Mar 172013
 

Decorating Ideas for Families

More than putting those little clips on your cabinet doors, and making sure sharp objects are kept at a safe distance, there are other ways to make sure your home is family-friendly, as you can see from my tips and ideas below.

Family-friendly Decorating Ideas - via viewsfromtheville.com

  • Use an outdoor rug indoors.  Choose a rug that is durable and easy-to-clean.  Heavily-patterned rugs are also a good idea, so that stains and crumbs are less visible.  Rugs on hardwood floors are a good idea, so that there is something soft for children to sit on, near the sofa.
  • Choose durable materials for upholstery, solid furniture and wall finishes.
  • Have non-upholstered chairs in the dining room.  Spills and scratches are inevitable, a rustic wooden table will make it look intentional.
  • Make spaces easily transitional.  This is especially important in the bedroom.  While it may be fun to deck-out a child’s bedroom in pink or blue, having a too-young bedroom when your children start to get older may make them feel out of place.  Instead, try to use elements that can be easily updated or re-purposed for when your children get older or change their favourite colour.
  • Create a space where people of all ages can be comfortable.  In the picture below, you’ll notice a white pouf.  I recommend using things like poufs and ottomans, and rocking chairs for people to be able to be able to sit comfortably.  It can be difficult for small children to climb up on a higher sofa, so having a variety of pieces to sit on is key.  You’ll notice that the kid-friendly furniture doesn’t look like it is just for children. Continue reading »
Mar 152013
 

Desk Accessories for Spring - Green Cordless Phone from Vtech

Green VTech Cordless Phone for Spring

One of the things I love most about spring is how fresh and bright everything looks.  It really gets me in the mood to spruce up our home and swap out winter textures and accessories for new spring ones.  This definitely goes for my home office, as well.  If I have to sit in there for hours each day I want it to be fun and uplifting.

Most of the time I end up buying new desk accessories like pen cups, staplers, binders, and the like.  Sometimes I’ll add new wall hangings or art, change out a lamp or lamp shade, maybe even add a new throw rug or hang new window treatments.  Not only does it keep it current for the season and changes in weather it helps keep work feeling fresh and not so ho-hum.

With all those changes it wasn’t until just recently that I thought about being able to accessorize with phones, however.  I mean, a phone is a phone, right?  You use it to place and receive (or screen) calls.  You just want it to have the functions you need like be cordless, have caller ID, and maybe (probably) an answering machine.  If you’re using it in your home office you might also want it to be able to handle conferencing people together on a single call.

But just because something needs to be functional it doesn’t mean it can’t be fun.  I’m loving that VTech feels the same way and has colored cordless phones in their line up.  Their green phone is perfect for spring, whether it’s in a home office, the kitchen, the kids’ room, as a St. Patrick’s Day gift, or any reason, really.  It has a digital answering machine and you can retrieve your messages right from the handset (love that feature).  It also has DECT 6.0 digital technology, which is tech-speak for great sound and voice quality.  You can even add up to four additional handsets on the same phone jack which is great for being able to stash phones in any location you might want to receive a call.  Like out on the deck which is where I wish my home office was located.

What is your favorite office accessory for spring?

I received one or more of the above mentioned products in order to facilitate my review. No additional compensation was received and all opinions, as always, are 100% that of myself and my family.

Feb 122013
 

Easy Valentine’s Knotted Fleece Pillow

DIY Crafts for Valentine's - "Torn" Pillow

Even before having a family of my own Family Fun magazine has always been one of my favorites.  I subscribe to a number of magazines but Family Fun is one that I save each issue to refer to later.  It always has lots of fun activities, recipes, and crafts to do and make with the kiddos.  In their recent December/January edition they had some cute DIY gifts that kids could make and one suggestion was for baseball and football knotted fleece pillows.  As soon as I saw them I knew I’d love to do a heart-shaped one for Valentine’s Day.

One of the best parts of this craft project is how quick and easy it is to complete.  Bubbles generally naps for about 45 minutes and I had time to do a couple of chores before sitting down to make the pillow.  I think they’re really cute and will be a nice homemade addition to Bubbles’ Valentine’s gift. Continue reading »

Feb 102013
 

Suggestions for Valentine Crafts, Recipes, and DIY

Valentine’s Day is this week but there is still plenty of time to make or bake some treats if you’re feeling crafty.  I hope to have one more craft tutorial for an easy gift and one more quick recipe for you before the big day.  Until then I wanted to share some of my favorite Valentine’s ideas from both Pinterest and some fellow bloggers.

(Really, what did we do for inspiration before Pinterest?)

Valentine’s Recipes

Heart Cupcakes from A Helicopter Mom

Valentine recipes

Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Valentine recipes

Continue reading »

Jan 292013
 

Creating a #MomCave With La-Z-Boy

#MomCave Inspiration From La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries

We’ve been planning out some projects for this house this year.  Almost every room needs something: new furniture, paint, accessories, a new layout.  This has given me a reason to spend a lot of time online browsing furniture stores to get inspiration and give us some focus for when we actually go shopping.

I need #MomCave inspiration from La-Z-Boy!

Can you read the cover of the book? It’s a book about “If…” I decided to leave it on the shelf because it fit my mindset of what this room could be, “if only…”

One of the rooms that needs to be redone is the office.  It’s kind of a sad-looking room to be honest.  If you’re like me, when you start home makeovers you probably choose rooms that other people can, you know, see.  No one goes into the office except us so it’s been much lower on the list to get attention.  There’s a huge desk that hubby and I share, and a treadmill.  And blinds.  Oh, and Bubbles’ diapers and wipes (out of site yet still quick to grab when needed).  Exciting, huh? Continue reading »