Stylish Cleaning Tools for Spring Cleaning

Spring is in the air and with Spring comes Spring cleaning. If we’re going to have to clean, we may as well use cute stuff to do it! Today I’m rounding up some of my favorite stylish cleaning tools for your Spring cleaning. I personally have many items on the list and want the rest of them!

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Stylish Cleaning Tools for Spring Cleaning

1. Bristle Pot Brush – I have this and use it daily. The bristles are strong enough to remove all the grime from pots and pans without scratching them.
2. Bottle Brush Set
3. Dustpan and Hand Broom – The cutest broom and dustpan I ever did see. You could leave this out styled in a mudroom or pantry.
4. Rug Beater
5. Vegetable Brush
6. Feather Duster
7. Utility Bucket
8. Glass Spray Bottles – These glass bottles are perfect for replacing ugly cleaning bottles or if you make any cleaning solution yourself. Recently on Instagram, I talked about the homemade countertop cleaning spray I’m making.

Homemade Aloe Vera Gel

Last weekend hubby and I worked outside and we got so sunburnt! This prompted me to make my own homemade aloe vera gel using the flesh from the aloe plants we have growing in the landscaping. If you don’t have your own aloe plant you can sometimes find aloe leaves in the grocery store. Making homemade aloe vera gel is a pretty easy process.

How to Make Homemade Aloe Vera Gel

Cut leaves from the outer bottom of the plant. These are the most mature leaves and will yield the most flesh. I cut 3 leaves and it yielded about a cup of gel. Let the leaves sit in water for 5-10 minutes to allow the resin to drain out.

Begin peeling the skin off the aloe leaves. Find a technique that works best for you but I like to use a paring knife to cut the aloe into manageable sizes, cut the pointy sides off first then cut the skin off one side revealing the flesh.

Then use a spoon to scrape the flesh off of the other side of the skin and put flesh into a clean bowl. … Read more

5 Easy Tips for Starting a Vegetable Garden

Ever since we bought this house, we’ve been talking about starting a vegetable garden. I have a Pinterest board dedicated to pretty garden inspiration and I’ve been dreaming up what the garden will look like. The timing hasn’t been right in the past but this year is the year! We’re finally taking steps toward having our own vegetable garden. We are by no means experts, but after plotting and planning our garden I’m sharing my 5 tips for starting a vegetable garden.

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my link, I may receive a small commission for the referral at no additional cost to you.

5 Tips for Starting a Vegetable Garden

1. Make a Plan

It’s never to early to start planning. There’s a lot that goes into a garden long before harvest rolls around. First, determine what growing zone you’re in and decide what you want to plant for the upcoming season.

2. Plant Seedlings

Start seedlings indoors so that they’re ready to plant in the garden in the recommended timeframe, designated on the seed packet.… Read more

We’re Having a Baby!

It’s pretty crazy to be typing those words and we’re still taking it all in, but it is happening! We’re having a baby! Our most exciting project yet! My hubby Mike and I are expecting a little GIRL in August and we feel so blessed and excited!

This has been in the works for a year or so, things just took a bit longer than we anticipated. We trust that it all worked out how it did for a reason and looking back, it’s actually great timing since we just finished the big kitchen reno and are in between house projects.

I am so thankful to be feeling pretty great lately. Week 7 was brutal with all-day nausea and vomiting but I’m thrilled to be passed that stage. Lately, I’m just tired and hungry…hungry all the time! I’ve had a couple food cravings and aversions but nothing super weird.

Now that we know what we’re having my creative juices have been flowing in terms of nursery design!! I’m so excited to design our own little nursery and of course I’ll share it all as I solidify the plan.… Read more

My Christmas Wish List

Last week I shared gift ideas for the hostess, yesterday I shared gift ideas for the home lover and today I’m sharing my third and final gift guide with you guys, my own Christmas wish list. Although I’m very blessed and don’t really need anything, there are some fun things I would like to have. 😉 Maybe you guys can get inspired by some of these gift ideas, too. Especially if you are looking for gift ideas for someone who loves cooking…since we have a new kitchen, several things on my wishlist are for the wanna-be-chef in me! 😉

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my link, I may receive a small commission for the referral at no additional cost to you.

my Christmas wish list

1. Smeg juicer – I make a lot of fresh squeezed orange juice. Now that we have a functioning kitchen, I’m back to making it nearly every day. Currently, I do it manually. I’m not crazy about the idea of a bunch of small appliances that take up storage space or worse, counter space.… Read more

Gift Ideas for the Home Lover

Happy December! It’s officially the month of Christmas and I’m back today with my second of three gift guides: gift ideas for the home lover. Did you see the hostess gift guide I posted last week? Don’t forget to come back tomorrow, because I’m sharing my Christmas wish list with you!

