I know. You’ve heard it a million times. Test your smoke alarms. But have you actually tested them or did you check it off that mental to do list because you planned to test them?  Alarms are only as good as the batteries you have in them. If they’re dead, the alarms are worthless. It has always been important to have working smoke alarms in our homes, but the economy has made them even more essential. A Baltimore man who perished in a house fire may have done so simply because budget cuts slowed down emergency personnel response times. The firefighters had to come from a firehouse that wasn’t closed instead of the nearby firehouse, which was closed for the night to save money. If you hate to test your alarms or seem to always... [Read more]

You would not believe the number of homes I’ve looked at that are filled with black mold. Part of it is that a repo issue. When a bank forecloses on a home, it tends to turn off the electricity and other utilities and winterizes the home. This means the sump pump isn’t running. So the basement gets all damp and gross. Then the dampness travels to the first floor and mold starts to grow, helped along by grime on cabinets and other things. Then it creeps up to the second floor. And if you’re really lucky, the roof leaks and you get mold coming down from the top, too. If you see fuzzy walls and the home wasn’t decorated with flocked wallpaper, you know you’ve got trouble right away. But what if someone buys a repo, fixes it up without... [Read more]

You want to redecorate your home, but is red still in? What about blue? If you go with that dark teal color, will you be able to find accessories on the shelf? The folks at Pantone do a pretty good job of predicting hot color trends in home decor and have created 9 different palettes of trendsetting color groups for 2010. (They say there are 8 groups. I guess they don’t count their Tinged Neutral palette as a color group.) You’ll be happy to know that blue and red are in, but they come in different shades than in past years. I saw an orangey red tomato and a peacock blue design on their 2010 home interior guide cover. The color groups are: Greenmarket – Literally draws inspiration from markets, which explains the tomato. You can see... [Read more]

I brought my trash cans in from the curb and saw a discreet little card about tips for the holidays. I opened my newspaper and a greeting card from my carrier fell out. My realtor sent a little calendar in the mail. My letter carrier, who always gives great service, seems to be putting her all into the job. I haven’t seen my lawn care guy recently. No need to cut lawns with snow on the ground. However, a card is probably going to appear in my mailbox and day. And then some people have the house cleaning service, the kid who shovels snow from the sidewalk, the pool guy, the house sitter…How do you decide whether to give someone a holiday tip and how much should you give? Well, you’ll be happy to know that you don’t need to tip your realtor.... [Read more]

My sister wants a maid for Christmas. Just to come once, clean her house from top to bottom and get everything really nice for the new year. She wants her to come the day after the kids go back to school from the holidays. Honestly, it isn’t a bad idea, though it will probably cost $400 or more for someone to come out once and clean an entire house. There is something really appealing about starting your new year out with a nice, clean house instead of spending two weeks getting it all back into shape yourself after several weeks of children, friends and family scattering toys and crumbs about. I’m not sure how it would go over as a  gift for someone who didn’t ask for it, though. I do think that this is definitely a gift that not... [Read more]