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Welcoming a child into your home is an exciting step, whether you are about to embark on the journey of parenthood, are a grandparent who wants to ensure a safe and child-ready home for your grandchildren or you have another reason to prep your home with child safety in mind, it can seem overwhelming at first. Thankfully, addressing a few key areas of your home will accomplish 90 percent of the job.

Zone One: Stairs
Stair railings are important for everyones safety, not just childrens. Ensure that hand and balcony railings are sturdy. They should be able to hold up against a child hanging from them or a falling adult grabbing them for stability. Keep this in mind for indoor and outdoor steps or staircases. Remember that pressure-mounted gates are a hazard at the tops of stairwells. They will not keep a child safe from a tumble. Opt for a gate that requires hard installation and is made specifically for stair safety.

Zone Two: Windows
Install or verify that all your windows have secure locks to prevent an exploring young child from opening and tumbling out the window. A fall from the ground floor can cause harm, but precautions are most critical for any windows on multiple story homes, where a fall can lead to severe injury or even death.

Zone Three: Kitchens
The kitchen is full of interesting objects that children will want to explore, many of which can cause serious harm. Keep kitchen items like cleaning chemicals, knives, glassware, heavy pots and other dangerous hazards locked up or out of reach. Consider keeping baby-safe plastic dishes in one unlocked cupboard where small children can safely explore. Dont neglect to install locks on your oven, fridge and cabinets and any cabinets containing hazards.

Zone Four: Bathrooms
Similarly to kitchens, keep cleaning chemicals and other hazards locked away in your bathrooms. Install locks on cabinet doors and the toilet seat. Keep bathroom doors closed when not in use and install door-knob covers.

Zone Five: Bedrooms and Living Areas
Heavy furniture poses a huge risk to small children. Even seemingly-stable furniture can topple when a toddler or small child attempts to climb it. Childproof by anchoring any tall or heavy furniture in your living spaces. Consider adding corner covers to any jagged furniture. Add door-knob covers, locks or alarms to any bedroom or living area doors that exit the home.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

You use your appliances every day, but you may be surprised to know that you may not be caring for them to promote longevity. Knowing how to care for each of your home appliances to the fullest will prevent them from early damage due to disrepair or excessive wear and tear.

Care for Your Dishwasher
Your dishwasher works hard, but if you dont care for it appropriately, even a newer model will start to perform poorly. As counterintuitive as it may seem, your dishwasher needs to be cleaned. Keep your dishwasher running well by manually removing and cleaning the filter and also running a cleaning cycle with dishwasher cleaner. This will prevent buildup on your dishes and will make your dishwasher last longer.

Tend to Your Refrigerator
Your fridge serves you well, and aside from occasionally cleaning an errant spill, you probably dont put it on your radar when you tackle your to-dos. Cleaning your condenser coils will ensure that your refrigerator lasts. These coils are usually located under or on the back of the refrigerator. If the coils get covered in pet hair or dust, this will cut down on your fridges efficiency and can strain the compressor and cut your fridges life short.

Care for Your Dryer
Caring for your dryer is not only necessary to save on a future replacement, but is vital to prevent a fire. Your dryers lint trap should be checked after every drying cycle to prevent build up. Additionally, you must ensure that your dryers vent pipe is cleaned every three months. This will ensure that your clothes dry properly, that your dryer is not overworked and mitigate a fire risk.

Maintain Your Washing Machine
Keep your washing machine ready for whatever stain you throw at it by tending to it regularly. Forgoing your washing machine care may not prove dangerous, but it will lessen the life of your machine. Your washing machine needs to be cleaned regularly. Simply run an empty load of hot water with 2 cups of white vinegar and add cup of detergent mid-cycle. Inspect your machines hoses monthly for bulges or cracks and be sure to use the right detergent for your machine.

Your appliances are a large investment and should last you for years to come.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Heres everything you need to know about Mid-Century Modern design.

Combining modern materials with traditional craftsmanship, mid-century modern architecture was uniquely designed to cater to the lifestyle of suburban families in America.

Exhibiting flat or low-pitched roofs and sweeping, horizontal lines, mid-century modern houses benefit from an abundance of natural light.

In addition to lots of glass, popular materials include wood, stone and brick.

Its quite common to see bright colors infused through furniture or accent walls.

Furnishings with geometric patterns and sculptural lines are key to mid-century modern interiors.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

The value of your home is influenced by price, time, and market conditions. As your local real estate professional, my goal is to assist you in the determination of the value of your home by giving you current, factual data on the market conditions and the average market time for homes in your area. This infographic will better explain how these three areas impact your home’s value.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

When viewing a home, especially an older one that might require some updates, buyers will often look for a house that has good bones. Its a term were all familiar with, but when its time to start viewing properties, you might be asking yourself, What exactly does that mean? Here are characteristics to keep in mind when looking for a home with good bones.

Eye on the Infrastructure
No matter how beautiful a house looks on the surface, you want to know whats going on underneath the hood before making a purchase. If you notice sagging beams or cracking plaster, for example, that could be a sign of problems with the foundation. Youll also want to take note of when the various systems were last updated, such as plumbing, electrical and heating.

Look at the Layout
Floor plans are usually a good indicator of how well a home was designed. Ideally, theres a sense of flow throughout the home and each room feels appropriately sized to serve its specific purpose. If its easy to envision decorating and how youll use each space, thats usually a good sign because you wont have to make any significant structural changes to accommodate your lifestyle.

Quality Materials
When you look in the right places, you can usually tell if a high level of quality and craftsmanship went into building a home. For instance, consider how thick the walls are and what type of wood was used for the floors. If a home has been renovated over the years, was it done so using high-end materials?

Architectural Details
Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference, like tall ceilings and crown moldings. While these may not be the top features on your list when looking for a luxury property, they are important characteristics because they contribute to a homes unique sense of character.

Published with permission from RISMedia.