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Reinvent Your Living Space

October 30, 2014 by Momstart 2 Comments

There is nothing like a cozy, comfortable, and beautiful home to come back to after a long day at work. Home is certainly where the heart is, and that’s why it’s so important to design a living space that you truly love. Just a few small tweaks around the home can make all the difference when it comes to the overall look and feel of the space.

From designer lighting to plush throws, there are so many ways to upgrade rooms in the home that it can be a little overwhelming to figure out where to start. Check out some of the quickest and most affordable ways to make a big difference in your living space.

Perfect Pillows

Never underestimate the power of a perfect pillow! When it comes to the bedroom, only you will know the type, size, and style of pillow that is best for you. Spend a few hours in a home furnishings store to test out the different types that are available, and then make the best purchases for your needs. Invest in top quality pillows and you will be rewarded with a blissful night’s sleep.

You can place pillows and cushions throughout the rest of the home too. Living room sofas should have several cushions propped on them for when you are snuggling up to watch TV. You can even have different styles of pillows and swap them out as the seasons change for a simple way to alter the look of the living space without breaking the bank.

Beautiful Blankets

Add a little coziness to rooms with blankets and throws. Not only will the add an English cottage style look to the living room but they will also serve a practical purpose too. Choose blankets in colors that complement the decor of the room, add in some textured blankets to help bring the room to life, or use some patterned blankets to add a touch of modern chic to the home.

Creative types can use their skills to sew up a storm by making their own blankets, cushions, and pillows out of affordable fabric. All About You has a huge library of free sewing patterns for the thrifty soul. It’s also possible to save money on home furnishings, lighting, and accessories with discount vouchers and coupons near you.

Light It Up

Image via Flickr by Emily May

Homeowners will spend thousands on buying the right furnishings, furniture, artwork, floor coverings, and accessories for the home, yet will often neglect the lighting. If you want to create the right ambience in the home, it’s essential that you install the best lights for the job.

A top tip is to use several different styles of lights in each room as well as dimmer switches so that you can adjust the lighting according to your mood. Hurricane candles and Chinese lanterns are lovely to have on hand when you want to create a romantic and intimate atmosphere without having to switch on a light. Twinkling wall lights and designer chandlers will help to add a touch of glamor and a lovely focal point to any room in the home. Pinterest has some spectacular interior lighting ideas that will help to get you inspired.

Natural light is one of the best types of lighting for your daytime activities, so make sure nothing blocks your windows. You can use mirrors to catch the light and make the space even brighter.

Maintain It!

While it’s lovely to decorate and update your home, damaged or dirty items already in the home can really bring down the look of the room. Broken items can also cause health and safety problems in the future.

Take a notepad and inspect each room for anything that needs work. Do you have a scruffy sofa? A leaking tap? A flickering light bulb? Many of these issues can be easily fixed, or you can hire a handyman to do they all the work for you in one afternoon. Proper maintenance is essential if you want to keep a beautiful showroom-esque home that is sure to wow guests.

Add a little style to your home by incorporating these tips into your living space. Have fun with it!

Bringing Old English Charm to Your Living Room

January 13, 2014 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Bringing Old English Charm to Your Living Room

Guest post

Besides inviting the Queen for tea… what is the best way to bring old English charm into your living room? Creating a room with old-world elegance and charm requires a certain amount of preparation and planning. Integrating contemporary conveniences with old-fashioned novelty and tradition offers challenges as well as exciting potential. By carefully balancing comfort and style, an elegant English living room can be yours within a matter of weeks.

Old English Architecture

If your home has been graced with a fireplace, you’re off to a jolly good start! English Tudor-style homes just seem to cry out for hardwood floors, stone hearths, and solid mantel pieces displaying classic Versace candleholders. However, if you are not that fortunate, don’t despair. With proper attention to decorating details, a similar look can be achieved by selecting the perfect wall colours, trims, window coverings, furniture, and accessories. Modern homes can incorporate customized multi-paned windows, laminate flooring, and electric fireplaces. If possible, expose any pre-existing wooden beams; apply wainscoting to the walls, and edge doorways and windows with wood, particularly if you are striving for a more traditional Tudor theme.

Decorating an English-Style Home

Begin with your walls, windows, and floors. Wood panelling, painted wall-treatments, and traditional wallpaper serve to create a look that is drenched in old-world charm. Striped, flocked, and floral design wall-coverings provide warmth and ease. Wood, slate, stucco, and brick will help carry the outside in. The building materials used in Tudor style homes were often of the highest quality available; great attention was paid to detail and the use of natural supplies was common practice. Bringing old English charm into your living room means creating an authentic space. Additionally, neutral colours are preferable. Grey, white, creams, blues, and browns provide a lovely palate. From there, add bright flourishes of colour. Jewelled tones will accent the look… burgundies, shades of violet, and soothing greens can be combined in pillows, throw rugs, cushions, and draperies.

Furniture and Accessories

Once you have incorporated wall and fixture designs that project old-world beauty, it’s time to select the ideal overstuffed furniture, antique shelves, and tables. Wing-backed chairs, plush sofas, and cushioned armchairs, covered in crocheted antimacassars, add elegance and comfort. Wall décor should be kept to a minimum. Large oil paintings and lamps will add interest, complementing without overwhelming. Tapestries will help to establish an interesting yet sophisticated touch. Traditional light fixtures, spacious windows -overlooking the English garden, and a chiming mantel clock, are modest, conventional, yet delightfully charming. Wrought iron fireplace tools, hardware, and chandeliers provide drama and dash. Antique bookcases, brass framed mirrors, glass vases, shelves, secretary desks, and coffee tables will finish off the look in elegance and grace.

