Work Your Workspace for Two

Working at home along with your spouse is a new adventure and a fun experience to look forward to. However, even if each of you can give way and compromise, there are going to be instances when you fight, whether it be over work space, the phone, or paperclips. That naturally removes the shine from sharing a home office, so how can you maximize your space to minimize conflict?

One of the best things you can do is create a clutter-free, fight-free workstation by arranging your home office to accommodate two people in a defined and distinctive way. By arranging a carefully thought out plan, you instantly reduce the likelihood that disagreements about “invasion of space” will arise.

Here are some great tips to keep in mind when designing your home office for two…

• Talk to your partner to determine if you both want to share a combined work space or not. Understanding each others’ thoughts and desires up front will help immensely when it comes to satisfying demands and creating a peaceful work environment.
• As much as possible, give each other some space. Even if you’re both sharing one table, create some distance between the two of you to allow for privacy and decreased distraction.
• Set up ample lighting on both sides. Both of you are working on important things, so both of you should be able to see what you’re doing. Instead of, or in addition to, installing a single light source, use desk lighting for both sides.
• Place shared office essentials in a common area. If you are using a landline or fax machine, rather than put it on one person’s desk (and taking up their workspace), bring in an additional small table to put in the middle. That way, even if one of you needs to use the phone or grab a stapler or paperclips, the other person will not be disturbed.
• Create individual storage. This will allow each person to organize in the way they see fit. Some people prefer an extremely organized work space, while others actually feel more productive with papers scattered around their desk. So, don’t start an argument just because one station failed to clean his or her area…you’re in charge of your area.
• Decide if you want to work facing each other, away from each other, or side by side. This will play a large role in determining how you choose to organize your furniture.

Jennifer Fields
Oklahoma City & Edmond Real Estate Agent
405.330.0031

Tips for Effective Pest Control

Pests are definitely unwanted visitors inside any house. Most everybody can agree that a stream of ants swarming the house or a loose rat running rampant isn’t ideal for anybody. Considering we have food, clothes and for some, kids inside the house, these unwanted pests need to go.

When it comes to eliminating pests, there are some proven ways to fully get rid of them. Most pests stop lurking around when you are present and when the coast is clear, start prancing around your home again. Here are some tips on how you can eliminate these pests for good.

• Ants love anything sweet. Just put some sugar or candy bits on the floor and after several minutes, a swarm of black ants will consume it. Keep these ants away from your house for good by poisoning them with Borax. Mix sugar with Borax and sprinkles these in areas where the majority of ants are seen. Just remember to keep your deadly concoction away from your family’s reach. The Borax will poison and kill these ants.
• Borax works with cockroaches as well. Just sprinkle a few of these in the kitchen or in cabinets that are away from your cooking items. Make sure that your pets will not be able to get a hold of the poison.
• If you have rats inside the house, you can use rat repellents to stop them from getting inside the house. Choose repellants that are safe to use and easy to handle.
• To prevent rats from coming in the house, make sure you practice proper hygiene, especially in your kitchen area. Rats love food so keep your kitchen and other areas of the house free of left-out food.
• To stop flies from coming inside the house, use fly-repellent spray. Every time a fly comes in, spray a repellent to kill it. If repellents do not work, use fly-rolls that will enable these flies to become stuck and trap them.
• Mosquitoes are annoying and deadly as well. Prevent these pests from getting near you and your loved ones by eliminating the source of their production. Do not leave stagnant, dirty water at home and change your birdbath every 3 days.
• For termite problems, professional service is the best recommendation. To prevent terminates from building up inside your house, do not place stacks of wood inside the house as this is a huge attraction for termites. A sign that there is termite infestation in your house is damaged wood. If you need to stack wood for your fireplace, ensure that they are placed apart from your other wooden furniture.
• If you see centipedes inside the house, you can be assured that there are other insects too, since these are their staple food. They mostly only reside or go to places where lots of foods are present.

Jennifer Fields
Oklahoma City & Edmond Real Estate Agent
405.330.0031

Make Your Bedroom Sleep-Friendly

Do you lose countless hours of sleep every night? Your bedroom could be the culprit. Some people are  feeling like insomniacs or finding it hard to sleep well during the night because of several underlying factors. One of these factors may be due to unnecessary bedroom design or arrangement that does not encourage good sleep patterns.

So, here are some ideas for a great bedroom makeover that will put you right to sleep.

