When it comes to skirting boards in your home, they can’t just be left to their own devices forever, they will need some looking after from time to time. Yes, they might be low maintenance, especially compared to some other aspects of looking after a home. However, they can’t be ignored completely.
So, how do you look after your skirting boards and keep them in good working order for as long as possible?
Here are some of our top tips when it comes to looking after your skirting boards.
Skirting boards maintenance
Below are some of the best tips to maintain your skirting boards. Do you need it? Absolutely. If you’re on rental or want to buy a house, you can opt for decorative skirting boards or unique traditional skirting boards.
Don’t Forget To Dust Them!
It can easily be missed out when it comes to dusting. Yet even with their small surface area, they can very quickly become the worst place for dust to settle.
It can be a nightmare to clean, and one of those jobs you put off again and again – perhaps hoping either someone else will do it, or they’ll magically clean themselves!
Due to their location in your home, dust will easily find its way to them – more so than most other items in your home. So, what’s the best way to start?
Before you do anything else, you will need to give your it good dust before you can clean them – if you need to.
The easiest way to do this is by using an attachment on your vacuum cleaner. It means less bending over, or crawling about on your hands and knees, and can be a lot more effective than using a dust cloth.
However, if you don’t have a vacuum cleaner with a suitable attachment, or your skirting boards have intricate detailing on them, you can always spray a little dust spray onto a dust cloth or microfibre rag.
Simply wipe it down, remembering to shake out your rag and reapply the spray every now and again.
If your cloth can’t get into those smaller areas, try using a cotton bud to get into those hard-to-reach areas.
Use Soap & Water
Once you’ve taken off the top layer of dust, you can now start to clean your skirting boards.
To do this you will need some warm, soapy water and a cloth. However, make sure your cloth isn’t too wet. You want a damp cloth, not a wet one.
Most skirting boards will be water resistant, not water-proof so be careful with how much water you use. It’s important to ring out your wet cloth as much as you can before applying it to the skirting to avoid damaging them or making the wood warp.
Be Careful With Chemicals!
Don’t use strong chemicals such as bleach on your skirting boards as you may end up damaging them. Plus, you’ll then be left with bleach wafting about your home – which no one wants!
Instead, use a small amount of washing-up liquid, hand soap, or even some fabric conditioner instead. These are much less harsh and shouldn’t damage your skirting boards.
If it’s a one-off, or if you’re trying to get rid of a nasty stain, you can use bleach sparingly to clean your skirting. Just make sure it’s watered down before applying and you don’t leave the bleach on there for long at all.
Do you have the essentials that make working from home enjoyable? What products do you need to work from home? Here are the best work from home essentials you can’t do without. These essentials will keep you motivated and boost your productivity while working from home.
Working from home has become the new flex of the day. Many friends quit their jobs because they are looking for remote work. There is so many work from home jobs out there like blogging, freelancing, social media management, etc. But, of course, you can’t blame them; the pandemic introduced us to the work-from-home system. And seeing that it can work, many people have gravitated toward it.
But is working from home really all glitz and glamor?
I always tell people that the best way to enjoy working from home is when they have certain essentials. These tools would make working from home more enjoyable. Aside from my day job, I also work from home on weekends. These work from home essentials makes it easy to balance blogging with my day job effortlessly.
Best Work from home essentials
If you work from home, you will agree with me that these work from home essentials for your home office is priceless. They make working from home easy. Your productivity will be on the high as you deliver on your task whether as a freelancer or a remote worker.
1. Speakers
Nothing beats playing good music at your home. Unfortunately, working from home means you do not get to interact physically with your colleagues. And this gets boring. However, working with music would let your flow with the work. You would even lose track of time as you work.
I always advise everyone to have a work playlist. It makes you get into the work mood. Having a speaker enables you not to have the music directly in your ears. Instead, it serves as background noise that keeps you company as you work.
