Whether you’re a first-time home owner or have lived in your property for several years, it’s in your best interests to keep your home in good condition. After all, you’ll spend the majority of your time here, and doing so helps you to maintain a nice living environment (and can naturally increase a property value when you decide to sell it!).
Over the past couple of years, we flipped two homes and had to make sure that they’re going to keep in great condition in the process, as we actually lived there with two small children who, like any other kids, can make a ton of mess. Here’s what we did and my tips:
Spend roughly 10 minutes cleaning each evening
When you are dealing with a busy schedule, it’s easy to fall behind on your cleaning schedule – you can see it in many American homes. However, tackling it after a week’s build-up of mess can feel instantly overwhelming. You can protect yourself from this unnecessary stress by spending just ten minutes each evening cleaning, such as by focusing on one room each day. When doing so, make sure you have all of the necessary sustainable cleaning supplies to hand.
If you genuinely do not have a lot of time on your hands, you may want to consider hiring a cleaner. We had a lady doing deep cleaning every month, while we cleaned ourselves daily.
Protect your home from pests
Pests can not only cause significant damage to your property, but they can also put your health at risk. As such, you should make sure you’re doing everything you can to remove them from both your home and outdoor spaces.
One way in which you can achieve this goal is by investing in FlowZone sprayers, which can eradicate pests from your lawn or grass. You should also make sure that you know the warning signs of potential infestations, so that you can take action as quickly as possible.
We discovered termites in the railing of the front porch, and had no time to waste on dealing with them. I dealt with them by myself, but you should also make sure that you reach out to pest control experts right away… my husband tried dealing with voles by himself, and it’s safe to say that he spent a ton of money and they lived a comfortable life destroying our backyard for a year.
Keep your space organized
Keeping your home relatively organized will ensure that the space becomes your sanctuary, as opposed to being the biggest cause of your stress. Fortunately, there are many different ways in which you can achieve this goal.
For example, you could start by keeping on top of household clutter, and investing in storage spaces, shelves or containers. This way, you can put things away immediately after using them, keeping your space as clean and tidy as possible. Closets are most likely to get messy, so start there. I highly recommend getting a labeler for boxes!
You should also make sure that your children take a similar approach to staying organised when it comes to their toys – which in itself can feel like an uphill battle. Make sure you’re on the same page by providing them with some kind of incentive that helps them stay tidy. For example, whoever keeps their room tidiest over the week could then decide what activity the family participates in at the weekend, or you may want to give them control over the TV remote for a day. Make sure that all chores are age-appropriate (which I know can be tough with siblings of different ages).
Seal gaps in windows, door frames, and walls
Even the smallest of gaps or cracks in windows and door frames can eventually lead to serious maintenance nightmares. For example, they could allow hot air to escape your home, meaning that you’re paying far more than necessary in energy bills. Or even worse… they can open the doors (literally!) to ladybugs and other insects to enter your indoor space if there’s a tiny space in your walls.
Luckily, this is an incredibly easy fix, as you can seal smaller gaps yourself using caulk that can be bought online or over the counter. If it has been some time since they were installed, you may want to use this as an opportunity to replace them.
Keep an eye out for maintenance issue warning signs
Being able to identify the earlier signs of maintenance issues means that you’re able to take action as quickly as possible. For example, key indicators of potential plumbing issues include water flow and pressure issues, inconsistent water temperatures, and strange or unusual noises emanating from the pipes.
Ask for help when you need it
While you may consider yourself to be incredibly self-sufficient or something of a DIY expert, you should be willing to accept or ask for help when you need it, especially when your property is at risk. Some tasks must simply be left to the experts, especially if they require you to mess with any of your home’s electric or plumbing systems.
After all, while you may have the best possible intentions (especially if you’re hoping to save money), you could be making things far worse and much more expensive to tackle through your DIY efforts. If DIY is something that you’re genuinely interested in, then you may want to sign up for DIY training courses, which will help you learn more about the basics of this kind of task.
On a similar note, you should also make sure that everyone in your home is carrying their weight and helping with keeping your home looking its best. None of these tips requires a lot of work or money, but they can make sure that you’ll get your money’s worth when selling your home later. Being as diligent as possible in this regard means that you can make sure you’re tackling issues before they become a significant problem, which also means that they are then much easier and cheaper to resolve.
Leave a reply