Waukesha County Home

JUNE 2016 HOMES PLUS 3 248830001 (StatePoint) — Is your house in need of a seasonal overhaul? Get your home in shape with these easy tasks and upgrades, and enjoy the warmer months. — Top-to-bottom clean- ing: In each room, start at the top and work your way to the bottom. Crumbs will inevitably fall from kitchen counters and dust will fly from fixtures, so clean your floors last so you don't have to redo them later. In the kitchen, circle around the sink, starting at the right side of your stove and then move clockwise around the room. Stoves can be the dirtiest part of the kitchen, so ending there prevents the spread of grease and dirt. Finally, when it's time to sweep, hold the broom with one hand on top of the han- dle and the other in the middle. Having a proper grip on the broom will make each stroke more effective. Ensure you don't miss any dirt by sweeping from the outside in. Pulling dirt to the center of the room will make for easier pick-up. — Creative upgrades: After the garage, the kitchen is tied with the home office as the second most cluttered room in the house, according to a Moen survey. Get rid of clutter by updating features with those that create a "home" for items that live out in the open. For example, when select- ing a faucet, choose one with style and function, like the Voss faucet from Moen, which has a transi- tional low-profile design, ideal for installation in front of windows or on a kitchen island, and features Reflex technology, which allows for easy, secure dock- ing of the spray wand. The collection also offers match- ing accessories like towel bars to make organization functional and fashionable. A new kitchen sink, when chosen carefully, is another update that can reduce the appearance of clutter. Look for a model with a low-pro- file center divider that pro- vides the versatility of a double bowl with single- bowl functionality. For instance, those from Moen allow you to fit items like pots and cookie sheets across two bowls easily, lim- iting the visibility of dirty dishes in the sink — which is ideal for open concept layouts. To learn more, visit moen.com. — Color Your World: A fresh coat of paint can do wonders for a room. And lighter hues are both in style and perfect for sum- mer. For the first time, Pan- tone, the worldwide stan- dard for color communica- tion, selected two colors of the year: Serenity and Rose Quartz. The light pastels complement each other and make for a calm and sooth- ing design aesthetic. Mean- while, paint maker Sher- win-Williams named Alabaster its 2016 color of the year. Keeping with the trend of light colors, this white hue is a nice blank canvas to showcase your summer décor. A few projects around the home can get you set for sunny seasons ahead. Summer home updates to enhance your space StatePoint Updated appliances can help you streamline kitchen organization.

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