Even if you have to move from your workspace to your kitchen, you have something that keeps the ambiance high.
2. Powerbank
Now, you may be making a face about this essential. But can you always depend on having an uninterrupted power supply? There is always a need for a backup, and that’s where a power bank comes to play.
I’m not talking about the regular power bank. Instead, I’m talking about those heavy power banks that can power your laptops. For example, you can get a 120,000 MAH power bank.
I’m sure you want to avoid a situation where you’re missing meetings and stand-ups because your laptop battery is dead. You would seem unserious when you begin to give such excuses. With your power bank, you’re good to go.
3. Fast internet or WIFI
Another of the work from home essentials that should be the first on the list is a fast internet connection. Without the internet, working from home isn’t possible in any way. All the zoom calls, responses to emails, and Google Meet are engineered and powered by the internet.
So, you should look for a trusted internet provider and get their wifi or install their internet in your house. I’m not here to recommend any internet service provider as that would be based on your preference. However, it would be best to do due diligence before picking any internet service provider. For example, you wouldn’t want to choose one that has unstable internet and gives you heart attacks.
4. Blue Light Glasses
So, you would almost always be in front of your screens, from your laptop to your desktop to your phone, etc. It is impossible not to stare at your screen always when you work from home. Therefore, it would be fitting to get blue light glasses.
These glasses help to protect your eyes from blue light rays. The fact that you work from home doesn’t mean that you should destroy your eyes. Even when you meet an optician, they’d always say you should protect your eyes when working with computers.
Working from home is good. But I don’t want to hear that anyone has eye issues because of it.
Another of the work from home essentials you need is sticky needs. Some people get carried away with the fact that they work from home. Thus, they become distracted and forgetful. It would harm your work and may even cost you the job. But you can avoid this from happening when you have sticky notes.
These sticky notes serve as physical reminders of your to-dos. So, when you have them in your workspace, you can always look at them and know what to do that day.
I sometimes find myself constantly playing with my sticky notes when I need to take a break. So, you can see that they serve dual purposes.
By now, most of us know that a sedentary lifestyle is a recipe for trouble. Staying inactive puts you at risk of obesity, high blood pressure, and other chronic diseases. Yet, for as long as we can remember, we’ve been told to maintain an active lifestyle. An adjustable standing desk is another of the work from home essentials you can’t do without.
When you work an office job requiring you to stare at a laptop screen all day, this may seem impossible. With an adjustable standing desk, this can be avoided. In addition, the desk is designed to allow you to work while on your feet.
Health benefits associated with standing include strengthened leg muscles and a reduced formation of blood clots; remember, health is wealth.
7. Noise-Canceling Headphones/Earphones
You may not be fortunate to live in an area where you can enjoy peace and quiet regularly, or maybe you live with noisy people. Understandably, being around a lot of noise can wreak havoc on your focus and affect your productivity.
One way to get around this is to purchase noise-canceling headphones or earphones, whatever you are comfortable with. With these, you can block out all distractions and enjoy music while you get work done. It’sIt’s a win from every angle.
Houses with ample room space are often expensive except in remote areas. Most work-from-home stations involve at least a desk and chair; what happens when your home is enough to accommodate this?
Laptop desks are portable desks that can be set on your lap. With one, you can fit your laptop and phone. Of course, the bigger the desk, the more you can fit on it. The great thing about these is that it doesn’t matter how big or small your living space is. If you can fit, it will too.
Desk organizers are a must-have of the work from home essentials for people who tend to have a lot of items on their work desks. However, when in a cluttered room, it is difficult to find anything, and it could slow you down.
The same thing happens with a cluttered work desk; you find it hard to locate that important document or even your pen. Using a desk organizer makes it easier to access anything you need when you need it.
When you work from home, many files and documents are stored electronically. You may already save these files on a cloud-like One Drive or Dropbox. However, there is no harm in having a backup.
