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!

Tip 1
Clean walls: Dust, dirt, and grease spots will ruin a paint job. Use water, a little mild dish-washing detergent and a cellulose sponge. Rinse walls with clean water to remove the soap residue.

Tip 2
Tape trim, window, and door-frames: Use painter's blue tape. It can be applied up to a week ahead. Remove tape immediately after painting, before the wall dries, so you don't peel off any paint with it.

Tip 3
Prime the walls: It's a common belief that walls that have been painted many times don't need to be primed. The truth, primer helps maximize the sheen and coverage of paint and gives the finish a more uniform appearance.

Tip 4
Brush where you can't roll: Use a two-inch angled  brush to paint around trim and in the corners of walls, where your roller can't reach. Paint two to three inches from windows, doors, and moldings.

Tip 5
Use the W-overlap technique: Start in the corner of a wall and roll on a three-by-three-foot W-overlap pattern. Continue in sections until complete. Paint one wall at a time.

Tip 6
Painting trim: After the paint has completely dried, tape where the trim meets the wall. Paint the moldings and the door and window frames with a two-inch angled brush.

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.

Your personality is reflected in the colors of the rooms in your home, and vice-verse. While most people spend very little time thinking about room color, it affects our mood whether we're aware of it or not. Room color influences our moods and our temperament.
Color affects people depending on age, gender, ethnic background and climate. Most people react to colors, or groups of colors, similarly. It's the shades or tones used that account for the differences. This is why it’s so important for you to choose colors wisely when painting your home.
Forget about trends when choosing a room color. Color trends will come and go. Make your home beautiful by choosing colors that reflect your preferences and personality. Blend the colors you like into a combination that is pleasing to your mood.
Choosing a color for a room seems easy enough but getting the right combination of colors is confusing for beginners. Color can change a person's perception of the shape and size of furnishings, as well as the shape and size of the room. Selecting colors is not difficult if you learn some basic information about color and its effects on mood.
Each color has a psychological value. How do certain colors make you feel? To create peace and harmony in your home, choose your colors wisely; some colors in large amounts might have the opposite effect on you. What mood do you want to create? Which colors give you that mood?
Look at magazines, blogs and websites for ideas. Take note of the textiles in your home before you choose paint color. Carpeting, furniture and tile have a more limited range of colors than paint, so you have fewer choices when buying these items for your home. Choose home decor first and then decide on your paint color.
Colors act in three basic ways: active, passive and neutral. You can choose color's based on your own personality and desired mood, to your taste and to the room’s purpose. Light colors make a room seem larger and brighter, while dark colors give large rooms a more intimate feel.
Let’s look at colors and what they can do to a room.
Red raises a room’s energy level. Yellow says sunshine and communicates happiness. Blue is calming, relaxing and serene, and is often recommended for bedrooms and bathrooms. Green is a restful color. Combining blue and yellow, green is suited for almost any room in the house. Purple is royal, dramatic and sophisticated. It is associated with luxury and creativity; as an accent or secondary color, it gives a scheme depth. Lighter versions of purple, such as lavender and lilac, bring the same restful quality to bedrooms as blue does, but without the risk of feeling chilly. Orange is an energetic color.
Neutrals (black, gray, white and brown) are basic to the decorator’s tool kit. Add color to liven things up and neutrals to calm things down.

Chalkboard paint is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It can be used to turn a wall into a chalkboard. If you have children, you can use chalkboard paint to make the kid's room childproof. You can turn a wall into a message board, a calendar or a recipe board. Adults find many uses for a chalkboard wall in their home. Chalkboard paint is a paint that you can write on with chalk. You can roll it directly onto drywall to create a wall that can be written on with chalk and wiped clean, just like a chalkboard. If you are making your own DIY chalkboard wall be sure to use a fine foam roller to roll the chalkboard paint onto the wall so that it’s smooth for writing on. Let the paint dry completely before you “prime” the chalkboard wall by rubbing chalk over the chalkboard wall and then wiping it away with a moist sponge. This helps future artwork wipe off easily.
Your board can be whatever size you desire and placed wherever you like. Store-bought chalkboard paint comes in traditional green and black. But you can follow our DIY recipe to mix your own chalkboard paint in any shade. By making your own chalkboard wall from chalkboard paint you'll have new places to track appointments, keep recipes and leave messages. Children can draw or doodle then erase after they've finished, which will make parents happy.

We have given materials and directions so you can make your very own DIY chalkboard paint.
Materials: mixing container, unsanded tile grout, paint stirrer, roller or sponge paintbrush, 150-grit sandpaper.
Directions: Start with flat-finish latex paint in your choice of shade. For small areas, such as a door panel, mix 1 cup at a time. Pour 1 cup of paint into a container. Add 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. Mix with paint stirrer. Apply paint with a roller or sponge paintbrush to a primed surface – go over several times to ensure even coverage. Smooth area with the sandpaper.