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of my links, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

gift ideas for the home lover

1. Match Striker – You can’t really strike out with this. See what I did there? Everyone loves candles and if you have a candle, you need a match striker. It’s a cute and convenient way to keep matches next to candles around the house.

2. Wick Trimmer & Candle Snuffer Set & Cute Matches – While we’re talking about candles, this wick trimmer and snuffer is a great gift idea. You could even combine it with a candle and a cute box of matches or a match striker for a gift set.

3. Ring Doorbell – A doorbell with a camera that allows you to see, hear and talk to your visitors.… Read more

Gift Ideas for the Hostess

I didn’t plan to do any gift guides since they’re alllll over the place, but when I did a poll on Instagram, most of you voted in favor of them. However, I’m not going crazy and I decided to limit it to three gift guides, centered around my primary blog topics: one for the hostess, one for the home lover and my own Christmas wish list. Today we’re jumping in with holiday gift ideas for the hostess.

Entertaining is one of my favorite things! I love decorating for a party, a good tablescape and anything that can make entertaining prettier and easier.

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of my links, I may receive a small commission for the referral at no additional cost to you.

gift ideas for the hostess

Gift Ideas for the Hostess

1. French cutting board – A vintage French cutting board is the best of all the gift ideas for the hostess. They are typically large, making them perfect for displaying a cheese and meat tray. While you can buy them new, I recommend a vintage one so it’s extra special.… Read more

Checking in…

Hiya, friends! It’s been a while since I have blogged (I miss it!) so I wanted to touch base with you and just give ya a little heads up about why that is and whats been going on over here.

Design Work vs. Blogging

I feel so lucky to be taking on more design clients, but with that comes less time for blogging and I haven’t found the balance yet. I want to be able to do both, the blog has been my priority from the start so I need to figure it out. There’s a lot of day-to-day behind the scenes design stuff going on that I typically don’t share until the client project is finished, but I’d like to figure out a way to blog more about the process and bring you along for the ride.

(This shot is from the most recently wrapped client project, my friend Rana’s photography studio.)

Stylistic Shift

Aside from client design work, I’ve been experiencing a little bit of a creative rut lately in terms of blogging. Or maybe it’s that I’m expending so much work and creativity into the client work that my creative gas tank is running a little empty when it comes time to brainstorm blog topics.… Read more

A Surprise Rustic Backyard Party for my Hubby!

If you follow me on Instagram then you may know that a couple of weeks ago I hosted a surprise rustic backyard party for my hubby’s 35th birthday. I started planning a few months ago and keeping the secret was BRUTAL and exhausting! The One Room Challenge back patio makeover was partly a disguise so I could have a reason to hurry him along to help me finish the patio in time for the party!! The joke’s on him! 🙂 About 10 family members flew in from up north as well as friends from South Carolina and Kentucky totaling about 50 guests. We successfully kept it a secret and when he pulled in the driveway home from work, he was completely shocked! I love planning a good surprise, and this one is my best yet!

Here are some fun shots from the day taken by my amazing photographer friend Ashlee!

Waiting impatiently for his arrival! The money shot! Look at that face! Too surprised to close the car door 😉 That’s his mamma he’s hugging there. Be still my heart. … Read more

Friday Finds & Weekly Recap

Friends & Family Sales

Happy Friday friends! There are some great friends and family sales going on.

Serena and Lily is offering 20% off everything now through 3/19.

Lulu & Georgia is offering 25% off everything 3/19-3/26 using the code SPLURGE.

Staircase Project Update

The staircase reno is still consuming my brain. We have the tile situation figured out and now I’m contemplating the railings. We were going to attempt to DIY the project but because we need SO much railing (about 80′ total) with many turns and angles, I think it’s best to hire the project out. The railing is a meticulous project with lots of precise measurements and safety is important so I think we’ll let the professionals handle this one. I have an idea of the overall look I’d like to achieve but we’re still contemplating verticle vs horizontal railing, and if we do verticle, whether or not to take each baluster to the floor or do a horizontal bar on the bottom.

I’m leaning toward verticle balusters with a bottom horizontal rail so that it’s easier to clean the stairs and so that we don’t have to destroy the new flooring by attaching each baluster but I do love the simplicity of each baluster carrying all the way to the floor.… Read more

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Stylish Cleaning Tools for Spring Cleaning

How to Make Homemade Aloe Vera Gel

5 Tips for Starting a Vegetable Garden

1. Make a Plan

Gift Ideas for the Hostess

Design Work vs. Blogging

Stylistic Shift

Friends & Family Sales

Staircase Project Update