Category: DIY Ideas

This year, many of us are returning to spending holidays together with loved ones. The holiday season is right around the corner, so TORLYS wants to take the stress away from planning your holiday party.

Decorate for the Season

The holidays are an opportunity to decorate in a way that expresses your personality. Whether you decide to go with simple & sleek or kitchy & fun, you can’t go wrong with holiday décor. However, if the holidays aren’t a time to go a bit overboard, we’re not sure when you can!

TORLYS Tips for Decorating

1. Start with what you already have – put out your existing decorations and take stock of what you still need. You’ll be surprised about all the gorgeous décor you’ve saved from years prior!
2. Utilize nature for easy and free decorations! Collect pinecones, fallen branches, and other pieces of nature to sprinkle throughout your home. Plus, you’ll bring the smell of winter into your home.
3. Set the table, put out glasses, and set up as much as you can ahead of time. This will reduce the amount of work you need to do the day of the party and serves as décor as your guests arrive!

For more tips and tricks on how to best decorate, read Angelo Surmelis’ Top 10 Tips for Holiday Decorating and read TORLYS Blog’s 9 Simple Holiday Decorating Ideas.

Decide on Your Menu Ahead of Time

Food and drinks are the star of any holiday party! But without proper planning, your menu can prove to be the most stressful aspect of the night. Instead, plan your party’s menu well ahead of time so you can spend some time with your guests.

TORLYS Tips for Menu Planning

1. Don’t try to take on too much – Pick dishes you can prepare ahead of time and that you have experience cooking before. Only make a few select items on the day of the party to simplify your schedule.
2. Forget about trying to make custom cocktails for all your guests. Instead, let your guests serve themselves by making the drinks and mixers accessible. If you’d like to make something special, make a large punch ahead of time for everyone to enjoy.
3. Make appetizers that look good and serve as décor in itself. Think charcuterie boards, colourful candy or chocolates, and Christmas cookies in all their glory!

Get more specific meal tricks from Martha Stewart’s Easy Holiday Menus or Real Simple’s Make Only Easy, Impressive Food guide.

Plan The Clean-up (even if you don’t want to!)

The end to hosting a holiday party is the eventual, unfortunate clean-up that has to take place. It might not be fun, but if you plan your cleaning process ahead of time, you’ll spend less time after your party is over.

TORLYS Tips for an Easy Clean Up

1. Save your storage boxes in an easy to access spot for your glasses, décor, etc.
2. Only worry about keeping the party rooms tidy. If your guests aren’t spending any time in some of your rooms, save their messes for later!
3. Place trash cans or recycling bins throughout your home in convenient spots so your guests will take it upon themselves to clean up.

TORLYS top tip for enjoying the clean-up process is use TORLYS EcoCare Cleaning Kit. Our complete all-in-one cleaning kit, TORLYS EcoCare is biodegradable and phosphate-free.  TORLYS Ready-To-Use EcoCare Cleaner is a specially formulated floor cleaner solution for all TORLYS floors.

Other Tips for a Successful Party

• Put on a great Holiday Music playlist to set the tone for your party! For instance, try this Happy Holidays playlist from Spotify.
• Accept help from your friends and family when they offer! Your guests won’t have fun watching you run yourself ragged, so don’t feel bad about accepting help.

Holiday parties can be a lot of work, but with TORLYS tips and tricks, you can eliminate much of the stress. Read more of TORLYS Blog for DIY Ideas to get your home ready for the occasion and enjoy the holiday season!

Deciding to sell your home can be an exciting time but without a plan, it can be stressful! Making choices of where to invest your time and money back into your home to increase its value can be difficult. Before you put your home on the market, you’ll want to ensure you are getting the most out of your investment.

But before beginning a slew of renovations on your home, do some research on the market. If this is your first time selling a home, ease into it and educate yourself. Your home is likely your biggest investment, so it’s worth doing some research to get the most out of it.

3 Tips for Selling Your Home

1. Know the market

You’ve likely heard people refer to the real estate market as being best for buyers or sellers.

• In a buyer’s market, there are more homes available than homebuyers. This gives potential homebuyers an advantage.
• However, in a seller’s market, there are more home buyers than viable properties available. This is when you can relax a bit.

If it’s a seller’s market, making renovations is generally considered a must. Ask for the help of a realtor to determine what the market trends, their predictions, and what is or isn’t selling in your neighbourhood. If you have some time, hold off until the market is best for you and your home.

