Winnipeg Realtor and Real Estate Blog

You usually don’t need to remove your blinds or take them down to clean them unless there are some really tough stains on them. There really is no right or wrong way to shine up your blinds but here are a few steps that I like to use when it comes time to do your cleaning.

One quick note, this method works great with wood blinds, plastic or aluminum but if you have fabric blinds or curtains you will have to take those down and either hand wash them your in sink or throw them in the washing machine.

First you will want to use a duster, microfiber cloth or vacuum to dust off your blinds first. If you don’t do this step then when you go to clean you will just be spreading a lot of the dust around and not really getting rid of it. If you have vertical blinds clean/dust from top to bottom, if you have horizontal blinds wash/dust from left to right.

Next you will want to fill a bucket with warm water you don’t need hot and add 2-3 drops of liquid dish soap. I always clean with a microfiber cloth I find that it works best to wipe away dirt and really give a deep clean but you can use whatever you like. Then using the left to right method or top to bottom method wipe gently. When you are finished you can let them air dry or dry them with a towel, I like to dry mine quickly after wiping them off just so that no dust sticks!

There you have it, super simple, fast and efficient! And unless you have fabric curtains/blinds you don’t need to take anything down which is way more of a hassle! 

Every year things seem to go out of style or a new trend comes alone, this can either be the way we cut our hair the kind of accessories that we wear, shoes, clothes you name it, it will change. Some of you may not know this but even the way we decorate our homes change from year to year, I know this can be expensive if you are wanting to keep your home up to the new looks but if you are just looking for some new ideas or ways to copy a new look at an inexpensive price well here are a few of those trends to look for this year! 

Green colors seem to be the new trend of this year in your home, this can range from green throw pillow on your couch or even a nice green blanket. Something you can also add is a green painting of any sorts now this doesn’t have to be a specific color of green you can go from a nice dark forest green to even a bright lime green. You could also add something as simple as a few green glass vases to your coffee table or shelving unit.

A lot of new fashion trends whether it be what you wear or put in your home stem from the runway. So another fashionable look for your home this year is anything with a tropical print. This can be again a throw pillow or if you’re looking to repaint you could always do an accent wall of a nice tropical wall paper. Or anything that you have in your home that has fabric added to it, your bedding is something easy that you can incorporate a tropical print in, even a throw rug.

Grey colors were a huge trend in 2016 but it seems to be something that will stick throughout 2017 as well. You will see a lot of greys and whites this year or a darker tone of grey. This color is great to put up on a wall as it compliments a lot of other colors for example a darker colored couch (black or brown). It also goes with a lot of bright colors as well so if you have accents in tones like red or yellow grey would be a perfect fit.

Bronze this year will be a winner, it is a huge trendy hit. This one is easy to decorate with as you can get a tone of accent decors in bronze. This is something that you can even do in a less expensive way, you can go to your local thrift store and find loads of metal like objects or statues in the bronze tone. Places like Homesense and Winners also carry a lot of home accents in this color. You can get a metal type picture to put up on your wall that really warms up any space. This color also goes really well with any type of grey color, so if you are really looking to change up a room paint the walls in a grey tone and add a bronze metal type wall ornament.

I hope these trends will help you spice up your home this year and create something refreshing and up to date. 

Did you have a little too much fun with your red wine and accidentally spill on your carpet! Not to worry it happens to the best of us. There are many people who think it’s almost impossible to remove red wine from your carpets especially a white/lighter colored carpet, but try one of these methods and home remedies, they actually work!

With any stain always act fast, the longer you let something sit for the more of a chance you won’t be able to remove it. As soon as have a spill the first thing you should do it grab a cloth or towel whatever you normally use to clean with and blotch the area. Don’t blotch from side to side as this could make the stain larger, use and up and down motion. Once you have blotched the spot until almost dry grab some COLD water and rewet the area again and repeat with the same blotching method until dry. This should take the stain out you may have to go over it a few times.

Salt. Salt draws the moisture out in the stain, so pour a lot of salt all over the stained area and let sit for a long time. If you don’t have plans for that day it’s best to leave the salt as long as you can. This method will only work if the area is wet, so if it has started to dry before you have poured salt onto it then pour some cold water on the stain to moisten the area. You will notice that the salt will eventually turn a pinkish color, this is a good thing. Once you notice that the stain has been removed simply vacuum up the salt.

This method I particularly love, it works on almost any stain that I have ever encountered! DISH SOAP! It honestly works, I just get the stained area wet with cold water and drop a little dish soap over the area and using the blotching method go at it. The only thing with this method is that it’s soap so you will have to get it wet a few times to get soap suds out of your carpet, but in my experience this has proven the best way to get most stains out, it work on clothes, furniture you name it. I use sunlight soap so I haven’t tested any other brands out but I’m sure they would do the same trick! Try it out and see if it works for you!

