Kathleen and Larry Waelde Real Estate Services
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5660 LYDIA CT., LIVERMORE

So much to love about this updated home! Open floorplan with volume ceiling and plenty of natural sunlight. Contemporary wood laminate flooring throughout first level. A loft addition adds space for office or play area. Beautifully remodeled kitchen features custom cabinets, slab granite counters, S/S appliances, wine fridge. Kitchen opens to family room, which then opens to a wonderful backyard entertaining area and more…

Around the House Tips

DID YOU KNOW...? NEW WAYS TO USE OLD PRODUCTS
You can use steel wool to: \n\nFill a screw hole that has become too big for the screw. Stuff the hole with steel wool and re-insert the screw. \n\nMake an instant pincushion. Stuff an old sock with steel wool and tie tightly for a pincushion that will keep pins and needles rust free. \n\nRepel kitchen pests, by placing steel wool around the pipes under the sink. \n\nYou can use nail polish remover to: \n\nRemove sticker residue from glass objects. \n\nUnstick your fingers after a superglue mishap. \n\nRemove marker and ink from appliances, glass, and stainless steel. \n\nYou can use olive oil to: \n\nRevitalize leather shoes and baseball gloves. \n\nClean greasy hands. \n\nRepel moles in the yard. Soak a cloth in olive oil and stuff it into the mole hole. Moles hate olive oil!\n\nYou can use cola to: \n\nRemove grease stains from the garage floor. \n\nClear a sluggish drain. \n\nLoosen a bolt that is rusted on. \n\nRemove stubborn stains from the toilet. Pour in the cola and wait one hour before scrubbing.\n...
DO\'S & DON\'TS ON WATERING YOUR LAWN
DO water every five to six days during the warm season. \n\nDO water early in the morning. \n\nDO set sprinkler water spray close to the ground, not in high arcs. \n\nDO soak the area for 30 minutes to 1 hour. \n\nDON\'T water during the heat of the day (you lose ⅓ of the water to evaporation). \n\nDON\'T over-water, as you will lose nutrients and encourage rot and disease. \n\nDON\'T water too frequently, as it encourages shallow roots and weak grass. \n\nDON\'T water at night, as it encourages disease. \n...
EASY WAYS TO IMPROVE CURB APPEAL
Walk across the street and look at your overall landscape. \n\nAre shrubs trimmed neatly? Windows and doors shouldn\'t be overshadowed by overgrown bushes. \n\nClear your entry, sidewalk, and plant beds of leaves and debris. \n\nAdd a new layer of attractive mulch to all planting areas. \n\nAre there bare spots or weeds in the lawn? Your local garden supplier can tell you the best way to remedy this problem. \n\nHardscape (bird feeders or houses, simple water features, statuary) can add warmth and character to an otherwise drab terrain. \n\nMake your front door more appealing with a fresh coat of paint or stain and new hardware. \n\nSpeaking of hardware, install new light fixtures on both sides of your door and change your old, scratched house number plates with shiny new ones. \n\nConsider shutters or awnings to dress up your windows. \n\nWell placed, low voltage landscape lighting is fairly inexpensive and will dramatically enhance your home when the sun goes down.\n...
HELPFUL HINTS FOR INDOOR AND OUTDOOR PLANTS
For an environmentally safe insecticide boil five or six chopped garlic cloves in a gallon of water until soft. Add one tablespoon of biodegradable detergent and let sit for a day before spraying on plants. \n\nA spray bottle of two parts vinegar and one part water is good for getting rid of slugs on your garden plants. \n\nFor indoor and outdoor plants clay pots are better than plastic. Clay pots allow the plants to breathe and are cooler for the plant roots. \n\nWhen you change the water in your aquarium save it to use on your houseplants. They will love it! \n\nA paste of baking soda and water will remove most stains from your plastic garden furniture. \n\nWhen planting flowers, first scrape a bar of soap across your fingernails to keep them from getting soil stained. \n\nSprinkling pepper in the garden will repel cats and other critters from digging or lying on your plants. \n\nYou\'re more likely to kill your houseplants by over-watering than under-watering. Once a week is sufficient for most houseplants. \n\nBrown edges on your indoor plant leaves may mean not enough humidity. You can water them until they die but if the air is too dry (especially with the heat on in the winter) watering the roots won\'t fix the problem. If you don\'t want to buy a humidifier, place your potted plants on top of a large plate of fine gravel. Keep the gravel plate filled with water, which will evaporate and create moist air around the plants. \n\nGot ants in your pants? Get even by sprinkling some uncooked grits on the ant hill. The nasty little brutes will chow down, then swell up and die…revenge!\n...
