Spring Sprucing

Spring has sprung and the spring cleaning has begun. But what about spring sprucing? What good is it to clean up a house that is run down and looking drab and do nothing about the house itself? Our home is not even that old, but it is already in need of a tune up.

The main areas that are often the most noticeably in need of attention are the walls (of course), any kicks, holes, chipped paint, etc. The yard, weeds, dead grass, askew stones or bed liners, etc. doors and cabinets, nicks, loose or missing knobs, etc. And of course, the roof, missing shingles, wear and tear, dips or sunken areas.

Just revamping some of these problem areas can make a home go from drab to fab. Seriously, it is amazing what a little Spackle and a fresh coat of paint can do to transform a room. The cabinets we have had ceramic knobs, and they must have been subpar quality, because the ceramic at the base cracks or the glue (or whatever it is) just disintegrates or whatever so the knob just slide off the metal piece, because they are not attached in any significant way.

So I am replacing all of the knobs on all of our cabinets. The old ones were boring, too. just plain white and round. I will be getting something fun this time, maybe antique brass looking, with a embossed design or something similar. Something distinctive, but still timeless and not too gaudy.

I am going to redo the "flower beds", where the bushes are. The bushes are all half dead and not symmetrical. I plan to plant a few food plants. Herbs and vegetables only, probably, since most fruits take so long to grow. Although a strawberry plant would be good. And I am going to get some lawn feeder to take care of the patchy spots.

Most of the sprucing projects are things that I can do myself. But I do know to get help when I need it, so I don't make a small problem into a big problem. Thankfully, I do most of the fixing in our home, so I don't have a hubby that would decide to "fix" us into a bigger problem either.

So what do I do for those jobs that are too much for us? I call a professional. There is no shame in letting someone who knows what they are doing be the one to do it. Like for the roof (we have a dip and just a general "raggedy" look due to a few hurricanes) we are going to have Westchase Roofing take a look. I'm thinking asphalt shingles will give us the result we want.

Besides just the fact that they know what they are doing and we don't, we picked Westchase roofing because they believe in one-on-one relationships with their customers. It's very rare, in today's world, that a company actually takes the time to get to know their customers and truly values them. That is something that my husband and I value.

So this spring, clean of you want, but don't forget to spruce. It will make your home feel like it's brand new, and give you a renewed passion for WANTING to spring clean, which is almost an impossible feat. Do what you can with what you know, and let a professional do the rest. Enjoy your "new" home.