If you’re thinking that your home is already due for some renovations but putting it aside due to budget restrictions, fret no more as there are means on how you can get it done without spending too much. Home improvements need not to be expensive; you just have to be a smart shopper.

Do it yourself projects are often the best way to save on home renovations. Simple household tricks could also go a long way. If the room starts to smell or look old, consider removing the wallpaper and instead apply a few coats of fresh paint. Changing the colors of the walls could easily brighten a room.

Visit a home and garden store around your area and check for do it yourself kits for basic things around the house. Most kits are easy and quick to do. Try to get as much work done and leave the rest to professionals. For tasks like plumbing and electricity, you might need to seek the help of the experts.

An advice to those who are considering hiring a contractor: go for one that is versatile and around. This could save you a lot of money and would eliminate the need to hire multiple contractors to get the job done.  It will be best to set a limit on how much you are willing to spend. Prioritize the areas that need to be done first such as places where repairs are badly needed.

Isabel currently works as a freelance writer and uses her free time traveling and exploring places as she enjoys the adventure and adrenaline rush. Her current project has provided her with an opportunity to share positive news stories that could inspire other people to make a difference.

A friend is offering me a home automation software. It is actually a new thing for home security. Though we are living in a gated village, it is also good to take extra precautions. But the husband and I still need to do review it first. My friend is doing a demonstration of the product and services by next weekend. I invited over my brother and his wife to take a look also.

Are you looking for outdoor fireplace kits? Check out Mantels Direct which even offers free shipping for a limited time. It is the same as what you see in HGTV. It provides fast and easy to assemble parts. You may choose whether you want a stone or a brick fireplace. Though it is totally not appropriate for our lawn, I am saving the site so I can recommend to my relatives abroad.

This is the lamp in our room…

Now, the husband and I were debating whether to get a pendant lighting instead. I would rather not as I specifically like this lamp better. It would be an easier access in case I just want to turn off or on. Besides, its a bed side lamp which I actually use whenever I am reading a book. But looking at the site of Lighting Showplace, it makes me want to have one also in our room. I’m torn actually.

I have been meaning to do some cleaning of cabinets since the holiday break. But I am a failure for such. There are a lot of things to move and keep in a different store area so we could have more and new space for new items we got last christmas. I think I already need a professional material handling as I am a hopeless case if I would ever finish such plan to de-clutter within the month. I am obviously still very busy with work. So what’s new anyway? But just happy that work is pouring in so I do not have the right to complain. For the meantime, let me list first the items I wish to take off.

Christmas rush is over but I am still running late for some of my appointments and meetings. It’s a busy day today as I have about 5 meetings to attend to plus I even have to drop by the mall and check out a hardware store for garage door openers. Do you think I can get it from there? We realized our garage door locks got busted last week so we better find a good replacement for it. Oh I hope I can find it right away as I am sure I’m a busy bee today running over my meetings.

After a tiring day yesterday, it is nice to have a hot shower and to wait for your home-service massage.  This is what a look forward at the end of the day.  Not that I do the massage daily but at least once a week.  I am so happy with our recent acquisition as well for the hot and cold multi-system which was installed in our master’s toilet.   It’s one of the good investments we made for the house.  We could now enjoy hot shower every night with just a turn of the knob!

we are planning to have the house treated for termite control. Not that the house have termites already but as per our interior designer, it is also important that the house be regularly treated for such. How I wish I can find a good company in our area that is something like Houston Pest Control. Being in the business for close to 50 years, they have unparalleled experience on providing exceptional care for all pest control needs be it fire ant control, flea control or even bee control. They service both residential and commercial markets. Of course they are known to to offer an affordable rate suited for their clients requirement. You can even book and set appointments with them through their online system and even pay using a credit card. Now, I need to make a research on a firm nearby.

As we saw some koi pond supplies in the nearby weekend market in the village, the husband thought and asked me if we should rather have a small pond in the garden. I am not sure how we could maintain such so I am not buying that idea first. Of course, there is still my dream to add a pool in the spacious area in the garden. I was teasing the husband that he barely use the basketball court so might as well put up a pool. But gee, the maintenance fee of having one is like having an additional helper. Got to think about it again since I am pretty sure it would add up to my share of household expenses. lol!

How much do you know about buying a property, real estate settlement, your rights and how much you can protect yourself from being victims of fraud. I was asking a friend who is a registered real estate agent in the US on How Much Are Closing Costs. Closing Costs are actually depending on the location of the property. Different states in the United States do have different tax policies. It is also dependent on what type of structure of the property are you buying. Is it single detached house, a townhouse or a condominium. Some sites do offer a way on how to compute for it by just inputting all the details of the property like address, number of units, and even considering the agent’s rate. My real estate friend also told me the importance of Title Insurance. So What Is Title Insurance? It is actually a protection of both parties, the lender and the owner of the property for any losses on their part that might result due to fraud, errors or liens against the property. I didn’t know that there is something like that until my friend told me all about these things. When we bought our property, we had the full trust to our agent. He guided us on every step to take so we just paid the appropriate amount. Good thing, it was a breeze Real Estate Settlement on our end. I guess the husband understands some of these details already. Now, should you be buying a property, it would really be best to know some information like the ones above.

