CANDY WASHINGTON

WRITER | PRODUCER | MANIFESTATION + SELF-LOVE MUSE

home decor

Easy Ways to Keep Your Home Running Perfectly

Home Decor, LifestyleCandy WashingtonComment

Hi lovelies,

Being a homeowner brings with it a lot of benefits. Having the freedom to unleash your inner interior designer and decorate your rooms in your own style has to be one of the biggest benefits! However, there are also a lot of responsibilities that come with owning your home. Taking care of every aspect of your property is essential to keep it running smoothly. Regularly maintaining your home will help save you from the hassle of lots of bigger problems and expense in the future.

Here are some of the ways that you can make sure that your home stays looking great and in perfect working order:

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Clear Out Your Clutter
Clutter is something that seems to creep into your home over time slowly. Everything can be neat and tidy, then one day you will look around to find that you are surrounded by mounds of ‘stuff.’ Clutter is a problem for many reasons, but some of the main issues are that it attracts dust and can be a major trip hazard too! 

Having lots of clutter littering your house can make it feel like an unorganized place to live, and in turn, can make life feel more stressful. To be able to relax in your home you will want it to feel like a homely sanctuary. Unfortunately, lots of clutter can have the opposite effect, and instead, create a stressful living environment.

Decluttering doesn’t have to be a huge hassle. You can make decluttering manageable by taking time to tidy things away little and often. This is the key to keeping your home clutter-free and fabulous.

Don’t Skip Services
As a homeowner, sometimes you will inevitably need to call in the professionals. Calling in a technician is not something that only needs to happen when something breaks; it is something that you should do to keep your home well-maintained. Getting items such as your HVAC serviced regularly by a company such as mes-ac.com is crucial to keeping it working at its best. Not getting your heating and air conditioning means that potential issues won’t be picked up. If your HVAC unit then breaks you could find yourself uncomfortably hot in the scorching summer, and freezing in the winter months.

Don’t Ignore Warning Signs
The best way to handle potential problems in your home before they become a significant issue is to get them sorted out as soon as you notice them. If you think that you may have a leak, or you have seen a crack, it is far better to get it checked out when it first appears. Ignoring potential issues allows them to become a bigger problem at a later date. By taking action early, you will help to prevent the problem from escalating further.

Spring Clean
Spring cleaning is the ultimate way of showing your home some love. A good top to toe clean will help you identify any issues such as mold or mildew, and will help your home look at its very best.

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*Photo credit for this collaborative post: Image credit - Pexels CC0 License

3 Ways to Turn Your Home into a De-Stressing Centre

Home Decor, LifestyleCandy WashingtonComment
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Hi lovelies,

Stress will kill you. That’s something we’ve all been told growing up, and it’s also one of those bits of folksy wisdom that also turns out to be backed up by scientific evidence.

When our stress levels are elevated, it’s not just a matter of us “feeling” one way or another. The sensation of stress is connected to “stress hormones,” particularly cortisol and adrenaline. In short-term situations, elevated levels of these hormones may save our lives. But when they are heightened over a prolonged period of time, they contribute to systematic damage to the various organs of the body – not to mention premature ageing.

Our homes should be naturally relaxing paradises – but often they just add to the stress we are already experiencing.

Here are some tips on how to turn your home into a de-stressing centre, instead.

Fill it with furniture and features that up the comfort level dramatically

It would be difficult to relax and de-stress your home, if you had no comfortable furniture, and the overall ornamentation and style of the home naturally worked against you.

The first step in helping to turn your home into a de-stressing paradise, is to get some furniture that you find both comfortable and visually appealing. For some, that may mean classic shell chairs, for others, the kind of plush sofas you can melt into.

It’s generally pretty easy to figure out when your furniture is making it more difficult for you to relax. Just ask yourself the question, “is there anywhere in this house other than the bed where I’d feel comfortable curling up with a good book?”

If not, you’ve got some work to do.

Be sparing with the gadgets – and don’t have too many things going at one time

It’s difficult to de-stress when you are constantly being bombarded with information from all sides at once. And yet, that is the situation that most of us find ourselves in, in the modern world.

Not only do we have to deal with the demands of our bosses, take care of those ominous-looking letters from Inland Revenue, and deal with everything that goes along with maintaining family and social connections – but we also have to deal with dozens of daily news reports that convince us that we’re facing the end times. Then, there’s the latest entertainment gossip, and more.

