Photo by Layton Diament on Unsplash

Large homes use a considerable amount of energy throughout the year, especially from heating and cooling. Making some upgrades to your home can significantly reduce your energy usage while also boosting the value of your home. If you’ve been thinking about making your home more energy-efficient, consider one or more of the following eco-friendly upgrades.

Solar Panels

Solar panels provide you with a way to generate energy for your home without having to rely on fossil fuels or other sources of nonrenewable energy. These panels convert sunlight into usable energy to power appliances, lighting, HVAC systems and other items in your home. Having solar panels means you’ll be using a renewable source of energy to produce electricity, which decreases your dependence on fossil fuels. 

When you install solar panels, you can also expect the value of your home to rise. According to Money Magazine, solar panels raised home values in the U.S. by roughly 4 percent. This increase in value could add thousands of dollars to the sale price of your home when you put it on the market.  

Indoor Greenery

Making your large home more eco-friendly can involve literally making it more green. Bringing greenery into your home helps improve your indoor air quality by removing pollutants and allergens. Having plants around has also been linked to better physical and emotional well-being through improved mood and reduced stress, according to a study published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 

Rather than placing a few houseplants around your home, consider going bigger with a living wall. These are walls or columns made out of various plants and flowers. Living walls can provide you with the health benefits of indoor greenery while also making your home more decorative. The types of plants that would work best for a living wall in your home will depend on different factors, such as the amount of sunlight that part of your home gets.

Energy-Efficient Lighting

From floor lamps to chandeliers and landscape lights, the amount of energy your home uses for lighting adds up quickly. Changing to energy-efficient lighting provides a simple way to reduce this type of energy usage. Switching to LED bulbs can help you use roughly 75 percent less energy compared to traditional light bulbs. Having skylights installed is another way to use less energy for lighting your home. Skylights allow you to enjoy stunning views of your surroundings and increase the amount of natural light your home gets on a regular basis. Adding skylights in one or more rooms or areas can also boost the value of your home.

Your kitchen is an often used room and can become cluttered very quickly. There are plenty of strategies that you can use to keep the room in order. Below, you’ll find tips that will help you to keep your kitchen decluttered and your supplies organized once and for all! 

Make Space For Storage

This sounds like an obvious need in any room of the house, but the kitchen is a place where you need ample storage. There are a few ways to do this. Outside of your cabinets, you can install freestanding storage units, like shelving or extra cabinets. Even an armoire can help you to have a space to beautifully display your dishes. 

Under your sink, you can keep your most frequently used items like soap, sponges, and detergent in easy to access solutions. Either install a small turntable, or simple get bins that can be labeled and pulled out as needed. This will keep everything you need together neat and tidy. It will be difficult to actually disorganize this space once you have completed this small task. 

Coffee Time

What would a kitchen be without coffee? If you brew a cup of joe every morning, you’ll want easy access to coffee supplies. Dedicate a space next to the coffeemaker where you’ll keep the coffee, mugs, beans, and other supplies. You can even keep your travel mugs near this space within reach when you’re running out the door. If there’s little room on the counter, hang hooks on the wall to keep coffee mugs and travel mugs out of the way.

Tackle The Trash And Recycling

There’s nothing worse than having trash and recycling all over your kitchen. Keep these items concealed in dedicated cabinets. The perfect place for the trash and the recycling is next to the sink since that’s the most convenient location for the trash to be in. 

The recycling will follow the same pattern as it needs to be rinsed out and ready to go outside in the bins.  

Keep The Family Organized

A kitchen is a great place for you to have a center of communication for your family. This is where a bulletin board can be placed with important documents. A calendar listing all of the family’s activities and appointments can be hung for everyone’s reference. This area make use of a small space that would otherwise be wasted in your kitchen. It also serves a dual purpose in keeping the family organized.

Small changes can make a big difference in the kitchen when it comes to clutter, storage, and organization. Once you get started, keeping the clutter at bay can be very easy.