future, then you can expect a better price tag.

Even if your home is large enough, there are some things that you’d rather keep in your bedroom. This includes your personal effects, clothes, private items, books, photos, and the list goes on. While you can probably have a cabinet or shelf outside your room so that your own personal area can remain comfortable and spacious, it is quite understandable when you want your things close to you. You’d rather just get out of bed in the middle of the night to get that pocketbook you can read to fall asleep than walk a few more steps and climb up the stairs to your attic to get it.

It is quite understandable that you want all your things in your bedroom especially if you live with someone else in your home, whether it’s your family or a roommate. If that is the case though, you will most likely have so many things in your room that are accumulated through the years. Without space-saving techniques, you’d find yourself having too much things, you barely have any walking or moving space left. Important is, to clean your room and pick up the clutter. Here are some more tips on how to save space in your bedroom that you may find interesting.

1. Install Floating Shelves

Floating shelves make use of the overhead or air space. If you have all these cabinets and shelves around your room that are placed on the floor, then soon enough, no walking space will be left. You don’t have to spend a lot as you can easily install floating shelves on your own. Simply gather some plywood or any wooden slab that you can easily saw according to your desired size, use paint color that would match your room and start installing it on the walls. For beginners, L-brackets are a great way to make sure that the shelves are stable. If you know a bit about DIY building, then you can probably use a nail gun instead to secure these shelves over your head. A nail gun is basically like a hammer; instead, it’s a gun. This means you can quickly attach one piece to another securely without all the noise and with better accuracy.

2. Make Use of the Space Under Your Bed

You can draw inspiration from many tiny bedroom models you’ll find online. There are some who would simply install drawers under their bed or use under-the-bed show organizers. There are others who would have their beds installed up high so that the area under it can be a place for full-size cabinets or even a desk where one can work or study.

3. Dispose Things You Don’t Need

Every year, look into your closet and take out the clothes you haven’t worn for a long period of time. Check on your book shelf and gather the ones that you have read already and don’t intend to read again. Organize the shoes you don’t plan on wearing anymore because it has grown out of style. You simply need to know how to dispose the things you no longer need because these will just waste space. To feel better about getting rid of these personal items, consider donating to the needy and the homeless.

With courtesy of:
SFGate
Air Compressor Spy
Do-It-Yourself Fun Ideas

Cleaning your home is a must. If you don’t keep your house clean, you are not just allowing your property to deteriorate at a quicker pace, you are also placing your family in a very serious health risk. Now this is common knowledge and for most, chores are distributed so that the house is cleaned daily. However, you still need that general cleaning weekend to make sure that your home is cleaned thoroughly. If for some reason you are getting confused on what to do first or what to clean last, then here’s a guide to help you out.

1. Pick up all the clutter and store things that are not in their right place.

   This is really the first thing you must do. Before you can even start sweeping or mopping the floor, you need to make sure nothing obstructs the area where you will be cleaning. You also need to make sure every little child’s toy is in its right place and every piece of trash goes to the bin.

2. Dust or vacuum your furniture.

   The reason behind having to dust furniture first is that the dust tends to fall on the floor. If you are already done sweeping or mopping, then dust will fall down on the floor again and you’d have to start over.

3. Sweep the floor.

   If you use the mop right away, you will just be transferring dirt from one place to another. Unless you have an awesome mop that absorbs even pet hairs and dust, then you can probably skip the sweeping.

4. Begin mopping.

   You can now start mopping your floor. Mop bedrooms, then the living area and make the kitchen your last stop. The kitchen is the busiest and probably the dirtiest place in your home. If you mop it first, there’s a chance the dirt from the kitchen will be transferred to the bedrooms and the living area.

5. Put the curtains and the sheets in the laundry.

   You need to wash curtains and sheets regularly too. Your curtains accumulate dirt and dust through time and there’s no way you can skip washing this. Sheets and pillowcases must be washed too because this is where you sleep and you just want that to be clean for sure.

6. Clean the bathroom.

   The bathroom should be your last stop. Your toilet should be cleaned thoroughly because you sit here and who knows what kind of disease you can get out of the dirt and bacteria that has stuck to the bowl. Unless you are the owner of a very good dual flush lavatory, which prevents you from having to scrub the toilet more than one’s a day. Aside from the toilet, you need to clean the floors, walls, shower area and the sink. This is your last stop because right after you clean the bathroom, you can finally take a relaxing shower already.

It isn’t really all that difficult to go through general cleaning of your home. Yes, it could be very tiring but nothing beats the great feeling of having a clean and beautiful home to live in.