• Your bedroom has one sole purpose –  a place to sleep, and you need to stick to it. Due to lack of space and many other peronsal interests, our bedrooms are usually converted into libraries, offices, bedrooms and playrooms. Avoid that. Make your bedroom conducive for sleeping only. That way, when you get inside your bedroom, you will not be forced to sacrifice sleep or rest time to extra office work, playtime and other sleep-depriving activities.
• Get rid of clutter inside the bedroom. How can you sleep with everything else scattered inside the room? Sleep is a peaceful activity. In order to make it successful, help your mind stay calm.  This will be enhanced easily through storage space inside your bedroom. Store everything away as to eliminate clutter inside the room. Organize your closet with several compartments so you can store more things inside it.
• Make your bed more comfortable. If you sleep in comfort, your body will relax easily. This will make you sleep better. Find the right mattress to sleep so that your body can conveniently conform to. Also, if you are allergic to certain things, choose a hypoallergenic mattress to avoid any allergic reactions that might disturb you during your sleep. While you are at it, find the perfect pillow (down or otherwise) to rest your head on.
• Make your room dark. This will truly make your eyes shut down. Install dark to black wall treatments so no light can crawl in. Even if the sun is no longer there to keep your eyes wide open, plenty of lights can come creep in from outside especially if you have a night light outside your house, your room is near the street lights or if car lights often pass by your room. You can even get rid of night lights inside your bedroom.
•  Choose a design that will calm your mood and make you want to hit the hay. If the color blue will set the mood for rest and sleep, change the color of your wallpaper to blue. If indeed sheep counting makes you sleep, place miniature sheep near your bed or have wallpaper designed with sheep. Anything that will make you want to go to sleep, include it.
• Have an air purifier inside the bedroom. Sometimes, people cannot go to sleep due to allergic reactions. Purify your air to eliminate these allergens and keep your nose from keeping your eyes frp, sleep.
• Set the perfect temperature. If it is too hot to sleep, by all means, turn on the air conditioner. If it is too cold outside, have a heater set to the perfect warmth.

Jennifer Fields
Oklahoma City & Edmond Real Estate Agent
405.330.0031

Residents To Clean Up Oklahoma City on Free Landfill Day

September 10, 2011 will be a day of cleaning in Oklahoma City as residents will have the chance to get rid of their junk and trash on the Free Landfill Day. Officials of the city announced the Free Landfill Day for the people to voluntarily clean up their house and surroundings without the worry of not being able to fit it all in their trashcans.

According to the city’s officials, residents can have a truckload of their trash thrown to participating landfills between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Residents can drop one load of their garbage using a passenger vehicle or even a truckload up to one ton and one trailer – maximum size of 16 feet long.

During the Free Landfill day, citizens who plan to participate must present an original current water bill or a printout of an electronic bill to prove their residency within the city. No photocopied bills will be accepted. Moreover, there will be no commercial waste haulers allowed in the landfills.

The Free Landfill Day includes bulk waste rules and regulations that residents must follow. This includes no appliances that contain Freon or other refrigerants, household hazardous waste, tires, oils, car batteries, propane tanks, pool chemicals or electronic waste.

The participating landfills are East Oak Landfill at3201 Mosley Rd. (N.E. 36, east of Sooner Road, south side of street), Oklahoma City Landfill d/b/a Southeast Landfill  at 7001 S. Bryant, Oklahoma Landfill d/b/a Waste Connections at 7600 SW 15 and Northeast Landfill – 2601 N. The Midwest Boulevard, Spencer will only accept construction and demolition materials.

Jennifer Fields
Oklahoma City & Edmond Real Estate Agent
405.330.0031

How To Avoid Indoor Air Pollution Inside the House

Many of us love to stay at home especially when there is no work at the office, no errands to run and a need for more time to spend with the family. However, even we when stay inside the comforts of our home, we cannot avoid health hazards caused by indoor air pollution. That’s right. Despite the fact that few people treat indoor pollution with the same severity as outdoor air pollution, there is always the risk of indoor pollution inside our homes.

Inhaling indoor air pollution brings into effect similar health risks brought about by outdoor air pollution. Such health risks include skin irritations, respiratory problems, immune system disorders and the most deadly, cancer. Most causes of indoor air pollution are molds, chemical pollutants found in furniture, paints and building materials as well as contaminants found in cleaners, care products, smoke and even incoming pollution from outdoors.

To help you and your family fight against indoor air pollution, here are some helpful tips.

