Category: Real Estate

Our home is a very special place – be it big or small. It is the place which makes us feel happy, safe and comfortable. However, accidents are inevitable and they can happen anywhere, on the road or right under our roof. Hence, we must consider the best possible ways in which we can prevent such accidents. At times we are so involved in decorating, renovating or for that matter, feel comfortable in our space that we tend to ignore the important areas which require attention. Safety measures are one such element that demands our maximum attention while we plan to make our home a better place. When the members of the house feel safe and comfortable, the feeling of positivity and happiness increases manifold. So, if you are among those who care about the safety of their family and therefore their homes, then this article is all you need to read.

Common Safety issues to be aware of at home

One of the best ways to make sure that your home is safe is to actively check each area of your home for potential hazards. It reduces the risk of injury that children or elderly people in the house might suffer. One must remember that his home might make him feel warm and comfortable but that doesn’t necessarily allow to ignore potential safety hazards. It is essential to be knowledgeable about safety measures and evaluate hidden danger. Here are some of the common safety issues that we come across in our seemingly safe haven called ‘home’:

• Inadequate security due to a not-so-robust locking and surveillance system at the main door
• Faulty door locks
• Loose window glass, latches, or joints
• Crack in the wall, ceiling, or railings of the roof
• Uneven floor or elevated door threshold
• Broken stairs or loose handrail
• Slippery bathroom floor due to wrong choice of tile/marble type or excess splashing of water
• Damp walls and ceilings leading to an unhygienic indoor atmosphere
• Faulty switches and plug points
• Unserviced home appliances that may become a cause of electrocution or fire hazard
• Unchecked gas cylinder, faulty knobs and lighter, and uncleaned burners
• Torn/wavy rugs and carpets, scattered objects on the floor
• Improper cleaning and kitchen habits
• Unsafe storage of medicines, pest poisons, harmful chemicals, knives and other sharp objects, cables and cords, etc leading to chocking, cuts, fall, burn or poisoning
• Irregular or no pest control drive

What should you do?

Safety tips to avoid accidental falls

Elderly people and kids in the house often tend to fall because of the unsuitable arrangement of things lying here and there. Fix this first as this costs nothing. Simply, avoid clutter. Pick up small objects from the floor and keep them aside in their proper place.

Throw rugs and loose mats, extension cords, etc are a few things on which elderly people and small children often trip and fall. Replace the former with carpet and remove the latter when not in use.

Elevated door thresholds in old Indian houses are quite a nightmare for people of ages. You better get them removed and make life easier.

Bathroom floor tiles and marbles are better chosen which have anti-skid features as they provide more friction to the feet. Still, to avoid fall, keep the floor dry & clean and soaps should be replaced with shower gels. Doors should have outside latches which should be used to close them when an elderly person or a child is inside. This helps in faster rescue in case of an accident.

Any kind of leakage or seepage – either in the ceiling, wall or from any appliance – repair it fast. There shouldn’t be any water on the floor going unnoticed for long.

Electrical safety

At home, electrical hazards are mainly caused due to three reasons. Address those with seriousness in the following way:

• Wrong handling – Using wet hands to switch on or switch off or fiddling with the plug points. These should be strictly avoided as that may lead to electrocution. Where there are small children in the house, make use of socket safety cover¹ which will restrict babies from putting finger directly or inserting any other object into electrical sockets (or plug points) which may cause electrocution. This is one of the tip to make shockproof home for your kid.
• Poor quality of electrical equipment and/or damp in the concealed wiring system – Take the help of a skilled electrician who would have the right set of skills to check the problem and take care of any form of electrical repair. You can also opt for an electrical inspection if you have been noticing frequent issues of short circuit and blackout.
• Un-serviced electrical appliances – Don’t wait for them to burn your food or your finger. Get them serviced on time and stay sorted.

Electrical safety should be given top priority in a home.

Fire safety

Let’s face it, we all dread fires but very few take necessary precautions to avoid one. First and foremost – you must get your gas cylinder checked when it gets delivered to your home. If you suspect any kind of leakage, refuse it then and there.

After using the gas stove, don’t forget to turn off your cylinder’s knob. Also, clean the pores of your burners at regular intervals. Change your gas-lighter after every few months.

Again, get the servicing of your microwave oven and other kitchen appliances done at least once in a year. The same applies to air conditioners. They must be serviced regularly.

Install a fire alarm in your house and keep a fire extinguisher handy for emergencies.

