About Me

Hiring and Communicating with a Home Cleaning Service

Thanks for stopping by my website. My name is Annabelle Collins. My husband and I live in a large house with our two teenage children. We’re fortunate in that we’re able to have a cleaning service come and clean on a weekly basis. In the past, I found that it was difficult for me to exert myself when it came to hiring and communicating with our cleaning service. I’ve never been very authoritative, and that shone through in a not good way. I wanted things to be done in a certain way, but found it difficult to ask for what I wanted. I have come to realize that in order for the service to do the job I want to be done, I have to ask for it to happen. I doubt that I’m alone in the fact that this is difficult, and want to share my experience and growth.

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Hiring and Communicating with a Home Cleaning Service

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Mastering the Art of Minka Lighting and Fan Accessories
Furnishing your domain with the perfect lighting and fan accompaniments is the grand finale — the last brushstroke on the canvas, the punctuation at the end of a sentence. It is the subtlety of well-placed, high-quality accouterment that transforms a space, making it not only livable but luxurious. With a storied legacy and a vision toward the future, Minka's offerings are not just fixtures; they are the final polishing touches that finish any room.

Five Reasons You Should Convert Your Home Patio into a Sunroom
Does your home patio go unused or under-utilized? Perhaps you have considered ways to get more use out of it. One way you can do this is by changing your patio space into a sunroom. It’s a great solution that can add indoor and outdoor living spaces to your home.  Enjoy Your Outdoor Space in Any Season Having an enclosed sunroom means you can enjoy the views, sounds, and breeze of your outdoor space regardless of the weather outside—no need to suffer through extreme heat, cold, or rain while trying to enjoy your patio.

Unveiling the Importance of Whole Home Water Filtration Systems
In the quest for healthier living, one often-overlooked aspect is the quality of water used in homes. A whole home water filtration system can play a pivotal role in enhancing this quality. This article explores the benefits of considering such a system. The Role of Whole Home Water Filtration Systems Whole home water filtration systems, also referred to as point-of-entry systems, are comprehensive solutions designed to filter and purify all the water that enters a home.

A Guide to Different Types of Kitchen Cabinet Doors for Your Home
Kitchen cabinets are not only functional, but they can also add charm and style to your home. The type of cabinet doors you choose plays a significant role in the look and feel of your kitchen. However, with so many options in the market, it can be overwhelming to choose the right one for your needs. This blog will explore some of the most popular types of kitchen cabinet doors to help you make an informed decision.

Gutter Replacement: A Step-by-Step Guide To A Crucial Home Improvement
Your home's gutter system plays an essential role in protecting your property from water damage. Over time, however, gutters can become damaged or worn out, requiring replacement. This blog post will walk you through the process of gutter replacement and why it's a crucial part of home maintenance. Understanding the Importance of Gutters Gutters are designed to channel rainwater away from your home's foundation. When your gutters are no longer functioning as they should, issues can quickly arise, leading to costly repairs.

How Regular Electrical Maintenance Can Enhance Your Home's Efficiency
The importance of regular electrical maintenance in residential properties cannot be understated. In a society increasingly reliant on electrical devices, it is critical that your home's electrical system operates optimally to support your lifestyle. Beyond this, a well-maintained electrical system can enhance your home's overall efficiency, potentially leading to significant savings on your energy bill. Here are some of the ways regular electrical maintenance can boost your home's efficiency. Ensuring Optimal Power Usage

Keeping Your Septic Tank In Top Condition: Essential Maintenance Tips
A well-maintained septic tank is crucial for the proper functioning of your home's wastewater management system. Regular maintenance not only ensures the efficiency and longevity of your septic tank but also helps prevent costly repairs and potential environmental hazards. Here's what a septic tank requires for maintenance. Pump Your Septic Tank Regularly One of the key aspects of septic tank maintenance is having your tank pumped regularly. Over time, solids accumulate in the tank and can cause clogs and system failures if not removed.

What You Need To Know About Ceremonial-Grade Organic Matcha
If you've ever heard about ceremonial-grade organic matcha, you might even wonder what it is and why people love it so much. Well, wonder no more!  Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about ceremonial-grade organic matcha so you can learn about this delicious green tea powder. What Is Ceremonial-Grade Organic Matcha? Ceremonial-grade organic matcha is a finely ground green tea powder that is made from the highest quality tea leaves.