I hope these tricks help when your wine nights get the best of you!

A huge trend now a days is to find ways to be more environmentally cautious. This can be riding your bike to work instead of driving your car, or reusing the same water bottle instead buying plastic all the time, composting instead of putting everything in your garbage that goes straight to the landfills which pollutes the air. Another easy way is to simply change certain cleaning products that you are using in your home. There are so many ways to make your own natural cleaning products instead of using ones that have harmful chemicals in them. You can also go and buy green cleaning products as well at your local grocery store, these can be a bit pricey so if you would like to make your own follow this simple process and go green!

Your oven is one of the most difficult appliances to clean in your home so the cleaners for this job tend to be very strong! Instead try this;

You can make a paste of baking soda and water, coat the surfaces of your over and I would use quite a bit, then leave this to sit over night to do its magic! In the morning when you wake up simply wash out with a hot damp cloth.

Ovens tend to have a lot of baked on grease and grime, try tea tree oil and anything citrus can also help with that mess.

Vinegar! Vinegar is used in a lot of naturally made products for your home as it is a very strong liquid and cleans very well. If your oven has a few really tough spots soak it in vinegar for about a two hours at minimum, the longer it sits you will get the best results. Then wipe away with a warm wash cloth.

To prevent how often you have to clean your oven try using an oven cover to prevent the splatter and spillage of whatever you are cooking. I always put a baking pan underneath my dishes in the oven and cover with aluminum foil which works just as well. This reduces the amount in which you will have to clean your oven and use harmful products if you don’t want to try these methods or if they don’t work for you!

Healthy Life Styles Make A Difference! 

Are you tired of looking up and seeing your outdated and old school popcorn ceilng from the 1950’s? I know I am, popcorn ceilings were so popular back in the day but reality is they are almost impossible to clean, they catch and hold onto dust like crazy and are really difficult to repair! If you are looking to modernize your home start with redoing your outdated popcorn styled ceiling. Here is how to redo your popcorn ceiling!

Scraping – This is by far the most popular and used method out there when removing your popcorn ceiling. Use a large, wide drywall scraper or utility knife to chip away at the textured roof, otherwise known as “popcorn” style. Depending on how large the surface area of your roof is this will most likely take some time so make sure to cancel any plans you have for that day! It usually doesn’t take much for it to come off the roof but you will have to re-mud lots of the area after you have removed all the textured parts. Once you are done with the mudding process you will need to then sand everything down to create a very smooth surface, my advice is instead of covering furniture with large tarps or drop cloths I would completely take all of your furniture out of the room, drywall dust gets EVERYWHERE and it can take forever to try and clean up! After you are fully done with all of these steps you can then paint!

Tip – I have heard that some people like to spray water onto their ceilings before scraping them to make it a bit easier to scrape but I would not recommend you do this. First off it creates a gigantic mess everywhere and if you have carpets well… (Enough said right there). Also it potentially can absorb into the roof and make it heavy, this can then start to crack or expand which you don’t want! If you do this it will just be way more time consuming and messy for you! It’s honestly best to scrape dry!

You could always hire someone to do this for you but if you someone who likes to tackle projects on your own then I hope this super simple process helps in updating your home! 

Your fridge is something you use and look at every day and where you store the food that you eat. I don’t know about you but this is something that I hate to look at if it’s starting to get dirty and grimy looking. Refrigerators aren’t always the most fun to clean and can be a challenge to get into all those little spots, but here are a few steps you can try to maintain its cleanliness.

If you notice that your fridge is starting to have a certain odor to it from the fruits and vegetables then you can try put some baking soda in a small container and placing it inside the crispers. You can also put some on the shelves as well. To give it a fresh scent you can cut a lemon in half and place it in your fridge as well. This won’t last two long as the lemon will start to dry out but it will last for a while until the baking soda has done its job.

It can be hard to wipe the shelves and drawers out while still in the fridge, so sometimes when I do my deep cleans I take all of this out and fill up my bath tub full of warm soapy water, I like to use dish soap than I wash them in the tub and let them air dry on a towel. This ensure that I get all the dirt build up off and it’s cleaned properly.

If you have glass shelves and want it to really shine and sparkle clean, then after washing everything and letting it dry fully I would take some glass cleaner (Windex) I use and wipe with that, this just gives it a little something extra!

