Over time, your home can fill up with smells that your sense of smell gets used to. When friends and company come knocking you may spray an air freshener or light a candle, but those are just temporary cover-ups.  You really want to root out the problem for good. A deodorizer will remove the smells and do the job quite well.

Here is a deodorizer recipe you can make at home:

Homemade Room and Furniture Deodorizing Spray
This simple recipe is easy to make and safe to use. Use a natural, non-toxic essential oil for your spray.

1 Tablespoon baking soda
2-3 drops essential oil – they come in many aromas; lavender, lemon, orange, cinnamon, or peppermint. You can mix them to create your own personal scent.
Distilled water

Mix the baking soda and essential oil together, then add this mixture to an 8-12 ounce spray bottle. Add distilled water to fill and shake well. Spray on carpets, furniture, curtains etc.
Smells can get trapped in paint. You will need to repaint to get rid of these smells completely. A deodorizer spray will not remove all of the odors. Odors may not be the only reason for repainting a part of your home. Over time you may get bored of the same-old same-old and want a new look.

Here are some more tips to freshen your home:

Tip 1
Accentuate a room with an accent wall in a dramatic paint or wallpaper color.

Tip 2
Start with white and off-whites for floors, walls, and furniture. Use decor with fresh color that can be changed according to seasons.

Tip 3
Paint the inside of a frequently used closet and give it a fresh new feel. Use a color that accentuates your personality and style.

Tip 4
When you want to freshen up a room with paint, find an item you love, your favorite fabric, wall-clock or pillow, then find its dominant color and paint the room throughout with that color in mind.

Tip 5
If you want to freshen up a room with paint but you're unsure what mix of colors will give balance, use a 60-30-10 formula as a guide. According to the formula, a predominant color should cover approximately 60 percent of the room (usually the walls). A secondary color should cover 30 percent (window treatments, upholstery and rugs), while accent colors account for the remaining 10 percent (artwork, accent tiles and accessories).

Be proactive and get creative. If you need help you can bring in a professional to do the work, but be informed and know what you want. A professional can give advice, but it's your home!

You want to sell your home fast and for as much money as possible. Curb appeal is your main priority – it's what people see first. If the interior is great, but no one sees it, then it doesn't really matter.

People like yellow kitchens.
According to Zillow, when it came to kitchens, those painted yellow sold for the most. Zillow Digs analyzed photos from nearly 50,000 sold homes from around the country. Of all the colors Zillow analyzed, homes with yellow kitchens yielded the highest sale premium ($1,360 above expected values).

There are some paint colors that could actually deter buyers. Also, a lack of any paint color communicates to potential buyers that the homeowner doesn’t care about the house which could lead a person to wonder what else has been neglected in the house.

A fresh coat of paint is an easy and affordable way to improve a home’s appearance before listing, but stick with colors that have mass appeal to attract as many potential buyers to your listing as possible. Warm neutrals like yellow or light gray are stylish and clean, letting the buyer know that the home has been well maintained.

The exterior can rob your house of needed curb appeal. A buyer can reach a conclusion about a house in about a minute. And the conclusion can be made from an exterior color.

White, tan and gray shades for an exterior home color communicate “shelter” while brown communicates “security.” Sandy hues say “comfort” and “warmth.”

A blue house is appealing and invokes “warmth,” and red can work, as trim. Purple, yellow, pink and orange tend to be bad choices for exterior house colors.

Interior home colors can impact your sales price dramatically at close. Zillow.com, the Seattle-based real estate site analyzed the color schemes in close to 50,000 homes sold over a 10-year period starting in 2006. After accounting for location, price, size and age of the home, Zillow determined that homes with wall colors painted in earthy tones like sage green or dove gray were also present in top-performing listings.
Zillow noted specifically that colors like slate gray or terra cotta sold for sometimes close to $1,100 less than expected. Not having a color in the kitchen also had a negative impact on a home’s sale price. Homes with white or eggshell-colored kitchens also sold below expectations.

Why Does Paint Crack?

Painters use a wide lexicon to describe common paint cracks. Some examples and causes:

• Mud cracks. Paint was applied too thick; surface was dirty.
• Hairline cracks. Paint was over-spread; paint was cheap and had low adhesion and flexibility.
• Alligator cracks. Paint was applied over a wet base coat or a glossy finish; a stiff coating, such as an oil-based enamel, was buttered over something with a higher expansion rate, like plaster.

