Around the House

My Top Ten List Item #6

 

Hang a clothes line.  It doesn’t have to encompass your whole yard, unless you have a really small yard.  Just tie a rope from your deck to a tree.  Make it just long enough for one load of wash.  Nothing fancy, just a thin rope and some clothespins. 

Then, unplug your dryer.  Force yourself to carry those wet clothes outside.  I know this sounds radical, but sometimes that’s what it takes to get us to make a change.  Studies show that it takes 30 times of doing something to make it a habit.  So make a plan to do it for a month and stick with it. 

That means if it rains, you wait a day to hang your clothes.  You will begin checking the weather report in the morning and planning when to run your laundry and hang your clothes.  I promise you that if you stick with it for a month, you will be addicted.  The smell of clothes hung outside to dry is better than any perfumy odor from a dryer sheet and healthier for you I might add.

You won’t know what you are missing until you try!  I would love to see pictures of your clothesline!  Post them on my Facebook page at Dan Guinn Homes or send it to me at e.guinn@DanGuinnHomes.com

Organizing and Collectibles

We love collecting things. For some it is a hobby, for some a passion and for others an obsession. Perhaps we simply love those things or we possibly think that one day they will be so valuable that we can sell them and send a kid to college or retire early.

Problems in collecting can occur, however, when you no longer have space for the collections. If you are collecting simply for the enjoyment these things bring, then you should display them so they can be enjoyed. Storing them in a box in a closet or the attic is not enjoying them. If they are seasonal items, then rotate those when appropriate. And when similar items are grouped together, they have a greater visual impact. Consider placing them in a display case, on a shelf together or if appropriate grouped on a wall.

If you simply do not have the space to enjoy them, then ask yourself why you have them. This may take some self analysis or internal dialogue that could be very enlightening. Media pressure, fear of the unknown, emotional traumas, significant memories, and peer pressures are all reasons for purchasing, collecting and not letting go of items. The more spent on these and the greater the number, the more difficult it is to let go of any.

If you do not have adequate space to organize, display or enjoy your collcetions, consider choosing the most special items to display and find another home for those remaining. Some options for a new home might be family members or friends that appreciatre the items and would display or enjoy them. This is especially important for those sentimental items that may have been in your family for generations. If there are no emotional attachments, you could sell the items to someone who respects their value and is willing to pay you for the privilege of owning them.

Photographs are a special type of collectible. We all have them, lots of them. No doubt they remind us of special events, milestones or activities of those we love. The issue is how many do we need of each occasion. When we have so many special items, then none are really special. It only takes one picture, not fifty, of the birthday celebration or vacation at the beach to remind us of that memorable time. Be selective in what you save or collect so that each one is special.

If you are collecting for a future return on your investment, then be sure to keep an accurate inventory of each item, store and label it in an appropriate container, consider insuring it and monitor its value on a regular basis. With the over abundance of collectibles now for sale on EBay and other online sites, your items may not be so unique and its value diminished. If it is a rare find or the only one of its kind remaining in good condition, you just might be able to send that kid to Harvard one day.

My Top Ten List Item #5

I know if you have watched any of those “Redesign your House in a Weekend” shows on cable, you know that all designers hate ceiling fans.  It seems that no matter what the homeowner says in the beginning of the show, the poor ceiling fan is the first thing to go.  Those fancy designers aren’t paying your electric bill. 

Put a ceiling fan in every occupied bedroom in your house.  Put another one in your kitchen, and then one in the room that you spend the most time in like your living room or office.  This way you can adjust the temperature on you programmable thermostat a few degrees to save a little money and you will still be comfortable because you got an amazing, comfort increasing, and yes, beautiful ceiling fan. 

The engineer in me has always made me a function over form kind of a person.  But if you are looking for the best performing fans I have ever found, you have to check out this link to see what beauty and brawn in the same package looks like.  Fan link

Forget the designers, I love my ceiling fans.  They burn a whole lot less electricity than central air.

Interested in other ways you could save?  Drop me an email at e.guinn@DanGuinnHomes.com to schedule a Home Energy Audit.

 

My Top Ten List Item #4

Add a storm door on the front of your house.  Better yet add two, put the other one on the back door as well.  But don’t just purchase any storm door; make sure you buy the kind with the disappearing screen.  The one that I love is a full glass version which means that you get the maximum amount of glass window.  When I lower the top glass panel I then have half glass and half screen.  That way, not only will your new investment help insulate your front door and decrease the amount of leakage around your door, but every day for the next couple of months that the weather is beautiful, open up those two doors, drop the screens and enjoy cooling your house with that amazing clean air from outside. You can purchase doors that have removable panels of glass that you then replace with a full screen panel.  This gives you more area for allowing the breezes to blow.  For me, I have found that if I have to remember to change out and store the unused panel, I probably won’t get it done in a timely manner and will then miss out on the spring and fall breezes.  I also like the option of closing the glass panel throughout the unbearable hot months of summer.  I do open it up on mornings when the temperatures outside are cooler than the inside, flush the heat out of the house and then close it back up.  It is good to get some fresh air into the house from time to time, especially as we begin to build our houses tighter and tighter.  So when the temperature permits, forget that air conditioner, fresh air is better.  Follow me on Facebook at Dan Guinn Homes, or email me at e.guinn@DanGuinnHomes.com or see my personal blog at www.danguinnhomes.com/wordpress/blog