COVID19 keeping you home? Ideas to keep you busy!!!!

Okay, I am not here to discuss the Corona Virus. I want to focus on mood lifting, therapeutic things we can do while laying low and praying this virus vanishes! I actually just put the baby down for a nap, shut off the news, put my phone aside, opened the deck door and sat down with my MacBook. Since I have been home on maternity leave, my mind is already FILLED with ideas and projects to keep me busy so I figured, why not share them! 

Olivia (my 4 month old) and I have a nice routine going on these days. Part of our late afternoon involves running errands... UPS, Target, Homegoods, Lowes, Dunkin', Walmart, Marshalls... ya know, the basic stores in my town. My husband and I sat down last night and made the decision to not bring the baby anywhere... and then also decided to limit going out in public altogether. 

So, here we are. Home. Now, for those of you who have never read my blog before I focused ONLY on home decor but I have decided to extend my blogging focus... mom stuff, educational stuff (I am a teacher!) and of course, home stuff. I renamed my blog already and am taking advantage of this time at home to plan SO many new posts. So, please follow along! I find this to be one of the most cathartic things in the WORLD and am always amazed that people read and enjoy my posts. 

Now, let's get down to the good stuff! How do we keep busy for the next few weeks? 

1. Organize (ANY LITTLE THING!) Here are some visual ideas. 

 

Pantry, junk drawer, coat closet, bedroom closets, any drawer, under the kitchen sink, bathroom toiletries... the list goes on! I'd like to add that you don't need to spend $1.3 million dollars at The Container Store. My bins and containers are from Walmart and Target. If you can't get to the store, Amazon has cheap options. 

I am sure our fridges are stocked! Clean them and organize them! I don't have any fancy containers in my fridge but I definitely keep it somewhat organized. 

One day this week, I will for sure get in here and sanitize, purge and organize! 

2. Clean- Not your regular cleaning. Deep clean. Pull out the couches, move area rugs, rent a steam cleaner (I borrowed my parents steam cleaner and cleaned the sofa in the family room a few weeks ago- DIS-GUST-ING and Ohhhh so rewarding!), vacuum behind your bed and dresser (scary!). Clean heat/AC vents, dust trim and molding, pull out the washer, dryer and fridge. Trust me. This will take hours of your life. You might love it (like me) and you might hate it (like most) but I bet you'll feel good once it's done. Really! 

Laundry rooms are sooooo dusty! Get in there, move your appliances and clean! 

3. Purge- Get rid of all your crap. I have been doing a little every week and dayyyyum, it feels good. 

Our kitchen utensil drawer had SO MUCH unnecessary stuff. Literally, it was OVER flowing with crap. I emptied the entire drawer and made two piles. Keep and toss. 

When purging, you can either throw it all away (sad), donate (amazing!) or sell it if it's in good shape (ohhh yea!) I use Let Go and Facebook Marketplace to sell. Have made good cash selling, too! 

Clothes, shoes, belts... get rid of things you don't wear anymore! Buh-bye. 

4. Cook and bake! Who knows... you might love it!

5. Self Care- relax, read, mani/pedi, nap... ya know!

6. GO OUTSIDE- I went outside to weed and do a spring clean up in our flower beds and it felt AMAZING! I generally don't LOVE weeding and stuff but for whatever reason, this felt so great. This is a perfect example of how an activity that you normally might not love to do can still make you FEEL good. 

7. Laundry? I know, I know... but honestly, it feels SO GOOD to be caught up on laundry. SO GOOD! I hate nothing more than folding laundry but it's much less painful to fold 1 load a day verses folding 8 loads on a precious Saturday morning. Barf. 

8. Technology clean up- This one is sooo time consuming and I need to do it desperately! Emails, photos, texts... they take up so much space. I have WAY too many photos on my camera roll and some of them are ridiculous. Do I really need a picture of my manicure from 2015? That's a hard NO! Then my phone pics get "iCloud-ed" to my Mac and then I have these ridiculous photos in 2 places when they shouldn't even be in ONE. So, technology clean up! 

Don't do 50 things a day, either. Spread them out. I have learned to slow down a little and take in moments of my day vs. being a lunatic and doing hundreds of chores all within 5 hours. 

Hope this list helps! Feel free to add more ideas in the comments section. Stop by for MUCH more home, mama and educational content coming soon!! Thanks for reading and supporting. 

