If you’ve got old furniture that is looking worn, dull and dated, then give it new life with these simple steps for how to restore wood furniture. You’ll just need a couple of things that I bet you already have on hand – no chemical stripper or sanding required!
Cleaning
Hold Onto Your Britches Season
This post is in partnership with iRobot®. While this was a sponsored opportunity, all content and opinions expressed here are my own. I’m not sure where August has gone. One day I’m dropping the kid off for her first day back to school, thinking about all the work I’ve got to get caught up on…
A month with Greta.
It’s been a little over a month since we added a new addition to our family. She’s not cute and cuddly, but she is sleek and efficient.
She’s Greta.
Less Stress, More Summer
This summer, we’ll be by the pool soaking in the sunshine and sweetness of being seven – and telling the to-do list exactly where it can go….
Hassle Free Cleaning
This post is sponsored by Swiffer. All opinions are 100% mine. Every farmhouse should be equipped with a muddy boots and clothes drop zone-washroom. By farmhouse, I mean actual houses on farms, not farmhouse style houses in the middle of the city. Y’all know how I feel about that term being used in the design…
One Stop Workshop: DIY Mobile Workbench + Pegboard Organization
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of True Value. The opinions and text are all mine. As you know, I’ve been on a purge streak lately. I’ve said good riddance to so much clutter in our house that I’m actually a little embarrassed by just how much we had. Quickly followed…
How I Made $2K+ in Two Months Selling Our Clutter
The title of this post speaks for itself. We had a ton of stuff piled up in the garage, in the guest bedroom, in our closets – everywhere. Yes, I have slight hoarding tendencies. Most of that stuff, we didn’t need. So I finally sifted through all the clutter, went all “You are the weakest…
The Easiest Way to Clean Really Gross Vinyl Upholstery
The Circus and I have trekked through some interesting places in our yard sale and estate sale adventures. There are times I pray she doesn’t blurt out something about how bad it stinks wherever we are or how dirty the place is. Oftentimes, I bathe her in Germ-X when we get back in the car….
Cleaning Up Vintage Brass
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scrub Daddy. All opinions are 100% mine. I get giddy like a schoolgirl over a good piece of vintage brass. I already have more pieces of it than I can use in my own house, but with starting the pop-up shops, I’ve gained just…
Keeping the Carpet from Going to the Dogs
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Skout’s Honor. All opinions are 100% mine. I am not a dog person. I never have been. It’s like God just forgot to give me that little piece of my heart that thinks dogs are cute and cuddly no matter what they smell like…
5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing
Ok, I feel like the title of this post is slightly dramatic. But. These five simple storage and organization ideas have seriously changed and simplified our home. Whenever we moved into the 70’s Landing Pad, something happened to me. I got bit by the purge and organize bug. This bug bite though, was a welcome…
The Best Yard Sale Tips So You Can Pawn Your Junk Off On Someone Else
Affiliate links may be contained in this post. At some point during my adult lifetime, I feel I’ve become a professional yard saler in both having yard sales and going to them. Of course, I hit up yard sales almost any weekend I can, but I also usually have a yard sale or garage sale…
Pink lemonade spills are my favorite…
This post is sponsored by Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, however all opinions are 100% my own. Affiliate links may be contained in this post. One Sunday a month, we make a pilgrimage to the Costco. It usually ends in me being quite frazzled because there were too many people there, Grunt Labor wanted to buy too…
How to Clean Copper
I’m not even gonna lie – I had to google what copper was supposed to look like to make sure I was just cleaning it and not stripping it off this cookie jar.
That’s how bad it was.
Or how pathetic I am.
I picked up this sweet little cookie jar (that has never once housed cookies, only applesauce pouches and fruit snacks) on a Goodwill excursion a few years back. It was actually a half-off Goodwill day and I found it at the end of the day for a whopping $3 so not only was I shocked it was still there, but it was a great deal.
I had originally thought I might spray paint it in order to cover up all the spots on it. I’m not sure what all the “spots” were as it didn’t look like rust, but I figured it was beyond the point of no return. Not wanting to loose the copper feel though, I left it as is on my counter for the past three years.
I’m really glad I never went crazy with the spray paint on it. Because it looks like this now…
Click the link below to read the rest…
How to Remove Paint Overspray from Floors
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat at the kitchen table or been driving the car having a conversation with one of the part-time children about their day and all of a sudden they say, “So I told him my white mama would do it.”
Stop.
Hold the phone.
Shut the front door.
You did what? What did you just volunteer me for child?
To buy ad space on a t-shirt.
To help sell peaches.
To makeover the locker room.
While there are countless more events to note in this department, today I would like to talk about the time I was volunteered to makeover a football locker room.
What had happened was…
Click the link below to read the rest…
How to Remove Rust from Chrome and Other Metals
Do you have rust creeping up on metal surfaces, a chrome finish item or even metal furniture? Before you toss it or give up, read this method for how to remove rust from chrome and get rust off metal surfaces. It might just be easier than you think!
9+ Must Read Cleaning Tips
If we’re being honest, and since I’m always honest with you, my house is not clean right now.
Its not clean at all.
May is a whirlwind of events for us and cleaning is not one of those events that tends to take place during the month.
Until there is a mad dash next Friday to clean right before the kid’s birthday party so that our guests don’t turn and run screaming out the door…
I can hear the circus talking to her therapist in ten years, “Everyone showed up for my birthday party that year, but then made a beeline for the door when they saw dust an inch thick and dried crusty milk on the floor. They took all their presents with them. I’ve never been the same since.”
