How to Make a Comfortable Home

Published by cravat | Filed under Buyer / Seller Tips, Miscellaneous, Real Estate

Whether you rent or own your home, you want to make a comfortable space for you and your family. Even if you don’t have top-of-the-line items in your home, you can still create a comfortable nest in which to relax, interact and just “be.”Many times, it isn’t the furnishings or the arrangements we create that set a comfortable environment; it is the more ordinary care we give to our surroundings, in cleaning, organizing and setting up arrangements which work with our family’s activities.

Things You Will Need: Home furnishings and family belongings; Storage boxes, closets and drawers; Cleaning Items

Draw a schematic template of each room in your house, marking windows, doors and traffic flow in and out of the rooms. Pencil in or place furniture cut-outs to see where you should set your furniture to facilitate easy traffic patterns. Make note of closets and storage space throughout your home, and keep track of what you can store in these areas.

Arrange your furniture and belongings according to your template. Leave sufficient space in each room for traffic flow and comfortable sitting space. Store items you don’t use on a daily basis; keep them in a convenient room or closet to make it easy to get to them when you need them. Physically walk through each room, sit in chairs and couches and make sure you have created sufficient sitting/lounging space and area for traffic flow.
Create a workable cleaning schedule and make sure you involve each member of your family in this schedule. Provide cleaning items such as mops, brooms, a vacuum cleaner, window spray, furniture polish, floor cleaner and paper towels or cleaning rags that each family member can use efficiently and easily.

Don’t allow spills to become stains. Clean and treat them according to the directions on the bottle of cleaning solution. Pick up dropped food and used plates; wash the dishes right away so you don’t attract insects. Clean marks off the walls so they don’t become set-in.
Do a thorough “deep” cleaning of your house two to three times a year. Concentrate on areas like vents, baseboards behind furniture and the floors under your furniture. Look closely for spills on windowsills and down walls. Attack dust bunnies before they become dust warrens.
If you have indoor pets, make sure you clean up their accidents immediately. Don’t allow pet urine, feces or vomit to soak into your carpet. As soon as you notice the accident, grab a paper towel and a plastic shopping bag. Turn the bag inside out, grab the paper towel and pick up the feces or vomit. Clean it as you normally would, then spray an odor-eliminating enzyme on the spot.

Make sure your children understand they are part of the “comfortable home” solution, not only its privileged recipients. Get them involved in the regular maintenance and pickup of their belongings. Give each child a small basket in which he can drop his belongings and easily take them to his room. It is always a good start to begin on something and make each member of the family be involved. Happy Living!!