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“Rooms Repurposed” — Making Your Home Work for You

February 23, 2014 By Lauren Kim 3 Comments

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A few months ago, I shared with you my friend Christine’s awesome black and white craft room. Christine converted what might have been only a lightly used space in her home – an area that would normally be a dining room — and converted it into a striking craft room, complete with hand-crafted black and white decor, a card catalog for fabric storage and a highly functional sewing table. I am so excited because that room is now one of the inspiring spaces featured in Cristin Frank’s new book, Rooms Repurposed: A Purposeful Home, A Purposeful Life, available on Amazon.com! What an honor for both Christine and me! (Thanks, Cristin!)

By repurposing her home, Christine was willing to throw convention out the window and make her home specifically work for her. That’s what I love about Frank’s book, Rooms Repurposed: It shows how homeowners have rethought their spaces to make their homes uniquely purposeful for their own needs. Frank’s book features beautiful photos of rooms that have been converted into entertaining spaces, meditation rooms, libraries and game rooms. What bliss!

Rooms Repurposed is a lot of fun for someone like me who has a relatively small house and doesn’t want to waste any space for conventional uses like a staid/cookie cutter (but hardly ever used) dining room. In fact, my home doesn’t have a dining room, but we do have a “music room”/living room (with a piano), and a “game room”/family room complete with a full-sized pool table, dartboard and pool table cue rack! (That is how we roll in my family!)

Rooms Repurposed: A Purposeful Home, A Purposeful Life

Rethinking Your Space

Frank’s book shows the reader how to get the most out of one’s space — Frank shows that you don’t have to fill up your home with conventional pieces like a living room sofa and a dining room table if you don’t want to! If, like Christine, your home’s dining space would be best used as a craft room, so be it! Frank’s book has ideas of how you can repurpose spaces in your home into useful spaces — and make them look good while you are at it! For instance, Christine’s craft room is one of the first spaces one sees when entering her home, and the room is both gorgeous and useful!

Christine’s craft room, complete with beautiful black and white decor and a very useful sewing cabinet. (Photo courtesy of Cristin Frank)

I really like this game room featured in Frank’s book — it includes a foosball table, bean bag chairs for lounging, and a desk with laptops that can be used for gaming or surfing the web.

This game room (featured in Frank’s book) features a foosball table and comfy seating.

I have friends who would love to have this meditation room (featured in Frank’s book). The whole space has a calming, peaceful Zen feel.

This simple meditation room frees the mind with its uncluttered space. (Photo courtesy of Cristin Frank)

Free Up Your Space

For those of us who struggle with clutter in one’s home (like me!), Frank’s book has lot of of great ideas (and product suggestions) for how to organize and neatly store all of the collections in one’s home. In the book are ideas for storing items in an organized pantry, a dressing/closet room, a mud room and wine closets, etc. Frank also includes tips on how to use color and furniture to create most space (or the illusion of space) in one’s home.

About Cristin Frank

The founder of Eve of Reduction, a lifestyle movement focussed on controlling comsumption, simple living and upcycling, Frank is also the author of the book, Living Simple, Free & Happy: How to Simplify, Declutter Your Home, and Reduce Stress, Debt & Waste, also available on Amazon.com.

2013 Year in Review

January 2, 2014 By Lauren Kim

Happy 2014, everyone! I can’t believe that 2013 is over! Last year was a busy one here at Mom Home Guide. So, before launching my new projects for 2014, I am going to share the best of what I accomplished in 2013! Here is my 2013 Mom Home Guide Year in Review.

Burlap Crafts

Burlap was popular in 2013, so like many crafters, I jumped onto the burlap bandwagon in 2013. It was fun! Two of my favorite burlap crafts I completed was my stenciled no-sew burlap valance for my home’s downstairs powder room, and my no-sew fringed burlap table runner. Both projects were problem solvers, as I was having a hard time finding a valance that I liked for my home’s downstairs bathroom. My very large farmhouse-style kitchen table is hard to fit with tablecloths and table runners, so the burlap table runner that I made works just perfectly! (Check out the links below for these projects’ tutorials.)

