By John Hall for Blue Mountain Town & Country Gazette
Welcome to our annual real estate and home improvement issue. We bring it out at this time of year because spring is often when residential real estate changes hands. It’s also the time when we need to put our attention on the planning and execution of any home improvement projects we want to have finished this year – whether we tackle them ourselves or have a contractor do it all.
Now if you succeed in purchasing a new home this year, specifically a new (to you) home that has some miles on it, you might find that your “inherited” kitchen is an old one. That happens all the time. According to one study more than 60% of those kitchens are fully ripped out and replaced. That’s great for people who can take that approach, but if budget is more of a concern for you, you might want to at least look at the situation in a different way. That’s what we do in “How to: New Kitchen, Same Cabinets.” It’s a good read.
It is said that we Americans don’t get as much sleep as we should. Sleep is a real necessity and if your sleep has ever suffered in a smaller bed with a partner – or maybe the kids and pets – you know a great big bed would be a dream come true. However, we often don’t have the “great big room” to accommodate that dream. Is there any hope? There might be. See our article, “Big Bed, Small Room” for some expert tips on this situation.
Sometimes when we think of home improvements that are “eco-friendly,” all kinds of things come to mind from high-efficiency stoves to all-new double pane windows throughout the house. But what if you don’t have that kind of money lying around – or live in an apartment? Are there things you yourself could do – maybe things a lot less expensive – to create real dollar savings? Please see “Under $100: Eco-friendly Home Improvements” for some answers to that question.
Heading into the yard, do you see paradise, or could it use a little improvement? In “Improvements for the Garden” we give you nine solid ideas – very doable – that can really spruce it up so you can enjoy it all summer long – and beyond.
Finally, in “House Cleaning Tips,” we share tips from cleaning pros that can help improve the speed and results of your house cleaning efforts.
Looking ahead to our next issue we are going to celebrate mothers and camping, and also introduce our new “Short Getaway” series. The “Getaway” series will feature easy drive-trip destinations you can enjoy this summer and even into the fall. Some of the getaways could be done as daytrips, while others might take a couple of days, or could be extended into a long weekend. Watch for the series starting with our next issue. We look forward to seeing you then!
