9 Ways to Brighten a Dark Home

1. Paint it white! When it comes right down to it, other than adding more windows (which can be costly when you’re on a homebuyer’s budget), the best thing you can do to brighten a space is to ditch the dark colors and layer lighter hues instead. White will be the best to illuminate your surroundings, but any color on the soft end of the spectrum will do.

2. If white walls sound boring to you, maybe the answer is hanging large-scale well-lit photos. This is an easy way to add luster, and pieces likethese from Shutterfly will look stunning against colorful walls. Customized family photos also lighten the mood of the room by adding joy and personality. 

3. Cover dark floors with light-colored throw rugs. Just keep in mind that white carpet can get stained easily, so read reviews before buying and take your shoes off at the door.

4. Mirrors bounce around what little light you do have. They also make rooms look bigger and more open, combatting the cave-like feeling of a dark room. Including decor that has a bit of shine will create this same effect on a smaller scale.

5. Choose lightweight furniture with clean lines. Overstuffed couches will make the atmosphere feel heavy, so elevate the environment by creating a lighter (thus, brighter) illusion with Lucite or slim furnishings made from pale-colored wood.

6. Play up any windows by raising the curtain rods and choosing airy, white curtains. This will make your windows look bigger and create a glow that bounces between your walls.

7. Make sure light bulbs give a white instead of yellow radiance. You’ll be surprised how much of a difference this can make!

8. Minimize clutter and keep your space clean. Pare down to the essentials to lighten the space, decrease shadowy corners and allow for an easy flow between rooms. Hide bulky jackets and shoes somewhere out of sight.

9. Vary your light sources with lamps, recessed lighting, pendants, and more so it isn’t as obvious that your light is artificial.

FOR SALE- Alhambra, CA

Excellent opportunity for investors and builders looking for property adjacent to Midwick Tract and Atlantic Times Square. It’s convenient location; close to restaurants, markets, shopping, theater, bus lines, and easy access to FWY 10. It’s only minutes of drive to down town LA. Front house has 1 bedroom with a den, a bathroom, and kitchen with breakfast nook. Back house has 1 bedroom, 1 bath. It has been recently remodeled with new interior paint, gleaming wood floor, kitchen with attractive granite counter top, and bathroom has been beautifully updated. Property has 1,189 living square feet and 8,055 square feet lot per assessor. Hurry, this won’t last! All info is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

How To Organize Your Kitchen

1. Lazy Susan: Incorporating a lazy Susan into your kitchen cabinets or on your countertops allows you to organize similar items neatly in one place. It also helps you find things much faster.

2. Hang things up: Hang pots and pans on the wall or from a ceiling organizer to free up space in your cabinets. It’ll be much easier to organize pans by size and use if you can see them! You won’t have to dig through a mess of metal every time you want to cook dinner.

3. Store items by use: This is an easy way to quickly organize your kitchen items. Whether it’s in your cabinets, drawers, or refrigerator, keeping like items together makes it easier to grab what you need, when you need it. For example, store everyday dishes on a lower cabinet shelf and special use items on a higher shelf. Put each type of food together – like cereals and breakfast food, snacks, pasta and grains, and baking ingredients.

4. Filing System: Tupperware is an item that a lot of people have trouble storing. It takes up space and putting matching tops and bottoms together sometimes seems impossible. The tops and bottoms might be disappearing to the same place as the matching socks that always seem to get lost in the dryer. Instead of storing them in cabinets, put a dish organizer in a pull out drawer and store the Tupperware tops and bottoms with no problem.

FOR SALE- Rosemead, CA

This beautiful family home is located in a desirable neighborhood. It’s close to Janson Elementary School, restaurants, markets, bus lines, and easy access to FWY 10. Step inside, you will notice a clean living room with a cozy fireplace, bright & airy kitchen with clean tile floor extends to formal dining room. This home has been upgraded with dual-pane windows; it’s very clean and move-in ready with new paint, new carpet. Must see to really appreciate it! All info is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.