They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. But when it comes to houses, the exterior can be just as important as the interior if selling or buying. When selling, it is the outside, or the home’s curb appeal that often determines whether the inside is ever seen. How a house ‘shows’ from the street can tell a potential buyer a lot about what it may be like inside. Even if the inside is the sparkling, charming, structurally sound dream home they’ve been searching for, a buyer is not going to forget a cracked driveway, fallen shutters, overgrown grass and flower beds.

To most of us, electricity is simply flicking a switch or turning a dial to light up a room, cook supper or get instant entertainment.  We take it for granted — that is, until there’s a power failure and we have to scramble to find flashlights, candles and matches in the dark.

It’s hard for an avid gardener to put down their spade come winter. That’s why so many choose to garden year-round. Whether it is wintering expensive outdoor annuals inside your home, investing in a small greenhouse or growing miniature indoor gardens on window ledges and in special containers, there are many ways to keep gardening all year.

If your annual spring cleaning ritual has produced a mountain of unused and unwanted items, you may want to think twice before you simply toss them out. How about a yard sale to turn some of that “junk” into someone else’s “treasure?”

Sometimes, all it takes is a few simple fix-ups to improve the look of your home and make it more marketable. Even if you don’t plan to sell in the near future, a change of face can make your home more comfortable and appealing. If your kitchen, bathroom and other rooms in your home look weary and tired but you can’t afford to tear everything out and start over again, here are a few cost-effective solutions to consider:

Even on the dullest winter day, colour fills our lives.  Look around and you’ll see a thousand shades of greens and browns, violets, greys, golds and blues.  Colour is also part of our language.  Few of us will dispute that it affects our moods and how we feel — red with anger, green with envy, yellow with fear.

Window coverings play a leading role in the interior of home. They can help set atmosphere and can be both attractive and functional. Windows now come in a variety of new shapes and sizes, which has put increased demand on window covering manufacturers to create new products.