Don’t worry, we aren’t about to suggest something like this…
Our pets are part of our families. Our dogs and cats are like children with all of their toys and accessories. Pets are big business in America. Billions of dollars are spent every year on pets, food, toys, beds and even clothing for our dogs. This industry means you can find the perfect solution for almost every need your pet may have. The perfect water bowl and food dish are the start of a charming pet feeding station in your kitchen.
Creating a pet zone in your home can help control the clutter that comes with having a dog or cat. Designing a pet feeding station in the kitchen or mudroom will help organize all of your pets food needs into one place, saving you valuable floor and counter space. Floor space is at a premium in most kitchens. Finding a place for Fido’s or Fifi’s water bowl and food dish that isn’t in a major traffic pattern can be tricky. Set up a food station that is out of the main foot traffic to avoid spilling water and kibble all over your kitchen floors. A simple mat under the food and water can protect your floors from spills and messes.
If you have a walk-in pantry you might want to set up the feeding station in there. Keeping pet food in containers or bins can also make things neater and more organized on the shelf or in a cupboard. If you have the room next to the food dish, you might want to keep a pretty canister or bin there.
Bare, blank walls can make a room feel unfinished. Choosing what to hang where in the home can also be intimidating for some. Staring at a blank wall when decorating is kind of like a writer staring at a blank page when writing. The blank stare can stifle us from making a decision. If you have blank walls in your bedroom, or anywhere in your home, we hope this article can help you take the first step to decorating your walls.
Bedrooms should be sanctuaries and calm places for us to restore our spirits as well as rest our bodies. Comfortable textiles on the bed, soft flooring like carpet or area rugs on the floor, curtains that can block light all create the environment for good sleep. You can add to the soothing and restorative qualities of your bedroom by what you hang on the walls.
Every wall in the room does not have to be filled with art. Empty spaces give the eye a place to rest. Art for the bedroom can be framed in frames that coordinate with the furniture, wall or floors. Metal frames can also add a little sparkle to the room. You can frame practically anything and it will look great on the wall. Framed art can include family photos, your wedding portrait or vacation photos. Fabric and paper can also be framed. Choose art that speaks to you. If you love it, you will love to see it as you fall asleep and wake up every day.
Cooking with kids is a great way to get them involved and interested in a variety of different foods. If you’re interested in doing some cooking with your kids this summer, consider trying one of these easy and fun options to get you started.
Oven Roasted Corn
This simple recipe makes incredibly flavorful corn that kids are sure to love.
Ingredients
4 ears of corn
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon sea salt
4 12-inch sheets of aluminum foil
Instructions
If you do not plan on eating the corn the same day you buy it, wrap the ears still in their leaves in wet paper towels to help them retain moistness and flavor.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees (alternatively, you can also make this corn on the grill)
Peel the corn and discard the leaves and silk
Have the kids rub each ear of corn with 1 tablespoon of butter and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
Wrap each one of the finished ears of corn in the aluminum foil to make a package.
Place the wrapped ears of corn in a hot oven or grill for 40 to 45 minutes.
Unwrap and allow to cool slightly before eating
Grilled Pizza
Grilling your pizza is a fun way to change things up in the summer and avoid heating up your kitchen with a hot oven.
Ingredients
Pizza dough
Olive oil
Summer squash
Fresh bell peppers
Large tomato
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Fresh basil leaves
Instructions
Roll out the pizza dough to about ¼-inch in thickness
Place the dough on a hot grill until the surface begins to bubble slightly, then remove from the grill and turn over so the grilled surface is up.
Drizzle a tablespoon of olive oil over the grilled dough and rub it in with the back of a spoon.
Slice up summer squash, peppers and tomato thinly and arrange on top of the dough.
Place small balls of fresh mozzarella cheese on top of the vegetables, or slice larger pieces to 1/8-inch thick and arrange on top of the pizza.
Top with fresh basil leaves.
Return the pizza back to the grill and continue grilling until the vegetables are slightly blackened and the cheese melted.
You will love the memories you make with your kids along with the food. Don’t mind the kitchen mess! Your whole family will thank you later on.
Seasonal decorating is a tradition many families will integrate into their homes. When winter comes, the Christmas tree and lights go up, and when spring comes, flowers are planted around your house. Autumn is a great season filled with holidays, festivities, and seasonal amenities which are fantastic to include in your home design.
It’s also a great time to spice up your space with new floors and countertops. In fact, flooring and countertops can set the stage for your design. From hand-scraped to wire-brushed trends to marble looks, the design possibilities are endless in 2020. Plus, with innovations in the industry, you do not have to settle for only one type of flooring in your home.
