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34. Choose New Carpet Carefully

If you’re in the market for new carpet, it’s important to remember that from an allergy sufferer’s view, not all carpet is the same. New carpet can be a source of chemical emissions and irritants. Ask your carpet guy what chemicals were used on your carpet and give it time to air out. Serious allergy sufferers may want to consider hardwood floors.

35. Thoroughly Clean Down

Down comforters, pillows or feather beds can be hard to clean, but are also good at trapping dust and dirt. It may mean a trip to the dry cleaners, but the results are well worth it. You can also look for hypoallergenic down. This is specially made for allergy sufferers and will greatly reduce allergens.

36. Shower Before Bed

Showering and washing your hair before going to bed can greatly reduce your night-time allergies. During the day, you can get dust mites, pollen and even mold on your skin and hair. Showering at night will keep these things out of your bed.

37. Clean Your Floors

It’s important to clean all floors in your home twice a week. This ensures that allergens are being disposed of. A good way to do this is to vacuum the area, then go over the floor with a wet rag or clean mop.

38. Avoid Smoke

This may sound like a no-brainer, but many people don’t realize how smoking tobacco can actually make their allergies worse. Smoking weakens your immune system, making it easier to be effected by allergens. Also keep in mind that the air around people who smoke actually makes a great place for mold to grow.

39. Disinfect

A few times every month, clean all of your bathroom and kitchen surfaces with an industrial grade disinfectant (not just a spray disinfectant like Lysol). This will make sure that all of the allergy-causing germs are out of your home. This is also the best way to kill mold.

40. Clean Your Carpets

Make it a habit to have your carpets professionally cleaned each fall, after you close your windows for the winter. Do your homework, and ask your carpet cleaners if their service will get rid of mold, pet dander and dust mites.

41. Keep Your Windows Closed

A good rule for a serious allergy sufferer is to keep your windows in your house and car closed all year. Use the air conditioner instead. This makes sure that allergens outside won’t blow into your car or home through your windows.

42. Drink Plenty of Water

A good tip for an allergy sufferer is to drink at least one gallon of water per day. This may seem like a lot, but it can actually help quite a bit. Along with flushing toxins out of your body, water also hydrates you. When your body is sufficiently hydrated, allergens don't stick as much and collect in your throat and lungs.

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36. Make the Bed

Making the bed will make any room cleaner. It doesn’t take very long, and it really pulls the room together. It helps to have a thick, lightweight comforter that can easily be thrown on without a lot of smoothing or tucking. Pillows really make a bed look good as well.

37. Put Away Clothes

Put away all clothes. Whether they need to be folded and put in a dresser, hung up, or put in the dirty clothes hamper, managing clothes is very important.

38. Clean off Dresser

You dresser top can get cluttered very quickly. Make it a habit to clear it off every time you clean your room, and it will get easier each time. It’s also a good idea to wipe down your dresser with a damp cloth.

39. Fast Window Cleaning

Got a big window that needs to be cleaned super quick? Try only pulling the blinds up halfway, and only cleaning the bottom half of the window. As stated earlier, vinegar and newspaper work well in a pinch.

40. Carpet Sweeping

It helps to have a carpet sweeper or a cordless hand vacuum handy. This way you don’t need to drag the big vacuum out every time your floor needs a quick clean-up.

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26. Throw Out

The first thing you need to do is go through all of your magazines and newspapers and throw out everything that you’ve already read. If you’re saving a magazine just for one article, tear out the article and throw the magazine away.

27. Categorize by Subject

It’s best to categorize your magazines and books by subject. Put cooking magazines together and entertainment ones together, etc. Do this with your music and movies also.

28. Labeling

Labeling is a great way to keep all of your media where it needs to be. You can get white sticker labels at the store in white, or you can color code them to make finding what you need quicker.

29. Magazine Storage

Storing magazines can be tricky, because they don’t stack very well. A great solution to this is to get plastic, vertical magazine holders. Each one will hold ten to twelve magazines. You can also label them by years.

30. Notebooks

What do you do with the magazine articles that you tear out of those magazines? Put them in a three-ring notebook, and store them with your books. You can also get notebook dividers to store articles on different subjects.

31. Desk Position

The position of your desk can make a big difference in the efficiency of your office. Arranging your desks or tables in an “L” shape or a “U” shape is best. This allows you two or three work areas.

32. Supplies

Office supplies are important to keep handy in your home office, but be careful not to hoard them. Keep only what you need in desk drawers, otherwise clutter will start to build up.