Therapy is going to cost me a fortune.
So next week, to hopefully cut down on therapy costs, these are my best cleaning tips that I will actually do…well at least everywhere that guests will be… 😉
How to Clean Concrete Blocks
Typically, I leave the outdoor arena to Grunt Labor.
He is amazing at growing flowers.
He loves to keep the grass looking good.
He puts his heart and soul into our garden.
He’s currently working on building a new patio.
However, cleaning outdoors isn’t necessarily his thing.
That’s usually left to me – and that’s ok – especially when its as easy as it was to clean these concrete blocks.
How I Clean My Entire Kitchen With One Single Thing
Let me be the first to say that I am not a great house cleaner.
If you’ve been around here long enough, I’m sure you could have easily guessed that one.
Its not that I’m a bad house house cleaner, its just that I don’t do it often enough.
We don’t have week old food laying out on the kitchen counter or anything, but most days its questionable as to what the sticky substance on the countertop might be.
I’m just keeping it real, y’all.
However, when I do get around to cleaning – like I did yesterday so that I could take photos for an upcoming house tour that didn’t include gross sticky unknown substances – I clean my kitchen with one single thing. I call it my little mouse.
Fo’ Realz.
10+ Kitchen Ideas for Decorating, Organizing, and Storage
I am all about a pretty space.
I’m also all about a real life space.
The problem is that pretty + real life don’t always work together.
And real life tends to trump pretty everyday of the week.
I always struggle with finding that happy balance between pretty and real life in the kitchen.
Prime example: the chips will always live on top of the fridge. No, its not pretty, but that’s where we expect them to be, so that’s where they will always be come hell or high water unless we magically get more pantry or cabinet space…which I won’t hold my breath for.
That being said, these are my best kitchen ideas for merging real life and pretty.
Doritos bag on the refrigerator not included.
How To Get Pet Stains and Odors Out of Your Carpet without Chemicals
I am not a dog person.
I’m not really a pet person at all.
Some of you may have just decided to unsubscribe from my blog. I fully understand that not being very fond of pets, especially dogs, is considered to most very un-American.
You see, I was always skiddish around them when I was a kid – like even a small kid when you are supposed to love all cute and cuddly things. I’m past the skiddish part, but I cannot stand to be licked by a dog or have it up in my face.
And they smell. They totally have the smelliest farts in the history of the universe.
You know I’m right.
And then Grunt and I got together.
And he had two dogs.
That stayed inside the house most of the time.
And one that slept with him.
And I seriously considered whether or not I could marry a man who slept with a dog.
But then all those chocolate milks just won me over and I had to learn to deal, ok and love, the dogs.
I couldn’t deal with the dog sleeping with us though – that had to end. I have my limits.
And then the circus entered the picture.
And she was sharing her bottle with the dogs at six months old.
And crawling on their bed, wallowing around in it.
And I cringed.
And then for a solid year all she wanted to play with was her stuffed dogs and the real dogs.
My friend Ashley even mocked me for having a child that loved dogs when I detested them so much.
They aren’t kidding when they say God has a sense of humor.
I have come to somewhat love the dogs. Well, I love them because Grunt Labor and the kid love the dogs.
So the other night after dinner as I was straightening up the kid’s room and asking myself why a two year old just can’t pick up after herself, I stepped in something. Wet.
And I said, please sweet Lord Jesus, don’t let this be dog pee.
I got down on the floor and sniffed.
Remember how I said God has a sense of humor?
Seriously?
After a string of not-so-nice words, I decided to try something new on the pet accidents.
Color Coded Organization
Let’s get one thing clear.
I am not an organization guru.
Heck, I’m not really a guru of any sorts. I just fly my freak flag and do what works.
I have my own weird methods for organizing and storing stuff.
For example, the kid has three different boxes in her room for small toys.
One holds things that could potentially be living: plastic dinosaurs, My Little Ponies, Smurf figurines, Little People, California Raisin figurines, etc.
I don’t know where I come up with this stuff either.
Or why I consider Smurfs and California Raisins to be potentially living things.
Another box holds non-potential living things: wooden blocks and plastic easter eggs.
I know, it makes no sense.
And the last box holds paper items: stickers and things to write on.
Shocking. One box actually makes sense.
See what I mean when I say that I do what works for me?
I knew you would get me – you’re my people.
This is my latest “what works for me” organizing method:
Color Coded Organization
And shockingly, this may actually make sense to more people than myself.
15 Days to a Clutter-Free Home…And Some Extra Cash
Every year, usually a day or two after Christmas, something very liberating happens at our house.
No bra burning.
No marches on the courthouse lawn.
We purge.
I go through every nook and cranny of this house and I get rid of stuff.
Lots of stuff.
And it feels so good.
And then after I’ve went through every nook and cranny, I start selling all that stuff.
And I make a little money.
And that feels damn good.
This year, I wanted you to get in on the excitement of purging and finding money, so I whipped up this little printable to share what I do.
How to Restore Hardware in 5 Minutes
I am kicking myself, y’all.
Kicking myself.
I’ve spray painted and Rub ‘N Buffed so many pulls and knobs over the years – I had no idea how to clean them.
Don’t get me wrong – there are sometimes when you want a bold colored knob, but sometimes I just want that hardware restored to its former glory.
I had no clue how to restore hardware to its former glory though.
Until a few weeks ago.