We put together a list of five Autumn décor ideas you will want to include in your home to express your festive-side:
Plaid
Fall has a sense of being cozy when you are indoors and a sense of adventure when out and about. Adding plaid blankets or a new area rug to your floors will give your house a nice warm and cozy feel. You can try adding plaid designs outside through welcome mats, outdoor pillows, and blankets.
Fall Plantation
Including fall harvest inside your home is another excellent way to make a statement. Outside your home, you can add straw, autumn flowers, or corn stalks. Inside your home you can take these same elements and create an arrangement for your countertop to set the mood for fall. Add pumpkins as a centerpiece on your table or you can even have a basket filled with fall foods like corn, squash, and baby pumpkins. Including faux wheat is another excellent decor piece to add to vases or pitchers around your home. Go a step further and add fall scents. You can incorporate things like cinnamon soaps or cider scented candles to help capture the fall feel.
However, if you notice that your countertops are not as pristine as they once were, you can have your countertops replaced. Currently homeowners love the natural, one-of-a-kind beauty of marble and quartz countertops. Marble countertops feature an authentic, beautiful veining that is unmatched by any other countertop. However, if you are looking for a more durable & low maintenance countertop, quartz is a great option, you can opt for beautiful quartz countertops. Quartz is composed of natural crystals, which makes it an insanely gorgeous countertop option. Plus, quartz countertops are perfect for homeowners who love to cook because they are scratch-, stain-, and heat-resistant.
Wood
Adding pictures with wood or incorporating wood into your home design can add to the overall warmth of a room. You can start using your fireplace more and decorate your mantle with festive fall décor. Put fallen leaves into picture frames and display the beautiful countryside colors of fall for an added touch.
Think Rustic
Rustic colors will make a substantial impact on your home’s decor and what you are trying to convey. Adding rustic display items and antiques will help fully encapsulate the fall spirit. Woven baskets are great to use in your home and can hold your plaid blankets. Adding warm reds to your home through curtains, throw rugs, area rugs and floral arrangements can give a rural influenced aesthetic in the fall season. Try adding rustic display items as a centerpiece to your kitchen island!
Pillows and Pictures
A simple, cost-effective task you can add is swapping out your current pictures and pillows. This is an easy tradition you can do for every season. Plaids and stripes with autumn hues can help bring your room full circle, but you do not have to commit to the look year-round fully.
Autumn can have so many fun decorations to add to your home. Try including some of these tricks and tips this fall season to your home.
Good design has a synergy between colors in the room. The wall, floor, furnishings and accents all work in harmony to create a beautiful color palette for the room. For professional designers and decorators, designing the color palette is a key part of the overall finished room’s successful design.
Learning to coordinate colors between different design elements can help you create a room that has a professional polished look. Coordinating colors doesn’t mean using the same color on every surface and object.
Picking up a color from one piece and bringing onto another surface can unite the two pieces. The paint chips pick up a highlight color in the fabrics. The same process can be used for the flooring and wallpaper in the room.
Using a single focal point unifies the overall design in the room. Upholstery or other fabrics can be a starting point. Paint color is next. Once the paint color is chosen the paint chip can be used to select carpet or an area rug.
Wallpaper, pillows, or other fabrics are great places to begin when coordinating colors for a room. Once you have the main colors coordinated you can introduce contrasting colors that appear on the opposite side of the color wheel from the main colors in the room. Use these in objects and small pops around the room.
So you did it! You tied the knot and you’re blissfully married. Congratulations! Now it’s time to move in together. You thought wedding planning was hard? It might seem like a breeze after you learn the challenges of living with someone new. But harmony can be had if you do some planning ahead. Take a few minutes to read these tips on how to accomplish this big change without wanting to yell at your new “roommate.”
Purge. Then merge. The space should feel open, new, and fresh so get rid of the excess. Especially anything you’ll have two of: toasters, blenders, and so forth.
Decide on a basic design scheme ahead of time so you can make informed decisions about what to bring along and what to leave behind. This is especially important with furniture because it’s burdensome and expensive to move. By knowing your general decorating guidelines you can decide things such as, “Should we keep the blue sofa?” Answer, “Blue isn’t in our color scheme.” So the sofa goes and there was no need to debate over it.
Be respectful of sentimental or prized belongings. Each of you is sure to have a few possessions that mean the world to you. These are not good things to deliberate over. Just keep them, and decide together whether they will end up in a shared space or tucked away in one of your respective personal places such as a trunk or closet.
Try it before you fly it. By this we mean, don’t be too quick to say no to every single thing your spouse wants to try keeping in the home. Let some things in as an experiment. If you still hate them in sixty days, then reasses. The art of compromise is hugely valuable and this is a great way to practice it.