This also includes knowing your home’s selling point before and after renovations, and calculating how much those renovations will cost. Homes in certain neighbourhoods might sell easily because of their location, while others need some special touches to attract buyers.

2. DIY (what you can)

To get the most bang for your buck, tackle renovations that you can do yourself or with the help of friends and family. Hiring contractors to get the job done can be costly, lowering your chance of getting the best return on your investment. However, make sure you don’t take on a job that’s too big or complicated!

3. Know your home’s worth

One of HGTV Canada’s go-to contractors, Bryan Baeulmer, says that depending on how old your home is, doing no renovations at all could be the smartest route to take. He says old homes requiring complete renovations can have hidden problems that blow your entire budget. This leaves you with no profit or less money in the end. If this is your situation, put your home on the market for a little less.

Not doing any renovations might prevent you from cashing out short-term, but it could also save you from spending money on large, hidden issues. To avoid this, we recommend updating your home from time to time rather than waiting until the entire space needs a remodel. Keeping your home in good shape will help you in the long run.

How to Best Spend Your Money When Selling Your Home

The best thing you can do when selling your home is highlight its assets. Choose renovations that will boost its value while skipping over those that won’t add to your home. Potential buyers may steer clear from your home if they see a need for renovations — even if they’re easy to do. Complete these simple projects on your home to make it move-in-ready.

Here’s a list of low-cost renovations that can easily increase your home’s value:

1. Paint

A fresh coat (or two) of paint can brighten up your home, making it look new, clean, and livable. Choosing the right neutral colours can also modernize your home and make it appeal to a larger crowd, while using a colourful palette may alienate potential homebuyers.

2. Backsplash

Adding a new backsplash to your kitchen or your bathroom gives you a chance to add some new design elements to create a stylish space. Tiles and grout are generally inexpensive and can be installed without hiring expensive contractors. Try it as a DIY project and see how much of an impact some new tiles can make.

3. Basement

Finishing your basement makes the most of your home and adds livable space. Families need room for kids and their friends to play, or even a quiet space for parents to relax. Basements can serve as playrooms, offices, an extra TV room, or even another bedroom. Adding some drywall, paint, and finishing the floors makes a huge difference. Use the product filter on our website to find the TORLYS floors that are best for basements.

4. Home staging

Staging your home to appeal to potential buyers has proven time and time again to be a great way to sell your home faster and for more. Home stagers use furniture and décor to maximize your space and help buyers imagine themselves in a clean, new home.

You can choose to hire a professional stager or, if you’d rather, stage your home on your own. To do so, start off by depersonalizing your home, decluttering, and emptying out all closets and cabinets. Buyers want space and storage, so making it look like you have plenty will make them think your home is bigger than it actually is.

5. Professional photographs

When it comes to real estate, investing in professional photography is important. All listings are now posted online, and potential buyers are always clicking through the web, hoping to find their dream home. Digital camera shots or cell phone pictures just aren’t good enough to make the best of your space. Low-quality photos make a space look old, dingy, and unappealing.

For more on this topic, read TORLYS blog about small home renovations that can pay off big time.

The Importance of Curb Appeal

Spruce up your curb appeal to have potential buyers impressed before they even enter your home. Depending on your budget, you can do either small updates like fixing your front gardening and painting your front door, or something a little more extravagant like building a front porch or repaving your driveway.

6 Simple ways to improve your curb appeal

1. Simple, groomed landscaping
2. Outdoor lighting
3. Large, modern house numbers
4. Freshly painted front door, window trims and railing
5. New front porch
6. Smooth, crack-free driveway

If you’re preparing to sell your home, make sure you do everything you can to get the most for its value. As many people’s largest investment, it’s worth the extra effort to make changes to your home before selling. We hope you found these tips on knowing the market, the importance of doing the work yourself, and taking the time to understand the market to be helpful while you prepare to sell your home!

Header Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash

It’s March, which means Spring is right around the corner and, most importantly, winter is coming to an end! Our clocks jump forward, we’ll stock up on Easter goodies, and everything around us becomes spring-oriented — except inside your home. Just because you’ve taken your tree down and stopped turning on your Christmas lights doesn’t mean your home is ready for spring. Fear not, TORLYS is here to help you plan and carry out your spring cleaning!

