Home Decor
Home Organization: Hacks for Every Room!
That title might be a bit deceptive. Not sure I have a hack for EVERY room but I will share the knowledge that I do have. Keeping a house running smoothly will require some home organization hacks along the way!
Functional Bathrooms
Having a double vanity sink would make one think there is enough space for all one’s bathroom products. One would be wrong. Having a proper organization hack will help utilize the small spaces underneath bathroom sinks. I’ve utilized double tiered shelving as well as hair appliance storage. You can check out my hair appliance organizer here. (As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission from any viable link.)
Smart Tips for an Organized Kitchen
No matter the size of the kitchen, there are plenty of items to fill it! For a small kitchen especially, there are organizational tips and tricks. For example, a lazy Susan is a wonderful hack for organizing spices. Upper cabinets that extend all the way to the ceiling are also a nice addition of space.
Snapware glass containers are great for food storage and stack nicely in the cabinets when unused.
Hacks for a Clutter-Free Bedroom
Under the bed storage organizers are a brilliant hack for saving space in the bedroom. I use a couple of zip-up storage containers.
In our youngest son’s bedroom, canvas storage totes are used to hold not only clothing but toys and books as well. You can read about our recent update to our son’s room, here.
Creative under-the-bed storage solutions. Any quick Google search can generate a wealth of home organization hack resources. An account I discovered on Instagram that has amazing home organization hacks is @lelaburris She also has a beautiful blog that highlights some great organization tips. You can read about it here.
Using these hacks, think of ways to create space-saving storage solutions and organization in your own home! Let me know what other home organization hacks you incorporate at your house. I’d love to hear from you!
Essential Tips for Setting Up My Son’s Dorm Room: A Parent’s Guide to College Living
What an experience to move our son into college. Getting his dorm room ready was a fun and a little bit frenzied time. The following are essential tips for setting up my son’s dorm room: a parent’s guide to college living.
1. Planning the Layout.
Consider the layout of the space when planning dorm room purchases. Seek out the appliance guidelines of your college/university of choice. Before our move-in day, I looked up dorm room pictures that other parents had supplied in Facebook groups. Having a visual idea of how we wanted the layout of the room to be made moving items in much easier.
A snapshot of our starting space. This picture makes the dorm room look so small. I am so pleased with the “after”. 2. Dorm Room Must-haves: Essentials for Comfort and Convenience
This is the area rug we purchased for my son’s dorm room. It is extremely soft AND washable. *As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission on any viable links. My family and I created a list of must-haves for our son’s dorm room. Now that he is moved in, here are my top 5 must-haves: 1. XL moving bags WITH straps that wrap all the way around the bags. 2. Woo Zoo fan. (We purchased ours at Costco) 3. Multiple sizes of Command Hooks. Unfortunately, we did not get the right sizes for our son’s wall art but we did get the correct, heavy-duty size for his curtains. For his dorm, absolutely no holes can be made in the walls so Command Hooks are a must. 4. A toaster oven/air fryer combo. (My husband found a unit that can: air fry, broil, bake, toast, and one more I cannot remember – ha!) 5. An area rug. And I’ll add a bonus – a rolling laundry hamper. The wheels make it easy to roll back and forth from the laundry room.
These XL Moving Bags were a HUGE help on move-in day. *As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission on any viable links. 3. Decorating on a Budget
Shopping Amazon Prime Day deals in July was a HUGE help in securing some great deals for my son’s dorm room. My husband likes checking out local overstock/discount stores for deals – places like Ollie’s or DirtCheap.
For all the curtains in my son’s dorm, I sewed them. My mother and aunt provided the fabric and I provided the labor. My son has curtains in his living room, bedroom, and bathroom. This is a big budget helper.
College parent groups and Facebook Marketplace are also great spots to grab some budget-friendly dorm room items.
