A new mattress will help you sleep better and keep your back from aching, but it may also leave you wondering what to do with your old mattress? There a lot of ways to get rid of old mattresses and box springs that don’t involve dumping them off at the dump. Did you know that 80 - 90% of your old mattress can be recycled and that each mattress can take up to 23 cubic feet in the landfill? I’ve listed some eco-friendly ways to dispose of old mattresses. 

Most companies will take away your old mattress to be recycled for you if you’ve bought a mattress and are having it delivered. Talk to the company you're buying your mattress from before they deliver and take away your mattress to make sure that it will be disposed of properly. 

If you are just trying to get rid of an old mattress and are not replacing it with a new one, you can still find a way to recycle your mattress. Look up mattress recycling in your area, and you should be able to find someone who will either come pick up the old mattress for a small fee or find somewhere you can drop it off.

Call around and see if a local thrift store will let you donate your old mattress to be reused. Make sure you call around before you show up because some places will not accept used mattresses.

Depending on the age and state of your mattress, you may be able to sell it or give it away to someone in need. 

If you’re in the market for a new mattress check out all the options at RC Willey and tell us if you have any other ideas of what to do with old mattresses!

I'm loving the wall hanging trend we've been seeing for a little while now, and decided to make one of my own!  Here's how to do it: 

1. Find a collection of photos or art that you'd like to display together.  They should all preferably be the same size.  I found a little desktop calendar on sale a couple of months ago at Anthropologie that I'd been wanting to do something with.  I cut up the calendar and ended up with 12 5x5 little cards.

2. Find a long, mostly straight stick (a little curve is okay though, because it gives it character). I literally found one in a pile of sticks that my little boy had collected in our yard.

3. Get a hole punch, and cut two holes in each picture, one at the top and one at the bottom (in the center).  

4. Lay out your pictures and determine a picture order.  I had 12 pictures and decided to do 4 strings with 3 photos on each string.  

5. Get a long piece of string (3-5 feet just to be safe) and start threading!  Thread the string in the top hole of your first picture, tie a knot, then bring it down the back of the photo and do the same thing on the bottom hole.  Then, leave a few inches of string and start threading on your next photo.  

6. Once you've finished threading all of the pictures on your strings, trim the string at the ends and tie them all onto your stick.  You're done!  So easy, and cute, don't you think?

Now go make one!

If you can find cool wallpapers, you can have the most amazing accent walls in your home. Or you can go bold and fill an entire room with a print that will make people stop and stare. I've been in the market for a cool wallpaper to put on a wall in my living room, and I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you below. 

Triangle Wallpaper from Elizabeth Graeber

Fir Forest from Photo Wall

Serengeti (Orange) from Hygge & West

Row Houses Wallpaper from Kate Zaremba

Ladies Wallpaper from Elizabeth Graeber

Peonies (Yellow) from Rifle Paper Co.

Bright Eyes Wallpaper from Kate Zaremba

Arcade (Cayenne) from Hygge & West

What do you think? Don't these prints make such coolwallpapers? I want them all! 

After hearing about pesticides and the dirty dozen, you may want to know how to wash produce to make it as safe as possible for you to eat. Do you need to go out right now and buy manmade produce wash? Do you need to use soap? Do you even need to wash produce? For the answers to these questions and more, keep reading below. 

Do I need to wash produce?

The short answer is yes, wash your produce. You may not be able to get all the pesticides and bacteria off of your fruits and vegetables, but you can get a lot off during a good wash. It is true that even if you don’t wash your produce you are not likely to be hurt by any pesticides on the fruits and vegetables, but think about that guy in the store who has to touch every single peach before he picks the one he wants. You’re going to want to wash that guy’s germs off.

What should I use to wash produce?
There are produce washes available to purchase or recipes for homemade solutions to make, but water will do just as well. Run your produce under the faucet with running water for about 30 seconds.

via Modern Farmer

Do I have to peel any vegetable with a skin?

Don’t worry about peeling vegetables with skins - just wash them thoroughly. You may want to buy a produce brush to really give your produce with skins a good scrub. If you do want to peel your produce, make sure you wash it first to avoid contaminating the inside with bacteria.

Do I need to wash homegrown or organic produce?

Yes, you should wash all produce, no matter where it comes from.

When should I wash produce?

Wait until right before you are going to use the produce to wash it. Bacteria can grow in the fridge that you will want to wash off and getting some produce wet before putting in the fridge can increase the speed of mildew and rot. 

All in all, you shouldn’t worry too much about how to wash produce you’re eating. Just give it a good rinse and you’ll be fine!