Imagine needing to access an important document online, but you can’t because you have no internet or their server is down. With an external hard drive, you only need a USB cord to access your documents whenever you want.
Now that you have your work from home essentials settled. You need to also dress for success. One of the biggest mistakes you can do is to dress for lounging while working from home. It makes you feel quite lazy especially if you work in pyjamas. So, to boost your productivity while working from home, dress for work with these work from home outfit ideas.
Feel free to comment on other work from essentials or accessories you use. Let’s learn together.
One of the things that make my life easier as a mom is meal prepping. I never knew how life-saving this is. Now I am always meal-prepping for the week to make my life easier. This kitchen must haves has been a game changer in my meal prep.
Every lady always struggles with balancing the home with their regular job. So, after the wedding, the next step is being able to tend to the family while taking up a share of the financial responsibilities. My partner and I were prudent to have a frugal wedding. So, we had enough to start off our lives.
Whether you’re working from home or doing a regular job, you need to meal prep. This helps to block off time and stay productive while working from home for example. Also, you can easily take out these meals within the week to take care of your family.
So, Imagine how happy I am to have discovered these kitchen essentials for meal prep. They are made through the process of Silicone overmolding to produce durable Kitchen tools or essentials for home use. Below are the best kitchen must haves you need to make your meal prep a walk in the park.
Kitchen must haves for easy meal prep
When prepping my meals, I always plan for the week. This is because I am always at work during the week and the weekends are my only free time. Also, it basically makes meal-making for the family easy for me. Below are the best kitchen must haves you need right now.
Asides these Silicone containers, this mixer is a life saver, click to shop it for your kitchen.
Silicone storage containers
As stated earlier, I plan my meals weekly. Hence, I cook my meals in bulk and dish them in silicone lunch pack containers. Is silicone meal prep containers safe for use? Yes, they are great.
One of the advantages is that they are heat resistant. So, you can pack the meals as serving per person which you can warm easily in a microwave. How cool is that? Also, it is safe to store your meals and easy to wash with your dishwasher. Silicone storage containers are made from liquid silicone for mold which leaves no odor in your food and is durable.
So, you can meal prep for the week, pack it in silicone meal prep containers, and store it in the freezer for the week.
Food storage bags
Another Kitchen must haves you need for meal prep is food storage bags. This makes it easy for you to store your dry foods. Also, I use them for packing my smoothie recipe as well as salads.
Food storage bags are great because it is hygienic. You can pack your dry foods or salads into food storage bags and store them away for the week.
Storing my smoothie portion in these bags makes it easy for me to take them out and make them without hassle. So, I don’t need to start sorting the types of fruits I need as I have done that during the week. Easy peasy, right?
Slushy Cup
You may wonder why I added this as one of the kitchen must-haves you need. This cup is very useful for storing away drinks. Also, you can easily take your drinks directly from this cup.
One of the things I store away in this cup is hot chocolate, Juices, smoothies, etc. For Lazy days, I take out these drinks chilled from my freezer for use without hassle. Now you see why you need a slushy cup in your home. It also comes with a straw for ease of use.
So, if you’re struggling with balancing homemaking with your work, you need these kitchen must haves in your home.
Feel free to leave a comment if you try out any of these Kitchen must haves. How is benefitting your home?
The bedroom is one of the best parts of my home. So, I look to make it as cozy and comfortable as I can. What easy bedroom makeover ideas on a budget can you implement? Bedroom makeover doesn’t need to be super expensive. How can you decorate your bedroom on a low budget? How can you create a luxury bedroom yet without breaking the bank?
I am a budget babe, so I also ensure that I get the maximum value for my money. Here are easy yet inexpensive bedroom makeover ideas to refresh your room on a budget. These bedroom makeover ideas may be some funds while some of the ideas are easy DIY. So, if you love DIY, you will definitely love these ideas.
