Loving your home.

 

The other day I was walking around our home picking up toys and I realized…there are very few items in my home that I love. Like less than 5! That made me pretty sad. I feel like we have a nice home, but it is not filled with things we love. SO I thought I would begin working on that! I am not talking about the comfy couch but, the little items in your home that have meaning. The details of our homes.

I started with documenting the small “details” that I love about our home. The things that put a smile on my face when I see them.

 

*Starting with my lemon holder. It sits on our dining room table, and for some reason I really love it. We do not actually eat lemons or use them much/at all in our cooking, but it makes me think that summer is right around the corner! (Despite the impending snow storm this evening)

 

 

 

Next up I have my wire basket filled with kitchen towels. I have yet to use these; I always grab a towel from my stash in the kitchen drawers. I planned on using them but they look so clean and crisp I hate the thought of messing them up. :)

My owl! This makes me smile because I think he is cute, but also because he makes my hallway smell fantastic. He rests on the shelf I added above our washer and dryer.

  

Just a few weeks ago I came across some pretty drawer liners at TJ Maxx. Two rolls for $4 bucks! I chose to line the drawers in our bathroom. Now everyday when I open them to get ready I smile. The organization, and the pretty paper = a happy morning!

My FAVORITE thing in the entire house is this:

Greyson painted me this masterpiece for Mothers Day last year. It is by far the best gift I have ever been given!

What about you? What are your favorite items in your home?

Playroom Mood Board

We have an different (to us) layout of our current home. The master bedroom is downstairs and we converted a small office/den that is also downstairs into Greyson’s room. I hated the thought of having him upstairs while Scott and I snoozed downstairs.

Upstairs we have a half bath, an office / guest room, a full guest room and then a completely empty unfinished room. A room that is actually just studs (not even any insulation!). Knowing I wanted to do something with the space I installed two pot lights a few months ago.

I / we are going to start the insulation, drywall, and flooring process. Hopefully this weekend. After a lot of thought, discussion and research we have determined that we would get it back on the resale, AND it will help to sell our home more quickly.

It would take us from 3+ bedrooms to 4+ bedrooms.

Not know how long we will be here Scott wants to finish the room and turn it into a staged guest room. WHICH is the practical choice. Lord, knows I am not very practical! I would like to turn the room into a playroom for Greyson. My thought is that it will get the toys out of the living room, AND it would give Greyson an awesome place to play and learn even if it is for a short time.

Here are some images and their sources, of my playroom inspiration:

These are from Pottery Barn, and would be incredibly easy to make! I know we bought Greyson a chalkboard / whiteboard easel for Christmas but this is so much nicer looking. My favorite is the corkboard to display his creations! 

A giant wall mounted Chalkboard. BAM

I love the idea of buying some inexpensive bookshelves (probably from Big Lots), and upgrading them by adding the bead board backing, and molding along the top.  I would use these to store his toys, so the room does not look completely chaotic. There will be lots of baskets!

The room already has a built in nook area, that I would make into a “reading area”  I love these  Wall mounted Bookshelves

I have saved my favorite idea for last. I figure what little boy would not like an inside airplane swing!?!? I figure either go big or leave the room as is. :) I have read the tutorial and it is fantastic, and seems very easy to create. Airplane Swing Tutorial

Here is a quick and not that great recreation of the rooms shape, and where all of the goodies would go:

 

So what do you think? Do you have a playroom or are you like us and toys are just scattered everywhere in your home?

I would love if you followed along with me on Facebook, Pinterest, and/or Instagram!

Super Simple – Puzzle Upgrade!

Last year Greyson got a package of those cardboard-y, recycled material puzzles. You know what I mean? The ones that come in big packages for about a buck? They are easy to tear, and are not suitable for younger kids, because the only way of knowing where the pieces go is by the faint indentation on the puzzle board? These.
Anyway, as I started to say, we have had these for over a year now, just sitting on a shelf still wrapped up. So, I decided to “edit” the puzzles a little bit to make them something Greyson can play with now (being just under 2.5 years). PLUS, this gives an additional learning bonus! win-win
Here is what you’ll need:
Puzzles, and I used an assortment of fine-tipped sharpie markers. But a pen would be just fine too.

