Essential Ways to Save Money on the Exterior of your Home:

Bring in any delicate outdoor furniture, especially anything made of aluminum, which will rust during the cold wet months of winter. If you have firewood outside or any similar items, cover them with a tarp to protect them from snow. If you have in-ground plants that will not survive a frost, try using deep mulch around their bases, or consider structures to protect them from frost in your winter home. Apartment Therapy has 7 tips to prepare your outdoor home this winter.

Seal Gaps in your Winter Home:

Now is the time to search your home for gaps that allow cold air inside. These will typically be found around windows and doors. This is a great time to give your walls a visible pest inspection. Though pests like termites will be more or less dormant during the coldest days, they should still be easy to spot. You can get them exterminated before they go back to business in the spring!

Use the Attic Insulation for Additional Ways to Save Money

Insulation is a great way to keep your heat inside, and your heat bills low. If you don’t have attic insulation, it’s as simple as blowing some in with a rented machine. If you don’t have it in your walls, it could be worth the expense and trouble to have it put in. You’ll be amazed at home much warmer your home feels, and how much less it costs to warm it up. Consider upgrading windows, too, for this same purpose.

Prepare your Winter Home for Ice Outdoors:

If you are going to have wet and cold mixed together, you can bet that your house will be surrounded by ice. It’s important for your safety and mobility to pre-treat your stairs, walkways, and other hard surfaces with ice melt, well before accumulation comes into the picture. This item tends to sell out in grocery stores whenever a storm is on the horizon, so stock up before it is an absolute necessity. It’s important to remember that these ice melt salt crystals should be swept up when they are no longer in use. Left on your sidewalks, they can lead to premature wearing, and the chemicals in the salt should be kept out of the water supply. These outdoor tips from DIY can help you prepare your winter home for ice.

We hope that your winter is a bit snugger and cozier with these tips. Properly prepared, you’ll be ready for anything winter weather can throw at you. You’ll enjoy a comfortable winter, free from the anxiety of the person who didn’t prepare as well as you. Have a mug of cocoa and sit back. You earned it.

For more outdoor home ideas and ways to save money, see Stagetecture’s archives.

Winter Gardening: The Best Winter Plants and Gardening Tips

Our friends at Oeco Garden Rooms has a family run gardening business that has been helping people create bespoke garden spaces of their liking designed to survive even the harshest winters and they help to improve your winter gardening. The garden specialists have shared some tips to create the perfect winter green space.

Gardening in Winter: Tip to Cover your Ugly & Bare Areas

In winter, when leaves and colorful flowers start to wither the bare patches in your garden floor start to appear. These uncovered spaces here and there give your garden a very bad appearance and can hurt the roots of your dormant plants and vegetation.

There are  gardening tips hacks which you can use to add structure to your garden. Wall gardens, hedges and raised flower beds are a few. The best thing about these hacks is that you can repurpose them at different times of the year. Kevin Lee Jacobs gives these helpful tips for gardening in winter with these raised flower bed ideas.

Choosing the Best Winter Gardening Flowers for the Colors of the Seasons

Choosing the best seasonal colors for your winter garden can help beautify it. For example, you can use white and red flowers such as Hellebores during the winter season. Christmas roses are another good choice for the cold season. The pink and white color pastels generate big leaves that can help conceal those bare spots in your garden. The best part is that this plant survives all winter. Need help in growing your Christmas roses this year? Amateur Gardening gives gardening tips for winter to help you!

If you are looking for an evergreen plant, go for Sarcococca, which is famously known as the Christmas Box or Sweet Box.

The Best Winter Flowers for the Season

Clematis Jingle Bells are gorgeous white flowers that can decorate your garden during December and January. This plant would need some extra care, as it can grow very tall. Holly tree and Cotoneaster Horizontalis are some vibrant plants to add color and life to your garden.

Winter Gardening can Inspire your Winter Home too!

Who doesn’t love for their winter home to smell delicious? The delicious aroma of oranges, spices, and cinnamon inside the house reminds you, that winter is here. A good-looking winter garden is incomplete without Witch Hazel. The gorgeous yellow flowers give this amazing licorice scent. Winter Honeysuckle has this fresh lemony fragrance that you will not be able to resist.