English Stylishness and Charm

Having kept the notion of Old English charm in mind as you designed your living room, you’ve created a room that is as luxurious as it is serene. Last but not least, set a bone china tea-set on the wooden sofa table. Now you can sit back and relax… who knows, your next guest may indeed be HRH!

Good Cook Creative Creations: The Gingerbread House How To by Zoe & Coupon Code

October 21, 2013 by Momstart Leave a Comment

Good Cook sent us some really awesome products for us to use this Halloween. The most fun out of the products they sent us was the Good Cook Creative Creations Haunted Halloween cookie Cutters.

About The Haunted House Cutter Set:

Haunted House Cutter Set makes a chalet that’s fun to decorate. It tastes delicious, too, when you use the gingerbread recipe on the back of the box. Kit includes three cutters (one each for front/back, sides, and roof), plus two rollers and two stamps to make imprints in dough.

Cutters make it simple to build the house; no complicated pattern pieces to trace.
Fun purple, green, and orange plastic color scheme.
Small parts not for use by children under three.

Sweet Creations By Good Cook is their delicious product line designed especially for baking, dessert making, and holiday parties.

This particular set was very fun for the kids and me. I didn’t want them to help me because I’m a perfectionist, however, cooking should be a family event and perfection should be out of the equation because spending time as a family in the kitchen should

The recipe is included on the box and for the icing I had to do a Google search. I wanted something that I knew would be stiff and I found a recipe that called for 2 egg whites beaten added to 2 cups of white powdered sugar. It worked great, but my gingerbread house had an accident and turned out like this as this is our experience with the Hunted House Cookie Cutter Set.

We decided that it makes a great snack holder. Ours is filled with popcorn, candy corn and peanuts.

Zoe did a video on how to decorate the Gingerbread house:

You can’t have a Halloween Haunted Gingerbread House without a dead man. Winking smile We had a lot of fun working together and using the products provided by Good Cook Creative Creations. I have a 25% off coupon to goodcook.com for any Sweet Creations Halloween product you would like to purchase just . Use CODE: HUNTED23

Pancake Night At Global Resort Homes

April 27, 2012 by Momstart 17 Comments

When you’re away from home for a week and cramped in a hotel you probably eat out a lot. If you have a fridge in your room you might also have a microwave then you’re still probably eating unhealthy and that kind of eating can be a burden on your wallet. You also miss out on the fun times you could be having cooking and eating at the dinner table as a family.

My most recent stay with Global Resort Homes was with 20 others most of them were woman for Disneynature’s Chimpanzee Red Carpet Premiere. You know when you get that many girls together, you have drama, and arguments, and absolute fun! Nothing takes away the fun factor!

We had a pancake night one night. We made pancakes, eggs and bacon for 22 people and you can’t do that in a hotel. As we were cooking we got a little silly in the kitchen as you can tell from the photo above. It was so much fun hanging out with so many of my blogging friends. On another night we had a pizza night and did Jell-o shots. And the very first night we had a fabulous dinner made for us by Chef Linda. These are all things you just cant do staying at a resort or hotel. I mean, yeah I supposed you could have a pizza night but can you cram 22 people into your hotel room? Nope, you would have to rent a conference room to have group fun. Plus at the end of every night we were able to sleep in our own rooms.

Global Resort Homes is not a time share. You don’t have to sit through any meetings, or listen to any talk about the homes. You just pick one out to stay in, pay for your stay and you’re left alone. The only thing you get is if you have a problem someone will come fix it.

Houses are different sizes and you have a fridge, washing machine and dryer and a kitchen to save money while you’re in Kissimmee. It’s so much cheaper to be able to cook your own food and drink a pot of coffee rather than going out for every drink and meal. Also, the kitchen facilities in these homes are worth bragging about. They come stocked with plates and cooking necessities. Some even have basic spices salt and pepper. And if you don’t want to cook, just remember the in home chef option.

To learn more about Global Resort Homes:

Visit the Global Resort Homes
Follow them on Twitter
“Like” them on Facebook

When it Rains It Pours, Literally

June 6, 2011 by Momstart 13 Comments

Yesterday started off as a really great day. The weather was beautiful, I enjoyed the company of other bloggers, had my hair and make up done, came home, started whipping out posts for the blog and all the sudden I hear my husband say, “we have a problem”. He seemed so calm for what I was about to find in our garage, so I was really surprised.

It was raining in our garage! Really, water was dripping from the ceiling of our garage in multiple places. My first thought was something is severely wrong with our air conditioner, because to me it looked like that was where the water was coming from, but there was so much water. Suddenly I hear my husband again, it’s not the A/C honey. It was the kids’ toilet running over, and over and over. Not only was the water running but it was poopy water. So Gross! My husband stopped the onslaught of water and cleanup began, and so did the freaking out.

After going back and forth with my husband we decided to call someone to make sure our house was ok. Good thing we did because the house is far from ok. I mean, water came down from the celling into the garage and because it was soiled water, EVERYTHING has to be replaced. We haven’t even finished discovering how far the water damage goes.

The whole bathroom has to be gutted, the walls have to be cut out up to two feet, the insulation has to go, the A/C has to be turned off until we have confirmation that the contamination did not go into ducts (did I mention it’s been a little warm outside). Both of the kids rooms are losing a wall and carpet. We have fans all throughout the house to help dry everything that got wet.

How are the kids doing throughout all this, well, since they have to sleep in mom and dad’s room they think it’s an on going slumber party. They are having a blast. Me on the other hand, I think I’m going to lose my mind. Why is it that whenever I need to deal with the house, talk to someone on the phone, or take one minute for myself, suddenly the kids slumber party is over and all hell breaks loose between the two of them?