Undeck the Halls

We spend so much time and effort decorating for the Holidays, and then once it’s over and everything is put away, the house always looks so bare – especially if you have had more than one Christmas tree up. There are several ways to keep your home looking beautiful, and well decorated, even after the holidays.

A simple way to decorate through the seasons is to use inexpensive glass vases and apothecary jars. Fill them with seasonal additions. For the Christmas season, use round ornaments, pine cones, or candy canes for example. Change it up with other round colorful balls, shells, wooden or plastic fruit, crystals or rocks, even whole coffee beans or leaves of the season. Add some additions for those other holidays like red cinnamon hearts for Valentine’s Day, ribbons of color for Anzac Day, Canada Day or Independence Day, and green accents for St. Patrick’s Day. Changing up your candles for each season is a simple but elegant way of decorating for the different seasons. Not only can you change the colors of the candles for the season, but the smells of the season as well.

This is also the time of year where after you take down your holiday decorations, you move furniture back to their usual place. But before you go to do that, take a moment and think about how your furniture’s placement can add to the warmth of the house. Placing sofa’s and armchairs so they are facing each other is great for when you have people sitting and visiting. You can also look at changing your focal point in the room from television to fireplace for the winter season. Adding an area rug or some different throw pillows and throw blankets for the winter versus the spring and summer is a great way to change things up as well.

You can use these same ideas to decorate the exterior of your home as well. If you choose to have a vine wreath on the door, change up the accents and the bow to go with the season. Or have a different door decoration all together for each season or holiday. Add a seasonal flag in the garden and change it with the change of the season and holiday. You can even add accents of color to outdoor lights by adding bows or seasonal ornaments for fall, spring, summer, or even for holidays such as Easter, the 4th of July, Canada Day, Anzac Day or Thanksgiving.

Just because the Holidays are over, doesn’t mean your beautiful home decor has to be put away. Use some of these easy, simple design ideas to keep your décor fresh through the entire year. Change is a good thing, it will let you appreciate the space you have and enjoy it even more.

For more articles go to http://clubonefitness.lifestyleezine.com

Natural Cleaning Tips

There are a lot of cleaning products out there and some of them can emit strong odors, fumes, can be harmful to the environment and contain chemicals that you just don’t want to expose to your skin or your children’s. What you might not know is that there are many natural items that you can probably find around the house that can be used as a cleaning agent. It’s possible to accomplish the task of cleaning without dangerous chemicals.

Vinegar

Vinegar is a strong cleanser that can be used in a broad range of ways in a household. Vinegar is environmentally friendly and alleviates the use of harsh chemicals. It is known to effectively kill germs, mold, and bacteria and is highly cost effective. Cleaning and disinfecting is as easy as adding a few capfuls of white distilled vinegar into soapy water. You can clean a toilet bowl by pouring a cup or more of diluted white distilled vinegar into the bowl and letting it sit overnight. A quarter-cup of vinegar in a litre of water makes an excellent window cleaner.

Lemons

Like vinegar, lemons possess some antibacterial properties as well as some antiseptic properties. Lemon is considered a natural bleaching agent. Stains on white clothing and linens will disappear by putting lemon juice on the stains and allowing it to dry in the sun. Ever had the lime scale on your sink and faucets that either takes bleach or a lot of scrubbing to take out? Lemon juice is more acidic than most cleaning products and removes lime scale quickly. Let it sit for a few hours then come back and wipe off with a cloth. Even try cleaning your grout by adding a couple teaspoons of lemon juice to cream of tartar and mix together to make a paste. You can apply it with a toothbrush or any other type of cleaning brush then rinse it off with a wet cloth. Lemons can also renew the glossy shine to aluminum by scrubbing it with a half a lemon.

Table Salt

Greasy pots and pans can be cleaned a lot easier with a little table salt. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on pots and pans to absorb the excess grease. Leave on for just a few minutes then dump out the salt and water mixture. Keep in mind this is not recommended for non-stick cooking products, but great for cast iron.

Toothpaste

Toothpaste is composed of a detergent, a soft abrasive and germ-killing component that is great in removing stains. The best toothpaste is the plain white paste rather than gels with fresh breath and whitening agents.

Try this Floor Cleaner Recipe:

  • 3 drops of dishwashing liquid
  • ½ cup of vinegar
  • ½ cup of water

Spray on the floor sparingly and then mop it up.

Multipurpose Surface Cleaner:

In a clean spray bottle fill half with vinegar and half water. Use this mixture to wipe down counter-tops, stainless steel, stoves, windows, kids’ toys and plastic fittings.

Natural cleaning products can be the best option in household cleaning. It keeps everything clean without compromising your health and your family’s health and the environment. Using it can bring back the shine and glow of your utensils and furniture without impacting negatively on your health.

For more articles go to http://clubonefitness.lifestyleezine.com