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...
What I Am Reading This Week
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...
Owl Mural Study Area
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...
New Spice Cabinet Reveal
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...
Kitchen Organization
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...
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...
Beautiful Board and Batten
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
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...