Precautions before departure

Keep quiet about your departure

When going out of the country, we tend to shout it from the rooftops. That’s probably a bad idea as the fewer the number of people notified about your departure, the better. Only tell your close friends and family, as well as a trusted neighbor.

Give your keys to someone you trust

To avoid unpleasant surprises on your return or fool thieves during your absence, you can give your house keys to a member of your family or close friend. That person will be able to check everything is in order while you’re abroad.
If s/he has the opportunity to come over every other day, why not also ask him/her to regularly open and close your blinds so people believe your house is occupied as usual.

Hide your valuables

During your absence, avoid having any cash lying around the kitchen tables or jewelry on your nightstand. Better to put all the pretty things away in a small box in your dressing room, or hide them among your clothes.
If you’re the kind of person to keep things of very high value in your home, you should install a safe.

Check doors and windows

Before leaving, take care to ensure that all openings in the house are closed.
This departure on holiday can be an opportunity to do some tweaks to your windows and doors:
– Install additional locks.
– Invest in a more secure door.
– Install some double-glazing.

Alternative solutions

Pretend you’re still home

Being a bit tricky won’t cost you a cent. You can deter potential thieves from robbing you by removing all signs you’re actually away.
Ask a close friend to check for any mail overflow (obvious sign you’re not home).
As said above, you can also ask your trust-worthy person to open/close the blinds and shutters to give the illusion of a daily presence.
If you are away for a long time, you can also ask someone to maintain your garden and lawn.
Adopt home automation. The system allows you to set a fixed time for lighting or opening the shutters.

House-sitting and exchanges

Alternatives to “faking” your house being occupied is to actually have someone living inside it. Introducing house-sitting.
Sort of like baby-sitting but for the house, a person will pretty much be staying over while you’re away. In exchange for the accommodation, they will maintain and take care of everything from maintenance to pets.
Similarly, you can do a “home exchange” where you agree to switches places with another person for a pre-determined amount of time. This is very popular during the holidays, especially for visits outside of the country. And it’s all free.

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Rubbermaid Configurations Tie and Belt Organizer

If you want a simple closet organizer for your ties and belts, then this is one of the best options on the market. You get 30 hooks designed to attach and shelve your accessories very easily.
Where to buy: Target – $16

Delta Nursery Closet Organizer

When it comes to nurseries, you really need to keep everything neatly organized. This baby closet organizer gives you 15 hangers, 2 fabric storage bins and a hanging closet organizer. The organizer also has multiple side pockets to store any accessory, from baby bottles to shoes.
Where to buy: Target – $25

IKEA’s BREIM

This new closet organizer from IKEA will give you a completely adjustable shelves for an easy, customizable wardrobe according to your needs. You can simply remove the cover and wash it by machine if need be. Practical and simple.
Where to buy: IKEA – $30

Household Essentials Storage Organizer

On a more traditional side, Household Essentials has a simple storage organizer to hang. It snaps onto your rod with hangers very easily. The sturdy canvas contains six shelves with a plastic base.
Where to buy: Amazon – $14

Kitchen-Art Dividers

For your underwear and other small articles of clothing, it is very hard to store them without losing a few in the process. Thankfully, you can get dividers to neatly keep everything in order. Hunnt offers this holder with 24 large cells for everything from bras to socks.
Where to buy: Amazon – $16

Dex Baby Closet Cubby

Here comes another great option for your nursery with Dexbaby’s closet cubby. It has top shelves designed for small items, six reinforced shelves, and eight roomy mesh pockets. It can support up to 50 pounds in total weight.
Where to buy: Amazon – $13.50

Organize It All Closet Doubler

Sometimes you just don’t have enough hanging space in your closet for all your clothes. You can now get closet doublers which expands your closet bar space. In other words, you’l be able to hang twice the amount of clothes you need. This particular option is about 30 inches wide with the hook being 2 feet long.
Where to buy: Amazon – $10

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1. Doing the dishes without wasting water

First fill your sink with some hot water and a few drops of green dish-washing liquid to degrease everything. Dump your dirty plates and clean them.
Once they’re ready to be rinsed off, use your second sink or basin with some cold water to “break” the foam easily.

2. Pamper your fridge

Every other week, clean the inside of your fridge with a sponge soaked in lemon juice.
Lemon actually fights mold and prevents contamination of nasty bacteria from food.
To fight unpleasant odors, place some coffee beans in a bowl and place it in the back.

3. Cleaning the oven

When stains are embedded, sprinkle some baking soda at the bottom of the oven. The are will then need to be moistened by spraying some water. Leave it overnight and then scratch with a spatula the area the following day. Then use a sponge and rinse it off.

4. Coffee uses

Like baking soda, coffee grounds can clean and deodorize pans, casseroles and saucepans. The method is simple: rub the coffee with your bare hands or a cloth or sponge.
It can also serve as a degreaser for glasses or containers with fatty liquids.
A tablespoon of coffee in the pipeline as preventive treatment is great against clogged sink. This will also help overcome odor.