Step 1: Put Away Winter Decorations

If you haven’t already (and no judgement here!), it’s time to put away your tree, bring your reindeer lawn decorations into storage, and take down your front door wreath. And yes, the hardest one of all, it’s time to stop turning on your decorative lights.

Putting away winter decorations means you’re no longer operating in winter mode and you’re ready to take on the new, fresh feelings of spring. Plus, it helps to get you mentally prepared for everything that’s coming up next.

Step 2: Do Maintenance Chores

Homes require a lot of maintenance, especially after the winter season. There’s a reason they call it spring cleaning!

Here’s a list of outdoor spring cleaning tasks:

1. Check your gutters, downspouts, air-conditioning units, shingles, chimney, foundation vents and outdoor faucets.
2. Fix any cracks in your driveway, porch, stairs and even in your window caulking.
3. Use compact soil to fill up low areas in your lawn or next to your home’s foundation to prevent flooding and damage.
4. Remove any of the firewood you have stored near your home. For your safety, it should be kept at least 2 feet away from the structure of your home and 18 inches off the ground.
5. Clean outdoor areas like your windows, grill, outdoor furniture, power equipment and more.

Step 3: Do your Spring-Cleaning

Bears aren’t the only ones that hibernate. We (try) to stay inside all winter — And that’s okay! But now that spring is approaching, a lot of bright, natural light is about to get shined on any dirt in your home. Basically, spring cleaning consists of taking care of the things that aren’t maintained throughout the winter but need attention when the weather thaws out.

Here are some spring-cleaning tips:

1. Clean inside all cabinets and storage areas.
   Clean all your countertops and cabinets, but also go inside your kitchen and bathroom drawers and give them a good wipe. You’ll be surprised at how many crumbs you’ll find!
2. Give your appliances a scrub.
   Clean inside your fridge, oven, dishwasher, microwave, and washer/dryer. Then, clean them from the outside to make them look nice and new.
3. Scrub down your walls and your floors.
   Whether they’re drywall or covered in tiles (i.e. your backsplash or shower), laminate or hardwood, they all need to be cleaned. For your floors, use TORLYS EcoCare Cleaning Kit to make sure you get the job done well.
4. Wash your cloth materials.
   Wash all your bedding (there’s nothing better than fresh sheets!), blankets, area rugs and carpets, and vacuum your mattress.

Step 4: Add your Spring Décor

Once all the boring work is done, it’s time to get started on the fun stuff! The end of winter means it is time to add some spring décor to your home. But, it is important to balance adding some spring accents without going overboard.

1. Introduce some gardening
   Tulips and daffodils, like most spring bulbs, will bloom just as beautiful inside as they do outside. For instance, force bulbs by planting them loosely in rocks and soil while providing sunshine and water. Within a few weeks, your indoor garden will be thriving. If long stem flowers become unruly, place them in a taller bucket to keep them under control. Flowers’ natural colour will add brightness to any space and liven things up.
2. Change over accessories
   Store away dark or neutral accessories and replace them with your favourite spring colour. Try to keep it to one colour to maximize punch and focus on small inexpensive pieces like pillow covers and ceramics.
3. Take a risk
   Neutral walls come alive when you mix time, energy, and a few gallons of brightly coloured paint. Select a bright tone hidden within your existing décor and apply it to the walls. It’s amazing the impact this makes and how it energizes the room all year round. If the risk is too great for a main room, choose a smaller room like a bedroom or a powder room.
4. Use natural materials
   Wood tones are trending lighter and brighter along with raw materials. Flooring and cabinetry are moving away from dark espresso stains and showcasing natural wood grain. The resulting interiors are fresh and naturally inspire a feeling of Spring. If renovations are on your horizon explore natural or whitewashed hardwood, laminate, vinyl or cork. And for decorating, consider wooden furniture and natural materials like wool and cotton.

Choose TORLYS

If you have TORLYS floors and are getting ready for spring cleaning, consider TORLYS EcoCare Cleaner. This cleaning solution is specially designed for TORLYS floors to keep them looking beautiful for years to come. Find out more information at our website, including a full FAQ regarding recommended product care for your TORLYS floor.

We don’t know about you but for us, it feels like a holiday is always around the corner. Decorations can be stressful and put a strain on all your other holiday responsibilities, but with a few versatile pieces and some colour, we guarantee you’ll have a beautiful home ready for the holidays.

Here are some of our go-to holiday tricks that can be used to take some of the stress out of decorating.

