Do you like to re-decorate or simply switch things around your home once in a while? The bad thing about that is, it takes time and muscles who may not be so cooperative when you are in the middle of makeover fever. For times like that, perhaps it would be helpful to virtually re-design your home using software. It will let you move things around, change your wall colors to your hearts’ desire without all the hard work and when you do get down to business, you may get better results.

Here are two home design software we found that would work. Thankfully, they are free too.

Sweet Home 3D – this is a downloadable software that is open source and it runs on Windows, Mac, Solaris and Linux. Pretty interesting. Take a look at their video demo it looks quite easy to use.

Autodesk Homestyle – this is a web based home design software so it works on many operating systems that run flash. It is free at time of writing.

On a whim while browsing through Lowes one day, I splurged on a foam soap dispenser from KitchenAid. I’m really not the type to buy anything like that especially something that cost $10. I’m more likely to re-use those dinky plastic dispensers that come with hand soap. But I thought it would save money because it promised to work with a solution of 10% soap to 90% water. Wow. That would be huge long term savings.

I brought it home, loaded it with a 10 to 1 solution and was immediately delighted! It was awesome.

Sadly for me, it didn’t last but one month. I do not know if I got a dud, or whether someone in the family didn’t realize it and filled it with all soap solution or if it’s just a poor quality product. I would certainly get another one if I can get it for a song. In the mean time, back to my dinky plastic dispenser.

My grandmother had a large metal tub she used to collect rainwater with. We washed with it, used the water in the garden and the bathroom, just about everything short of drinking and cooking. While I gagged at our water bill last year and lamented how much of that water was not being used as drinking water, I was reminded of that tub. From then on, I was on the lookout for large barrels.

It took me a year but a few weeks ago, my husband and I saw someone loading 55 gallon plastic barrels on his truck. He said he would give it to us. Yes! So we loaded a couple of them onto our truck and brought them home.

While looking for some plans how others rigged their water harvesting system up, I stumbled across a very interesting conversation. Apparently, it could be illegal for us to collect rain water.

WHAT?

Apparently in some states, the state owns the rain water. Try suing them the next time that rain water floods your home but that’s a whole other story.

I decided to do some research on it. True enough. Most states don’t seem to have any legislation or problem about it, but some do. The good news is, other states, encourage it and even give you a tax credit.

One site that is particularly helpful is HarvestH2O.com. They even have a page that lists regulations for each state and even some countries.

I think these laws are crazy though but hey, I don’t want my friends to get in trouble either so check before you collect.

I am a sucker for infomercials. While not every one of them attracts my attention, some of them do. One such was the Hercules Hook. It is a small hook like thing that you push through the drywall and voila you’ll have a hook to hang your pictures or hang most things around the house. Now this really caught my eye because then, hubs was not always around. If the was he’d be working overtime a lot and there’s just a lot of stuff not getting done. I wanted to hang up pictures and decorations and just… stuff.

So I dropped my money for a pack of those – didn’t get them off the TV commercial, can’t remember where.

The cons

You need leverage or strength to be able to get it started. If you are trying to put the hook up at a spot above your shoulders, definitely grab a chair or step stool so you can use your body weight to help you drive the hook through or get it started. You may even need a small hammer to begin. Depending on the state of your drywall, getting it through can be easy or very hard.

It can also be a pain. Because the hook is kinda thin and slippery, it can be hard to handle it especially when you’re trying to get it started and through the other side. I’d recommend wearing some kind of work gloves.

It is NOT going to leave you with pinhole sized holes. In fact the hook is pretty large in diameter. Much larger than a regular picture nail. So you will make a fair sized hole especially if you have trouble getting it going in the beginning. While I realized this at first, just saying in case you’re thinking of buying it based on that.

The pros

No more waiting on someone else to hang stuff up.

It is pretty sturdy and holds quite a bit of weight.

Really easy to use… once you get it through.

Overall, I will definitely get another pack if they still sell them by the time I am done with mine. I’ve used it to put up calendars in the kitchen, scrubbing bubbles sprayer in the bathroom, hang pictures, hooks to hang kids stuff up. Handy.

Closets. Why they always look like an explosion happened in there? But one can try to organize it. Like everything else. I love gadgets or any closet organization stuff. Here are 5 that are super handy.

Drawers, drawers, drawers. I like those plastic ones that have clear drawer so you can see what’s inside.

Spacemaker bags. How else to fit 2 (or more) closets into one?

Closet doubler. Don’t you hate all that wasted space under those skirts and pants? I do. I put a dresser under mine but the closet doubler is another option to get twice the space in one small area.

TwistHanger. Like this one by Umbra. Pretty neat.

Tiered Hangers. Hang several items in one spot.

Now that everyone is into the green thing, bicycling seems to have made a come back in a big way. I love riding bikes. There’s something childish and care free in it. I still don’t have a bike yet although am always looking at one in the store. Right now, I refuse to get one unless my husband agrees to my proposal – that the whole family go biking in the evenings 2-3 times a week. So I’m still waiting.

The kids all have their bikes of course and we don’t have a garage so their bikes sit on our drive way. If we did have a garage though one of the things I would love is to hang those bikes up. Get it off the ground. Those Ikea ones looks so good but I’d settle for any bike hangers.