• Identify possible causes of indoor air pollution. Finding the main source of the problem has always been the first step to decontamination. Have your home inspected by a professional for radon and asbestos. These two elements are huge causes concerning severe body conditions even if we sometimes are not aware of their presence inside the house. After identifying the source of the pollution, get rid of them.
• Enhance ventilation. Improved ventilation will improve air circulation. Open your windows and doors often to let contaminated air out and fresh air in. Also, install energy efficient fans or air conditioners in rooms or areas of the house where there are no doors or not enough windows to improve ventilation.
• Purify your air. Install an air cleaner that will purify the house. You can have a central air cleaning system so it can cover the entire house. Although a central system can be rather costly, it is more efficient in cleaning the air compared to a single room purifier that purifies the air in only one room.
• Be wary of what you buy. Buying pest controls, cleaners or other household products may bring in lots of contaminants. There are similar products that are mostly natural, making the risks considerably smaller compared to the artificially made products.
• Reduce pollution in the house with houseplants. Plants are efficient when it comes to cleaning the air we breathe. So, have a few houseplants inside the house to help purify the air.
•  As much as possible, do not allow smoking inside the house.

Jennifer Fields
Oklahoma City & Edmond Real Estate Agent
405.330.0031

Make Your Home Kid-Friendly

Having children at home can make every day a happy day. However, small children are very vulnerable to common things around the house such as electrical outlets and furniture corners. Therefore it is important to make sure that your home is adequately child-proofed. This means that in every house-related decision you make, ensure that your kids are always considered.

Accidents are inevitable especially when it comes to kids. As parents, you can avoid the possibility of accidents and thus avoid the “kiddie” tears. As the saying goes, it is better to prevent than cure.

Here are some useful tips you can use to make your house more kid-friendly:

• Implement appropriate safety precautions. This includes the use of safety latches and locks on your cabinets and drawers. By securing your things (especially those that are not appropriate for kids) you can prevent them from reaching into things that may be harmful for them. Secure your sharp utensils, medicines and cleaners with appropriate latches.
• Make edges and corner bumpers soft for your kids. You cannot avoid children playing around these but you can do something in case they bump into the sharp edges of your furniture. Cover these with soft cloths or other corner covers. That way, even if they do bump into these edges, they will only feel slight pain.
• If you have fireplaces, cover them. Kids will touch anything and this includes the dusty fireplace and even the blazing fire.
• Install guards and netting on your balconies, no matter the height. Your child will no longer have the chance of falling off. It is always best to still watch the little ones while around these areas.
• Install high and reliable door locks. If your kids can easily reach the door lock, ensure safety by installing another lock that they cannot easily reach so they cannot get out of the house without your knowledge.
• Safely store poisonous materials such as cleaners in a secure location in the house. As much as possible, prevent any kind of poisonous sprays within the house. If you need them, keep them in an area where your kids will not be able to see or reach them.
• For your toddlers, have a baby pen where they can sprawl out and play safely. Also, make sure that you secure them properly to avoid them getting out of their pen and roaming around the house without your knowledge.

Jennifer Fields
Oklahoma City & Edmond Real Estate Agent
405.330.0031

Clever Kitchen Remodeling Tips

Planning to remodel your kitchen? Then you need to consider a few factors so you can make sure that your remodeling project is a HUGE success. Obviously, deciding one day to remodel your kitchen, rushing to the nearest hardware store and beginning remodeling right away might not be a good idea. The overall results may not be as perfect as you wish it would be.

So, before jumping in to the remodeling work, try to sit down first and plan deliberately. This guide will help you strategize on what exactly you want for your new kitchen.

Here are some of the smart strategies during kitchen remodeling:

1. Know your priorities first – Prior to deciding to remodel your kitchen, you need to sit down and figure out WHY your kitchen needs to be remodeled in the first place. These factors are your priorities – so get set on these factors during planning. Make sure these are placed on top consideration before anything else. After all, these are what pushed you to remodel the kitchen. You might want to consider also the safety of children. Ensure that your new kitchen is always safe for any of your kids or kids of friends who may come to visit.
2. Be practical with your kitchen appliances – Yes, the new model of refrigerator would look perfect in your kitchen, or even the new microwave oven but face it- if you can’t afford it, don’t push it! Also, if you can have the old ones running smoothly, then what’s the point of taking those away? One ideal goal of remodeling is never to spend a single cent on anything you don’t have to.
3. Retain what can be retained – As stated previously, retain those that still run smoothly. This does not only apply to your appliances but also to your walls and flooring. If those look great and effective still, keep it that way. After all, as the saying goes – “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
4. More storage is much better than more space – prioritize storage over space. Although a kitchen would look good with more space throughout, it will look and work best with as much storage as you can manage to put in. Your kitchen is not the same as your living room or hallway, it is more practical, therefore create storage for yourself and the kitchen necessities you will need.
5. Enhance your lighting – Since you will be working in your kitchen at various times of day… yes including those late night meals, you need all the light you can get. Always enhance the lighting especially in the area where you work the most. During the day, make use of natural light to save energy. This will be possible if you will have a window that allows full daylight.

Jennifer Fields
Oklahoma City & Edmond Real Estate Agent
405.330.0031