Get your home ready for Christmas

There's no place like home, especially during the holiday season. To help set the scene and get in the festive spirit, MyBuilder's Ryan Notz has picked out some great grown-up ways to get your home ready for Father Christmas. From sorting out your chimney and styling up your fireplace to putting up lights, these tips will help to create the perfect holiday home.

1) Safety first. If you've got a working fireplace, chances are that's the spot where the tree will sit and the family will gather to keep warm. It's easy to enjoy the ambiance created by a crackling fire, but remember fireplaces can be dangerous and should be regularly maintained. Over time, soot (which contains the flammable substance, creosote) collects on the walls, decreasing air flow and potentially blocking the chimney. Such clogs are often the cause of house fires. Get a specialist to check that the chimney's in good working order before it's too late. Tradesmen can be especially busy just before the holidays, so don't wait until the last minute. You can avoid major issues down the line and protect your home by getting a chimney engineer in for an annual inspection.

2) Heart your hearth. Revamping the hearth is a great way to spruce up your fireplace and give it a brand new look. Surround the fireplace with a style that suits your taste - be it marble, wood, mosaic tile or natural slate. Remember, there are strict regulations regarding the size and materials used for hearth construction. It must be made of solid, non-combustible material and should act as a partition from rugs or carpeting - make sure your desired hearth design meets the required guidelines.

3) Splash out on a stylish stove. These days, it's becoming more popular to put a stove in place of an open fireplace. There are plenty of different types to choose from - go for cast iron for a more classic look or make a bold statement with a bright colored steel finish.

4) Get fired up about feel good fuels. Give back to mother earth by using greener fuels to light your fire. Of the traditional fireplace fuels, gas is substantially more energy efficient than wood. If you want to switch over to gas, make sure you get a gas engineer to do the installation. Otherwise, there are plenty of other alternative fuel options, such as biomass briquettes, solar and Ecoal (a smokeless coal made from 30% renewable materials), to name just a few. If you decide to stick with wood, always use hard woods rather than soft woods - they burn slower and hotter, creating a more long lasting and toasty glow.

5) Add flair with care. When creating a Christmas lights display, you can get as creative as you want - but first, make sure you have the right tools and know how to do the job. There are two common ways to put up Christmas lights. The easier route is to secure specially designed "All-in-one" clips to the gutters or fit individual lights to shingle tabs. With clips, step one is to make sure that the gutters are secure. If you run into any problems, consult a local roofer. For shingle tabs, fit each tab with C7 or C9 Christmas lights and insert under shingles or gutters. Next, locate the optimal power source and make sure you're using a strong extension cord with ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) for extra precaution. Use a timer or switch to turn on the wow factor whenever you want.

7) Deck the halls (and walls) - Are your walls dressed to impress? Make good use of all those photos you've got stored away on the digital camera by hanging fab family photos that will delight your loved ones. Or better yet, if you can afford it, hire a painter and decorator for a total interior makeover.

Connect with recommended builders and tradesmen on MyBuilder.com for all your home improvements needs.

3rd December 2010