Monthly Archives

March 2015

Bree’s top tips for a clean home

Hey there, homemakers! Grab a white glove and start doing spot checks, because it’s time to clean up around here! When it comes to tidying up your home, it doesn’t have to cost a fortune or take too long, and it can even be fun, believe it or not. Here are a few tips, from me to you:

Take it one room at a time.

Don’t look at your entire house as a mess and get overwhelmed by the huge job ahead of you. Take it one room or one chunk at a time, prioritize and day by day, even week by week if it’s really bad, you’ll soon have a cleaner home. Remember, getting started is the hardest part, so kick yourself into gear and get motivated!

Make it a game.

Odds are you’re not the only one who lives in your house, and you’re probably not the only one responsible for the messes inside of it. So the way I see it, you certainly don’t have to be the only one who’s going to be cleaning it. But why not make it fun? Turn on some music, make a plan, set up a series of rewards and maybe even give everyone a task they like and a task they don’t like so everybody does their fair share. Invite your family members to clean for stickers or computer time or candy or whatever’s going to entice them!

Go green for health and savings.

This one is a biggie for me. Today folks really don’t want to use harsh chemicals and pay big bucks for products, so I’ve listed some of my favorite DIY furniture cleaners that work really well for different types of fabrics and surfaces.

Leather cleanser + conditioner
Whip up this recipe to clean and moisturize your leather furniture while leaving it smelling super fresh!

¼ cup olive oil
½ cup white vinegar
10 drops eucalyptus oil (optional)

Fabric upholstery cleaner
Shake the following ingredients up in a spray bottle and spray onto the area you want to clean. Then, wipe with a soft towel in a circular motion and repeat until the stain is gone. Afterward, do the same thing with a towel moistened with warm water only to remove the excess soap. Allow to dry.

¼ cup white vinegar
¾ cup warm water
½ tablespoon gentle liquid soap

Wood polish and cleaner
Shake up this little salad dressing (yum!) and use it sparingly on a soft cloth to clean and polish your natural wood furniture. Bonus: It gives your home a natural lemony-fresh scent!

1 cup olive oil
½ cup lemon juice

Do you have DIY recipes you use for cleaning your furniture or other pieces in your home? Let us know when you come visit us at Home Zone Furniture, and we’ll be sure to pass them along!

Till next time, homemakers!

Bree

Decor, Kitchen Ideas

5 easy ways to organize your kitchen

Hey there, fellow homemakers!

When I think of my home, I picture my kitchen first because that’s my favorite room in the house. It’s where the family hangs out, where we make plans, eat together, cook together and have fun together.

It’s no wonder our kitchens often end up being so cluttered and disorganized. It’s where we spend most of our time! Because of this, I’ve compiled some tips to keep the most important room in my house cleaned up and clutter free. Let’s go!

1. Practice practical prioritization

Say that five times fast. Start with your eyes, a pen and paper. Make a list of what you use most in your kitchen (appliances not included), and make sure that’s the stuff that’s close at hand. If you never use your cookbooks, they can be up high or put away, looking pretty someplace else. If you use your pots and pans daily, consider a handsome pot rack that will free up cabinet space for something else. Let’s get practical!

2. Think vertically

Other than drawers, shelves and cabinets, the walls are great for adding storage to keep your kitchen organized. Hooks, additional shelves, spice racks and more can give your aprons, frequently used glassware and spices a place to call home. Again, this frees up space in drawers and cabinets to hide what was formerly cluttering up your countertops. Win-win!

3. Do a reorg

Organize your dishes by purpose, then by frequency of use. So while you probably already keep your glassware in one cabinet and your plates and bowls in another, you might want to move the less-used fancy china up top and the everyday stuff down within reach. A little reorganization goes a long way.

4. Create zones

Divide your kitchen into zones by function. The area around the stove should be where you keep your pots and pans. The area around your fridge would make a great place to keep a drawer full of plastic baggies, aluminum foil, plastic storage containers and plastic wrap for packing up leftovers and school lunches. The area adjacent to any dining or table spaces should contain utensils and utility drawers for family meal supplies and materials for homework and arts and crafts projects.

5. Do what works for you

In the end, it’s YOUR house. If these tips don’t work in your kitchen or make sense for the way you cook, don’t worry! Make your kitchen work for the way you live, and you’ll be much happier. That’s the point here, folks! Functionality is a function of the person doing the functioning, ya know? And as head homemaker, you’re the one doing most of the functioning. You’re the boss—remember that!

