3 Ways to Put a Personal Touch on a Home

If you’ve recently purchased a home and don’t feel like it quite “feels like you” yet, it may be time to consider some updates. The only way to make your new house feel “like home” is to add your own personal touches. Check out these three ways to add a little piece of you to any house.

1. Exterior Window Cleaning Services

While you can add your own special touches to the outside of your home like a nice bench or adding a unique welcome mat, no one is going to notice any of that if the house is covered in dirt, grime, and cobwebs. The cleaning services offer window cleaning, pressure washing, gutter cleaning, and gutter guard installation services to keep your home looking like new. With their exclusive streak-free cleaning formula, your windows will sparkle and resist hard water stains from outdoor water. Be sure to ask them about their “soft” power washing and pressure washing services as well to keep the driveway, sidewalks, deck, and the outsides of the house as clean as can be.

Depending on your outdoor situation, those gutters can get, well, disgusting. Unfortunately, the dangers of dirty gutters include mold, infestations, water in the basement, leaks in the roof, broken gutters, and water damage to the home. Gutters should be cleaned at least twice a year (once in the spring and once in the fall) to get rid of foliage buildup, to keep them draining properly, and to avoid costly repairs. While you can do this yourself, it’s going to be a whole lot easier to have your gutter cleanings done by professionals who will know the signs of damage and have the best ways to get your gutter cleanings done efficiently keeping your drainage systems working optimally every season.

2. Pet-Safe Plants

You can make a home feel more like “yours” by simply adding some houseplants or planting a garden. Something as small as “low-cost landscaping” can increase curb appeal, which in turn increases resale value.

Whether it’s for planting outside or decorating your home with houseplants, you can find a wide selection of cat-safe plants. Every plant sold here tells you in detail what kind of environment it will thrive in (low light, bright light, high light, indirect sunlight, direct sunlight, humidity levels, details about regular watering, etc.) so you know whether to plant it outside or make it a houseplant. If you’re looking for non-toxic plants such as spider plants (scientific name: Chlorophytum comosum), African Violets, Boston ferns, Parlor Palms, Bird's Nest Ferns, Christmas Cactus, and certain varieties of ferns and succulents, you can find them here.

Why cat safe you may wonder? Well, any plant consumption can cause gastrointestinal upset such as diarrhea or vomiting in pets, but some can be life-threatening. Always get your pet checked out by a veterinarian if you think they have consumed a toxic plant. To get houseplants and/or safe plants to plant that your curious cat can nibble on without risking death, check out Lively Roots.

3. Redecorating

Part of the deal of making a new house feel like your home is getting to redecorate! Not only is this a fun and relatively low maintenance thing to do, but according to the previously mentioned Investopedia article, something as simple as repainting the front door can increase your curb appeal (and your resale value). Repainting specific walls inside the house, adding some decorative pieces to the walls, and adding some throw pillows and new rugs can profoundly change up a room.

Or decorate with something that reminds you of your hobbies and/or good deeds. For example, if you donate to the Peter G. Dodge Foundation, which strives to help people struggling with alcohol use disorder (AUD), then consider hanging up a decorative pair of snow skis in a room. Considering that Peter Dodge coaches the Dartmouth skiing team hoping to make it to the World Cup, this is a great homage to him.

To make living in your home a better experience, consider picking colors that do positive things to the mind when decorating. Scientific studies have shown the effects of color on the brain—such as red increasing strength, but decreasing analytical performance and green being linked to creative thinking. Warm colors have been linked to feelings of physical warmth and hunger whereas cooler colors have been linked to physically cooler temperatures. Across the world, shades of blue seem to be the most popular. This is especially relevant when painting a room, but it’s worth considering before deciding on a color scheme as well.