The Best Home Hacks

image:b6fbf9068d49e6c45a5acfa4215f7f7216e03dbd w:540 s:"fit" class_name:"mt-image-center" show_pin_button:"true" show_image_credits:"true" Home Hacks month has inspired us to undo all of the bad DIYs left in our home by previous inhabitants. For example, the 4-foot-long vintage mirror in the bathroom was callously splattered with paint when someone constructed a questionable homemade shelf next to it. Luckily, removing the paint was easy, non-toxic, and didn’t damage the glass at all.

We talk a lot about organizing and keeping things tidy. While it’s satisfying to clean your bedroom closet, it’s extra satisfying to to repair any damaged contents within that closet. I had the chance to clean my bedroom closet last week and took the time to polish my shoes, sew some missing buttons on a few blouses, and rejuvenate my sweaters. Properly taking care of the things you have just feels good and gives you new things to wear without spending cash.

Remember that series of adorable laptop sleeves made be a French duo? We thought, why not take their idea and make it a bit more utilitarian. We like the idea of accessorizing your computer, but it’s also nice to have accessories that are both cute and functional.MaterialsLarge piece of cardboard or foamboard (two to three inches larger than your monitor)Cork rollFabric, such as felt, to cover corkboard ToolsGlue gunSticky Back Velcro 1.

We have looked into framing many an odd sized image, and more often than not a custom framing job really breaks the bank. Here is a little tutorial on “custom” framing your own images for far less than a professional framer. standard frame, larger than your image paint (if desired) custom cut mat acid-free artist’s tape acid-free paper 1. Select and paint your frame. We chose a frame in raw wood (saved a few bucks there) and opted to paint it matte green with acrylic paint.

Antique and handwoven rugs are breathtaking but can be tricky to clean. Stay away from chemical detergents by using nature’s cleanser, snow! Snowvember is upon us here in the midwest and I’m trying to make the most of it. After hearing about the magical cleaning powers of snow, I laced up boots, grabbed a recently purchased hand-woven rug and headed outside.

image:2bc8660edcc53e065089dd224ceb0279c15a15d0 w:540 s:"fit" class_name:"mt-image-center" show_pin_button:"true" show_image_credits:"true" Making your own cleaning products for the kitchen is both economical and good for your health. When you’re using baking soda, vinegar, and water, you can feel pretty confident that the cleaning you’re doing isn’t hurting you or the environment.

Since we haven’t gotten around to hanging any of our artwork in our new apartment, we’re literally tripping over everything. For example, this frame used to hold an antique print–but it fell and broke. After we took it apart and removed the broken glass, we took the opportunity to clean up the very old frame.Ingredients [OR] MaterialsMild dishwashing soapWhite VinegarWood Oil ToolsToothbrushQ-tipsSoft cloth 1. Wipe any dust and dirt off of your frame with a clean, soft cloth.2.

Most homes use WiFi networks nowadays, in large part because they’re easy to setup and convenient to use if you have more than one computer user in your home, which is a given with most families. While wireless networks are easy to setup it’s common for people to underestimate what their new WiFi network can do. Without further ado, we present to you our perfect home network and how to set it up.

Air infiltration is one of the worst culprits of heat loss and energy consumption. Have you ever put your hand by an outlet on an exterior wall? If it wasn’t well insulated it was probably blowing in a significant amount of cold air and leaking out all your warm air! Well, insulating outlets and switch plates is just about one of the easiest and relatively cheap things you can do to eliminate heat loss without having to re-insulate your entire home.

Since seeing Anna Garforth’s use of moss as graffiti we’ve been keen to try this at home. Turns out it’s a very simple process and we had the perfect wall in the backyard so we gave it a go. Cheap, easy and interesting garden decorations, we’d recommend this to anyone who has the space.Materials:MossBlenderSugarButter MilkWaterContainerPaint Brush 1. Decide on an image and transfer onto the wall in chalk. You could use a stencil or draw freehand.

Fresh flowers are a fleeting pleasure no matter how you slice it, but we think they bring so much life and color to a room that they’re absolutely worth the effort and expense. A few simple tricks borrowed from the pros will help you keep flowers around a good long while. So go ahead, buy yourself a Valentine bouquet!

Equipment: toothpaste clean rag banana window cleaner 1. The first thing you do is apply toothpaste on the scratched surface of the DVD. Next, rub the toothpaste gently into the DVD using the rag. Let this sit for about a minute. 2. Remove the toothpaste from the DVD using the rag. Then take the cut banana and in small circular motions rub the banana into the DVD. After you have applied the banana to the DVD, you will then take the peel and use this to rub the DVD in small circular motions. 3.

Contemporary homes are built with open floor plans, great rooms, and high ceilings — a result of current tastes, as well as programmatic and structural changes in residential architecture. Unlike homes from the mid-century and prior, the contemporary home incorporates the previously private kitchen into the public living space and capitalizes on longer span beams to create rooms that flow together.

