Favorite Buys on Amazon Even if They Aren't on Prime Day Sale!

Amazon Prime Day is known for its incredible deals and irresistible discounts, but there are certain items I'd buy on Amazon even without the allure of a sale. Whether it's because of their exceptional quality, daily utility, or the joy they bring into my life, these products are worth every penny, regardless of any special promotions. From essential gadgets to home comfort items, let's dive into my top Amazon picks that are worth the splurge any day of the year.

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A Beginner's Guide to a DIY Bathroom Update

You know how everyone on those TV house hunting shows is looking for an open concept home? You know, one that has flow and doesn't feel boxed in with small rooms breaking everything up? Well, those are great. But when it comes time to remodel or replace something, you often have to replace all the things since one thing flows to the other. That was the case when we recently remodeled our kitchen. 
We had a half bathroom downstairs that needed updating and it was shockingly easier {and less expensive!} to DIY than we thought. In fact, I took over the majority of the DIY on my own to save money. This isn't the first time I've updated a bathroom. In fact, they are pretty darn easy spaces if you are just getting your feet wet in DIY. I've got a full beginner's guide on how to update your space without breaking the bank. Even if you aren't touching the rest of the home, this will give you a quick refresh that will help you gauge the level of your abilities if you want to progress on in DIY projects. Are you ready?

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DIY Projects You Can Tackle Yourself

Whether you’ve just purchased a new home or your home of 10+ years could use some sprucing up, it can be overwhelming sometimes. If the list of house projects is starting to give you anxiety, this is your opportunity to tackle some DIY projects, even if you feel like the least handy person around the home. You don’t need someone to paint your walls or tile a backsplash! With patience and a little time, you can tackle all of these yourself! Making practical and stylish additions to your home can feel intimidating. But these DIY projects are simple enough that you can tackle them yourself!

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Fall Finds for a Cozy Home: Transition Between Summer and Fall

Fall is a great time to really start to focus on home. There's a cozy factor I think people fall in love with as the weather starts to turn and there is a real desire to take advantage of the cooler weather to feather your nest so to speak and get ready to enjoy being inside those four walls you've created. I know I always put off a lot of home projects during the spring and summer because I would rather opt to be outside, but this time of year always has me turning my focus back on home inside my walls. Here are some of my favorite fall finds.

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Thinking of Remodeling Your Kitchen? Start Here First!

A kitchen remodel can be an exciting venture, but it can also be overwhelming without the proper planning and understanding of the process. And even then you should expect the unexpected! We spent several years planning and researching and we still ended up having to fire our general contractor weeks into the project and we lived in a construction zone for months! These are just a few things that we learned when we took on a kitchen remodel. Hopefully you can learn from our mistakes and take away a few things that will help you along the way too!

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The Best Thrift Shops in Tacoma, Washington

I've been shopping at thrift shops for decades. In a world of fast fashion and disposable trends, I love that there is a shift towards second hand. Not only is it great for the environment, it can also be a great way to save money too. Many of these shops are a fun treasure hunt for one-of-kind pieces while embracing sustainability and maybe getting a deal too! I love exploring the thrift shops in my area and thought this blog post from 2013 needed an update! We will also explore the differences between each of the different retail destinations from resale boutiques to consignment and vintage shops. I'll even share my local favorites. No gatekeeping here! Come along for the ride!

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Do You Really Need to Hire an Interior Designer for a Kitchen Remodel?

When we bought our current home nearly 13 years ago, I never really liked the kitchen. It was a custom home, it just wasn't our custom home. The kitchen was spacious and had a lot of upgrades, but the cabinets were dark and when the weather is dreary nine months out of the year in the Seattle area, dark is the last thing I wanted! But the home was relatively new, and I had a really hard time coming to terms with ripping out perfectly good materials just to replace them with something different. I spent years trying to come up with alternatives to create a space I would like better {paint the cabinets?, add a cabinet box?, remove the tile?, add new accessories?}, but the discontent was still there. The years passed and I started to get more serious about doing a kitchen remodel. I had a few different eyes on the project and took advantage of free consultations from interior designers, to contractors to kitchen designers with a cabinet company, because I wanted to try to see what my options were. Here is how I ultimately decided to hire an interior designer for our project and I have zero regrets! You might choose a different option, and I'll lay out some thoughts on what might work best for any budget during a home remodel.

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Preparing Your Home for Vacation

Preparing for a vacation can be a lot of work. Whether packing up the car, hitting the road, or dusting off your passport for a long flight, taking a vacation requires more than just preparing an itinerary. Your home will be left vacant while you’re gone, and you want to ensure your home is ready for it! Here are my best tips to help you prepare your home for vacation.

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Easy Ham and Potato Corn Chowder

Growing up one of my favorite meals we had was a potato soup my mom made. I always cut up a hot dog to put in it! I can't remember the last time I ate a hot dog, but ham is just as easy to come up with and an even more delicious way to pack flavor into a creamy chowder. Our family has a soup night at least once a week. Soup is a great way to use up veggies in the fridge that might be getting close to being tossed and since I'm always cold, it's a great way to heat up from the inside out! I am convinced that your family will love this easy ham and potato corn chowder too!

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5 Ways to Make Life Simple Again

Life has been crazy and dare I say unpredictable. These past few years have taught me that nothing in life is ever certain. Life is too short to get caught up in our busy lives that we forget about the reason we have life in the first place, to live it! If you are ready to slow down and stop rushing through your daily life, here are a few simple ways to make life simple once again.

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10 Habits of Lazy Women Who Always Have Clean Homes

We all have that one friend in our lives. They make cleaning their home look so attainable yet they are so lazy! It might feel like these women never leave the couch from their Netflix show, yet their homes are spotless! You don’t have to be a professional cleaner to have a clean home, in fact, here are habits of lazy women who always have clean homes that you can do yourself! 

