How to Buy the Right Amount of Paint

Use this three-step method to calculate how much paint you’ll need for your DIY painting project.

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How to Choose the Right Paint Color for Wall Painting

Here’s how to make sure the color you select in the store will look perfect on your walls.
...If after this test, you still love the color , buy as much paint as you’ll need.

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Easiest Ways to Organize Your Garage

The main purpose of the garage is to protect your car or vehicle, so you want to be sure to leave enough room for it. This means use of vertical spaces (walls, open rafters) for storage. Items that you wouldn’t want in the house because of size or dirt belong in the garage.

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Facts You Should Know About Fabric Softeners

What are fabric softeners?
Many people use a fabric softener to cut static cling caused by the dryer’s tumbling. The friction-reducing chemicals in softeners prevent a static charge from accumulating.

There are three basic types of fabric softeners. Rinse liquids are added to the wash during the rinse cycle; many washing machines automatically add them from a dispenser atop the agitator. Drying sheets are infused with softener. When you put a sheet into the dryer along with the laundry, contact and heat release the softener. Detergents with fabric softeners are added at the start of the wash cycle.

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Laundry Tips to Get The Best Results

You can get the best results from your laundry washing experience with these tips:

• Separate very dirty clothes that should be presoaked or washed in hot water from lightly soiled or temperature-sensitive items.

• Separate sweatshirts, new towels, and products made from chenille yarn (all of which may tend to generate lint) from permanent press clothes and corduroys (which attract lint)

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How to Clean Refrigerators and Freezers to Save Energy

The refrigerator is an essential appliance in the house or in your business establishment. Here’s how to clean the refrigerator or freezer more efficiently.

The condenser coil, which helps disperse heat, it tends to collect dust because it is outside the cabinet. Dust lowers the efficiency of the appliance in addition to that, it also raises the electricity cost. The condenser should be cleaned annually or twice a year, particularly before the onset of the summer season. The reason is that because high weather temperatures impose heavy demands on a refrigerating system.

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Choosing the Best Toilet Bowl Cleaner

A common culprit of toilet bowl stains is the mineral build-up that can be seen around the water line and under the rim. This is especially true when hard water, which is high in mineral content, is the type of water being supplied to the household. As the water evaporates, minerals such as whitish calcium or magnesium compounds and rust-colored iron compounds are left behind, coating the upper part of the bowl and eventually hardening into a scale. Even with soft water, molds can still form a dark coating in the bowl. With slicker types of ceramics, such deposits are lesser. But constant scratching by abrasive cleaners and aging can leave the surface more susceptible to mineral and mold buildup.

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Using Recycled Products for Craft Projects

There are numerous uses for products that may be deemed as trash. Before you throw that piece of empty box or plastic container away, think twice. You could bring them to life in more ways than one especially in your art or craft project.


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Clever and Cheap Ways to Clean Your Toilet Bowl

The toilet bowl is our own private throne. It should be kept clean at all times. Here are cheap solutions to help you keep your toilet bowl fresh and squeaky clean.

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How to Effectively Use Colors to Decorate Your Room

Colors can set a room’s mood and can visually affect its size. Using the right colors can single-handedly create a space that reflects your mood and style.

On your walls, different shades give differing effects:

Pale shades
Use a soft tint of color to create a calming effect and to make the room appear larger. Nice pale shades that are most effective are butter yellow, shell pink, or misty green.
Bright shades
To make walls stand out and to create an energizing atmosphere, choose vivid colors. You can try using cobalt blue, canary yellow, or grass green.
Deep shades
Rich, deep shades conjure feelings of comfort and safety, and make the room look cozier.
Why not try Bordeaux red, amber gold, or sapphire blue.
Make your kitchen cabinets come alive with color.
Cabinet color can open up or pare down the kitchen.

flickr photo by A National Acrobat

Pale shades are best for reflecting light and thus make the kitchen more open and airy.
Bright shades unify the space by creating a strong focal point. Bright shades can also distract the eye away from appearance of clutter.
Deep shades can disguise flaws. Because deep shades can absorb light, the dents and scratches seem to vanish.
Colors on furniture
Colors can enhance, refine, or highlight a piece of furniture.

Pale shades can lighten appearance of bulky furniture, making them look more delicate.
Bright shades draw attention to the furniture piece, making it the focal point of a room.
Deep shades can make a particular piece of furniture look more substantial and serious.
Colors on floors
Add intimacy to a room and highlight a focal furniture piece with floor color.

flickr image by yachtfan

Pale shades showcase elegant dark wooden furniture by providing a sharp contrast.

Bright shades create a similar effect to that of an area rug by highlighting a focal of any room.
Deep shades lend coziness to a large room without making it appear smaller.

Set the mood of the room with color.

flickr image by urbaneapts

Colors can have an effect on people both emotionally and physically. According to Dr. Morton Walker, author of The Power of Color, bright colors energize, causing a rise in blood pressure and heart rate. Pale colors, on the other hand, slow the action of the heart.

Pale colors are known to relieve stress and lower blood pressure. They produce a sense of warmth and have the ability to soften hard surfaces like sinks and counters, making them very appealing for use in kitchens and baths. Pale colors work well in bedrooms, too, or in any room you want to have a stress-free feel.
To feel energized and create a dynamic mood in a room, use bright colors. Such colors are great for children’s rooms, kitchens, family rooms, or anywhere you want a lively mood to prevail. Just keep in mind that, when using brights, a little goes a long way. Intersperse bright shades with neutral colors to keep them from becoming too overpowering.

Deep shades have a quiet strength about them that is very comforting. Deep shades are believed to reduce marvelous excitement and relax the mind. For this reason, these shades are the choice for dens or masterbaths, in which you want to spend time alone contemplating.

© 2010 Athena Goodlight

Fight Bathroom Mildew with These Simple Tips

Keeping the bathroom and shower mildew-free is quite a challenge to many people. Here are ways to remove mildew from your bathroom and simple solutions to keep them off. Good thing about it is that you don’t have to spend on expensive mold and mildew cleaning solutions if you follow these simple tips.

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How to Paint Your Walls and Ceilings Efficiently

The key to getting a professional-looking paint job is preparing walls properly, painting surfaces in the correct order, and using the right tools. But before beginning the painting process, take time to collect the materials you will need, then follow the steps in the order listed.

Here are five easy steps to ensure a smooth and lasting paint finish for your walls and ceilings.

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