Five ways to strengthen your relationship with your house:
- Pamper. You ever notice the car guys who spend all their free time cleaning and rubbing their beloved machines. I am convinced the act of pampering creates a deeper sense of appreciation for the thing we are working on. This is true for cars, motorcycles, husbands, and houses. Spend a few more hours one weekend and really give the house a deep clean. Work on those areas that are easily forgotten. Clean the underside of the range hood. Simple Green works great to get out oil and grease build up. Clean the top of the kitchen cabinets. Clean the window tracks, sash and sill. Clean the inside of the light fixture globes. Clean behind and underneath kitchen appliances. You can pull out the refrigerator and range, but this goes for the dishwasher too. Just be careful when moving major appliances not to disrupt the utility connections.
- Reminisce. At one point you were ecstatic to move into the new place. Maybe it was the location. Perhaps it was the daylight, or the kitchen layout, or the shower in the bathroom. Maybe it was the sense of freedom, or all the open space. Think about what it was that you loved about the place and build on those characteristics. Over time, the excitement may have tarnished, and no doubt you’ve found some things that bother you. Focusing on what you once loved and accentuate those features. This will help bring focus and clarity to improvements and repairs as you are able to tackle them. For example. Maybe you moved in because you loved the view, but the rest of the living room is dark and the carpet worn, and the new tv doesn’t fit well. Where do you start first? Knowing what you loved most can help you decide how to arrange the furniture in that room. It may help you decide what color to chose for finishes, and it will certainly inform your decision on where to put the tv.
- Make long range plans together. Your house wants to be there for you for years to come. But it needs attention and it really needs to know what you expect from it. By making a long range plan, you can get excited about and make preparations for future improvements. Talk about and study these plans together, and listen to what your house has to say. You may want to add a new master bedroom suite with a fancy new resort style bathroom. Or maybe you are thinking that adding a second floor addition would be great. Your house may be thinking, “But I don’t have enough land to build out, and my foundations aren’t thick enough to carry another story. What does she want from me?” If you plan together you might even find a better solution than either of you thought at first.
- Accessorize. A new necklace or new pair of shoes can totally change the look of a dress. The same can work for a room in your home. Try a new set of pillows, a new comforter, maybe a new slip cover for the couch. Add splashes of color, or maybe even get really bold and add color to an accent wall. Wall art and sculptures are a great way to bring life to a space, but my greatest advice here is: don’t just pick something, just because you think it will fit the room. Pick art that you love, that you will want to be with you for a very long time. Make it the center of your decoration theme, so that when you see it, it fills your heart and mind with warmth and great memories. Finding that extra special piece while on vacation is extra cool! But maybe the perfect piece jumps out at you while you’re walking down the street. Be open to that possibility. I fell in love with a painting one day. It hung in the window of a local gallery. We looked at each other for what seemed like hours. I never bought it, and have regretted in ever since.
- Give it a test. Sometimes we can learn a lot about each other from a test. There are some really great ways to learn about your house. One of these is a post construction HERS type test. This test is a way of establishing how efficient your house is compared to a standard code compliant new home. HERS scoring is like golf; the lower the better. Part of the assessment is a blower door test where a technician forces air into the home and checks for air leaks. The rater would also review your appliances, heating and cooling systems, establish the overall thermal rating for the home and provide your house with a score. A good rater can also give you a list of recommended measures to reduce your score. A great rater will list these measures by SIR (Savings to investment ratio) which will help you understand what your expected energy savings would be based on the cost of the improvement. You might find that some of the cheapest improvements will give you the highest bang for your buck! Before you EVER replace windows, you should ALWAYS get a blower door test done! Maybe your windows are fine, and all you need is a little caulk in the right places! Your house could be much smarter than you thought, and if not, you have a list of ways that you KNOW will make it smarter.
