Interior Design Basics: Bathroom
When it comes to decorating, the bathrooms in our homes are often the most ignored. It can feel overwhelming to think of renovating a bathroom. The cost and inconvenience that come along with bathroom renovations often move it to the bottom of the to-do list. Fortunately, there are some basic interior design tips that will help your bathrooms become the spa-like retreat you’ve always wanted them to be! 
Interior Design Basics: Bathrooms
When deciding on the color you want to paint your bathroom, think of the overall mood you’d like to create. Color will set the overall tone and will help your bathroom feel either clean and fresh, or warm and cozy, depending on your color combinations.
By simply swapping out the hardware (drawer pulls, knobs, towel racks, and toilet paper holders) you’ll breathe new life into your bathroom. If you don’t want to patch holes left from the previous hardware try to match the general shape and size.
Your mirror is the place to put the most effort into lighting. The best case scenario is having lights on either side of the mirror, as well as some lights above the mirror so that your face is lit from all sides.
Clutter is one of the quickest ways even the nicest bathrooms can look dirty and unappealing. Create an organized storage system to keep everything where it belongs. Baskets, floating shelves, and towel racks with storage are some of the ways you can add storage to a small bathroom.
Think of ways you can take your bathroom from purely functional to completely comfortable. Luxurious towels, fresh flowers, robes, and even a TV will take your bathroom to the next level. What could be better than soaking in your tub with your favorite movie on in the background?
How have you decorated your bathrooms?
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9 Ways to Clean with Baby Wipes Around Your House
When I got my wedding dress, I was absolutely baffled by the one piece of advice the owner of the boutique gave me: "Make sure you have a pack of baby wipes handy on your wedding day." What? Baby wipes?? It turns out, she was right! Baby wipes are magic! After walking around taking pictures in the mud and snow, all it took was a little dabbing at the bottom of my lace dress with a few baby wipes, and BAM- my very muddy dress was perfect and crisp and new again. Ever since then, baby wipes have literally been my secret weapon. Have a problem? Just grab a baby wipe! Here are nine ways to clean with baby wipes around your house that will change your life......
1. Remove Pen, Pencil, Crayon, and Paint
Baby wipes are a dream when it comes to cleaning up art supplies! Whether you have paint on your wall, crayon on your floor, or pen all over your toddler- all you really need is a baby wipe.
2. Clean Your Upholstered Furniture
Baby wipes are amazing at lifting spills and stains from almost any surface! I make it a weekly habit to clean off my upholstered sofa with a few baby wipes, and it keeps it nice and clean. Crackers, milk stains, etc all go away in an instant once rubbed gently with a baby wipe.
3. Shine Your Leather
Whether it's your leather sofa, leather jacket, or leather shoes--- swipe a baby wipe across any leather surface in your home, and it will pick up dust, and also give your leather a nice, clean shine!
4. Wipe Down Your Kitchen and Bathroom
Don't have time to clean for last minute house guests? Simply grab a wipe, and run it along your small appliances and kitchen and bathroom countertops, and they'll look shiny and clean!
5. Wipe dust off of house plants
Eliminating dust on my house plants without damaging them has always been tricky for me- simply rub the leaves softly with a baby wipe and your plants look brand new and happy again.
6. Wipe Any and All Hard Surfaces Around Your Home
Seriously, baby wipes are a game changer. They are great when it comes to cleaning grubby light switches, a sticky remote control, smudges on your walls, dusty blinds, and hairspray residue off of wood surfaces, just to name a few!
7. Wipe Down Shoes
I like wearing shoes in my house, so I make a habit of cleaning the bottom soles of my shoes with baby wipes regulary. They are also great for sprucing up sneakers that need a little facelift, too!
8. Remove makeup, food, deoderant marks, and other stains from clothes
I have three small children, and so I swear by this point! I literally use a baby wipe, or two or three or four, every single day to keep my clothes looking nice and smudge free.
9. Clean The Inside Surface of your Car
Dusty windshield? Mildew filled cup holder? Grimey steering wheel? No problem! Simply wipe everything down with a baby wipe and it will feel brand new again.
Now, go get yourself some baby wipes!
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Starting Seedlings
Have you ever started seedlings indoors? I haven’t, but the other day I noticed that my mom had started growing her zinnia plants indoors so that she could transfer them over when it gets warm enough and have flowers earlier in the season. I was inspired! I love working in my yard and am excited to get my garden going, so why not start earlier than later? I found a video that gives some good tips and instructions on how to start seedlings indoors that I thought I’d share below.
