While most of us rely on sight for first impressions of a home, smell will probably be second on the list. Smells, whether from pets, smoke or last night's takeout, can assault our senses and tarnish an excellent first impression of anyone's home, whether for sale or not. 

Whether you're a real estate agent selling homes, sorting out a musty basement or you just want to freshen up your home, here are some tips to assist you in eliminating odors. 

Find and eliminate the source of the smell: 

You will only be able to achieve so much to make a room smell more pleasant without eliminating the source of the smell completely. You might need to clean walls to eliminate mold, take up floorboards or carpet that are permanently soiled or take other drastic measures if you have serious odor. You will need to investigate so that you can find the cause of the smell and remove it before doing anything else. 

Clean areas one at a time: 

Carpet: Sprinkle baking powder over the area to soak up the odor. Vacuum the powder after an hour or so. To keep baking soda fresh, you can keep a box of it in the fridge. 

Basement: You may not believe it but onions are excellent odor eliminators. Cut an onion in 2 and leave on a plate in the basement to absorb moldy smells. Departing out clean, dry charcoal briquettes will also work. 

Kitchen: Make your sink smell fresh by putting orange, grapefruit or lemon peels in the garbage disposal. 

Living room: White vinegar, similar to onions, soak up smells. Simply Pour some into a bowl and close door to the room to eliminate odor. For better results, get air circulating within the room by opening doors and windows, you can even turn on a fan if you have one. 

Entire house: Heavy perfumed scents make an odor worse. Rather than using a perfumed candle or plug-in, mix equal parts of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle to eliminate air odors. If you still want that vanilla scent you can add a scented candle or plug-in afterward. 

Fresh fresh paint it Over: 

In the event you purchased an older home, it is likely that the home will have a musty smell. The house proprietors may have smoked in the house too. One of the easiest techniques to mask these smells is to repaint rooms to literally cover the scents that linger on the walls. 

If you follow these simple tips, you will have very pleasant odor in your home in no time.

 

A number of students from the Cayman Islands have received degrees from the New England Institute of Technology. 
The international students represented the Cayman Islands, St. Lucia, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Bermuda, St. Maarten, the British Virgin Islands, and the US Virgin Islands. 
"We are proud to have such outstanding international students here at New England Institute of Technology. This diversity affords our students, faculty and staff the opportunity to learn about various cultures. It is a great learning experience for all of us," said Thomas F. Wylie, senior vice president of the institute. 
The institute awarded more than 1,250 students with an Associate in Science, Bachelor of Science or Master of Science Degree. 
New England Institute of Technology is a private, non-profit, technical college with an enrolment of over 3,000 students. The college offers more than 35 associate, bachelor and master degree programmes. 



Source:caycompass.com

 

The Town Hall in George Town, which has served many purposes throughout the years and was used as a court room for Traffic Court in most recent years. This ceased after Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and though the facility had undergone some repairs in the years since, no money had been allotted to complete repairs. 
The government has since provided about $25,000 for completion of the repairs. 
"There is just one finishing piece we would like to add, which are Hurricane rated windows that will arrive in a few days time. We've got new bathrooms, fire alarms, life safety systems and electrical rewiring," explained Facilities Manager Richard Sanfillipo. 
He added that the Town Hall would be assigned a caretaker and then be put back on the market for rent in late September. Whether the facility will be used for court proceedings in the future remains uncertain. 
"The Town Hall has so much historical significance that the public should have access to it. It belongs to the people and we would not want to take that away from them," he concluded. 



Source:compasscayman.com

 

Your home might be clean, but when it's cluttered and filled with stuff, you might not even notice the sparkling counters or vacuumed floors. And when your house is on the market, clutter could reduce your perceived home value and could be one of the biggest things standing in the way of the sale of your home. 

Clutter eats equity - occupies space and causes homes to feel much smaller, most sellers have too many things in their homes. 

Whether you are planning to market your home, or simply want easy ways to de-clutter your home, here are some great tips listed below: 

Purge 

Have a critical look at all your possessions and decide whether you use regularly. Keep only that which you love, use or wear. If you are not sure whether you would miss the sweater or book put it away somewhere to see if you need it in a few days. Chances are you will not miss it at all. 

Assign a location 

Always searching for your car and house keys, the remote control or paperwork? Decide on a location for these items and ensure you always leave them there. Buy bins, put labels on them and encourage all who live in the household to put things in their proper places. Ensure that the bins are somewhere that makes sense- it shouldn't be harder to find things now that they are organized. 

To save time going up and down the stairs, place a bin at the bottom of the stairs and place items that need to go up in there. When you or someone else in the house next goes upstairs take the bin and return the items to their proper places. 

Turn Clutter into Decor 

A cluster of items such as glass jars holding office supplies for example can look like a planned accessory for any room. Woven baskets for blankets, or wooden crates for bathroom products can all stand by themselves in a room without making the area appear cluttered.