Tips for Decorating Your First Home

Moving into your first house is a liberating, landmark life passage. After you’ve freed yourself of your college futon and your roommate’s attempt at fine art, it’s time to come up with a plan for turning your empty shell of a house into an inviting home. Here are some suggestions for pulling it off:

CLEAN HOUSE AT THE OLD

PLACE. Even before you make an offer on a new place, get ahead of the game by starting this process. This critical first step will not only make your current digs easier to pack up, but it will put you miles ahead during move-in. Be strong and rid yourself

of anywhere from 25 percent to 50 percent of your old stuff: wobbly furniture in the attic, faulty appliances in the garage, questionable accessories you received as gifts. This is the perfect time to start over. Pare down your accumulated possessions to the minimal amount. Have a garage sale, auction it off on eBay or donate it to charity. You’ll be amazed at what you won’t miss.

START WITH THE BEDROOM.

It’s where you’ll be spending almost a third of your time when you’re at home, after all. If you’re on a tight budget, opt for new bedding first, but don’t skimp on thread count! Buy as well as you can afford to spend in this area — it makes a huge difference. If you have a little more money, paint the bedroom walls to compliment your new bedding. Still more cash in your pocket? Add coordinating window treatments. Early risers should opt for a lighter palette of colors and more translucent treatments. Night owls who like to sleep in will probably likely be more satisfied with deeper tones and more substantial coverings that block out the light. If you’re really ready to splurge, buy that bed you’ve always dreamed about. And choose carefully. It should mirror your personality, fit your room comfortably and stay with you for years.

DON’T BUY EVERYTHING ALL

AT ONCE. Live in your new house for at least two months before you make any significant purchases. How you think you’re going to use the house and how you actually live in the house are commonly two different things. Maybe that $5,000 you were going to spend on renovating the bathroom isn’t quite as important as beefing up the kitchen and dining area for maximum entertaining purposes. And you may figure out that the living room love-seat would work much better in your master bedroom and the master bedroom’s chaise will work better in the den.

FIGHT THE URGE TO MATCH.

Retail stores love to perpetuate the fallacy that everything has to match. They would love for you to buy everything in sets, but don’t do it! A few pieces with the same styling are fine, but any more than that and your home has the lifeless, generic look of a furniture showroom. Make sure your own personal style shows through, which most likely isn’t bland, beige and boring. Top priority should be proportion, scale and balance of your furniture and accessories within each room. Don’t shove five pieces of oversized lounge furniture into a 15x5 den that has a modest 8-foot ceiling. It will look like a clown car. Conversely, putting only a low buffet and a delicate, round dining table for four into a 20x30 room with a soaring 12foot ceiling will look equally awkward and unsatisfying.

TIE EVERYTHING TOGETHER

WITH COLOR. If you’ve moved into your first place with furniture that spans the 1960s to now, don’t worry. The easiest, most economical way to overcome this seemingly insurmountable problem is unifying through color. Let’s say you have a sofa that has only one thing in common with the furniture in the rest of your living room: a tiny bit of the color in the fabric is the same as the less dominant color in the rest of the room’s upholstery. Solution? Play up that similarity and make it your living room’s unifying wall color. If that’s too much hard labor for you, find curtains, rugs or accessories in this common hue and see how the pieces begin to complement each other.

SOLVE PRACTICAL PROBLEMS

INEXPENSIVELY. If your kitchen cabinets are drab, for instance, freshen them with paint and change out the hardware. And don’t bother installing overly decorative (and very expensive) cabinet hardware on cheaply fabricated woodwork — it will look out of place and the money can be put to better use elsewhere. In the bathroom, something as simple as replacing the lighting can immediately improve the room’s appearance. If you find the typical incandescent R-type lamps in your new place, replace them with the less “yellow” PAR-type bulbs. Another inexpensive solution with a big payoff is installing dimmer switches to keep light levels low for a midnight bathroom break.

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SEASONAL ALLERGIES

Allergies occur when your immune system reacts to a foreign substance — such as pollen, bee venom or pet dander — or a food that doesn’t cause a reaction in most people. Spring means flower buds and blooming trees — and if you’re one of the millions of people who have seasonal allergies, it also means sneezing, congestion, a runny nose and other bothersome symptoms. Seasonal allergies — also called hay fever and allergic rhinitis — can make you feel miserable.