Stenciled Burlap Curtain and Burlap Table Runner

Wine Storage and Tags

I love getting together with friends, so last year, I completed two projects that make entertaining just a little bit easier. I created simple wine-glass tags so my friends can tell whose drink is whose, and I installed an inexpensive wine glass rack
underneath a kitchen cabinet to provide storage for my wine glasses … and my margarita glasses! (Click the links below to get the info on these projects.)

Crafty Wine Glass Tags and Wine Glass Rack

Home Organization

I worked hard to get my home and all its stuff under control … organizing my house is a never-ending job! I organized my children’s bedroom, my kitchen and my kids’ basement playspace. (Check out the links below to read more about these projects.)

A Year Full of Organization

Tween Decor

My kids officially became tweens in 2013, so I updated their bathroom by switching out the kid decor and swapping in more sophisticated tween wall art, decals, etc. My daughters love their new tween bathroom! I also created a fun hangout /study / media space for them by painting an accent wall and adding a fun mural and some chalkboard paint. I outfitted the room with a TV (an old one, but I hope to update it with a flat screen TV at some point) and two beanbag chairs. It’s a great space for my kids to read or play games/surf the Internet on their mobile devices.

New Tween Bathroom and Tween Study / Media Space

Gardening and Landscaping

I love spending time outdoors, so I worked hard to improve my home’s outdoor spaces in 2013. Among my top projects were staining the backyard shed’s ramp and adding some shed landscaping, creating a pretty DIY flower tower for my home’s backyard patio and planting a sunny perennial garden that included my favorites — mammoth sunflowers!

Landscaping a Backyard Shed, August Garden Tour with Mammoth Sunflowers and DIY Flower Tower

Join the Fun!

Whew! I got a lot done in 2013! I have so much to do, though — my daughters may get their own rooms, I plan to furnish my home’s living room, and I hope to turn my home’s unfinished basement into a useable living space. So, keep in touch — there will be lots of fun projects and recipes ahead! You can follow the fun on Facebook, Twitter, Bloglovin, and by subscribing to Mom Home Guide’s emails. Happy 2014!

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Garage Organization (a Garage Pegboard)

November 8, 2013 By Lauren Kim

Ever since my family and I have moved into our home, we’ve rarely parked in our garage. Our garage is so narrow that it takes VERY careful maneuvering to get our family’s mini van into the garage! With winter only a few months away, however, I’d love to get the garage cleaned out enough so that if a major snowstorm is forecast, I can get the cars into the garage if I want to! (I hate cleaning off snow-covered cars in the cold!)

Getting Organized

I hope to focus my organizing efforts on the garage and get some wall storage into place. I already plan to make a mini mud room area in the garage so the front entry of our home will get less wear in tear. I also would like to paint some pegboard a pretty color (perhaps green, my favorite color) and create areas to hang up our shovels, tools, etc. I really love the below look — I might have to make my pegboard look just like this!

A pegboard garage organizing system shown on Decorology.com

Great Pegboard Project

Melissa of The Inspired Room has a great tutorial on how to make a large pegboard for tools on her blog. The amazing thing is that she somehow got a Home Depot associate to build it for her right in the store — I wish I could be that lucky! Her pegboard project came out great!

Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while might be laughing — I’ve posted at least a few times over the past few months about organizing my home’s garage, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. I hope I can get this project done before this winter! Keep posted!

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Kitchen Organization Tips for Busy Moms

October 30, 2013 By Lauren Kim

It’s often said that the kitchen is the heart of the home, but unfortunately for many moms, the kitchen is often the central point for something unwanted – piles of clutter. So, I am always searching for new tips on kitchen organization!

My kitchen tends to accumulate a lot of clutter, too. My kids like to do their homework on the kitchen table (even though there’s a desk for them upstairs), so we often have to take the time before dinner to clear off homework, pencils, books, etc.