I just love the lovely furniture I saw from my in-laws place while we were vacationing in their homes. Round Dining Table is actually not their popular choice as they usually choose to have those rectangular ones that can sit 8-10 people. I am surprised to learn the cost of Dining Room Furniture there so as the China Cabinets . I was informed that there’s a popular online store for dining tables as well. They have nice selections of different dining sets ranging from formal, casual, contemporary, round or rectangular tables. They also offer kitchen tables. The store even offers some special deals like savings from 45-75% off from retail stores. They also offer free shipping. What a great convenience. 

Most of their pieces are made out of high quality oak, birch, maple or ash burl material so you are guaranteed for its quality that can stand many years.  I particularly like those tables that are expandable and even include additional table leaves.  They furniture come in different colors as well.  They have clean black, black espresso, antique oak and my favorite dark cherry brown.  Wish these are all available back home.

Off to the mall today as I got to find a new DECT phone. Our old wireless phone has some problems with its batteries. For some reasons, its batteries get drained easily. The husband suggest to get a twin cordless phones this time so we could have one also in the master’s bedroom. I think it would be a great idea. I also want to get something with answering machine already.

It was a great weekend indeed.  Nothing compares to spending quality time with the whole family. We had too much lounging around actually. And staying at home was our best option since it was so hot already when you go outside. Atleast, we do not have much concern about it while inside the house because the 3-toner aircon and the basement dehumidifier were both on almost the whole day. So goodluck to our electric bill Nevertheless, it’s just good to relax for this weekend as we look forward to a very busy week ahead! 

Have a fabulous week ahead to everyone!

We have been thinking to convert the guest room to a den. The husband have been contemplating to make the guestroom a video room. He plans to buy a new Samsung HDTV to complete the setup plus the corresponding home theater system. In fact, we are also have been looking for nice couches since December.  Although, I am not quite sure if its a good idea to totally give up the guestroom, the husband prefers to have a den so he could watch his favorite movies during the weekends.

happening in the house tomorrow and on Saturday, I have asked the househelps to do general cleaning of the house. I even asked them to scrub all metal tiles in the dirty kitchen as well as clean all glass windows. I have asked them to polish the wood on all furnitures and vaccuum the fabrics as well. They would also scrub the garage tomorrow as that would be our back-up venue in case it rains in the evening. But I really hope it would be a good weather. Glad, the household helps are not complaining. They shouldn’t right?

I got an email from a friend today offering me some best buy hand dryers for the house.  She is getting it from a great supplier of hand dryers and washroom accessories.  I am tempted since the ones she emailed me are beautifully crafted and perfectly in white color.  Some are even less 100usd.  Best priced really.  I am also tempted to get a soap dish dispenser for just less than 25usd.  Hmm, makes me think.  It could be included in another balikbayan box of a friend coming on September.  I am thinking to put those for the powder room.

the garden area has been our regular activity every afternoon.  I have been tending to the garden for the past couple of weeks.  Still, I feel like there’s something lacking in there.  I want to buy more plants and add some orchids perhaps.  We are still growing the grass actually.  I am taking gardening as a new found hobby.  A new found activity aside from doing some running around the village every afternoon.  Well, these activities could add up to my plan to really lose weight, otherwise, I might compelled myself to take those diet pills already if I don’t lose weight soon.

And look how funny the kids were when Dicky was trying to water the grass…

that our phone line would be installed soon.  I badly need DSL connection.  I am using my very able Nokia E71 first as modem for my Amanda.  Good thing, I can still get good signal but there are times when it is erratic so it pisses me off.  But I am so loving my phone since I can really browse and check emails and even be in FB wherever I go.   Wish there are new cell towers to be installed in our area so I can get better connection.  This is the reason why I won’t have blog updates often.  And I really hope as well that cable would be installed soon!  For the meantime, a wireless landline would do!

Won’t you wish owning properties like the one above? Lovely! I can just lie around and be a queen in that house. It’s fully furnished with a covered pool.  There is nothing wrong in dreaming anyway. The above pictures were one of the Florida villa sales available from BardellRealEstate, which is a specialist for new and resale villas and vacation homes, retirement homes and residential property in Florida. Not to mention that this property is very near Orlando Disneyland. My kids would definitely love staying here.  Maybe we can stay here every summer, lol!  These are just my greatest dreams.  

I have been thinking to change the curtain of our room to something like Levolor blinds and shades since it will be low maintenance than keeping a curtain and changing everytime. But I realized that I should do the same thing for all our rooms’ windows. I’m sure my mom won’t approve. It’s her house anyway. I’d probably do it and suggest to Dicky for our dream house instead. I want to get from Blinds Central Online because I saw some blinds which are of good quality but are on discounted rate. They are the leading provider since 1986 of custom and vertical blinds. They do have variety of available colors, styles and choices that can be appropriate to any homes design and structure. They are known to be offering the lowest price in buying blinds online.  I would definitely remember to check them out next year.  

My friend was asking us to help them research about security cameras cause she plans to put one in her new house.  Since she knows that me and Dicky had a security/alarm business before, (yes we did!), she was seeking our opinion about Panasonic CCTV camera. We actually told her about IT Planet who is the leading supplier of security systems including cameras, barcode scanners and even those touchscreens for POS. I know the company even offers free shipping so I told her to grabe the opportunity in buying online. The CCTV camera that she is preferring is actually one of the top-of-the line available in the market today.