Holiday gift ideas

Figuring out what to buy for friends and loved ones during the holidays isn’t always easy. While some people are easy to shop for, there are always a few people on your list who seem to already have everything they might want. Fortunately, there are a few things that you can get for around the home that they might never buy for themselves. Here are a few suggestions for things that they’ll not only appreciate, but actually USE.

Digital Assistants

Both Google Home and Amazon’s Echo smart speaker with Alexa are pretty common these days, and both platforms are adding new features frequently. Not only can you use one of these digital assistants to play music or find out the weather forecast, but you can also have them tell you jokes, cast video to smart TVs, look up recipes and even set timers or access your calendar. Companion apps for smartphones will even let your recipient take their assistant with them when they’re away from the house as well.

Smart Thermostats

Heating and cooling costs are a major expense. Fortunately, there are an increasing number of options out there for smart thermostats that adjust temperatures automatically to help keep costs low. These thermostats can not only make changes based on their programming, but some can even make adjustments on their own when they sense that no one is in the house. Connecting them to smartphone apps would even allow your recipient to control the temperature while away from home so that everything’s just perfect when they get back.

Home Automation Accessories

Digital assistants and smart thermostats aren’t the only home automation options out there. Smart lighting, smart locks, window sensors, leak sensors and even smart smoke detectors are all available to give your friends or loved-ones new ways to interact with their home. Best of all, most of these devices can be configured to work together to achieve effects like automatically turning on lights when the door is unlocked.

Alternative Appliances

The modern homeowner deserves so much more than an oven and a microwave can give them. Fortunately, there are a number of options out there that offer up new culinary options while also being extremely giftable. Instant Pot cookers, sous vide cookers and even air fryers offer new options for fixing meals that your gift recipient might never have considered. Many of them are programmable as well and can even be monitored or controlled remotely via dedicated apps.

High-Quality Streaming

More people are “cutting the cord” and moving away from traditional cable television than ever before. In addition to Netflix, consumers looking for quality digital content have options with Amazon, Hulu, Disney+, CBS All Access and more, and the forthcoming HBO Max streaming service will be here next year. This could be a great time to get your recipient ready for all of this content with a Roku or other streaming device capable of handling HD or 4K streams without buffering or losing picture quality in the process. Pair it with a sound bar or other sound solution to really take their entertainment experience up a notch.

Clearing the Air

There are a number of common pollutants that can foul the air we breathe. Help your recipient to breathe a sigh of relief by giving them an ionizing air filter or other air purifier to cut out a lot of these unwanted smells and irritants. This will help to keep the air breathable and odor free, and the units themselves are easy to clean so it won’t add a significant new chore to their routine.

Take It to the Next Level

If you really want to blow somebody away, don’t just get them a smart device or pieces for home automation… get a professional installer to come and set things up and walk them through how everything works. HomeKeepr can help you find a pro in your area who’ll be more than happy to help with the surprise. Sign up for your free account today to find your pro and plan the perfect holiday gift.

Holiday decorating tips

Decorating for the holidays can be a lot of fun. What’s less fun is getting stuck in a rut with the same old holiday decorations year after year. Sometimes you just want to break away from the same old thing and do something new and exciting. What do you do if you don’t have any decorating ideas, though?

You’re in luck, because there are a number of different holiday décor trends that are popular at the moment. Regardless of your personal style, you should be able to find some way to spruce up your decorations and leave your guests in awe. Best of all, some of these are so versatile that you should be able to work them in regardless of your budget!

Farmhouse Chic

They say that everything old is new again, and this trend really digs back into the olden times. Using a lot of weathered wood effects and touches of nature, this look celebrates the holidays with a simple and rustic accent. Use small cut pine branches, natural cuts of logs, earthen tones and handmade decorations that wouldn’t look out of place in Little House on the Prairie to give your holidays a touch of farmhouse wonder. This is especially effective if your home already uses a lot of wood accents in its design.

Go Big and Go Bold

If rustic décor is a bit boring to you, feel free to take it in the opposite direction. Trees decorated with bold, colorful ornaments, the use of neon colors in decorations and a variety of metallic foil accents can really add some warmth to the holiday season. Combine this with outdoor decorations such as oversized ornaments for the lawn and light show projectors and you’ll have a one-of-a-kind holiday theme.

