Organizing your home The first place to start is cleaning and organizing. The easiest way to tackle this is to have a plan. Organizing and removing clutter should be first task. Remove as much clutter as possible. You want to create illusion of space without looking too sparse. If you have a buffet table with a lot of chatchkies on it, be sure to remove some of them to open up area. If your living room is cluttered with a lot of furniture remove a few pieces. This will again give illusion of a bigger room.

Cleaning your home Now that you have organized it is time to CLEAN. Where I like to start is with bathrooms. Be sure to clean toilet bowls. This is a good indication of how rest of house was maintained.

Clean baths and showers, removing all water stain from tile, and glass doors in showers. A great way to remove hard water stains on glass and tile is by using toilet bowl cleaner. The hydrogen chloride dissolves minerals that create spots (learned this from doing acid washes on pools, and having to clean tile with toilet bowl cleaner). Some cautions about doing this, be sure to use protective rubber gloves on your hands, and do not let solution stay on any chrome or brass metal like fixtures. Extended exposure can remove finish from fixture. Simply wipe once with bowl cleaner on a sponge to remove water spots, then quickly rinse with water for any metallic fixtures. For tub, shower, and tile around them, I get a bucket of hot water, and squirt some of bowl cleaner into it. Next I use a nylon bristle brush to scrub tile. If you encounter a spot that is stubborn go ahead and squirt some of bowl cleaner directly on spot, and scrub with your brush. Once you have scrubbed entire area rinse with warm water. I just use removable showerhead to rinse. Next you will want to dry entire tub and tile with a towel. After everything has had time to dry fully, I use carnauba wax for cars on all metallic fixtures. After you apply it, let it haze, then buff with a terry cloth towel. This makes your chrome or brass really shine. The same steps can be used on your sink and faucet.

Now it is time to clean mirror(s). I use a dilution of Ammonia in water. Ammonia is what glass cleaners contain to remove streaks. Since you only need a little bit of ammonia it is a lot less expensive than name brand glass cleaners. After mirror is dry you can use carnauba wax on it as well.

Be sure floor is clean. If it needs cleaning, I use another dilution of ammonia in hot water. The ammonia removes oils from your feet and other bathroom grime.

Now that your bathrooms are spotless it is time for dusting, and I'm not talking with a rag.

But in west, where stucco homes are common, manufacturers came up with a third type of frame called a retrofit frame. The retrofit frame has a fin about 2 inches wide, located flush with outside face of window. This is best choice when replacing old windows, but not all jobs will accomodate a retrofit frame application. So let's discuss how to determine which frame is going to work for you.