Preparing for the Summer: Tips on Purchasing Patio Furniture!

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We are blessed with beautiful weather almost year-round here in Ventura County. Our daily lives seamlessly blend from the indoors to the outdoors...which brings us to the topic of the day…Purchasing Patio Furniture!  More than just form and function need to be taken into account when purchasing outdoor furniture.  Don’t trip over pennies today if these decisions could cost you $$$ in the future! Here are a few tips to consider:

1) Needs vs. Wants:  How are you going to be living in your outdoor space?  You may like the look and want a “living room” outside with a sofa and chairs or is outdoor dining more on your agenda? What about sun bathing or lounging?  Consider what you NEED to fit your lifestyle outdoors before spending the money just on what you “want”.

2) Matchy-Matchy: If you are blessed to have enough yard or patio space and need all of the above then consider buying everything to match versus having a bunch of mismatched sets.  Keeping everything cohesive in style and color lends to the feeling of a vacation destination instead of mismatched sets in chunks all over the yard.

3) Woods, Metals and Wicker, Oh My!: Style, function and personal taste need to be taken into consideration in choosing what will work best for YOU. 

Wood patio furniture is beautiful and usually comes in teak or (more expensive) Mango Wood...but keep in mimnd wood furniture will require some maintenance.  Even pressure treated wood needs to be sealed and/or stained at least once a year just like a natural wood deck would need to be taken care of.  It will fade and/or splinter after 2-3 years if not properly taken care of. 

Metal furniture can come in either heavy wrought iron (more expensive) or simple aluminum (which is what you get at the big-box stores).  Both are virtually maintenance free. Look for collections that are powder coated to protect it from rust.  Do take into account Santa Ana or coastal winds when buying

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BOGOPOD: Buy One, Get One Free, Plus Other Discounts in the Conejo Valley!

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UPDATE: BOGOPOD apparently is no longer in operation.

Happens all the time.  I get some coupons in the mail, tear a few out and place them on the desk or behind a magnet on the fridge.  But when I want to use the coupons, I can't find them, they have expired or I'm somewhere else.  Frustrating!

But there's BOGOPOD! www.BOGOPOD.com  provides online "Buy One, Get One Free, Plus Other Discounts" coupons for local Conejo Valley area businesses! 

Visit BOGOPOD.com for an extensive list of discount coupons for restaurants, shopping, kids, activities, home improvement, services and much more.  All you do it find the coupon, click it, print it and start saving money!  No signup, no cost!  I love the fact that you don't have to download special software to print the coupon.  There's also a search function on the BOGOPOD website that shortcuts the process of finding what you're looking for.

Now on a separate but related topic of saving money, check out "Places Where Kids Can Eat Free in Ventura County"  here on Conejo Valley Guide to find places where you can dine out and not pay for your kids' meals!

What Got You Here Won't Get You There; Marshall Goldsmith's 20 Behaviors That Get in the Way

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">Marshall Goldsmith's 2007 book, "What Got You Here Won't Get You There" has a list of 20 behaviors and habits that prevent people from moving forward in their careers.  In fact, when I read and review this list, I realize that these apply to all aspects of life, not just work.  So review these, print them out, live them and read the book if you want to be more successful at work and life!

As I read these, I cringe a bit at how often many of these apply to me, both at work and at home. On the other hand, reviewing this list also reminds me that we are all human and most all friends, family and co-workers also display many of these behaviors.  It helps to review and internalize these for both personal improvement and dealing with others.

  1. Winning too much: The need to win at all costs and in all situations.
  2. Adding too much value: The overwhelming desire to add our 2 cents to every discussion.
  3. Passing judgment: The need to rate others and impose our standards on them.
  4. Making destructive comments: The needless sarcasm and cutting remarks that we think make us witty.
  5. Starting with "No," "But," or "However": The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone that I'm right and you're wrong.
  6. Telling the world how smart we are: The need to show people we're smarter than they think we are.
  7. Speaking when angry: Using emotional volatility as a management tool.
  8. Negativity, or "Let me explain why that won't work": The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren't asked.
  9. Withholding information: The refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
  10. Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to give praise and reward.
  11. Claiming credit that we don't deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contributions to any success.
  12. Making excuses: The need to reposition our annoying behavior as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.
  13. Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.
  14. Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.
  15. Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we're wrong or recognize how our actions affect others.
  16. Not listening: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.
  17. Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners.
  18. Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually only trying to help us.
  19. Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.
  20. An excessive need to be "me": Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they're who we are.