Your green leafed friends can accumulate a noticeable dull patina of household dust (aka your skin flakes and dirt) over a period of time untended. With the rainy day weather keeping you inside, now is a good time to revive them to their full luster with a little bit of TLC. Your photosynthesizing friends will love you for it.

click through the jump to see howOur loft is a giant square with the living area in the middle. Around the edges live our bedroom area, kitchen area, dining area and studio spaces. Instead of curtaining off the actual windows in the loft (which would prohibit us from enjoying the light when we are in our working areas) we installed curtains from the main support beams that corner off the middle space.

Years ago I used to live in a studio apartment in Brooklyn and wanted to cover the biggest empty wall space with a gigantic bulletin board. I had a hard time finding a bulletin board that was as big as I wanted — so I made my own out of homasote and burlap.Homasote is actually a brand name that has become synonymous with the product generically known as cellulose based fiber wall board — which is similar in composition to papier-mache.

Looking for a way to significantly reduce packaging waste? A visit to your local bulk bin offers this, plus the opportunity to save money, to buy only what you need, and to try new foods with minimal investment. Here’s how to go about scooping and and storing…MaterialsContainers or bags for shopping and storing 1. Locate a bulk food seller near you.

It’s rare to find two-prong outlets in homes these days. Landlords and home owners have slowly switched over to three-prong outlets as more and more devices and appliances need them to power up. Occasionally though, you move into a place that doesn’t have a three-prong outlet where you need one, so how do you remedy the situation? You switch out your two-prong for a three-prong, but there’s a lot to consider before you start rewiring your apartment.

We’ve been collecting a particular style of blackwood dining chair one at a time for the past couple of years. They all had mismatched upholstery that was damaged and worn so it was time to do something about it. While they all matched in style, they couldn’t all be reupholstered the same way.The way the chairs differed was that on some chairs the seat base was removable but the others were fixed.

Most of us struggle with the design conundrum of how to disguise or hide messy cords, particularly if you want to use a leggy piece of furniture as a desktop or electronics docking spot. One clever, affordable idea (as in $4 affordable!) comes from Michelle, whose dreamy home we’ll be featuring in a future Apartment Therapy House Tour.

Starting seeds inside is a great way to get a head start on your garden. While it’s still early in most places for many vegetables, growing season for cold weather vegetables like broccoli and lettuce is right around the corner (late February in some places).You can start the seeds in just about any kind of container, but egg cartons do double duty by not only recycling, but separating your seeds into little planting pods.

One of our home indulgences–taking scalding hot showers (especially when the temps drop outside). So you can imagine our frustration when we jumped in the shower after a long day of moving only to discover lukewarm water. A quick email to our handyman delivered a quick and easy how to for this problem.1. Locate your hot water heater. At our old apartment, our hot water heater was underneath the house (that only the landlord had the key to unlock).

Yesterday we wrote about how to set up a multi-functional workout space, which included putting wheels on our ottoman so that we can move it out of the way easily when it’s time to jazzercise. Here’s how we did it.Materials1. Ottoman: Ours was $99 at Homegoods 2. 4 Casters: Approx. $5 each from Home Depot. We went with plain old casters that don’t lock, but if you are worried about your ottoman moving around too much then invest in some lockable ones.

It’s only February in New England and I am having Spring fever. I want to be outside digging in the dirt and planting things. Since I can’t do that, I have decided to pay special attention to my houseplants. For this “How To” I show you how to easily re-pot your plants which you should do every year or two to keep them vibrant and growing.

My son loves to eat pomegranate seeds probably for the same reason I do – that sweet juice that gushes into your mouth (ala Freshen Up gum) when you bite into them. But they stain like the dickens! Here’s one way to remove those stubborn red stains without using bleach.Materialsbaking sodawateroptimism Equipmenttea kettle, microwave or a pan and stove 1. Don’t panic2. Remove garment immediately3.

We reuse jars and bottles everywhere in the home – to store bulk grains, dish soap, buttons, nails, you name it. Removing the sticky labels and any odors (most often from foods like tomatoes, pickles, and garlic) from the jars is a mundane yet satisfying task. Here’s how we do it.MaterialsHot waterDish soapSponge or steel woolVegetable oil or peanut butter (optional)Sunshine (optional)Vinegar (optional)Baking soda (optional) ToolsHair dryer (optional) To remove labels1.

We just moved into a new place and even though we’re renting, we wanted to swap out the pendant above the dining table for a nice upgrade we can take with us when we go. I was going to call an electrician until a friend mentioned that I ought to be able to handle it myself. So I did, and was a lot simpler than I expected!Materials:ScrewdriverWirecutters/strippers (or if you’re handy, a pair of scissors) 1. Turn off Electricity!2.

Coax cables, sometimes known as coaxial cables, are one of the main culprits causing a mess behind home theater setups, usually because an excess length is left behind when cable/DSS is installed. A trip down to our local hardware store revealed the smallest they carried was three feet. So instead of living with the coil or making an appointment for the cable guy, we decided to do it ourselves with just a few tools.

While renovating our bathroom, we got an annoying amount of paint on the window. The glass is textured so even though we had prepped the window with painters tape it still leaked [we were also a bit clumsy in other places]. The textured glass meant a razor blade wasn’t very effective so we got creative!Materials:Razor BladeNail Polish RemoverMicrofiber ClothCotton TipsGlass Cleaner 1. Scrape as much paint off the glass as you can with the razor blade.2.