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Preparing For Spring

ByThe house that never rests | On April 18,19 | 0 Comment

Spring is finally here! the clocks have now gone forward an hour and the nights are staying lighter for longer. Are you ready to start packing away your winter blankets and start getting ready for the lovely much-needed warmer sunny day’s? we most certainly are!

I hate the winter months, the day’s are long, cold, dark and miserable. There is nothing worse than waking up and it still being dark out, cold, frosty and very uninviting. They are certainly months we definately don’t mind waving a goodbye to.

Are you ready for the warmer sunny day’s? we most certainly can’t wait. No more winter wear cluttering up the hall. No more winter blankets or hot water bottles for added warmth. But hello sunshine, picnic blankets and outdoor fun!

Refreshing Our Home For Spring

We are going to be busy over the next few weeks welcoming in spring by getting our home into warmer-weather shape by have a seasonal spring refresh. We will be doing this by de-cluttering common areas, tidying cupboards, packing away winter and welcoming spring.

Spring Cleaning Ideas

I guess it’s not called “spring cleaning” for nothing. Now is a great time to have a good sort out at home and prepare yourselves for the summer months. Are you spring ready?

Washing blankets, big heavy quilts, winter jumpers and winter coats. Getting them all washed dried and put away until next winter and swapping them for lighter spring wear.
Having a wardrobe tidy/sort out. We all end up adding to our winter wear over the cold months don’t we? our weight has even changed since last summer. Now would be a good time to have a good sort out of our wardrobe to see what fits and doesn’t. Perhaps bag up a few items to donate to a charity. Not forgetting that shoe pile as they easily mount up too!
Tidy cupboards. Is your home like ours and has what we call a “clutter cupboard”? – OMG this cupboard drives me crazy. It is a cupboard where we store all our cleaning products, such as our hoover, steam cleaner etc. It is always a mess as everything just gets chucked in it. This is a cupboard in desperate need of tidying and re-organising.
Clutter zones. Another massive hate of mine are clutter zones. I think every house has them, whether it be a shelving unit, sofa or table. We have two areas in our house that tends to get cluttered and is currently in desperate need of sorting.

Kitchen cupboards. Need I say anymore? where do all the lids to food storage containers disapear to? please don’t say it is just our cupboards that end up with odd lids and food storage containers that are no longer of any use? time to match lids to containers or dispose. As for the food cupboard it is time to check the date on food lables as things tend to get pushed back and before we know it food ends up out of date before we have used them.
Surfaces. Time to clear all surfaces, remove any clutter that has accumulated over the winter months. This is when I enjoy to have a little change around. Add in splashes of colour to brighten our home up a little.
Bathroom/Toilet. Time to dig out that steam cleaner I think and hope all the attatchments are there. A job I hate but it is deep clean time for the bathroom.

Adding splashes of colour

Once everywhere is all nice and clean, also winter and clutter free it is nice to start brightening up our home by making it more bright, cheerful and welcoming. This can be done in many way’s. Here are a few ideas to help brighten up your home.

Cushion covers – A simple quick change in style or colour of cushion covers can make all the difference to a room. It helps instantly to give a room the look you are working to acheieve.
Plants – A perfect way to brighten shelves, corners and tables. They instantly add colour to rooms and plain, boring dark corners.
Rugs – An instant way to add a splash of colour to tired looking flooring. Not only add colour but you could also add a pattern too if you wish. A rug can brighten up and transform any room instantly.

Bedding – Fancy freshening up your bedroom and giving it a little makeover? Had the same coloured bedding for a while now? how about a change? add a splash of colour to your bedding it will help brighten up your bedroom.
Pictures – Having a change about with photo’s displayed or artwork can help change a feel to a room. A little re-position or update can make all the difference.
Table cloths – A nice new table cloth and a new centrepiece can help add a nice feel to a room. A table in a room can be a main focus point and looks lovely when nicely displayed.
Mirror – Mirrors can be a perfect way to help brighten up dark shelves and walls. They are a perfect way to make small rooms feel bigger, and also a perfect way to add light to dark rooms.
Ornaments – Had the same ornaments out on display for a while? fancy a change around. Changing a few odd items that are on display can make all the difference to a room. Either a little re-position or change completley depends on the look you are hoping to acheieve.
Curtains – Do they go with the look/colour scheme you are hoping to achieve? if they do then a quick freshen up is all they will probably need. Or you could add a different look by changing the tie-backs and/or the curtain pole. If they don’t fit with your new room update then shop around for a new set of curtains completely. It will help to instanlty give your room a new look.

