Six Quick Fixes for a Winter Home Facelift

If the cold weather means you’re spending more time indoors, it can be easy to get cabin fever. So why not use a chilly weekend to give the inside of your house a little update with a few quick, fun fixes? Here are my ideas on how to breathe new life into your home on a budget.

The Pantone® Color of the Year is Greenery, a vibrant spring green that can easily lift the spirits of anyone suffering from the winter blues. I love the idea of bringing the outdoors inside during the winter months but if you’re not a big plant fan, you can create an energy filled accent wall or even refinish an old dresser with some mood boosting paint. Another great way to fill a room with nature is to update your artwork with some bold plant-based prints. A little green can go a long way.

A room can look completely different with a bit of furniture rearranging. Try something new by moving a few things around and spruce up the living room with a bunch of bright new throw pillows and a blanket. Also, it’s always a good idea to move furniture that you spend a lot of time in away from the windows. A bed or couch that sits in a drafty area could contribute to a nasty winter cold.

Give the kitchen a new look by updating your backsplash. Tiles can sometimes be expensive but there are tons of other options including pressed tin, wood, pegboard or paint. Cabinetry can also be refreshed with some modern, updated hardware.

Wallpaper is making a real comeback, with fresh designs that can make a bold statement in a small space. Self-adhesive wallpaper is easy to apply and can make a fun accent wall. You just peel off the backing and stick it to any painted or primed surface. It’s also a great way to give the kids room some personality without damaging the walls.

Adding a candelabra or cluster of pillar candles can add a warm glow to an unused fireplace, and replacing that dated 1970’s mantel can give a living room lots of life. Just make sure to choose one with enough depth to hold artwork, picture frames, and stockings for Christmas next year.

New winter drapes or curtains can really add some color to your living room and they also help to insulate your home from any drafts coming from old, aluminum windows. Choose a heavy fabric and have some fun with bright, bold prints.

Do you have plans to update your home this winter? What small projects do you plan on undertaking? I’d love to hear from you. Send me a message on Facebook at facebook.com/odonnellbros

Bob O'Donnell is the owner of O'Donnell Bros, Inc., a Bristol-based home improvement company established in 1975. Email your questions for Bob to info@odonnellbros.com with the subject line “Ask the Pro”. All questions may be considered for publication. To contact Bob for your remodeling needs, call O'Donnell Bros, Inc. at (860) 589-5155 or visit www.odonnellbros.com. Advice is for guidance only.

Jazz Up Your Home with These Quick Holiday Improvements

With the holidays just around the corner, you might be thinking about ways to spruce up your home before guests come calling. Since it’s such a busy and expensive time of year, I’ve decided to put together a list of small improvements you can tackle in an hour or less for under $100. Let’s get started:

Front Door Facelift - Make a great first impression by giving your front door some holiday flair. A festive wreath, some planters adorned with mini Christmas trees, or some holly garland can go a long way in greeting your guests.

Light a Path - With people coming and going, it’s always a good idea to make sure your driveway and entryway are well lit to avoid slips and falls. I love solar powered lights which don’t add to the electricity bill and will keep the path properly and safely illuminated.

Set and Forget Fireplace - Everyone loves the glow of a fire, but not every homeowner wants to deal with keeping it up while entertaining guests. Replace the logs with a candelabra to give your living room an inviting glow without the maintenance.

Sparkling Floors - Give hardwood floors a holiday shine with a floor refresher. No one has time to refinish this time of year, but a simple water-based formula will fill in scratches and make hardwood look like new. Best of all, the product goes on with a microfiber mop and takes just an hour to dry.

Carpet Clean-up - If you have old stains on the carpet, now is the time to get rid of them. In a spray bottle, mix a teaspoon of concentrated cleaner such as OxyClean with two cups of water and cover with a damp rag. Use a medium heat iron to steam out the stains, but keep a close eye to avoid burning the carpet.

A Citrusy Sink - With the holidays approaching, the last thing you want is a stinky garbage disposal. Give it a quick freshen up by dropping a few white vinegar ice cubes and some citrus peels down the chute and leave it running for about a minute. This will clear up any old food particles and leave it smelling fresh.

