Burning Question: Clear The Air
This week’s burning question is all about smells. Namely: do you use any form of air freshener in your house to keep it smelling… well, fresh?
Is it a plug in? Potpurri? A scented candle? A diffuser? Some sort of heated oil? Or something a bit more natural (like lemons down the garbage disposal or a bowl of coffee beans on the counter)? Feel free to weigh in. In fact we whipped up this handy little poll to keep everything tabulated… but we’d also love to hear more about the why (and any other explanations) in the comment section.
Loading ...Image courtesy of West Elm (a few years back)
Ides Like To Say Thanks
Ok, so that’s a terrible “Ides of March” pun, but it doesn’t make this thank you any less important. We’re back for our usual monthly sponsor shout out- and it’s these generous folks who keep our site running, our lights on, and our bellies full- so indulge us as we take a moment to remind you what makes them so great.
Let’s kick it off with a trip to Viewville. Population: loads of fine art photo prints. I find myself drawn to “Urban” and “Nature” categories, whereas Sherry’s discovering all sorts of new cravings under “Food” (and it goes without saying that Burger’s a fan of the “Animals” page). Oh and don’t forget that you get 20% off with the code YHL.
Design for Less always makes us wish we owned a big penthouse in the city with about ten bathrooms and kitchens that we could deck out in gorgeous glass and metallic tiles. Just browse their galleries, we bet you’ll be dreaming of the same thing in no time.
Z Gallerie’s latest collection for spring has us excited to celebrate our third wedding anniversary (even though it’s still a few months away). Bright yellows, plus their lemon and lime theme already have us reminiscing about our backyard soiree. Plus I can guess what might show up on Sherry’s upcoming birthday wish list…
The Tile Shop comes to mind every time we step into our now two-month-old bathroom, whether its admiring the grout that they helped us pick out or reminiscing about their wet saw that stole my heart in the process. And don’t forget that you’ll get 10% off when you use the code YHL10.
Shades of Light has a big ol’ store right here in Richmond, but the rest of you can still browse their diverse collection of not-only-lighting, but also furniture, mirrors and rugs online or by requesting their catalog by mail.
Vol. 25 is full of sweet and stylized prints that celebrate life’s simple pleasures. You know, like robots falling in love. Amazing. Plus her designs also come on fun stuff like t-shirts and photoshop overlays (just head over there to learn more).
A Beach Cottage chronicles the life of a fixer-upper cottage on Australia’s coast. Sarah has all sorts of vintage, whitewashed and shabby chic inspiration for you to ogle over (plus she’s coincidentally hosting a giveaway with sponsor Lisa Leondard’s jewelry).
The Natural Sleep Store is a great resource for all things to make your night’s sleep nice and natural. We purchased our Savvy Rest mattress there last year and still quietly sing their praises every night. So of course we were thrilled when they later came to us as a sponsor.
Frame The Date may be all about commemorating those special dates in your life, but let’s not forget about the awesome custom frames that they also have available (whether there’s a date in ‘em or not). From exotic to painted woods, we also dig that it’s all harvested using eco-friendly practices.
Lisa Leonard Designs definitely seemed to win you guys over with last month’s generous giveaway, so take a moment to rekindle that spark with a trip over to browse her hand-cut and hammered sterling silver jewelry (and feel free to enter her giveaway over at A Beach Cottage too).
WallQuotes.com, part of Belvedere Designs, sure has you covered in the inspirational (or custom) quote department when it comes to vinyl wall decals. But don’t let their name fool you – they’ve got other graphics and designs to bring your walls to life. We’re digging some of these cityscapes, for instance. Plus, get 15% off with the code YHL15.
Etsy Kids is now featuring their Spring Shopping Guide, so you can browse playful items for the kiddos to wear, play with, or otherwise enjoy this season. Plus it’s just good old fashioned fun to use their handy-dandy A to Z guide.
Blend Creations whips up jewelry with a blend of modern (sleek stainless steel) and warmth (nature inspired centerpieces) with a smidge of whimsy here and there for good measure. Plus these creations are the blended vision of a husband and wife design team (something we have a particular appreciation for).
Quirk delivers one of the most fun shopping experiences possible, both online and at their gallery here in Richmond. From tchotckes to tableware, we’re endlessly entertained and inspired by their unique eye for design.