Lamps – I do love lamps in rooms, they make perfect mood lighting. They can also help to set a style in a room too. There are so many different lamps to chose from and they can help fill a gap on a table, shelf or even a corner in a room.
Upcycle – Have a tired looking piece of furniture that is too good to dispose of? then don’t – upcycle it! there are so many brilliant ideas you can find online these day’s, why dispose of good furniture when you don’t have to.

A few small changes to your home can make all the difference. It doesn’t have to prove too costly either!

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Home preparation, pets

Preparing our home for a new puppy

ByThe house that never rests | On January 09,18 | 0 Comment

Preparing our home for a new puppy

On Friday we will be welcoming a puppy into our home and into our family. Meet Coco our 8 week old Siberian Husky girl.

Coco

The decision to get another dog certainly wasn’t taken lightly seeing as we only lost our loving Buddy back in March. A lot of thought had gone into it along with loads of research into the breed of dog we had chosen to see if the breed was right for us. Once the decision was made to get a Siberian husky we began our search. Lots of calls were made and advise seeked.

We was put in touch with a lovely breeder who we had made contact with, she sent us some photos of her puppies and Coco stood out from the off, an appointment was instantly made to go and meet with her last week.

The breeder had questions for us and we also went along with a list of questions for her. Once we all felt happy we then met with Coco and Coco’s mum. We spent time playing with them both, had lots of cuddles and all got to know each other. We learnt a lot from chatting with the breeder and she helped by answering any questions we had.

We chose to collect Coco at a later date so it gave us time to prepare our home, the breeder was happy to keep Coco and fully understands, she was only too happy to help. Not only does it give us time to make our home puppy safe but it gives us time to be 100% sure of our decision to get another dog.

We wanted time to check for…

Electric cables she may be able to reach.
Small gaps she may squeeze into.
Objects she may find tasty looking and chew on – best moved for now.
Make sure our garden is puppy proof. No holes in fences, poisonous plants etc.
Locks on gates, doors and cupboards to prevent visits is unwanted areas.
Add a stair gate to save any falls if she was to go exploring.
To ensure our furniture is safe and cannot fall on her if she was to explore.
Add fencing to any hazard areas in our garden.

And time to purchase this never-ending list of accessories….

A travel Crate for safe travelling.
Lead, collar and name tag.
Food and water dish.
Bed.
Crate for indoors.
Toys.
Grooming kit.
Food and treats.
Puppy pads/training kit.
Blankets.
Pet friendly cleaning products for any accidents.
Poop bags.

Along with all the above there is also going to be a life-long commitment in place for Coco from the moment we collect her on Friday. She is going to be so loved and looked after with every need met.

From…

Training.
Walking/exercising.
Health checks.
Love and comfort.
Discipline.
Most of all our love, time and understanding.

When we collect her on Friday she would already of had her first lot of injections, wormer and flea treatment so we will need to get her registered with a vet of our choice and have this followed up and kept up-to-date. Coco will also have been micro chipped so she will hopefully always be returned to us if she was to ever get lost….fingers crossed this never happens.

As for pet insurance we have been looking online and have a few quotes she will be covered for her first month with us so this gives us time to choose who we wish to go with.

When we collect her we will be prepared for any travel sickness/anxiety she may suffer. After all it will be our first of many new experiences together.

We are currently working our way through our checklist and are very excitedly counting down to Friday too.

We will be keeping you up-to-date on how she settles in with a follow-up post very soon. We will be sharing photos and videos of her over on our Twitter, Instagram and Facebook in the mean time.

Do you have any tips you would like to share with us on ways we can help her settle into her new home with us?