The Collar Find is a wonderful account for college tips and tricks! 4. Preparing for Move-In Day: Tips for a Smooth Transition
For the actual move-in day, try to remember a few tips: 1. Not everything is going to go as planned – the earlier you can come to terms with this fact, the better. Lists upon lists were made and we still forgot some things. 2. Set your Woozoo fan up immediately. The air circulation will cool you down as you are unloading boxes. A friend shared this tip with me and it was a big help. We even brought a second portable fan to simply have running during move-in then we took it home at completion. 3. Try to keep conversations light and positive. Even if your son does not act like the move-in bothers him, he is still processing a lot of emotions. 4. Place all that you can into the XL moving bags. These bags are a game changer and save so much space. I picked up this tip from @thecollarfind on Instagram. 5. Have conversations BEFORE move-in day about your expectations of goodbye. Having at least a loose idea of leaving expectations helps prepare the mind slightly for the transition.
Moving is not always an easy nor smooth task. In fact, sometimes it is downright horrifying. You can read some of my cautionary advice related to moving here. My hope is that you have a great college move-in experience with your child! Let me know if you use any of my tips and tricks in this parent’s guide to college living.
The “after” of our son’s dorm room. Kids Bedroom Design Ideas
My youngest son’s bedroom is the last to receive an overhaul with a decluttered look and a fresh coat of paint. His room went from blah to a personal haven. Kids bedroom design ideas keep the heart of the home interesting.
Where We Started
At the end of 2021, we moved into a Spanish mission style turned cottage home that was built in 1939. The entire home was in need of some tender loving care. That is just what we have been doing over the last two and a half years. You can read up on our daughter’s room renovation, here. Slowly, we have put our touch on almost every inch of this home. Our youngest’s bedroom is the last bedroom to receive some love.
Here is our son’s room when we moved in. This room is admittedly a challenge due its small size and my son’s desire to keep everything he owns – ha! The bedroom is approximately 8′ x 14′. Finding inspiration for a small space can be tricky. Thankfully Instagram and Pinterest provide some beautiful ideas.
Fun features in a small space! What We Have Done in Kids Bedroom Design
Almost immediately after we moved in, an updated light pendant was purchased as well as an area rug. Alas, the room has not received much else over the last two years, then these past two weeks, I have painted this room. Before painting, my son and I went through ALL of his belongings and weeded out what is no longer important.
For paint colors, I am using Azores from Benjamin Moore on the back wall and White Dove by Benjamin Moore on the other three walls. I feel like the pop of color helps elongate the room and create a larger feeling space.
The back wall of my son’s room is, Azores, by Benjamin Moore. I will be the first to admit that finding a home for every item my kid feels is necessary to keep is hard! Here are some cute fabric bins and ordered them for my son’s possessions.
These storage bins can be ordered from Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission on any viable links. Where We Are in Our Kids Bedroom Design
Now for the results of a couple of weeks worth of painting. In addition to decluttering and painting, I created two roll-up Roman Shades for my son’s room in order to create a variety of texture in this space.
This most definitely feels like a kids bedroom design space we will enjoy! What are your thoughts about this room?
What I Got During Amazon Prime Deals Days
July is a big sales time of year. And if you are like me, you are looking for ways to save money on needed items. One of our big life events right now is my son is moving off to college. What better way to prepare than to purchase needed supplies during Amazon Prime Deals Days?
Amazon Prime Day Deals is a sales period offered to all Amazon Prime members. To become a member, you will pay the $139 annual fee. (As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission on any viable links at no extra cost to you.) Membership affords you the opportunity to take advantage of free shipping and returns for a large variety of items. Having a Prime membership gives you access to certain Prime Video movies and shows as well as insight to great sales available on Amazon.
A majority of my Prime Deal purchases have been for my son’s dorm, however; I did manage to snag a few other deals. I love finding good deals on: fashion, food, and travel. I shared in a previous post about how to create a seasonal wardrobe. Being budget savvy allows for one to added needed items to his/her wardrobe. The great part of Amazon Prime Deals is they have early deals, prime days, then lead out deals at the end.