QUICK TIPS FOR INTERIOR PAINTING
Before you begin pick your paint colors carefully. You may love one color, but will it go well with your furnishings, carpeting, and adjoining wall areas? Choosing with care can save you a frustrating and costly re-do. \n\nUse water-based latex paint for ease in application and cleanup. \n\nBuy the correct paint for the surface you are painting. Wood floors, concrete, masonry or metal require specific products. \n\nBefore you dip your brush in that paint, assemble every item you will need: \n\nEnough paint for the entire job (you don\'t want to take your paint-smeared self back to the store in the middle of the job) \n\nBrushes, rollers (if you settle for the cheapest quality you\'ll get brush hairs and roller fuzzies all over your walls!) \n\nPlastic dropcloths or old sheets (yes, you will make a mess) \n\nA large damp cloth for wiping up small drips and mistakes while they are still wet \n\nStepladder \n\nScrewdriver and claw hammer to remove wall hooks, switchplates, nails, etc. \n\nPlastic automotive tape to edge windows, trim and carpet \n\nHand cream-you will be so glad you used this on your hands and arms when it comes time to clean up \n\nPrepare the surface. Cracks and holes should be filled with spackling, and old paint should be lightly sanded so the new paint will adhere. Make sure the surface is clean of dirt, grease, rust and flaking paint. \n\nPaint in this order: ceiling, walls, trim, floor. Remember, paint drips DOWN. \n\nUse a roller for the big areas and a brush to cut in from the outside edges. \n\nTape all window edges, trim, and carpet edges. You will thank yourself for this once you start cutting in with the brush!\n...
Safety Tips for your home.
Never leave standing liquids unattended. Stay within arm\'s reach while your child is bathing or is near any container of water. If the phone rings, let it ring; stay with your child. \n\nPrevent tap water scalds by adjusting the temperature on your hot water heater to 120° F. \n\nKeep medicines and hazardous household chemicals locked up and out of sight. Use child-resistant packaging for medicines and hazardous household chemicals, and call 1-800-222-1222 if a poisoning occurs. \n\nCut the loops on window-blind cords and call 1-800-506-4636 for a free repair kit. \n\nMake sure your hairdryer has a large rectangular plug. The immersion protection device prevents electrocution if the hairdryer is dropped in water. \n\nChange the battery in your smoke alarm when you change your clock\'s setting in October or November. \n\nHave a professional check your furnace for carbon monoxide leaks and your chimney for blockages; put a CO alarm in the hallway near every separate sleeping area. \n\nPrevent electrocutions by installing a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) in your household outlets. \n\nInstalling Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCIs) can prevent electrical fires. AFCIs can sense electrical arc and trip the circuit. \n\nBabies on adult beds risk suffocation from hidden hazards such as entrapment between the bed and wall; entrapment involving the bed frame, headboard, and footboard; or soft bedding such as pillows or thick quilts and comforters.\n...
Using your old stuff to create a new room.
\nBefore you start your room re-arrangement, first empty the room completely. Take down all the wall décor and remove any rugs. Now, look at the room as if you are seeing it for the first time. Consider what activities you want to take place in the room. Let form follow function. \n\nThe number one mistake people make is to push all the furniture back against the walls of a den or living room. This makes conversation difficult and creates a walkway through the middle of the conversation area. Try pulling your furniture out into the room into a cozy grouping for conversation. Experiment with placing the seating group at an angle instead of neatly lined up with the walls. A rug and a coffee table can anchor the seating group so that it looks like it “belongs” in the center of the room. \n\nInstead of spreading out your wall hangings along the walls, try grouping several pieces together for stronger impact. Also, it is easier to create “random” groupings than symmetrical designs, which require careful measuring and spacing. \n\nNow that your furniture isn\'t lining the walls you can add depth to your wall décor by creating three dimensional groupings. If you have a grouping of pictures or accessories on the wall, try placing a small table or chest below them. Dress the table top with two or three favorite objects of varying heights to add dimension. \n\nMake a dramatic impact by slip covering your old furniture. At a fraction of the cost of new furniture you can extend the life of your old sofa and add a new color and texture to your room. \n\nShow off your collections! Whether it\'s rocks, seashells, marbles or buttons, you can purchase inexpensive clear glass containers to show off these items on a coffee table or chest. \n\nTake advantage of your new arrangement to get rid of accessories you really don\'t like-that old lamp, the dried flower arrangement that is years past its prime, and the afghan that is picked, balled and knotted. Less can be more!\n...
