Sarah Reinhart

Attention all crazy people...I am looking for the ugliest bathroom photos known to mankind. Lavender, orange, yellow? I am putting together my March's newsletter and thought it would be a funny topic. Pictures are welcomed too. My personal favorite is the jeweled, bedazzled variety I found in a single wide "mobile home", but maybe you have one to top that :)

Are you going stir-crazy waiting for spring...I AM! Bring on the sunshine, cue the butterflies and give me the sweet scent of roses. I’m done with short days, heating bills, gray skies and cold and flu. I enjoy the four seasons, but sometimes winter is too long. It’s not surprising that some people experience the winter blues. Don’t bottle your feelings up. Make some positive changes. Here are a few blah-busting tips to help you feel alive. Before you know it, it’ll be spring, your house will sell....whew!

GET OUTSIDE: It’s way too easy to make excuses for not getting outdoors during winter. A simple walk outside can make a huge difference in how you feel. At the very least, open the blinds and let the light shine through. If you can, plan a vacation during winter to break up the season. Even if it’s a drive, get outside and breathe in the air and absorb the light. It’s a great time to feed winter birds. If you have snow, look for a place to go snowshoeing, ice-skating or sledding. It’s a great season to grab your camera and take some scenic pictures.

EXERCISE: If you’re not into winter sports, there are plenty of exercises you can do inside. Try an exercise video for even 20 minutes a day, and I guarantee you’ll feel rejuvenated. You have an opportunity to take that spin or yoga class or go swimming. Plenty of time to get in shape before summer.

EAT WELL: Break out the recipes you’ve been meaning to try. It’s the perfect time to enjoy comfort foods, too. Nutritious foods and balanced meals combined with rest and exercise are going to help you feel good. If you don’t usually take vitamins, try it. Vitamin D can help.

ADD COLOR: Add colorful decorative accents such as pillows, towels and place mats to freshen and liven up your indoor space. It’s amazing what fresh flowers, fruit and tropical plants can do to improve your mood. Colorful candles and reed diffusers with fresh scents can lift your spirits, too. It'll help your house sparkle too!

MUSIC: Curl up with a book and some feel-good music. Is there music you haven’t listened to in years? Now is a great time to play it. Sit next to a window. Pamper yourself. Break out the moisturizer to soothe dry skin and simply relax.

WATCH MOVIES OR TELEVISION: Grab a comedy and laugh, or watch programs that focus on the outdoors. Gardening shows can inspire you, and it’s not too early to order seeds and get a jump start on your garden with winter sowing. Check out www.hulu.com.

I remember being 20 and thinking" wow, people who have kids are pigs..Who leaves French fries and fruit loops on their back seat??" Now, at 30 with 2 small children... I understand. I have seen what the seat looks like UNDER the car seat. Dear God! Here are a few tips to keep your kiddos safe from the fuzzy piece of banana under the passenger's seat.

Your baby’s car seat is a breeding ground for bacteria. Dried-on food and drool are not your friends! To get the most life out of your baby gear, follow these cleaning tips from eHow:

• Take the car seat out of your car, and place it on an old blanket in your driveway.

• Suck up food particles and dirt with a vacuum; focus on the hard to reach places.

• Clean off the plastic portions of the seat with gentle soap and water.

• Remove the entire car seat cover, if possible, and run it through your washing machine's gentle cycle. Do not put in dryer, as it may shrink. Instead hang it outside to dry.

• At this point you may want to clean up the back seat of the car, where the baby car seat usually goes, and its surroundings.

• Re-install the clean car seat in your car, and take special care that all parts of the car seat are present and installed safely and correctly.

One of the big turn offs for potential homeowners is mold. Now I don't mean the toxic yucky stuff you are required to disclose in your home disclosure documents...I mean the gross slimy stuff on your porch from where your toddler left the hose trickling since May :)

Boric acid is a popular substance often used to remove and kill mold infestations. But, what is boric acid?

Boric acid is basically the substance that is found in Borax, that popular powdered substance that many of us use to whiten clothes in the laundry. It is generally considered to be non-toxic, and along with hydrogen peroxide is one of the more mild solutions used to kill mold spores. Some solutions combine both hydrogen peroxide and Borax to create a powerful mold killer.

Remember that before using any sort of mold removal mixture or formula, always protect your hands, eyes, nose, mouth and skin from any contact from the mould.

If you're one of those people who uses their garage for more than just parking your cars, you've probably spilled something or stained the floor at one point or another. Can these spots and stains be erased from the concrete's memory?
Here's why you might be thinking of cleaning your garage floor:

•you want to change the room into a livable space

•in order to lay down new flooring

•just to improve the overall appearance and safety

With housing costs skyrocketing, it makes sense to look to what you already have to increase home value. And if you already live in a warmer climate (or don't mind scraping the car windows in the morning), why not park the cars outside and make your garage into a new living area?

Cleaning garage floors is the first step to your remodeling and redecorating process. You're going to need to remove the offending stains that just won't fit into the kid's new playroom or your new poker room. And how do you do that?

First of all, you want to know that cleaning the garage floor is essential if you're thinking of painting on the surface. Simple scrubbing and cleaning may not be enough. You might think that the surface is ready -- simply paint on a coat of paint and see great results. The stain or grease leaves a layer in between the floor and the paint that creates a lack of adhesion in many cases. And if you still park your car in the garage, the tires will probably peel the paint off.

To really clean the garage floor, you'll need solvents and proprietary cleaners. Some of what you are cleaning is removing basic dirt, but some of what you are doing is removing stains from the conrcrete floor. You can find these kinds of products in hardware and paint stores. Be sure to follow the instructions completely to ensure that all of the stains and dirt are removed.

Pressure washers are great for cleaning garage floors too. These washers power water onto the surface at about 1200-2000 psi. These are a great option when the garage floor is extremely stained or it has been stained for a long time. If you can't find a pressure washer, a steam cleaner can be just as effective. In either case though, you may want to incorporate a detergent to help break up the grease and other stains.

Cleaning garage floors is also necessary to ensure that the tiling adhesive of or other flooring options will stick. While the adhesive will indeed stick one surface to another, any stains that remain can slowly break down these bonds and create problems with the actual flooring, so you want to be sure to clean the garage floor as thoroughly as possible.

You also want to look into cleaning the garage floor in order to prevent slips and falls in the area. Grease spots can cause slips; you don't want falls on the hard concrete, to say the least.

While no one wants to start cleaning garage floors, it is a necessary step on your way to a more beautiful housing space -- even if you still use it as a combination garage and workshop.