DIY Tips

Want summer comfort but hate the AC? Follow these tips on how to keep your house cool without frosty air conditioning.

These tips will help you cool a house without AC, which will save energy (and avoid AC wars with your family).

How to Cool a Room Without AC

When sunlight enters your house, it turns into heat. You’ll keep your house cooler if you reduce solar heat gain by keeping sunlight out.

Close the drapes: Line them with light-colored fabric that reflects the sun, and close them during the hottest part of the day. Let them pillow onto the floor to block air movement.

Add awnings: Install them on south- and west-facing windows to reduce solar heat gain by up to 77%, says the U.S. Department of Energy. Make your own by tacking up sheets

Don’t open the windows. That spring breeze is no help at all.

Once there's even a glimmer of spring, you're ready to throw open your windows and let the breeze blow away the winter funk. Well, you might want to rethink that spring cleaning ritual this year.

If you're an allergy sufferer (and who isn't?), that's the last thing you want to do, says Dr. Neeta Ogden, a spokesperson for the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. "It will allow pollen to settle in your home."

If you really can't skip that spring breeze, avoid opening windows in the morning, when pollen counts are highest. They decrease late in the day and at night.

That's not the only common spring-cleaning mistake homeowners make. Here are eight more to avoid:

#1

Battle bugs before they bite (or sting!) you — and check the attic for problems.

Tackling five simple tasks now gives you a head start on spring. That leaves you plenty of worry-free time to enjoy the warmer weather.

#1 Tell Insects to Bug Off

Early spring warmth awakens insects, so start to protect your home now. Seal openings in eaves, decks, and other structures to keep out carpenter bees.

Nix mosquitoes by eliminating standing water or treating it with larvicide. Call a pro to destroy wasp and yellow jacket nests, unless you're experienced enough to engage in a bee battle.

#2 Prep Tools for Lawn Care

Ladies and gentlemen, start your mowers. April's the month to get this vital piece of equipment ready to roll. An unmaintained machine

Learn how to clean 7 tough stains off your walls — and ensure a lasting paint job.

You can't wait to cover up that nasty beige on your walls, but as you take a close look at all the areas you're gonna have to prep you see a lot of grime, gunk, and stuff that looks too stubborn for your standard vinegar wash.

Any cleaning rookie can wipe off dust and cobwebs. But it takes a cleaning pro to scour grease stains, watermarks, and kids’ crayon and ink wall art.

Kitchen Grease on Walls

Grease is an occupational hazard of cooking. If only it wouldn't ind it's way onto your walls and cabinets, trapping all kinds of gunk. Yuck!

Good news. Any decent dish soap can remove grease stains on walls.

For small stains, mix: 1/4 teaspoon of soap in a cup

Like this easy hack: coat paint brushes in fabric softener to keep bristles soft.

A DIY painting job doesn't have to equal crooked lines, besmirched floors, and ceramic sinks speckled with robin's egg blue.

Use these easy painting hacks, to make the process faster and less messy — and ensure a fresh, modern look for your home.

#1 Soak Brushes in Fabric Softener to Keep Brushes Soft

Every DIY painter has been privy to the horrors of a day-old brush with stiff bristles that makes round two nearly impossible. Try this painting hack instead:

To keep paint brushes soft:

1. Rinse thoroughly (no soap).
2. Mix half a cup of fabric softener with a gallon of warm water
3. Swish brushes in the mixture for 10 seconds or so.
4. Lay them flat or hang

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

Ugh. Mold. It’s ugly. It’s tenacious. It’s the uninvited guest that keeps visiting — no matter how rude you are to it. But, unwittingly, you may be setting up the perfect conditions for mold’s return: a food source, lots of moisture, and a pleasant temperature.

“You’ve got to eliminate one of those three legs of the stool so mold won’t grow,” says Pete Duncanson, director of system development for ServiceMaster Restore. “And it’s always easier to prevent than to remediate.”

Assuming you like warm showers and a comfy thermostat setting, there’s not much you can do about the temperature mold loves. But you can get rid of mold — and permanently prevent it — by controlling the other two factors: food and moisture. Here’s how.

Starve It Out

Mold is

Working to get your home ship-shape for showings will increase its value and shorten your sales time.

Many buyers today want move-in-ready homes and will quickly eliminate an otherwise great home by focusing on a few visible flaws. Unless your home shines, you may endure showing after showing and open house after open house — and end up with a lower sales price. Before the first prospect walks through your door, consider some smart options for casting your home in its best light.

1.  Have a Home Inspection

Be proactive by arranging for a pre-sale home inspection. For $250 to $400, an inspector will warn you about troubles that could make potential buyers balk. Make repairs before putting your home on the market. In some states, you may have to

Cubbies, squeegees, and other easy ways to keep your house clean.

Home is literally the center of your universe right now, so make sure it’s a source of minimum stress. Here’s how to keep your house clean and orderly all the time.

1. Wake, and make your bed pronto. That’s one task down already.
2. Keep your kitchen sink empty for a soothingly clear sight line.
3. Clean a room a day. You know what they say about doing daunting tasks in small chunks, right?
4. Hang a squeegee. Take a few satisfying swipes after your shower, and presto!
5. Assign cubbies to each family member. Tidy is as tidy does.
6. Unload the dishwasher when clean. Then you're always prepped for habit #2.
7. Use it, wipe it. Especially high-touch surfaces.
8. Snap it, shred it.

Three young entrepreneurs give tips on staying organized and calm while living hectic lives.

Life is crazy. Cah-ray-zee. And while you wouldn't have it any other way from 9 to 5 (OK, more like 8 to 7), the insanity should stop at your front door.

That's why you bought your home, right? To have a place to rest, recharge, and come up with your next trailblazing idea. A few inspirational ideas for your home may be all you need to put it on the path to tranquility.

Three super-busy entrepreneurs — a brewery owner, website founder, and organic farmer — know exactly how important a tranquil home is to achieving personal success. Here, they share how they created Zen-like havens in their homes to foster stress-relieving routines.

A Nook to Bliss Out