So thanks again to our sponsors for their show of support, and another huge THANK YOU goes out to all of our amazing readers. We truly couldn’t do it without you guys and we’re oh-so-grateful that you care enough to stop in and see what we’re up to. Here’s hoping some of the fun decor, accessories, jewelery, bedding, art, lighting and tile above have you excited to spruce up your space for spring. Is it just us or does it finally feel like it’s really in the air?
House Crashing: A Brilliant Bungalow (Take Two)
You may remember when we took you on a virtual tour of one of our favorite homes ever- this charming bungalow in Charlotte.
It belongs to our friends Matt & Kristin (and their adorable pooches Simon & Sage):
And we just can’t get enough of it. Hence the second post. You might remember some of the gorgeous spaces like this…
And this:
And this (see the whole original House Crashing tour right here):
It’s a seriously unforgettable home, right? Which must be why when we found ourselves back at their casa for another visit about a year later we re-saw so many things and kept thinking “that’s such a genius idea.” So much so that we actually decided it was worth pointing out five genius decorating ideas a la Matt & Kristin that you can easily implement in your own home. It’s sort of a part two of the tour mixed with some tips about what Matt & Kristin do to really make their house stand out- so you can shamelessly steal their crafty tricks for your very own abode. So without further idea we bring you five genius why-didn’t-I-think-of-that-ways-to-pimp-your-place:
Idea #1: Group bold art for a cheerful and graphic gallery effect. Every time we visit Matt & Kristin we’re inspired to save up for some real art. They don’t break the bank on the original pieces that they collect, but they aren’t afraid to spend a little money for one of a kind canvases (in fact they love gifting each other great art for birthdays and anniversaries). And they really know how to make it even more impactful and eye pleasing- by hanging similarly strong and colorful pieces together in a semi-balanced-but-still-unusual arrangement (the two smaller frames under the bigger one in the middle is just “off” enough to look oh so right). The best part about this idea is that if you don’t have any cashola saved up for other people’s original art you can always make your own by purchasing a few different sized canvases and using bold hues to color block simple shapes and designs for a similar effect.
Idea #2: Who says interior doors have to be white? Not Matt & Kristin. In fact every single interior door in their house is stained a gorgeous ebony color- and it totally makes every space in their modestly sized bungalow pop with drama and definition. It doesn’t hurt that they have lovely interior french doors that lead to their office…
… but even bifold closet doors look extra elegant with that moody black tone- and basic bedroom and bathroom doors look special as well…
So go ahead and stain your natural wood doors the same ebony hue (or paint your white ones a rich dramatic black tone- like Benjamin Moore’s Black Satin or Deep Caviar). It might be just the splash of sophistication that your home is begging for.
Idea #3: Window sashes can be black too. You may have even noticed Matt & Kristin’s awesome black window sashes from the exterior picture of their bungalow that we shared above. But even if your house doesn’t have true black sashed windows, there’s nothing that says you can’t paint yours – especially the interior frames (assuming they’re metal or wood, which will both take a few coats of latex paint beautifully). So go ahead and slap on some rich black paint (and scrape off any drips that get on the window panes with a straight razor). It’s kind of like eyeliner for the windows- so stunning and crisp. It’s definitely an amazing way to add definition to your space. And if you have vinyl window frames you can still add a dose of deep sophistication with white curtains or roman shades that are lined with crisp black ribbon (we love when the ribbon runs around the perimeter of either one- and you can even DIY that detail with iron-on hem tape and a thick roll of ribbon from the craft store). Or you can even opt for black curtain rods to bring that elegant linear effect to your home in a snap.
Idea #4: Personalize your pendant. Kristin picked up this pendant at a local shop in Charlotte that actually offers a ton of different fabric options when it comes to their drum shades. And we love that she went with something a bit more daring than the average white or cream shade. So go ahead and spring for a special patterned pendant for the room that you’re looking to amp up (we love Stacy Garcia’s stunning designs) or even recover a pendant light that you already have (or pick up a cheap drum shade and give it some serious style with less than a yard of fabric). Here’s an old post all about recovering a lamp shade – see, it really is something you can do yourself. Bam, you’re one step closer to having this amazing breakfast nook…
Idea #5: Create A Gorgeous And Functional Drop Zone For Cards & Letters. Kristin adored this deep wooden bowl (the orange tone was what really won her over) so she snatched it up without really knowing what she’d use it for. Then she noticed a pile of cards and letters from friends & family and tossed them into the bowl (and placed it in a nice convenient location in her front hall). The result was a sweet collection of correspondence from loved ones that Kristin just didn’t have the heart to toss right away (“it feels so mean to open a card, read it and then just throw it away”).
