Hope Leitner, Realtor®, CRS

brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties For many of us, mom’s ‘use-it-up, make-it-last, wear-it-out’ mantra was our introduction to thriftiness—a traditional value that has largely been kicked to the curb due to a more materialistic lifestyle. But the truth is, most of our common throwaway items have not yet reached their full potential. Here are a few smart re-uses that will help keep junk out of landfills and make our life a little easier: Banana peel as silver polish.  Run the peel through the blender with enough water to make a paste. This makes a great silver polish when applied with a washcloth and rinsed off with water. Citrus peels as freshener . Burnt smell in the oven? Freshen the air by baking a few orange peels for a few minutes at 350 degrees. Or throw a few peels in a jar with some white vinegar. In a day or two, you’ll have a great-smelling and effective all-purpose cleaner. Lastly, lemon peels that are run through the gar...

 This  information is brought to you by Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties How to Organize Your Garage A garage is an excellent place for storage, but things are often put there and forgotten. This can result in a disorganized mess that makes it difficult to find room for vehicles and other important items. If your garage could use some organization, you need a strategy. Get Help and Make a Plan First, realize that organizing a garage is a task that will take a lot of time and effort. Set aside at least two consecutive days and find people to help you. Dividing the work among several people and multiple days will make it more manageable and less stressful, which means you will be more likely to get it done. When organizing your garage, you need a plan. You can work out the details and make changes along the way, but having a general idea of what should go where and which items you can get rid of will help you avoid feeling frustrated and ov...

  Hope Leitner Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties How to Organize Your Attic An attic can be an ideal storage space, but if it’s not organized, it can turn into a total mess. If you’ve lived in your house for several years, chances are your attic has gotten cluttered and could use some organizing. Get Help If the job is too big for you to handle yourself, ask family or friends to help. Talk about what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of and discuss ways to organize the space. You’ll need to make more decisions as you go through the cleaning process, but setting guidelines at the beginning will help you avoid misunderstandings and arguments. Decide What Stays and What Goes As you go through items, sort things you want to keep into piles. You can put clothing in one area, sports equipment in another, photo albums in another, etc. You can further separate items by person, season, or any other category that makes sense. Attics tend to accumulate a lot of...