Above everything else, you must ensure that the ventilation and water supply of your building is up to the mark so that, in case there is a fire, it can be doused easily.

Hygiene and Food Safety

This is supreme at any point in life. Good cleaning and kitchen habits go a long way in ensuring the good health of a family. A few things should be followed to the T:

• Dusting, cleaning and mopping should be done daily. Disinfection and sanitization of surfaces and objects should be done at regular intervals to keep the spread of disease-causing germs and pests in check.
• Always keep cooked food covered.
• Clean up spills and scatters immediately.
• Don’t hoard food items in the fridge for long. Here’s some more food safety tips^2.
• Throw away wastes before they become stale.
• Use sprays and chemicals carefully in the kitchen.
• Keep the sink outlets unclogged and clean the pipes once in a month.
• Use covered bins for disposing of dry and organic wastes.

Apart from the above points, there are certain hidden hazards in a home which can cause problem in the proper functioning and safety of your home. Read Protect your Home from Masked Hazards.

Information and knowledge is the key to prevent any form of accident in life and it is applicable to the safety of your home. The only way to enjoy a life devoid of regrets is by staying cautious. It requires adopting some basic safety habits and sometimes, professional help as a home inspection. The latter raises red flags, which if you pay heed to, can save you from many accidents. To learn more about home inspection, click here.

Reference links used:
1. https://www.amazon.in/KiddySafe-Electric-Socket-Safety-Cover/dp/B07SDGMQ55
2. https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/index.html
3. https://www.godrej.com/godrej-locks-and-security-solutions/Home-Cams

Kitchen, they say, is the heart of the home. Now every time you cook something up and reach a notch closer to the heart of your family members through the way of their stomach, you do not want to step back into the kitchen and feel like a storm has blown across it, do you? Working in an organized way in the kitchen is possible only when you have an organized kitchen. Flour all over the counter, a spatula here, a cup there, a rolling pin left to be rolling on the counter, sprinkles of oil on the wall in front of the gas oven – all are a pain to the eyes. So, what can we do to keep the kitchen organised?

Why do you need an organized kitchen?

Before we move on to enlighten you about ways to keep your kitchen organized, let usjust have a look at why we need to do that in the first place? Here are the reasons:

• You know where to find what, the moment you need something
• Be it your visiting sis-in-law, or your favourite girl gang from your college or office, anyone will find it easy to locate things in the kitchen and they can help you out in preparation of food also (there’s nothing like cooking yummy dishes together and eating them too!)
• Cleaning afterwards is so easy when you have everything at place
• With an organised kitchen, you know what you have, how many you have and what you need to add. Thus, you do not end up buying the same thing twice
• With everything stacked up in a neat and clean manner, preparation time for a meal is reduced
• Lastly, the kids in your house learn how important it is to keep everything organized and they try to follow your footsteps too

9 tips for an organised kitchen

1. Keep your fridge organised

Let us start with the storage units first and you cannot think of anything but a fridge when it comes to vegetables or other farm produce. Storing leftover food also calls for a fridge. Buy fridge bins apart from the vegetable basket that already comes with your fridge when you buy it. These baskets are not segmented and hence you have to search through all the vegetables when you might just need one tomato or only a few beans. It is easy for items to get lost in a corner and when you discover it a week later, it has already gone bad. Transparent fridge bins can be a saviour in such cases. From packets of sliced salamis to fresh veggies- you can see them and reach for them easily.

2. Go for racks with wheels

However big a mansion you live in, the average Indian kitchen size lingers around 9’x7’. With a few exceptions, a roomy kitchen is not a thing that you come across regularly. Now add the countertops, wall hanging racks, gas oven and other things in the kitchen – you have less amount of space to move around. Easy to misplace things and burst out in frustration whenever you are midway of cooking up a storm, right? Racks with wheels are the ultimate organizers and space saviours with their narrow shape.

3. Install cutlery trays

You got your hands laid upon almost everything when all you just wanted was the star nozzle for dressing up the cake you just baked – sounds familiar? Cutlery and small pieces like nozzles etc are so easy to lose as you pull open or push the kitchen drawer shut. No matter how many times you put all the same sized spoons and forks together neatly, they get all mixed up. So, what’s the solution? Installing expandable cutlery trays¹. You can expand them according to the size of your drawer and not even an inch of the inside is wasted. Now you are all ok to have your sundry items, forks and spoons organised.

