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Creating a Capsule Wardrobe
Creating a capsule wardrobe can simplify your life. It’s that time of year again – the seasonal closet declutter and change out, if you have your seasonal items stored away elsewhere. This year I have been exploring the concept of creating a capsule wardrobe to help simplify my life and create a wardrobe that works for me. I generally go through my closet twice a year in spring and fall, although I haven’t stored my seasonal or off-size clothes separately. Sometimes, I try to go through it quarterly, but that doesn’t always work out if I get too busy. What is a capsule wardrobe? A capsule wardrobe is a minimal wardrobe that contains…
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Top Ten IKEA Kitchen Organization Tips
After completing stage three of my IKEA kitchen renovation, I was finally able to get everything put away and organized! Here are my top ten IKEA kitchen organization tips to help you organize your kitchen. I had already went through all the kitchen paraphernalia I had and purged what I thought I didn’t use, wouldn’t use and didn’t love. (It was a great excuse to buy some new things to replace things that had seen better days and that I didn’t love anymore.) Solve a problem or two with your kitchen organization… In all re-organizing projects I try to solve a “problem” or tweak an area that I don’t think is really working…
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Top Ten Tips to Save Money on Food Anyone Can Do
Food is the second largest expense most people have after rent or mortgage. Here are my top ten tips to save money on food. Tip #1 Have a Budget and stick to it! If we have a set amount of money that we want to spend on food, we will be less tempted to make impulse buys that will just increase our food bill. Tip #2 Plan your meals… Having a plan will keep you focused on what you actually need to buy. You can make a plan based on your special dietary needs and preferences, your schedule and what is on sale. I found these on Pinterest. Tip #3 Only buy what you…
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How to Make a Roman Shade
I recently made a Roman shade for my kitchen window and thought I would share how I did it. It was not the first one I made, but it was a vinyl clad window which required it to be mounted differently. The way the window was trimmed also made it a challenge. I didn’t find out until after I put it up that I couldn’t open the window panes inward to clean them, so I will have to either remove the shade in the spring or wash the window from the outside! The first Step to make a Roman shade…measure Measure your window. Determine if you will be mounting it inside the frame or…
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Under Sink Organization and Waste & Recycling System
Organizing under the kitchen sink can be challenging with all the pipes, hoses and drain taking up valuable space. Do you have a center bar like I did? I was thrilled with the improvements in my new sink cabinet. There is a lot more usable space with the drain further back. Everything is accessible now that the middle bar between the doors is gone. Getting my recycling bins out of my kitchen entrance way and creating a system to get all the waste out was a game changer. Old sink cabinet with the bar in the middle. In my previous attempts to organize this space I couldn’t comfortably fit my trash, compost and…
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IKEA Kitchen Makeover Stage Three
Kitchen renovations can be very expensive. My IKEA kitchen makeover is now approximately ninety per cent complete! It is definitely an exercise in patience, taking three years to get to this point, but I think I can live with it now until I’m ready to finish it. The lower cabinets are all installed, the dishwasher was moved and the water line has finally been hooked up to the fridge. Eventually, the floor, kickboards and peninsula trim, will also get finished. Peninsula after with dishwasher. Stage Three of my IKEA Kitchen Makeover…demo of lower cabinets… My son and hubby demolished the old base cabinets. My son also put the IKEA cabinets together. The original…
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Garage Makeover & Organization Tips
It was a long time coming, but I finally completed my garage clean out, declutter and makeover and I just love it… To begin: Assess the situation… If your garage is like mine, a repository for things in transition, it doesn’t take long for it to become a hot mess. Even the best made plans can go awry when you get busy. Some of my organization systems that I had put in place last year were still working so I didn’t change them. My shelves with storage bins, Christmas bins and cabinet bins worked well and only needed a little tweaking. My recycling center also only needed a little tweaking. To see my…
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Five Easy Steps to Declutter and Organize Your Pantry
Are you wanting to declutter and organize your pantry? I recently decluttered and reorganized my pantry cabinets and spices… Pantry wall with microwave shelf. Step #1 is to remove everything… Take everything out and clean shelves and drawers. Measure your shelves and drawers height, width and depth. By measuring your spaces you can determine what size containers you need to purchase or re-purpose from another area in your home. If you like, you can also draw out a plan of how everything will look. Step #2 is to purge,purge,purge… Go through all food items and check expiry dates. Discard any expired items, items you can’t remember when you bought them or items you…
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Decorating for Seniors and Moving Mom
Decorating for seniors can be challenging to balance safety and personal style preferences. It can also be an emotional time for seniors with changes in their health and mobility, their routines and leaving friends behind. Moving Mom… This past month has been insanely busy for me. I have prepared my basement apartment for my elderly mother to come to live in. This was no small feat. The biggest challenge was getting her to agree to move in the first place! She was living an hour and a half away and had established a nice life there over the past eighteen years. The last few years she has had increasing health concerns though and…