I disassembled the puzzles, and took the sharpies and traced the indented line of the puzzle board, so that the areas would be more defined for him.
Then- in each of the areas I wrote a letter. (I had to pick 5, since there are only 5 spots), and on the back of the correct puzzle piece I wrote the same letter.

So now, he matches up the letters to find where the puzzles pieces belong. To encourage his speech, I act overly excited when he says the letters, and gets a correct match. It is also a celebration when he shouts out the image that is revealed when he gets to flip the puzzle piece over. 

For older kids, you can do sight words, or any type of sequencings to make it more challenging for them.
I had three puzzles so I did one with letters, one with numbers, and one with shapes.
 
Very easy, Greyson enjoys it, and it was totally free! But if you do not have the puzzles, it would still be about a buck, since you can get these packages at the dollar store.

Enjoy! I’d love to hear if you make these for your little ones, and if they enjoy them!

xoxo,
Lindsay

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Over at: Clippie Dips

I Love me an infographic

With Valentines day being tomorrow, I thought I would share a little somethin'-somethin' that I love. Today being a infographic. I just love them. I can read them for ever it seems.

The other day I came across this fantastic infographic about the importance of staging your home.
It all comes back to money. You can find the original image here

The point that stood out the most to me was that: On average a staged home will sell in 42 days versus 198 days!

Bedroom Staging- Phase 1: the Closet

 

Our “master” bedroom is one of the few rooms we have not touched since moving in. You know, other than throwing our furniture in there, and hanging up our clothes. I know that kitchens, bathrooms, and the master bedroom are the most important spaces in the home when selling.

I personally think the easiest, cheapest, and most effective way to prep your rooms are to CLEAN & ORGANIZE THEM! 

So to keep things real, here is our bedroom… as is… I did not do anything before taking these photos. Well…I did make the bed, but that gets done everyday, so other than that this is what it looks like everyday:

 

Note again- I am still taking photos with the IPAD, so they stink! I have ordered a new charger so *fingers crossed* only a few more posts with grainy photos.

 

I cannot stand those television cords hanging down! They drive me absolutely crazy!! When we sell the house, I will unplug and wrap those cords behind the television so they are not shown.

The Horrible closet: **This is so embarrassing:**

and now some after shots:

If I was really good I would have organized the items by color. However, being color “impaired” it has never worked out for me.

It was easy and free. I just cleaned it up. I sorted our clothes into groups and stacked them accordingly. I added an extra shelf (that we had already) in my closet just below my hanging clothes that now holds a small basket of little non-hang able items.

I also added some scrapbook paper to my three tier organizer so people opening my closet are not forced to see my “personal” items ;)

I also cleaned up the side tables. Removing the basket on Scott’s side (it now lives on the new shelf in the closet)

I arranged the books so it looks more appealing…you know more than just piling them up.

I will admit, the image you are about to see will not change your life. There is nothing stunning or amazing about it at all. That being said, it is better. It will not be the driving force behind a potential buyer purchasing our home…but it is better. And it is the easy, little CLEAN & ORGANIZED things that will add up, and make your home more desirable.

I do not want our nightstand to stand out. I want them to notice the extremely high ceilings, the double closets, the amazing amount of light the floods the room. Not the hodgepodge mess that was before.

I also switched the comforters around. It looked much better with the white blanket being the “main” one, and the green being the accent. we still desperately need to make a headboard.

 

  I would love to hear your staging suggestions!

 

I would also loved if you followed along with me on Facebook, Pinterest, and/or Instagram!

Staging your home to sell. Step 1

Scott and I have not listed our home for sale, and we actually have not even started talking about it. That being said, I know…I just do; that we will be selling our home in 2013. It could be in 10 months, or it could be in 23 days!

