Choosing a Paint Color

Painting is hands down the fastest and easiest and cheapest way to totally transform a room!
Every single wall of my home has been painted, mostly by me, from the dining room to even the garage, and everything in between--including closets and the pantry! I love paint. I love working with it, and seeing a room transform before my eyes.

Choosing the color is a big deal. Many people s t r u g g l e with this. I mean it holds them up for months. They put a few color swatches on the wall, and then never move forward. For me it is really easy.

The best thing to do, is start with something small. It is far less daunting, can be done very quickly, so you have very quick gratification, or..it is a small mistake that you can easily fix.
So go with a powder room, the closet, a pantry..

How to pick a color? I guess I am easily inspired and sold. It is very easy for me to pick a color. I have had one room painted 3 times--2 times by myself. I did not like the color I picked. Well I did, but just not for this room and this house. So I redid it. That is the worst thing that can happen, you have to redo it..

Picking colors should be easy, but as mentioned it can really trip people up. Look for inspiration in your home--artwork, accessories, bedding, dishes, your own clothes. What colors really make you happy, and what mood are you trying to invoke?

Often people go with softer colors for bedrooms, more intense colors for dining rooms, and strong neutrals or darkers colors for more formal or well used spaces. If I have a word to the wise, always go darker than the one you like. I cannot tell you how many people have said, "I should have gone darker." I have thought that too. If you are going to go to the trouble to paint, or pay someone to do it, you want to like it, a lot. Darker/more intense almost always wins out--you just feel and see the difference that much more.

Be conscious of the lighting. Daylight and bright sun are way different than dusk or night. Rooms look totally different during the sunny day. We have had just a little sun lately, and I have been surprised to see my paint colors popping so much more than they do on all the gray dreary days!

A decorative finish is so nice. I used a sponge roller in my bedroom, so it gave the walls a terrific texture, almost like plaster. I love it. One can over do the textures I think, so don't do them on every wall or in every room. You can always play with a little section on the wall, if you don't like it, paint back over it. Sponges, rags, glazes, are just some of the decorative finishes you can play with.

Make sure you are thinking how paint colors look room to room. You do want "flow." It really is not ideal to have each room look totally separate and standing on its own. It creates a very disjointed feeling. That is what happened with the one room I repainted. My home is warm yellow and green and black and neutral, and then I painted the office marina blue. Why I loved the color, it just did not flow at all with the rest of the house, let alone go with the house--the color belonged in a warm climate, or maybe just a little bathroom--but wrong for the office. Now it is a terrific warm orange, which compliments the other colors and is so warming.

Also keep in mind that you can use the same color but a different finish--i.e. you can go with matte paint on the walls, but then semi gloss on the frame--very nice look.

So if you are ready to create some feeling and atmosphere in your home, easily and over a weekend, look no further than your paint store. You will love what you can do for very little money.

Clean in 30 Minutes or Less

Help! You just got the call, friends are coming over in 30 minutes with Chinese food, wine, and a great movie! You have been out all day, and the house is less than ready for guests. Where to start?

Well you are going to be in the kitchen, dining room, family room or living room, so those rooms take first priority. You won't be in your room or the office, so if they are a mess, close the doors, you can even jokingly tell you friends those rooms are off limits tonight!

Kitchen. Put dirty dishes away. Hopefully you have a dishwasher and can pop them in. Dishwasher full of clean dishes...well you need to unload it. But really, that does only take like 3 minutes. If you don't have one, hopefully you don't have a sink or counter full of dishes. If you do, stack them neatly as possible in or next to the sink, at least your clutter will be organized, and then you can get the group to pitch in after dinner! Clean up the counters, get rid of clutter. You don't have time to do a great job with clutter right now, so just put it out of sight, BUT make a note that you must deal with it tomorrow. Get a candle lit to get some nice aromas circulating--cinnamon is always a favorite.

Wherever you will be eating, get the table cleared and set. Does not have to be fancy, but functional and clean. Again if they have clutter on them, put it away for now, but that does not mean forget about it.

