Oil: it has a bad rap. The price of the stuff that you put in your cars is going up, and the cost of the oils that you put into your body is something that the doctors tally. High gas prices, high cholesterol. Yuck, oil. But there are a few beloved oils that I need to have in my home. They nourish my body and my house looks and smells wonderful because of them. Some are actual oils that come in bottles from the grocery store. Others are what are called essential oils, distillations of the oils of plants that … Continue reading →

Are you having a hard time getting the kids, or your husband or even yourself to clear up the clutter and do those little tidy up tasks that always seem to fall by the wayside? There are two main ways to encourage cleaning up, and none of them have anything to do with threatening to bring in a crane. In order to encourage everyone in your household to clean up the clutter, you have to turn it into a routine and make it fun. You can try the ping pong clutter buster game to do both. Establish it as part … Continue reading →

What makes your home smell like home? We’ve all walked into the house one day, taken a deep breath, and known that we were home. Similarly, we’ve all likely walked into the house, taken a deep breath, and wanted to walk right out again. Yuck! Whether it’s the smell of an overcooked meal that still lingers or the smell of all of those delightful furry critters we share our homes with (I may or may not mean the kids), sometimes the house smells a little under the weather. What can you do to make your home smell like home again? … Continue reading →

If your home is suffering from stuffitis, then know that spring is a really good time to give it a good clean out. Having a yard sale isn’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean that all of your formerly loved stuff has to wind up in the trash. Instead try donating it to one of the following worthy causes. Animal Shelters We don’t normally think about donating things to animal shelters, but the truth is that they can use many home items in a really useful way to care for and make stray animals feel at home as well as … Continue reading →

Today I gave away my ironing board. Thanks to the wonders of Freecycle, someone else got an ironing board and I got closet space back. A few weeks ago I went into the closet, looked around, and noticed the ironing board hanging on the wall as it always does. I repeat, as it always does. I rarely if ever take it down and actually use it. Yes, I’m a non-ironer, and now it’s out of the closet and so am I. When I was a child and a teen, my household chore was ironing. I could not stand ironing, and … Continue reading →

Unpleasant odors in your home can be nothing short of embarrassing, especially when you hadn’t realized that they were there. Here are some practical steps that you can take to air our your home. Not only will the air be fresher, but it will be healthier too! First of all, if you aren’t sure whether or not your home, well, smells, then step outside for a while. We can quickly get used to the smells in our home. Re-enter your home and take a few good sniffs. Is it fresh and smells like nothing? Or are there odors from cooking, … Continue reading →

Spring cleaning is an age-old tradition in many homes. But why do we do it? Is it really necessary in our modern times? Let us take a look at where the ritual of spring cleaning came from and how or if it applies to our homes today. Historic Spring Cleaning Spring cleaning came about for two reasons. The main reason is that in the past, home were heated with wood, coal or coal oil in less than efficient (compared to now) furnaces and fire places. There were no air filters in place. This caused a winter built up of soot … Continue reading →

Ah, the sun has been shining here and that means that some of us are feeling the urge to get down on our hands and knees – and scrub the floors. We’re emptying long-closed cupboards, shuffling through old paperwork, and generally making a mess of the house before we make it look better. That’s right – we are spring cleaning. I’ve discovered that there are a number of different sorts of housecleaners in this world. Normally I fall into the Avoid It Until Crisis style of housecleaning. This style of housecleaner does the bare minimum to get by. Sure, the … Continue reading →