If you’re looking for teen room ideas that will capture the personality of your child, as well as create the perfect place to hang out in, check out these ideas below!

via Home Lovr

via Little Liberty

Make “stations” in the room that will create a room your teen will love spending time in. Don’t just stop at a bedroom set. Incorporate a desk for studying, a reading nook for lounging, and if there’s room, some seating for hanging out.

via HGTV

via House of Turquoise

Let your teen decide on the color palette - it’s their room after all! Remember that just because your child’s favorite color is neon pink doesn’t mean you have to paint the walls that color. Accessories, bedding, and art are a great way of incorporating all the colors your teen wants to use.

via Room Decor for Teens

via Bangor Cork

Figure out a way for your teen to hang art, posters, pictures, concert tickets, or anything else they might want to put up on their walls. If hanging them directly on the wall, pick a neutral paint color as a backdrop. You can also hang up a large cork board if you want to avoid lots of holes in the wall.

via BoredArt

via Two Thirty-Five Designs

Your teen is an individual, so try to figure out ways to make their room feel that way as well. Think about using chalkboard walls, funky rugs, interesting chairs, and eclectic art to make the room a unique place to spend time.

What teen room ideas do you have?

If you only have a tiny space for your washer and dryer, you may need some small laundry room ideas. In our first house, my husband and I did all our laundry in the kitchen. The washer and dryer were stacked right next to the refrigerator and to say we had a small laundry room was an understatement. I didn’t actually mind how small our laundry corner was though. Whoever had designed that kitchen had definitely thought through how to utilize the space and it worked great. If any of you have tiny laundry rooms (or corners!) here are five ways to make it work. 

via House Tweaking

Hide your washer and dryer somehow - especially if they are in a high traffic area. If you can install cabinet doors around them great, but hanging a curtain can do the job as well.

via Apartment Therapy

Use any available space - including the walls. Install shelving for more storage and put your supplies in baskets to hide any eyesores.

via Home Bunch

If you can, stack your washer and dryer to have more room. Check out these washers and dryers if you are interested in finding stackable machines.

via HGTV

Think about using a pedestal to raise the washer and dryer up, which gives extra storage space underneath. Something like this would allow you to hide laundry room clutter. 

via Chris Loves Julia

If you have space, think about ways to include a folding area. If your washer and dryer are front loads with controls on the front, you may want to put a panel of wood on the top of them to create a work surface.

Good luck getting everything organized! If you have any small laundry room ideas, let us know!

 

My son has one more week of preschool, and then he's out for summer vacation!  While I'm excited to have slower, less rushed mornings and more time with him at home, I realized the other day that I'm going to have my work cut out for me.  What in the world are we going to do to fill all that time?  I'm all about planning fun adventures and educational field trips and activities with my kids, but some days you just have to stay home to scrub your toilets, do your laundry, and cook dinner.  As a parent you can't be entertaining your kids 100% of the time, right? What then??

That, my friends, is when you want to have an awesome playroom!  

Whether you have your first baby and only a closet to spare for baby toys, you have five kids and already have a pretty great playroom setup, or you are a grandparent looking to make your house more 'kid-friendly'--- check out these 7 ways to create a better playroom. There's something for everyone!  Just think, if you make your playroom super awesome this summer, your kids just might even forget you have a tv....

1. Use baskets, bins and tupperware to store and organize toys.
Organization is key when it comes to a stellar playroom.  Some people like to use clear bins to store toys, legos, blocks, etc, but personally I'm all about the pretty baskets.  That way, if toys get put away in the wrong container (which they always do), it won't bother you one bit because you don't know about it! Plus, it looks nice and clean.  


                                                                                        studio mcgee via pinterest

2. Display children's artwork on the walls, and whatever else they are currently excited about!
My favorite part about our playroom is all of the paintings hung on the wall that my children have made.  They aren't anything spectacular, but they bring a fresh, genuine, creative spirit into the room.  If your kids are excited about the solar system, hang up posters of space!  If they're into dinosaurs, by all means get a t-rex up on your wall.  If they are surrounded by things that make them happy, they will want to spend lots of time there!
 

                                                                                the imagination tree via pinterest

3. Store puzzle pieces and small toys in zippered pouches.
This is a new idea to me, and I think it's a genius space saver!   I can't wait to get rid of all those big, bulky puzzle boxes.  Also, your kids might not misplace as many legos as normal if they are kept in a safe zippered pouch!

via pinterest

4. Carve out a place where kids can create.
This is huge!  Having their own table space with lots of art supplies handy and available will foster and encourage creativity...... and it will free up your kitchen table!  Don't buy a brand new table and chairs for a playroom space; rather, put something a little more loved in there, so that when your kids accidentally spill paint or glue all over the surface you aren't totally bugged and can shrug it off.  