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Top Tips for Setting Up a Temporary Kitchen During a Home Remodel

"You're moving out right?" That's the question we got more than once when we talked about the scope of our home remodel. We are several weeks into a full kitchen remodel and not only are we still living in our home, but I'm also working at home in an active construction zone. In addition to a full kitchen remodel we are replacing all of the floors in our whole house as well as remodeling a half bath. Before the contractor even stepped foot in the door, we planned out how we were going to make a temporary kitchen work in our home for our family. We don't eat out a lot, and so far, we have yet to grab take-out, so I'd say these tips for setting up a temporary kitchen during a home remodel are working for us, and I think they'd work for you too!

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Is Removable Wallpaper Really Removable?

I am no stranger to wallpaper. Some of my earliest DIY memories were of hours spent scraping off layers of wallpaper from the walls in our historic home before I had to use two hands to count my age. It was tedious work. Small chunks of paper would come off and it was the slowest process. If you were lucky, you'd have that one huge strip you'd have to stand back to pull and there would be triumphant cheering. That was the exception, not the rule. So many people my age have similar horror stories where we all promised ourselves "never again". So when wallpaper started making a comeback all of the OG DIY'ers did a collective groan. I heard you. And I did the same. Looking back at the blog post I wrote back in 2019 when I shared this post "Is Removable Shiplap Wallpaper the Right DIY Project For My Home?" by the end, you can sense my hesitation to jump on the wallpaper bandwagon. I think my final recommendation was "eh". 
Just last week, as we prepared for a remodel project, I took down the removable wallpaper from our downstairs half bath. I was bracing for the worst and hoping for the best. I'm going to do my best to answer one of the BIGGEST questions I get from this post and I'm going to share the answer to, is removable wallpaper really removable. Brace yourself. You aren't going to believe the answer!

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22 Ways That You Can Support My Small Business

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission from any purchases you make from those links, but your price stays the same. You are supporting my small business.
I've been blogging for a LONG time. I actually started a blog way back in 2005 when I was pregnant with our third child so that we could stay connected to family and friends who weren't nearby. All that to say, blogging is a long game for me. I've been at it for a while. Unlike my oldest son, who could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves, I am not a natural-born salesperson. It's just not at the root of why I started this blog. However, I do continue to write and chug along providing free content for my readers {you!}, and I'm so glad you are here. 
Want to know how you can support me? Bookmark this post. Then, when you shop any of the links in this post, you get good juju and I get a little kickback to help support me and my little blog habit. I'm only sharing sites I shop often myself. The things I'd tell my friends about if they asked. So know that this is the best of the best! Thank you for your support! I appreciate you!

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How To Decorate Your Home for Free

If you have just moved into a new place or you are looking for ways to redecorate your home, you don’t have to go out and buy a bunch of new decor pieces and furniture. There are plenty of creative ways to use what you already have on hand or create something with materials to create a fresh and updated look for your space. Here is how to decorate your home for free.

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10 Things We Learned from Building a DIY Porch Swing Bed

When I was a kid, our house had a porch swing and it was one of my favorite things. We spent hours on that swing being rocked to sleep by my dad, swinging with friends, and sharing secrets on warm summer nights in the midwest. I have very fond memories of it, with the exception of the one time my dad was rocking my little brother, Ben, to sleep and as he carefully came back inside a bat flew in too. There was an evening of screaming and running from end to end of the house chasing a bat with a broomstick for what seemed like hours. In the end, no one slept much.

We have a covered porch area much like we did when I was a kid, and when I saw the plans from Plank and Pillow for an easy-to-follow DIY porch swing bed, I knew I wanted one! I had purchased outdoor furniture for the back patio about 11 years ago for $10 and had grown tired of it. I was able to sell it on Facebook Marketplace {check this post for more tips for selling your items}for $150, so we used some of the profit on the lumber because, hello, wood is expensive right now! 

Keep reading for 10 things we learned from building a DIY porch swing bed and how we made it our own.

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How to Manage Your Credit Cards Responsibly

Credit cards are a powerful tool that can help you build credit and help protect you from fraud when you use them for online purchases. While credit cards are an asset if you can use them, they can become a liability and even dangerous if you’re not careful. If you are thinking about opening a credit card, here is how to manage your credit cards responsibly, so you don’t make these same money mistakes.

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5 Hard to Kill Plants for Your Flower Garden

Even the most experienced gardener loves hard-to-kill plants. If you're a beginner, these plants can make everyone think that you have a green thumb. These perennials will come back year after year and give you a starting point from which to build your garden.

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5 Gardening Secrets for a Bountiful Tomato Crop

One of the easiest vegetable plants to grow is tomatoes. A still sun-warmed tomato is one of my favorite treats in the summer! As easy and plentiful as tomatoes are to grow, they can be a bit fussy sometimes, so here are 5 gardening secrets so that you can have a bountiful tomato crop this summer!

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Creating Boho Bedroom Decor with the Cricut Explore Air 2

This post is brought to you by Cricut. All opinions are 100% my own.
We are in a transition phase of our life where we have more bedrooms that are empty than full. We've got young adults who are moving out on their own {and even buying their own houses!} and while I've had a few naysayers tell me to save room because "they'll be back," I'm pretty sure the only time the big kids of mine will be back is to visit. I recently transformed one of the kids' bedrooms into a boho guest room using my Cricut Explore Air 2, and it's slowly becoming my favorite room of the house. I didn't have a huge budget to work with, but it's easy to DIY on the cheap making something custom you love using the Cricut.

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