Furniture. Make sure it is puffed up as I like to say. Fluff up the pillows, fold the throws, bang the seating to get rid of dust and freshen it up. Make it look inviting. Cofee table full of clutter, you know what to do! If you have a fire, light it.

Guest bathroom. Make sure it is clean. A toilet can be cleaned in 30 seconds. Wipe down the counter and sink, put out a fresh towel, light a little candle.

Run the vacuum in the areas you will be in. Probably nothing makes things look more clean than freshly vacuumed carpets. If you don't have carpet, still run the vaccum--not good seeing a dust ball blow around.

Turn on lights, close the blinds, put on some music.

Change into something you like, and settle yourself on the couch for your last 3 minutes with a glass of wine. You are ready.

Note, if you are a guest, always arrive 5-10 minute late (unless you are on a time limit, like a surprise party, picking someone up for a function, etc..) but when going to a dinner, etc..the host will love having those 5-10 minutes of bonus time. I am super organized, and I love having the bonus minutes.


Remember, tomorrow you need to go through the clutter that I gave you a pass on for tonight :)

Hosting Guests

We all have guests. Some of us have guests all the time, like every weekend. Some of us are far less the host, maybe just 2 or 3 times a year. Wherever you fall in the hosting category, making your guests feel welcome and comfortable is the top of the list!

It is hard to be a guest. Even if you are staying with a great friend or family member, you are a "guest" and it is not your space. So try to anticipate what a guest would need or want. Pretend you are a hotel or bed and breakfast and then it is easy to think about what you want to provide and project to your guest.

First impressions do matter! Have a nice entry way--clean front doorstep, clean front door, nice mat, light ON if they are arriving at dusk or night.

When they come in, have a place to set their bag or bags, and take their coat and hang up in the coat closet.

If they have traveled awhile see if they want to sit down, have a glass of water, or a drink if over 21 and they drink and of course the time of day :), maybe a snack, etc..Put them at ease right away.

Maybe they need to use the powder room. Have it clean! Smelling nice. Fresh towel and plenty of tp and tissues (tp is not tissues!) Make sure the trash is not overflowing. Always have a little book or magazine and also air freshener! Remember from my earlier posts, always have toilet bowl cleaner and a toilet brush under the sink, or easy to find (but not just sitting on the floor staring at them!) You never know, maybe they had a rich lunch, like Pasta Alfredo, and now are not feeling well (happens to me!)

Once they have settled in, with their coat taken, a snack, bathroom visit, and if they are rested, see if they would like a tour of the house (if they have been there a lot or have seen it recently, then probably not necessary.) So yes, this means your home needs to be clean. Again, think hotel, all of a hotel is always clean and ready. I for one love a tour, and I think most people do.

This is the perfect time to show them their room and bathroom. If they are couch surfing, then show them that as well, and make sure it is set up as best as you can to be comfortable and a personal space for them. IE no mail lying around, no dishes left out on the coffee table, etc.
If they are fortunate to have their own space, like a guest room, that is really nice. Make sure you have it welcoming, a little vase full of flowers is nice, have the drapes open and it dusted and clean and pretty. Have space in the closet for their items. Place their bag (s) in a space they can get to them but not in the center of the room. Having some books or magazines in there is nice as well. Make sure their linens and blankets are in good shape, matching if possible and smell good. I am all about smells!

Bathroom. Important. Just like the pit stop powder room, do the same. In this bathroom, you also want to make sure there is room for their personal items. If they are there for more than a day or two, having a little shelf or cupboard for them is a nice touch. Have guest soap and shampoo and conditioner. Clean and nice towels.

Make sure your guest knows where the food is, the goodies, the dishes and glasses, etc.. Let them know to help themself. It is always a great touch to have a plate of cookies or brownies, etc..out and waiting to be eaten!

If there is anything weird--like alarms, remotes that are hard to figure out, how to work the stereo, how to unlock the front door, whatever, make sure you let them know.