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Home preparation

Preparing a home for a baby

ByThe house that never rests | On June 05,17 | 0 Comment

Preparing a home for a baby

Whilst a mother is expecting, it’s imperative that her and her partner start preparing for the imminent arrival. It’s imperative that they start preparing themselves for the task of looking after a baby by attending prenatal classes. It’s imperative that they start making changes to their personal lives so that they accommodate the new bundle of joy into it their life. And it’s imperative that they get their home as ready and as baby-proofed as can be. If this turns out to be a bit of struggle for you during your time as an expectant parent, then make sure to take heed of the advice below.

First of all, you need to make your home as safe as possible. To do this, you will need to bring in a whole host of things. Therefore, your first action needs to be to create space. You need to free up as much space as you possibly can, in pretty much every room of your home. This is because apparatus that is used to keep children safe, such as bouncers and rockers, take up more space than you realise. So, free up some space. And to free up some space you should consider using self storage. That way, you would be able to store your belongings safely for an extended period of time. You’d be able to store them until space becomes available in your home again or until you find another, more permanent home for them.

And once space does become available, you should then bring in all the baby apparatus needed to keep your little one safe. As mentioned, bouncers and rockers are a great first port of call as they provide your baby with a safe place to lie and sleep. But it’s not just about bringing safety apparatus in. No, it’s also about ensuring the things that are already in your home are made as safe as can be. This means you should place child locks on your kitchen cupboards. You should make your stairs out bounds. You should make anything that is breakable or anything that has sharp edges out of reach for your inquisitive baby. And these are only a few of the things you should be doing, there are a whole host of other things to do.

Not only should your house be baby-proofed, however. It should be a stimulating environment in which your baby can grow healthily too. And one way to make it stimulating and healthy is to make it is as quiet as possible. And to make it as quiet as possible, you should include buying quieting-down objects in your preparations. These kinds of objects include blackout curtains and white noise machines. When you include these in your preparations, you can be sure that you are taking your baby’s growth into serious consideration.

You need to not only ensure the home is safe and stimulating environment for your child to grow in, but you also need to ensure it provides everything they need too. You need to pack your home full of everything it is that you will be needing on a day-to-day basis in order to keep your baby healthy. You need to bring in a quality breast pump — whether it be one that you buy or one that you rent from a hospital. You need to get a nursing pillow so that your little one is comfortable whilst he or she is being fed. And you also need to invest in a number of glass bottles so that those who visit your home will have the chance to feed your newborn also.

But it’s not just about ensuring the home has everything your baby needs, it’s about ensuring it has everything you need in this very delicate time of your life as well. Because your time will be few and far between when you have the baby to look after, it’s a good idea to pack your house with essentials. It’s a good idea to pack it full of frozen meals and other types of foods that are going to both last and be quick to prepare. By doing this you would give yourself the best chance possible of keeping up with your own nutrition. And this is something that is vital for not only your health, but the health of your baby too. Well, if you aren’t well enough to look after them, who is going to look after them? So, check out these surprisingly easy and delicious freezer meals for new moms and choose the ones that tickle your fancy the most.

Another way that you can prepare for your own needs as a new parent is to sort out the sleeping arrangements beforehand. In this instance, you simply must take into the account that you will more than likely be woken up in the middle of the night, every night. And you have to think to yourself ‘do I really want to have to be getting up and trudging to another room?’ If the answer is no, then you should take this into consideration whilst planning the sleeping arrangements. And one way to take this into consideration is to purchase a co-sleeper bassinet. This is a kind of bed for your baby that will attach to your own bed. Therefore, when your baby begins to cry in the middle of the night, you need only move a few inches in order to be able to feed and soothe him or her. This is the most practical way to tend to a baby during the night because it is both quick and safe. It is quick because you are right there, next to your baby. And it is safe because, despite how close in proximity you are to your baby, you are not in danger of entering their sleeping zone as it is both blocked off and too small.

If your baby was in your bed you’d be in danger of entering his or her zone whilst you are yourself asleep, which could then lead to you damaging them. A co-sleeper bassinet eradicates this problem entirely, so therefore should be included in any preparations you make in your home.

So, as you prepare for the little bundle of joy, make sure your home comes into these preparations. And don’t worry, just because your baby is going to change your and your partner’s lives forever, it doesn’t mean it will change your home forever. No, your home can return back to normal as soon as you feel you child is old enough to be able to protect themselves within it without the safety measures in place.