Why You Should Add Solar Leaf Windmills To Your Yard Today
Adding solar leaf windmills to your yard is a great way to save money, maximize energy efficiency, and bring an attractive aesthetic touch to your outdoor space. Solar leaf windmills are becoming increasingly popular due to their cost savings, eco-friendliness, and versatility. This article will explain the three main reasons why you should consider adding solar leaf windmills to your yard. Eco-Friendliness In addition to providing significant cost savings on electricity bills, solar leaf windmills also offer an environmentally friendly alternative for producing clean energy in your home or business environment.

An Overview Of An Above-Ground Pool Steel Frame
Having a home pool is convenient, especially during the summer. It relieves the unbearable heat and allows you to have fun with family and friends and even vacation in your backyard. Above-ground swimming pools enable you to achieve this with a low budget. They have no parts below the ground level and are primarily supported by a steel framework, steel walls, and a vinyl lining, guaranteeing stability. This feature prevents the pool from sagging or spilling water, making it safer for your kids.

What to Look for When You Are Evaluating New BBQ Grills
For individuals who enjoy grilling, investing in a high-quality BBQ grill or cooking station can be an investment that will make it much easier for them to produce high-quality meals. Modern grills can come with a wide range of features, amenities, and options. Propane Grills Can Be Easier To Maintain Unfortunately, a grill will require some routine maintenance and cleaning in order to keep it in good condition. This will be especially true when you are using a grill that burns charcoal as it will produce very large amounts of soot and ash that will have to be removed.

Advice For Homeowners Purchasing Wood Stoves For Sale
Wood stoves are very popular for homeowners today because they have a conventional style and help homeowners save on utility bills when heating their homes. If you're in the market for one, here are some actions that can help with this investment. Select an Optimal Size You can find wood stoves in all kinds of sizes. As long as you make the right assessments and choose an appropriate size, you can get optimal heating from this wood stove and have no complaints about performance over the years.

4 Important Commercial Seamless Guttering Services You Might Need
If you're a business owner, then you know that it's important to keep your property looking its best. One of the ways to do that is by installing seamless guttering on your building. Not only does this protect your property from water damage, but it can also help improve the appearance of your building. Whether you are installing the features for the first time or you just need other services like repairs or cleaning, it's important to hire a professional for the job.

Here's What The Windows Dealer You Decide To Work With Should Be Able To Do For You
Buying new windows for a home is serious business. Not only do windows work to protect the house from outdoor elements, but they make a big impact on the look and feel of the home overall. There are many great styles and designs on the market to choose from, all you must do is find a reliable dealer to work with. Here are a few important things that the dealer you choose to work with should be able to do for you: 

Keeping Your Home Furniture In Good Condition
The furniture that you have in your home will experience extensive wear from the use that it will experience. Being prepared to effectively care for these furniture items can be instrumental if you are to protect their appearance and keep them in good condition for as long as possible. Vacuum And Shampoo Upholstery The upholstery for your furniture will be the most likely to suffer extensive wear. In order to keep it in good condition, the upholstery will have to be actively cleaned by the owner.

Care For Cool And Warm-Season Grasses
Cool-season grass varieties thrive in climates that experience mildly warm summers and cold winters. Warm-season grasses thrive during the hottest months of the year and become dormant during the winter. Both grass types require different lawn care steps during the autumn. Preparations For Next Spring Fall lawn care will provide your lawn with the support necessary to grow thick, healthy blades of grass next spring. Your lawn may consist solely of cool-season or warm-season grasses or a blend of both types.

3 Things You Can Do to Help Control Your Mouse Problem
Mice can be a huge problem, even though they are small creatures. They can destroy your food and make it inedible. They can chew on your wiring and just overall cause chaos in your house. If you think that you have mice, you want to do everything you can to control the problem, get rid of them, and keep them from coming back. Call an exterminator to come out to your house and set up traps to get rid of the mice and to advise you on things that you can do that will help you get rid of them.

