People who live in condos in Ottawa know how cold the winter can be in the Canadian capital. But eventually spring rears its pretty head, and that signals the time for spring cleaning.

Here are some tips to remember:

Organize Your Home

Even before spring arrives, you have to do some organizing so that the task won’t overwhelm you. You’ll find it much easier to begin your spring cleaning if everything in your home is habitually placed in its proper place. You can’t just place your stuff wherever you want. Each item should have its own place. This may mean that you need to upgrade your storage solutions.

At least by the time spring arrives you won’t be dealing with a messy home anymore.

Prepare Your Cleaning Supplies

It can be disheartening to finally find the determination to begin your spring cleaning, only to discover that you don’t have all the needed cleaning supplies. While it’s still winter, you can go online and find deals for rubber gloves, frags, sponges, and cleaning solutions. Check that your mop and vacuum cleaner are in top working conditions.

Declutter

Not everything that’s in your condo needs to stay. You may have items—probably lots of them—that will need to be thrown out or given away. You can start with your closet, and then check all your storage compartments for items you don’t need.

Starting with your closet is always a good idea. You probably have clothes that you haven’t touched in a year or more. Other items here may no longer fit you. They may even be out of fashion already. You can then either sell these items, or give them away to friends and charity organizations.

During the winter, you can place these clothes that you plan to get rid of in a bag separate from your closet. That gives you a few days to get used to not having these items. At least when you miss some of them terribly, you can still put them back in your closet.

The same goes for other items in your unit. Just separate what you may have to get rid of in the spring. When you find that you don’t miss them, you can get rid of them more easily come spring cleaning time.

Set a Date

You can’t just start your spring cleaning whenever you want. If you’re like most people, there’s a great temptation to keep putting it off. And eventually, it won’t get done at all.

So you should be serious and set a date over the weekend when you need to begin and do the work. Mark the days on your calendar, and even set the time to start. By setting a schedule, you’re more like to stick with the plan.

In fact, you can set a schedule with an app so you don’t forget because of the alarm. Some apps can let you schedule 5-minute breaks after every half hour or so, which can help you from getting too tired. …

 

Interior design is like fashion and art; it’s ruled by current trends. Of course, if you ownluxury residences you have the right to decorate your home as you see fit. However, you may want to invest in proper interior decorating if you wish to make a good impression on guests. It’s even more important if you’re planning to sell your property in the near future.

So what’s “in” these days? If you want to ride the leading edge of home decorating style, consider the following trends:

Metals

Numerous experts agree that this is perhaps the most prevalent trend for 2018. The use of bronze, copper, and other finishes is a familiar sight in many luxury homes and condos today.

Its popularity is due to how metallic colors can easily catch the eye, and it harkens back to earlier eras when such metals were much in vogue. Part of the reason for how many affluent people are drawn to this trend is that it’s because it can be challenging to use different metals to end up with a delicate balance. When you succeed, you demonstrate your inherent good taste.

It’s best that you don’t overdo things with metallic finishes, as these work best when they’re subtle and understated. You can go with metal lamps and vases, along with bronze or brass door handles. Just go with a little bit of metal here and there.

Geometric Patterns

Like metals, you really don’t want to go overboard with geometric patterns either. But these patterns are great, simply because there’s an overwhelmingly wide range of geometric patterns to choose from. It’s a great way to showcase your real personality.

So, if you want you can go with subtle and simply use several classy patterned cushions to increase the elegance of a room somewhat. Or you can use black and white patterns in a more dramatic way to express your bold personality.

Going with Greenery

In today’s world there’s a lot of concern over the environment, and many modern city dwellers bewail the lack of natural items in the home. That’s especially true for condo’s which can sometimes look overly sterile if you’re not careful.

Now if you have a home with a yard then you can perhaps start a nice garden for yourself. You can put some chairs and tables there and have some outdoor space to relax in.

But even in a penthouse apartment you can bring to your place the tranquility that a garden offers. You can always start with a few plants with lots of leaves in a few spots, so that your condo unit doesn’t look too industrial and artificial.

Natural Colors

Even if you’re not a fan of plants and natural greenery, you can opt for natural colors to enjoy a similar outdoor vibe. You can use natural colors on your walls, and in fact, there’s now a color called “Greenery” (a sort of yellow-green mix) that was hailed as the color of the …