Early Deals
A few days prior to Prime Days, I looked for any early deals that peaked my interest. All of my purchases can be found on my LiketoKnow.It page which is linked on the right hand side of my blog. I was able to get six different pairs of earrings for $11! Other early purchases were: a lounge set (which is on greater sale today for the Prime Day Deals), a shirt, a beautiful 5×7 rug, and a twin sheet set. The last two items are for my son’s dorm room. You can check out the cute lounge set, here.
These six pairs of earrings were purchased for $11. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission from any viable links. Prime Day Deals
This year, Prime Day Deals are July 16 – 17, 2024. For the first Prime Day Deals, I ordered large moving bags. For today’s deals, I ordered: a shower caddy, bath mats, mattress topper, a rolling laundry hamper, hangers, and some under eye concealer for myself!
These moving bags are a best seller! *As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission on any viable links. Sale Tracking Features
I enjoy the format of amazon.com and how I can click on the “Prime Deal” link and be taken right to all available deals. Another tracking feature is like items are grouped together on Amazon’s home page.
Setting filters such as: price point, how big of a discount desired, and customer reviews help ensure you find the deals you are looking for.
While this has been my most intensive Amazon Prime Deals Days sale, it will not be my last. I look forward to the lead out sales that close Prime days!
DIY Home Decor: Creating an Accent Wall
The older I get and the more Instagram reels I view, the more I believe I am capable of my own DIY home decor. We are two years into our home remodel and still have about 6-12 months left of work to do. If I’m being real honest, I feel as long as you own a home, you have work to do. In this blog post I will share our latest DIY Home Decor: Creating an Accent Wall. An accent wall is a great focal feature of any room.
Measure, measure, then measure some more
Our room of choice for the accent wall is our daughter’s bedroom. We wanted to have 1×2’s spanning vertically across one wall. Our challenge was that the ceiling is at a slant and all but two of the slats of wood had to be cut to the appropriate length then also cut an angle to fit the roof line.
Sight of future accent wall. I may or may not have miscalculated the length of three boards. Thankfully, Lowe’s allowed us to return three of the untouched boards and purchase the correct length. I cannot stress enough how often to measure then measure some more!
To achieve the look we desired, we set the 1×2 boards every 17 inches along the wall. We have a total of eight 1×2’s going across the room.
1×2’s create the board and batten look for the accent wall. Focus on the outcome for the space.
Our current home is smaller than our previous home and my desire is to create a space that feels as large as possible. In our children’s rooms, the ceilings slant so I want to focus on decor that brings the eye up. For our daughter’s room, she desired an accent wall and we both liked the look of board and batten slats.
We have slowly been updating our daughter’s room. We have removed extra shelving, painted the dark gray walls a bright white, added a new area rug, and also expanded the closet door to double doors. You can read about the closet update, here.
An accent wall can create such an eye-pleasing view of a room. Select paint that will connect the entire room.
Originally, I thought we would keep the wall color White Dove to match the rest of the walls; however, after my daughter selected a lovely bedding set that had some pretty blues that would match her current rug, we chose to paint the accent wall a lovely shade of blue.
We purchased this rug from Boutique Rugs. 
Here is the bedding we will order. This bedding will tie in the blue of the wall and her rug. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission from any viable links. While we have not received the updated bedding as of yet, I still feel the outcome of the accent wall has made a significant impact on the overall space. What are your thoughts? Do you like the accent wall? I would love to hear from you.
How to Start a Blog: Tips to Make it Happen
In today’s fast paced culture, one would think a blog is antiquated. However, blogs are a thriving mode for communicating with a mass audience covering any topic of interest. Read along as I share how to start a blog: tips to make it happen.
Family photo at Rosemary Beach 1. Select a niche.