Picking the Right Sofa
Choosing a new sofa for your house is a perfect opportunity for you to create a great living space in your home. You want to seize the moment and pay attention to the features a sofa offers and choose one that is going to really help you transform your home. Here are some of the features a sofa can have that may end up being right for your home, your family, and your visitors: 

Is Your Daughter Moving Out Of State For College? 2 Custom Gifts To Give Your Daughter
If you have a daughter who is graduating high school and is going away to a college out of state, you are probably both feeling a lot of feelings about the upending move. To help both of you accept the exciting news and celebrate such a big accomplishment, there are a few different gifts that you may want to consider getting them right before they pack up their bags and leave.

How to Know It's Time for Window Replacements
Windows are a very important part of your home. Much like your roof, they help to protect your home and keep elements outside where they belong. Windows won't last forever and there may come a time when you need to update your windows and invest in window replacements. You may be wondering how to tell when that time has come. Keep reading to better understand the warning signs that point to the need for new windows in your house:

Questions You May Have When Your Plumber Recommends a Water Softener
Has your plumber recommended a water softener after visiting your home? Chances are, you have a few questions. It's not often someone suggests you install an appliance you've been living without for many years, so it is understandable that you have a few questions. Hopefully, you will discover the answers you're looking for in this FAQ article. 1. What did the plumber see that prompted them to install a water softener?

Why Put Antique Bedroom Furniture In Your Home?
If you have been wanting to invest in beautiful bedroom pieces for some time, it's time to consider how antique bedroom furniture can benefit you. Here are reasons to have this type of furniture put into your home, whether you are just wanting to put antique bedroom furniture in one room or all the bedrooms you have. You make your room more classic Do you want to give your home a more classic flair?

3 Finishes To Pick When Choosing Your Granite Countertops
Granite continues to remain one of the most popular types of materials used for countertops because it's durable, beautiful, and more affordable than other stone like marble. Once you pick the type of granite that you want, you may think that your job is done, but there are a few other considerations to make before the installer comes to your house.  1. The Thickness Before you have your granite countertops ordered, you will need to decide the thickness that you want them to be.

Child Going To College? 7 Tools To Help With Dorm Life
Whether your graduate is headed off to school on the other side of the country or a college just down the road, they need to have a few basic tools to keep their dorm life humming. What sort of tools should every kid take with them to the first chapter of their adult life? Here are seven of the most important that you can find at any hardware store. 1. Hammer 

How To Make Sure Your New Wooden Flooring Lasts For Decades
You've probably seen older wooden floors that were beat up and worn, and others that were in remarkable shape. How do you make sure your new floor ends up in the second category one day? Well, you start by following these tips! 1. Vacuum your floor every week. It's easy to forget to vacuum if your floor does not look overly dirty. But those small pieces of dust that accumulate can cause friction along the floor surface, wearing away the finish.

3 Ways To Utilize Tree Service After Moving To A Warm Climate
When you move to a climate that you have not lived in before, you will find it worthwhile to learn as much as you can, especially after becoming a homeowner. While you can let a landlord handle maintenance and repairs in a rental, you will be responsible for these things as a property owner. While the upkeep that comes with most features in a house will not change whether you live in a hot or cold climate, you will find that landscape maintenance does not follow the same pattern.

Why Are Vinyl Replacement Windows So Popular?
If you mention the term "replacement windows" to a contractor or to someone who works in a home improvement store, most often, they will just assume you're talking about vinyl replacement windows. Sure, there are some replacement windows made from composite, aluminum, and other materials. But more often than not, homeowners go with good, old vinyl. Why? Well, as it turns out, vinyl offers an array of benefits and tops the charts in just about everything most people are looking for in a window.

Real Estate Purchase Contract Tips To Help You Manage And Repair Your Home Roof And Gutters
When you buy a house, there are many components and systems that need to work properly and be in good repair to keep your property well maintained and its value sustained. The management and maintenance of your property's roof and gutter drainage system are an essential piece to keeping your property free of moisture problems, and you can begin this management prior to purchasing the property. Here are some tips to help you manage the home purchase contract to take care of the roof and gutters of your new home purchase.

5 Ways To Use Vertical Space To Maximize Your Small Bathroom
For homeowners whose bathroom is not as large and luxurious as they'd like, the only solution that may seem possible is to add physical space to the room. But that isn't always possible. If you're stuck with a small bathroom, you can still do a lot to make it look larger and to maximize its potential. One key way to do this is to focus on how you utilize the vertical space in the room.