The kitchen table is also where I tend to leave the mail for my spouse to see when he comes home, so junk mail and newspapers tend to pile up there, too.

Fridge Clutter

My home’s refrigerator before my Mead organizers.

Before kids, my husband and I never used to post things on the fridge, as we were told when we bought the appliance that magnets could mar the appliance’s finish. But now, since kids, the fridge is usually where we post school menus, permission slips that need to be signed and stellar spelling and math test results.

Needless to say, my kitchen often looks like a mess!

Clearing the Clutter

I haven’t been able to get my kids to study upstairs (I think they prefer to be near me, as I am often getting dinner ready while they study), but I have cleared off a shelf in our home’s upstairs hallway on which to put recent newspapers, catalogs and other mail.

My fridge with it’s now neater appearance.

I’ve also found two nifty refrigerator organizers from Mead at Target. One is a dry-erase calendar, on which I can keep track of my family’s activities, and the other is a magnetic plastic sleeve organizer in which I can put school menus, forms about upcoming school events, etc. Since I’ve been using those fridge organizers, the outside of my fridge looks a lot neater (but the inside of my fridge is still another story).

I was thinking of adding more organizers to the fridge, like perhaps bins in which to put incoming mail, so I can leave the mail there (and not on the kitchen table) for my spouse.

I like this idea I found on Pinterest, which combines a place to put kids’ school papers with an area to store homework supplies. I also like the addition of frames to give a better appearance to the photos and artwork that often land on the fridge:

Kitchen command center by Landee See, Landee Do

Meanwhile, Small Fry & Co. shows how to covert a cereal box into a organizing bins for mail and bills — this is something I plan to try myself:

Have any tips on how to keep clutter to a minimum in the kitchen? Please share them in the comments.

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Kitchen Wine Glass Rack

October 28, 2013 By Lauren Kim

The cabinet space in my kitchen is limited, so I recently added some extra storage to my kitchen with a wine glass rack to hang some of my more decorative wine glasses.

My husband isn’t a wine drinker, so it isn’t often that we drink wine together, but I do like to serve wine occasionally when my dad stops by for dinner, or when I have friends over from the block for a ladies’ night.

The wine glass rack that I chose — the Oenophilia Under Cabinet Stemware Rack — was just under $13 and can hold six wine glasses, plus my two margarita glasses. The wine glass rack was really simple to install.

In the wine glass rack I’ve hung some pretty striped wine glasses that surprisingly, I picked up at the dollar store.

For the most part, I am happy with my wine glass rack. But I’ve found that if someone closes the cabinet door above the wine-glass rack too strongly, the wine glasses will swing — I’ve had a wine glass fall on two separate occasions. One time, the glass broke, but the other time, fortunately, the glass didn’t break. Now, we have to be careful when closing the cabinet door — I am going to have to make my own DIY stoppers to place at the front ends of the rack so I won’t lose any more glasses. But despite this hurdle, I am pleased with the way my new wine-glass storage works — and I have extra space in the kitchen cabinet above for other storage.

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The Kleen Seams I purchased now covers the gaps between my home’s stove and the kitchen counters.

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DIY Jewelry Organizer

October 7, 2013 By Lauren Kim

I’ve seen a lot of DIY jewelry organizers on Pinterest and on other blogs, and I love them. So, when I was at the dollar store the other day and saw the materials I needed to make my own DIY jewelry organizer, I snapped them up.

First, I picked up a simple $1 black document frame with silver trim. Then, I found some silver thumbtacks, also for $1. I figured that the thumbtacks would add a little bling to my DIY picture frame jewelry hanger.

Document frame

MY DIY Jewelry Organizer

Later that day, while catching some TV with one of my daughters, I decided to get started on my picture frame jewelry organizer. First, I removed the glass panel and cardboard backing from the frame and stored them to use for another craft. Then, I opened the thumbtacks and carefully pinned them along the perimeter of the frame — the tacks serve as a spot where to hang my necklaces, earring and other bangles, and add some bling to my jewelry organizer.