Let them know you want them to be as comfortable as possible and to ask you for whatever they need--funny, but people like to hear that, then they feel better when they need to ask.

Depending on how long the visit is, try to adhere to the types of foods they like, or at least include that, and have a few meals that are stand outs and really entertain. Having a guest is a real treat.

Happy hosting!

Recycling and Being Green

It is probably front and center every day for you--if it isn't, it should be. Now my husband hates "shoulds" but I think sometimes they are imperative. There is NO reason all of us should not be conscious about recycling. I know, it can get a bit tedious, and sometimes you just have to give yourself a break. But for the most part, recycling has now become part of our day, just like brushing our teeth.

Now I am a child of the 60s. Recycling back then was not a part of our life. The only thing I remember was soda cans--you could collect them and take them to a recycling center. Funny, that is the only thing I remember attaching the word "recycling" to. There must have been early adopters, who knew what the world would be like in 20 or 30 or 40 years, but I don't think we were a family of early adopters. Now I will say my parents were always good about recycling a lot of yard debris and growing vegetables. You should see them now! But anyhow, I did no recycling when I was a kid.

I don't really even remember it as an idea until I was in my early 20s and working and one of the gals I worked with--who was about 45, decided we should all be recycling our white paper waste--and there is tons of it in offices. It was met with resistance, which is so funny! She put boxes in everyone's cubes and office and she only asked that you put your white paper there, and she would PICK it up for you (I don't know how she recycled it, I don't recall..)

So I remember that. But I don't even think then I was recycling other stuff. I know I have been recycling for about 10 years. Honestly I cannot remember before that. I guess the bins that were given to us by the trash company made it pretty damn easy! If you are not on the band wagon yet, here are some ideas/"shoulds" of what can be recycled.

1. Paper--white paper from work and home, all junk mail, newspapers, magazines (if your library or a rest home, etc. takes these, what a great way to reuse..) paper is a huge culprit of waste. I have tried to be much more conscious of it. If you don't have to print it out, please do NOT. Cancel catalogs.

2. Plastic, glass, cans--most garbage companies collect all of this. Really, how much easier does it have to be? Now our company does not pick up glass, which drives me nuts! But, in any case, every couple of weeks we take our glass to huge bins at the grocery store. I cannot even imagine throwing it out.

3. Try not to use plastic bags from the grocery store. If you do, you can return them and they will recycle them. Or use them again at the store yourself, or use them for trash at home. Do not just throw them away. I hate to say for years I did just that. A huge landfill problem!

4. Do NOT buy plastic water bottles unless you have to, and then recycle them! It is really quite easy to get your own reusable water bottle.

5. Get resuable cloth bags to use at the grocery store and other shopping. They are all the rage these days.

6. Donate clothes and other items that are in good shape that you are done with. Really, I cannot believe this even needs to be said, people actually throw their clothes and other items away instead of donating--shameful.

7. Use worn out towels and washcloths for rags around the house.

8. Recycle printer cartridges. I also used to not do this. It is so easy now, many manufacturers enclose a return postage paid envelope in the box--doesn't get much simpler!

9. Recycle cell phones--donate them to a cause--a terrific gift to someone and they are all over every town--domestic abuse centers, phones for soldiers, etc..

10. Buy energy efficient bulbs. They have an amazing life. They are a bit ugly,so if I can see them, like in nice lamp, then I still won't use them. But there are plenty of lights at home they can go in. My power company even sent 6 out to each customer--doesn't get much easier than that!

11. Use less power! Don't turn all the lights on. Turn down the heater. Try to live without AC--I hate AC. Get some fans instead.

12. Buy local food. My daughter is all about this, and she really is right. This is taking time, but catching on all the time.

13. Walk when you can. Tough to do, but such a big win.

14. Use less water. Just turning the faucet off when you brush your teeth is a huge win.Run the dishwasher every other day. Save up laundry.

