by Dependable Construction | Nov 20, 2018 | Holidays
Take the stress out of last-minute decorating by tackling one room of the house at a time. A little advance planning will make your holiday gathering a memorable occasion for everyone.
Every year, as soon as the kids head back to school and the pumpkins are on display at your local supermarket, homeowners’ thoughts turn to home improvements, especially if the holiday season means entertaining family and friends. Whether you host a big Thanksgiving dinner or entertain house-guests over winter break, your idea of “holiday stress” may include finding time to spruce up your home. With family budgets tight and weekend calendars filling up, now is a good time to start thinking about making budget-conscious home improvements.
Dependable Construction has some quick and affordable ways to make your home a little cozier this season;
- Purchase a new area rug that ties the colors of your rooms together: Even when you’re decorating on a budget, a color scheme can do a lot to make your rooms look “polished.” If your room is more contemporary, look for an area rug with bold, geometric patterns that includes the primary colors of your furniture, window treatments and wall decor.
- Tackle small paint jobs: Rather than tying up an entire weekend by painting an entire room, save time and money by painting molding and trim. Consider painting a single accent wall with a warm and inviting hue, or make your entryway more festive by painting the front door in a deep tone of red or green.
- Upgrade your bathroom accessories and fixtures: If you’ve been putting up with a leaky faucet for a while and just haven’t had time to fix it; now is the time to get that done. While you’re at it, why not get some fresh new bathroom rugs, a new toilet seat, towel bar and hand towels. Nothing makes a great impression on house-guests faster than a freshly decorated bathroom.
- Add some new decor pieces to your living room: You may not want to invest in brand new furniture, but there’s no reason you can’t get a few new throw pillows in warm tones and textures. New window blinds or curtains will do a lot to refresh your rooms too, or perhaps a new area rug on your hardwood floors. Don’t be afraid to add some colorful flowers, fill bowls with pine cones and pick up a few scented candles before guests arrive.
- Make some lighting upgrades to warm up a space: One thing that’s nice about the holidays is the way a Christmas tree can light up a room. Why not to add soft accent lighting to other areas of the home. Decorative sconces and chandeliers can really dress up a dining room and path lighting is a great way to illuminate your entryway for guests who are arriving at night.
- Small kitchen appliances can rejuvenate your kitchen: Now that the prices on Keurig’s coffeemakers have gown down maybe it’s time to add one to the kitchen? The holiday season is usually the best time to other kitchen gadgets when great sales are being ran. Consider getting a larger toaster, a toaster oven, a new blender or a juicer too. These can make big family breakfasts a breeze.
- Create a “conversation area”: Is your furniture designed for group interaction? Furniture arrangement is the key to great conversations, but this might require a realignment of sofas and chairs. Arrange and rearrange your furniture until you get the most comfortable conversation area to accommodate the whole group. This may mean moving some dining room chairs, pulling out the oversized floor pillows, or adding a few more seats.
- Add some colorful touches: One of the easiest ways to freshen up your home is with some small vases and fresh blossoms. Invest in a dozen or more miniature glass vessels and fill them with a few colorful blossoms, then place them strategically around the house – in the powder room, on an entryway table, on window ledges, end tables and bookshelves – wherever a splash of color is needed.
Whether you plan on a small gathering with a few overnight guests or a large family reunion with people sleeping in every room, the holidays are a wonderful time to reconnect with loved ones. Take the stress out of last-minute decorating by tackling one room of the house at a time. A little advance planning will make your holiday gathering a memorable occasion for everyone.
Dependable Construction wishes every a safe and happy holiday season.
by Dependable Construction | Nov 12, 2018 | Holidays
Today I got the opportunity to meet Rodger and Amanda Zink here in Fairborn. Tech Sergeant Rodger Zink has fought for and served our country in the Air National Guard. He now has his own physical battle he has been fighting with a brain tumor and serious blood clot that has impacted his life. The tumor was removed successfully and the blood clot treated but his fight for rehabilitation continues. I was contacted by Quarter Master Kenny Bowman from the V.F.W. Post 6861 about Mr. Zink’s fight and his need for some grab bars to be installed in his shower to help assist with an everyday routine. I called Leigh and said “ we have a chance to do something so simple to help one of our serviceman” and of course he said “let’s do it” ! Tech Sergeant Zink is on his way to what we hope will be a full recovery and get back to his hobbies which include competition shooting and ham radio! It was truly an honor to give just a little time for one of our military that has given so much of themselves on this Veteran’s Day…
by Dependable Construction | Nov 11, 2018 | Holidays, News
Today all Americans should take time to honor and tank military veterans. Those who have served in the United States Armed Forces and have sacrificed for all the Freedoms we continue to enjoy today. Thanks
#dcandr #veterans #dependabilityfirst #veteransday #thankavet #thankyou #freedom
by Dependable Construction | Nov 10, 2018 | Holidays
Despite neighborhood peer pressure, you and you alone dictate the aesthetic direction of your home’s holiday display. Follow these tips for hanging outdoor Christmas lights, and step back and enjoy your masterpiece when you’re done.