Table of Contents
Refresh your Bedroom by Painting
A very simple way bedroom makeover idea on a budget is re-paint your room. This will instantly elevate the bedroom. You can for stylish yet cool neutral hues like cream, white, grey, or pastel pink color.
I love very neutral colors for the bedroom. I would recommend, you paint the 5th wall too. (your ceiling). You can use a contrasting color for the ceiling that blends well with the chosen room color. Also, read holiday home decoration ideas for the holiday season.
Get New beddings
Another easy bedroom makeover idea to do is to invest in good bedding. Comfort is key in the bedroom. Having cozy and comfy bedding like king size sheets will guarantee you a good night’s sleep
Atlinia has some of the best beddings you can get on a budget. I love the mattress cover that I use. It is super cozy and soft.
Why do you need a mattress cover you may ask? The mattress cover helps to keep it clean. Also, it is super easy to add a bedsheet on a covered mattress too. Plus it is aesthetical pleasing. So, if you have washed your sheets, you can sleep in your bed comfortably with this bed cover.
You can opt for any size depending on the size of your bed.
An easy way to make your bedroom stylish is to decorate the walls. You can add some paintings or DIY art work.
Another way is to add raffia work on the wall. You can get creative raffia products like baskets etc., to get a unique style.
Add a bedside rug
Another of the easy bedroom makeover idea on a budget to do is to add a bedside rug. Colorful rugs will definitely elevate any bedroom. You can go for any size of rug depending on your budget.
I would recommend a nice contrast color bedside rug if you’re on a low budget. However, you can for large bedside rugs.
DIY Head board
One of the easiest bedroom makeover ideas on a budget is to DIY your headboard. A head board makes your bedroom super stylish. You can make your own headboard. Also, you can get creative by using wallpaper head board.
This is an easy yet affordable way to make your bedroom look stylish. You can also read my post on 14 super chic dressing room ideas to draw more inspiration for styling your bedroom.
So, if you’re looking for a bedroom makeover ideas on a budget, definitely do any of the above. A nice set of beddings, a head board, room decorations will make your bedroom super cozy and chic.
Add some desk area
Although, it is not really advisable to take work to your bedroom. Another easy bedroom makeover ideas to do on a budget is to add a desk area. This can be a reading or reflection area.
There is a sleepless night when I just read a book before bed. This is a way of making use of the time while you drift away into sleep. You can then go to bed as soon as you are sleepy.
Introduce some indoor decoration plants
Another of bedroom makeover ideas on budget to do is to introduce some plants into your room. You need to do too much. Get a potted plant and add your room make over.
Potted plants like aloe vera or other plants can be placed on your desk. Also, you can get a bigger potted plant to sit beside your dresser or reading chair.
I hope you find these tips for easy bedroom makeover ideas useful. Elevate your small or tiny bedroom with these tips and thank me later. Feel free to comment on other bedroom makeover ideas on a budget that you do. Ciao
The dream life for most of us is to own our home someday. So, we put in the extra hours and work to make enough income to buy a house. Now you’re ready to buy a house but unsure if it’s okay to take such a leap during a pandemic. The truth is there is no better time to own a house. Here is how to buy a house for the first time during a pandemic.
Although it may seem like things are not going as normal, life is going on fine whether or not there is a pandemic. There is a report on Bloomberg that there is a hike in home buying in the U.S. during this pandemic. So, if you’re ready to buy a home, go ahead and get it. However, there are some things you need to know before you buy a home. Here is how to buy a house for the first with no money down during a pandemic or post-pandemic.
Carry out due diligence on the Property
It is an exciting thing to get your home. However, there are some things you need to do before the actual purchase. One such thing is to carry out due diligence on the property. Whether you’re moving to a new city to buy a house or your current city, you need to carry out due diligence.
Due diligence before purchase helps you avoid making financial mistakes. You need to know that the property is valid for one without any legal issues. For any legal check, seek the advice of solicitors. Some banks actually do a thorough property search before lending for a home purchase. So, if there is anything shady, this will be spotted. Also, you need to check if the property is easily accessible ( if you want to commute anywhere).
