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For the Home Home How To

4 Easy Ways To Make Your Driveway More Welcoming

When it comes to having people visit your home, the first thing they see is the front of your house. The front of your home says a lot about who you are and the way you live. It gives your guests an instant first impression of you, which is why it’s essential to make your driveway more welcoming. There are several small things you can do to improve your driveaway, as well as some more expensive options.

How to Make Your Driveway More Welcoming

Add Plants

Plants are a great way to add some character to the front of your house. They can be affordable and make an instant difference. Depending on the type of plants you buy, they can add color and give your home some personality. Consider what plants your neighbors use and try matching or adding something similar that will enhance the look of both your properties. For some inspiration, Pinterest can be a great place to browse as well as Instagram.

Spray The Moss Off Your Brickwork 

Over the winter months, you will be amazed at how much dirt your driveway can accumulate. You can remove all the dirt and make your driveway look pristine by using a pressure washer. Take a before and after photo, as you will be surprised at the difference a pressure washer will make. When cleaning the bricks, try to scrub the crevices to eliminate buildup. If you notice your driveway has damage, it could be worth considering a concrete driveway repair to make your home as appealing as possible.

Add Some Lighting To Your Driveway 

Lighting is essential whenever you want to enhance your home, whether it be your bedroom, bathroom, yard, or driveway. By adding lighting or being creative with the lighting options you already have, you can add dimension to your driveway. By using solar lighting, you can light up a pathway to your front door, or you could use spotlighting to help people when they are at your front door – plus spotlighting is a useful burglar deterrent.  

Clean Up Your Borders 

If you have greenery in your front garden, make sure it’s landscaped and trimmed down. If you aren’t regularly cutting it down, it can become overgrown and look very messy. When trimming your borders, this could be a great chance to add new plants or remove any old plants that have died over the winter months. You can clean up your borders yourself, but if don’t have time, or you have a big front yard, you can always hire a gardener to do it for you. 

Make Your Driveway More Welcoming

What tips do you have to make your driveway more welcoming? Will you be following any of the tips above? Leave a comment and let us know.

Categories
Allergies Big Kid Classroom Health How To Parenting

How You Can Help Keep Your Child Safe At School

Primary school may be overwhelming for both pupils and their parents, and this is exacerbated even further during a pandemic. Parents are concerned about bullying, emergencies, and other frightening situations as their children navigate through school and important developmental years. Learn how to keep your child safe while at school in this post.

How to Keep Your Child Safe At School

1. Familiarize yourself with COVID-19 updates

We all have a lot of additional questions when it comes to the health and safety of our children this year.   Is there really anything done at the school to stop the spread of COVID-19? What happens if a student in my child’s class or at his or her school contracts the virus? What will the school do in the event that a teacher becomes unwell as a result of the virus? Is the school COVID safe in general?

Even as we all work together to negotiate these difficult decisions, you may take steps to equip yourself, prepare your children, and assist teachers in preparing classrooms. Remind your children of the importance of regular handwashing. They should wash up after using the toilet, before eating, after playing outside, and if they have sneezed or coughed.

2. Find out how schools deal with issues

It is critical to understand how a school handles emergency circumstances as well as the policies that students are required to adhere to. Every school year, take time to go over the school’s handbook with your child at the beginning of the year. Many questions are answered in this guide, which covers topics such as school uniform, visitors policy, disaster drills and routes, and the school’s position on bullying.

3. Talk to the teachers

Speaking with teachers and administrators on a frequent basis is the most effective approach to stay up to date on the school’s safety policy. Plus, it’s the best way to follow up on any safety issues that may arise. If your child is experiencing difficulties, these discussions may offer insight into the situation. In order to keep physical contact to a minimum during COVID-19, you can conduct them via Zoom, email, or phone.

If your child’s school does not offer parent-teacher conferences, ask for one with each teacher toward the middle of each term. Staying in contact will help your child succeed and stay safe at school.

4. Make sure your children’s records are up to date

When you first registered your child for school, you had to fill out a mountain of paperwork. However, it is easy to forget about updating their school files as the years go by. In the event that your child develops an allergy or if there is an emergency at the school, this can be a problem.

Additionally, if your personal or contact information changes, make sure that you notify the school as soon as possible. Review and update your child’s files at least once a year, or at the beginning of each term if possible. 

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Adulting For the Home Home How To Winter

Winterize Your Home with These 3 Easy Steps

It’s that time of year again! The leaves are falling, and the air is getting colder. Some people don’t bother to care for their home during the wintertime, but it makes a difference if you do some preparation now. Learning how to winterize your home ensures that you’re not caught off guard when those first few snowflakes start to fall.

How to Winterize Your Home

1. Make Insulation a Priority

The first step to getting your home ready for the winter is ensuring you have insulation. If you don’t have any or want it replaced, get in touch with a professional who can assess the situation. They can give you all the details on how much this will cost and when they can do it. Additionally, check for drafts around windows and doors so that cold air doesn’t seep through them during those colder months.

You might also want to look at items such as baseboards which may need replacing if there’s damage from water leakage. Not sure where these spots are? No problem – experts recommend hiring an energy auditor to take care of things like this once a year because not only would they know where to look, they’d also know how much the temperature change would affect your bill.

2. Have your Furnace Inspected

An essential part of getting your home ready for the winter is ensuring your furnace won’t give out on you. Since this system works hard all year long and has a high chance of malfunctioning when it’s least expected (like during the winter), make sure to get an inspection.

You don’t want to be stuck in freezing temperatures with no heat because your furnace won’t start, then you will need new insulation and a whole new heating unit altogether. Both can cost quite a bit and might leave you wondering what happened to your cash. But, of course, it doesn’t hurt either way so take care of these things now instead of later.

3. Clean the Gutters

One of the most common issues during wintertime is ice forming in your gutters. When ice forms, two things can happen. Either they break completely, or their shape gets warped from all the weight. In any case, both situations aren’t great for your home so do yourself a favor by checking up on those gutters.

Winterize Your Home

Getting your home ready for the winter isn’t just a good idea; it’s also something that can save you quite a bit of money. Follow these three steps now to winterize your home.