Now she has a bona fide landing spot for all those cards and about once a year she goes through them and keeps only the few that really should be saved for good (and tosses the rest without feeling nearly as bad since they were enjoyed in the bowl for a while instead of being promptly discarded as soon as she opened them). Plus it’s really fun for her to go back through all those letters and cards at the end of the year one more time. Isn’t that a smart (and sweet) idea? It’s one part organization, one part sentimental and one part easy on the eyes.
So there you have it. Five very doable ideas that you can pick and choose from to supe up your house Matt & Kristin style. What do you guys think? Do you have any favorites that you’re itching to implement? Are you shamelessly dreaming of moving in (don’t worry, we threaten to do that every time we visit). Or have you spotted any other easy ideas in their home that anyone can do (or come up with alternate ideas that you’d love to toss into the mix)? Spill it.
Psst- Can’t get enough of virtually making your way through other people’s homes? We can’t either. Which is why we compiled an entire page full of every House Crashing adventure that we’ve taken on to date. Happy house snooping…
This Giveaway Sucks Freebie Winner!
Looks like we should have sucky giveaways more often. This week’s freebie of two weapons of tidiness from Bissell (both the Cleanview Helix Vacuum and the adjustable Pet Broom) received nearly 5000 entries, the second highest number that we’ve ever seen here on YHL (the record still goes to our blogiversary giveaway of a $500 Lowe’s gift card). Clearly the idea of clean floors is a powerful thing!
So even though Bissell can’t give everyone a free vacuum, they’re offering up a 10% discount off the purchase of any Cleanview Helix vacuum or any Smart Details broom, mop and duster that’s available on their site. Just enter “YHL” at checkout (through Mar 14) to score some discounted suckage for your soon-to-be-spotless home.
But back to the subject of our big winner. Once again we turned to random.org to see which entrant swept the competition this week and that lucky person is… Claire B (who’s more excited about gardening than anything else this spring). Congrats Claire! We hope you’ve got some dust bunnies saved up to attack with your prizes (or perhaps some muddy garden shoe tracks to tackle very soon).
And fret not if you name didn’t rise to the top this week. All this talk of cleaning might leave you feeling tired, so be sure to swing by on Monday for a prize that will have you even more ready for bed (yes, that’s a clue).
Find more freebie info on our Giveaway FAQs page. Pics courtesy of Bissell.
Tackled Together: Closet Clutter – Part 2
So after we finished up the master bedroom closet de-cluttering this past weekend, we turned our attention to the hall closet (which sits right outside of our bedroom door). It was home to photo albums, old videos and notebooks, random personal keepsakes and a plethora of spare shopping bags. In the words of Christian from Project Runway, it was a hot mess.
Our technique for this closet was to simply undo the thoughtless hodge-podge approach that created this clutter to begin with. Which meant actually putting photo albums together (there’s a novel idea) and not keeping every single bag and box that we brought home “just in case.” Plus we had to commit to- and this was possibly the scariest part- cutting down on the personal keepsakes that filled those two plastic towers of clear drawers… all in the name of earning back valuable square footage and finding a place for things that were offset by the third-bedroom-to-nursery conversion.
Once we actually resolved ourselves to doing this it really wasn’t that hard. We were saving a lot of “fluff” that we didn’t need and it actually felt better to toss anything that didn’t mean much to us anymore (which also allowed us to really appreciate the stuff that made the cut since it wasn’t buried amidst piles of useless junk). After all, just because a photo is old doesn’t mean it’s always worth keeping (do we really need every poorly-lit picture of high school homecoming and shots of our cluttered dorm rooms from every angle?). So Sherry and I sat down and enjoyed one last flip through some of those old memories, said our goodbyes to a bunch of them, and filed away the remaining keepers to really be enjoyed instead of “watered down” by weird stuff that had no business being kept for so long. But you know I campaigned to keep this photo of a blond teenage Sherry posing with her childhood dog Dante, right?