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Who and when

You can of course invite anyone, from friends to neighbors, and family. Barbecue setting is ideal to learn more about people in a friendly atmosphere, around the pool or grill.
Barbecue, like picnics, have a certain family standard. If children are specifically not invited, don’t forget to underline it.
Always pick an obvious date when you know people will be available. For example, the beginning of July.

Where

Pick a grassy area. The backyard of your house, one from a friend, a cottage, or a campsite.
Don’t hesitate to rework the area a bit to ensure proper flow of your guests and that the location of your barbecue is safe. In the presence of children, for example, place the grill on the patio and tell them to stay outside.
Proximity to a water area (pool, lake, river) is always appreciated. Always favor fenced pool, and don’t hesitate to play life-guard for the children.
Also don’t forget to provide enough seating for all your guests. Even ask some of them to bring folding chairs.

What to serve

To reduce the amount you’ll be spending, make it a potluck. At the very least ask your guests to bring their own alcoholic beverages. Usually, water, juices and soft drinks are the host’s expense.
If there are children attending, try to provide a kid-friendly menu, or one specifically for them (hot-dogs, burgers, corn, etc.). Serve them an hour before the adults.
Coolers need to be placed on the ground, in the shade, in the garage or shed.
Serve a simple and quick menu, most of it (if not all) prepared in advance, in order yo have fun and chat with the guests. The day before, take care of any salads, dips, or marinades.
European-style sausages are perfect for a barbecue with friends. You can put several at a time on the grill, accompanied by green salad, or create hot-dogs. To avoid them catching fire, boil them the day before (for about 10 minutes).
Provide vegetarian options, just in case.
To reduce the number of plates to be cleaned, get a simple and delicious dessert. For example, ice cream cones or fruit kebabs.

Atmosphere

Create a friendly environment. Weed everything beforehand, cut down the grass, give a nice clean sweep to the patio, and take care of the pool.
If you’re in the mood, don’t hesitate to decorate with some citronella candles (great for the evening), and a few potted flowers. Avoid tree decorations (garlands or otherwise) and too many balloons.
Don’t forget background music. Try to vary the styles and tastes.
If the party stretches out, have some games planned out.

In case of rain

If your barbecue has a certain scale (wedding, christening, anniversary, etc.), rent out an outhouse or tent. On the other hand, for a smaller gathering, a garage or even the house itself is a great back-up plan.
Make sure to have a large table protected from the wind, insects, sun and dust. The idea is to have guests serve themselves, whether in terms of plates, utensils, napkins, sauces, salads, vegetables, etc.

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What is thinning out

Thinning out seedlings is a technical procedure that gardeners practice regularly. The idea is to eliminate extra plants to make room for others (ones that will be able to flourish properly).

Shortly after planting your seeds in a line, they will have germinated. The seedlings can already be developing and carry a few small leaves. These are usually grouped tightly to each other. It is therefore necessary to remove some to favor the best.
Eliminate the ones that are the least well-placed and the most stunted ones, while respecting a correct distance for your vegetable. It is often expressed in relation to fingers (about an inch): one finger between radishes, two between carrots, three between turnips and beets, and a hand (about 4 inches) between salads.

What to do

There are three scenarios, depending on the type of vegetable and state of its development.
First case, and the simplest: the vegetable seedling is small, inedible, and cannot bear transplanting. In this case, compost it, or coarsely chop it by hand and leave it there.
Second scenario: the seedling can be replanted. When it comes to beets for example, young thinned seedlings are transplanted elsewhere, on a second line further down.
Third case: the vegetable is consumable, like carrots, radishes or spinach. The vegetable is young, crisp, and delicious.

When seedlings need to be separated, they are often very fragile and accidents do occur. Avoid separating them all at once.
If you have between two plants about six seedlings to remove, to keep with a distance of 6 inches, do only remove two or three to start off. The remaining 3-4 can easily become consumable within a couple of weeks. In the end, you’ll only keep the most beautiful plants.

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Fabric

Curtains are available in a wide choice of fabric. You need to determine your needs in order to guide your research:

• Need for privacy: orient yourself towards heavy fabrics or blackout linings.
• Need for decoration/design: orient yourself towards light and airy fabrics.
• Curtains near the sink: prefer materials that are easily washable (cotton, linen), as cooking smells will cling to them.
• Curtains near the stove: prefer curtains treated against fire (i.e. if they catch on fire, the flame should extinguish itself). You can also install an awning.

Color

If your kitchen already has a theme and/or color, you should take care to seamlessly integrate the curtains. Match them to the tiles (including wall tiles), counters, furniture, etc.
If you have tiles of neutral colors, you should keep this neutrality with your curtains. Focus your choice towards beige, white or pastel colors.
If you can, select a range of color samples that you like and check if they match the rest of your kitchen.