The thumbtacks I used for my project

I then took some leftover picture wire that I already had and strung it from the metal tabs that were already on the back of the frame. (The ones that once held the frame’s cardboard backing in place.) I found some Command Adhesive Hooks and used one to hang my picture frame jewelry organizer on my bedroom wall — since I wasn’t in the mood to go find a hammer or put another hole in the wall. To disguise the Command hook, I hung some faux eucalyptus branchs that I already had, on the hook.

I used a Command Adhesive picture hook to hang my organizer.

The Result

Not only does the jewelry organizer dress up what once was a blank wall, it gives me a place to hang some of my most frequently worn jewelry — I no longer have to search for them on my disorganized dresser.

The best part is that I only put about $2 into the project, and the project only took about 20 minutes to complete!

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Rainbow Loom Organization

October 2, 2013 By Lauren Kim

My daughters each have a tackle box to neatly organize their rainbow loom supplies.

The rainbow loom craze has hit my home! I love that my daughters are having so much fun crafting their rainbow loom bracelets, but I soon discovered that we seriously needed something to organize all of my children’s rainbow loom supplies!

We used to keep my kids’ rainbow loom rubber bands in one big plastic takeout container, but that system didn’t work too well. All of my kids’ different rubber band colors were all jumbled together in that container, so sorting out the colors that they needed was a long process for my kids!

Rainbow Loom Rubber Bands Organized

I found the solution to our rainbow loom organization problem one day when one of my daughters’ friends showed up at our house for an evening of rainbow looming together. She brought her own tackle box full of rainbow loom supplies — with each color of rubber bands neatly organized in their own sections — and my kids were in awe! I knew that I had to get my daughters their own tackle boxes. So, the next day, I was at our local Wal-Mart purchasing my kids each their own tackle box, for about $10 a box.

I spent hours that morning meticulously sorting their rubber bands by color and organizing them in each kid’s box, making sure each kid had the same amount of rubber bands and the same amount per color. Nuts, I know, but I am a very dedicated and devoted mom! That’s just how I roll.

When my kids got home, they were over the moon happy with their new tackle boxes. When they finished their homework, they immediately got to rainbow looming and have been rainbow looming since quite often. They love how they now no longer have to search out the color rainbow bands they need — everything they could want is right at their fingertips. Now, they have so much more time to loom! As you can see, my kids have made me quite a number of bracelets — which I wear proudly!

I love wearing the rainbow loom bracelets my kids have made for me!

Rainbow Loom On the Go

If your kids are into the rainbow loom, I strongly suggest that you get them their own tackle boxes to organize their rainbow loom supplies. My daughters love theirs — each of their boxes are decorated with stickers, giving each box its own unique look. When they get together with their friends, their boxes always go with them. The boxes make carrying their looms and all of their loom supplies so much easier! The rainbow tackle box is now a big trend in my area!

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Storage for Kids Rooms

September 10, 2013 By Lauren Kim

Finding enough storage in children’s bedrooms can be tough, but if you buy furniture and accessories with storage in mind, you should be able to find plenty of storage for kids rooms.

My daughters, 10, are twins and naturally enjoy sharing a room together. So, when I chose the children’s furniture for their room, I chose children’s furniture that would give us the most space as possible for storing their things.

Their room is fairly large, but not that big, considering that we must fit two twin beds in there, a dresser, and as many places as possible to stash all their clothing and toys.

Extra Storage for Kids Rooms

So, I chose a storage bed with drawers (South Shore Furniture, Lily Rose Collection, Twin Mates Bed 39″, Romantic Pine), which is available from Amazon.com. The twin bed frames, at $165 each, are fairly affordable, and offer three large drawers for storage underneath. The beds are an attractive and easy way to add additional storage for kids rooms. The frames only allow for a mattress (and not a boxspring), however, so I got pillowtop mattresses for my kids to make their beds more comfortable.