Also, there are other factors you need to consider like the space, the size of the backyard, or the area (whether the place is safe or calm, etc.). So, before you opt to buy your home, ensure you carry out due diligence. This is one of the most important tips on how to buy a house for the first time to note.
Expect a slow process for purchase
The pandemic came with its own baggage and impact on the pace at which business is done. Most businesses are short-staffed or have to do most work remotely. Some businesses are still struggling with digitalizing their processes to do business. This also affects the real estate industry too. Another tip on how to buy a house for the first time during a pandemic is to expect the process to be quite slow.
Unlike before you may not be able to visit the property physically for perusal. You may have to opt for virtual meetings or room tours due to the pandemic. The process of appraisal may be slow due to the pandemic impact on businesses.
There may also be delays in scheduling home tours if you insist on an in-person tour. Who wouldn’t? I would love to see every part of my home before deciding. However, due to restricted movement and the pandemic, this may take time.
So, if you want to purchase your home during the pandemic, you need a lot of patience. This is to ensure that you are making the right choice before closing the purchase.
Have a budget
Another tip on how to buy a house for the first time during a pandemic is to have a budget. After the valuation of the property and doing due diligence, by now you know want the house. However, you don’t want have difficulty to paying your mortgage when due.
So, to know if your budget can cover your mortgage, use this mortgage calculator. It will give you a breakdown of your re-payment so you can use it to plan your budget.
Also, you need to plan for other expenses like home association fees, taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc. You may also need to opt for a house that will not need many renovations to cut costs. Property renovations are one place that drains funds in a home purchase.
However, if you don’t mind renovating to your taste, have a set budget. It is so easy to want all the home ideas on Pinterest without paying attention to your pocket.
Another reason you need to have a budget is to be able to pay for your mortgage payment with ease and also meet life obligations. You should have a budget for mortgage repayments, food, health care, etc. If your budget is set, you can jump right in and close the deal on your home purchase.
Creating a budget helps you know if your current income is ready to take on more expenses. However, if you’re not there yet, you need to look for ways to grow your income. You can read my post on how to give your career a boost in 2021. Growth in your career means more income and your dream of owning your home is achievable.
So, these tips on how to buy a house for the first time will come in handy whether during this pandemic or post-pandemic.
As a fashion blogger, working from my bed is so tiring. So, I needed to create a work from home office setup to make it easier. Plus, I also need to create additional work from home essentials for photography too.
You need a home office to help boost your productivity. Because working from home comes with so many distractions. Here are some of my best productivity tips to help enjoy working from home. This will also help you work better and deliver on your results.
Setting up a home office doesn’t need to be super expensive. How do I set up a work office at home on a budget? Also, how can you maximize your small space to create a work from home office setup?
Below are what you need to create a work from home office setup on a budget. Also, if you’re a full-time freelancer or your job is mostly done at home, click here for work from home outfit ideas for women.
Work from home office setup essentials
Mobile phone
There is hardly anyone without a mobile device these days. So, one of the first things you need is a mobile phone with good camera quality. The camera quality of your mobile device will determine the quality of the pictures.
I once used an android mobile phone with bad camera quality. All the pictures always come out blurry or not great. (both indoor and outdoor shots). I also opted to edit the pictures to make them better. However, the quality remained the same notwithstanding.***sighs**.
So, to set up your home studio, get a mobile phone that takes quality shots. You can opt for an iPhone or Android with great pixels. For my pictures, I use Samsung A50, 2020 model. I love the outcome of my shots and videos on this mobile phone device.
Natural light is one of the cheapest ways to get lighting for your photograph. For a great picture, you need light. However, getting a studio light and its other accessories is not cheap. So, for your home studio, opt for natural light. You don’t have to pay for it you know.
