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Heres how to elegantly illuminate your property after dusk.

Create Evening Curb Appeal

Sconces around the front door or a driveway lamp post add significant curb appeal.

Illuminate your Landscaping

Spotlight your garden and other plantings around your property to show them off at all hours.

Light Up the Walkways

Soft and subtle lighting is good for walkways because it looks great while adding safety.

Highlight Architectural Details

Illuminate the exterior of your home to highlight your favorite architectural elements.

High-Tech Control

A cutting-edge smart system will allow you to control your outdoor lights via your phone.

Extra Security

Outdoor lights with motion sensors give you extra peace of mind at night.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Adding a well-designed skylight to your home comes with a multitude of perks”not just style and value, but possibly energy savings and health benefits, as well. Heres a look at some of the rewards skylights can offer:

Letting Natural Light In
It isnt easy to fill your home with natural lighting. Some rooms have limited (or no) exterior walls for windows. In the rooms that do have windows, you likely use curtains or blinds for privacy. Skylights are an excellent way to bathe your home in sunlight without giving your neighbors a view.

Saving on Heating and Cooling
A poorly planned skylight can wreak havoc on your energy bills, but with proper positioning and design, you can save money on heating and cooling costs. South-facing skylights will increase the temperature of your home year-round because they’ll pick up more of the suns rays than a skylight facing in any other direction.

In the winter, you can use this to your advantage”let the sun shine and heat your home so you can shave money off your heating costs. In the summer, however, uncovered skylights can make rooms uncomfortably hot. The solution to this is to choose a skylight design that features built-in shades so you can block the sunlight during the hottest parts of the day. If your skylight opens, thats a bonus. Heat rises, which means you can open your skylights on summer nights to vent the heat from the day out of your home.

Adding Architectural Interest
Skylights are one of the few home improvements that can upgrade both the interior and the exterior. As such, it can help make your home more attractive to potential buyers. To get beauty and value from a skylight, however, it needs to be an architectural asset. That means balancing it with your homes architectural theme and features. In traditional homes, youre better off installing skylights to the rear of the home or in an area where theyll be out of sight from the street. This is because skylights have a modern aesthetic that contrasts with traditional styles. Prominent placement may take something away from your homes traditional charm.

On the inside, make sure the skylight coordinates with the rest of the room. Rather than placing the skylight wherever it’s most convenient to install, align it with a door or a window, or think of another way to place the skylight so that it makes sense from a geometric standpoint. Lastly, ensure that the skylight is large enough to stand out”smaller skylights tend to be more of a distraction than an asset.

Preventing Seasonal Affective Disorder
According to the Mayo Clinic, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) causes depression, fatigue and irritability. SAD typically occurs during the fall and winter, when youre not exposed to as much sunlight. This not only throws your natural circadian rhythm out of balance, but also causes a decrease in serotonin and melatonin levels. Skylights, because they add so much natural sunlight to a home, are one of the recommended treatments to help you prevent and recover from this disorder.

Because of these advantages and others, skylights are a worthwhile home improvement to consider.

Source: Donald A. Gardner Architects, Inc.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Plan on applying for a home mortgage, car loan or new credit card? Lenders will be looking at your credit score to determine if youre a responsible borrower. The higher your credit score, the more likely a lender will qualify you and offer the best terms.

Although boosting your score requires time and discipline, here are five simple steps to take:

1. Pay Bills on Time
When lenders review your credit report, theyre very interested in how reliably you pay your bills. That’s because past payment performance is usually considered a good predictor of future performance.

You can help this credit-scoring factor by paying all your bills on time. That includes not just credit card and loan bills, but also bills for rent, utilities, cellphones and so on. Similarly, paying late or less than the minimum amount can hurt your score. Use automatic payments or calendar reminders to help ensure you pay on time every month.

If youre behind on payments, bring them current ASAP. Although late or missed payments appear as negative information on your credit report for seven years, their impact on your score declines over time: Older late payments have less effect than recent ones.