And while you’re doing what makes you happy, make sure there’s something non-functional and just plain pretty in your kitchen just for you, whether it’s a vase of fresh flowers or some beautiful home décor accessories from your friends at Home Zone Furniture.

Good luck with your organizing!

Bree

Decor, Interior Design Ideas

Big tips for decorating small spaces

Hey there, happy homemakers!

After spring-cleaning season is over, you may find it’s time to take a step back and reassess your living spaces. Are you feeling cramped?

If you live in what most would consider “small,” there are definitely a few tips and tricks we can offer for decorating smaller spaces to seem bigger. Shall we?

1. Time to toss
Take a look around. I’m betting there’s stuff you don’t need hanging out all over the place. If you haven’t used something in a few months, or even a year, it’s likely that you wouldn’t miss it if it went off to Goodwill or into the trash. If you can’t bear to part with something but it’s seriously cluttering up your feng shui, there’s always the garage, attic or basement. But be selective in what you reserve for storage. That space isn’t infinite, after all! Once you clear out the superfluous stuff, you’ll find you have more room than you thought you did.

2. Sub shelves for furniture
There are a few cases where you can use shelves instead of bulky furniture in smaller rooms to save space. In place of an office desk, credenza, linen closet or china cabinet, use shelving to create coziness and maximize your space. Check out this article for inspiration.

3. Just say no to walls
Walls close us in, mentally and physically. If budgets allow, open up your space by removing walls and replacing with room dividers such as shades or curtains. Or, use the furniture in your home itself to create natural divisions between rooms. For example, dining and living rooms often share space, but the difference between the two rooms is obvious due to the layout of the furniture in each.

4. Window tricks
Make ceilings look higher by placing curtain rods higher than the top of the windows. This creates the illusion that the window is larger than it is, and in turn that the room is larger than it actually is.

5. Time to reflect
Now that we’ve gone over a few space-saving tricks, don’t forget this one: adding mirrors. This time-tested trick creates the illusion of more room and is always a winner. It reflects your style and looks beautiful in any décor. Visit Home Zone for a full selection of mirrors for your home.

Voila! More space where there was less before. That was easy, right? Best of luck, and happy homemaking!

Bree

Decor, Outdoor Ideas

Gardening time = family time!

Hey there happy homemakers! What color are your thumbs?

If you answered, “Green!” well, good for you! But if you answered, “Brown!” well, that’s just fine, too, because I’ve got some tips for you to make home gardening easy peasy. Planning for a spring garden has many benefits. Here are just a few:

It brings the family together!
It’s fun!
You can get messy!
It beautifies the outside of your home!
You can grow your own food!
It’s inexpensive!
It promotes creativity!
It teaches kids about science!
It can provide floral décor for your home!

Ready to dig in?

Here are some simple ideas for quick gardening projects you can do with your family!

Head to the arboretum
Who knows flowers best? The folks at your local arboretum! It’s a great place to gather ideas for your own garden, so snap some photos and take note of your favorites during your visit.

Visit your local community garden
If you don’t have the space for your own garden at home, a community garden is another way to plant and grow! These are becoming more and more popular, so odds are there’s a community garden near you.

Sign up for produce delivery service
A weekly produce delivery service (like Greenling.com) can be an economical way to enjoy fruits and vegetables and even try new ones you may not have considered working into your weekly meal plans before.

Plant seeds on a windowsill
The simplest of gardening techniques, the old dirt-and-seeds-in-a-paper-cup trick will produce the results you’re after if you take care of your seedling.

The Urban Gardener: Indoor Window Gardens

Head to a nearby home improvement store
The simplest way to get from no garden to garden is by heading to Lowe’s or Home Depot and simply buying some plants or flowers and planting them yourself! Make a day of it and plant them as a family. Just be sure to make a plan before you start digging!

Do some kitchen scrap gardening
Odds are you’re throwing away some items that could easily be turned into plants. Don’t believe me? See for yourself here.

Grow some bulbs
Not just fun to say, bulbs are fun to grow as well! Check out this tutorial, which includes how to make a growth chart, too!

Remember, spring grows however and wherever you plant it. So if real, actual gardening with live plants and flowers doesn’t work for you, there are lots of other ideas all over Pinterest (check out our boards for examples) for ways to bring on spring. And at Home Zone, we have all the home furnishings you need for a fresh spring home. Come visit us today!

Bree