The room you want to use for the studio must have access to natural light that seeps in. So, you need a room with that at least two windows to allow light in. To take advantage of natural light, I take my pictures around noon to 4 pm. If I miss this time, I put off taking pictures till the next day.
Wall paper/ Background paper
The background of your pictures adds to the quality of it. You don’t want to take pictures at home with a messy background. I hate the color of my room wall painting. The color makes most of my at-home pictures turn out bad. So, I opted to cover up a section with a stylish background paper.
Since then, my content creation is going perfectly. So, for a good picture or video, get wallpaper for your room. Another affordable way is to simply paint your home studio room wall white. White makes every picture pop.
You can also opt for a vinyl white background paper or waterproof background paper. This you can use for product photography or use a background stand to hold it for portrait pictures.
You can get photography background paper from Amazon, Ali-express, or Jumia. I’ll link below an affordable background paper you can shop for your home studio.
One of the challenges I faced as a content creator is taking pictures. I rarely have anyone to take pictures of me. However, to solve this problem, I opted for a mobile phone tripod stand.
I use to think that only cameras need a tripod stand. However, there are portable tripod stands you can use for your mobile phone device. If you’re your own photographer, opt for Tripods with Bluetooth remote control. This makes it easy to take shots using a remote instead of using your phone timer.
You can get tripod stands that are tall enough or short for desks. Mobile phone stands are affordable.
Another thing you need for your home studio to start running is photography props. Photo props add some style and creativity to your pictures. At home, you can add plants to your flat lays or to your wall background.
Also, you can opt for simple props like vintage games (board games), cards, crafty handbags (like rattan bags or statement bags), or hats. You can literally do anything as a prop for your photography even books. Get creative and have taking great pictures from the comfort of your home with props.
You can shop for photography props from the Lekki arts and craft market. Also, you can for props for your local market or online at Ali-express or Amazon.
Ring Light
Another most important work from home office setup essential for content creators is a ring light. Although, natural light is the cheapest option. However, for indoor pictures or videos, you need a ring light.
My ring light makes it easy for me to take clearer pictures indoors. Plus as a YouTuber, you need a ring light for video recording and for thumbnail pictures.
An important work from home setup you need irrespective of the space you have is a work desk and chair. My productivity is now better since I have a desk and chair.
So, if you’re a freelancer or content creator, you need a work desk and chair to make your work easier. I recently got one of the best work from home desks and chairs from Jumia. It is so cool and aesthetically beautiful. The desk space is quite big.
You can fit in your desk plant, your laptop, planner, and a coffee mug.
Another work from home office setup essential is a planner or analog board. Personally, I love to use planners to jot my blog post and vlog ideas.
I also use my planners to put my thought together before writing a blog post or doing a video. So, you need a planner in your home office to help you with your productivity.
Laptop
Before I started using a laptop, I use my mobile phone for blogging and writing. You need not get a laptop for you to work from home.
However, a laptop gives you a wider screen to work with, Also, it makes your work easier to do. I use an HP laptop for my work. It has most of the features that you require to work from home. Also, it is easy to get software that is compatible with this type of laptop to make my work easier.
Internet Connection with High Speed
As a blogger, I need high-speed internet connectivity to publish my blog post and upload youtube videos, TikTok, or Instagram reels.
Mobile data is slower as compared to Wifi or Wi-Fi. You need a great internet connection for work from a home office.
Most of my colleagues in my day job work from home at least 3 times a week. A slow network is super frustrating to work with. I use MTN wifi for my internet connection. It is super fast.
Another work from home office setup must have are indoor plants. Your home office needs some beautiful interior decoration touch-ups.
I love to add desk plants to my office. You can also opt for indoor plants you can place beside your desk or just anywhere in your home office.
As a fashion blogger, you need these nice plants to add as props for your pictures. Also, to make your home office aesthetically pleasing. So, if you need home office setup ideas on a budget, these essentials will come in handy.
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