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 of my daughters in Continue reading...
Organizing Kid Spaces in the Home
When my kids were babies, we kept most of their toys in a small bookshelf that we kept in the living room. Their baby toys didn't take up much space. But, as they got older, they got more and more toys, and before I knew it, their toys were all over the house. Over the years, I've done various things to find a space for them to play in, and a place for their toys. At first, my husband and I kept two large toy boxes in the living room to hold all their toys. But now that they are older, I am hoping to replace those toy boxes with a sofa, and move the toy boxes into a basement playroom Continue reading...
Baskets for Kitchen Organization
Years ago, when my husband and I moved into our home, there was plenty of storage in our new kitchen. But since then, I've acquired new cooking tools, small appliances and servingware, and now, there is not enough room to store all of our kitchen stuff in our tiny kitchen. Add to that all the plastic cups and plates for outdoor dining, and lunch box supplies for my kids, and we really have a problem! Despite the lack of plentiful cupboard space in my home's kitchen, I've recently found extra storage space in the kitchen. How did I do that? I created extra space on top of my Continue reading...
Cleaning Out the Toy Chests
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...
Storage for Kids Rooms
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, 8, 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 toys. So, Continue reading...
Readers’ Favorite MomHomeGuide Posts
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
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...
Organization Spree: The Kitchen
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...
Updated Entry Hall
I should be working on a freelance story I have this week, but the mess in my home’s itsy-bitsy entry hall has just been irking me! My home is almost entirely filled with carpeting. (I would LOVE wood floors, but I know I will never have those, unless I won a home makeover contest or something.) Wood floors are just so beautiful and are much easier to clean! I hate vacuuming and tend to destroy my vacuum cleaners! So in my house, we take our shoes off before coming into the house to keep the carpets clean. I wasn’t used to it at first, but now I like taking my shoes off when entering a Continue reading...
Gettting the Most Out of Your Space
I read on Yahoo today that Internet stories on small spaces are becoming more prevalent and more popular. As people struggle to make a living in today's rough economy, I am sure smaller, but more affordable, spaces are more in demand. I watched a video today about Felice Cohen, a woman who makes her living as a professional organizer and lives in a miniscule 90-square-foot apartment. The pluses to her small New York City space are that it is centrally located, is only a block from Central Park, and rents for only $700 a month -- which is a steal for Manhattan. I watched videos today about Continue reading...