We purchased our children’s storage beds from Amazon.com, and got free shipping, which is a great deal, since shipping for large furniture items can be expensive!

Lily Rose twin bed with drawers underneath

One of the Lily Rose storage beds in my daughters’ room

My husband put the South Shore Furniture twin storage beds together for us, and he actually marveled at how well made the beds are, and how simple they were to put together.

I like the light wood tones of the twin storage beds, their Shaker style and the pretty flower pulls on the drawers. I also appreciate that they are made from composite wood carrying the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, which means that they are eco friendly.

Storage for books, toys

To add more storage to the room, we added a bookcase headboard (South Shore Furniture, Lily Rose Collection, Bookcase Headboard 39″, Romantic Pine) at about $90 each behind each daughter’s bed, which gives my kids a place to store their favorite books and their extra special treasures. I love looking at those headboard bookcases to see how each daughter has decorated it, as each girl has added her own special touches and treasures to her bookcase, making it truly her own.

Lily Rose Bookcase Headboard

Dresser for Kids Rooms

We also bought the Lily Rose Collection, 5 Drawer Chest (South Shore Furniture, Lily Rose Collection, 5 Drawer Chest, Romantic Pine)
at about $169 for the room, and the dresser gives us ample space to store kids clothes.

My daughters’ Lily Rose five drawer dresser, which offers plenty of storage for clothes.

We’ve had the storage beds for over a year, and they are holding up excellently. The only problem we’ve experienced so far is that one of the three drawer knobs on one of the beds becomes loose occasionally, causing the pretty flower drawer pull to fall off.

I’ve allowed my daughters to put store items of their own choosing in the drawers under their twin beds, so it gives both girls a place to keep their most treasured stuffed animals, toys and art supplies.

I was going to go with bunkbeds for my children’s bedroom, but I am glad that I didn’t because should my daughters decide they want their own rooms when they get older, they can take these twin storage beds with them, and I won’t have to invest in new furniture – which is always a good thing! If my daughters decide they want more adult-looking drawer pulls on the dresser or bed drawers, or want to switch them out to change the style of the furniture, changing the pulls should be easy enough.

Cute Storage Cubbies

My daughters might be getting their own rooms soon, so there will most likely be room in each room to add additional storage. I like what Jen of IHeartOranizing did with her kids’ playroom — she turned an Ikea bookshelf on its side and made it into a bench with cubbie storage space. So smart! I might like to do something like that in my daughters’ new rooms, underneath their windows, to make window seat storage for them.

The kids could always use more storage!

Organize Your House and Improve Your Life 15 Ways

August 22, 2013 By Lauren Kim

Did you know that on average, Americans spend one year of their life looking for lost or misplaced items? If you are like the average American, you are probably aware of how easy it is to accumulate a ton of stuff in your home. I know I have! There are many of us who really need to organize our home.

The more things you collect, the less space you have to store it. As a result, people often find themselves living in a home full of clutter. While you might find it difficult to part ways with things that have sentimental memories, home organization experts recommend getting rid of items you rarely use. Most of us really need to organize!

Organize Your Home

SpareFoot, the largest online inventory of storage units, has some advice on why you should cut out the clutter at your home. Their infographic on clutter gives 15 reasons to keep a tidy house. Decluttering your home can save you money, relieve stress, improve friendships, and improve your relationship with your significant other.

I, for one, know that if decluttered my home, my husband and I could save money — we are always buying new office supplies, etc., because we can’t find the stuff we already have!

It’s incredible all the ways you can better your life with a little home organization. Check out the infographic below for all the great benefits of decluttering your home. I know my life would be vastly improved by decluttering my house!

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Black and White Craft Room Design

July 20, 2013 By Lauren Kim

Last month, I shared photos of my friend Christine’s fabulous dining room turned craft room. I think her new craft room design is just amazing!