2 Things You Can Add To Your Garden
If you have a garden, you want to do everything you can to make sure that your garden looks as good as possible. Once you have added in all the flowers and other flora that you are interested in, you might want to add in other features to augment and enhance the look of your garden. If you do this, you have all kinds of choices out there to choose from.

3 Ways To Get Creative With Furniture In Your Office
Whether you are working in a home office or in an office space in a commercial building, you should not underestimate the importance of the furniture shopping process. What you put into your office will have an impact on your ability to be productive both on a daily basis and over time. While you can buy basic office furnishings and set yourself up with a great workspace, you should consider getting creative with your purchases to maximize productivity in the office.

4 Signs That Your Masonry Needs Serious Repair
Your home's masonry is structural and may experience wear over time. As your masonry cracks and settles, it can lead to issues inside of and around your home. If you've started noticing signs around your home that something is amiss, it could mean that you need significant masonry repair. 1. Cracks Are Occurring Inside of Your Home As masonry cracks and shifts, it begins to impact the structure inside of your house.

Why Salt Free Water Softeners Are So Great
You may not realize when you have hard water in your home. If you have always lived in homes with hard water, then you may think spots on clean glasses, calcium build up on faucets, and that squeaky clean sound you hear when you just get out of the shower and rub your hand on your skin are normal things. However, this is not true, and all of those things are indicators of hard water.

3 Things To Try Instead Of Selling Your Home And Buying Another
Are you tired of the way your home looks? Have you been thinking about selling it and buying a different one elsewhere? Unless you are dissatisfied with the location due to a long commute, there are other alternatives aside from simply selling and starting anew. One of the best options is to remodel your home so that it's exactly the way that you want it to be. Contrary to what you may be thinking, you don't need to have a huge remodeling project that renovates the whole house in order to make a difference.

Getting Modern Furniture For Small Spaces
If you've had to downsize your life and move your things into a tiny apartment, you may recognize the need for more modern furniture that won't look so bulky and out of place in the smaller place. How can you get furniture to match your small new home? Measuring Space Before anything else, measuring tapes are needed. You need to have exact figures for the size of your bedroom, living room, kitchen and any other areas.

Enjoy A Clean Kitchen By Investing In A Few Upgrades
When you know that one of your least favorite chores is cleaning, you may want to remodel your home to reduce how dirty certain features get and make things easier to clean. An excellent place to focus on is the kitchen because this is where much of the space will end up getting dirty. While you can follow tips and tricks that may help you reduce how dirty your kitchen gets, you should not hesitate to invest in remodeling and kitchen design projects that will help you maintain a clean kitchen.

Three Reasons to Seal Up Your Home Before the Winter
Before it gets cold, it's smart to have someone come out to seal up your home. Depending on how old your home is and whether you've had this done before, there might be a lot of work that has to be done for your home to be sealed up. However, sealing up your home this winter is a good idea. 1. Keep Mice Out One thing that a lot of people worry about during the winter is the possibility of mice and rats getting into their homes.

3 Things You Can Do to Keep Termites Away from Your Home
If you know that termites are a problem in your area, you should take steps to keep the termites away from your home. You don't have to wait for a problem before you can to take action. In fact, you can take the following steps right now to protect your home and ensure that termites never turn your home into their own.  #1 Keep Firewood Away from Your Home It may feel smart to stack firewood up against your home, so you don't have to go that far to get your firewood when it is cold outside.

Tips To Prepare Your Home For A Fire Emergency
Keeping your home and family safe from dangers that can occur within your home is a concern of many parents. A fire within the home is a reality that you may not want to think about, but you need to plan for in the event it does happen. You only have one chance to be ready in a fire emergency, so here are some tips to prepare your home for a fire and to keep your family safe.

3 Ways To Treat Your Backyard For Mosquitoes This Summer So You Can Enjoy Your Outdoor Space
The summer season is in full swing and so are the backyard activities and get-togethers. Along with spending more time in your backyard often comes the pesky bite of mosquitoes. It can be common to get bit by a mosquito when you go outside at dusk when they are commonly active, but if you get bothered by mosquitoes during the heat of the day you know you really have a problem.

