Home Is Where The Haggis Is

We all know the feeling when the Christmas decorations come down and you look around the house to see a lot of empty space and imperfections.  Here’s some ways to battle the winter blahs and improve your indoor dwelling.

• Give a room or two a refreshing coat of paint.  I like our paint color in our downstairs bathroom, but after 10 years it could use some touchups.  Don’t make the same mistake I made and think you can just use a paintbrush to correct the problem spots though.  You’ll get an effect called ‘flashing.’  (see above and just ignore the person in the mirror; nothing to see here)  Flashing can occur even when you use the same paint color and finish such as eggshell.  The only time this won’t occur is if you paint with a flat paint color on existing flat paint.  To save on cost, you could just paint one or two walls if they need it using the miniature cans of of sample paint that can be mixed at your hardware store.  Flashing will not occur when there is a break in the wall such a corner, so I was able to paint one wall and avoid redoing the entire bathroom. The room looks so much better!!

• Turn up the wattage on your lights.  One of our kitchen bulbs burned out a month ago and when I tried to replace it, the lights they make are much brighter than years back so I ended up replacing all the canned lights and it looks so much less depressing now in the winter when I’m cooking or we are eating dinner.

• Get that stainless steel sparkling clean.  My sister-in-law let me in on a great cleaning product to get your fridge and other stainless appliances completely streak-free.  It’s called Bar Keeper’s Friend.  You can find it at Walmart, many hardware and grocery stores and, as she showed me, it really does work!

There, those ideas and clearing out drawers and closets should keep us busy to get through the next few weeks.  Hang in there!  The days are gradually getting longer and Daylight Savings is in nine weeks, not that I’m counting or anything.  😉