Freshen Up After Fido - If you have a pet, chances are you’ve become used to the smell, but your guests may not be so comfortable. Give Fido’s bed, the carpets, or the furniture a liberal sprinkling of baking soda before vacuuming to get rid of both pet hair and odor.

Nicks and Nuts - Has your wood dining table seen better days? Believe it or not, you can use a shelled walnut to remove those unsightly scratches. Just rub the nut gently around the blemish and follow with a buffing wax to make it shine.

These are just a few of my favorite fixes, but I’d love to hear from you! What little home improvements do you want to tackle for the holidays? Share your ideas by sending me an email or connect with me on Facebook at facebook.com/odonnellbros.

Bob O’Donnell is the owner of O’Donnell Bros. Inc., a Bristol-based home improvement company established in 1975. Email your questions to info@odonnellbros.com with the subject line “Ask the Pro.” All questions may be considered for publication. To contact Bob for your remodeling needs, call O’Donnell Bros. Inc. at (860) 589-5155 or visit http://www.odonnellbros.com. Advice is for guidance only.

The Coolest Gadgets for Your Home

We have all heard of the Internet, but you might not be as familiar with the Internet of Things (IoT), a development that allows household objects to send and receive data, making them “think” with the help of sensors, information, and behavioral patterns. This might sound a bit Jetsons to you, but chances are that you’ve already seen an IoT product or maybe even have one in your home.

CNET, the leader in technology product reviews, updated their best of 2016 list this week, hand picking their top products to make your home smarter, faster, and more efficient. I combed through the list and picked out some of my favorites to share with you.

If you’re brand new to IoT devices, the WeMo® Switch from Belkin is a good place to start. It’s a smart plug that goes right into your current socket, turning any appliance that’s connected to a smart device. You can plug in your home stereo system to control the volume from different rooms, turn off the iron you accidently left on when you ran out of the house, or put a timer on the TV so it falls asleep when you do. www.belkin.com

Looking for something with a little bit more variety? Samsung’s SmartThings goes a few steps beyond just a socket to let you control lights, locks, security cameras, and more. It contains a sensor to tell you whether doors and windows are opened and closed, a motion sensor to monitor movement, and an outlet to control specific appliances. It’s relatively well priced at $250 and you can add hundreds of products to the hub for enhanced security and customization. www.smartthings.com

I am a big fan of energy saving so the Nest Learning Thermostat is right up my alley. It is a temperature control system that programs itself and learns your schedule to cool and heat your home automatically. It saves energy by turning itself down when you leave the house and can be operated using your phone which means you can heat the house up a bit after a cold morning on the soccer field. Plus, it tells you how much energy you’re using every day so you can make adjustments accordingly. www.nest.com

If you need to give people access to your home for work or repairs, if you have guests, or if you’re putting your house on the market, the August Smart Lock is worth a look. This smart locking system creates virtual keys so you can grant access for minutes, days, or weeks without having to copy keys or worry about unlawful entry. For the homeowner, the system senses when you’re coming and going, locking and unlocking the doors automatically so you never have to fumble for your keys with an armful of groceries again. www.august.com

I can’t talk about IoT products without mentioning Amazon Echo. Effectively Echo is a smart speaker with a virtual assistant named Alexa who can deliver some light jazz, the weather, the news, your meetings for the day, or a 20-minute kitchen timer just by asking. Google Home has also just come out with a smart speaker which does much of the same, and both connect with tons of different applications to make talking to your house a reality that you never thought was possible. www.amazon.com/echo

Bob O’Donnell is the owner of O’Donnell Bros. Inc., a Bristol-based home improvement company established in 1975. Email your questions to info@odonnellbros.com with the subject line “Ask the Pro.” All questions may be considered for publication. To contact Bob for your remodeling needs, call O’Donnell Bros. Inc. at (860) 589-5155 or visit http://www.odonnellbros.com. Advice is for guidance only.