HomeKeepr Blog

As the heat of summer approaches, having ways to stay cool at home is especially important. Installing new air conditioners or HVAC units can be expensive and may add significantly to your ongoing cooling costs as well. In many cases, a major cooling system upgrade isn’t even needed; simple things like the right curtains and ceiling fans in your rooms can go a long way towards keeping things cool even in the heat of summer. You just need to make sure that you’ve got the right fan for the space you’ve installed it in.

If you have an older home, there’s a decent chance that somewhere in the house you have at least one large, bulky wall-mounted mirror. While not all older homes will feature one of these mirrors, various types of mirrors do seem to come back into fashion again and again over time. Whether you’ve got a single large mirror mounted directly to the wall or mirrored panels that cover an entire wall surface, it’s important to remember that you still have options to update your home even if your mirrors have been around for decades.

Wallpaper has been around for thousands of years in one form or another, with wallpaper-like wall coverings being used in China in 200 B.C. Modern style wallpaper with repeating patterns on continuous sheets was created by Jean-Michel Papillion in 1675, and it has remained a popular option ever since. With that said, wallpaper hasn’t been consistently loved since its invention; like most home décor trends, its popularity has waxed and waned over the years.

Home remodels offer an opportunity to change the look and feel of your home. This can be great if you live in an older home with outdated fixtures and other hardware. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t take the time to match their remodel to their house and end up with a look that’s a bit less than optimal. The remodel won’t necessarily look bad, but it may be unsatisfactory because it doesn’t quite match the architecture and style of the house itself.

When you think of wallpaper, you likely picture rolls of material that are plastered or glued in place. Once the wallpaper is up on the walls, that’s pretty much it; while wallpaper can be removed, the process usually isn’t very quick or easy. If you want the look of wallpaper without the hassle, however, there is another option: peel and stick wallpaper. If you weren’t aware that this was available, it might be worth looking into.

It might seem like kind of an odd concept, but there are a number of companies that let you rent your home décor these days. Companies like Feather and CasaOne allow you to lease your furniture and other décor for a limited period or until you decide to buy it outright. Even some older rent-to-own companies have options to change furnishings after completing a portion of your lease. The big question is, how viable is this as a way to decorate your home?

Figuring out what to buy for friends and loved ones during the holidays isn’t always easy. While some people are easy to shop for, there are always a few people on your list who seem to already have everything they might want. Fortunately, there are a few things that you can get for around the home that they might never buy for themselves. Here are a few suggestions for things that they’ll not only appreciate, but actually USE.

Decorating for the holidays can be a lot of fun. What’s less fun is getting stuck in a rut with the same old holiday decorations year after year. Sometimes you just want to break away from the same old thing and do something new and exciting. What do you do if you don’t have any decorating ideas, though?

The holiday season is one of the most-traveled periods of the entire year. People drive and fly across the country or around the world to visit friends and loved ones. It’s wonderful to have those you care about coming to visit, but it can also be very stressful if your home is in disarray. Even though you tell yourselves that people won’t really care about what your home looks like, there’s always that fear that they’ll judge you if your house isn’t ready for guests.