4. Set up step-style shelf organiser

There is no doubt having cabinets in the kitchen, overhead or on the wall, saves a lot of space and helps in keeping stackable items, jars of spices etc in a neat way. But an Indian kitchen is never short of spices, special spice mixes, nani ke haat ka achaar, secret mixes only you know how and where to put in and so on and so forth. All these make it difficult to locate the right item when needed. Step-style shelves designed especially for cabinets can be your saviour. It not only gives you a whole new organizing experience but the step system gives you better visibility and accessibility also.

5. Pan and Lid organizer to your rescue

The biggest problem with pans is they are no more stackable if you put the lid with it. Now if you don’t put the lid there, where would you? Also, being made of glass they need to be handled with care. Pans and their lid eat up a lot of space in the kitchen and make it look messy. Again, they are not something that you can do without, right? Pan and lid organisers add to that organised look of your kitchen. With adjustable heights of the pan organiser and the ability of the lid organiser to be mounted on the wall just add more ticks against them and make them included in your shopping list.

6. Give a glance under the sink

Yes, you read that right, under the sink. Awkward? Yes. But utility? Amazing. Putting up an adjustable shelf can work wonders for you if you are at a loss about how to keep your kitchen organised. There is enough space to keep things which you do not need regularly but most often we let it go to waste. Instead of stashing away unnecessary stuff, build a shelf around the pipes and put the space to use. Trust us on this and get ready to be amazed.

7. How about a modular kitchen

Uber chic and utilitarian – modular kitchens are a homemaker’s dream place and for all the right reasons. Mostly customizable, the kitchen designs let you organise all your utensils, containers and appliances in the most impeccable way. You just need to choose the material carefully and check your walls and floor for damp related problems before installing the whole setup. This is because if there is any seepage or damp in any wall or floor and that goes undetected, it will spread on to the modular kitchen cabinets and spoil them in a few years.

8. Other tips

There are some basic tips which can come to your rescue in all situations. These are:

• Bought something new? Unpack it right away and start using them. Keeping them stashed away for afterwards will actually add to the clutter in the kitchen. Also, buy only when you need a particular thing.
• While buying utensils like bowls or containers make sure you choose the stackable ones. Thus, when not in use you can put one into another and store them.
• Once a while, declutter the kitchen. Every time you do so, you will definitely come up with a lot of items that will leave you wondering, “Why is it even here!” or “I definitely don’t need this here.”
• Cleaning missions will help you get rid of excess items in no time.
• Don’t hoard empty poly packs and plastic pouches/bags thinking that you may use them later. They only add to the clutter while welcoming cockroaches and ants, too, sometimes.
• Reuse containers after a thorough cleaning. For example, you bought tea leaves in a plastic container; after it gets exhausted, don’t discard the container. Either wash and dry and use it for storing some other items or refill with tea leaves again – this time bought in paper packaging.

9. Last but not the least, Cleanliness

Keeping your kitchen clean is the first call you can make while you proceed towards making it organised. Look out for damp patches particularly under the sink, behind the cupboard or the fridge. Do not let fungus settle in. A weekly clean up is a must. As foods are cooked here, you can never compromise with the hygiene and cleanliness.

You might be a working woman who spends the longest duration in the kitchen only while making soup or instant noodles. Or you might be a homemaker who spends a considerable amount of time there. You might be a food blogger whose passion is cooking and trying new recipes. Whatever might be the case, having an organised kitchen is more welcoming. Add the health factor to it, and it becomes essential. Hope the tips help!

Reference links used:
1. https://www.amazon.in/House-Quirk-Drawer-Expandable-Cutlery/dp/B01LSHYP5O/

The rapid changes in environment and climate make it an absolute necessity to be alarmed for the future. Global warming is the root cause of climatic pattern disturbances, which is in turn caused by man-made pollution. Making changes in your lifestyle is a necessity. Developing your home into an eco-friendly one is an ordeal but it is definitely worth it. Try out our simple tips for turning your home into an eco-friendly one.

