How to Convert Your Garage into a Cool Livable Space

People often do all sorts of things to create more space in their homes, e.g building more storage rooms or creating multipurpose rooms. However, many people often ignore one important part of the house with a lot of space, and that is the unused garage. If you have a garage in your home that's unused, consider converting it into a more useful part of the home.

A garage can be converted into a home gym, a home office, a mudroom, spare bedroom, or kid playroom among others. However, there are several considerations to make before you begin the project and they include the following.

Safety Considerations

Safety is always a top priority on every job site, especially ones close to your home. Create a safety zone around the garage so that children, pets, neighbors, and guests know to stay away. Get a well-stocked safety kit that would include safety glasses, gloves, ear muffs, dusk masks, respirators, and proper workwear made from durable materials. Don’t forget hard hats and steel toe work boots. There are work boots made especially for women and ones made for men, so ensure you get the right specifications for everyone working on the site.

Lastly, even when you’re remodeling your garage using the DIY method, there are certain permit jobs that need to be left to professionals. This includes electrical jobs, structural alterations, HVAC, and plumbing. So make sure your budget covers the cost of hiring a few professionals who can do the job safely.

Cost of Converting a Garage

The cost of converting a garage depends on several factors, the chief of which is whether you're going to be hiring an architect to oversee the project or if you’re going the DIY route. 

Choosing to convert your garage yourself as a DIY project would involve working side-by-side with a tradesperson or contractor to build your dream. This option does not cost as much as the alternative which requires hiring a professional architect to design the entire conversion and hiring construction experts to do the entire work.

Garage conversions are never cheap; however, they’re much cheaper than building a whole new addition to the home. According to Forbes Advisor, it could cost anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 to convert a garage using the non-DIY method.

Check Zoning Regulations

Converting a garage is more than just hiring a contractor or architect. It’s very important to research the local regulations for garage conversions in your city. Some regions may prohibit residents from transforming car spaces into living spaces. Others might permit, provided you have sufficient off-street parking to replace the lost garage space. Also, if you share your home with tenants or ever plan on sharing or renting out your home then it may be difficult to get a garage conversion permit. So before you invest any money into this project, make sure you look into all the legalities.

Features that Make Your Garage Livable

To make your garage livable, there are fun and stylish elements you must install to make the space more like home. Some of these elements are extremely important. They include:

Windows: Garages typically do not come with windows so to make your space more livable, you would need to create space for a window or two.

Waterproofing: Most garages are not as thoroughly waterproofed as living spaces. This is because garages are designed to store vehicles and equipment; this means they do not fully resist water penetration. So waterproofing is very essential when converting a garage to a living space. Waterproofing your garage for conversion must be done carefully, thoroughly, and with the best waterproofing materials because any mistake could compromise the entire project. You don't want water leaking into your space after it’s been fully set up.

Lighting: The already existing lighting in your garage might not be sufficient for living, so you’ll need to add one or two more lights and switches to make the space brighter.

Drywall and Insulation: You might need to add basic drywall to your garage for insulation purposes because garages are typically built with no drywall and no insulation. Sometimes garages have drywalls that are just hung up with no sort of sanding, painting, or finishing. If your garage already has drywall, you may need to have it uninstalled, insulated, and then reinstalled and finished. Conventional forms of insulation for your new walls include rock wool, sprayed foam conventional fiberglass roll insulation.

Ceiling: The ceiling height must at least be 7.5 feet if you want to make your garage a living space. So take note of this especially if you have plans to raise your garage floor. The ceiling would also have to be insulated. Fiberglass batts are great materials for ceiling insulation.

Other features you may want to install to create the perfect living space in your garage include heating, power outlets, Ethernet cables, Wi-Fi, and storage space.

What to Do With Your Converted Garage

Once you have converted your garage into a cozy space, there are several things you could do with this space. They include:

Kids Playroom

If you have more than two kids in your home, you’ll find that there’s ever hardly enough space for them to play indoors, yet you may not want them playing outdoors at certain times of the day. Having a kid-friendly playroom in your garage guarantees a safe space for children to spend time while closely supervised by adults.

Home Office

You can use your garage as a home office where you can work away from distractions from other family members.

Home Gym

If you love working out, you could set up your renovated garage with a couple of gym equipment and spend some minutes there working out daily.

Guest Room

If your renovated garage is now well-insulated and pest-free, you may put a bed in there and have your overnight guests spend the night in the cozy space.

 

Useful Guidelines On Choosing The Best Child Care Services

 When you search for daycare for your child, you will see many options in front of you. The daycare you choose for your child will have a great impact on his grooming and personality traits. That's why It is always advised that you choose the best one for your child depending on certain factors and a few things that every reputable child care center has in common. 

Consider these guidelines to help yourself out in making the right decision for your child care. 

Do Your Search

There are plenty of options you can choose to find a child care center for your kid. You can either do this by: 

• searching on different websites 

• talking to your family or friends’ circle who are already sending their kids to some care center

• Talk to some advisors who have resources and experience 

Searching for daycare is not difficult, but choosing one is. Once you get the list of different options, make sure you check for a few things since that's a place your kid is going to spend most of his time and learn from the surroundings. 

