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Category: Home Decor

Upgrade Your Space: 5 Easy Ideas for Improving Your Backyard

With summer coming up, this can be one of the best times to think about how you can upgrade your backyard. For one, you’ll be able to invite family and friends over and do some entertaining. Consider these easy ideas for improving your backyard.

Clean it Up

You will enjoy your backyard more if it is well maintained and clean. Remove all leaves weeds and other debris. Keep shrubbery well-trimmed and ensure that fences and trimming are in good repair. If you have a deck or patio, you should pressure wash them to remove accumulated dirt. You can rent or buy a pressure washer or hire a service.

 

Grow a Garden

You can grow an herb, vegetable, fruit garden, or a mixture of all of these. Besides this, native gardens can be aesthetically pleasing and attract insects and wildlife to the area. This also gives bees, butterflies, rabbits, birds, and others a comfortable home, place to hide from predators, food source, and nesting area. If you feel like growing a garden is too time-consuming, you might enjoy adding potted plants to the area. For instance, top plants for container gardening are begonia, ornamental pepper, nemesia, hydrangea, roses, pansies, and violas, among others.

 

Create a Space for Guests

You can create an inviting place made especially for guests that will encourage them to come out more often. This could be that unique space where everyone gathers for fun and relaxation. For example, place comfy cushions on chairs to encourage people to sit at the table. Bring throw pillows from inside and put them on seating areas. Other ideas are to use a hammock to create a quiet retreat or add a porch swing for anyone to hang out on.

 

Hang String Lights

String lights are highly decorative and can add festivity to nearly any backyard. This can be a great idea for entertaining or just to spruce up the atmosphere. Try hanging them across trees or over a patio. String lights can be an affordable option if you’re on a budget. Additionally, if you’d like to conserve energy, save money and help the environment, you can purchase lights that are eco-friendly, low maintenance, cozy, and aesthetically pleasing. You can also illuminate the walkway or driveway with solar path lights.

 

Add Color with Paint

Painting can be a simple way to add a pop of color and be expressive. While it may be an inexpensive option, you can use it to brighten up your backyard for everyone to enjoy. Try painting chairs in pastel hues, or add sunny yellow to a door. And bold accents such as a red table or a bright green chest might be perfect to reflect your personality.

 

Having a better backyard has plenty of benefits. In fact, you or another family member can spend time out there alone or chat with loved ones. Take a nap on a hammock, read a book on a bench or teach the family dog some new tricks. No matter what you choose to do, you can create a unique space everyone will love.

Top Costly Mistakes To Avoid While Remodeling Your Home

Top Costly Mistakes To Avoid While Remodeling Your Home

Remodeling your home, particularly the kitchen and bathrooms, can not only add value but also give you considerable comfort and pleasure. And yet, remodeling horror stories abound. If you don’t want to be the lead character in a remodeling horror story, avoid the top four mistakes homeowners make.

Hiring a contractor too quickly

Even if a contractor is referred by a friend or neighbor, you still need to interview them for your particular job. What your friend considers outstanding work may not meet your standards.

Does the contractor have the required licensing, experience, and awareness for the job you want. It’s best to hire a contractor who lives and or works in your city because codes vary from city to city. That way, they are likely to be familiar with the inspection process.

Ask for photos of past work and references. Then actually call the references and ask the best and worst experiences they had in working with this contractor. A key question is did he show up on time or call when he was delayed.

Be clear on what you want, and be sure it’s stated in your written agreement.

Be sure your written agreement spells out when the work will begin and when it is projected to end, and at which stages payments will be made.

Trusting your contractor to find all the subcontractors.

While you may hire a contractor to do the big jobs, you don’t have to use all the subcontractors recommended by your contractor. Interview them too and decide for yourself if they are a good match for you.

Do the work to find your own workers for the parts your main contractor doesn’t do, especially when you’re doing a major remodeling that involves flooring, painting, all new appliances, electrical rewiring, plumbing and more.

Top Costly Mistakes To Avoid While Remodeling Your Home

Leaving too many decisions up to the contractor.

The contractor may know construction and tools, but only you know what you want. You get to decide where you want the electrical outlets and the type of light fixtures. If you leave these up to many contractors, they’ll just install the cheapest or most convenient for them to attain.

No matter how detailed your written agreement, there will be many small decisions to make along the way.

The biggest mistake you can make when remodeling is being unavailable and inaccessible while the work is being done.

This is NOT a time to take a vacation. If possible, stay in your home or nearby. Give the contractor your cell phone, so you can be easily reached. Monitor the progress and ask questions immediately about work that seems to be out of keeping with what you agreed to. Don’t add new tasks as the contractor goes along unless you want to modify the written agreement and add to the costs.

Don’t sign off and pay the final payment until you are satisfied that the work has been done according to your agreement.When you avoid these four common mistakes, remodeling your home can be a timely and satisfying experience.

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