I received a lot of questions about her beautiful craft room design, so I asked her if she could spill some more details. Being the awesome person that she is, of course she gave me more info about her room renovation, as well as some great photos!

Before and After

Considering all the great textures and vibe in her craft room design, I was totally surprised to see her craft room’s before picture. Can you believe that her craft room (which was her home’s dining room) looked like this? Where’s all the bling and the dramatic black walls?

Card Catalog Craft Storage

One of the coolest parts about my friend’s new craft room is the vintage card catalog that she uses to store her crafting supplies. I wish I could snag me one of those card catalogs!

I love the way she used an old typewriter font that she downloaded from the Internet to make the labels on her card catalog look like they were typed on a vintage typewriter a long time ago. Wonderful!

I adore how all her fabrics are stored neatly in the bottom drawers of the card catalog.

My friend uses the top drawers of her card catalog to organize a ton of craft supplies like scissors and cutting tools, spools of thread and other crafting supplies.

Her room also has a really useful sewing table that can fold out to create a bigger working space.

I don’t think I am ready to convert my home’s living room into a craft room, but I’d love to turn some basement space into a crafting area! When I do, I’ll have to use some of my friend’s great design and storage ideas in my new space! You rock, Christine!

If you have any great craft room designs or storage ideas, I’d love to hear from you!

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Black and White Craft Room Design

June 24, 2013 By Lauren Kim

Do you have a space in your home that’s not being used to its full potential?

My friend Christine did, so she turned it into a rocking craft space!

Dining/Living Space Turned Craft Room

The space she converted into her craft space is just off her home’s kitchen and would normally be used as a dining or living room area. But Christine, who does wonders with a sewing machine (she created a beautiful parade banner for our Girl Scout troop) and is quite handy (she built a dollhouse for her daughter with working lights), decided the space would work better as her crafting area. The craft room design that she used for her space looks great!

The space has a really cool black and white color palette – I think it’s a bold move that really paid off! (I would be nervous about painting walls in my home black, and I am sure my husband would never go for it, but I love the way it looks in her house!)

I love how she added the white molding and shelves, and I adore the black and white curtains and matching storage boxes. I REALLY love her card catalog – I wish I could find one of those for myself! (I am so nostalgic for those card catalog days! I’ve always loved libraries!)

The room has an awesome sewing table that can fold out to create a bigger working space.

There’s also a really great desk area in the room. I also love the black chandelier she added to the space – it really adds a lot of glam to the room!

I think it’s great how she added French doors to close off the room and added really cool artistic elements to the wall in white. (Notice the sewing theme!)

Thanks, Christine, for letting me show off your fantastic space!

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What’s New and Popular on Mom Home Guide

June 6, 2013 By Lauren Kim

Check out the latest and greatest on Mom Home Guide!

Father’s Day Gift Guide

Take a look at Mom Home Guide’s picks for gifts that will please any dad this Father’s Day!

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Girls’ Night Out: Henna / Mendhi Tattoos

Looking for a fun idea for a girls’ night out? Why not try getting an all-natural, henna /mendhi tattoo? A friend of mine and our daughters got mendhi / henna tattoos recently. Read more to check out the designs!

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Prep Your Outdoor Space for Summer

In this post, I feature a video from Mom blogger Sarah of Thrifty Decor Chick on readying your outdoor space for summer entertaining. Check out my patio — which is pretty much ready for the summer. My Adirondack chairs, however, which get good use while my kids are playing in our side yard, need to be spray painted to look their best!

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Keurig Kitchen Beverage Station

Check out my family’s Keurig K Cup beverage station. With a touch of a button, my family can make coffee, tea, hot chocolate and hot apple cider. Our mug stand keeps cups for hot chocolate, tea and coffee within reach. The coffee brewer makes for a great Father’s Day gift!

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Planting a Spring and Summer Flower Garden

I’ve caught the gardening bug! Check out my new spring and summer perennial garden, as well as my choices for flowers that should provide my garden with color all spring and summer long.