Check The Environment

Child care centers must provide an environment that seems clean, light and fun so a child stays healthy, does not get bored, and feels at home. Make sure that the daycare you choose for your child has an inviting environment and everything is set up in a way that provides your child with proper learning and playing facilities. 

Check Out The Classroom Staff

Make sure that the child care center has a well-organized staff and you should also see how many staff members are provided to each classroom.

It is ideal if there are more teachers and caretakers to provide kids with everything they need in their free time, nap time, feeding time, learning time, and playing time. But if the staff is limited, they shouldn't look stressed and exhausted with the kids. Staff teachers should be welcoming and know how to handle the kids with care.

See The Curriculum

Every daycare has its curriculum, and every curriculum depends on the level of care you seek for your child. If your child is under 2 years, he should be provided with a Montessori curriculum and you should see the evidence for that. 

For example, classrooms should include playing material and activities that your kid will participate in throughout his day. There should be learning along with fun through the whole setup of the classroom environment.

Safety Should Be The Top Priority

You should always choose a daycare center with safety in mind. Make sure that the care center you choose has all safety measurements, all staff members are well-trained to respond to emergencies, and there is a complete security system. 

In addition to security issues, there are other issues which you should be concerned about. Examples, injury cases, accidents, and other emergencies that can happen to any kid at any time. In this case, care providers should know the guidelines and how to respond to those situations, and when to make a phone call to the parents.  

Reputation Matters

The first thing you should check about the daycare center is that it must be licensed. Other things come second but they are still important to know. Make sure that the daycare you choose for your kid has a good reputation and has a clear record. You can have a small check for your satisfaction and can do this by:

• Checking the background of the daycare center

• Seeing the reviews 

• Asking questions from the staff

• Interacting with the kids in the daycare

Useful Tips To Prevent Food Waste

 No matter if you are into vegan food, have a certain diet, or eat all types of food, many households around the world waste too much food. It is common for an average household to throw away food each week, which is wasting a lot of money. Plus, it is harmful to the environment. 

To prevent food waste in your household, here are some tips.

Radish Fade Pesto Salsa - Free photo on Pixabay

Buy ingredients that everyone will eat

If you have a partner or children or live with a friend, it is important to buy ingredients that everyone will eat. Otherwise, one person might find it difficult to consume one thing alone before it expires. 

For instance, if your family loves pizza then making pizza sticks is a snack that your family will love. Everyone can enjoy tasty tomatoey and cheesy dough. Hence, making such a simple snack to enjoy while watching movies or playing games will ensure that you will avoid wasting food as everyone will enjoy the same ingredients. 

Make your own sauces from leftover ingredients

Whacking leftover ingredients that are about to expire into a food blender could help you make an incredibly tasty sauce. Experimenting with flavors might help you to discover a new favorite. 

It is simple to make homemade sauces. All you will need alongside the ingredients is some oil to make it blend into a smooth consistency. 

Likewise, it could mean that you save costs when shopping as you can continue making sauces instead of buying ready-made ones. 

Plan ahead

Wasting food each week simply comes from a lack of planning. If you plan your meals for the week before you shop, then you will only buy what you need and know you will use it.

Planning ahead means that you can utilize all ingredients in your fridge and cupboards so that nothing gets thrown in the bin. 

Get creative

Should you still have some food left after each week, then it is time to get creative. You don’t always need to cook the same meals or what you have planned. If you have food leftover that is soon to expire, then get creative and make something new. 

You might have random ingredients leftover but you will be surprised what you can make with some ingredients. 

You can type the ingredients into the internet and find new recipes so that you can utilize the rest of your food. 

Organize your kitchen

Should you have a messy kitchen or lack an order as to which you organize your food, then it can help to organize your kitchen. If everything has a dedicated space, then you will know where to look for ingredients that could be going off. 

Likewise, you will be able to see everything that can be used instead of pushing things to the back of the cupboards or the fridge. Staying organized will make sure that everything has a visible space in your kitchen so that no ingredients get forgotten about and go out of date. 

5 Tips for Getting Your Child to Enjoy Veggies

 There’s the common stereotype that children utterly hate vegetables. There are plenty of cartoons in the day that even reflect this sentiment while still pushing for kids to eat them. Every teenager and adult knows the importance of vegetables. Veggies are packed with vitamins, fiber, antioxidants, and so much more and all of these help the immune system while preventing things such as diseases or cancers. But telling a child this doesn’t matter, because children don’t exactly think about the future much. So, what can be done? How can you get your child to enjoy vegetables? These are a few ways to achieve that.

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Ask them what makes them dislike veggies

Simple enough, right? Chances are, there’s a reason why they don’t like eating them. It could be the taste, and this is very valid. While it’s true children are incredibly picky eaters it’s important to look into ways to expand their palette while at the same time catering to their tastebuds. Vegetables are known for not tasting the best unless they’re cooked or seasoned in a proper way. So why not try experimenting to see what your child likes? There are plenty of benefits of cooking your own meals and cooking per taste is one of them.