I FINALLY painted the kitchen!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE! After 5 years, I have finally painted the kitchen. Why the long wait? Well, the walls were a deep wine color. And kitchens have so many nooks, so much taping and prep work... I just couldn't even process how I would tackle such a project. Until last Monday, when (you guessed it) I buckled up like a big girl and just did it. 

Click here for the old kitchen color.

I'll keep this short and sweet. 

• It was my very first painting project. 
• It was HARD. (If you follow me on Instagram and haven't seen my "Kitchen Painting" story, please watch it. It's hilarious and I say "Painting is hard" like 87 times!) 
• It took me 11 hours to complete!
• I used a primer first (even though I didn't want to but I'm glad I did)
• I used Benjamin Moore Regal Select in the color Linen White (Matte) 
• Tools I totally recommend using: 
• angled brush
• edger
• micro-fiber rolling brush (excellent!) 

Okay... reads?!?!?! 

 SO BRIGHT, CLEAN, and FRESH!!!

If you didn't click the link above to see a before... here ya go... 

Crazy difference, right?!?!

 Ahhhhh... love it so much!!!

 My MacKenzie collection really pops now. 

 The black door knob handles (Brian's idea!) made SUCH a difference. I loveeeeeeeeee it!!!

 Here is a progress pic after priming. I was questioning my decision after I did this... took sooooo long but SO worth it!

Thanks for stopping by!!!! Leave me a comment and tell me what you think about the paint choice!!!

Next week, BASEMENT RENO starts! Stay tuned!

Cyndi

A REALISTIC Laundry Room

I've spent countless hours searching through images of homes online. Pinterest, the gram, google image... you name it! I've read hundreds of home decor blogs and have virtually visited domestic and international homes. My point... I've done a lot of research. And still, I seldom find the realistic laundry room. Sure, bloggers always do a massive clean up before they photograph their home. Who wouldn't?!? If something isn't aesthetically pleasing to the eye, you best believe I take whatever it is and legit throw it into another room before taking a picture. (And my photography skills are subpar, at best.) 

But what about reality? For example, my laundry "room" is more of a closet that lives right off the kitchen. Homegirl gets the job done, lemme tell you. But I look for laundry room inspo online and they are all giant spaces with windows, french doors, mud rooms, floor to ceiling shelving units, marble counter tops, and I've even seem farmhouse sinks in place of a good ole fashion slop sink. Dude. I know. One episode of Fixer Upper had a dog shower that was the exact same tile and design as mine and Brian's master shower. It's fine... go back and reread that because you aren't delusional. A dog shower that looked extremely similar to my MASTER SHOWER! Wait... here it is!

Now, that's dreamy. Really. I drool. But even if I wanted to invest $$$ like that in my laundry room, it would be physically impossible because it's just too small. (And Griffin is already treated like a Arabian Prince so he's good.) 

So, here we are. I am giving you a very realistic tour of my laundry "room". 

Open the door and here is whatcha get... Bri installed those shelves like 5 days after we moved in. We went the "cost effective" route because looking at your bank account after buying a home is the saddest thing ever. Now that I'm really thinking about it, I may request a shelf upgrade... some floating shelves made from reclaimed wood or something... hmmmmmm. ;) 

So, a closer look. Found these prints online... for free! Find them here. They come in different colors too but I loved the chalkboard look. I had them printed on card stock at Staples (0.22 cents a sheet) and then clipped them onto clipboards and used  Command Velcro Strips to hang them up. It was less than $10. Win! 

I filled some mason jars with clothespins (both from the Dollar Tree) and Oxi Clean. (That stuff is magic!) I love Oxi Clean but that tub it comes in is SO obnoxious so I hide the tub and then transfer the Oxi Clean into a mason jar. The gray fabric bins are always floating around HomeGoods. I use them to store cleaning products and such. Great way to hide all of those colorful product labels. 

We have a front loading washer and dryer so I get to keep things on top for storage. I don't like to because the laundry room gets SO dusty but it's reality. I need to utilize the space. I keep rags, cleaning products and Griffin's food in plastic bins on top of the dryer. 

On top of the washer, I keep detergent, my iron and whatever laundry is on deck... in that really cute, bright green,  $3 plastic laundry basket... See, told ya this was reality!

That hanger is a "sock jail". I keep socks that are missing a mate there until they are recovered. Hung that sucker with a clear, thumb tack. CLEAR thumb tacks are my secret weapon! 

