Category: Current House

This giveaway has ended.  See who won here.

Have you heard of E-Mealz?

No?  Well, let me tell you a little about this wonderful site.  E-Mealz is a meal planning site designed to take the stress out of planning and making dinner, allowing you to enjoy more time with your family.  And it’s tailored to fit your life, your stores, and your family.

E-Mealz can work for you and your family, even if they are picky.  Is someone in your family gluten intolerant?  E-Mealz has an app a plan for that.  Vegetarian?  Yep, there’s a plan for that.

After choosing a plan for either a family or a couple, choose the store, print your menu and shopping list, and get cooking.

This giveaway has ended.  See who won here.

We’re two weeks away from Valentine’s day.  While we don’t go all out and decorate like crazy, it is nice to feel the love.  Add some love to your home with these Valentine’s day favorites

Valentine’s Art Print by Retro Menagerie

Handwritten Greeting Card from Sparrow Nest Script

Fiona’s Heart by River Luna

Shot Through the Heart Card from Letter Happy

Heart Venn Diagram from Loopz Art

Personalized Little Flower Hearts by Sarah and Bendrix

Tree Print Pillow Cover by Cozy Blue

You + Me = Awesome Print from Pumpkin and Butterfly

Love Coupons from Green Lily Designs

Be Still My Heart Necklace from The Polkadot Magpie

Love White Hearts Photograph by Amelia Kay Photography

Yellow Heart Paris Graffiti by Little Brown Pen

Winter Blush by JPG Photography

Open Heart Earrings from Laonato

My Funny Valentine Cards by Yes U May Stationery

Tripe Threat Valentine Card from Neat Things

We’ve shared most of our favorites, but here’s one more shop stocked with Valentine’s Day goodies, Block Party Prints.

In the kitchen: Go Together Like Peas and Carrots

and Olive You

You know I’m a sucker for faux bois, so check out Where is the Love?

and Faux Bois Heart

It’s the last day of January.  How did that happen?  Looking back I guess I can believe it.  We’ve done a lot, and you can tell we’re getting closer to finishing the kitchen because we’ve got several non-kitchen projects done.

Joined forces:  To make a gallery wall in my sister’s master bedroom.

Added:  Shelves and painted our upper (and lower) kitchen cabinets.

Newly installed:  Trim, crown moulding, marble back splash, and grout.

Usable space:  After painting and installing the shelves, we finally cleared the guest bedroom closet of dishes.

Addressed comments:  After sharing resolutions and a survey, we shared the results and a little more info about comments.

Re purposed and revisited:  Turned an old book into a book safe and discussed how our painted rug has fared the last 18 months.

Yaked:  About a beautiful custom cutting board and our favorite organizing items and tricks.

What was your favorite project on the list?  Favorite project you finished this month?  What’s on your list for February?

It’s a new year, so I thought I’d start a new series (or several).  Each month, I’ll feature a themed collection of my favorite things.  Our house always seems messy after the craziness of the holidays and winter.  Let’s battle the clutter and mess with a few of my favorite organizational products, tips, and tutorials.

For the entry:

Wooden hangers, like the Bumerang set from Ikea can handle the weight of heavy winter coats, and they look nicer than wire hangers.  Other than small plastic hangers in the boys’ closet, we have wooden hangers everywhere, scored when Linens-N-Things went out of business.

If you got little kids, hanging hooks within reach is helpful.  For visible areas, get pretty hooks, like these Birch branch hooks by The Vermont Branch Company.

For a living room or office:

Though inexpensive, the  Flyt magazine files from Ikea hold up well.  I can say that because I have oodles of them in my office.  Try organizing magazines by month, not year, for easier browsing.

Kassett boxes from Ikea are so versatile.  Store CDs and DVDs, pop on a shelf or in a cabinet and everything is neat and orderly.  Bonus, you can make pretty labels.  Who doesn’t love making labels?!?

Baskets, whether metal (like this Vintage wire basket from Grasshopper Cafe or this one from Target), woven, or plastic, corral all sorts of things like toys, newspapers, knitting supplies, etc.  In the theater room, we have a metal basket to throw throw blankets in.

For the kitchen:

An expandable Bamboo cutlery tray from The Container Store can keep utensils at the ready.  We don’t have anything this fancy…yet.  Instead, we’ve got a divider similar to this.

A few months ago at Ross, I found an OXO pop container for 50% off the regular price.  Let me tell you, they’re worth every penny.  Why?  They’re square, maximizing cabinet/drawer space, you know there’s an air tight seal when you push the button down, and they come in so many sizes.

For the bathroom:

Don’t make your guests search for toiletries.  Buy a few apothecary jars from Hobby Lobby or Michael’s, toss soap, cotton balls, cotton swabs, razors, travel shampoo and conditioner inside.  It looks pretty and your guests will thank you.  Maybe not literally, but they’ll think it.

If you hate storing bottles of shampoo and conditioner, we’ve got a solution.  Pretty up a cheap soap pump from Wal-Mart with porcelain paint pens.

For the bedroom:

Overstuffed closet?  Try adding a second closet rod to double your hanging space.  It has worked wonders for our boys’ closet.

Don’t let your boots take over your closet.  Hang em like Brown Eyed Belle did.

Finally fold a fitted sheet.

For a craft room:

Wrapping paper out of control?  Set up a wrapping station at the back of a door like Brooklyn Limestone‘s.

Keep all craft items in the same closet for a one stop shop before starting a project.

Try using this small drawer stack, these handled totes, and more Kassett boxes from Ikea for a similar look.

Care to share one (or more) of your favorite organizing items or tricks?  Favorite one I shared today?

As part of last week’s giveaway, we asked you to tell us your favorite office supply in honor of Scissors, Paper, Mouse.  Some of you are pen snobs (I am too).  A few of you hoard binder clips.  Others love note pads.  (Don’t we all?)  What’s me office weakness?  I can’t resist cute magnets and/or push pins.  Though I have no need for push pins.  But they’re so cute.

These from Uncommon are adorable.

V and E would flip for this Angry Birds set by Klay Krafter.

Enough about my magnet obsession, how about we tell the winners?  Random.org chose numbers 54, CP, 28, Cassie, and 98, Spereelan.  Congratulations, ladies!

Today, Young House Love posted their thoughts on how to deal with negative comments.  Fellow bloggers, you probably know how this feels.  While 99% of the comments we receive are incredibly nice, somehow it’s much easier to let the negative comments get to you.  I remember the first mean comment I received.  And it did hurt my feelings.  We’ve gotten a few more since then, but it’s getting easier to handle.

Anything house related, that is.  When it comes to my kids, I’m a mama bear protecting my babies.  Say what you want about our house.  That’s what we blog about.  Everyone has different taste and everyone is entitled to their opinion.  Sure our kids make an appearance from time to time, but usually in a very limited setting.

All that to say, we appreciate your opinions, whether positive or negative.  Please find a way to relate your criticism in a positive way and everyone will be happy.  No hurt feelings.  I’ve chosen to share our house, projects, and stories because we want to help and inspire others.

What are your thoughts on constructive feedback versus criticism?