15. Recycle computer batteries and cell phone batteries, and other electronics--find a place that takes them. Do not throw any electronic waste out--BAD.

Again, it is all around us all day long, so jump in and think about what you are using, what you can reduce, what you can recycle, what you can do without, what you can teach others. Our earth is suffering from all the garbage we have created. What is must have been like, even 100 years ago..

Installing Vinyl Stick on Tile

If you want to do a weekend makeover, in many cases just a 6-8 hour makeover, and not spend a lot of money, I only spent $30--then this is a great project for you!

After we had moved into our home, I really grew to not like the white linoleum in the laundry room and the second bathroom. I was never a fan of white linoleum, but the more I looked at it the more I wanted to change it. The laundry room is downstairs, and is connected to the hall, where there is a very nice golden toned hard wood floor. So the white linoleum bumping up next to it did not look good. The second bathroom just seemed bland and lonely with the classic shiny white linoleum. But at the time I did not know how simple and cheap it could be to change these!

My mother had just recently put down vinyl tiles in my brother's home in Las Vegas, and that was the first time I had heard about the product. Cheap and easy (well pretty easy.) Just go to Home Depot or Lowes and see what they have. So I did. For about $30 a box, and depending on the price point, that could be 30 tiles, I could do a bathroom or laundry room for $30. Suppose I hate it 5 years down the road? Big deal, it cost me $30! I love price points that are not the least bit stressful, as well as projects that I can do and I don't need a professional. So I was sold!

There are many tiles to choose from, keep in mind there are also vinyl tiles that attach like ceramic tiles, and there are tons of those. I am talking about the stick on tiles, the easiest thing, and I found about a dozen or so to choose from at Home Depot. All about $30 a box for 30.

I would suggest thinking about the style you want and color--ie in the bathroom I went with tiles that look like marble tiles, and have grout lines. For the laundry room I went for a dark color that looks like slate. I love the laundry room tiles! Word to the wise--I definitely found the tiles with the grout lines much more of a challenge. You have to match the grout lines and make sure you don't have grout lines that would be placed oddly if it were real grout, and if you are going around a toilet like I did, that is a certain challenge. The tiles I put in the laundry room were so much easier, because there were no grout lines to deal with.

Determine how much you will need. Easy. Measure the room. Say it is 13 x 13, then you have an area of 169 square feet. The box will tell you how many square feet it covers. If you have any doubt, ask someone who works there (I always do!)

Of course then you choose your tile. Like anything, I think the more neutral or classy the better. But again, at such a tiny price, it is not a big deal if you don't like it later.

Before you begin to stick the tiles, you must have a very clean floor. Cleaner than you would normally do. Vacuum it first and then clean with a good cleanser. Make sure you get up all grime, grease, wax, debris. Let dry really well.

The great thing about these tiles is they can be put right on top of old floors!! Even concrete. Now that I know that, I am thinking what a great way to improve the garage!

Before you stick anything down, lay out the floor. This is important--again I learned this with the grout lines. You will definitely be cutting tiles, so you will want really good utility scissors. The glue on these things is sticky! Remember the Gilligan's Island episode when they made maple syrup, but it was so sticky they made glue out of it instead! Well this is like that, really sticky!! So be prepared to get glue on your hands, no matter how hard you try not to. And while I am the biggest proponent of rubber gloves, this task is very hard to do with gloves on..

Plan on a day, between buying, cleaning and installing and clean up. It might take you less, it most likely won't take you more. You will love the results. I still do! I have never been a fan of linoleum, but that is because I really had no idea what is out there. It is no longer your grandmother's, or even mom's linoleum. Happy flooring!

What you will need:

Linoleum tiles

Tape measure

Pencil

Rolling pin (to roll over tiles as you press down)

Clean rags

Sponge

Solvent cleaner

Utility scissors

Floor and Rug Cleaning

Along with window coverings it is a great time to start thinking about cleaning your floors! I am staring at my carpets today and want so much to get them steam cleaned--but think I should wait at least another month or so, I don't know.