Adorn your Green Heaven

Your garden during the dark and long winter nights will look more magnificent if you decorate it with fairy lights or lantern to give it a homey feel. Hang lights on the trees or bushes. You can beautify the garden’s boundary with lanterns too. Use ribbons, tinsels etc, to add color and vitality to your green space.

This winter don’t think your outdoor home has to be boring! Take a look at these winter gardening tips and let us know which plants you love to grow.

Table Decor: Centerpiece Ideas for Your Winter Home

Image via: Spoonful

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Pinecone Centerpiece

Whip up your gold, silver or white spray paint and cover a wreath or a few medium sized pine cones with a quick coat. Either place the coated pine cones around a candle or hot glue them to a wreath and place a candle with the holder in the center.

Colorful Seasonal Fruit Bowl

Fill a glass bowl with variety of fruits for a modern winter centerpiece. In a tall, clear glass vase put alternating layers of seasonal fruits such as crab apples, pears, fresh cranberries, and more. Make sure to put some cold water to keep the fruits from going brown. If you are throwing a winter party, add some gold glass beads into the same centerpiece to add in some sparkle factor.

Image via: Pinterest

White Flowers

When it comes to table decor, a simple vase of flowers is a popular choice throughout the year. While bright colors like yellow, orange, and pink don’t exactly suggest winter, white flowers like peonies and garden roses reminds us of snow and thus make for perfect winter centerpieces. You can either opt for a simple vase or include some white flowers into a more detailed centerpiece.

 Image via: Elizabeth Anne Designs

Winter Branch Centerpiece

Get several long branches and spray paint them with silver or white. Put them in a clear tall vase along with acrylic ice chips, stones, and clear pebbles. Now string a small set of batter operated white lights all over the branches. Finish the look with a white or a silver colored ribbon bow tied around the top of the vase. For some added warmth, you can also place few votive candles around the winter branch centerpiece.

Having a right centerpiece that fits into the season can be a great focal point to any room and help you feel more festive. Use these few of the many table decor ideas to create your own winter centerpiece or update your present one.

While each season has its own little reasons for a makeover, spring is a perfect time to update and freshen up your home. Being a time of renewal and rebirth, it encourages cleaner, fresher, and brighter surroundings. To help you update, here are some quick and easy ideas to bring spring into your winter home.

How to Bring Spring into your Winter Home

Image via: bhg.com

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Update fabrics

Replace fabric items with new, brighter options. Changing things like towels, bed sheets, comforter covers, and throw pillows can do an instant makeover. Choose floral and pastel prints to reflect the rebirth of nature. Let similar theme run between all your accents to make your home seem unified and comfortable.

Decorate with color

Freshen up your home with a new coat of paint. Colors that are soft and airy such as light blue or pistachio often yell spring. Opt for different shades of your chosen color for the rest of your décor.

Bring in nature

Bring in some plants to your home. They add a touch of nature by adding color and warmth. One or two potted plants per room make it more inviting, and their green colors reflect the beauty of the season.

Centerpiece

Image via: homebunch.com

Complete your spring home with a centerpiece of fresh flowers for the coffee or dining table. Blooms like daisies or tulips are perfect for the spring season. White daisies provide a striking effect to an area that is adorned with pastel shades. The aroma and bright colors will remind that spring is in the air.

Bring in light

Brighten up your home with some lamps. Alternatively, if you have lot of windows take down the heavy wintry drapes and replace them with light panels. Leave them open to let the natural light in.

Overall, updating your spring home does not have to be expensive or complicated. Simply bring in nature to the rooms, add a sense of openness, and mirror the seasonal colors. Have any tips to bring spring into your winter home.

For more home decor ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Want to create a cozy haven as temperatures drop outside? There are many ways to do so. The dreadful weather outdoors shouldn’t stop your home from being the sanctuary it deserves to be. With a few simple ideas, you can transform it into a warm winter escape. Here is how to add warmth to your winter decorating.

Winter Decorating Ideas for a Cozy Home

Throws in your cozy interiors

Throws instantly make a place feel warmer even when they are not in use. Drape them over sofas or chairs for quick access to extra warmth. Cable-knit throws are homely while faux-fur blankets give a place a sense of luxury. Sheepskins can instantly add warmth to a room. Place the throws near places where you and your family like to unwind.