Pattern

When it comes to your curtains’ patterns, once again, it depends on your vision of what feel you want to give your kitchen. Everything is possible:

• United
• Stripes (equal or asymmetrical)
• Flowery (jacquard weaving, embroidery, etc.)
• Geometric shapes

You have a wide range of options on the market with suppliers of fabrics and curtains that can give you the desired final touch for your kitchen, whether modern, artistic or retro.

Where and at what price?

Curtains for kitchen are offered by almost all players on the market (supermarkets, specialty stores, online).
In terms of price, there is a wide range depending on if you get them custom-made or ready to be installed. They can go anywhere from 30 to 200 dollars.

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Mineral wool

In terms of thermal and acoustical insulation, fiberglass and mineral wool are among the best options out there. This material is actually often used in constructions. You can find them in rolls, often yellow or in flake form. Mineral wool is efficient, economical and easy to install.
If you end up installing it yourself, protect yourself against any risk of irritation, especially in the case of fiberglass.
On the other hand, the effectiveness of the insulation is sensitive to moisture and condensation. This is the reason why the material is protected by a vapor barrier, always towards the heated side. This thermal insulation can be covered with plasterboard or paneling.

Synthetic wool

Sprayed foam and other polyurethane insulation come in many variations, including polystyrene, depending on the manufacturing techniques used and additives from the process.
These insulators perform great in terms of insulation for temperatures, but are poor in terms of the acoustics.
They are generally insensitive to water. This may paradoxically generate moisture problems by stopping the natural migration of condensation through the masonry. The problem can be compensated through the use of mechanical ventilation (CMV).

Cellulose, plant, and animal wool

In recent years, many new types of insulation have appeared on the market, beyond the previous two major families.
Even if they have hastily been classified as “natural” insulation, we should first talk about their performance. Only thermal resistance should be used to compare insulating capabilities between fabrics. This is usually dependent upon the thickness of the product.
With that said, these new insulators generally appear comparable to those of conventional product performance. This is particularly the case for wood fiber, hemp, cellulose or straw. There are also alternative options, such as cotton insulation, recycled textiles, feather and sheep wool.
When purchasing these new options, always ask about the exact composition of the product. Some of which may be filled with exotic additives, such as flame retardants.

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How should I dress and greet?

The first politeness is to be ready before anyone rings your bell. Stop any conversation you’re having on your phone or computer and turn off the TV. Nothing is more rude than having television screaming when your guests arrive.

Dress as you recommended your guests. With that said, don’t over do it. No need to go all out and outshine the people you have invited. Let your guests dazzle.
As soon as they enter, take your guests’ coats, umbrellas and other accessories, or indicate where to put them.

How to receive a surprise gift?

If one of your guests offers you flowers, put them in a vase. If you’re offered a bottle of wine, serve it with appetizers. If you’re offered chocolates or sweets, present it with the coffee or desserts. And if the the gift is any other object, place it prominently in the living room.
Thank discreetly the generous guest so as not to shame those who came empty-handed.
If you’re unable to open the gift during the same evening, don’t forget to thank them the following day.

How to ease my guests?

Have a nice word towards everyone of your guests, without insisting too much. You don’t want to leave any of them alone too long.
Bring them into the living room and introduce them to other guests. If some don’t know each other, don’t leave them in ignorance.
And let the conversations begin while you go back to the kitchen (or socialize).

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Role of fragrant plants

Surprisingly, fragrant flowers are not that numerous. Only 10% of species from decorative gardens perfume the air, most often during the day to attract insects and butterflies. At nightfall, some continue their exhalation.
Other plants, in contrast, repel unwanted insects by their fragrant foliage, thus protecting themselves from damage.

Colors and scents

When designing your garden, be sure to introduce fragrant plants. The ideal should be to get one or two blooms at different times of the year.
But be careful not to get two plants exhaling different flavors too close to one another. You want to appreciate both of them for their own individuality instead of drowning in a weird scented mishmash.
Be picky when it comes to the type of fragrance. Do you want it light? Delicate? Fruity? Spicy?

Hedges

Remember to make the most of them. Choose a location so that visitors to your garden can enjoy the perfume. Let grow a hedge to various fragrant flowering shrubs.
If you want to have higher trees, a laburnum or a Bohemian olive tree will perfume the summer.
Also remember tobacco and lavender, perfect for a small hedges near the terrace, or place them at the foot of your climbing roses.

Walls and pergolas

Climbing plants installed under a window fill the home with mesmerizing fragrances.
Select a star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), a climber whose perfumes weaken during the night. During the summer, go for a common jasmine (Jasminum officinale).
Let your flowers cover an arbor to breathe the balmy air in the evening. Shaded by a trellis with climbing roses, jasmine, honeysuckle and wisteria pergola can become masterpieces.

Aromatic terrace

Any plant with a strong essence will perfume the air very well, especially in the summer. Lavender, sage, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, oregano, etc. The best part is you can use them for your cooking too.
On the terrace, these beautiful aromatics will also protect from insect bites and will whet the appetite.

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