Set up a large empty basket for each of you. Choose your favorite colors if you like. This is the new receptacle for all of the stuff you leave lying around that drives your spouse crazy. You’re not used to all of his gadgets and he’s not used to all of your accessories. Create a place where it’s easy for either of you to create “out of sight, out of mind.’
Often decorators will mention that a particular color is warm or cool. This can be confusing, particularly for those of us who haven’t taken art since primary school. Understanding the difference and meaning of warm vs. cool colors can be a helpful addition to your bag of tools when you are making decorating decisions. The good news is that this concept is easy to learn and apply.
Warm colors are called that because they are the colors of a sunny day. Yellows and oranges, as well as affiliated colors such as orange-reds, yellow-greens, and browns, constitute the easiest to spot warm colors. Cool colors reflect a rainy or foggy day. Blues, purples, turquoises, and some blue-toned reds and pinks make up the cool collection. Colors can vary in their warmth and coolness, so don’t expect to recognize every color as warm or cool right away. If you’re not sure, compare it with others in the space.
Warm and cool colors from a decorating sense behave very differently. Warm colors seem to approach you. They are inviting and energizing. Cool colors are distant, and create a sense of serenity. Because of their characteristics, warm colors work well in dining rooms or areas where conversation and energy are valued. Cool colors are effective in bedrooms, where the goal is to relax and fall asleep.
Most rooms have both warm and cool colors in various combinations. Rooms that are all one or another can be uncomfortable, although you may not be able to determine why. Cool colors keep a warm room more under control, and even a few warm color elements, with their relatively strong visual impact; help a cool room seem more welcoming.
If you’re planning to make some color changes, factor the balance of cool vs. warm colors you want in each room. Experiment by removing a number of warm or cool pieces from a room, to see how it affects the feeling of the space. By factoring in the level of warm and cool color elements in your home, you may be surprised to discover how much more effectively you can capture the feeling you want in each room.
Question: Where do you start when trying to create a gallery wall? The idea is great, but knowing how or where to start is difficult.
Answer:
Creating a gallery wall does not have to be difficult. Here are some tips to use when creating one in order to make your experience painless!
First, gather together the pieces you are planning to use in your gallery. Lay them out on the floor and start by selecting the piece that is the largest, the brightest or the most eye catching. This will be the focal point of the wall. By starting with the desired focal piece, the rest of the picture placement on your galley wall will be much simpler.
There is no right or wrong when deciding on the placement of various pieces that hang in a gallery grouping. It can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Go with your intuition and try to balance the overall grouping throughout the placement.
The idea with your galley wall is to create a display of complementary pieces. Each individual piece adds its own beauty, but the piece as a whole can also hold itself together.
Variety of subject matter will help the gallery grouping be more successful. Having variety will add interest and keep the eye moving around the grouping. It is fine to use color or black and white as a theme throughout the pictures. One idea is to to use a black and white center piece, surrounded by colorful pieces.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that it should feel balanced. Layout the grouping on the floor or a table surface and play around with different layouts. Decide the best layout and then install the grouping. It helps to create a sketch, so that you can remember where things go.
Hang the focal piece first, followed by the pictures closest to it as arranged beforehand. Don’t worry if your arrangement changes as you hang each piece. Your final arrangement on the wall will be the best layout of all!
How we start each day leads to how the rest of the day is going to go. There are a few things you should be doing to start your day out right. These tips work for everyone, especially stay at home moms, working women or women who work from home.
Wake up early. Allowing yourself plenty of time for your morning routine will ease stress and ensure your day starts out a success. Enjoy your morning coffee with ample time to read the newspaper and have breakfast. If you are not a coffee drinker; start your day out by drinking water or a healthy herbal tea. Green tea is a good way to start your day and give you a little caffeine kick! Having breakfast is essential to having energy throughout the day. Keep your cabinet stocked with easy to make breakfast meals. Easy breakfast include: cereal, oatmeal, hard boiled eggs and fruit. One common trait that billionaires have in common is that they wake up really early in the morning!
Exercise and stretch. If you can get up before the kids and squeeze in a quick exercise routine, you will have more energy and stamina for the day ahead. If you do not have time to exercise then do a few quick stretches. Not sure what stretches to do? Search your online and you’ll find lots of options! If your schedule allows for exercise in the afternoon, that can help lead to a better night’s rest which can contribute to a great morning the following morning!
Shower and get dressed. This is essential even if you are a stay at home parent or if you work from home. Pick out your daily outfit that is appropriate for the day, do your hair and your makeup. Being put together makes you feel more organized and leads to a more productive day. Just rolling out of bed after hitting the snooze and getting ready as fast as possible starts the day out by rushing; which leads to stress.
Not only children thrive from daily routines, adults do too. Take the time to figure out what routine works best for you and your schedule!