Better The Look Of Your Yard
If you aren't completely satisfied with the current look of your yard, but you aren't ready to have it fully landscaped, then there are some things that you can do on your own to give it a look that may be more to your liking and that won't be very time-consuming and/or expensive. Here are some changes and additions that you can make to your yard to help it look fresh and more aesthetically pleasing.

How To Keep Down Pests And Raise Bird And Bee Activity In Your Garden
Building a beautiful backyard you can enjoy is a goal of many homeowners, and with the right environment of beneficial insects and wildlife, your backyard sanctuary can become a reality. Here are some tips to help reduce your backyard pests and increase the bird and bee activity in your yard and garden. Install Birdhouses A good way to keep the number of insects reduced in your yard is by attracting a common predator of insects: birds.

3 Biodegradable Options For Starting Your Gardening Seeds
With spring right around the corner, it's time to start thinking about starting the wildflower seed mixes for your garden this year. Here, you will find a few ideas to help you get growing while reusing some of the stuff you have around your home. What you use to start the seeds depends on how much work you want to do later. Choosing biodegradable materials removes the step of having to remove the seedling from a container to put them in the ground.

The Real Beauty Of Granite Countertops
Depending on whether your kitchen remodeling job is considered a minor or major renovation, you can expect anywhere from a 65 to 80 percent return on your investment for the average mid-grade makeover. When you remodel your kitchen, you have many decisions to make, such as what flooring choice, tile for backsplashes, whether or not you're going to get all new cabinets or just reface them, and what type of countertops you are going to go with.

Downsizing Your Life To A Park Model Home
For many people, home is a large house on a piece of land that cost several hundred thousand dollars and is an anchor for their life. They are comfortable there and they life having the stability of having a large house. Other people may not feel that way and for them, downsizing everything to just the essentials of life and moving to a small home is fine. Sometimes the allure of being able to take that home anywhere is important and that is where park model homes come into the picture.

5 Tips To Throwing A World-Class Holiday Party
If this will be your first year hosting a holiday party, you're probably apprehensive and excited all at once -- and if you're like many fledgling hosts, you're feeling a bit intimidated. Perhaps the holiday parties you've attended have been seemingly seamless productions that you feel you can't possibly echo with your limited party giving skills -- and naturally, you want your first seasonal soiree to be as elegant as possible.

5 Tips For Cleaning Real Velvet Or Velour Drapes
Genuine velvet and velour drapes are heavy and absorb sound, lending a calming elegance to any living room or bedroom while blocking out light and offering privacy. However, these materials need special attention to stay clean. You can't simply take down your drapes and toss them in the washing machine once a year. Use these tips to keep your drapes clean year round so they last longer and look good for years to come.

Connecting Private Drinking Water Supplies In California: Advice For Home Builders
Many Californians decide to build and live in their own dream home. In many cases, these homes sit on land served by public water supplies, but some home builders need to think about installing their own private water supply. This process is fairly complex in California, so it's important to know about the different steps you will need to take. Learn more here. Drinking water options Home builders in California must consider three drinking water options.

4 Ways To Modernize An Older Driveway Entry Gate
Driveway entry gates are a simple and effective form of home security that have been used for numerous years. If your driveway gate has been around for a while, then it may be lacking in some of the features found in a lot of new gate installations. Instead of having a whole new gate installed, you can keep your same design and simply upgrade some of the features to give it a more modern touch.

Understanding Hantavirus And How To Clean To Avoid The Disease
Many people are squeamish about rodent infestations. Not only will mice destroy any paper or plastic products they can find by chewing on them, but they will search endlessly for food in the home. Mice will leave behind urine and fecal matter as well. In fact, you are likely to find hundreds of mouse droppings each and every day, since every mouse in your home will release between 50 and 75 quarter inch droppings each day.

Tips For Creating A Modern Landscape Design
If you have a contemporary home, you'd probably like your landscaping to be in a similar style. However, without going full industrial, it's hard to know what modern landscaping should look like. Just like with contemporary architecture, modern landscaping should showcase clean lines, often with a nod toward Asian gardens. Design your landscaping with sophisticated style to blend with your contemporary home. Select Geometric Plants Contemporary design is all about lines and shapes.