Image by: Houzz

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Candle ideas in your winter home

Winter comes with longer nights which can take their toll on your energy bills. To help cut costs and also warm up the space, add candles. They are inexpensive and help create a cozy and romantic atmosphere. Place them in crystal candleholders or glass hurricanes to ensure the lights reflect off the surface. You can even put them in large lanterns on the fireplace hearth.

Image by: Gaby Cardenas

Rugs add warmth and character to your home

For warm texture underfoot, add an area rug. A fluffy rug can help set off your living room. You can add visual interest and create a style statement by layering one rug on top of another. If you had sisal rugs in summer, replace them with shag rugs and give your feet a treat. Bright white rugs look stunning against dark wood flooring.

Image by: Zillow

Winter Whites

While most people use white décor pieces in summer, the color is also a good option for winter. You can drape a crisp white sheet over your dining table and layer a lace tablecloth over it. Choose an ivory tablecloth to add texture and depth. Since winter decorating is all about layering, cover the dining chairs to give the room a laid-back feel. Chair coverings add warmth and style to a neutral dining room.

Winter’s shorter days and colder nights give you the perfect opportunity to create a cozier home. Whether you are hosting guests or simply relaxing on the couch alone, use these tips and turn your home into the perfect winter escape.

For more winter decorating ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

How to Listen In & Call-In!

January 16, 2013 at 12:00pm- 12:30pm EST

On Stagetecture Radio — > Listen here: or go to https://stagetecture.com/episode11

Want to call in and ask me a question? (713) 955-0779(713) 955-0779

Did you Miss the Show? Listen Here:

Topics for Episode #11

“Protecting your Winter Home”

Protect your winter home and family from pests with helpful tips for keeping your family safe from intruders such as rodents, bugs and more. I interview “Do My Own Pest Control” and learn green tips, and essential information to keep your winter home comfortable for all! See their guest blog on Stagetecture – Protecting your home from unwanted pests here.

111 Simple Tips Ebook: All tips are highlights are for saving time and money are in the book.

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Follow Pinterest Board – Stagetecture Radio Show

Want to see all of the great inspiration for today’s show? Follow my Pinterest board for each episode to lend inspiration you can do at home to complete the look

Pinterest —> See pictures here: or go to https://stagetecture.com/Pinterest

How to Download from iTunes

Did you miss the show, or want to download on iTunes so you can listen to again? You can look for Stagetecture Radio show every Wednesday after the show and download my episode or any of the other shows.

If you love the show – please leave a review in iTunes

iTunes —> Download podcast here: or go to https://stagetecture.com/itunes

All ideas are highlights from 111 Simple Tips Ebook – get your copy here!

Can’t wait to have you join me. See or “talk with you” then!

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, & Stagetecture’s YouTube Channel, click here.

Happy New Year Stagetecture Radio and how is January treating you and your home? Does it seem cold and lifeless now that the holidays have past? Instead of getting in a winter slump, perk up your home with color, lights, windows, and creative green solutions. This Wednesday, January 9th at 12pm EST join me on Stagetecture Radio – ‘Your Weekly Home at Stagetecture”, when we talk about brightening up your winter home.

How to Listen In & Call-In!

at 12:00pm- 12:30pm EST

On Stagetecture Radio — > Listen here: or go to https://stagetecture.com/episode10

Want to call in and ask me a question? (713) 955-0779

Did you Miss the Show? Listen Here:

Topics for Episode #10

“Brightening your Winter Home”

Want to perk up you cold winter home? Listen in for creative ways to bring light to your dark winter home with ideas for: colors, lighting fixtures, windows, textiles, flowers & more!

111 Simple Tips Ebook: All tips are highlights are for saving time and money are in the book.

[ad#co-1]

Follow Pinterest Board – Stagetecture Radio Show

Want to see all of the great inspiration for today’s show? Follow my Pinterest board for each episode to lend inspiration you can do at home to complete the look

Pinterest —> See pictures here: or go to https://stagetecture.com/Pinterest

How to Download from iTunes

Did you miss the show, or want to download on iTunes so you can listen to again? You can look for Stagetecture Radio show every Wednesday after the show and download my episode or any of the other shows.

If you love the show – please leave a review in iTunes

iTunes —> Download podcast here: or go to https://stagetecture.com/itunes

All ideas are highlights from 111 Simple Tips Ebook – get your copy here!

Can’t wait to have you join me. See or “talk with you” then!