33. Control Paper

It seems like the flow of paper in your home office never stops. Handling this paper problem on a daily basis is important. Make sure you allow yourself time every day to clear off the papers on your desk and put things where they belong.

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40. Preparation

Pumpkins are sensitive to grow. The seeds need warm soil, and frost can really injure the seedlings. If you want pumpkins for Halloween, plant the seeds from late May in northern locations to early July in southern places.

41. Planting

Pumpkins need a minimum of 50 to 100 square feet per hill. Plant seeds one inch deep, and four or five seeds per hill. Allow 5 to 6 feet between hills, spaced in rows 10 to 15 feet apart. Once they have sprouted, thin each hill to the best two or three plants.

42. Watering

Pumpkin plants need to be kept weed-free by hoeing and shallow cultivation. They do okay with short periods of hot, dry weather.

43. Harvesting

You’ll know when your pumpkins are ready to be harvested when they are a deep, solid orange, and the rind is hard. This will usually be in late September or early October, before heavy frosts. Cut the pumpkins carefully, using pruning shears or a sharp knife, and leave 3 to 4 inches of stem attached.

44. Preparation

Summer squash needs warm, fertile, and aerated soil. They do well with soil that has compost or well-rotted manure added to it.

45. Planting

One way to grow summer squash is to plant them in a corner of the garden and train the vines to grow outside of the garden. Plant them about 2 feet apart and in rows that are 2 feet apart.

46. Watering

Summer squash need lots of water throughout the growing season. Water them deeply during dry spells. Only water the roots; not the foliage. Watering them early morning helps prevent mildew.

47. Harvesting

Summer squash are ready to harvest when they turn their mature color (usually green or yellow). Straightneck, crookneck, and zucchini summer squash are ready when they reach 1 ½ to 2 inches in diameter, while scallop summer squash are ideal at 3 to 4 inches in diameter.

48. Preparation

Plant your strawberries in the spring. If you’re planting young plants, be sure that they’re certified and disease frees. Select plants with large crowns with healthy, light-colored roots. Prepare your soil with 1-2 inches of organic matter (like compost, or well rotted manure).

49. Planting

To plant your strawberry plants, make a hole big enough to spread the roots. Make the center of the hole into a hill, and place the crown at soil level. Spread the roots downward, and bury the strawberry plant so that the soil goes half way up the crown.

50. Watering

Your strawberries will need 1 to 2 inches of water per week. This is especially important during the formation of the strawberry, from early bloom until it’s time to pick them.

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29. Surge Protectors

Every home experiences power surges. Make sure that all of your electronics are plugged into surge protectors. This will protect your computer and anything else from electrical damage.

30. Carpet

If you have a choice between carpet versus no carpet for your home office, it’s better to go with no carpet. Static from carpet may damage the computer's circuits. If you do have carpet in your home office, buy an antistatic mat or use an antistatic spray to reduce buildup on the carpet.

31. Electrical Cords

Even with just a computer and a phone, cords seem to always get tangled. Make sure all of your cords are tucked behind your desk. You can buy plastic cord bundlers at office supply stores as well.

32. Halogen Lamps

If you have halogen desk lamps, don’t touch the bulbs with your bare hands when changing them. The residue of oil from a human hand rubs off on the bulb, making the bulb warm up too fast when the lamp is turned on. This quick warming can cause the bulb to explode.

33. Paper Clip Holders

Beware of those magnetic paperclip holders. Anything magnetic can erase information off disks, mess up your hard drive, and damage your monitor.

34. Turn Off

Practice shutting down your computer and turning things off when they’re not in use. This will save energy and ensure your office is safe when you’re not around.

35. 3-Prong Outlets

Be sure to use three-prong electrical outlets in your home office. This, along with using surge protectors, makes sure that your computer and other electronics are safe, even if the worst happens.

36. Dust-Free

Make sure to keep your computer, monitor, and keyboard free of dust as it can interfere with their effectiveness. Compressed air works well, and you can buy it at any office supply store.

37. Bulletin Boards

Make sure you have plenty of places to hang paper and sticky notes on. Bulletin boards come in all shapes, sizes, and styles these days. Find one or two that fit your needs and put them up.

38. Lights

It’s important that your home office be well lighted. It really doesn’t matter what kind of light you use, just make sure that wherever you read has sufficient light so that you don’t strain your eyes.

39. Calendar

Every home office needs a good calendar to keep track of important dates and deadlines. It needs to be big enough to keep all of your household appointments on.