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TIKI® Brand Torches for Patio Ambiance

When TIKI® Brand asked me to try out their flame and solar torches, I was thrilled! Come see my video and review on how their torches have added much-needed lighting to my home’s backyard patio.

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DIY Salsa Container Garden

Would you love to grow fresh ingredients for homemade salsa, but don’t have much room for a garden? Then a DIY container salsa garden might be just the thing for you!

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Love for Lilies

I have long been a big fan of lilies. My parents grew lilies in the backyards both of my childhood’s homes when I was growing up, so I have a sentimental attachment to them. It is easy to remember the beautiful patch of orange day lilies that grew in our backyards. I always remember the lilies as a hallmark of the many fun summers that I spent in my backyard with my family. Now that I am a homeowner, I have planted….

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Giveaway Winner … and Entry Hall Reveal!

When Lot 26 Studio gave me the chance to try out one of their wall decals and offer a giveaway and 20% off coupon to Mom Home Guide’s readers, I jumped at the chance. I love wall art and have already used wall decals in several rooms in my home.

Last week, Mom Home Guide ran a Rafflecopter giveaway for Mom Home Guide’s readers to give away $50 to use toward a Lot 26 Studio product, and a winner has been selected!

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Wall Art to Cover Basement Walls & Giveaway

Check out the large canvas wall art from Lot 26 Studio, which you could win this week on Mom Home Guide. I think the art would be great for any family space or for covering up the gray cement walls of an unfinished basement — like my home’s basement walls!

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Wall Decor Giveaway from Lot 26 Studio

Enter Mom Home Guide’s giveaway for your chance to win $50 toward wall decals and canvas wall art from Lot 26 Studio.

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DIY Garden Project: Backyard Flower Tower

See how I made this easy flower tower for my home’s backyard patio. Once the petunias fill in, this tower is going to be a beauty!

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Budget Remodel: “Finished” Basement

Basement with painted blue walls and laminate floor

Tips for ‘Finishing’ a Basement on a Budget– browse for thrifty basement improvement and remodeling ideas, like painting the basement walls, staining your wood beams or adding an epoxy to the concrete floor.

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Thrifty Decor: Budget Burlap Table Runner

DIY craft: Come see how I sewed this beautiful fringed burlap table runner for about $14.

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Quick and Easy Decor Craft

ribbon trim, no sew, velcro, curtains, craft

Tutorial on how to add trim — and color — to drapes and curtains without sewing! This is a simple and quick DIY home improvement project.

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Quick Family Mexican Dinner Recipe

Check out my chicken enchilada casserole recipe, and a chance to win $5,000 in a giveaway from Country Crock!

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Keep Your Pool Clean and Sparkling

Guest blogger and pool owner Becky Flanigan shares her secrets for a crystal clear backyard pool!

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Hallway Turned Fun Kid Space

Come see how I turned a large upstairs hallway into a fun media / TV / hangout space for my kids by painting a feature wall and adding a fun wall mural, a TV and beanbag chairs.

Filed Under: basement, Crafts, dads, DIY, Guest Post, home improvement, how to, Kids, Organize, Sponsored Post Tagged With: backyard, basement, craft. pillow, curtain, DIY, garden, kids, landscaping, organize, storage

Giveaway Winner… and Entry Hall Reveal!

May 13, 2013 By Lauren Kim

Last week, Mom Home Guide ran a Rafflecopter giveaway for Mom Home Guide’s readers to give away $50 to use toward a Lot 26 Studio product, and a winner has been selected … Sherry A. An email has been sent to the winner — hope to hear from you soon, Sherry!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

But for those of you who didn’t win, don’t sweat it! You can use the Mom Home Guide coupon code, MOMGUIDE20, through May 19 to get 20% off wall art at Lot 26 Studio! Plus, Lot 26 Studio is offering free shipping to its customers this entire month for even more savings!

