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How We Saved Money on Furniture and Home Decor

We are in the middle of fixing up our dining room, complete with a new dining room table, a set of six chairs, and all of the tablecloths, place mats and decorative touches. We’ve already installed a new lighting fixture. One thing we haven’t done is to spend a lot of money on any of this. Here is how. First, we scouted around for a dining room set that we liked. We finally agreed on one that was cherry wood with simple lines. We knew that it needed to seat at least five (6) on a daily basis and be … Continue reading →

Frugal Home Decor

As the weather gets warmer and you start planning for guests and parties, you may be wondering if your home needs a quick update. Without spending much money (or even any in some cases), you can update your home and give it a new look. Here is how. Raid the whole house Shop in your own home first. You might find some things that would go better in a different room, or create an impact if they were arranged near each other. This is the first step that many decorators do. The look around for what the client may already … Continue reading →

How to Save Money on a Bathroom Renovation

It is a great time right now to renovate your home. The cost of building materials are down, and many contractors are lowering their labor charges in order to get work. You can save even more money when you do your projects yourself. Of course, getting your materials cheaply and making smart choices that save more money is even better. Imagine being able to completely renovate a bathroom for a few hundred dollars instead of a few thousand? We are currently updating our downstairs half bathroom, doing all of the work ourself. It won’t be done as quickly as if … Continue reading →

Completing Home Improvement Projects with Children

One of the reasons that I think our house isn’t getting improved as fast as we would like it is the fact that we have three young children. Projects are constantly interrupted by the needs of the kids, and it is usually hard to find a long enough block of time for larger, more time consuming projects. But believe it or not, things can get done. Just yesterday, we were able to build a new fence, apply teak oil to some outdoor furniture, clean out a couple of boxes of clutter from the basement, build a log holder from a … Continue reading →

The Perfectionist and Clutter

When people think of someone who tends to be a perfectionist, they don’t dream that this same person could be hiding mounds of clutter in her or his home. In fact, clutter isn’t the bane of just a hoarding personality. Perfectionists can be just as likely to have clutter, although for different reasons. Earlier today, I had about forty minutes to do laundry and attack and area of the basement that is just piled with clutter. When we moved into our home two years ago, the basement became the sort of staging area for things that didn’t yet have a … Continue reading →

Organizing Shoes

I admit that I have never been addicted to shoes. While friends of mine have overflowing closets full of footwear, I have exactly five pairs of shoes and sandals, plus two pairs of sneakers (one of the pairs is for yard work) and one pair of work boots that double for the winter. I’m always worried about the expense and the practicality of treating myself to shoes. My daughter has no such qualms about acquiring shoes. At four-and-a-half, she has never met a pink, feminine, or sparkly shoe that she does like. Church shoes, jelly shoes, sandals, princess sneakers and … Continue reading →

The Biggest Home Storage Mistakes

If you want to save yourself some big headaches when it comes time to organize, then avoid these common storage mistakes. You don’t want a big mess on your hands. Storage Containers When people are ready to organize then tend to run out and purchase lots of storage containers. A bette idea is to first figure out what you need to store and then plan out what types of containers you want to use to store all of your stuff. You may find that you can de-clutter enough items to require fewer containers than you thought, or you may have … Continue reading →

Storing Linen in a Small Space

“The Leaning Tower of Bedding.” That is what I call the insides of our linen closet. Can you guess why? Back in our old home, we were blessed with tons of closet space. Each bedroom had one or more walk in closets, and there were additional closets in the upstairs hall, a walk in cedar closet and two very large linen closets. Those linen closets could hold our entire collection of sheets and towels for every member of our five-person family, plus extras for guests, pillows, comforter and blankets. And yea, I even stored my stockpile of health and beauty … Continue reading →

Choosing a Garage Door

You might think that getting a new garage door would be easy, right? Well, there are plenty of choices these days, from material to style. Here are some tips on what is what and how to choose. The first thing you should determine when you are choosing a garage door is to select the material for the door. You can choose between wood or steel. Steel doors don’t require much maintenance, but you also can’t easily change the color. And your options in design can be more limited than in wood. If you want a carriage style door, you might … Continue reading →

Home Week in Review: December 10 – 16

Here are this week’s articles. The After Christmas List Start making your list early for the after Christmas shopping you want to do. You’ll have a better idea what to look for when you scan the ads for those post holiday sales. Gifts for Gardeners Here are some nice ideas for the gardeners on your Christmas list. Tour the HGTV Dream Home They call it a dream home for a reason… Is this what your dream home would look like? Two Weeks until Christmas! One minute it’s Halloween and before we know it, Christmas is here. The Christmas Shopping Blues … Continue reading →