Along with beautifying your home, you'll want to continue to maintain it's appearance both inside and out. This series of articles are geared towards simple home improvements that you can do to your home to help maintain that appearance.

There are many jobs that the do-it-yourselfer can do around the house to keep your home looking great. Over the years, I've found that normal wear and tear can accumulate because most scenarios don't merit calling in a professional, so the small problems add up. Dings in the wall, defects in paint or wallpaper, all these things can be fixed by the do-it-yourselfer. The important thing to know is, the
correct way to make the repair. For example, when touching up a painted wall, most people just grab the brush and start stroking. This doesn't match the texture of the wall and will leave a spot that will always be noticeable. Read the article on Repairing Wall Dings to find out how you can paint it right, so no one knows it was repaired.

Now is the time to take a survey of your house and note each item that needs attention. Take a notepad with you and walk through each room in your home. Write down anything that doesn't look right. Also include anything that doesn't work right. I'm going to discuss items like clogged drains, doors that don't shut right, and leaky windows. You'll find easy steps you can take to get your house back to like-new condition.