1. Reduce Use Of Plastic At Home
2. Use Recycled Products
3. Use Energy-efficient Lighting
4. Switch Off Appliances When Not In Use
5. Buy Low-Energy Appliances
6. Choose Your Paint With Care
7. Make Your Own Compost For Your Potted Green Friends
8. Use Natural Cleansing Products
9. Hang Your Clothes In the Sun to Dry
10. Watch Your Water Usage
11. Rainwater Harvesting
12. Manage waste at home

Changing life patterns, increased pollution, urban as well as rural industrialization has taken a toll over the environment. We have destroyed thousands of hectares of forests, polluted the water bodies, disrupted the natural habitat for millions of organisms just to fulfil our own needs. The environment we are living in is degrading every single day. It is our responsibility to save the environment and natural resources. After all, we all are living and breathing in the laps of mother nature. It only takes a bit of conscious effort to change our lifestyle to an eco-friendly one. We will also be able to save some of the existing natural resources. Sustainability is not a concept, it is a way of living. Our responsibility starts with changing our habits at home. We should strive towards changing our homes into an eco-friendly space.

Here are a few ways to make your home eco-friendly:

1. Reduce Use of Plastic At Home

Replace all the plastic containers in the kitchen with steel or glass containers. Use glass bottles for drinking water instead of plastic once. The lesser the plastic usage, the lesser is the production of non-biodegradable waste from our house. Try to avoid fibre utensils. Try sticking to aluminium, steel, and iron utensils for cooking. Reduce the use of polythene bags and instead use cloth or jute bags for shopping. Do not use plastic plates or cups during gatherings. Indian markets have plenty of alternatives to this like the disposable plates made of leaves. Try packing food in aluminium foils¹ instead of plastic boxes.

2. Use Recycled Products

Recycling products help reducing energy consumption and dependency on raw materials. It reduces water pollution, soil pollution and to a certain extent air pollution also. There is no need for a landfill for disposing of the old items. There is no need for waste disposal. You can refurbish your furniture, paint them and give them a new makeover. Paints or polish coating is good for the long go. In case you need to buy glass containers, consider reusing empty coffee or candy jars. Empty boxes of biscuits and cakes can be used for storing small miscellaneous items.

Clean your home the greener way. Use old, discarded t-shirts or towels for making rags. Use them for dusting and mopping instead of paper and follow the 3R – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle-philosophy, literally at the ground.

3. Use Energy-efficient Lighting

Replace all your traditional bulbs with CFLs and LEDs. Traditional lights have a higher energy consumption in comparison to the CFLs and LEDs. Traditional lights also give out 90% of their energy as heat. This raises the temperature of your house and surroundings. In a country like India with extreme summer temperatures, it is advisable to opt for LEDs and CFLs. They are a bit expensive compared to the traditional bulbs yet are much more eco-friendly.

4. Switch Off Appliances When Not In Use

We should be extra careful that we do not waste electricity which in turn is the waste of natural resources. The production of electricity is dependent on natural resources. We should switch off appliances when they are not in use. We should make sure that we switch off fans and lights before we leave our rooms, once we finish charging our phones we must not forget to unplug the charger. These practices also save you from mishaps and accidents.

5. Buy Low-Energy Appliances

Using low energy appliances are an excellent step towards an eco-friendly home. BEE-labelled or eco-star labelled appliances² will cause less wastage of energy. They are also pocket friendly in the long run. They minimize the electricity bill. When you buy washing machines, air-conditioners, refrigerators, try and invest in one with more number of eco-stars ensuring maximum energy efficiency.

There are other ways to make your home energy-efficient. To start with:

• Switch off all lights, fans and other appliances when not in use.
• Replace traditional glowing lights that convert almost 90% of energy into heat with LED spotlights.
• Run the AC, not below 24- 25 degree Celsius.
• Weatherise your home.
• Service your appliances at regular intervals and replace them when they’re old.
• Don’t keep your laptop on charge continuously. Once charged, unplug it.
• Unplug all battery chargers when the gadget is fully charged.

Becoming energy-efficient starts with making little changes in your lifestyle and perspective. Take the first step and you will feel happy about making a small positive change in your surroundings.

7. Make Your Own Compost For Your Potted Green Friends

Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are harmful to the soil and plants in the long run. They can lead to various plant diseases and acidification of soil. They also contaminate the groundwater reservoirs. Compost can be made by using non-toxic biodegradable waste from your home like the vegetable peels, dry leaves, garden waste along with mud. It works as a natural fertilizer for your plants and helps them grow. It also replenishes nutrients in the soil. It restores moisture in the soil. Moreover, your biodegradable waste is used up at your home itself.

10. Watch Your Water Usage

Keeping a track of your water usage and checking water wastage is a great step towards an eco-friendly home. There should be no wastage of water. Do not leave the tap on while brushing. Wash your dishes with closed tap and sink. In case of any water leakage or seepage make sure it is repaired at the earliest possible.