Winning the Clutter Wars: Introduction
Garage sales are events you stage, not events you attend. Unless you are a professional junk or antique dealer, there is no reason for you to ever attend a garage sale. Think of them as the entry level drugs offered by the clutter “drug lord” to get you hooked. \n\nDiscover the joys of borrowing. Let\'s be honest. There are some things you might only use two or three times a year (fondue set, espresso maker, sewing machine, Super Dooper Foot Spa, etc.). You don\'t need to buy these things! Your friends will be happy to dig them out from under their beds and loan them to you upon request. \n\nThrow away those full-color store ad inserts in your newspaper and the mailbox-do not browse them first. I\'m talking about the good ones from Walmart, Kmart, Target, Kohl\'s, etc. Those ads exist for one reason only-to make you think you need more stuff. I know, you think you are just window shopping, but that is the first step to buying a juicer with ten attachments, a second George Foreman Grill, or a desktop fountain like the one in your attic. \n\nTreat eBay (and other internet shopping sites) like disaster sites-steer clear of them. You will not escape unscathed. Clutter will leap into your shopping cart of its own volition! \n\nFinally, if you absolutely must buy something, do it only to replace something you already have. It\'s OK to replace your grill, the refrigerator, your coffee table-just don\'t multiply them! ...
Winning the Clutter Wars: What\'s Clutter?
\nThe first step in winning the Clutter Wars is to de-bug your own mind! Most of us don\'t recognize clutter when it falls out of the closet onto our heads, so how in the world will we conquer it? Let\'s start by defining what clutter is. Clutter is anything in your home: \n\nThat is out of place \nThat is broken \nThat you have not used or worn in more than a year \nThat you dislike \n\nNow don\'t panic. I won\'t be telling you to throw away everything that falls within the above definition of clutter. BUT once you get a clear picture in your head of what constitutes clutter you will be better able to deal with it! In the next installment we still start in one small place to give you some practice in sorting through all that clutter.\n\n...
Winning the Clutter Wars: Be Ruthless
In our last “Homeowner\'s Tips” we defined clutter as anything that is out of place, broken, unused, or just something you really dislike. Today we are going to start in one small place (a closet or junk drawer will do nicely) and put things in order!\n\nFirst, you will need four cardboard boxes and a large trash can. Label the boxes as follows: \n\nPut Away \nFix \nSet Free \nMementos \n\nSet an alarm clock to go off in one to two hours. You don\'t want to overdo things! Open the closet or junk drawer and select the first object. Now we will use the four definitions of clutter to help us decide what goes in the trash can or which box to use for each item. \n\nThe trash can. You will find plenty of stuff that is absolutely unusable. Be ruthless. \n\nThe “Put Away” box. Anything goes in here that is out of place and would be better off in a more convenient location. As soon as the alarm clock goes off you will take ten minutes or so to put all the items in this box where they really belong. \n\nThe “Fix” box. If the item is damaged or missing a part, but you are certain you would use it regularly if repaired, put it in this box. Objects can only reside in the fix box for one week before they have to change residence! If you do not repair the item by week\'s end it must go into the “Set Free” box. \n\nThe “Set Free” box. This box will hold items that you dislike, things you haven\'t used in more than a year, orphaned gifts from friends and family (when you said, “Oh, you really shouldn\'t have!”), things that still have some good use in them, things that will surely fit again “someday.” This box will go in the trunk of the car. You will take the box to a local resale store or to a charity center. Many charities will even pick up this stuff at your front door-what convenience! You will be doing a good thing, since someone will be getting some good out of these items right now. \n\nThe “Mementos” box. This one can be a bit tricky. It\'s for things that have true sentimental or family heirloom value. You will want to invest in a cedar chest or other similar sized permanent storage unit. The items from this box will go into that permanent storage. But remember, that cedar heirloom chest will fill up rapidly if you are too casual about “what\'s an heirloom.” Consider passing on some of these things to extended family members right now-don\'t wait 20 years! \n\nNow you are one closet closer to having a serene, uncluttered home! Next week take this same process and tackle another corner of the house!\n...
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