If you want your home to be a de-stress paradise, consider going easy on the gadgets. Specifically, spend less time online, and less time watching TV.

Also, try to do only one thing at a time if you can, rather than overloading your attention and stressing yourself out by “multitasking.”

Always have the fridge stocked with nutritious, home-cooked meals

It’s hardly a secret that home-cooked meals, from whole food ingredients, are better for us than processed snacks.

But it’s not only a matter of how long you might live, or how free you might be from some kind of illness years down the line. Eating nutritious food – and the right amount of it – helps to regulate your hormones and keep everything behaving as it should.

When you don’t have enough nutritious food in the house, you’ll likely tend to either starve yourself (which contributes to significantly elevated stress hormone levels), or you will order takeaway, and experience mood and energy instability as a result.

Cook your food in big batches, and always keep the fridge stocked with nutritious meals.

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*Photo credit for collaborative post: Pixabay - CC0 License

Simple Ways To Make Your Home Feel Like a Home

Home Decor, LifestyleCandy WashingtonComment
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Hi lovelies,

Moving into a new house can be stressful. Even once the boxes are put away and you’ve put up your gallery wall, there can still be a feeling of newness that can stop you from feeling 100% comfortable. Sometimes it can take until your moving in party, or once your decorating is completely finished to allow you to settle into the feeling of being truly home. 

Many renters and house-sharers know that there is a huge difference between simply living in a place where you go to eat, sleep and wash and a home that really feels like home and you feel comfortable in. There's often the difficulty of not being able to decorate, knowing that your tenancy is only for a year and also living with people who you may not know.  But a sense of home is all about how you see things, and regardless of the external factors it is possible to curate true warmth, joy and personality no matter where you’re living.

Figuring out how to make your house feel like a real home is about finding out what makes you feel safe and cosy at home. Only you know what truly makes you feel at peace and warm, safe, and happy, but by sitting down and brainstorming on what those things are and then coming up with creative ways on how  to incorporate them into your house or apartment is the first step toward creating a sense of home. Here are some ideas to get you started.

First Impressions 
The hallway is a great starting place and goes a long way in creating the initial impression people have when entering your home.  Make sure your passage is clear of shoes, bags and other clutter. Keeping the colours light and airy to help the space feel less claustrophobic. Keep a door mat on both sides of the door to stop dirt and mud from the outside creating a mess on your carpets. 

Keep Your Clutter Away and Clean Up 
No-one likes mess and unnecessary clutter. A messy or unclean home can invite a whole host of health problems not to mention invite yucky vermin into you home. Think you’ve got a rat or mice problem? Sort it out quickly by hiring a pest control service, to get your home feeling safe and clean again as soon as possible. 

Let Your Nose Do The Talking
Nothing is nicer than entering a home that smells great. Smell plays a huge role in creating a pleasing environment. Fill your home with air diffusers, incense, scented candles or even fresh flowers, for a home that smells clean and lovely. 

Let The Sun Shine!
It’s a well-known fact that colours can affect our moods. Cool colours like sky blue or lilac are known for being fresh while yellows are known for being invigorating. Warm and autumnal colours are known for making a room feel relaxing. Warms also work really well with neutrals and allow you to keep your space from looking too bland. 

Your home should reflect your personality.
Most importantly, being authentic to your own personal tastes and interior style will instantly add character and atmosphere in your home. If you create an environment that you love to be in, the rest should naturally follow. 

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HOME DECOR: How Every Lifestyle Influencer Elevates Their At-Home Experience With Dr. Vranjes Room Diffusers

Lifestyle, Home DecorCandy WashingtonComment

Hi lovelies,

One of my favorite ways to make my place feel like a home, is to make sure that it always smells yummy and sweet.

When scented candles just won’t cut it, I turn to Dr. Vranjes Scented Room Diffusers, plus by using the room diffuser, I never have to worry if I left my candles burning when I leave or go to sleep, so it’s a safe way to create an inviting, pleasant, and warm home environment, without the worry.

My favorite scent is the Rosso Nobile, which makes my home blossom with the sweet scent of bouquets of the finest Tuscan wines. It’s the ideal way to enhance my mood and the mood of my guests along with creating a stress-free ambiance while enhancing an overall sense of happiness and wellbeing.

DR. VRANJES FIRENZE ROSSO NOBILE ROOM DIFFUSER

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