Replace your old showerhead with a modern low-flow showerhead. Such showerheads are designed to check the amount of water wasted. So, if you take shorter showers and use one of these fittings, you can surely save a lot of water. The idea is to avoid water wastage in every possible way.

Coming to the other uses of water for household purposes, switch to Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purifier as that would be a good investment for many reasons³. The wastewater generated by the purifier can be used for:

• Watering your plants (after diluting, since total dissolved solid content is too high).
• Cleaning various items and surfaces.
• Cleaning sewage pipes.
• In the bathroom for flushing & cleaning.
• Washing your car – avoid using a hosepipe; instead, use a wet sponge. It cleans better and saves water.
• Filling your water cooler.
• Bathing your pets.

To learn more about reuse of wastewater generated by RO water purifier, read RO waste water uses – 6 Simple Ways.

11. Rainwater Harvesting

Storing rainwater for later usage during scarcity, is rainwater harvesting. The rainwater is collected in a cistern or a large tank for future usage. It is a great step towards an eco-friendly lifestyle. Pollution has caused enough damage to freshwater bodies. Rainwater after treatment can be used for a lot of purposes ranging from cleaning to gardening. Rainwater harvesting mitigates the water scarcity during periods of drought and reduces dependency on groundwater resources. Another advantage of using rainwater is that most of the times it is free of chemicals. The only thing we need to be careful about is acid rain.

Conclusion

Now that we have discussed these possible ways to make our home eco-friendly, we should actually put in the effort to change our lifestyle. Step by step we can contribute towards saving our environment for the upcoming generations, in our little small way. Recycling, Refurbishing, Unplugging will not cost us massive lump of money, but will definitely help us save the environment. Few of these tips will help you to even save money. The renovation cost of eco-friendly homes is lesser than in normal homes. You can do DIY stuff before you want to pursue it.

Reference links used:
1. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/07/story-of-plastic-sticky-problem-of-plastic-wrap/
2. https://beeindia.gov.in/content/star-labelled-appliances
3. https://www.kent.co.in/blog/ro-water-purifiers-what-makes-it-a-necessity-for-every-home/

Bathrooms are a multi-purpose area. From brushing your teeth to bathing, from relaxing in your tub to freshening up – all of it is associated with your own private space, your bathroom. The last thing you would want the space that refreshes you to be smelling foul. Unpleasant odour and unhygienic conditions in your bathroom are definitely not welcome. Bathroom cleanliness and hygiene is of prime importance for a healthy lifestyle and good quality living. So, follow these simple and amazing tips to freshen up your home by driving away all bad odour from your bathroom.

Hang on! Before we share the tips with you, let us tell you two ways to go about it. First, you can identify the exact source of the odour and clean that spot only and you are done. Second, make toilet cleaning a part of your daily routine – the end result you get is a sparkling clean bathroom fresh smelling as new!

Here are the tips directed towards the second approach:

1. Get rid of moisture!

More the moisture in your bathroom more will be the growth of microbes. This will lead to a discomforting smell inside the bathroom. After you have used the bathroom, wipe extra water off the floor, turn off the shower properly so that it doesn’t continue to drip, clean the mirror with a piece of cloth, and don’t forget to take the wet towels out to dry in the sun. In addition to these daily little things, keep a check on your fittings for any leakage / seepage. If you come across any loose faucet or leaky pipe, repair or replace it immediately. Seepage / Leakage can lead to damp & moisture related problems and to a persistent stuffy smell.

2. Ventilate your Bathroom

Ventilation helps in the removal of trapped air and moisture from the bathroom. There is a constant movement of air which helps in freshening up the area. Any trapped foul smell escapes and a gush of fresh air rushes in. Removal of humid air checks the growth of microbes in the area. Algae and fungi are also less likely to develop in a well-ventilated space. With ventilation, humid air escapes. This causes lesser condensation on bathroom walls and other equipment leading to a clean and more hygienic environment.

One of the commonest ways to ventilate a bathroom or toilet is to install an exhaust fan at a height.

Exhaust fans or dehumidifiers in the bathrooms are primarily set up to remove hot air, excess moisture & humidity from the bathroom. It is significantly important as it is instrumental in the elimination of bad odour as well from your bathroom. An exhaust fan helps to dehumidify the air circulating in the bathroom thereby reducing damp and microbial growth.