Do you use these? Do you find they help de-clutter your garage?

Electronics have become a huge part of our lives – even picture frames require a “plug-in” these days. High tech gadgets in our home once meant owning a flat screen TV or a home entertainment system, but now electronics are used to monitor home security, regulate lights, heat, or even water our lawn. They’ve worked their way through the entire house, and most recently, to the bathroom.

You don’t have to be a techie wiz to digitize your bathroom. Here is a sampling of some of the high tech gadgets available to you.

Splash-Proof Screens:

What better way to relax in a tub then by watching your favorite TV show? Now Austin Lowery of California-based Jetson Systems has come up with a water-proof television cabinet with a fog-free glass frame that can be installed right in the shower or adjacent to the medicine cabinet. This, along with your handy waterproof remote will give you the ability to watch your favorite shows or DVD’s while you bathe.

The entire unit can be covered with a two-way mirror that allows you to see the TV screen, and when not in use, all you see is your reflection.

Surround Sound:

What good is a television without the woofers and tweeters? Kohler has designed Sound Tile speakers that can be installed right in the shower walls with speaker technology from Polk Audio.

MTI Whirlpools has gone one step better. By installing transducers in the actual bathtub, it can be connected to your tuner or iPod, allowing you to absorb the sound while you soak in the tub.

MP3 Shower Mirror:

This great little gadget transmits music from your iPod or MP3 player to its built-in water-proof speakers. With a transmitting range of 100 feet, your iPod can be sitting safely in another room. When not in use, the unit doubles as a fog-free mirror for the shower.

The Fish n’ Flush Aquarium:

You’ll have no trouble finding Nemo in this double-lined aquarium toilet tank that can be attached to most toilets. The aquarium is encased within the outer tank, providing a clean environment for your fishies. It also comes with plastic plants, a fill valve, a flush valve, a flushing system, LED lighting, and a built-in door for feeding your fish. The fish, gravel and water are extra.

The LavNav:

In keeping with the toilet theme, and probably designed by a woman, the LavNav is a motion light just for the toilet. It gives you the right amount of light, in just the right area and shuts off when you leave. Too bad it doesn’t put the seat down.

Towel Warming Shelf:

We all know about radiant floor heating for the bathroom, but imagine a warming shelf to make sure your towels are nice and toasty when you get out of the shower.

Super Showers:

Remember when we thought a shower head with a massage setting was revolutionary? Now with multiple shower heads, added foot baths, built in saunas and steam baths, stereos and TV’s the simple home shower has evolved into more of a home spa, filled with optional features to enhance your bath time.

Using a digital control pad, the BodySpa Shower from Kohler gives users the ability to adjust the direction and massage action of the shower heads.

The Temazkal from Bain Ultra provides sensory stimulation in your shower by allowing you to adjust the lighting according to your mood, or create a thermal effect with its sauna setting. You can even add essential oil to the diffusers to enjoy aromatherapy benefits.

You’ll feel like you’ve gone through a car wash with the Ambient Air Body Dry System from Jacuzzi. Using the Summer Rain setting, the unit sends warm air through numerous jets, drying you off completely without the use of a towel.

PorchLight Real Estate Group is proud of its professional Denver CO real estate agents and their expert services. For more information on Cheesman Park real estate or to search Denver homes for sale, visit us online at PorchLightGroup.com.

We’ve all been there. Either you grabbed the wrong marker or the kids use any marker they can get their hands on and next thing you know it, you got permanent marker on your Dry Erase board. Some of you know that we made two walls in our hallway into huge dry erase boards. Well that has been a challenge to keep clean. Three things that work well when we experience an Oops!

Image by arkos arkoulis

• Gojo Wipes – works but leaves a kinda oily residue that makes it  hard to write on the board again.
• Nail Polish Remover – works all the time but can get messy so you will need a big bottle and probably clean twice over once to get the marks off and the other to get the stains.
• Writing over the mark with another permanent marker and wiping it off immediately. This ‘dissolves’ the lower layer. You gotta be quick and only works if the mark is small or few.

As you can tell, my favorite tool here is the nail polish remover

Identity theft and other similar crimes are on the rise in our society.  Unfortunately, we must do everything that we can to protect ourselves from these crimes.  One of the ways that you can help to protect yourself and your family is by shredding any documents or papers that contain personal information that must be kept secure.  A shredderis a great investment that can help you to properly dispose of these such papers and ensure that your identity is protected and safe.

Be sure to shred all your papers and documents thouroughly before disposing of them or sending them to be recycled.  There are also many other great uses that you can use the recycled paper for, you can get creative and find other various ways that you may find to use the materials which is just an added bonus.

Photo credit: SideLong

Once I became a coffee drinker I began to learn all sorts of things about coffee.  I heard random terms I’d never heard of before, one of which was “French Press“.  Apparently it is another option for making coffee besides a percolator or a coffee maker.  This gadget looks a little difficult for the average Joe, but I’d be willing to give it a go.

I hear that the coffee out of one of this is superior to that from a coffee maker too.  It’d be worth a try just to see wouldn’t it?  I’m thinking of trying my hand at a French press as soon as I can get my hands on one.  When you become a coffee drinker, why not go all out and become a junkie?  It couldn’t hurt anything right?

Photo credit : staralee