For some, Labor Day is the perfect time to get in a few days of relaxation, and for the rest of us, it’s a time to catch up on home improvement work that got skipped over. Here’s three quick home improvements you can make this weekend that still leave plenty of time for soaking up the last rays of sun:
Refresh your home (inside and out) with a new coat of paint.
Sometimes, the smallest projects have the power to make all the difference for your home’s appearance. Touch up you exterior paint job on siding and window frames before unpleasant weather conditions get in your way. Or paint your front door a bright color to quickly update your home’s curb appeal. Front doors are the ultimate first-impression, so be sure to pick a color that shows some personality and complements the rest of your home!
While the outside of your home may be the first thing guests see, don’t forget to keep up on the inside too. Whether you change the wall color entirely or just touch up chipped paint spots (or messy handprints from the kids), paint is an easy, low-cost, way to make a space look like new.
Make some environmentally conscious changes.
Did you know lighting makes up one fifth of energy costs in the average household? And because lightbulbs are all over your home, they often get left on in empty rooms — making them a drain on your electricity bill.
If you’re using incandescent bulbs in your home, they may work just fine, but they are an energy suck. Swap out your old bulbs for more energy-efficient ones like LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). LEDs are the most dependable light today, they last longer than incandescent bulbs, and they’re available at Home Depot and Walmart.
Another way to go green at home: start a compost pile. Composting does a lot of good for the environment, like reducing the amount of garbage in landfills, lowering the amount of methane produced by landfills, and preventing runoff and soil erosion. It’s simple to get started in just four steps — learn more here.
Add some smarts
Smart home tech is a great way to update your home and give you peace of mind. With all the different smart device options available, you can make your life a little easier, and smarter, for less money than you would expect. Some of the best investments you can make, for your home and your family, are in voice-activated assistants and home monitoring systems.
Voice-activated assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home are the perfect first step to starting your smart home, and a convenient way to get help with day-to-day tasks like checking your schedule and finding out what your morning commute time looks like before you leave the house. You can also add multiple users so that the whole family can take advantage of your new smart home technology.
Sure, we’re biased, but Notion is a great way to retrofit your home to add smarts to almost anything you want to monitor. With multiple senses packed into each sensor, you can easily (and simultaneously) monitor doors opening and closing, temperature, and smoke alarms sounding by placing sensors throughout your home. Then set custom alerts in the Notion app to stay on top of the activity in your home, all for a fraction of the cost of traditional home security systems.