Practicing Responsible Gun Safety: Investing In A Residential Gun Safe
As a hunter, you understand the importance of making sure your rifles are kept in top condition.  Since you also happen to be a parent, ensuring that your guns are secure at all times also matters.  While there is the option of keeping the firearms in a cabinet or case, what about the idea of installing a gun safe in the home?  Here are some tips on selecting the right safe and why this type of security is so valuable to your home and family.

4 Care Tips for Your New Oil Painting
Have you recently acquired an oil painting, but can't afford to have it maintained by a professional? Are looking for a few tips on how to handle your new fancy piece of artwork? If so, read on for everything you need to know about where to put your oil painting and how to care for it. Placement Texture is an important aspect of oil paintings so most are framed, but not behind glass.

The Rasberry Crazy Ant: An Invasive Species That Will Drive You Insane
Have you happened to notice a problem with ants in your home? Not just any ant, mind you, but an ant that moves incredibly quickly and in droves and droves, such that eradicating them seems like an entirely uphill battle? Chances are, you are suffering the wrath of the Rasberry crazy ant, an ant that has made its current home on the Gulf Coast of the United States and is driving homeowners absolutely insane due to the ant's unpredictable movements and behavior.

4 Things You Should Know About Garage Door Problems
If your garage door hangs unevenly, refuses to open or close normally, or makes unfamiliar noises during operation, then you've obviously got a problem on your hands. But before leaping to conclusions about the nature of the problem (or leaping to the rescue yourself), it helps to know what you're up against, and what potential dangers the problem may pose, and how to avoid similar problems going forward. Here are four useful tips to keep in mind as you ponder your garage door problem.

Help! My Dishes Are Still Dirty After I Run The Dishwasher
Can you imagine how time-consuming and exhausting it must be to wash dishes by hand after every meal? Thanks to dishwashers, many folks will never know the struggle of scrubbing pots until they sparkle or finding stray spots for bowls to air dry after the drying rack is full. Dishwashers definitely help make life more convenient -- until they fail to operate properly. If your dishwasher fails to get your plates and silverware clean, you've come to the right place.

5 Mistakes To Avoid When You Move
Moving to a new home can be an exciting adventure and the start of the next big chapter of your life. However, there are a few pitfalls of moving that every homeowner needs to prepare for to keep the adventure from turning into a disaster. Here are five mistakes to avoid to help your move go as smoothly as possible. Trying to Move Too Soon Deciding to move abruptly is more often than not a poor decision.

Essential Elements To Give Your Dining Room A Classic English Appeal
The dining room is a space where you entertain guests and enjoy meals with family. When your dining room has a formal, sophisticated design, every meal will feel like an occasion to celebrate. If you'd like to create a dining room with classic English appeal, be sure to include these elements in your design. Hardwood Floors When it comes to flooring materials for a formal English dining room, hardwood is really the only choice.

Anodized Aluminum Coating: Long-Lasting Protection For Your Aluminum Storefront
Are you having a hard time deciding what type of finish to select for your new aluminum storefront? Do you want a finish that lasts a long time, looks good, and is easy to maintain? If so, read on to learn all about anodized finishes and why they're a great choice for an aluminum storefront coating. What Is Anodizing Coating? When you request that your aluminum storefront be anodized, the sheets of aluminum are submerged in a large bath of water and sulfuric acid.

How To Clean Your Furnace's Combustion Chamber
Your gas furnace has provided warmth to your home for the past several winter seasons. After hundreds of hours of use, you've noticed your furnace produces a strange odor whenever it's active. In an attempt to fix this problem, you've replaced your air filter and cleaned your blower motor. However, your furnace's strange odors continue to waft into your home. In such a case, it's highly likely debris has managed to slip through your air filter and settle in your combustion chamber.

Six Factors To Consider When Buying Window Treatments For Your Recreational Vehicle
If you've recently purchased a recreational vehicle, otherwise known as an RV, a must-have accessory you'll need would be functional window treatments. Buying window treatments for a motor home is a bit different than dressing the windows of your house. A moving vehicle needs more tension control, privacy options and protection from the sun's harmful rays. Also, RV windows are typically smaller than a house window, and in some cases, oddly shaped, which may require a custom application.