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. 

Powder Room refresh for under $100

Hey all! I JUST finished a little powder room refresh and I'm so excited to share it! 

How did this project start, you ask? Well, I was walking by the powder room and realized the lighting above the sink was, ummm, not cute. Then, I looked around the tiny powder room and thought... "Hmmmm, this room isn't that cute at ALL." So, off to Lowes I went, followed by TJ Maxx and Michaels. 

So, this transformation kind of just happened. No joke. I had NO plan. The only thing I knew was that I wanted a new light fixture. So, I found this light fixture from Lowes for just under $50. Couldn't find the exact bulbs but here is the brand and the style- my bulbs are much more round. GE Relax LED bulbs 

                                  

         

Light bulbs- $8.98 for a pack of 2

Vanity Light Fixture- $49.98

Ohhhh yea... want to see a before? 

I haven't touched this room since we moved in. Hung that cute little canvas on the wall and called it a day. 

After I picked up the new light fixture, my wheels started turning. I knew I wanted to do this entire refresh for under $100. I went on a hunt to find some kind of shelf unit for above the toilet but no luck. I found some cute ones from TJMaxx and Michaels... Since I had roughly $30 left in my budget (after light and bulbs) all options would exhaust the budget. I almost gave up until... right by the check out line in Michaels, I came across this white, wooden crate. I thought to myself, "Self, couldn't I hang this on the wall from the bottom and turn it into a shelf?" Promptly after my thinking, I googled "milk crate shelf" and boom. It's a thing. This crate was $10. 

                 

 

I decorated the crate with a little basket and tiny mason jar from Michaels. The books and greenery were things I had around the house. Stuffed the basket with 2 wash cloths. 
Basket- $3(ish)
Mason jar- $2(wish)

 Only thing left to get is a new hand towel. I also thought about spray painting the towel holder a matte black... but we'll see. ;) 

Thanks for stopping by!

xo - Cyndi 

Bargain Furniture Shopping!

My most viewed post, Designer vs. Bargain, is all about finding the bargain furniture piece.  I figured it was time to revisit this most viewed post! (I don't even share this post on my social media and it gets views daily... just floating around the world wide web.)

  

This is the sofa that inspired my original post! Unfortunately, Bob's Discount Furniture no longer sells my beautiful, $550 couch. The designer version (Ethan Allen Chadwick Sofa) is a show stopper but costs a pretty penny. 

 If you search hard enough, finding the more affordable version of what you really want is 100% possible. 

*Side Note- I am sure this couch is well made and beautifully crafted. My grandma has all Ethan Allen furniture and it lasts a lifetime. If I could afford it, I would consider buying it if on sale. However, my affordable Bob's sofa is going on 5 years and has been very good to us! ;) 

Here are some other comps I found while searching online... (click the pictures to make them larger)

 Ethan Allen sofette compared to one on Wayfair. I actually think I like the look of the Wayfair sofa better than the EA one. 

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Not 100% similar but definitely in the same boat. The Bob's sofa is quite the deal in comparison to the Ethan Allen one. 

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This Arhaus chaise lounge is stunning... but the Wayfair version looks just as beautiful and for a fraction of the cost. 

I'm a BIG fan of Homegoods but you can't always guarantee their inventory. Correction, you can never guarantee their inventory. If you're in northern NJ and reading this, HomeSense (sister store of HomeGoods) just opened in East Hanover and they have a nice furniture selection. Much bigger than HomeGoods. These stores are fabulous because of their price tags. 

Before you pull the trigger on a $$$ expensive sofa, humor me and quickly search for a comparable. You may be pleasantly surprised with what you find!

Thanks for stopping by. 

Cyndi 

New Year... New Idea!

It's a New Year and I have an idea but...  I need YOUR help! Does the thought of stepping into HomeGoods make you cringe? Are the walls in your home still bare years after moving day? Have cute accessories but just don't know how to style them? Well read on, my friend, read on! 

I've invested so much time, energy and research into this passion of mine and I would like to tackle more. I'm looking for a few "victims" to help me take my passion for decorating to the next level.  I would love to help some friends (friends of friends, family of friends, etc) transform a space in their home free of charge. Here is the scoop:

1. Budget- I am looking to create a business but my services will be complimentary as part of my kick off! I am also the queen of bargain shopping so I will keep your costs down because that's just how I do :) However, depending on your goals, it would be realistic to say that a few hundred $ would be a reasonable "transformation" budget. ***I LOVE to shop around the house and that can save tons!
**Now, if your room is empty and you want to completely furnish it, obviously the budget increases. 

2. The space- One room transformation... family/living room, dining room, bedroom, den, office, sitting room, kids room, play room, etc.

3. Time frame- I would break the time up by having an initial consultation to view the space and discuss vision/goals. Then, I create a layout and plan. Shop. Decorate. I work fast, too! :) 

4. Sharing- I would like to document the transformation and share pictures on my blog/social media as a way to market my services. 

Please scroll through a few pictures to check out my home and some projects I've completed. If you are interested in working together, PLEASE reach out! Comment on the blog post or email me at decisivedecor@gmail.com 

Striped wall was a DIY I did a few years ago.  This is the entrance to our room. Check it out here.

Formal Living Room

This wall stencil was another DIY I completed a few years back. Stencil accent wall DIY can be found here.

This was a cute spring party I hosted for my Mom's birthday last year. Read more here.

Floral arranging.

Master Bathroom- designed this shower (with my husband) Master Shower Reno Post.

Master Bathroom

Christmas table 2017

Gallery wall project I completed for a friend. Read more here. 

Master bedroom.

Cozy TV room... transitional style.

Love mixing textures and patterns.

 I made that Sunburst mirror as a DIY a few years ago... 5 hours, $40 and many blisters from the hot glue gun! Read the Sunburst DIY here. 

Kitchen counters aren't currently like this... changes weekly. (Husband gets so confused!) But I LOVE my MacKenzie Child's Courtly Check and that's not going anywhere!

Pictures of Christmas Past!

So many of the blogs I follow start putting up their Christmas decor NOW. But I physically can't do that. I loooooove decorating for Christmas. The sparkles and the lights, the holly jolly and the fa la la but the first week in November is just too early. I put my skinny TV room tree up the day before Thanksgiving and I put the big tree up the day after Thanksgiving. Then, all weekend long I add touches of Christmas all over the house. 

BUT in the spirit of decorating, I thought I would share some pictures of Christmas past. (Get The Christmas Carol reference, there?) 

 This was my very first table in the house. (2013) LOVED how busy and festive it was!!! 

 Last year, we invested in a pre-lit tree. 

Christmas 2016 table was very simple... with the motto "less is more". Jury is still out on what the Christmas 2017 table will look like. I do love how I tied in the pink accents in the center piece, treating the dining room and living room as one space. 

 Found this pillow cover on Amazon for CHEAP. Maybe $10. 

 I can't even tell you how much I adore this skinny tree!

 This room is all about cozy... layering pillows and faux fur!

Griffin agrees... cozy!

I've made so many small changes to the decor since last year so I am excited to see how I incorporate the Christmas decor. Even though I use all of the same stuff, I always try and make it look new! 

Share your comments and thoughts below and stay tuned for the 2017 reveal!!!

xo Cyndi