Tips Archives - House Lift

Creative Ways To Add Seating to Your Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of your home. It is where your family gathers to start their day. It’s where you prepare your meals and memories together. When you host family and friends — despite your best efforts — it seems to be where everybody wants to hang out. Depending on how your kitchen is laid out, there may not be any seating in your kitchen. Depending on your budget, you might consider a kitchen remodel or you may need to consider some creative ways to add seating to your kitchen. Regardless of if you’re in a position to take on residential construction or if you need some clever low cost ideas on how to add a few seats, read on for some ways to increase your kitchen seating. It’s Beautiful on the Island If you have the space, a center island can accomplish a lot with just a few square feet. If you don’t have a space to utilize for a table and chairs, an island can give you a space to enjoy your morning coffee while another member of your family fixes themselves breakfast. If your kitchen is on the smaller side, you can still use a center...

Getting the Most Out of Your Home’s Natural Light

June 28, 2022
By House Lift
In Inspiration, Renovation, Tips & Tricks

If you own a home, learning how to increase its natural light is likely on your wishlist. A home flooded with natural light is welcoming and makes us feel rejuvenated. Exposure to daylight has been linked to better moods and overall well-being. Increasing the natural light in a room makes colors more vibrant and décor more eye-catching. For many people, natural light is a “must-have” feature in a home, followed by a large garden and an open-plan kitchen or dining room. Poor natural lighting is often a reason why homeowners feel unhappy with their home’s appearance. Homebuyers also tend to find brighter homes more appealing than darker ones. When it comes to home design, we are always thinking of ways to boost natural light. If you are considering a dream home makeover, read on for the best ways to add more light. Update Your Flooring You’d be surprised how much of an impact the right flooring can have on your home’s natural light. Flooring can be transformed into light-friendly reflectors by choosing wood, ceramic or stone with a polished finish. Light wood floors, especially whitewash wood floors, have been around for centuries. Home renovation companies often suggest wood flooring because...

From Idea to Breaking Ground – Steps to Remodeling Your Home

Remodeling is a great way to invest in your home. Remodeling projects not only add property value, they can help you find greater enjoyment and better use of your space. The popularity of home improvement programming shows that many people daydream about how they’d upgrade their houses, and the renovation and remodeling industry continues to grow. When homeowners get inspired to change things up in their home, they can quickly become overwhelmed by the logistics of the project. With the right planning, pacing and professional support, remodeling can be much easier to navigate than one would expect. House Lift has provided remodeling and renovation services for more than 30 years. Keep reading to learn about the steps you can take for a smooth remodeling project, from idea to breaking ground. 1. Organize Your Inspiration Before you start sizing up your space, vetting contractors or pricing materials, it’s important to know what you want. Assess which rooms and areas of your home you’re interested in remodeling. Start by listing what you love about each existing space and what you’d like to change. This will help you prioritize your goals for your home renovation. Next, find style inspiration to inform your remodeling...

Steps to (Finally) Finishing Your Basement

Homeowners are attracted to finishing a basement for a number of reasons. A finished basement adds usable living space to a home for recreation, exercise facilities, home bar and entertainment areas, and comfortable, private guest accommodations. Finished basements can also help homes stand out in the housing market, attracting higher offers. Finishing the basement also provides homeowners with an opportunity to check in on structural needs and important maintenance to keep the whole house in healthy shape. If finishing the basement has been on your list of things to do for a while, the remodeling and renovation professionals at House Lift have some helpful steps you can take to finally get your project moving along. Step 1: Identify Your Goals The general idea of finishing a basement can float around for a while, but identifying the specific goals you’d like to achieve is the best way to jumpstart your project. Maybe you’re looking to add space for a growing family, have a more pleasant environment for laundry and recreation, or you’d like to create a home theatre experience. Perhaps you simply want to add resale value to your home. Whatever your needs may be, identifying your goals for your finished...

Hygge Home Ideas to Warm You Through Spring

“Hygge” is a Danish and Norwegian word that defines the feeling of a warm, cozy, welcoming environment that inspires a sense of wellness, comfort, and conviviality. Hygge is a year-round value in Denmark and Norway, but as they enter their long dark winters, hygge goes into high gear. While Minnesota winters aren’t as intense as these northern neighbors’, we could learn a thing or two from them about how to prioritize the sense of hygge in our homes during the cold seasons. The House Lift team loves inspiring a sense of comfort in homes, and we’d love to share some hygge inspiration to make this season bright. 1. Embrace Warm Lighting Lighting has a transformative effect. Candles are considered hygge because of the gentle, warm light they provide. Proven to inspire relaxation, comfort, and light-heartedness, bringing out the candles in winter can ease the stress of cold commutes, uncooperative appliances and vehicles, and winter storms. In addition to candles, utilizing your fireplace and setting up twinkle lights are great ways to create hygge lighting and add a spirit of warmth and magic to your winter home. 2. Get Snuggly The comfort provided by blankets is so profound that’s been the...