I almost hate using this phrase for a subheading. If you spend any time at all online, you will hear the buzzword, “niche”. Honestly, sometimes it is stressful when I hear, “select a niche” or “niche down”. Take a deep breath and do not fear, selecting a niche might be easier than you think. What is it that you want to share? What perspective do you have that you want the world to know? For me, I like sharing about my home and family – our lifestyle. I have selected the niche of “Lifestyle Blogger”. When creating your own blog, select a niche ideal for you.
Much of my blog inspiration comes from what I share on my Instagram account. 2. Utilize a host site.
It is almost comical that I have a blog when being tech savvy is not my forte. The good news is, there are YouTube tutorials that can walk you through a step-by-step process for setting up your blog. These tutorials do a great job of helping you understand the ways to begin to monetize your blog. I decided to use WordPress to create my blog. WordPress has a wide range of templates to use when designing your blog.
Over and over again as I started my blogging journey, I saw information about bluehost.com. This is my host site for my blog. It allows me to own the name of my blog and its place on the internet. I pay an annual fee for the website name and site upkeep.
3. Determine a schedule.
Once you have hammered out the nitty gritty of a niche and have taken the time to set up and create the look of your blog, it is time to determine a schedule. Admittedly, this last one has been my weakness. For the 2024 year, one of my two goals for the year was to write 52 blog posts. I wanted to consistently show up on my blog in a way I had not previously done. Notice, I did not say I would post once a week – ha! I know myself too well and wanted to give myself grace in the event that something happened one week and I could not generate a blog post on a specific day of the week. Currently I am targeting releasing a new blog every week. A bulk of my blog posts have been released on Wednesdays with few exceptions. Determine a schedule that works for you and stick to it!
My hope is that these tips are just the motivation you need to start your own blog! Please let me know in the comments if you have a blog and what its name is. I would love to check it out!
Maximizing Space: What Changing a Closet Door Can Do
Where to start
When we moved into our house two years ago, the room we had chosen for our teenage daughter had dark walls and a hole where a closet door used to be. From the look of the hole in the wall, one would think the closet was extremely small; however, we discovered the closet ran the length of the wall. Reaching the back of the closet was a challenge with the single existing opening. Maximizing space through adding double doors allowed us to utilize all of our daughter’s closet area.
A starting hole in the wall. Gathering material
In order to maximize the available space we needed to brainstorm ways to expand this space. Adding double doors seemed to meet our needs. Our upstairs has slanted ceilings. The slant of the ceilings impacted the height of standard closet doors. We determined that a height of six feet would allow our daughter to access the top shelf of her closet as well as the rack that holds her clothes.
In order to accommodate the height of the closet doors, we purchased solid wooden doors that could be cut down to the correct size. In addition to the wooden doors, we needed to purchase the appropriate trim for the door. To save on material costs, we shopped for these doors at Southeastern Salvage. When trying to budget for a remodel project, look for local supply stores that are not your typical box store. ReStore is a store created by Habitat for Humanity that carries overstocks or materials leftover from large construction sites. Stores such as Southeastern Salvage or ReStore could save you money. Just remember, you may have to be patient when shopping for your materials.
We used wooden doors for the expansion. Finishing touches
We used the same paint colors we have used throughout the house to finish the doors: White Dove for the interior walls and Simply White for the trim. Both colors are from Benjamin Moore.
I love Purdy paint brushes. (as an Amazon Associate, I am eligible to earn commission on any viable links) Adding double doors to this space allows our daughter to access all the items within her closet. She is able to see what clothing options she has on hand instead of being regulated to half a visual. Maximizing space lends help to organization and decluttering habits as well. Visually, I feel the double doors are a more appealing feature. Let me know in the comments what you think!
You can check out other DIY projects in our current home, here. I would love for you to follow along with us on this home remodel journey.
The finished product Decluttering: Tips for Removing Excess
Any casual viewing of Storage Wars or Hoarders reveals that many of us have an issue with clutter. Decluttering can be an effective way to remove excess from our lives. Removing the excess just may help clear our minds and bring peace. Below are a few of my decluttering tips for removing excess.