Starting Seedlings
**Note: There is a little bit of an ad in the middle of the video for a gardening app, but the tips are awesome so keep watching!
What tips do you have for starting seedlings?
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Setting Up Home Theater Systems
The basement of our house is currently a disaster zone. We’ve decided to do a remodel, but because we’re doing everything ourselves it’s taking a longer than we planned and it’s also turning into a bigger project than we initially thought. The newest part of the project? Installing a home theater system. According to my husband, it’ll change how we watch TV! So we’re going for it! We found an article that has helped us figure out what we need and how to easily get a home theater system set up that I thought I’d share.
Setting Up A Home Theater System
via Lifewire
There are a few things you need to set up your ideal home theater according to the article I found on Lifewire. If you're like me, you'll most likely already have a lot of the things you need in your current set up.
- Home Theater Receiver
- TV or Video Projector with screen
- Antenna, Cable, or Satellite Box (optional)
- Blu-Ray/DVD Player
- Media Streamer (optional)
- Loudspeakers
- Subwoofer
- All needed connection cables and speaker wire
- Wire Stripper
Once you have what you need, you can follow the instructions found here to set up your home theater system!
Have you set up your own home theater? Any tips for those of us who are getting ready to set up our own?
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How to Clean a Sofa Cushion
With some sofa cushions, you can take the cover off, pop it into the washing machine, and call it good. But what do you do with a sofa cushion that is either attached to the sofa or not machine washable? There are some easy ways to keep your sofa cushions looking clean and new that we’ve listed below!
How to Clean a Sofa Cushion?
Before you start cleaning your sofa cushion, make sure you look at the manufacturer’s cleaning instructions. You may end up ruining your couch if you skip this step! Often the tag on your couch (you might have to hunt for it) will give cleaning instructions. Make sure you read that thoroughly before you begin.
Usually, your tag will use different letters to give the cleaning instructions -
- W - You CAN use water to clean this material
- S - You CANNOT use water to clean this material. You’ll need to use a solvent-based cleaner instead
- WS - You can use water or solvent-based cleaner on this material
- X - Vacuum only
Be sure you are following these instructions! Once you know for sure what your sofa needs for cleaning, you can get started.
Removing Stains From Your Sofa Cushions:
- Vacuum the cushion to make sure you aren’t rubbing dirt into your cushion
- Get a rag damp with your cleaning solution (water-based or solvent-based cleaner)
- Blot at the spot you are trying to remove. Scrubbing may spread the stain or damage the fabric fibers.
- Get a clean rag damp and blot at the stain to remove any cleaner.
- Blot at the wet spot with a dry rag to remove as much liquid as possible
- Aim a fan on the area to help it dry
You can also use a steamer to remove stains if your sofa tag is marked W or WS. Make sure you test a small sample before you have at it, and then follow the instructions on the steamer to get your cushion clean. Remember that you will need to completely dry the cushion after you are done.
How have you cleaned your sofa cushions? Any other techniques for us to try?
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Green Interiors
With St. Patrick's day just around the corner, I thought a post about the color green was in order! Green is one of the most versatile, and wonderful hues on the color wheel. Especially when it comes to decorating a home- I truly believe that you really can't ever go wrong with green! There are so many different shades of green, that anyone can find one they identify with! In design, green symbolizes stability, renewal, growth, nature, and welath. However, greens can also carry the traits of their parents (blue & yellow), which is super unique since they are so fundamentally different! Blue typically represents authority, efficiency, productivity, complex thinking, and tends to have a calming, soothing effect (it's actually been proven to lower blood pressure). While yellow conveys excitement, brightness, happiness, energy, and cheerfulness! Marry the two of these colors and you've got a lot of emotional possibilities!
Whether you prefer soothing or vibrant, you're sure to find a green that fits the bill! From forest to kelly, to sage to lime, you can make just about any green look fantastic in your home! Here's some beautiful inspiration......
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Luxury Game Rooms
We’ve talked about different ways to put together a cool game room, but I thought a little inspiration was needed! You would be shocked at some of these luxury game rooms! Can you imagine having a room like some of these below? Check them out and let me know which one is your favorite.
via Suburban Men
Love pool? Check out RC Willey's selection of game tables for your home.
via Robert Llynch
Every Nintendo fan would love this game room!
via Porch
via Camelot Homes
via People in Common
Don't you wish you could have a game room like one of these? You can with a new air hockey table!
