Pen City Current

Plan ahead for your perfect deck

(BPT) - A big part of building your dream deck is the planning. In fact, a typical deck project can take six months (or more) from inspiration to installation. To help make your dream a reality, the …

Caring for your home and family

5 things you should check your HVAC system for, before it gets cold

(BPT) - As temperatures start dropping, now is the perfect time to make sure your home will be comfy and cozy all winter. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to make sure your heating system is …

How you can elevate your outdoor entertaining space this fall

(BPT) - Autumn is a magical time of year, with cooler temperatures and colorful, changing leaves. Depending on where you live, it may still be warm enough to enjoy entertaining friends and family …

Comfy cozy: 5 style ideas for warming up your house this winter

(BPT) - As days get shorter, temperatures fall and we begin to spend more time indoors, many of us are looking for ways to make our homes more snug and cozy. After all, the winter months can be much …

5 Tips on How to Engineer Your Home for Living

(BPT) - Showcasing your personal style doesn’t have to be limited to the clothes you wear. Now more than ever, people are using their homes as a blank canvas to make a style statement. But that …

Is your home smart?

(BPT) - Controlling the operations of a home with a finger tap seemed out of reach only a few years ago. Today, homeowners are unlocking doors, setting alarms, adjusting the temperature and even …

4 benefits of enclosing your porch or patio

(BPT) - Love your porch or deck and wish you could enjoy it all year long (but with fewer bugs and less time spent fighting the elements)?Enclosing an existing porch or patio is the perfect way to …

5 fabulous hardwood kitchens

(BPT) - Who doesn’t want a kitchen that’s well-designed and hard-wearing but also looks beautiful and welcoming? There is one material — hardwood — that incorporates all these …

Fire Safety Inequity in America is Cause For Alarm [Video]

(BPT) - People everywhere deserve to feel safe and protected at home. That’s why Kidde, a leading manufacturer of fire safety products, created Cause For Alarm™, a fire education and safety initiative addressing fire safety gaps.

DIY Ideas, Products, and Inspiration to Upgrade Your Home [Video]

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7 tips for boosting indoor air quality

(BPT) - The arrival of autumn is a good time for homeowners to replace batteries in their smoke detectors and carbon monoxide alarms. And as winter approaches, it’s also a good time to make …

What does a change of seasons mean for your home’s roof?

(BPT) - As the fall home improvement season continues, now is a good time to think about how a change in seasons may affect your home’s roof. Season after season, roofs across the U.S. are …

Pre-season prep: 5 tips for winterizing your home

(BPT) - Changing leaves and dropping temperatures are tell-tale signs that it’s time to prepare your home for winter and the best time to prepare your home is now before the frigid weather …

Home ideas

Deck the Halls for the Holidays

(Family Features) Greet your guests with a warm, festive house this holiday season. Your decorations can be as simple as a cluster of scented candles or as inexpensive as filling a brass bowl with pinecones you collected with your kids.

Improve Your Home's Air Quality

(Family Features) Improving your home's air quality begins with recognizing what contributes to poor indoor air quality, the potentially harmful effects and how to address these problems.

Creatively Configure Interior Spaces with Sliding Bypass Doors

(Family Features) If you want to create a multi-functional living area, save space, allow more privacy or enhance architectural appeal - or all of these at once - sliding bypass doors can help you achieve your goals in spaces from kitchens to laundry rooms.

9 Tips for Winterizing Your Home

(Family Features) Winter and colder weather mean it's time to think about winterizing to help keep your home and everyone in it safe and comfortable. To help ensure your home is ready as the thermometer slips, consider these ideas to winterize your home.

Be Ready for Winter Weather: 5 tips to prep your home for cold, wet conditions

(Family Features) Americans should brace for a potentially cold and wet winter, according to NOAA and this year's Farmer's Almanac Winter Outlook. Get winter-ready with these tips.