Let’s take a closet look. Note: At this point Sherry would like to interject to explain that those were suede pants and they had a side zipper and they were from Delia’s. Hot stuff. Try to contain your jealousy ladies.
One rule that we decided to re-enforce on ourselves was to limit our relationship keepsakes to one box. For instance, Sherry’s quite sentimental when it comes to John + Sherry memories (she has plane tickets from our first vacation together, a napkin from our wedding, etc). But the great thing about her (love ya babe) was that long ago she designated a special box for “relationship memorabilia” so not only was everything in one place, but it forced us to limit what we saved. If it didn’t fit in the box, we either didn’t keep it or found another way to memorialize it (like taking a picture of it and throwing that in the box instead- or framing it if it was really important).
This weekend we realized we were unintentionally overflowing into a second box (the shame) so we whipped ourselves right back into shape and pared things down to that single solitary box again. Which actually felt good because it was fun to flip through everything – and we were happy to lose a few items that didn’t mean as much anymore in return for adding some fun new stuff to our “limited edition collection.” It’s definitely important to find a place for the things that matter most in your home (many of which are photos and other memories) but there’s a fine line between keeping a few of the most meaningful items and saying that every last scrap of paper is special and letting those things slowly overrun your home. It can actually interfere with your day to day happiness (anyone watch Clean House?) not to mention rob you of space that could be much better served for storing something else that you actually need. So we do our best to walk that delicate line (and probably err on the side of minimalism just because we lived in NYC long enough to adapt to living with zero storage space).
In the end we achieved our goal of eliminating one entire plastic three-drawer tower of random paraphernalia (victory!) by condensing things that we had (grouping like with like, etc) and eliminating weird odds and ends (like business cards from our old agency jobs in NYC and ancient notebooks full of college assignments). And the good news is that we actually earned a new place for our vacuum – which had been displaced from its former home in the now-nursery closet – along with our fireproof safe (we actually have a safety deposit box at the bank so it’s not full of “valuables” per se, but it’s where we store things like a CD of our wedding photos and our wedding video along with copies of other irreplaceable momentos that we would want to survive a house fire – just in case).
As of Saturday afternoon I was left feeling pretty satisfied with how the hall closet was shaping up – er, paring down.
But Sherry had bigger plans in store. Since she also lost her wrapping paper/stationery station in the nursery switcheroo, she was on the hunt for a new storage spot for that stuff. Gift bags, ribbons and wrapping paper had temporarily been shoved above the laundry nook and was later moved to an underbed storage bin in the guest bedroom…
… but with bending over becoming more of a challenge for my cute prego lady, Sherry saw the never-used-mirror on the back of the hall closet door (thanks to the wood full length one in our bedroom) and immediately envisioned a remedy to her underbed wrapping station situation. I almost literally saw the light bulb go on as she stared at that door rubbing her chin.
So off came the mirror (thank to a few quick pulls of the 3M Command strips that we had originally used to hold it in place) and off we went to Target to find some sort of back-of-door wrapping paper hanging solution/caddy. But once there we were quickly reminded that Target is no Container Store… and something so specific was nowhere to be found. Instead we settled on three of these “wire CD baskets” that showed promise (on sale for just $5.39 a pop).
Our big idea was to screw them right into the door since they seemed about the perfect size to house stationery, wrapping paper, envelopes, and other random accessories. And all it took was a little pressure with a screwdriver to create a screw-sized opening in the back of the wire basket…
… which we then screwed right through (and into the door) in two places to hold our baskets nice and steady.
In about five minutes the top half of the door was equipped with two bins spaced about eight inches apart for housing stationery, birthday cards, envelopes, and other gift-related paraphernalia:
And the bottom half of the door got the third basket which we planned to use to store wrapping paper. But because we didn’t want the paper to flap around every time we opened or closed the door, we had to brainstorm a way to keep it easily wrangled. Our solution? Screwing two small white coat hooks right into the door, about twenty inches above the top edge of the basket. These hooks – along with a ribbon that we had laying around – created a nice little “seat belt” of sorts for our wrapping paper (which can still easily be slipped in and out from behind the ribbon whenever we need it).
