where the heart is

11/12/16

Organize Your Kitchen in One Day

It happens to everyone; you move into your house with every intention on keeping things decluttered and perfectly organized. You plan to keep everything in its designated spot so it looks clean and orderly at all times. The years go by and you’ve adapted to your method of madness – the large square frying pan gets squeezed between the 10 round pans, which are artfully kept in their place by the pot’s lids jammed between them. You’ve resolved to the fact that there are serving dishes you received from your wedding shower that you may never seen again because they’re somewhere behind the large appliances which are somewhat overshadowed by the hundreds of jam-packed grocery bags stuffed beside them.

Or was this just me? I’m shamefully describing the state of my kitchen right before packing up to move. That’s when I decided I would not bring that (dis)organized chaos into my new beautiful home, all nice, neat, clean, and pretty, its open shelves begging me for method and order. So I listened. Thanks to Organize It, I was able to organize my whole kitchen in one day.

03/8/16

Travel Themed Playroom

Ginny’s playroom makeover is a long time coming, and I am thrilled to reveal her travel themed playroom transformation. When we first bought our house, we had the perfect little room for a home office, and once Ginny came, we knew it would be ideal for a playroom – so out with the desks and in with…all of the “stuff.” My first attempt at her playroom was literally just using the space as an overflow for all of the lovely items people bought us for our shower and when she was born. It was perfect – Ginny was too small to play with most toys anyway, and the room is tucked away where I would never have to see it if I didn’t want to. But then, as things tend to happen, Ginny grew up and actually had a need for her own space to play.

I knew I had to face that dreaded room, stashed with “stuff” and “things.” I knew I wanted an adorable space for her to learn and play and grow in, but the room was little and didn’t look like the extravagant rooms I saw on Pinterest. I’m happy to share with you that if you have a “regular” house like me, you can makeover your playroom, too.

03/4/16

DIY Non-Toxic All Purpose Cleaner

I’m a bit of a cleaning fanatic- I can’t relax and watch TV if I see specks of dust on the lampshade, and my husband can attest to my totally ‘rational’ meltdowns about dusty wood floors. I love cleaning products- I love the smell and I love using them, knowing I’m making my home clean. Since I’ve had my daughter, I’ve been more interested in learning about what products I’m using as I’m spraying them all over the house.

A Pinterest search for DIY cleaners led me down the beautiful path to my new love obsession- Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap. First, a little history lesson, because if you’re like me, you’re wondering what the heck ‘Castile soap’ is, am I right? Centuries ago, soap was made is Spain’s Castile region from olive oil, and now, Castile soap refers to any vegetable oil-based soap, which guarantees a completely ecological, simple solution to cleaning. As a cleaning buff, I can attest to the fact that this stands up to the most potent cleaning products out there.