Unhappy Holidays and How to Avoid Them—Tips from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service to Keep Your Mail Safe This Season

(NAPSI)—Below are some common mistakes people make during the holiday season. These mistakes lead to a lot of frustration for you and pure delight for the bad guys:1. Get swindled. Scammers use …

Tips for a Stress-Free Holiday Season

(NAPSI)—The holidays are right around the corner and sending your mail and packages with the U.S. Postal Service has never been easier or more reliable. With a little planning and the right tools, …

Ready Outdoor Power Equipment For Winter Storage, Prep Your Snow Thrower

(NAPSI)—After your lawn gets its last seasonal cut, it’s time to put away spring and summer outdoor power equipment, such as lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and trimmers. What’s next? Snow throwers, …

Insurance Tips for California High Risk Area

(NAPSI)—It’s a huge irony—those who live in the most wildfire prone areas are shunned by private insurance companies and relegated to rely on the state-subsidized California Fair Plan. This …

Clear The Company Air

(NAPSI)—If you work for any of the estimated 32 million business in the U.S., here’s news that might take your breath away: Your office air may need cleaning.It could come as a surprise to some, …

On-Trend Colors Reflecting Comforting Lifestyle Design

(Family Features) Upgrading your home design is an opportunity to tap into new color schemes. Knowing what shades are trendy and how different hues can work together for a cohesive design is an important step in creating an attractive design aesthetic.

5 Ways to Make Your Home Smell Fresh and Clean

(Family Features) A clean and inviting home doesn't just look tidy, it smells pleasantly refreshing, too. Consider these sensible ideas to improve the scents throughout your home.

Debunking The Five Myths That Deter Homeownership

(NAPSI)—Buying a home can seem daunting, especially for first-time homebuyers facing record housing prices, tight supply, and rising interest rates. Quite often, misconceptions about homeownership …

Wildfire Resilience: Manage and Mitigate Your Risks [Video]

(BPT) - There are currently 75 large fires burning through the U.S. right now, with 4.5 million U.S. homes identified as being at high or extreme risk of wildfire exposure.

OPEI Offers Tips For Storm-Stressed Communities

(NAPSI)—Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and other storms can damage homes, businesses and communities. The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) offers tips to help everyone stay safe during …

Tips To Prevent Wildfire Destruction

(NAPSI)—In 2020, 58,950 wildfires burned 10.1 million acres, the second-most acreage impacted in a year since 1960. Nearly 40% of these acres were in California, where 30 people were killed, 8,500 …

Staying Energy Efficient Amid Expected 10-Year High Heating Costs This Winter

(NewsUSA) - America’s homeowners can expect to shell out more cold cash to keep warm this winter as they face the highest home heating costs in more than a decade -- making optimal energy …

Home improvement spending increased around 45% in 25 years—here's how it's grown

Angi analyzed data from the Census Bureau to understand how home improvement spending has increased over the past 25 years.

Feeling the stress of high energy bills? New programs help lower costs

(BPT) - Soaring energy prices equate to rising energy bills for households nationwide. This is a burden in particular for low-income people on a tight budget. No one should have to go without the …

A rental property remodel done right

(BPT) - When it comes to upgrades and functional design, a rental property is often a space that’s left on the backburner. Whether it’s prepping for new tenants or simply giving a space a …

Veteran firefighters share important home safety tips [Video]

(BPT) - Fire safety continues to be a critical topic nationwide. On average, fire departments respond to a fire every 23 seconds, according …

4 DIY Tips to Prepare Your Garage for an EV According to HGTV Expert Carter Oosterhouse

(BPT) - By Carter Oosterhouse, TV Host and Home Improvement ExpertBetween fluctuating gas prices, the rise in green-minded individuals, and new electric vehicle (EV) introductions from major auto …

5 outdoor upgrades that add value to a home

(BPT) - When it comes to adding value to a home, think outside the box. According to the 2022 Cost vs. Value Report from Remodeling magazine, nine of the top 10 home improvement projects proven to …

Revive your powder room with these simple upgrades

(BPT) - Whether you call it a half bath or a powder room, the small space in your home is frequently used by your guests and family — but might be one of the most overlooked. And since it …

4 Benefits of Adding a Fireplace to Your Home

(Family Features) Whether you're constructing a new home or simply redesigning your current living space, there are many considerations that can truly make a house a home. Consider these four benefits of including a fireplace as part of your next home update.

Breathe Easy

(Family Features) Improving your home's air quality begins with recognizing what contributes to poor indoor air quality, the potentially harmful effects and how to address these problems.