5 Tips for Making a Kitchen Herb Garden

When it comes to creating a perfect home-cooked meal, fresh herbs are the perfect addition. The refreshing combination of rich flavors that a small amount of herbs can add to a dish and define it. When it comes to herbs, fresh is best. If you are cooking regularly, or crafting meals for a larger family, having your own source of fresh herbs might make sense. This will allow you access to a plentiful supply of the freshest ingredients, livening up your meals and saving you trips to the grocery store. However, creating a kitchen herb garden is no throw-away endeavor. A garden that flourishes takes time, intention, and the right knowledge. Let us help with that! Here are 5 tips for making your perfect kitchen herb garden. 1. Choose the Ideal Location If possible, consider keeping your herb garden outdoors. Herbs require large amounts of sunlight (ideally, more than 6 hours per day), and this is often hard to achieve in a kitchen. If you are lacking the outdoor space, choose the room with the most natural light indoors to house your herbs. You can always invest in a lighting setup to ensure your indoor herbs grow healthily as well....

5 Summer DIY Project Ideas

Your home and outdoor spaces are full of untapped potential! As the days get longer and the weather gets warmer, the opportunity to change up your space with a do-it-yourself project is even more at hand. The process is rewarding, and the end result is uniquely yours, naturally adding character. Here are some DIY projects you can try this season. 1. Build a Fire Pit A fire pit is a great addition to any outdoor space. It adds ambiance and even promotes community. You can use it to grill too! Choose a pit that’s right for your style and the size of your space. Don’t forget to check your local laws for rules and restrictions on outdoor fires. 2. Make a Garden We recommend building a raised garden bed. Its simplicity and versatility make it a smart addition to any yard. Choose the size and style you want for your garden bed and gather materials. Don’t forget the soil! Your new garden will give a polished look while displaying pretty flowers or providing fresh herbs. 3. Create Fun Lighting New lighting is one of the biggest contributors to a kitchen, bath, or home remodel, but even small changes can improve...

Tips for Spring Cleaning Your Appliances

Spring cleaning – it’s that gritty process you’re thankful only occurs once a year. But giving your house a facelift is a great way to start off the fair-weather season the right way, even if it takes some effort and a few rolls of paper towels. However, when we freshen up our homes in the springtime, we normally neglect our appliances. In fact, there may be a couple that you only clean in the case of a spill, or have never cleaned at all. But how exactly do you go about cleaning your appliances? Is it possible to do it yourself? In short, there are some easy steps you can take to spruce up the cleanliness of your kitchen appliances without hiring a professional cleaner or shelling out for expensive chemicals. Keep reading to see our top tips for cleaning out each appliance this spring: Microwave Place a microwaveable container filled with water and a few lemon wedges in the mic, and nuke it for 3 minutes. The vapor and lemon will loosen any stains and smells living in your microwave. Let it cool down, and give it a wipe. Easy peasy! Oven Similar to your new microwave strategy, place...

Ways to Prep Your Home for the Holidays

The holidays are upon us here in the Twin Cities and whether you are able to celebrate with family and friends this year or your holiday plans have been postponed, what better way to add some cheer to the season with some easy home upgrades and festive decor! Here are 3 ways to prep your home for the holidays: Winter Cleaning Giving your home a deep clean prior to the arrival of guests goes a long way. Of course cleaning the main rooms of the house where guests will congregate first will allow you to feel more prepared, but doing a deep clean on corners and closets and other out-of-sight locations will help relax your mind so you can focus on spending quality time with your family, rather than worrying about what the guests think of your home. A clean home promotes a sense of well-being that will carry over into your holiday. Consider it your early spring cleaning. Stock Up On Supplies To avoid the unwanted stress of holiday shopping, try stocking up on necessary items well in advance. Items ranging from food, to household supplies, to holiday gifts can be purchased before the holiday season so that when...

How To Organize Your Closet

As we transition into the fall and back-to-school, it’s important to keep a tidy closet space to stay organized. Here’s some tips from House Lift to organize your closet: Design Your closet space should work for you and your family’s lifestyle. Consider if you want a walk-in, California, or hidden closet, ask yourself the following questions to see what kind of closet you need: What are your style needs? How do you plan to use your closet? How will your family use the closet? Is your family messy or organized? Do you value function or style more? Organize If you create places for all of the things in your closet it makes it easier to clean and creates a more tidy look. Try shelf dividers to keep your folded shirts, organize jewelry on a jewelry tree, install a pegboard on the wall for backpacks or raincoats, find a shoe rack to lift shoes off the floor, or buy matching storage boxes to hide sweatshirts, scarves, or sunglasses. Simplify The easiest way to streamline your closet is to invest in hangers that match. Matching hangers not only tie your closet together, but also highlight your wardrobe. If you or your kids...

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