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How to Survive a Kitchen Renovation and Maintain Your Sanity
Kitchen renovations are hell, so to survive them you need to have a plan. Ideally, you would be able to move out while your home is turned upside down . Unfortunately, that isn’t always possible. There are things you can do to minimize the havoc on your life though. I have lived through a few kitchen renovations so I really understand the turmoil that you may go through. I have learned the hard way and would like to share some tips to make the process go more smoothly. Not my kitchen…but it is gorgeous. To survive a kitchen renovation always keep the end result in mind… When things start going wrong – when…
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IKEA Kitchen Makeover Stages One and Two 2016-2017
When I bought my house in 2014, I knew I would have to do a makeover in stages. Like a lot of people, I couldn’t afford to do it all at once. Fortunately, this allowed me time to look into different options and I discovered IKEA Sektion cabinets.😊😍 It was an affordable, good quality option and cost less than inferior quality stock cabinets. Original kitchen. Before, with original cabinets and huge hole in pantry wall – wasted space around the microwave. This was my original kitchen before the makeover… If there was a gust of wind or any vibration, the fridge door would open. The huge fridge also made the entrance to the…
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Fantasy Life Versus Our Reality
I don’t know about you, but I think most people have a fantasy life – that is – a totally different perception of what their life is really like. I’m not talking about fantasies of winning the lottery or any daydreams about things you would like to do. I’m talking about all those projects and trips and things you think you are going to do. Ahem.. are you really going to do them? In my fantasy life I have all the time, energy and money to accomplish all the projects I want to do… This year alone I have three or four major projects that I want to do for my home and…
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Budget Binder & Monthly $ Tracking System
Make a budget binder to organize your bills and stay on top of your budget and financial goals. Whether you have a simple file folder system or a more elaborate system (like mine) it should reflect YOUR needs. My needs may be a little more complicated than the average person as I work full-time and have rental properties. Occasionally, I would be late paying bills on time because I was busy and thought I had already paid them. Also, tax time can be a nightmare if you’re not organized. I knew I needed to come up with a better system to track everything. Most regular bills I set up for automatic payment but…
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Fridge Organization for Optimal Food Safety/Oops…I was doing it wrong…
How do you organize the fridge for optimal food safety? After grocery shopping this week I decided this would be a good time to reorganize the fridge. After doing a little research, I realized I’ve been doing a few things wrong…oops. Have you have been making the same mistakes? Cleaning the fridge is such a fun chore…NOT! It is essential to keep the fridge clean to prevent cross-contamination and premature food spoilage. Save money and prevent someone getting sick from spoiled food with proper cleaning and storage. Some basic fridge organization rules can help, but you may need to tweak some areas for you own needs. Basic Fridge Organization Rules… Rules to follow…
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Car Organization aka. Organizing “Taloulah”
Like our homes, our cars can be like our “home away from home”, if we organize it for what we need. Car organization is key to making our busy lives on-the-go run smoothly.We had our last snow storm here in April. I couldn’t wait to get “Taloulah”, my 2017 Hyundai Tucson, in to have her winter tires removed and then get her detailed. Even though I had plastic floor mats, salt stains got all around the edges and of course there was the usual dirt and grime. Taloulah was purchased last June and I immediately organized all the compartments and trunk bin with items I thought I would need. Since then I’ve had…
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How to Make a Budget 101
Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor. You should always consult a professional to determine what your investment strategy should be based on your needs and the laws where you live. What is a budget? A budget is merely a written guideline to help you control your money instead of having money control you, and it can transform your life! If you have any goals, and you should, because that is what life is all about, a budget can help make it happen. Who should have a budget? Everyone should have a budget. A budget is WRITTEN DOWN either on paper or digitally. An airy, fairy, vague idea about how much money you…
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Moving Tips for the Least Amount of Pain
So you’re moving… Whether you are moving onto a different phase of your life (new job, school or relationship, downsizing or up-sizing), whether you are moving down the street, across town or across the country: you NEED TO HAVE A PLAN! Sometimes the best plan is to have a professional moving company do what they do best, but you may not be able to afford hundreds or thousands of dollars to have them do everything and this article is not about that. The last time I moved, I swore I would never move again,but, like childbirth, you forget the pain. No, I’m still not planning on moving again, but a few people who…
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Linen Closet Organization and Refresh
With spring cleaning upon us I decided to tackle the much neglected linen closet to finally do a refresh on. Since I bought my house a few years ago, other than organizing it’s much varied contents, I have done absolutely nothing to it. Here are some basic tips to help you organize and give your linen closet a fresh new look: 1) The first step for organizing the linen closet is to ASSESS THE SITUATION and MAKE A PLAN. I knew I wanted to change the mismatched shelf liners. I also knew that I wanted to paint the walls and ceiling to brighten it up. Over the last year I have also acquired…