3. Place potted Indoor Plants

By indoor plants, we usually think of plants that thrive in the kitchen, bedroom and living rooms, but there are plants for your bathroom too. The right bathroom plants will help reduce foul odour from your bathroom, absorb moisture and also make your bathroom aesthetically beautiful. Plants which prefer a misty environment are perfect for your bathroom like ferns, orchids¹, mosses and air plants. These plants will get natural environment and bloom happily inside your bathroom. They will help in recreating a waterfall-like picturesque inside your bathroom.

4. Use Air Fresheners

A huge variety of air fresheners are available in the market. Try using natural fragranced air fresheners. There are various air fresheners which contain toxic substances. Try to avoid these, as they are harmful in the long run. You can make natural air fresheners yourself by rubbing alcohol and essential oils for a fragrance like the lavender, rose, peppermint, lemon, etc.

Activated charcoal is another effective way that can help you keep foul odours at bay. However, it is an air purifier (non-electric) and not just an air freshener because, unlike the latter, it has no overpowering scent. When kept at any corner of the room, the bag of activated charcoal conceals the bad odour silently by absorbing excess moisture, micro-pollutants and allergens from the surrounding air.

5. Regularly Clean and Sanitise

Overall cleaning: Regular cleaning of your bathroom is extremely important. The chronic foul smell of the bathroom can only be dealt with a thorough cleaning. Use a strong but safe toilet cleaner. Clean and disinfect each and every component like the washbasin, water closet, etc once in a week. You also need to wash the wall surfaces and accessories used in toilet / bathroom and wipe them dry after it has been used by everyone in the family on a particular day.

Make sure your bathroom has no fungal growth. They tend to give out a repulsive smell as well as can be infectious. Powerful cleaners may remove them but their pungent odour may be dangerous for you to inhale. Using vinegar, instead, for removing fungal growth will be far more effective and safer.

Floor cleaning: We rarely notice but the tile joints or the grout tend to wear off with time. In its place, gaps are formed where dirt begins to settle and fungal growth happens. This also gives off an unpleasant smell which refuses to go away easily. To get rid of floor stains and dirt, you must do deep cleaning of your bathroom / toilet at regular intervals. Regrouting once in two or three years depending on the condition can further address the issue effectively.

Unclogging the outlets and drains: This is a significant step in bathroom sanitization and hygiene. Bathroom and surrounding drains when clogged tend to give out the foul smell and become breeding places for insects like mosquitoes and flies which are vectors of harmful microbes which cause serious diseases. Drains have hair, dead skin, wrappers, thick soap scum deposited in them which clog the drain giving out the obnoxious odour. This clogging also causes backflow of water in it. Unclog the drain with the help of a vacuum. For more ways, click here².

6. Be extra careful about the cleanliness of the toilet bowl

The toilet bowl is the main reason behind the unpleasant odours in most of the cases. So it is of utmost importance to keep it sparkling clean, both for both hygiene and aesthetic purpose as well as for removing bathroom odours. Apply a readymade cleaner on the inside walls of the toilet bowl, leave it for ten to fifteen minutes, and then scrub with a brush and flush. Make sure to scrub the underside of the toilet seat, before downing the flush for they hide the filthiest of dirt. For cleaning the external part of the bowl, use paper towels and antibacterial spray. Don’t forget to reach the back areas and the bottom of the commode / water closet to complete the cleaning process.

10. Other nitty-gritty of toilet odour removal

Your habits go a long way in determining how hygienic your bathroom / toilet will be. Try to be careful about changing the bath supplements like sponges and loofahs every now and then. Replacing the old items with new ones will not only give your bathroom a fresh look, but will also prevent bacteria and other odour-forming microbes from growing on them. Besides, hand, face and bath towels should also be changed from time to time to keep your bathroom smelling fresh as new, always.

Bathrooms, as said earlier, is a place for relaxation and refreshment. Any bad odour there, will definitely disturb your peace of mind. The foul smell attached to your bathroom can make you feel fatigued. Also, foul odour in your bathroom grows with time. You need to become alert as soon as it starts to turn smelly. In general, regular cleaning practices help in the maintenance of good hygiene and health. Try to focus on natural methods for cleaning instead of chemical-based products.

Reference links used:
1. https://showerjungle.com/best-fragrant-plants-to-get-rid-of-bad-bathroom-smells/
2. https://www.wisebread.com/10-really-easy-ways-to-unclog-drains