Here’s some knowledge on Holiday Bulbs
- INCANDESCENT Classic, filament-based bulbs that give off a warm glow
- LED Last twice as long as incandescent. Can appear cold
- WIDE-ANGLE LED LEDs with concave tips that throw light
- TRANSPARENT Colored mini-bulbs with visible filaments
- CERAMIC Opaque and look as if they’ve been painted. A classic
- GLOBE LEDs inside globe-shaped bulbs that stay cool
- NET LIGHTS Mini-lights or small LEDs in a webbed circuit
- RGB LED Programmable diodes that can display almost any color.
1. LIGHTS Before you start, make a plan. Measure the locations where you will string lights. Most likely this will be along eaves or gutters and around windows. Use this plan to estimate how many strands you’ll need and how long they should be. Unfortunately, there are no standard strand lengths, but there are standard-size bulbs and standard distances between bulbs on a strand.
2. LAYOUT Place the first bulb from the male end of a strand on the corner of your eave that’s closest to an outlet. Now extend the line around the exterior of the house, keeping the string taut. Secure the lights with gutter clips so they don’t creep up the roof.
3. TREES Wrap regular mini-lights around the trunk and branches. To determine how many feet of lighting you need, divide the height of the trunk by the desired spacing between each strip of lights; about 3 inches is ideal. Then multiply that number by the trunk’s circumference. Do the same calculation for any large branches you want to wrap. First, wind the lights up the tree, leaving about 6 inches between each pass. Continue on to the branches, then wrap back down into the empty spaces. That will give you the desired 3-inch spacing. So, for a 6-foot-tall trunk with a circumference of 2 feet, divide 72 inches by 3 inches of spacing, for a total of 24. Multiply 24 by the 2-foot circumference, for 48 feet of lights.
4. ELECTRICIANS Most blown fuses are caused by moisture getting into the connectors that attach strings of lights to each other. Sealing each connection and the loose ends of a string with duct or electrical tape will keep everything dry.
Remember to be safe and have fun.
by Dependable Construction | Nov 4, 2018 | Holidays, News
One of the worst days is here, daylight savings ends. Hope everyone remembers to set their clocks back, don’t want to be to work an hour early tomorrow.
#dcandr #daylightsvaingsends #dependabilityfirst #fallback
by Dependable Construction | Nov 3, 2018 | Holidays
Keep your tree looking lush until the last ornament is packed away with these tips for watering, stands and siting. Artificial trees may have increased in popularity, but for the purist, only a real tree will do. No matter how realistic it looks, an artificial tree can’t compete with the scent and feel of a real evergreen. It’s a living part of nature that, for a short time, we give a place of honor in our homes.
And no matter which kind of tree it is ~ spruce, fir, pine or cypress ~ once it’s indoors, the goal is to keep the tree fresh and green. This means keeping the needles pliable and on the tree until the holidays are over. And the only thing that does that is water, lots of it. Think of it like a big, green pet: Just as a dog or cat needs fresh water every day, so does a fresh Christmas tree.
Get the tree in water immediately. Once you get your tree home, put it into water as soon as possible, within eight hours. If the trunk wasn’t freshly cut at the place where you bought the tree, then saw an inch or two off the bottom of the trunk and put it in a tree stand filled with fresh water. If you’re not ready to set it up, put it in a bucket of water in a cool place. The water temperature doesn’t matter.
Use the right stand. It should comfortably fit the diameter of the trunk. Whittling the trunk down will only dry the tree out faster. The National Christmas Tree Association recommends that a tree stand should provide 1 quart of water per inch of stem diameter. Be sure the tree stand you choose has a large water reservoir. A tree can take up a gallon of water in its first few hours in the stand. Water, water, water. Big trees mean lots of agua. Watch that the cut part of the trunk stays below the waterline. Adding aspirin, lemon soda or other concoctions to the water won’t extend the tree’s life, but it might sicken pets or children if they drink out of the water reservoir.
Traditional Family Room Cozy Ohio Christmas Family Room. Once indoors, a live tree’s branches will relax and open. Allow enough space when siting the tree for the lowest branches to fall open and not get in the way of foot traffic.
Keep the tree cool. To an evergreen that spent years growing in a field, your house is as dry as the Sahara Desert. And where do Christmas trees often look best? Centered in front of windows, where the sun streams in, or tucked into a corner near air vents or baseboard heaters. Position the tree out of the sun and away from heat sources. Keep the temperature in the room as low as is practical.
As magical as it seems to come home to a sparkling tree, don’t leave the tree’s lights on overnight or when no one’s in the house. Even with daily watering, cut trees will eventually dry out. When needles drop when you touch them, and branches droop so low that ornaments are hitting the floor, it’s time to take off the lights and decorations, wrap the tree in an old sheet, and take it outside.
You can saw off some of the tree’s branches and cover garden beds with them to protect plants, or turn them into mulch with a chipper or shredder. If you have the acreage, drag the tree to an out-of-the-way spot for birds and animals to use as cover. Most communities now collect spent Christmas trees and make mulch or compost from them, which they offer back to residents. The saddest end for a tree is for it to be hauled off to a landfill, instead of being turned back into soil ~ allowed to decompose and feed living creatures, the way nature intended.
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