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but we are “movers” we have moved 6 times in 5 years. It is not because we cannot make a decision and stick with it, rather it is because we never want to settle. We are constantly grateful for all that we have, but we are not content. We work hard, and want more for our family…so we work and move and upgrade our lives.

So knowing deep down that we are selling our house this year, I am officially (as of this morning) thinking about staging and prepping our home. The real-estate market is very saturated with homes for sale, and I want ours to stand out. I feel like I NEED to be ready when we get the green light to list. I do not want to wait weeks or months while it is prepped. So I am starting today, knowing full well we might not even talk about it for 10 months.

Step 1- Make a list. Walk around your home and make a list of Every.Single.Thing that needs to be tweaked before you list your home. This should take you a while. Really think hard about this… If this was not your home already, and you walked in the front door would you be inclined to purchase it?  No?  Why not? List those items!

Here is my list, it is long…

Entry Way-

• Upgrade gold light
• Touch-up paint that Lola scratched off of the closet doors.
• Purge shoes in coat closet
• Remove coats from coat closet, so it looks less packed full
• Better accessories table
• Repaint and organize bonus closet

Laundry Room-

• Remove stains from utility sink (or replace)

Greyson’s Room-

• Remove changing table so the room looks more spacious
• Remove some stuffed animals
• de clutter

Master Bedroom-

• ORGANIZE his and her closets!!
• Make it feel more relaxing / romantic with the use of accessories

Inspiration Photo:

Living Room-

• Add art
• Remove 80% of toys
• Hang mirror
• Purge unused piano music
• accessorize better
• Create a more clean and comfortable feel.
• Deep clean the carpets

Dining Room-

• Create an easy and beautiful table setting / scape. (nothing too busy / over powering)
• Replace light fixture!
• stage hutch

Photo Inspiration- (though the cut grape fruit is a bit over the top)

Kitchen -

• Remove everything but a few special items from countertops
• Clean out refrigerator
• remove everything from the exterior and top of the refrigerator
• Organize pantry’s

Bathroom

• Add some art
• Get new staging towels and candles
• Organize cabinet

Upstairs hallway

• Deep clean carpets
• Hang mirror
• Finish drywall and complete the closet

Office

• Holy moly take care of the paper clutter!
• stage futon with new pillows
• organize and purge closet mess

Guest Room #1

• Organize closet!
• Get lamps
• PAINT
• Replace curtains
• Accessories

Photo Inspiration:

Guest Room #2 (this is actually an unfinished storage room in the upstairs of our home)—Odd I know!

• If we have time, insulate and drywall the room
• Add carpet
• Stage as a guest bedroom

Basement-

• Organize!

Garage-

• Purge, purge again, and then purge three more times!
• Organize for function and space

Landscaping (Once it warms up enough)

• wash the exterior
• repaint the stair risers
• get my hands dirty and edge all of the flower beds
• trim trees
• Create a more defined play space around Greyson’s swing
• Create a appealing sitting area by the pool
• Cut septic pipes so they are not sticking out of the ground.
• re seed so the grass if fuller in the back
• Spray concrete so weeds do not come up.

so yeah, I told you our list was long. YIKES! Now do you see why I am starting now, instead of waiting? I have to be honest the thought of having a purged, spotless and immaculate home makes my heart sing…but I also know we live her and have a toddler. So I will do what I can, and keep you posted along the way.

Learning Shapes – with a free printable packet

Greyson is 27 months.

 

It turns out Greyson does not know a single shape. Not one. Whoops!

He knows and recognizes most of the letters of the alphabet. He counts and recognizes number. But has no idea what a circle is.

I realized this the other night and knew I had to rectify the situation. So I made a fun little sorting game for him to learn his shapes. One of his Christmas presents were these large shape buttons.

Greyson immediately wanted to “play” I was VERY surprised when he started matching them up with no help from me what so ever. That being said, if I ask him to show me a square he looks at me like I lost my mind. So he is a good matcher… and that is about it when it comes to shapes.

So we will work on the names of the shapes. If you would like you can download the free PDF printable of all the shape pages that I created right HERE!