A bedroom shows off its beauty when kept clean through decluttering. 1. Designate zones in your house.
A Bowl Full of Lemons really helped me designate specific areas or “zones” of my home. Having listed and designated spaces in your home allows you to tackle one area at a time for decluttering. Sometimes getting rid of all clutter feels overwhelming. Focusing only on one zone feels more manageable.
In addition to decluttering one zone at a time, Go Clean Co. taught me to work an area from left to right. I have 18 zones in my home (front porch, hallways, living room, kid 1 room, kitchen, half bath, commons area, pantry, primary bedroom, primary bathroom, kid 2 room, kid 3 room, dining room, back porch, stairwell, laundry, kids’ bathroom, and garage). As I go through a zone to declutter, I can work in that space from left to right, pulling all items out to see if they are still needed or wanted.
Go Clean Co is an educational follow. 2. Kon Mari it.
If you have never heard of the Kon Mari method, check this article out. I am not gonna lie, for me, tackling the entire Kon Mari method is overwhelming; however, I have taken her advice of touching an item and seeing how your spirit responds as a guide for eliminating clutter. At first, that advice may seem odd but give it a try. When you are decluttering a space, handle each item. Your body has some type of response whether it is negative, meh, or a joyful response. Keep only what sparks joy.
As your pile of decluttered items grows, determine if you will throw them away or donate them. I place my donated items in large bags with handles in order to set them in my car to drop off at my charity of choice.
3. Create a challenge for yourself.
I have created a challenge for myself (I first learned of it from Instagram) on decluttering that I have been working on for six months! The challenge was only supposed to last for one month – ha! For each day of the month, get rid of the corresponding number of items. For example, on day 1, you get rid of 1 item and on day 31, you get rid of 31 items. When you have gone through days 1-31, a total of 497 items will be eliminated from your home. I am currently on day 30 and have 7 of the 30 needed items to throw out. This has definitely been a challenge for me! I thought it would be much easier than it has been but I can tell a big difference in my home when there are close to 500 items of clutter no longer clogging up my home!
For other tips or insight into keeping your home clean, you can read a related previous post here. Have fun decluttering!
Adding in Fall Decor
Temperatures are still sky high but fall is just around the corner – my favorite time of year! Now is the perfect time to start adding in fall decor. I feel like there are just some ideal ways to add in fall decor throughout your home.
Incorporate earthy tones.
Warm, earth tones are a must during the fall season. What says fall better than shades of brown, orange, yellow, and red? With earth tones still going strong on the home decor front, it only seems fitting to up their game in your fall decor. Think branches, faux stems, earthen ware pottery – all good pieces to add to any room.
Texture, texture, texture.
Incorporating cable knit blankets, woven baskets, feathers, faux floral stems – all items add a layer of texture to your space.
One of my favorite bloggers is Brittany at White and Woodgrain. Here is a post she shared on some fall styling.
Only use what speaks to you.
I’ll be real honest, lately I have really had to search for some fall inspiration. For some reason the over the top, in your face fall displays have left me feeling “blah”. I am looking for simple touches that will welcome in this new season. If you love over the top, big displays for each new season, go for it! Decorate your home with what speaks to you for in the end, you are the one who lives there!
For more decor tips, you can read a previous post I shared here.
Tips for developing your landscape and garden
There are a variety of tips for developing your landscape and garden. Allow me to share a few tips that I incorporate in my landscape and garden.
1. Create a list of what you enjoy.
Taking your environment into consideration, create a list of plants, flowers, trees, and shrubs you enjoy. If planting your garden, what vegetables do you and your family like to eat? When thinking of landscaping, what flowers and shrubs make you smile time and time again? What plants and shrubs match the look of your home?
2. Design a map of your yard.
Designing a map of your yard allows you to craft a layout for where you want your landscape design and garden to reside. Making a map gives you a visual for what space you have available to utilize. For example, drawing out my front yard and backyard gave me a view of what actual areas were available for landscape and/or garden organisms.
