Repair & Improve

June Money Pit Weekend To-do Projects

Tips to get your home in tip top shape for the season

by Leslie Segrete

Summer is here and it’s time to get busy with projects during the warmest home improvement season of the year.  Here’s where to begin:

Weekend #1:  Safety First!

June is National Safety Month brought to you by our friends at the National Safety Council.  The NSC’s main goal is to encourage individuals to learn about safety education for the home and workplace to greatly reduce the risk of unintentional injury and death during everyday activities.

The National Safety Council website is filled with useful advice about making your home less hazardous by correcting situations that might cause falls, improving indoor air quality, poisoning prevention, and fire prevention.  Some of the tips include keeping outdoor walkways in good condition, removing clutter from walkways, well lit steps and pathway inside and out of the home, using proper step ladders, testing smoke detectors, having fire extinguishers in multiple places of your home, installing CO detectors, and storing hazardous materials out of reach of small children.  Most seem like common sense but can easily be forgotten as the business of life takes over.  Take this weekend to review the NSC’s safety materials at www.nsc.org/nsm/ and create a true haven in your home for your family and friends.

Weekend #2:  Home Organization; reclaim that garage to create a useful area that can be used for storage and the car!

As humans we love to acquire stuff, belongings, and because of that we easily run out of space.  Our natural instinct is to cram everything from items we use everyday, kids play things, seasonal items, tools, sporting equipment, and the things we just can’t bring ourselves to toss into the garage.  There is absolutely no reason why all of those items can happily coexist in the garage in an organized and tidy manner with a workshop, the car, or gardening table. 

First things first, take everything out of the garage and sort through it. Create a giveaway pile for donations, trash, and the things you are going to hold onto.  Then go through the items you are keeping and divide them into common items, seasonal décor, sporting equipment, tools, garden, etc.  Once you see what you need to put back into the garage you can then go and buy proper storage units and containers.  Keep things off the floor with wall and ceiling mounted hangers, put items you use more frequently toward the front, kids items where they can easily reach them, hazardous items where the kids can’t get their hands on them, and be sure to properly anchor storage shelves and cabinets because the items you store in that garage tend to be heavy.  With all that new tidy space you might even find you have room to create a work shop for dad, not a bad idea since Father’s Day is next weekend.

Weekend #3 : Remember Dad this weekend with a surprise workshop or tasty barbeque.

Happy Father’s Day everyone! Dad’s do so much for the family, so take this weekend to do something really special for the dad in your life.  Create a workshop in your newly organized garage and stock it with his favorite tools.  Organize all of the small items, nails, screws, washers, wood plugs, etc. in the work area into compartmentalized storage bins and label the drawer as to what exactly is in there.  This way it will be easy for dad to find whatever he needs.  Pegboards make a great way to organize hand tools and keep them off the work table.  Take it a step further and paint the shape of the tool onto the pegboard so it will always go back to the same place.  If you are in the market to buy tools for dad this Father’s Day buy him tools in the same brand as his current tools so they can operate off the same battery and keep clutter down in the workshop.  Once dad gets over the shock and surprise of his brand new work shop treat him to all his grilled favorites.  What ever you and dad choose to do this Father’s Day be sure to enjoy your time together and have fun!

Weekend #4:  Enjoy your outdoor retreat day or night with the perfect lightscaping for your yard and garden.

Now that summer has officially arrived those true lazy days of hanging around your yard and deck entertaining friends and family will get into full swing and no doubt continue into the after dark hours.  Take full advantage of what your outdoor escape has to offer by adding some lighting.  Low voltage lighting has made it truly easy to create beautiful areas of light on your garden or even to highlight architectural details of your home.  The fixtures are available in many styles so you can find ones that work with your tastes.  Low voltage is great choice for outdoor lighting because it casts an even glow which is great for highlighting flower beds or walkways.  You can attach a fixture high up into a tree to cast a moonlit glow or use lights to highlight your favorite tree or arbor. Many low voltage items are sold as kits at your local home center and are a perfect weekend do-it your self project.   Not only does the lighting help to enhance your escape it adds value to your home and helps keep everyone safe on those newly lit pathways.

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