Olga

With the advent of spring after a long and difficult winter, it’s time to think about a deep housecleaning. You can certainly handle it yourself, but by hiring a professional cleaner, you’re giving back to yourself the gift of time to spend on family, friends, hobbies — anything other than scrubbing every inch of your home!

One of your first decisions when hiring a cleaning pro is whether to go with a company or a solo cleaner. Each comes with their own pros and cons.

Cleaning ...

Spring and summer are prime time for pests. When they come out after sheltering for the winter, it can be an overwhelming sight! Getting rid of bugs can be challenging, but fortunately, you can take a number of steps right now to prevent ants, roaches, rodents and other pests from invading your living space this year.

1. Maintain proper kitchen hygiene

Nothing attracts pests as efficiently as the smell of free food. When you leave food out or bags, boxes or Tupperware unopened, ...

Sometimes you have fair warning when guests are coming over, such as for major holiday events. Other times people drop in with little or no warning. Whatever the case, you want your home to make the best impression. If you’re short on time, here are some tips on how to quickly prep your home for maximum comfort and give your guests a great experience.

Fear not — you can accomplish quite a bit of cleaning in a short amount of time if need be!

- Walk through your house and ...

Repurpose, recycle, reuse, is the mantra of today's decor. When you decorate for autumn with organic elements that can later be repurposed, you get double the value.

All over America it's the season of gourds and Indian corn, both highly useful raw materials that can yield art projects and seed for next year's garden. The key is knowing what to buy now and how to exploit the second harvest next year.

...