momhomeguide.com

A mom blog on creating the perfect home for one's family

inspiration board, picmonkey, yellow, blue, home office

Yellow and Blue Inspiration Board

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Now that I've completed painting the owl and tree mural feature wall for my kids' new study and media space, I've been dreaming about organizing and painting my home office. Right now, the office has boxes everywhere (of things I need to file) and features plain, unpainted white walls. So boring! I thought something bright and cheery would be great for the office, and have been thinking that the room would look quite nice in a combination of yellows and blues. Most of my home is very neutral with soft greens and yellowy beiges, so I thought that something more colorful would be Continue reading...

basement remodeling ideas

Unfinished Basement Playroom Ideas

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Last year was a busy year! I started this website, and thankfully, at least a few people have read it! Thanks everyone for your visits! It's been a fun year. For all you new readers out there, I thought I'd post some of the most-read posts from 2012 -- enjoy! And, if you are wondering, I have created an unfinished basement playroom space for my kids, but it's nowhere near as nice as I'd like it to be. I haven't painted the walls or stained the floors in the unfinished basement playroom space, and there is still a lot of organizing to be done! I will have to keep working on creating a fun Continue reading...

dry erase, picture frame, board, DIY

Picture Frame Dry Erase Board

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I like to browse Pinterest for craft ideas, and I’ve seen a lot of easy DIY picture frame dry erase boards, so I decided to make one of my own! I recently created a mini mudroom by my home’s front door that’s pretty functional. My home’s mudroom area has a coat rack, a mirror (for quick checks before heading out the door), a clock (to keep us on schedule on school mornings) and a rack with bins for hiding most of our shoes.     I have a calendar that I made (on Vistaprint) that contains all our important school dates and holidays, but I really needed a place Continue reading...

thappi by dena, tv area, wall mural, kids

Decor for a New Kid Study Area

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Last week, I finished the feature wall in my kids' new study area. I think it looks great! For the new feature wall, my kids picked out a pretty green paint, plus a really cute owl and tree RoomMates mural (Happi by Dena), that I purchased on Amazon (my go-to shopping place). The mural was pretty easy to put up -- the only help I needed was reading the itsy bitsy numbering on the mural's instructions that told me where to put each of the mural's parts. The numbers were so small, I couldn't read them even with the help of a magnifying  glass! I finally had to call one Continue reading...

painting, tips, interior, walls

Getting Started with Paint

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Yesterday,  I decided to get going and start painting the special Owl Mural Study Area that I promised for my children. The kids picked out a light spring green color that I starting adding to one wall yesterday. A big owl wall decal will go on that wall once the painting is done. Since I am a messy painter, and because the whole floor area of the room to be painted is covered in wall-to-wall carpeting, I was very careful and made sure I did a lot of prep work before I started painting. How to Paint Walls If you are a messy painter (or just want to get the job done right), Continue reading...

chair, slipcovers

What I Am Reading This Week

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Now that I’ve discovered the world of mom blogs and all the great designing and organizing projects that they do, I no longer need to subscribe to monthly magazines to get my home décor and design fix. I can get it daily just by visiting some of my favorite mom blogs. These are some of the mom blog posts that have caught my eye so far this week:             Simple Slipcovers from In My Own Style                 Decorating with Plates from the Lettered Continue reading...

cheap basement remodeling ideas

Cheap Basement Remodeling Ideas

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Since moving into our home over 8 years ago, the only thing we’ve done to our basement is pile lots of junk in it. The basement is spacious and has fairly high ceilings for a basement, but it is so filled with stuff, that we can use the space for little else but storage. So, I am always looking for cheap basement remodeling ideas. I do have a playroom area set aside in the basement for my kids to play in, but even that is messy. When my children’s friends come over to play, I don’t let them play in the basement playroom, since I fear it could be a safety issue with all those Continue reading...

kids, study area, beanbag

Owl Mural Study Area

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About a year ago, I created a study area in our large upstairs hallway for my two daughters. We used to have a large office desk in that area, but since getting our laptop, we didn’t use it much. Plus, the desk was so big, that my daughters had to walk a big circle around it at night to get from their shared bedroom to the bathroom. The desk was just way too big! So, I took that big behemoth desk apart and stored it in the basement. I brought up some items from the basement (I swear our basement has just about everything stored in it): a large folding table, an office lamp and two Continue reading...

refinished wood cabinet, Krylon, spray paint

New Spice Cabinet Reveal

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Inspired by the New Year's Prize Organizing Resolution Prize Challenge that some of favorite bloggers are hosting (like A Bowl Full of Lemons, Ask Anna, and Organizing Made Fun) I decided to add some extra storage in my kitchen for my spices. I took an old piece of furniture that was in my home's basement (I think it used to be a night stand). The wooden night stand has one long drawer that would be great for holding spices. But, the piece, with dark black spots in some places and a worn oak finish, could use some TLC. Plus, the stand had an old large handle on it that gave it a Continue reading...