Then in an impressive bout of energy that could only be attributed to true nesting, Sherry decided that 8:45pm on Sunday night was the perfect time to touch up all that dated wood trim inside the closet that she hadn’t gotten around to painting yet. So before I could say “aren’t you supposed to be tired in your third trimester?” my wife had a gallon of no-VOC Freshaire trim paint cracked open and was furiously painting the dark wood trim, shelf and even the dowel in there. And I must admit that it looks a lot more clean and current thanks to her little Sunday night paint job. Even though I thought she was crazy at the time…
You’ll also notice that we further pared down all those collected gift bags and added a hanging shoe/sweater organizer (a free gift from a friend- thanks Kristin!) for the rest of our present-wrapping supplies. It’s definitely nice to have a caddy full of things like tissue paper, a box of smaller tags and little fabric totes, a box full of ribbon, and small gift tins & containers housed within larger gift boxes that we can use whenever the occasion strikes. It all goes back to grouping like with like, so instead of spreading our wrapping supplies throughout the house we now have a one-stop-wrapping-paper-shop of sorts in our hall closet. Which certainly beats the unused $5 mirror that previously hung on the back of that door.
And yes Sherry did paint the pebbled black sides of our wall-mounted plastic bag dispenser while she was attacking the trim. She’s a wild woman and she just can’t be stopped. But to her (admittedly insane) credit, it does blend in better now. Even if it’s an absurd way to spend four minutes of your life. In fact the whole closet looks pretty great- especially considering that it look like this a few short days earlier:
So with that project done, we finally turned our attention to the usually-concealed shelves above the laundry nook (we love those bamboo blinds but they were like a personal challenge to be as messy as possible since everything’s so well hidden). Of course you already know that a big step in improving this area was getting all the random wrapping paper into the hall closet. But there was still a lot more paring down/cleaning on the agenda to get this beast of a before picture under control.
Admittedly there wasn’t much science to cleaning this area, since it suffered less from too much stuff and more from just quickly tossing things up there instead of actually finding a smart place for them and grouping like with like (although we did ditch our rusted and mostly useless drain snake as well as FINALLY recycling the cell phones that we replaced back in August and stored up there with dreams of donating them “someday”). And I would like to earn some points for actually volunteering to vacuum the dust that was collecting up there. Secure in my manhood? Check.
In the end we didn’t reinvent the wheel up there, we just whittled things down and organized a bit, which resulted in some much appreciated freed up space that is now ready for who-knows-what (our guess: more baby stuff- at least that’s what everyone keeps telling us). No matter what ends up living in there down the line, we’re just breathing easier knowing that we have more empty space in our not-very-closet-riddled home to store things as our family grows. Whew.
So that’s the end of our closet sprucing weekend extravaganza. One thing that we now realize wasn’t photographically captured were the errands that we ran after it was all over, which included:
- Bringing a huge bag of clothes, shoes, and accessories to a local clothing drop box (if you don’t know where to go in your ‘hood, try googling for a Salvation Army or a Goodwill near you)
- Returning a bunch of books/clothes/DVDs and other borrowed items to two of our friends and one family member (thereby lightening our load substantially and earning us points for those timely returns)
- Finally recycling our own cell phones- yes, the ones that we replaced way back in August- at Best Buy (after a few attempts to donate them at local stores or police departments for causes like battered women or Haiti relief failed us)
- Dropping off two giant sacks of old books and magazines to a local used book store (your neighborhood library may take them too, but ours only accepts things during certain times of the year)
- Bringing all of the change that we found to Coinstar (it turned up in some of Sherry’s old purses, our car, my key & wallet bowl near the door and our piggy bank- the crazy thing is that we made 54 beans for our trouble- not bad, eh?)
In the end we only spent around $16 for those three wire baskets that we hung on the back of the hall closet door, and thanks to our change drop-off we made $54. So if you subtract our basket purchases we still netted $38 which was definitely the icing on the extra-storage-space cake. But enough about us. Let’s talk about your closet sitch. If you haven’t already shared your closet de-cluttering adventures or tips on this morning’s post, we’d love to hear all about ‘em right here – especially if you found yourself culling down personal keepsakes, creating new storage solutions or finding new ways to reuse or recycle items that you were purging. Oh, and if you’ve got pics to share, head over to our Facebook page to post ‘em for all to see.