                                                                                     emily henderson via pinterest

5. Designate a marker wall (or a chalkboard wall if you're feeling a little less brave).
Domino Mag recently featured this little girl's room whose parents gave her total free reign on one wall.  She could draw whatever she wanted with markers!  At first I thought it was a little crazy, but then I thought-- what if you let your kids go wild all summer, and then at the end of the summer you re-painted the wall and they could start over?  Kind of a fun idea.  

via domino

6. Limit the amount of toys.
Let's face it.  The majority of us have too many toys in our homes.  We all know that kids don't need toys to be happy, so why do we keep buying them?  Make it a common practice to declutter, and go through your toys.  Keep the classics like legos, blocks, doll houses, and the toys your kids really love and actually play with.  Donate the rest to a charity! If you still have too many toys after that, consider rotating toys out every week, month or season so that your kids aren't overwhelmed with too many choices.  Less is more here, folks. 

via pinterest

7. Get a colorful area rug.
This might seem like a small thing, but guys, it's not!  A cute, colorful area rug will go a long way in anchoring and making the room happy and fun!  Don't you want to stay a while and sit on this cute pink striped rug??  My point exactly!

iron & twine via pinterest

What other tips do you have to create a great playroom?

Knowing the difference between warm and cool colors will help you make great design decisions when it comes to decorating your home. Warm colors (red, yellow, and orange) are brighter, more social colors and are generally used in rooms where people gather, such as the kitchen or living room. Cool colors (blue, green, and purple) are more relaxing and peaceful colors that are perfect for quieter rooms like bedrooms or an office. I’ve gathered some tips on using both warm and cool colors below. 

WARM COLORS:

via The Design Files

Don’t limit yourself to only bright red, yellow, and orange when thinking of warm colors. Any color that has a tint of these colors in it is considered a warm color. Warm colors are bolder and can make a large space feel cozier. If you have a large room that feels empty, painting the walls a warm color or adding some warm accent pieces will help the room feel smaller and more intimate. These are intense colors, so bring in some cool accents to keep things from getting out of hand.

via HGTV

via Porch

COOL COLORS:

via Domino

Like warm colors, any color with a hint of blue, green, or purple is considered a cool color. Cool colors are bright, refreshing, and peaceful so keep your design light. Your room will feel bigger and more open if you use cool colors as your primary source of color, but be sure to include some warm accents to avoid a room that feels too cold.

via Shift Interiors

via My Domaine

A few other things to remember…

via Thoughts From Alice

Having a mixture of both warm and cool colors in a design will give your home a sense of balance and unity. Whatever your main color is, consider bringing in accents of its complimentary color. 

via Donna's Blog

When it comes to using neutrals, check the undertones of the colors you’ve chosen. Gray, for example, can be a cool color or a warm color depending on its undertones. 

How have you combined warm and cool colors in your home?

Knowing how to clean refrigerators is important. Your fridge is one of the most used appliances in your home and every so often you’ll need to clean it inside and out. Make your fridge look like new and get rid of any old food smells by learning how to clean your refrigerator here. 

1. Completely empty the refrigerator and, if possible, take out all of the shelves and drawers to wash. If the shelves can’t be removed, unplug your refrigerator so you don’t waste energy with the door open while you clean. If any food is rotten or expired, get rid of it!
2. Wash the shelves and drawers in warm, soapy water. Use a sponge to scrub off any dried food or sticky spots. Let them air dry when you’ve finished washing them.
3. Using an all-purpose cleaner, scrub the inside of the refrigerator. Wipe all the sides, shelves, shelf seams, and any other surface clean. Make sure you scrub off any dried food or spills.
4. Put the shelves and drawers back into the fridge.
5. Make sure you clean off any bottles or jars before you put them back into the refrigerator. You don’t want to put a grimy bottle onto your clean shelves!
6. If you’ve unplugged the refrigerator, plug it back in and wipe down the outside of the fridge. Make sure you get the top and sides. If you have a stainless steel exterior, use stainless steel cleaners to help get the best finish possible.

If you want to keep gross refrigerator smells down, stick a box of baking soda in the back of your fridge. It will absorb any smells and keep your fridge smelling fresh. Or, of course, if you're refrigerator is past saving, you can always check out all the options available at RC Willey!

Do you have any tips on how to clean refrigerators?

DIY curtains are a great way to dress up your home without breaking your budget. Hanging curtains will completely transform the look of your room, but they can be expensive. Making your own DIY curtains not only will save you money but will also allow you to make the curtains look exactly how you want! Below I’ve collected some of my favorite DIY curtain tutorials, both sewing, and no sewing, for your inspiration! 

NO SEWING REQUIRED: 

Instructions at Life Love Larson

Instructions at Liz Marie Blog

Instructions at The Rozy Home

SEWING REQUIRED:

Instructions at Prairie Perch

Instructions at At Charlotte's House

Instructions at Hey, Let's Make Stuff

The thing that I love about DIY curtains is that you can make them in whatever fabric you want! It's the perfect way to make your home your own. 

What do you think? Would you ever try to make DIY curtains?