K Cup, coffee maker, tea, storage

Kitchen Organization

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I've been working hard to organize my kitchen, but as any mom knows, keeping a kitchen neat and organized is a never-ending job! I recently organized a cabinet in my kitchen, with fairly good results. Using cloth organizing bins, I organized all the pantry staples that I store in there -- stuff like soup, canned vegetables and snacks for the kids. You can read more about my pantry cabinet in my post, Organization Spree: The Kitchen. K Cup Refreshment Center This fall, I also got my husband a Keurig (K Cup) coffee brewer, so I've also created a mini drink station on our kitchen Continue reading...

toy box, clutter, organize

Cleaning Out the Toy Chests

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Ever since my kids were tots, we’ve kept their wooden toy boxes in our living room. The living room, which is only furnished with an upright piano, was the perfect place for them to play in. The plush carpeting was nice for them to play on and cushioned their falls, and the room’s location just off the kitchen made it easy for me to keep an eye on them while I was cooking. But now that my kids are both 9, I am hoping to move the toy chests downstairs into a basement playroom. I would love to turn the living room into more of an adult living space, and furnish it with a small loveseat and a Continue reading...

decor chick, how to, paneled wall

Beautiful Board and Batten

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As a mom, homeowner and blogger, one of my favorite things to do is browse the home improvement, how to and décor projects completed by other mom bloggers. There are some very talented mom bloggers/home improvers out there! I’ve found some board and batten projects completed by other mom bloggers that I’d love to complete in my home – I’ll have to keep you updated on my progress on replicating these projects at my house! These projects completed by some of my favorite mom bloggers are completely awesome, so I thought I’d share them with you all! Simple DIY Board and Batten When it Continue reading...

Readers’ Favorite MomHomeGuide Posts

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MomHomeGuide.com has been up and running for a few months now, so I thought I'd share with you some of readers' favorite posts! As a mom, I've been obsessed with how to turn my home's unfinished basement into a useable space for my kids to play in, and it seems that a lot of moms and parents have the same concern, because the posts I've written about how to fix up a basement on the cheap are the website's most popular stories! Mudrooms are also a favorite topic with moms -- we need an organized space to stash our family's shoes and coats without cramping our home's style! I'm still working Continue reading...

Organizing the Garage

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Yesterday, with Hurricane Sandy approaching New Jersey, my husband and I managed to clean out the garage enough so we were actually able to park both of our cars in our two-car garage. Getting the cars in our garage is a major accomplishment, since this is the first time we’ve parked both cars in the garage since we moved in more than nine years ago. In the garage is so much stuff – boxes of stuff for storage, bikes, ladders, a lawn mower and plenty of recreational items like beach umbrellas, folding chairs and athletic equipment. We were able to make space in the garage by stuffing lots Continue reading...

pantry, organize, cloth bins, storage

Organization Spree: The Kitchen

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I've been on an organizing kick lately. This year, I've blogged frequently about how I'd like to create a fun, but clean basement playroom for my kids. (Check out my posts on my plans for fixing up our unfinished basement on the cheap). My kids currently have a play space in our unfinished basement, but the toys are stored in open storage, which makes the basement playroom space look messy. Plus, since the basement is unfinished, the only color in the space (besides the toys) is the drab gray of the basement floors and walls. I like what the folks at mom blog, My Blessed Home, did for Continue reading...

ramp to outdoor storage shed

Sprucing Up a Storage Shed

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With the weather so nice the other day, I decided to get some much needed home improvement work done. I posted way back in June about how I planned to get several DIY projects completed, including staining a weathered wood ramp that leads to our outdoor storage shed. My husband and I had the ramp for the backyard shed installed more than a year ago, and unfortunately, we never got around to staining and weather protecting the wood. So with the kids back in school, and the weather bright and sunny, I decided to tackle that project last week. I started out by purchasing a gallon of Continue reading...

rock garden with boxwood and lilyturf

Shade Garden Complete For Now

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Thanks to my setback, where I accidentally sliced through a Verizon cable while preparing my side yard's shade garden, it took me longer than I expected to complete a new shade garden for my home. The garden is nearly complete now, except for a small patch that I've left exposed, without a covering of red garden stone, because I am still waiting for Verizon to come in, take out the temporary cable that they installed, and bury a new permanent cable . But, I am happy with what I've been able to complete so far. I've lined my shade garden with a red gravel, and have planted the bed Continue reading...

utility markings

Day 3: A Setback and a Learning Curve

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Progress on my home's new shade garden is slow and sure -- with only a few days left to my daughters' summer vacation before school starts, I've been squeezing in as many hours in with my kids as I can. Well, progress on the garden was going well, until I made a major mistake late last week. Many of us have heard the warning to "call before you dig" before setting a spade or any other type of shovel into the earth at one's home. I learned that lesson the hard way late last week when my spade sliced a Verizon wire. Even though I was only digging about 6 inches into the earth to remove the Continue reading...

shade garden

Day 2: Planting a Shade Garden

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Despite the light drizzle here in Central New Jersey, I managed to plant three boxwoods and my two perrenials (lilyturf varegata) in my newly dug shade garden. I am happy with the progress I'm making so far! I still have a lot to do. I'd like to mix in topsoil to my garden (I already mixed in a little when I planted the boxwoods and perrenials), add some small red gravel, and perhaps add some edging like these red brick pavers: My kids don't feel like going shopping today because of the rain, but I think we'll hit the garden store later today anyway! Continue reading...

planting a shade garden with boxwood

Day 1: Digging a New Shade Garden Bed

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I while back, I posted about my plans to put in a shade garden on the north side of my home. Well, this past weekend, I got started earlier on the garden than I thought I would. Saturday morning I drove past a garden nursery that was having a 30% off sale for all of its plants. I had to take advantage of it! So, I wound up purchasing three boxwood plants for about $11 each. So, later that day, while the kids were playing outside, I decided to try to get started on the bed. I started digging up the sod, and the grass came up easier than I thought! I guess I have all the rain we've Continue reading...

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