Trade Up To A Larger Home Without Moving (NAPSA)—It’s a common problem. Your family has grown. You've gotten older and acquired more stuff. You can’t find things. You’re trapped in a home that’s too small. “Years ago, you could keep trading up to a larger house because you kept makinga profit,” says HGTV and CedarSafe home improvement expert Pat Simpson. “But since the housing market plummeted, you can’t afford to move and you desperately need a bigger house.” The solution is simple. Trade up to a larger home by maximizing the space you already have: Go through every closet and the attic. Donate anything you haven’t used in the past two years, have a tag sale or sell it on eBay. The charitable tax deduction or the income you make off the sales will help you finance some or all of your small homeimprovement projects. e Turn your primary closet into your own personal “hotfile.” If it’s winter, only winter clothes should be in there. That goes for everyone in the family, so out-of-season clothes should be moved to secondaryclosets. e Other items can be moved to the attic. “The easiest way to trade up to a bigger home without movingis to create an attic storage room,” says Simpson. “Identify the space you need in the attic. Put plywood down on the floor and add 4' x 8' cedar panels to the walls instead of Sheetrock.” An easy wayto trade up to a big- ger home without moving is to create an attic storage room lined in cedar. Why cedar? Aromatic Eastern Redcedar has been proven in an Auburn University study to repel silverfish that like to eat cotton, linen, rayon and book bindings. The cedar also repels roaches and clothes moths. Clothes moth larvae feed on wool, leather, paper, cotton, linen, silk and synthetic fibers. The 4’ x 8' panels can easily be nailed to the walls in a short amount of time and the cedar scent keeps your clothes and the rest of the attic smelling fresh. “You'll wind up with a greatlooking and functional storage area,” says Simpson. “But don’t store very heavy items on the floor of the attic, or hang heavy items from the rafters, because the weight load adds stress to the structure and could damage the rafters overhead andceiling joists below. Be sure to have a licensed contractor advise you on weight loads and ask him to give you a written warranty on his advice.” Visit cedarsafeclosets.com for more information.