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DIY Bedroom Decor
It can get expensive getting your home decorated. Often our bedrooms are the lowest priority when it comes to decorating, but they shouldn’t be! A bedroom is a place to relax and unwind, so it should be beautiful and fit your aesthetic. There are plenty of do it yourself bedroom decor tutorials out there and we’ve collected some different ideas for you to try out!
Do It Yourself Bedroom Decor
Find this tutorial at Craftaholics Anonymous!
Wouldn't these pillows look great in your room? I love the idea of making pillows for myself. While these require some basic crocheting skills you can find pretty much any tutorial you need on YouTube.
Find this tutorial at Why Don't You Make Me?
These hanging shelves would look so good with some accessories or pieces of art on them. I love how simple these shelves are and how easy they look to make.
Find this tutorial at Oleander + Palm!
Find yourself a branch, some of your favorite colors of yarn, and make yourself this unique piece of wall art.
Find this tutorial at A Beautiful Mess!
For extra seating, make yourself a fun hammock to hang in your room.
Find this tutorial at Almost Makes Perfect!
I love that you could personalize this dream catcher however you wanted. Keep it simple or glam it up for the perfect piece of wall art.
Find this tutorial at Honey & Fitz!
Personalize this with your word, colors, and size! It'll look great in any bedroom in your home.
No matter whether you make your own decorations or find the perfect accessories to buy, you can make your room into exactly what you've always wanted it to be!
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Grandma's Vegetable Soup
I love soup year round, but I especially crave it in the winter. Is there anything better than a warm, hearty bowl of soup on a cold day? I think not. Today I wanted to share with you my great grandmother's hamburger soup recipe (although I omit the hamburger, so I like to call it vegetable soup instead:) I've always loved it, but this season my husband and I have been obsessed. I think I've made it three times in the past month! It's chuck full of fresh vegetables and herbs, and it's super easy to throw together in ten minutes or so. Here is the recipe...
Grandma's Vegetable Soup
Brown:
1 pound ground beef (I like to substitute with ground turkey- it's healthier and tastes just as good!)
1 cup onion, chopped
Add:
1 cup cubed potatoes
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
3-4 cups bottled or canned tomatoes
1/4 cup rice
1 small by leaf
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
3-4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 quart water
Cook slowly. Add cheese to soup when served if desired.
Enjoy!!!
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House Cleaning Tips
I don’t know what it is, but I take the idea of spring cleaning very seriously. As soon as it starts feeling even the least bit like spring, I start itching to deep clean my house. Yes, I often get started and then burn out before I finish the entire house, but when I can get my entire home seriously cleaned, I feel awesome! It’s gotten a lot harder to keep my house clean and get into seriously cleaning up now that I have a toddler running around and undoing everything I’ve done, but I’ve listed some house cleaning tips that have helped me and some that I want to start using below. Hope they help you as well!
House Cleaning Tips
- Use floor cleaner when mopping your floors. You can make your own or use something you’ve found from the store - either way you’ll end up with sparkling floors!
- Don’t forget to look at your vents. Somehow those things are super forgettable and therefore end up covered with a deep layer of dust. Use a vacuum to suck up as much dust as possible, then wipe it down with some warm, soapy water. You’ll be shocked at what a difference it makes.
- Water stains on your shower doors can make your bathroom look dingy. One quick way you can get rid of those stains is by cutting a lemon in half, dipping one half in baking soda, and then rubbing it on the glass door. Apparently, it’ll leave your shower doors shiny and clean! I can’t wait to try this myself.
- Keep a basket by the front door to store shoes and keep dirt and grime off your floors. By not wearing shoes indoors you’ll minimize the amount of time you spend sweeping and mopping.
- Deodorize any soft cushions in your home like the dog bed. Sprinkle baking soda onto the cushion, let it sit for 15 minutes, and then vacuum it up. What an easy way to keep things smelling fresh!
- Write in your calendar two or three times a year a reminder to wash your pillows and comforters. Follow the instructions on the tag for washing. If you end up putting your pillows or comforters in your dryer, make sure you throw in some tennis balls to help keep your pillow fluffy.
What are some house cleaning tips that have never failed you? Let us know!
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