OUCH, now that I've typed this list I realize even more how I need to work on some things.  Hope this helps you too!

Looking for a local Ventura County job? Look here.

A New Year's Resolution: 7 Tips to Help Your House Lose Weight!

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A New Year's Resolution for 2010

7 Tips to Help Your HOUSE Lose Weight!

1:  Give it a face lift. Start at the curb and give your home a “face lift”. Nip those bushes and trees back a bit; Tuck some colorful spring bulbs into the edgings of bare soil;  Pull out all the weeds and dead (or dying) foliage around the outside of your house and Enhance those dirt filled plant pots with nary a stick growing out of them with greenery or succulents.

2:  Get Rid of the Junk in the Trunk… or rather your garage.  Can you fit A car into your garage? Do you keep your garage door closed because you’re embarrassed at what the neighbors might say? Can you even open your garage?  Get rid of the JUNK!  If you haven’t used it in the past year, it’s most likely that you probably never will.  What’s worse; you’ve probably bought a NEW thingamajig because you forgot you already own one (or simply can’t find it or get to it).

3:  Take Care of Your Heart  by cleaning out the pantry, refrigerator, kitchen cabinets and drawers in your kitchen: often referred to as “the Heart of the Home.”  Reorganize, consolidate, throw-away and give away!

4:  Exercise More If you’re not going to use that treadmill that was plopped in the middle of the living room as “Last Year’s Resolution” then you might as well gift it to a friend that WILL use it or add it to the donation pile.  DON’T go throw it into the guest bedroom or the garage, even if it does make for a good temporary coathanger...try the closet!

5:  Get Rid of the Skeletons in Your Closets.  Really, clean them out!  Clothing you have not worn in the past 12 months: donate. Shoes that have seen better days: donate. Towels, sheets and blankets that are dingy, stained or torn can be donated to a local animal shelter.

6:  Cosmetic Surgery:  Lifting the eyes with a new trim color on the exterior, enhancing the homes “features” with accents of paint on the interior, softening fine lines with new draperies.  All are minor items that can be considered as “outpatient” (done in a day) procedures.

7:  Spend More Time with Family and Friends:  Isn’t that why you originally bought a house?  Close friends may even be willing to come over and help you tackle some of these more “daunting” (but simple) tasks.  It may even inspire them to do the same, then have a neighborhood garage sale and even make some money off of your home shedding a few pounds.

Note from Conejo Joe: Connie Tebyani is a Professional Home Stager, Interior Design Consultant and Owner of Platinum Home Staging, Inc. She is also the Preferred Interior Designer for Pottery Barn and a member of the Real Estate Staging Association.  Connie has lived in the Conejo Valley for 20 years with her husband and 2 boys.  Visit her website at www.PlatinumHomeStaging.com or 805.553.9952. Click here to see Connie's previous tips.

Seven Tips to Get Your Home "Show Ready" in Seven Minutes!

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7 Tips to Get Your Home “Show Ready” in 7 Minutes

Note from Conejo Joe: Connie Tebyani is a Professional Home Stager, Interior Design Consultant and Owner of Platinum Home Staging, Inc. She is also the Preferred Interior Designer for Pottery Barn and a member of the Real Estate Staging Association.  Connie has lived in the Conejo Valley for 20 years with her husband and 2 boys.  Visit her website at www.PlatinumHomeStaging.com or 805.553.9952.

Every Thanksgiving, after we've gorged ourselves on stuffing and pies, we head to my sister's home in the desert resort city of Rancho Mirage. This year was no different except for one small...or rather, HUGE, difference...the house has been listed for sale. So inevitably we had to try to “live” in the home, but be ready to have it shown at a moment’s notice. As a Professional Home Stager myself, I was given a dose of my own medicine.

This was no small feat. It was not just my family of four, it was also my sister's family of four, their dog, our brother and our mother in a 4,000 square foot home.  I must admit that some of these suggestions will take some forward thinking and planning ahead of time to implement.  Some are habits that are going to need to be formed, others are bad habits that will need to be broken.

1) Starting with a clean house is a MUST!  This house started out spotless, and we needed to keep it that way! One thing that we all had to get used to was to make your beds every day, the very second you get up.  I don't mean pull the comforter up so high that it simply covers the pillows and leaves all the sheets in lumps underneath - make it right, make it beautiful, it will be done for the rest of the day.