Well, thanks for checking out my laundry "room". Hope this inspires someone!

xo

Cyndi

Area rug trick

This post might not hit home for many people. If you are very particular and border on perfectionist about your "stuff" then read on. If not, read on to get a good laugh and see just how crazy I am.

So, I might be a little over the top when it comes to my "stuff". And by "stuff" I mean home, floors, rugs, clothes, shoes, etc. Everything. All my stuff. I just want things to look clean, perfect and new all the time. Some people think that's insane but that's okay. There is nothing wrong with wanting to take care of my stuff! (This could turn into a drinking game... "Anytime Cyndi says 'stuff' take a shot!")

See those white fibers being pulled onto the blue fibers of the rug? Well that drives me INSANE. 

                

I use a Dyson vacuum and it has hard floor settings and carpet settings. I realized the carpet setting is much too strong for this area rug and always use the hard floor setting. That helps with the white fibers pulling onto the blue. But sometimes it happens anyway, when entertaining or if the dog plays in the living room, and I'm not going to be SO crazy that I block it off (although I've definitely thought about doing that)

So my trick, you ask?!?!?!

A RAZOR!!!

I gently shave the surface of the area rug to remove the fibers and BOOM. Brand new. Then, I use an attachment to vacuum up the lifted fibers. Simple and quick!

It's good as new!!!! Now, here is my disclaimer... I have NO IDEA how good this is for the rug. I spent $150 on this Safavieh area rug 4 years ago so I don't care if I'm slowly destroying it because it was a great deal and after 4 years, it owes me nothing. All I care about is not seeing those white fibers. ;)

Here is the Dyson I use. I LOVE this vacuum so much. It pulls up everything and makes the carpets feel and look new. There are TONS of models that Dyson makes so before you purchase, do your research. Here is a link for the one we have Dyson DC33 

Listen, we all have tips and tricks that we use in our home to subside our little bits of OCD. Share some of yours in the comments below. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Kitchen OCD... I mean, organizing!

Ever get in those moods where all you want to do is clean and organize? Or am I just insane? 

Today was one of those days. I had a bunch of "stuff" on my To-Do list and they all got done. Among the "stuff" was organizing a few kitchen cabinets. Generally, I keep our cabinets tidy but sometimes, things get a little wild. 

It was one of those freezing cold but super sunny days... makes me want to keep busy but stay inside. As you can see in the picture below, I have plenty of cabinet space. The island has 2 huge cabinets and 2 drawers. We have SO much stuff and STILL can't fill all the cabinets. 

The kitchen is our most high traffic area. I cook just about every night and it's an open concept to the family room. If we aren't in the kitchen, we are in the family room. Oh and off the kitchen is the laundry room which is definitely a high traffic area (insert eye rolling emoji) 

So, I started with the island. My number one piece of advice is to clear EVERY SINGLE THING out. Starting with a clear, clean space is the best way to successfully organize. 

I placed according to how often we use. 

 These pot lid holders are my favorite. Simplest design, purchased from Walmart for maybe $7 and most importantly... it keeps me sane! 

The pans on tops are the most used... easy to reach. I placed the larger pots on the bottom, as pictured here. 

The other side of the island is flooded with Pyrex containers, Corningware, mixing bowls and strainers. 

 Stack if you can. I keep my mixing bowls stacked together. Makes it easier to store and keep tidy. Same with my Pyrex bowls and Corningware. 

So, after this I was feeling the "buzz" and decided to tackle a few other cabinets. My baking cabinet was in need of some serious attention... 

 The bottom shelf has advil, essential oils, cold medicines, etc. I got sick of going upstairs for these things all of the time. Plus, I remember my mom did/does the exact same thing in her baking cabinet so I just did what she did! ;) Duh!

I line things up so everything looks neat. I recommend making rows... example- behind the baking powder is baking soda and corn starch. All of my extracts are lined up in a row, too. I am also a big fan of using these containers for sugars and flours. Aside from how cute they look, they keep the ingredients fresh. 

I did our coffee/mug/espresso cabinet a few weeks ago and I've kept up with it since so I figured I'd share. It's the small counter space by the fridge...

And then there is my "cups/glasses" cabinet which I always keep tidy so I wanted to share that, too. In the spirit of organization!

And last but not least... the spice cabinet. Not sure why this picture came out so foggy but you get the gist. 

I am feeling so accomplished! Does this inspire you to organize your kitchen or question my sanity?!?!?!

Leave a comment below and let me know!

-Cyndi