6 Crucial Energy Drains to Tweak Immediately in Your New Home

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Category: Home Improvement

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A glaring fact from the home owning world: most homeowners lose a couple hundred dollars a year from neglecting very basic energy settings.

And we get it. You just spent the last 7 weeks rearranging your life and now – Finally! – you’re in your new home. But before you get too comfortable and move on with your life, take a look at this list to make sure you don’t unknowingly lose energy (and money) from right under your nose.

Specifically, these 6 general areas are quick to check, and you can often see the savings immediately.

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(Nontraditional) Housewarming Gifts that Deserve an Applause

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Category: DIY Projects, Neighborhood Advice

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Do you have someone special in your life who just moved into a new home-sweet-home? Or maybe you have a new neighbor you just want to break the ice with. Either way, we’re all about buying, making or even sending a little something to new homeowners in order to say, “Hey, congratulations on your move! We’re pumped!”, or maybe even, “Congrats on becoming a homeowner, thanks so much for not asking me to move your stuff…I owe you!”

Regardless of what message you’re trying to send, these 6 non-traditional new homeowner’s gifts will totally do the trick…and probably leave these new homeowners feeling extra excited to get settled into their new place!

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Building a Smart Home: Expert Advice for Tech Beginners

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Category: Home Decorating, Home Improvement

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As we progress in our Smart House series here on the HireAHelper blog (you can catch up with this post and this post), we have come to one conclusion — the more knowledge a homeowner has, the more confident he or she is in integrating technology into their homes in order to start customizing their Smart House.

Knowledge is Power and getting to know everything you can about upgrading your home to a Smart House is, in our humble opinion, the very best way to get started.

If knowledge is the first step in upgrading the technology in your house, we wanted to round up the most information we could (and wanted to share it with all of you) so that we could decide on and implement a system that works best for us and our families… and that’s when we called in some back-up.

We enlisted the help of HireAHelper’s technology Guru, Nick Head, to give us the scoop on how he incorporates Smart technology into his home and to share what advice he would give to fellow homeowners that aren’t as tech savvy as he is. We compiled a list of  FAQ’s and took notes on his insight. Here’s what he had to say: (more…)

Building a Smart Home: Where to Start?

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These days you’re able to control just about everything with the click of the button. Want a hot pizza? There’s an app for that. Want to get a manicure without leaving your couch? There’s an app for that too.

You can control almost all aspects of your life using just your smart phone! The same goes for everyday items around the home. You can unlock your door, turn on the A/C, and turn the lights on using your smart phone. Everyday essentials are quickly being replaced with innovative products designed to make your day-to-day life easier.

Iphone-pictureNow we’re not claiming to be the most tech-savvy gals around, but we have been really intrigued by the idea of creating a SMART HOUSE to make our lives a little bit easier and perhaps even to save some money. So over the next 4 weeks, we’ll be diving into a series about CREATING A SMART HOME. (more…)

How to Incorporate Chip and Joanna’s Fixer Upper Style Into YOUR Home!

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How to incorporate Chip And Joanna's Fixer Upper Style into YOUR home!

If you are a Fixer Upper Fan, today’s post is for you! The star couple behind HGTV’s show, Fixer Upper, have completely stolen the hearts of America with their ability to transform old, run-down properties into homes that belong on the cover of a magazine.

Not only do Chip & Joanna Gaines create these swoon-worthy spaces, they do it while oozing positivity, happiness, and a great sense of humor. (more…)

Should I Call a Locksmith After I Move In?

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Category: Buying & Selling a Home, Moving Checklists & Planning

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When moving into a new home, we understand that you probably have 1,000+ things to tackle on your to-do list, but today we want to squeeze one more thing on there.

Change your Locks!

Why Change your Locks? (more…)

How to Stay Organized in a Cramped Home

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Category: Organization

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Even though we’re two home decor enthusiasts (who spend way too many hours browsing the aisles of HomeGoods and hitting up estate sales), we both live in pretty small spaces. Bridget lives in a small ranch in the suburbs of Chicago, while I have a 1,200 square foot condo downtown. Because we live in tight quarters, we’re forced to pare down the stuff in our homes on a regular basis and that is a-okay in our playbook.

Living small is big these days! People are doing their best to live with less, and we are big fans of this newfound minimalism. If you’re looking to get rid of the clutter and pare down to the essentials, we are here to help! Here’s how we stay organized in our small homes…without compromising style. (more…)

New Home Holiday Cards!

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Category: Seasonal & Holidays

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New home holiday cardsSending out holiday cards to your family & friends can be a heck of a lot of work. But there’s just something about sending & receiving snail mail that makes the holidays a little brighter.

If you’ve moved in the past year, then we urge you to send out some holiday cards this year. This is a wonderful opportunity to give the people you love your new address, and let them know that you bought a new pad. Plus you’re knocking 2 things off that list…sending new home announcements & sending a holiday card! That’s snail mail efficiency at its finest.

Yes, finding the perfect card and them mailing out dozens is a time-consuming task. But we’re here to help make this holiday to-do a little easier. We researched and found some of the best holiday cards that you can send from your new home. Take a look at some of these good lookin’ options… (more…)

How Do I Renovate a Property From Far Away?

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Just recently a friend of ours bought a lake house in the woods of Wisconsin. She kept her house in the Chicagoland area, but was excited to use this second property to relax, entertain, and make new memories on the weekends and throughout the summer.

As much as she wanted to move-in and start enjoying this space immediately, she had some work to do before it was “move-in ready”. To top it off, she works Monday through Friday near her primary residence in Chicago, which kept her from traveling up to Wisconsin and getting these jobs done immediately. She was limited to making this new property her “home away from home” on the weekends, when she would physically travel up to the new property and get to work. (more…)

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