You may notice that the small grate at the bottom of your refrigerator will collect a lot of dust bunnies and quite quickly as well and this tends to look a little unpleasant. For quick cleans you can just use a cloth to wipe the front off as much as possible, but I like to take the whole grate off and clean it in the tub or in your sink. I do this more often than the shelves and drawers because you see it more. It’s also not as much work and isn’t that big or difficult to maneuver.

Lastly the temperature, the range should be between 35-38 degree Fahrenheit. The purpose of your fridge is to just keep things cool, if you set your temperature to high then you will notice that all your vegetables and left overs etc. will start to freeze and that’s not a good thing! Or if you set it to low and it doesn’t keep your food cool enough then things will start to go bad as well. So it’s best to keep it between these numbers to ensure its doing its job properly.

I hope these little tricks and tips will help you keep your fridge looking and smelling its best!

There is nothing worse than opening up your microwave door to put food you are about to heat up and eat and seeing dirt and old food from previous warm ups covering it. I’ll give you some easy ways to clean your microwave out, but to maintain this problem you can actually buy a microwave lid that goes over top of your bowls or plates to prevent splatter from happening.

Fill up a bowl half full of water and add about 1 tablespoon of vinegar to it, you can add a bit more than that as well it won’t hurt anything. Put the bowl inside of your microwave and turn it on for about 5 mins give or take, the water will steam and loosen any of the stuck on food or dirt. Remove the bowl and wipe out with paper towel or any cleaning rag that you usually use when cleaning, the grime should wiper away easily with no hassle or scrubbing necessary.

Use a lemon, sounds weird and strange but it does work. Cut a lemon in half and place it cut side down on a plate with 1 tablespoon of water. Place it in your microwave and turn on until you see it get really steamy and hot. Once you have done this simply take the plate out and wipe out, this also gives it a nice, fresh smell too.

Last method to try is dish soap, fill a bowl half full with warm water and add as much dish soap to it as you think you will need, really depends on how bad your microwave is. Using the same method as the other two cleaning tips put the bowl in the microwave turn it on until you see it start to steam a fair amount, then take the bowl out. With this method you may want to clean it out with a sponge or something with a rough surface to it.

I hope these few simple and easy tips will make it easier for you to keep your microwave in tip top shape! 

Ever want to have a long, warm and relaxing bath at the end of a hard day’s work? You fill up your tub and go to lay or sit down in it and all you feel is the icky roughness of old and dirty soap scum. For me that is one of the worst feelings, to sit in a tub full of old soapy body dirt! Here are two very simple ways/methods that I have found to be the most effective in getting rid of that annoying and gross soap scum. 

This one sounds like its a little crazy but it ABSOLUTELY works and works well!

Powdered laundry detergent. The roughness of the powder plus the soap in the actual detergent make this so easy for you to clean! I just splash a little warm water all over the tub and throw the powdered laundry soap on the wet surfaces and start scrubbing. You don’t even need to let this sit for any amount of time you can just dive right in and start, I would recommend using a sponge or pad that has a rough surface especially for those tubs that can get really bad.

Baking soda. I think we can all agree that baking soda can be used in all sorts of cleaning methods and in all sorts of situations. You can really use as much as you want and it depends on how bad your bathroom is. All you need to do is get a cloth or whatever you use to clean with and sprinkle some baking soda on it and start scrubbing. If you are finding that your tub/shower is a little worse then you thought, then simply make a paste using vinegar.

A lot of the times cleaning problems like these can be a challenge and not everything always works, but these are the two ways that I find most helpful to reach your desired result! So instead of sitting and relaxing in your old caked on dirty tub try out these methods and start feeling a little more distressed.

Winter time is never an easy time, it’s always freezing outside your constantly bundling up and wiping the snow off of your car it’s just not a lot of people’s favorite season! The worst part for me during the winter is trying to keep my floors dry and clean! Nothing makes me bite my nails more than wet, muddy winter boots trampling all over my nice, clean dry floors. Here are a few simple yet super easy tips to try and keep you sane and off of your hands and knee a little less this winter season.

An outside walk off matt. You definitely need a sturdy durable heavy matt for in inside of your entry way, but if you put an equally good one on the outside of your door as well it will act as a first line of defense for all those mucky boots! It won’t take all the moisture off of your boots but it will help with that initial mud and snow!

Road salt. Road salt often gets caught underneath your boots and then gets tracked inside your home and onto your floors. This is not a good thing, the salt is very course and can easily scratch even the toughest of hardwoods, if you notice that any is getting caught or trapped inside be sure to take control of that situation right away it’s best to vacuum or sweep it up.