SYMPTOMS

Allergy symptoms, which depend on the substance involved, can affect your airways, sinuses and nasal passages, skin, and digestive system. Allergic reactions can range from mild to severe. In some severe cases,

allergies can trigger a life-threatening reaction known as anaphylaxis. Hay fever, also called allergic rhinitis, can cause: • Sneezing • Itching of the nose, eyes or roof of the mouth • Runny, stuffy nose • Watery, red or swollen eyes (conjunctivitis)

RISK FACTORS

You might be more likely to develop an allergy if you: • Have a family history of asthma or allergies, such as hay fever, hives or eczema • Are a child • Have asthma or another allergic condition

DIAGNOSIS

To evaluate whether you have an allergy, your doctor will likely: • Ask detailed questions about signs and symptoms • Perform a physical exam. • Have you keep a detailed diary of symptoms and possible trigger.

SKIN TEST- A doctor or nurse will prick your skin and expose you to small amounts of the proteins found in potential allergens. If you’re allergic, you’ll likely develop a raised bump (hive) at the test location on your skin.

BLOOD TEST- Specific IgE (sIgE) blood testing, commonly called radioallergosorbent test (RAST) or ImmunoCAP testing, measures the amount of allergy-causing antibodies in your bloodstream, known as immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies. A blood sample is sent to a medical laboratory, where it can be tested for evidence of sensitivity to possible allergens.

REDUCE YOUR EXPOSURE TO ALLERGY TRIGGERS

To reduce your exposure to the things that trigger your allergy signs and symptoms (allergens): • Stay indoors on dry, windy days.

The best time to go outside is after a good rain, which helps clear pollen from the air. • Delegate lawn mowing, weed pulling and other gardening chores that stir up allergens. • Remove clothes you’ve worn outside and shower to rinse pollen from your skin and hair. • Don’t hang laundry outside — pollen can stick to sheets and towels. • Wear a pollen mask if you do outside chores.

TAKE EXTRA STEPS WHEN POLLEN COUNTS ARE HIGH

Seasonal allergy signs and symptoms can flare up when there’s a lot of pollen in the air. These steps can help you reduce your exposure: • Check your local TV or radio station, your local newspaper, or the Internet for pollen forecasts and current pollen levels. • If high pollen counts are forecasted, start taking allergy medications before your symptoms start. • Close doors and windows at night or any other time when pollen counts are high. • Avoid outdoor activity in the early morning when pollen counts are highest.

KEEP INDOOR AIR CLEAN

There’s no miracle product that can eliminate all allergens from the air in your home, but these suggestions may help: • Use the air conditioning in your house and car. • If you have forced air heating or air conditioning in your house, use high-efficiency filters and follow regular maintenance schedules. • Keep indoor air dry with a dehumidifier. • Use a portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter in your bedroom. • Clean floors often with a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA filter.

TRY AN OVER-THE-COUNTER REMEDY

Several types of nonprescription medications can help ease allergy symptoms. They include: • Oral antihistamines.

Antihistamines can help relieve sneezing, itching, a runny nose and watery eyes. Examples of oral antihistamines include loratadine (Claritin, Alavert), cetirizine (Zyrtec

Allergy) and fexofenadine (Allegra

Allergy). • Decongestants. Oral decongestants such as pseudoephedrine (Sudafed,

Afrinol, others) can provide temporary relief from nasal stuffiness. Decongestants also come in nasal sprays, such as oxymetazoline (Afrin) and phenylephrine (Neo-Synephrine).

Only use nasal decongestants for a few days in a row. Longer-term use of decongestant nasal sprays can actually worsen symptoms (rebound congestion). • Nasal spray. Cromolyn sodium nasal spray can ease allergy symptoms and doesn’t have serious side effects, though it’s most effective when you begin using it before your symptoms.

Immunotherapy

Allergy shots are sometimes necessary if allergy symptoms are worse SLIT. Sub Lingual Immunotherapy with Grastek or oral air as per your Allergist advice.

See your Healthcare Provider before use of any medication.

Dr. Pargat Singh Bhurji