2) Got kids? If you have an outdoor space or table (weather permitting) where they can do their crafts, legos or even homework it would be ideal and it gets them out of the house.  Put a table cloth or sheet on the table which gives them a clean surface even if the table is not.  Should a realtor come knocking, you can simply fold everything up into the table cloth and pack it away quickly.  If the weather in your area does not permit this, the same idea can be used indoors.  By placing a large towel, sheet or blanket on the floor kids can still spread out but all the tiny little lego pieces, crayons (or whatever) can be collected and dumped into their collection box in seconds.

3) Run your dishwasher every night, or every other night if not full.  In the morning, empty the dishwasher while your coffee is brewing.  This way you can load all your empty dishes into it throughout the day as you use them, never leaving a dirty dish to be seen in the sink. Or another option would be to use paper plates and plastic cups. Yep, I said it; paper plates and plastic cups. If you don't have a dishwasher (or even if you do) if you're not entertaining and it's just you and the kids, why not?  Just make sure they go into your recycle bin at the end of the week and not into the local landfill.

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Seven Ways to Prepare Your Home for Holiday Guests

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7 Ways to Prepare Your Home for Holiday Guests

The holidays are coming and for many this means that there will be family visiting from out of town or even out of state.  Make your guests feel welcomed and keep them comfortable during their stay by following these simple inexpensive tips.

  • Call them ahead of time and confirm everything: Estimated time of arrival, driving or flying, should you arrange for transportation  to and from your house?  Asking simple questions will let them know that you are excited about them coming (even if secretly you really might not be).
  • If they are going to be staying at a hotel arrange with the concierge to have a simple note and maybe a gift basket waiting for them in their room.  There are many micro-vineyards in the Malibu mountains, maybe treat them to a private label bottle of wine or simple seasonal fruits and snacks for them while they stay. 
  • If your guests are staying with you in your home, you might want to ask them ahead of time if they have any special needs or requests.  In all honesty most guests will say, “No” but it’s always nice to ask. But maybe your new daughter-in-law is allergic to cats, or your Great Aunt is a heavy smoker.  Asking them some simple questions will put both you and your guest as ease so that there are no “surprises” to have to deal with at the last minute.  This would also be a good time to see if they are making other plans with family and friends while they are in the area.  This will better enable you to plan your schedule without making them feel that they are intruding.
  • Think of the room as if you were the guest.  Is the “Guest Room” really your office, your sewing room or a catch-all room for excess stuff?  Clean out the room, make sure that the bed, sleeper sofa or even the couch, if that is whe
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Seven Ways to Brighten Your Home on a Cloudy Day!

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Seven Ways to Brighten Your Home on a Cloudy Day!

Fall is officially here in Southern California. Brisk mornings, overcast days, chilly evenings, the leaves are beginning to turn colors…well, ok.  Palm trees don’t change colors, but you get the idea.  The following are a few ideas to brighten your home on a cold, cloudy day.

1. Mirrors, mirrors on the walls...

Mirrors are a great way to expand a space as well as reflect light.  Instead of a piece of artwork which otherwise might absorb light such as above a sofa or buffet table, replace it with a beautifully framed mirror.  However, make sure that the mirror is reflecting something beautiful or of interest such as the view to the outdoors or a beautiful chandelier: not just reflecting yet another blank wall.

2. Embrace Fall and the colors of the changing leaves or fall fruits and vegetables.

Bring the outdoors in by adding potted plants or clipping some branches from your yard and placing them in a vase as a centerpiece or on a side table. Plants will soften hard edges, add depth and color to a space as well as texture and interest.

3. Have you seen your kitchen counter lately? 

Are you even sure you know what color your kitchen counter is anymore?  How about the top of your desk? De-Clutter and purge items that are sucking the life and the light out of your rooms. Yes, that might mean putting away half of your rooster collection, or at least some of your countertop appliances  (Do you really use ALL of them EVERY day? Really?)  Simple steps like this will make a huge difference in how bright a room feels.

4. Clean those windows!

Hard water spots, Santa Ana dust, fire smoke, cob webs, wet doggie nose streaks all lead to the same conclusion..."Clean Those Windows!"  You’d be amazed how bright your home will seem by doing this simple task.

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