1. Start with a Good, Clean Foundation

It doesn’t do any good to add holiday decorations into the mix if we haven’t gotten control of the clutter in our house. Start by putting things away that don’t need to be out, and make sure everything is looking spick-and-span. And don’t ignore your floors! Use TORLYS EcoCare Cleaning Kit to make sure you have a good, clean foundation to your home decorating with a shining floor.

2. Holiday Curb Appeal

The holidays call for family and friends coming over for dinner and constant visits. Decorating your home from the outside gives people a festive impression before they even go inside. We recommend decorating your front entryway with seasonal plants or flowers, a front door ornament, and a colourful blanket.

Seasonal flowers typically only last for a few months and need to be repurchased every year, but they add a beautiful first impression and can be purchased for $10 to $30. Look for big pots or hanging baskets that represent the holiday season. If you’d like, you can continue this look indoors as well.

Front door ornaments, for example, a wreath, only need to be bought once and can be reused year after year. They decorate your front entrance without taking up any space on your entryway, making them super convenient if your porch is either small or nonexistent. If wreaths seem like too much of a hassle, try tieing a colourful ribbon around your doorknob.

If you do have a front porch with a bench or chairs, add a holiday-themed blanket. It doesn’t have to be covered in pumpkins or elves, but choose one that fits the seasonal aesthetic. This will also make your home more inviting and keep you warm when you’re scoping out your neighbour’s holiday decorations.

3. Festive Tableware

Festive tableware can vary in prices. There are options for people who love to go shopping and overflow their dining table with holiday decorations and there are options for people who like to keep things more low-key but with subtle touches.

Centrepieces are a beautiful way to set the mood for your dining room. (They’re not called centrepieces for no reason!) Look for decorations that would complement your dishes and the rest of your home’s style. You can even purchase small pieces to put on everybody’s plate.

If you’re looking to keep things more subtle, or on the more affordable side, try decorating your table with some seasonal fruit or vegetables in a big bowl. Colourful paper or linen napkins can also add a nice flair without making you go overboard.

4. Use Clear Vases

Clear vases are a perfectly simple yet glamorous way to showcase your holiday decorations. Put some leftover holiday ornaments that didn’t fit on the tree in a clear vase (bowls work, too!), then put the vase on your kitchen island. Or on the counter in your main bathroom. Or on the windowsill in the living room.

Other vase-filler ideas include seasonal fruit, candles, and some outdoor finds like pinecones.

5. Decorate with Smell

Yes, we just mentioned how candles can be used to create a great centrepiece inside of a clear vase. But candles also give you the opportunity to make your home smell like the holidays.

After all, the sense of smell is closely linked with memory, and there is a certain smell linked to every season. Take advantage of this. If you don’t like candles, buy an air fresher in a holiday scent. Your guests will definitely notice, and you’ll always be in a happy, holiday mood.

Tip: Spruce up an old or plain candle by tieing a bow around it for added detail.

6. Display Your Candied Goods

For most, the holidays are about food. Family gatherings, friendly get-togethers and late night movie nights all revolve around dinner or snacks. And dessert. So why not decorate with your favourite holiday treats? Leave our some cookies decorate for the occasion, or have some candy hanging out in a bowl. All these touches make people feel welcome while adding a festive touch. And to really win at holiday decorating, put your holiday treats in a clear bowl or vase.

7. Pillow Patterns

Buy some season pillows for $10 each and put them on your couches, windowsills, dining room chairs, and even outside. Pillows come in a large variety of patterns and colours and add coziness to a space.

8. Colourful Towels

Add pops of seasonal colour to your home by switching our your tea towels for ones with a festive pattern. This will add a subtle touch to your kitchen and will give you something to look forward to every holiday season. Bring this idea into the bathroom by putting our colourful hand towels for guests to have a consistent, decorative flow throughout your home.

9. Make Use of Your Stairs

Staircases are a great place to add holiday details. Everywhere from the landing to the railings, use decorate ribbons, lights, greenery and plants to continue the festivities upstairs. Even if your upper floor won’t be used by guests, staircases are an elegant focal point and can be seen by guests, typically right when they enter your home. Besides, there’s always that one guest that help themselves upstairs to use the facilities or snoop around.

This holiday season has brought unprecedented challenges, but with these simple tricks, the holiday spirit can lift us all up! Don’t let the magic of this time of year pass you by – embrace it whatever way you can. From everyone at TORLYS, wishing you and yours the very best!