Why Does Paint Bubble?

Small Bubbles: Shaking a can of paint introduces excess air. Rolling on the paint too quickly can whip bubbles into the paint. High-gloss paints are particularly sensitive to this. So, slow down!
Another culprit is a porous surface like plywood, brick or sheetrock. A sealant or primer will help.

Big Bubbles: Blisters often result when using latex and acrylic interior and exterior finishes. It happens when the paint separates from its base, a result of the application temperature being too cold, too hot, or a damp base.
Painting during a humid evening often results in blisters. Painting during hot, sunny afternoons may result in the upper stratum of the coat drying too quickly, making the solvents vaporize and expand into unsightly boils.

Huge Bubbles: You didn’t paint a coat of oil-based paint over latex, did you? Yes, you did.
Why Does Paint Peel?

Paint peels because it cannot adhere to the underlying layer.
The simplest solution is to sand. Sandpaper roughens the base surface creating tiny peaks and valleys onto which paint molecules can adhere. Trying to paint a glassy, smooth surface is like trying to walk on ice.
Most paint-on-paint peeling comes from high humidity or surface moisture. Chemical incompatibility is another common cause. You can daub oil-based paints on galvanized metal all day, but it won’t stick.

Fact is, paint can be a real pain in the wallet. You need to choose the right paint or you'll be doing the same job over and over again. Choose right the first time.

Most HOAs (Homeowners Associations) are friendly. Most will clean your streets, trim your trees, build tennis courts and let you paint your home any color you choose. A few, however, have more prohibitive regulations.
In fact, some HOAs will require you to hire an approved, HOA-contracted painting company. Others limit your color choices to six or seven mass-acceptable neutrals, and if you desire a different color, like a creamy yellow, you must navigate your way through approval channels: submit paint swatches, list manufacturer guarantees, attend board meetings and whatever else they require.
Special restrictions may apply. If a nearby house has a similar color, then you must choose something else. Some HOAs specify exterior paint choices by body, trim, garage door, front door and special features. Also, HOAs may regulate the application as well as the selection of paint. These special restrictions will be stated in the Master Deed and By-Laws of the Association. Both documents should be publicly accessible.
If you shirk the approval process and paint your home without approval, then the HOA can force you to comply. If you refuse, the HOA may place liens to encumber your property, and those liens may escalate.
Document everything. Some HOAs will demand evidence of original color approval if a neighbor complains, and if you don't have the proper document, then you may be forced to repaint your home.
Fortunately, most HOAs don't care what color you paint inside your house. You'll find, hopefully, that most are reasonable if you want a different exterior color. If you're having trouble getting approval from your HOA, you can call a professional painter to help you. They should have some ideas to lighten your burden.

We here at Parker CO Painting, LLC would love to paint your home whenever our Colorado weather allows, however if we are good stewards of our trade we would suggest that you wait until next season.  You may ask yourselves, hmmm Why would a painting company tell me to wait, Colorado Falls are generally mild, not too hot, it is a fine to get outside and get work done.  Although the weather is great for us painters, it isn't so good for the paint.  I know a lot of exterior paint gets completed in the fall but that is not a good idea.

We have been painting homes since the early 1980's and we do not typically schedule any exterior paint after October 1st.  Of course some folks do not listen and insisted on getting their house painted by someone else.  After a few years they understood why we did not paint outside during the fall.

Structures painted after October 1 start to show signs of paint failure a few years down the road.  The paint will start to crack, peel, and or flake and the home will need to be totally repainted.  So why does the paint fail? 

As paint dries their is a chemical reaction that needs to occur that allows the latex or oil to bond to the surface being painted.  If you read a can of paint it generally recommends that paint not be applied unless the temperature is above 50-55 degrees.  The paint needs to stay warm in order for the chemical reaction to occur the way it should to allow for a good bond, and that will prevent the peeling, flaking, and cracking that I described above.

In Colorado we can have beautiful days in October mid 70's during the day, but as soon as the sun sets it can easily dip down into the low 40's (or colder)  The paint needs time to dry and cure, it will only go through the proper chemical reaction when it is warm outside, otherwise it will not allow the chemical reaction that allows the paint to adhere to the surface properly.

So please do not paint your exterior in the fall. 

However, the fall is a perfect time to do some interior painting (right before the holidays!)