DIY Tips

You're likely spending a great deal of time at home as you wait out the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak. If you're healthy, this may be the perfect time to take on a home improvement project that you've been delaying. You're not only giving yourself something to enjoy around the house, but you also may increase the value of your home. Here are a few DIY projects to tackle while you shelter in place. 

1. Paint. This is one of the easiest DIY projects, and it can have the biggest impact on a space. Re-style a room with a fresh coat of paint, whether it’s a trendy blue or green, or a softer shade of gray or pink. Get some color inspiration.

2. Create a mudroom. Reinvent that entry space or nook off the garage door to create a mudroom. You can make it as

Mind the (cabinet) gaps.

The savings. The personal satisfaction. The increased resale value. Taking on your own kitchen remodel can deliver countless financial and emotional perks — if done right.

But done wrong, yikes! "Poor-quality workmanship . . . can easily decrease a home's value," says Bill Gassett, owner of Maximum Real Estate Exposure in Massachusetts.

Earn your bragging rights and keep your home's value intact (and rising) by avoiding these telltale signs of DIY gone wrong:

#1 Gaps Around Cabinetry

Why it happens: Because homes aren't perfectly level. And when you hang cabinets to be level (which you should), that leaves gaps next to the wall, says Julie Blake with Boston-based remodeling provider The Norfolk Companies.

How the

A bleach solution or rubbing alcohol is your best bet for keeping your home sanitized.

There’s everyday clean, guest clean, and then there’s COVID-19 clean.

Let’s get down to the nitty gritty, literally, and focus on how to disinfect your home. To combat this virus, you’ll want your big guns: bleach, rubbing alcohol, and hot water.

The Best Disinfectants

For your high-touch surfaces, the Centers for Disease Control recommends a bleach solution diluted with water, or a 70% alcohol solution.

Follow this bleach recipe: 5 tablespoons (1/3 cup) bleach per gallon of water, or 4 teaspoons of bleach per quart of water.

Make sure to properly ventilate when disinfecting with bleach.

And check to see if your bleach has expired. Who knew it

Adopt a few of these home tips to find a bit more cash each month.

Your house gives you so much: security, pride, shelter. With all that on the line, it's easy to assume the costs of keeping it up just are what they are. But wait. There are plenty of expenses you probably make to keep your home in good order that are simply a waste.

Here's how to save money each month without putting a dime of home value at risk.

#1 Clean Your Light Bulbs

What? Who does that? Well, smart people. A dirty bulb emits 30% less light than a clean one. Dust off both the bulb and fixture, and you might be able to cut back on the number or brightness of lights in each room without noticing any difference.

#2 Keep Your Fridge Full

Solid items snuggled together

An earthship is a house built with natural and recycled materials with energy conservation in mind. It is designed to produce water, electricity and food for its own use.

Source: "NewMexico.org"

The tip about coffee mugs? We’ve all been there.

Did you ever notice that your self-improvement pacts with yourself are action oriented? Walk 10,000 steps a day. Fix that leaky faucet. Register for VolunteerMatch.

But "get organized"? It's a goal so broad that just trying to figure out what action to take makes you wonder what you were thinking in the first place. It's like you need an organizing plan for your organizing.

Ta da!

Here it is. Follow these steps, spending less than an hour day (sometimes just a few moments), to a better organized home:

1. Do That Project

"What about your space is making you feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed?" asks Amy Trager, a professional organizer in Chicago. Is it the paperwork disaster in your

Grout can be a real problem because it soaks up pet odors.

Oof. Houses that smell or look like pets have lived in them are just harder to sell.

Here's how to de-dog your house before putting it on the market — and how to keep it that way while you sell.

#1 Steam Clean Everything Fabric

“Job number one is to take care of [the soft surfaces in your house],” says Melissa Maker, star of an eponymous YouTube channel and owner of a Toronto cleaning service. “They hold odors and hair like nothing else."

This includes carpets, rugs, upholstered furniture, and even the drapes, she says. Pets rub against drapes, getting oils, odors, and fur on the fabric. Send curtains out for a professional cleaning.

#2 Groom Your Pet

Get your pet groomed

New Mexico has many hot springs. But few locations can challenge the experience at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa.

The varied pools and springs can match your preferences in temperature and mineral content, and the pampering extends well beyond the healing waters and the magical mud. The NM True TV Crew get a sampling of everything Ojo offers. It is such a difficult job they must have, huh?

Source: "NM True TV - Ojo Caliente"

Planning your next home improvement project? Consider one of these high ROI upgrades.

Source: "Choosing High ROI Upgrades"

Sometimes trying to save will actually cost you more. Here’s when that happens.

You've got all the loyalty apps (free burrito after you buy 10!), you shopped around for the lowest rate on your mortgage, and you never go to the grocery store when you're hungry. You're frugal, and the rising amount in your savings account is a testament to that.

Since saving cash is never a bad thing, you've got nothing to worry about, right?

Unless, of course, you venture so far past frugality you enter the world of cheap. And cheap homeowners always end up paying more in the end when quick fixes and half-solved issues become big, pricey problems. 

Here are six things homeowners do when they're trying to be frugal, but instead they're really being cheap