Carpets--carpets are the worst. I wish I had all hardwood floors, or almost any kind of flooring besides wall to wall carpet. A large portion of our house is hardwood--why could not the builder have done the whole damn thing that way?? For carpet cleaning, you really need to vacuum them first, a really good job, to get up all the crap--in my house, that means a lot of dog hair. You can rent a carpet cleaner at many stores like grocery stores and home improvement stores, you can even buy one for just a couple of hundred dollars (I had one myself for a few years) or you can pay and have a professional do the job--I recommend. If they are good, they will do a very good job, thorough, better than you can do, and include things like a special coating for the stairs to keep the dirt off, etc..For about $300 for a house it is worth it. That is the direction I hope to go soon. Carpets can look awful really easily, so don't let this be you.

Wood floors--now I have hardwood floors, and I use Murphy's Oil Soap. A little in a warm bucket of warm (saying warm water in a bucket sounds weird) goes a long way. Your house will smell so good, and you won't believe the dirty water. I wash my floors every week.

If you have linoleum or tile I recommend a gentle detergent in warm water and mop as well.

Floors should be cleaned once a week. Dirty floors are just gross. Oh, but you will need to vacuum or sweep first--you cannot mop a floor with dog hair, dust, dirt, all over it!

Throw rugs--if you can machine wash them, do. Or if they are too big, take them to a laundromat. Of if they have to be dry cleaned, then off they go. I think it is fine to clean rugs--washing or dry cleaning--once a year. Vacuuming will really keep them pretty clean. Now I have a really nice Oriental rug. I mean nice. Last year I was watering a plant for a few months, and did not know the plastic saucer had a tear in it, so I was watering the Oriental rug beneath it! Thank god I discovered it just after three months--and that was bad enough! The water had sat on the rug and rotted it, I could pull the wool right up. It was about the size of a pie pan. The rug under the rug was pretty gross, black, but I was able to clean that up very well. Lesson learned, be careful with plant saucers and check under them often. Even if on a floor, like wood, it can get damaged if it gets wet and stays wet.

Mats--like front door mats. Unless they look great, I would replace them every 1-2 years. Always sweep them off and keep them as good looking as you can. They are a first impression. Make sure the mat fits the space, and I prefer simple and classy to cute. Bath mats can look junky after a year, but the better the quality, the longer they last. I recommend putting them in the wash every 1-2 weeks--they look so great when all fluffed up!

Since flooring is in every room of your house and even outside, the patios etc..take care of it. When your flooring looks beat up and tired your whole home suffers.

Window Treatment Cleaning

The windows tend to be ignored a bit this time of year. If you live in an area like I do, with a lot of darkness and rain, it seems the windows just get lost in the dreary weather. But all window treatments get dusty, and if you get up close and look you might be surprised how dirty your window treatments are!

Here are some ideas for cleaning window treatments:

Feather duster. Great for dusting. But the dust does go somewhere, so be prepared to vacuum as well.

Vacuum cleaner with attachment--my personal favorite. An easy way to freshen things up.

Compressed air. You can buy this at Home Depot. It is great for shades likes Silhouettes that have areas that dust gets trapped in.

Hair dryer...no. I know, tempting. But a hair dryer can damage or even melt fabric.

Spot cleaning. If you accidentally splashed your window treatment, say with a drink, make sure you spot clean it right away before the stain sets in. A sponge with a mild soap is all you need--don't rub the spot but blot it.

It is best not to machine wash your curtains. If you do, then wash them in the most delicate cycle with cold water and a light detergent. If they are custom made, then always dry clean them.

Ultrasonic cleaning, like carpet cleaning by a professional. This can be great for wood blinds. Those take a lot of work to clean. I used to have them all over my other house. But this time around I did without them--total dust collectors! But I do like the way they look.

If you are like me, you have spent a fair amount of money on all your window treatments. Take care of them and they will last you a long time.