Set a good example

Children tend to copy what their parents do, so if you eat your veggies, your children will be far more inclined to eat theirs. If children see that their parents are enjoying all of these healthy foods it's going to let them know that it’s normal and they’re going to copy what their parents are doing. So eat more veggies and serve them for your meals, as this could be a perfect way to get the whole family on board for eating healthy.

Get your child to cook with you

As mentioned earlier, you need to know what they dislike about veggies. But getting them to see how you cook and letting them help is going to push them to feel proud of what they made and they’re going to more than likely choose to eat what they helped make. So why not look into some easy recipes you and your little one can make together? A great example would be the sesame chicken recipe or even a casserole.

Praise them

Every time your little one eats veggies, just praise them for it. They’ll start associating eating veggies with positive emotion and this can be one of the best ways to get them feeling proud and involved. But you should tell them exactly what they did so they know they’re getting praised for eating the veggies and not anything else. It’s better to be positive and have positive reinforcements for your child rather than anything negative.

Just keep on trying

While it’s never easy to get a child to follow directions, the best thing you can do is to keep on trying. Just keep pushing for them to eat healthily, but also don’t forget that this is something that will require a lot of patience too. 

What is the Impact of Weather on Pest Populations and How To Avoid Them?

If you've ever wondered why pest populations seem to magically grow just in the nick of time for the hottest, coldest, wettest, or driest days (at least from a homeowner's perspective), your suspicions are correct — weather does impact pests. But this doesn't mean you should panic when it looks like a steamy summer is headed your way or that an impending snowstorm means your houseplants will be doomed. 

Weather plays an interesting role in pest population. If you are a grower, you would be interested to know how weather affects pest population on your crops. You see, weather affects their behavior in many ways. In fact, knowing how weather affects the way pests behave is helpful for the effectiveness of pest control strategies. Let's look at it in detail.

How Does Cold Weather Affect Pests?

Bugs like cockroaches, flies, termites, and beetles often go into hiding during the winter months to escape the cold. During this time, they may hibernate in walls or underground where it's warmer. However, although many bugs disappear during the winter months, that doesn't mean you will never see them again. In fact, many of these pests come back in full force once spring arrives. This is because they have a very short life cycle — eggs hatch quickly, and within 30 days, a bug can go through its entire life cycle and produce more eggs. So even if your home is free of roaches in January, you might notice an infestation by March if you don't take steps to eliminate them during their downtime.

Here are some examples of overwintering methods for common pests:

• Ants burrow underground where it is warmer.

• Termites enter a form of hibernation inside their colonies.

• Cockroaches find shelter in the walls of homes and buildings.

• Mosquitoes lay eggs that can survive in water for up to five years.

How Does Warm Weather Affect Pests?

The warmer weather and longer days encourage more pests to come out of hiding. This is because they are able to find more food at this time. Pests will be looking for a place to hide, as well as food and water. They can find all of that in your home. Although you might not be seeing a lot of pests right now, this will change as the weather becomes warmer.

Not only are there more pests coming out during the summer, but they also breed more during this time. You definitely do not want to have a few pests growing into an infestation over the course of a month or two. You need to know what you're dealing with so that you can take action now before it gets worse.

• According to the experts at Terminix pest control, the best way to stop pests from taking over your home is through professional service.

• An exterminator can come out to your home and inspect the property, looking for signs of pests in areas that you might not think to look in yourself. 

• They can then determine what kind of action needs to be taken regarding pest control treatments and how often they need to be performed throughout the year.

How Does Raining Season or Monsoon Affect Pest?

Monsoon is a time when the pest population is at its peak. The reason is that monsoon brings the much-needed moisture and humidity to the environment, which helps these pests to thrive and multiply.

The pest population is likely to increase during the rainy season because of the following things:

• Moisture

Rainwater accumulates in small corners, cracks, and crevices on your property. This creates a humid environment that attracts and supports pests. The small puddles formed can also become breeding spots for mosquitoes and other insects. Also, drainage water can be a source of nutrients for insects, which makes it easier for them to breed and multiply.

• Temperature changes

Changes in temperature can affect insect behavior and their reproductive cycles. During monsoon, the temperature drops, and this creates an ideal environment for pests to thrive in your home or office.

Here are some tips to control pests during monsoon season:

• Use mosquito repellants and make sure they contain DEET or Picaridin

• Wear long-sleeved shirts and full pants when outdoors

• Fix leaking faucets and pipes indoors, as this creates a favorable condition for mosquitoes to breed

• Make sure that your home is clean and dry so that the germs do not spread

• Use fly repellant in your kitchen

• Keep trash cans covered and clean regularly

• Apply bed bug repellant on mattresses so that they do not invade your bedroom

Final Words

Weather does affect pest population growth and development. In fact, it is one of the most important factors that determine how much damage pests can cause. Predicting weather and its effects on the growth of pests is not an easy task, and it is not an exact science either. But, there are certain ways how you can do pest control throughout the year, and it is a challenge indeed, but can be done.