Entry Hall Reveal

The Lot 26 Studio product that I got to try out is Lot 26 Studio’s Home Sweet Home wall decal. I thought the decal would look really cute in the mudroom area that I’ve created in my home’s small (but functional) entry hall. I’ve been working over the past several months to make the entry hall useful and pretty!

I put up the Lot 26 Studio up a few days ago, and I really like how it came out! Putting up the decal was quite easy — I just measured out where I wanted the decal to go and taped it up with blue painter’s tape (masking tape would also work). Once everything was where I wanted it, I carefully removed the backing from the decal and used the plastic application tool that came with the decal to rub over the decal.

Applying the Lot 26 Studio decal to the wall was really quite easy!

I carefully rubbed over the decal to remove any air bubbles from the decal and to make sure that the decal adhered properly to the wall. I can be a klutz at stuff like this, but it came out really well — what do you think?

My home’s entry area with the addition of the new wall decal.

In all, I think the decal only took about 20 minutes to put up — putting up the wall decal was certainly a fun and easy DIY project!
This project Was Shared at:

Filed Under: Decor, DIY, giveaway, Organize Tagged With: decor, giveaway, mudroom, organize

Safe Kitchen Knife Storage with a Knife Block

April 14, 2013 By Lauren Kim

We all have them — the kitchen drawer that is just a mess! That drawer for me used to be the knife drawer. That is, until I purchased an inexpensive knife block.

My kitchen counters are already pretty filled with appliances like the toaster oven and my bread maker, so I haven’t wanted to purchase one of those countertop knife-blocks for chef knives and other sharp knives.

So instead, I used to store all my knives in one big kitchen drawer. But that meant that there were all sorts of knives in that drawer without any sleeves or any sort of protection on them. So, one had to be very careful about putting one’s hand in that drawer!

My kitchen’s knife drawer before the knife block.

Safe Storage with a Knife Block

My knife drawer is no longer unsafe, anymore, however. That’s because I recently visited my local Bed, Bath and Beyond Store. I wanted to participate in the Spring Cleaning Challenge at Anna Mosley’s blog, so I thought that organizing my kitchen’s knife drawer would be a quick and easy organizational challenge to complete for that challenge! The drawer has several chef knives stored in it, and used to be a rather unsafe place to stick one’s hand into!

At Bed, Bath and Beyond, I found the perfect solution to my problem: a wooden and cork knife dock that is made so you can simply store your knives safely in a drawer — the knife block has soft cork dividers in which you can nest your knifes, so you don’t have to worry about cutting your hand on the pointy edge of a knife when going through your drawer! I also like that the drawer knife block is made from sustainable and recycled materials — since I try to be green and eco-friendly when I can!

What I especially like about the cork dividers in the knife block is that they can accommodate different sizes and numbers of knives. I was able to store all of my kitchen’s knives in that one knife block. And since the drawer in which the knife blocks rests is pretty wide, I still have room on the other side to place other utensils. (All of my knives do fit in the block, even though it looks like from the photo below that I forgot to put two of the knives in the knife block — silly me! All of the knives are in the knife block now.)

My home’s kitchen drawer could use a little more organization, but it’s safer now!

Bed, Bath and Beyond Coupon

I didn’t have any coupons with me when I went to purchase my knife block, but one of the salespeople there was nice enough to give me a one, so I got the drawer knife dock, which normally sells for about $30, at 20% off. (It seems that the staff at the store keep the coupons on hand for customers like me who wouldn’t normally buy something if they don’t have a coupon — I was about to walk out because I forgot mine.)

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Filed Under: Organize Tagged With: kitchen, organize

How to Organize Kids Rooms in Your Home

March 19, 2013 By Lauren Kim

You might have noticed that I write a lot about making my family’s home a more beautiful and organized space for my kids. I’ve written about children’s furniture that add storage to a kid’s room, how to organize children’s toys, how to convert a basement into a fun and organized playroom, and how I turned a large upstairs hallway into a fun media and study space for my children. Needless to say, I’ve done a lot of research into how to organize kids rooms in a home!