Upcycled Décor

If you like the homemade look and want some truly unique decorations, consider upcycling things around the house to give them a new purpose. Adding paint, accessories and lighting are great ways to take items that you don’t use anymore and give them a new life as holiday decorations. Since the end result depends on both your tastes and the materials you’re working with, no two upcycled decorations will be the same.

Add Some Shine

Sometimes glitter is in style, and sometimes it’s tacky. At the moment, though, glitter is coming in in a big way. Using glitter as an accent on your other decorations or going all-in and giving decorations a full coat can give your holidays a touch of much-needed shine. Just be careful when you’re working with glitter. Once it’s in the house, it might be there to stay.

Twinkling Accents

Lights are a cornerstone of holiday decorating, but a lot of people are using them as much for accent pieces as they are for big displays. Instead of putting all of the lights outside, try adding LED-lit garland and lighted wreathes as a way to add just a little bit of twinkle to your decorations. Often these decorations will use very small lights in short strings, giving you just the right amount of lighting to serve as a great accent without dominating your décor.

A Touch of Folklore

There are holiday traditions from around the world, including a number that might be important to your own culture. Embrace this, adding little hits of folklore and traditions from your culture into your decorating plans. These don’t have to be large overt displays, either; even just little touches as part of your accents can really help you to bring your decorations to life.

Stuck on a Design?

It isn’t always easy to find the décor style that best matches your home. Fortunately, there are decorating pros on HomeKeepr who can give you that extra help you need. Whether you want help designing a rustic look or want to go over the top, sign up today so you can find the decorator who will make your holiday dreams come true.

Holiday home tips...

The holiday season is one of the most-traveled periods of the entire year. People drive and fly across the country or around the world to visit friends and loved ones. It’s wonderful to have those you care about coming to visit, but it can also be very stressful if your home is in disarray. Even though you tell yourselves that people won’t really care about what your home looks like, there’s always that fear that they’ll judge you if your house isn’t ready for guests.

You don’t have to worry, though. There are a number of ways that you can make your home more festive in preparation for holiday visitors. Here are just a few suggestions to help get you started.

Rearrange the Furniture

Even something as simple as rearranging some of the furniture can have a big impact on the look of your home when company arrives. Changing the positioning of couches, chairs and other large pieces can open rooms up and make them seem more inviting to your visitors. Best of all, you can easily focus the changes around a Christmas tree or other holiday centerpieces to really tie things together and create a unified holiday look. Once your guests leave, you can either move the furniture back to its usual spots or leave it where it is to keep the new look going throughout the year.

Clean Up the Outdoors

Another place that you can make a big impact is cleaning up around the outdoors. Rake and mulch leaves, clean up flower beds, trim back trees and bushes… do whatever needs to be done to get everything looking great before the temperatures drop too low. If possible, you may even want to clean the bricks or siding and clean out your gutters. While you’re up there, you may as well install some hangers for holiday light strings, too!

Update Your Accents

One seemingly small change that can make a big impression is to change the accent colors on your home by painting the doors and shutters. This option isn’t right for everyone since it’s a permanent change, but for those wanting to update the look of their home it can make a big difference. While the color you choose is dependent on the color of your home and your personal preference, going with red or green can add a splash of holiday flair that will still look great the rest of the year through.

Spruce Up the Floors

If your carpets are stained, worn or otherwise need a refresh, don’t just install a similar carpet in their place: Consider going for woodgrain vinyl slats or laminate wood flooring instead. These flooring options add the beauty of a natural wood floor without the frustration, standing up to stains and other issues while requiring significantly less work to maintain. Best of all, a change to a wood look near the holidays can enhance the charm of your home when your visitors finally arrive.

Change Your Decorating Style

Consider ditching the tired old holiday decorations that you put up every year and go with a bit of a different look this time around. If you usually go cartoony, consider something classier like white lights and pine accents. If your decorations are usually sparse, do something a bit more over the top this year. It doesn’t matter how you refresh your decorations, just give your visitors something to see that they haven’t seen before. While this is especially effective if combined with other updates to your home, you can still wow your guests just by subverting their expectations of your holiday décor.

Bring in the Pros

If you can’t come up with a solution you like, consider bringing in a decorator to help you find the holiday updates that work best for your house. HomeKeepr can help you find the perfect decorator to wow your guests when they arrive. Sign up for your free account today!