Cleaner. Make sure you use the right cleaner during the winter months. You can buy some cleaners that can help with access moisture on your floors, or keep the dirt from clinging so badly and looking awful. Go out and buy yourself some good quality cleaners so it makes your job a little less strenuous.

I don’t know if this bothers you as much as it does me in the winter, but if it does I hope that these simple, easy and effective ways give you a little break from cleaning your floors on a daily basis ( maybe only cleaning every two to three days ) Happy NOT scrubbing those floors as much! 

During the winter and summer months is when your HVAC is getting used the most, in these months I recommend changing out the filters once a month. Here are the reasons this will benefit your system;

It will extend the overall life of your heating ventilating and air conditioning unit. When the dirt builds up or accumulates in the filter air can’t pass through so it’s motor then has to work harder as a result and can also start to overheat. You may at that point depending how long this went on for have to get some repairs done, or worse case if you have an older unit you will most likely have to replace it and this can be very costly. To prevent this maybe set a reminder date for once a month to change out the filter.

Clean healthy air, does anyone in your household suffer from bad allergies or asthma? Having a dirty air filter will cause unclean air and can affect someone with these kinds of health concerns, also if you have pets pet dander can get caught in the filter and spread through your home a lot easier. Changing the filter is an easy step in keeping your overall air quality at its best.

Keeping a clean furnace filter can actually save you on energy costs believe it or not! When you have a clogged, dirty filter your unit has to work much harder to do it’s job resulting in using more energy which can cause a much higher bill. Simply keeping your filter clean and changed on a regular basis can save quite a bit on your monthly charges.

I hope that these few EASY and simple steps in keeping your furnace filter clean and up to date on it’s changes will keep your families air quality fresh and clean and hopefully save you a little extra a month to put toward something special! 

Dressing for the holidays or for any party can be a hard thing especially for women. Finding the perfect outfits can be so stressful and can add to the stress levels already there from the holidays in general. Here are some helpful tips to help you get through it a little easier!

Dress to fit your body! Everyone has different shapes and sizes and the best thing to do is to fit your body and feel comfortable. There are so many fashionable looks out there for all different kinds of body types, there is nothing worse than trying to get through an evening in something that is a little to snug for you. When you go out shopping for that perfect outfit there are tons of tailors out there that can help you find it! Don’t sell your body short if you are not a size 0 dress, make your style fit you and work it!

Add the right accessories! Accessories are the best way to take a simple look and make it look red carpet fabulous! Something easy like a great pair of earrings can really spice any look up, whether they are a pair a simple yet stylish studs, or long dangles it can really help with your look. Try downsizing from you regular purse where every woman keeps their entire life and find a small sleek looking clutch, this helps by taking a little baggage off your shoulders and leaves you with just what you need, cash, cards and maybe your touch up lip gloss! Lastly make a bold statement with an awesome looking, out there necklace and embrace your neckline!

Color. I know that the little black dress is something pretty much all of tend to gravitate to but try experimenting with some different color tons! Make an entrance in a bright red dress, or even a beautiful yellow tone! Try miss matching colors with your shoe color as well. Sometimes standing out in a crowd is better than always blending in I think, so go for it stand out and be beautiful!

I hope that all your Christmas parties create fun and lasting memories for you, be sure to look fabulous and be safe! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

If you and your family love the smell and look of a real Christmas tree at Christmas time then let me help you with a few tricks of the trade in keeping that spirit and tree looking its best this year! I know that a lot of people venture into the fake trees and let’s face it, it is way easier to maintain and virtually no clean up but having a real tree does help give your home more of a Christmas feel to it!

When you get home remember to trim the trees trunk about one & a half inch before placing it into warm water. If you are not putting your tree up right away be sure to store it in a heated area away from freezing temperatures and snow. When you are ready to set it up you should make another fresh cut off the trunk the same size then put it up in at least 1 gallon of water.

There is always limited space to put up nice big trees in your home or ever small ones as they do tend to take up a lot of room, but try and stay away from any heat sources like heat vents, fireplaces of any kind or radiators. Leaving it next to any of these things will dry the tree out way faster which is what you want to try and stay away from. If your home is regularly dry then you could always try putting a humidifier in the room for the length of time that your tree will be up for.

Be sure to keep your pale or whatever you are using to sit the tree in is always full of water or you water it on a very regular basis. Once the water level gets to the base of the trunk it creates a resin and the tree stops absorbing water and will die way quicker, and that’s the last thing you want is a dying tree for Christmas Day!

I hope these super simple and easy tricks will help you and your family have a beautiful, fresh and green tree this Christmas to enjoy! Happy Holidays Everyone!