We purchased our current home in December of 2021 and it is a total remodel. You can catch up on some of our progress by reading an older post here. In relationship to landscape and gardening, I have determined where I want flower beds and where I want my raised garden beds. Once you have a map design, get to work!
3. Use hardscapes in your landscape.
Hardscapes are a new concept for me. Hardscapes are hard landscape materials that are in the environment structures of the landscape and/or garden. For example, a wooden trellis to hold cucumber vines. I had my husband construct a wooden A-frame structure and will use it in allowing my climbing vegetables a space to move up and down the wooden frame.
Wooden raised bed can be a hardscape. Choosing to connect beds with chicken wire, pvc pipe, metal caging all are examples of hardscaping. Garden decor such as metal design incorporated throughout a garden is hardscaping I believe.
Love the hardscape features that have been designed in this space. 4. Use what you have on hand.
Our current home is old. Our house was built in 1939. I share this because canvasing our small property has produced a wealth of landscaping materials. When we purchased our home, the previous owner left behind a variety of planters and garden decorations. Some items I have culled due to differing taste while others I have kept because I can use them in our flower beds and garden.
Behind our garage, we have found OLD brick which I feel makes the perfect flower bed border. Our backyard contains two gigantic pine trees which produce a large amount of pine straw. I love using pine straw as mulch in flowerbeds.
The previous home owner placed pea gravel throughout the entire backyard. While moving this gravel out of the yard has been a headache, I am making lemons out of lemonade and redistributing this gravel as border to my raised garden beds.
For my garden, I keep whatever seeds I do not use each year in my freezer. Some people say this will not work; however, the only seeds I have had issue with so far are bell pepper seeds. I feel like keeping my bell pepper seeds in the freezer is not the issue. I think I need to prep my bell pepper seeds using a different method. Living in the city provides the perfect opportunity to container garden. Have a planter or container? Plop a squash or zucchinni plant in it. Have just a small raised bed? Google square foot gardening and see how many vegetables you can grow in a small space. Companion planting is a wonderful subject to research. This subject allows you to see what plants grow best near each other.
5. Determine what materials you need to purchase.
Once you have taken inventory of what materials you have on hand, create a list of what you need to purchase. Don’t have any vegetable seeds? Start listing the vegetables you enjoy eating. While I love the idea of a big massive garden, I have to be honest with myself – what am I going to actually eat? What meals do I like to cook using these specific herbs and vegetables. I love seeing herb gardens but if I am honest, I’m not a big fan of mint or dill. Why place items in my garden that I am not going to use? I purchase my seeds either at a local grocery store (herbs) and a local Feed & Seed store (vegetables).
Do you need border material or mulch? Do you need containers? How many plants or shrubs do you need in your space? Make certain that you have a firm understanding of how wide and tall your plants will grow and allow for adequate spacing before you plant. In our flowerbeds we used: Dwarf Holly bushes, Peonies, Gardenias, Rose bushes, and Tea Olive trees. List your big ticket items first and go from there. It is okay to build your garden over time. Creating a successful garden is something that I have been working on for years and I am still learning! This home is the first one in several years that I am taking the time to create a landscape design and garden space I can use and enjoy.
6. Enjoy the journey.
Enjoy the process of creating a lovely landscape design and garden. Life is a progression. You do not have to achieve perfection this side of Heaven. Practice makes skills. Every time I am out in my flowerbeds or garden, I am learning a little more about my home.
Technology is amazing. Researching information via Google or Pinterest or Instagram or YouTube provides a wealth of information that you may use in your outdoor spaces.
I would love to hear from you. I am hopeful that these were helpful tips for your landscape and garden. What tips did you find helpful? Do you have tips that I left out but you feel are important to share? Let me know in the comments and happy gardening!
While I am not at Toni’s level, I absolutely love following along on her garden journey and learning from her.