2. Pay Off Debt
The credit utilization ratio is another important number in credit score calculations. Its calculated by adding all your credit card balances at any given time and dividing that amount by your total credit limit. For example, if you typically charge about $2,000 each month and your total credit limit across all your cards is $10,000, your utilization ratio is 20 percent.

Lenders prefer ratios of 30 percent or less, and people with the best credit scores often have very low ratios. A low ratio shows lenders you haven’t maxed out your credit cards and can manage credit well. You can improve your ratio by paying off debt and keeping credit card balances low.

3. Don’t Close Unused Credit Cards
Keeping unused credit cards open”as long as they’re not costing you money in annual fees”is a smart strategy, because closing an account may increase your credit utilization ratio. Owing the same amount but having fewer open accounts may lower your credit score.

4. Don’t Apply for Too Much New Credit
Opening a new credit card can increase your overall credit limit, but the act of applying for credit creates a hard inquiry on your credit report. Too many hard inquiries can hurt your credit score, though this effect will fade over time. (Hard inquiries remain on credit reports for two years.) Unnecessary credit can also tempt you to overspend and accumulate debt, so apply for new credit accounts only as needed.

5. Dispute Credit Report Inaccuracies
You should check your credit reports at all three major reporting bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian) for any inaccuracies. Incorrect information on credit reports could drag scores down. Verify that the accounts listed on your reports are correct. If you see errors, dispute the information and get it corrected right away.

Source: Experian

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Theres no getting around it…moving is stressful!

Here are four types of moving specialists who can help deliver peace of mind when transporting your most prized possessions.

Art Handlers

Top-tier companies will often build custom crates for each piece, transport them in climate-controlled containers and even install the art in your new home.

Jewelry Couriers

If youre moving a considerable distance, or have a large collection, then a secure courier service is the way to go.

Wine Shippers

Its always worth hiring a professional wine shipping service to carefully move your collection in specialized boxes and temperature-controlled containers.

Car Transporters

Professional car transporting services are ideal because theyre experienced in safely loading and unloading fine automobiles and will have enclosed carriers that protect them from the elements along the way.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Your homes gutters play a crucial role in protecting your property from costly water damage and other dangers. Depending on where you live, the types of trees you have on your property and weather events common to your area, you should clean your gutters at least twice a year to ensure they dont get clogged.

Even with regular maintenance, though, your gutters will eventually need to be repaired or replaced to keep your house protected. To help you determine whether that time has come, Home Depot offers five signs to look out for:

Cracks or splits. Even small cracks will grow, allowing water to seep into the fascia boards behind the gutters, the shingles above the gutter and the foundation below. Replace any split or cracked sections of gutter.

Paint damage and rust. The paint on your gutters is weather resistant. Peeling paint or rust indicates that water is present on the surface on a continuous basis. Look for clogs and remove debris to get the water flowing. Replace or touch up the paint on the damaged section of the gutter.

Pools of water and mold. If you see standing water or mildew near the foundation, it can indicate one of two things: the gutters are clogged, or there could be a defect in the gutter system. Remove the clog. If the problem persists, replace that section of gutter and downspout.

Water damage or water marks. Inspect directly beneath the gutters on a dry, sunny day for any evidence of water damage. Water damage underneath gutters can indicate that theyre leaking or overflowing with water. Look for possible blockages in the area. If there are none, this indicates that the section has a crack or leak thatll need to be repaired or replaced.

Gutter sag. This is a definite sign that its time to replace gutters. Gutters should never sag or pull away from the house. Sagging gutters means that theyre no longer draining properly and need to be replaced. This may be a good time to look into upgrading your old ones with gutter guards, screens or seamless gutters.

If youre uncomfortable on a ladder or cant perform gutter cleaning and inspections on your own for any reason, consider hiring a pro to do the job for you.

Published with permission from RISMedia.